Josef Newgarden Wins IndyCar Iowa 300

Josef Newgarden at work in a Chevy.

The start of the Iowa race Saturday night was delayed four and a half hours because of lightning and heavy rain. The green flag finally waved at 11:45 p.m. ET. A shower at 12:12 a.m. ET led to a red flag at Lap 55. Joseph Newgarden was leading then, having passed teammate Will Power amid traffic in Turn 1. The 300 didn’t end until after 2 am with Newgarden in the lead.

The victory extends Newgarden’s IndyCar series points lead to 29 over Andretti Autosport’s Alexander Rossi, who finished sixth in a Honda. Newgarden lapped Rossi on Lap 185, although Rossi battled enough to make it look like racing for a few laps thereafter.

Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon finished second for the fifth time this season in the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda after slowing early in the race. The comeback came because of pit strategy initiated by the crew – they gave him new tires on Lap 268 – and it set up Dixon’s 45th career second-place finish. The five-time NTT IndyCar Series champion has now finished first or second in 90 of his 316 career starts (28.4%).

““They (left) me out pretty buy klonopin online usa long before the last caution,” said Dixon. “It enabled us to stay on the lead lap, get that lucky yellow, get new tires.  Had a good restart, were able to pass… We were actually probably going to be happy with a top 14 or 15, so that was pretty stellar.” (IndyCar – Honda Powered Rossi Dominates Road America, Andretti AutoSport Puts Rookie Rossi in Indy Winner’s Circle)

Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports’ James Hinchcliffe, who won last year’s race, finished third in the No. 5 Arrow Honda. The podium finish was his first since Iowa a year ago.

For all the fans that stayed out, weathered the storm – literally – huge thanks,” Hinchcliffe said. “I think it was well worth the wait. Hopefully everybody that did come and stayed for the race enjoyed the show. It felt pretty exciting from where we were sitting.”

Next is the Honda Indy 200 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio. Alexander Rossi dominated last year’s race , but the last six Indy races this year had six different drivers reach victory lane, including Scott Dixon, who in 2014 won for a record fifth time on the 13-turn, 2.258-mile permanent road course.