O’Ward Takes Over Late To Win In Iowa

Pato O’Ward got back to his winning ways with a win in Iowa. (File photo courtesy of INDYCAR)
Pato O’Ward won Sunday’s IndyCar Series race at Iowa Speedway.
O’Ward, driving the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, drove away from the field on the final stint of racing, beating Team Penske’s Will Power by 4.2 seconds.
Mexico’s O’Ward finished second in Saturday’s first race of the weekend at Iowa.
“I knew we had the pace but it’s tough whenever you’re going through the traffic,” he said. “The guys in front of me had it in a different way, so it’s different on every lap. I’m super-stoked and super-happy. We knew that we had a good car so it was all about just capitalizing and being there when it counted.”
Power was third on Saturday.
Third was Scott McLaughlin, who gave Penske a podium sweep.
Six-time IndyCar champ Scott Dixon of Chip Ganassi Racing was fourth.
Fifth was seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson in his Ganassi Honda. The finish was his best in an IndyCar.
“This is a really special day for me,” Johnson said.
Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden appeared to be on his way toward a weekend sweep of the two races at the .875-mile Iowa track, but while leading on lap 236 of 300, he spun and slammed the wall.
Newgarden, who spun with no other cars around him, said he didn’t know what happened.
“I’m not sure,” he said. “Everything felt fine to me up to that point. I did have a vibration at the start of the stint, which isn’t abnormal. Tire balances are always shifting. It’s very possible that we had a mismatched set or something. It wasn’t diabolical whatsoever. Actually everything felt just fine. It was totally unexpected when it happened. It caught me by surprise. I didn’t know what happened until I was in the wall.”
(This story will be updated shortly)
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