Penske driver Josef Newgarden takes his fourth win of the season in the first Iowa race of 2022 – Jimmie Johnson with recovery after spin
In the IndyCar Series doubleheader at Iowa Speedway, Josef Newgarden (Penske-Chevrolet) secured the win in Race 1, while Jimmie Johnson (Ganassi-Honda) drove to a top-10 finish after an early spin and eye-popping passing manoeuvres, but ultimately narrowly missed out on that very top 10.
Saturday’s race of the Hy-Vee sponsored double event went over a distance of 250 laps. Newgarden was once again the dominant driver on the short oval. It is already the fourth Iowa victory for him and also the fourth win of the 2022 season.
In qualifying, Will Power (Penske-Chevrolet) was the dominant driver at first. As has been the practice at Iowa Speedway in the past, the first of the two flying laps counted towards the grid for Race 1, and the second flying lap counted towards the grid for Race 2 (Sunday).
Power was fastest in both qualifying laps. Result: The 65th and the 66th pole in the IndyCar career of the Australian. Power is now just one pole behind record holder Mario Andretti.
In the race, Power lost the lead directly on the first restart to his Penske team-mate Josef Newgarden, who had started from P2. The three-time Iowa winner dominated large parts of the race. Shortly after the third restart, current championship leader Marcus Ericsson (Ganassi-Honda) came very close to him.
WHOA.@Ericsson_Marcus and @josefnewgarden with a close call battling for the lead at @iowaspeedway! INDYCAR!
: @nbc and @peacockTV pic.twitter.com/7EuE7PvxsO
– INDYCAR on NBC (@IndyCaronNBC) July 23, 2022
However, Ericsson did not get past Newgarden. On the contrary: After he almost flew off, Ericsson lost a few positions and ultimately only finished in P8. Will Power again took on the role of Newgarden’s closest pursuer. And the Australian, who had started from pole, got serious in the final phase.
But Power could not get past Newgarden either. On the contrary: In the last laps, Patricio O’Ward (McLaren-Chevrolet) pushed him from second to third position. So the podium line-up for the first of the two Iowa races in 2022 is: Josef Newgarden, Patricio O’Ward, Will Power.
Rinus VeeKay (Carpenter-Chevrolet) was fourth. Scott Dixon (Ganassi-Honda) completed the top five. Alex Palou (Ganassi-Honda) finished in sixth place. The defending IndyCar champion had only managed 14th on his qualifying lap, but made up eight positions in the course of the race.
Jimmie Johnson just misses top 10 after spin
Jimmie Johnson (Ganassi-Honda) finished his third oval race as an IndyCar driver in eleventh place. Starting from 15th on the grid, Johnson spun in Turn 4 after just a few laps, but avoided damaging the car and was soon back in the top 10.
Due to his strategy, Johnson even managed to lead a few laps. In the course of his unplanned four-stop strategy, he performed a series of impressive overtaking manoeuvres on the outside lane with fresher tyres.
WHAT A MOVE, @JIMMIEJOHNSON!
The @CGRTeams driver goes three-wide around Jack Harvey and Devlin Defrancesco. INDYCAR
TV: @NBC and @PeacockTV pic.twitter.com/7gSK7HUZb5
– INDYCAR on NBC (@IndyCaronNBC) July 23, 2022
Later, Johnson also took on opponents with identical tyres on the outside. He only just fell out of the top 10 in the absolute final stages. Johnson’s best IndyCar result to date, P6, dates from his oval debut in Fort Worth (Texas) in March.
Meanwhile, the dominator of the Texas race at that time – Scott McLaughlin (Penske-Chevrolet) – lost all chances of a top result in the closing stages of the first Iowa race. Immediately after the last routine stop under yellow, McLaughlin drove up to his crew once again. The reason for the unscheduled stop under green was an improperly fixed right rear wheel. In the end it was only P22 with several laps down.
Championship leader Marcus Ericsson loses 20 points of his lead
Two of the 26 drivers who started did not finish at all. Felix Rosenqvist (McLaren-Chevrolet) retired after a crash on the 110th lap. Ed Carpenter did the same to Rosenqvist after 160 laps. The boss of Ed Carpenter Racing also retired due to a crash in the third car of his team, which was only entered for the oval races.
In the 2022 IndyCar standings, Marcus Ericsson has lost much of his lead ahead of Sunday’s race, finishing P8 behind Romain Grosjean (Andretti-Honda; 7th) on Saturday. Race winner Josef Newgarden is now first in the chase, just 15 points behind. Will Power, who was previously 35 points behind Ericsson, has moved to within 22 points of the Ganassi driver in P3.
Race 2 of the double-header at Iowa Speedway will start at 15:30 local time (22:30 CEST) on Sunday and will cover a distance of 300 laps.