Josef Newgarden dominated all aspects of the Sukup 275 at Iowa Speedway through the final pit stop, but a slow tire change and a dogged out lap by Pato O’Ward saw the lead change hands and the Arrow McLaren driver hold on to first the rest of the race and earn his first win of the year.
It was O’Ward’s eighth career victory with the No. 5 Chevy in his 100th start, the first IndyCar win for Chevy in 2025, and gave the series its fourth winner of the season.
“This is great,” said O’Ward. “We’ve been waiting for this one all year. My 50th race was a win here in Iowa. It’s a cool story. It’s a 1-2-3 Chevy podium. I’m the first one to give them a win this year. I had to be so precise on my in and out laps to beat [Newgarden]. Great racing out there.”
A frustrated Newgarden finished second in the No. 2 Team Penske Chevy by 0.235s and Penske’s Will Power completed the all-Bowtie podium 1.213s back in the No. 12 Chevy. Scott McLaughlin, who started 27th and last, completed the Penske 2-3-4 with a remarkable drive in the No. 3 Chevy.
“We gave up track position there and it was game over, just as simple as that,” Newgarden said.
Power was thankful to see seventh-place Conor Daly using the second lane with success and followed suit.
“Just a very smooth day,” he said. “Some good racing out there in the second lane, which is awesome.”
Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou was the first Honda-powered driver home in fifth and saw his championship lead of 114 points over second place entering the race reduce to 105. With the win, O’Ward improved from third in the standings to take second from Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood who crashed after a tire lost pressure and finished 26th.
After Palou, Ed Carpenter Racing’s Christian Rasmussen was aggressive on his run from 19th to sixth. Daly fell back from his front-row start next to Newgarden with a slow pit stop, but rallied to seventh for Juncos Hollinger Racing, taking the position late from his friend Santino Ferrucci at AJ Foyt Racing. Meyer Shank Racing’s Marcus Armstrong had another solid short oval run and earning ninth ahead of Ganassi’s Scott Dixon.
It wasn’t the most compelling Iowa race for large stretches of each stint, but it was better than last year’s racing at the 0.875-mile oval, and like last weekend’s event at Mid-Ohio, the presumptive winner for most of the contest didn’t win.
Palou and Honda are on pole for Sunday’s race two, but didn’t lead a lap Saturday unless all of the leaders pitted. The Penske drivers are out of the championship hunt, but if O’Ward, who starts ninth, can maintain his edge, Palou’s runaway title could see the advantage brought down to under 100 points with five races to go from Toronto through Nashville.
If recent IndyCar races have told us anything, it’s not to make advance bookings for victory lane because there’s no telling who will show up.
As it happened
The Synk 275 went green and yellow moments later as Colton Herta spins out of Turn 4.
