Josef Newgarden left the Iowa Speedway on Friday night fuming. He had the car to win. The Team Penske driver led 68 laps early and was well in control of the first race of the Iowa 250 race weekend on the 7/8-mile oval until Will Power crashed on Lap 142.

Newgarden, had already pitted and was pinned a lap down. Simon Pagenaud and Scott Dixon from there on was in control and would finish 1-2. Newgarden, had to settle for fifth.

“I’m so angry about how this all transpired,” Newgarden said of how Friday night’s transpired. “That caution was the nail in the coffin. We had the car to beat tonight. Hands down. Some of it is just bad luck. That caution, you weigh out the pros and cons of trying to go long or short on your pit windows. I can’t fault my guys. I had a rocket ship.

“Look all you can do is move forward. This is racing. Some days the racing Gods shine down on your and some days they don’t. Today, they definitely didn’t. You have to take the good days when they shine down on you and accept the bad days when they don’t. We have to stop giving these guys layups. That’s what’s happening.”

On Saturday night, the racing Gods shined down on Newgarden. He started on the pole and had just as good as a car. This time though, he and Tim Cindric would be sure that pit strategy wouldn’t get in their way despite both cautions in the race falling in the end of a pit sequence.

Newgarden, became the first driver to win at Iowa from the pole in a romp of the field on Saturday night. The Tennessee native led 214 laps in total en route to his 15th career NTT IndyCar Series victory. It was the third race in the last four tries at Iowa and fourth time in the last six years that he led 200 or more laps in a race there.

He also has won three of the last six Indy Car races at Iowa to go along with scoring eight straight top six finishes on the Central Iowa bullring including five of those being in the top two.

Newgarden, bested Power by 2.7869-seconds in his No. 1 Chevrolet for a Penske sweep of the Iowa weekend.

For Power, it was a much needed second place result. Following a rough last two races, a podium was just what the doctor ordered for his No. 12 Chevrolet team.

Graham Rahal charged from 19th to finish third for his 30th career podium, while Simon Pagenaud and Scott Dixon rounded out the top five.

Here are my main takeaways.

Power Shows If Luck Is On His Side, He’s Still A Contender

Will Power said he was confident heading into this weekends doubleheader at Iowa. He felt like he had fast cars, just bad luck this season.

Unfortunately, that rang true on Friday night.

Power, qualified his No. 12 Chevrolet third and was running in the top two near the midway point but his left front tire changer didn’t tighten his tire following his second stop of the race.

Power, crashed in Turn 4 shortly after as a result. He’d finish 21st.

“I just took off straight into the wall,” said Power. “Not a good feeling. Unbelievable. So, so, so frustrating. Unbelievable.”

Last weekend in Road America, he had a fast car but had the wrong gearing in Race 1. In Race 2, he was collected in several crashes.

A week prior in Indy, he started on the pole, led a ton of laps, but was on the wrong end of pit strategy after the Oliver Askew’s crash the stalled in pit road.

His finishes heading into Saturday night were – 13th, 20th, 2nd, 11th and 21st respectively. Then, the luck came around. Power, had an uneventful night in starting on the front row and finishing second for his second runner-up finish in the last four races of the season now. This was a result that he so badly needed.

“Looking forward to trying to have a good rest of the season,” Power said after scoring his first Iowa podium in his last five tries. “I don’t know what I have to do to have normal races like Dixon and Pagenaud. Even if those guys qualify last, they still wind up at the front. Maybe I just try less and be a much worse driver and I think I’ll be way better.”

Next up could be Power’s play. Mid-Ohio is the next race and it’s a place where Power has five straight front row starting spots and seven in the last eight years. He’s also scored three podiums in his last four tries there too. Then, it’s to the Indy 500 where Power won in 2018.

He needs to start stacking good finishes. I’m sure he hears the noise from the outside about Scott McLaughlin wanting to come try out Indy Car and you know Penske isn’t getting rid of Josef Newgarden or Simon Pagenaud to make it happen. Power, if he wants to keep his seat, needs more nights like Saturday.

Cautions Negate Each Other’s Pit Sequences, Helps Rahal Greatly Too Though

We saw just how much one caution in the middle of a pit sequence can flip a field. Last night, Josef Newgarden was well on his way to winning the first race of the twinbill at the Iowa Speedway. But, when his teammate (Will Power) crashed before Newgarden could pit for a second time of the race, it ruined any shot that he had at winning. It left him extremely frustrated.

On Saturday night, Newgarden didn’t run his pit sequences long to ensure that it didn’t happen again. But, a couple of cautions on Saturday could have did the same for a couple of others though.

On the first caution for Ed Carpenter finding the Turn 2 wall on Lap 112, Graham Rahal and Alex Palou hadn’t stopped yet. They were 14th and 16th respectively entering that pit sequence but now only two of nine drivers left on the lead lap at the time.

They pit with a few others on the lead lap under that caution and restarted fourth and eighth respectively. Where it helped them, it hurt someone like Conor Daly who was third on that pit sequence but was a lap down in 10th at the time of the caution.

Then, Ryan Hunter-Reay crashed exiting pit lane on Lap 178 and really negated that first yellow.

Daly, was back up to fifth at the time and with Oliver Askew and Alexander Rossi needing to pit still, he moved up to third. He was back where he was supposed to be. Unfortunately, he had to make one more stop still and would finish a disappointing 13th.

Palou, was back a lap down outside the top 10 too while Rahal was the biggest benefactor and stayed in the top five. He would finish an eye opening third for his 30th career podium.

That’s a long way from where he began the weekend. Rahal, was struggling mightily in practice on Friday. He was last on the speed chart, nearly 2 full mph from the car in front of him and seven mph off the lead. They chased their car in qualifying too as he’d start 21st and 19th respectively this weekend.

