Palou, who led 199 laps, saw a 2.011-second lead over McLaughlin vanish when light rain around the 1.015-mile oval were reported on Lap 209, triggering the fifth and final caution period of the race.

During that caution, Palou, McLaughlin, and third-place Josef Newgarden elected to stay out of the pits and keep their track position. However, Rasmussen, Rossi and O’Ward were among a handful of drivers to dive into the pits for a change to fresh Firestone Firehawk tires. Lap times showed that speed diminished quickly when tire wear increased during the race.

After the restart on Lap 222, it took Rossi and Rasmussen just one lap to climb to fourth and fifth, respectively. Rasmussen then passed Rossi for fourth, with Newgarden in third. Rasmussen dove under Newgarden’s No. 2 Snap-on Team Penske Chevrolet in Turn 3 on Lap 227 and was 0.6 of a second behind second-place McLaughlin and 2.2 seconds behind Palou.

The traction provided by the fresh Firestone tires – Palou, McLaughlin, and Newgarden each made their final stops on Laps 196 or 197, nearly 15 laps earlier than Rasmussen – proved definitive.

Rasmussen was running fast on every area of the track with fresh rubber and his typically aggressive style, driving around McLaughlin with a high-line move in Turn 2 on Lap 230. Palou was 1.321 seconds ahead in the lead. However mathematics showed it would take little time until Rasmussen would catch the four-time series champion.

That moment arrived on Lap 235 when Palou and Rasmussen went side by side through Turns 3 and 4, inches apart, with Palou hugging the low line and Rasmussen in the high groove. Rasmussen edged ahead on the front straightaway, officially taking the lead for good at the start-finish line, and finally got around Palou in Turn 1 on Lap 236.

This was the first time Rasmussen led all day. He continued to make it a trend. The Dane successfully navigating through lapped traffic during the closing laps for his first win. Rasmussen, Palou and O’Ward are the only three drivers to finish in the top 10 in all five series oval races this season.

“We were talking before the race that if there was a late caution, then we want to go on new tires because it is such an advantage,” Rasmussen said. “There were more people that did it than I thought there would in that last stint, but it was definitely the right choice.”