Josef Newgarden, the two-time reigning champion of the Indianapolis 500, emerged victorious in Saturday’s IndyCar Bommarito 500 despite a spin on the track. He managed to regain control and withstand two late restarts to secure the win.
Newgarden’s spin and win moment harked back to Danny Sullivan’s similar move in winning the 1985 Indy 500 without hitting a wall.
This victory marked Newgarden’s 31st career IndyCar win and his fifth win at the 1.25-mile oval at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois.
“The team needed it. They have given me race-winning cars during the year,” Newgarden said. “It’s nice to get another one on the board.”
The 33-year-old American completed 260 laps just ahead of New Zealand pole sitter Scott McLaughlin, with Swedish rookie Linus Lundqvist taking third place, Colton Herta in fourth, and Spanish season points leader Alex Palou in fifth position, with no other cars on the lead lap.
The race was poised for a final restart with 10 laps to go with Newgarden in the lead.
However, a hesitation to reach top speed caused Australian Will Power to slow down in the pack, resulting in his car being struck from behind by American Alexander Rossi. The collision led to a red flag halting the race, with an upset Power shouting at his rivals.
The race resumed with six laps remaining, and Newgarden managed to speed away to the finish line.
Newgarden expressed his regret over the incident, stating, “The worst part about that is obviously the 12 (Power) not making it home. I hate that that happened at the very end.”
“It kind of looked like the green went out before I went, just momentarily, and it caused a big accordion,” he added. “The last thing you want to happen with 10 to go was create a mess. I wasn’t trying to do that.”
Newgarden had previously secured wins on the Madison oval in 2017, 2020, 2021, and 2022.
– Malukas and Power bump –
McLaughlin initially took the lead at the start until David Malukas overtook him on the inside on lap 17. Power then grabbed the lead from Malukas on turn three of lap 27.
A caution flag due to Newgarden’s spin jumbled the standings late in the race, but another crash involving Power allowed him to stay in contention.
Malukas attempted to overtake Power with 20 laps remaining, resulting in contact between the two cars that sent Malukas crashing into the outer wall, allowing Newgarden to move into the lead.
Looking back on the incident, Malukas stated, “I had a run, I set it up and went down the inside. Power just came by and screamed at me. I braked. I slowed down. I gave him as much room as I could. He gave me a tap and that was it. Not much else I could do. I thought it was a good move.”
“If he had stayed in the second line it was perfectly fine. If you’re going to come down and hit me like that, it’s really unfortunate,” Malukas added.
There are four events left in the 17-race IndyCar season, with the next race scheduled for August 25 in Portland, Oregon.
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