But, that caution helped him as he’d bring home a top 10 finish for the seventh time in the last 10 Iowa tries.

“Just hardwork,” Rahal said on how he ended up from the bottom of the speed charts on Friday to a podium result on Saturday. “It was a great showing today. It’s great for us to come away with a great result. We needed it. We needed a rebound. It was great for points. The car was great.”

Next up is Mid-Ohio, a place where Rahal has exceled at lately. He has six straight top 10 finishes on his home track including a win in 2015.

“Big race for me,” Rahal said. “I love going home. We’ve had great success. I think we found some great stuff the last time we raced on road courses. I expect our team to be extremely good.”

Rahal, is in a tie for fifth in the championship right now with Will Power and in a good spot to still contend for this year’s championship.

“I’m excited to go home,” Rahal continued. “We’re a contender this year. I think a lot of people have seen us improve. We’ve come a long way.”

Great Championship Winning Type Of Weekend For Dixon

If anyone is going to win this year’s title though, it’s going to be tough to take it from Scott Dixon. The Chip Ganassi Racing driver is just doing all the right things. He entered Iowa with no having ever won there. This isn’t one of his better tracks as he’s now 0-for-15 at it. But, Dixon is still +49 over second place in the standings, so he really only lost five points over the weekend.

That’s a win in his book.

Dixon, lucked out from Will Power’s crash on Friday night to earn a second straight runner-up at Iowa. On Saturday, he just kind of lurked around all night and came home a quiet fifth place.

He’s only led five laps since 2015 at Iowa and here he has five top eight finishes, four of those in the top five, in his last six Iowa starts.

Dixon, has three wins, a runner-up and now a fifth place finish in six starts this year. Next up is Mid-Ohio to where Dixon won at last year for his six win on the Ohio road course.

Pagenaud Comes From Last Both Nights To Score Top 5 Finishes In Each

Simon Pagenaud had a problem on his car before he rolled off pit lane to qualify on Friday evening. The even bigger problem was, qualifying on Friday set the lineup for both races this weekend. So, without ever turning a lap, he had to start last in both races.

That’s why it’s eye opening for Pagenaud to finish in the top five in both races when it was all said and done.

Pagenaud, came from 23rd to win Friday night’s Iowa 250. He came from there again on Saturday night and brought his No. 22 Chevrolet home fourth.

“It was a tough weekend but certainly a dramatic one,” Pagenaud said of his weekend. “We weren’t quite as hooked up today. Not sure why. I think we may have went the wrong way on a wrong adjustment on the first pit stop. From there, we had quick pit stops so we didn’t get to make any changes. Maybe we didn’t have the outright pace but overall, first and fourth, I’m pretty happy with the results.”

Pagenaud, notes how weekend’s like this one, show that he’s going to be a force to be reckoned with this season for the championship. He’s now 49 points out of the lead in second.

“It’s satisfaction from a preparation stand point,” Pagenaud continued. “We just showed everyone in the paddock that you have to count on us no matter what happens. That’s the mark of a championship team. That’s what you want to do. That’s what you want every weekend. You want everyone to feel you. I’m pretty sure they feared us today.”

Pagenaud, won the championship in 2016 and was second last year. He’s right there again within striking distance heading into a very important month of August with Mid-Ohio and Gateway with a double points Indy 500 sandwiched between them.

Harvey, Askew, Ericsson Quietly Shine Under The Lights This Weekend In Iowa

With so much attention of Team Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing this season, Jack Harvey, Oliver Askew and Marcus Ericsson quietly shined at Iowa.

All three came away with top 10’s in both races this weekend with Harvey finishing seventh on both nights. He’s had half as many top 10 finishes in 24 hours than he’s had the previous 23 races run in his career.

Harvey, qualified second at Indy and again the next Saturday in Road America. He’s also qualified ninth, ninth and sixth respectively in the last three races to show the pace is there in his No. 60 Honda.

It’s also there for Askew. He was third on Friday night for his first career podium. He was sixth on Saturday after leading 10 more laps for his third top 10 result of the season.

Finally, Ericsson is very quietly having a great year. He’s had a top 10 finish in all but one race now. The second year driver was ninth in both races this weekend to go along with being 10th and fourth respectively at Road America last week. He sits seventh in the points standings heading to August.

Andretti Autosport Still Struggling

In the early years of the NTT INDYCAR Series’ trips to Iowa, Andretti Autosport was the team to beat. In seven of the first nine years, they won the race outright.

Andretti also had 13 podiums and 688 laps led in that time frame too. But, over the last five years now (7 races), the team has led just 11 laps and taken one podium. They’re not even close any more.

Both races this weekend just further adds to their frustrations.

Colton Herta had a frightening crash on Friday night and a ton of oversteer in his car on Saturday. He’d finish 19th in both races.

Marco Andretti and Zach Veach both also had problems on their opening stops on Friday with issues with their clutches. They’d finish 22nd and 23rd in the race. Veach, was only 20th on Saturday with Andretti 10th.

Ryan Hunter-Reay was never a factor in 16th (-3 laps) on Friday night and for a second straight night, he crashed exiting pit lane, this time he couldn’t continue on. He’d finish 22nd. He’s finished 13th or worse in four of his last five races this season.

Alexander Rossi was their top finisher in sixth and eighth respectively this weekend.

Just three total top 10’s this weekend for this group. It’s a shame just how much they have fallen this year. The lack of practice and the additon of essentially six cars overall could be hampering their growth.

Top Stat

Chip Ganassi went 4-for-4 in victories to start this season. Penske now swept both races at Iowa for go 2-for-2.

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