IndyCar Gateway: Josef Newgarden takes victory after a spin and controversial restart

Josef Newgarden of Team Penske wins at IndyCar’s Gateway return.

The Olympic break is over, and IndyCar has returned for its monthlong run to the season finale. Its post-break debut at Gateway was a true stunner.

Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden took victory after spinning while passing traffic, then leading the field to a controversial restart.

Josef Newgarden wins at Gateway

Team Penske secured a strong start as polesitter Scott McLaughlin ducked out for an early lead. Will Power soon bypassed Meyer Shank Racing’s David Malukas for second, and Josef Newgarden leapt to fourth.

Meanwhile, Colton Herta of Andretti Global carved through the field, passing a whopping six cars on the first lap alone — going four wide at one point.

On lap 8, the first caution of the race flew due to contact between the No. 20 of Ed Carpenter and the No. 51 of Katherine Legge. 

On lap 17, MSR’s Malukas pulled away followed by Power, but another caution flew as Conor Daly in the No. 78 Juncos Hollinger Racing car hit the wall. Andretti’s Kyle Kirkwood sustained damage in the aftermath. Rinus Veekay wiggled, Daly checked up, Kirkwood rear-ended Daly, and Romain Grosjean ran into the back of Kirkwood. 

Kirkwood and Grosjean pitted for repairs almost immediately. Grosjean returned to the track two laps down, and Daly one lap down.

When the green flew on lap 27, Malukas retained the lead he established before the caution only momentarily until he was passed by Will Power. Newgarden used McLaughlin’s draft to pull out of Pato O’Ward’s clutches; the front of the pack began to separate out into single file as drivers began saving fuel.

Unfortunately, Pato O’Ward faced a mechanical issue soon after; he was forced to pit and was pulled back to the garage, effectively ending his hopes for the championship.

The first round of pit stops kicked off on lap 58 with Ed Carpenter Racing’s Rinus Veekay and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Pietro Fititpaldi. More cars followed, with wing angle alterations pairing with four-tire changes.

However, several drivers including Scott Dixon and Alexander Rossi opted to stay out until lap 70 of 260, creating two distinct strategies.

Kyffin Simpson brought out the third yellow of the night on lap 86, resulting in a big strategy mix-up as drivers pitted for fuel in hopes of avoiding stops later.

Eleven laps later, the green flag flew again with Will Power in the lead. David Malukas in second spun his tires and lost a slot to Scott McLaughlin. Marcus Ericsson lost positions, as did Colton Herta. Nolan Siegel and Scott Dixon battled it out, the two on the same strategy. 

David Malukas kicked off another round of pit stops on lap 118; he was suffering clutch issues which was preventing him from saving fuel as aggressively as desired. Newgarden, Marcus Armstrong, Alex Palou, and Will Power all soon followed on later laps.

Here, the alternate strategy cycled to the front of the grid, with Marcus Ericsson leading the race, followed by Scott Dixon. Rookie Nolan Siegel, on the same strategy, began challenging Dixon for the lead after Ericsson lost positions.

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On lap 150, Ericsson suffered a frankly catastrophic pit stop; the crew appeared to be confused about what it was supposed to be doing. Ericsson was brought back into the pits with an overheating engine issue — a devastating issue for the best performing Andretti machine.

Meanwhile, Nolan Siegel and Santino Ferrucci both received drive-through penalties for speeding on the pit lane. As a result, Dixon inherited the lead within his strategy group.

On lap 165, Graham Rahal pulled into the pits to retire his car as well, facing mechanical problems. Five laps later, Sting Ray Robb cycled to the front of the pack as the likes of Newgarden, Power, and Malukas pitted. Robb pitted on lap 180, giving the lead back to McLaughlin.

On lap 189, Christian Lundgaard backed up Team Penske drivers McLaughlin and Newgarden, allowing the latter to make a run on the leader until McLaughlin was able to pass the lapped car. Newgarden and Power followed in passing Lundgaard, putting Team Penske 1-2-3.

McLaughlin and Newgarden diced into traffic on lap 196; Newgarden went high to try to follow McLaughlin through and lost control of his car. The American racer drifted and managed to regain control of his car — but the move effectively ruined Scott Dixon’s race. 

The No. 9 Chip Ganassi racing driver had just pitted when the yellow flew; he was then trapped two laps down for what would be a long yellow, as IndyCar race control deployed sweepers to clean up the top of the track.

Coming into lap 200, McLaughlin pulled into the pits, followed by Newgarden. Power remained on the track. 

The green flag waved coming into lap 206; Power got a clean jump on Malukas to retain his lead. Lapped traffic remained mixed into the field, providing plenty of obstacles for drivers like McLaughlin in third and Newgarden in fourth.

Malukas pulled into the pits on 218, followed a lap later by Will Power. McLaughlin once again moved into the lead, with a six-second gap on his No. 2 teammate in second. However, it quickly became clear that the two drivers would need to pit for fuel before the end of the race.

With 21 laps remaining, David Malukas returned to the track after a pit stop and kicked off a heated battle with Power. Malukas lost control after Power left him no room and crashed into the wall, bringing out yet another yellow flag — raising multiple questions about who would be able to make it to the end of the race, and who would be able to pit.

McLaughlin and Newgarden pulled into the pits with 18 laps remaining — kicking off a race between teammates. Both took used tires and a little splash of fuel; Newgarden returned to the track ahead of his teammate, and in the lead.

With 12 laps remaining, multiple other drivers pulled into the pits in order to make their best push for the win.

The race returned to green with nine laps left on the clock, with Newgarden and McLaughlin in 1-2 eager to win. 

Unfortunately, there was no time for the race to really kick off — Newgarden’s start was slow, which saw Alexander Rossi ride up the back of Will Power. Conor Daly was collected as Rossi’s machine pushed power into the pit lane wall.

Power had gotten on the throttle but realized he needed to check up to avoid hitting Herta. That left Rossi accelerating and checking up — and then hitting power.

Asked to assign blame, Power said, “Whoever was leading. He went, he stopped, he went, he stopped. As soon as I checked up, he checked up again, and I got pounded.”

The red flag waved with eight laps remaining as clean-up took place.

The field went green again with six full laps remaining on the clock, and Newgarden got a strong start this time. Rookie Linus Lundqvist made a strong pass on his teammate Palou to take fourth place, then pushed past Herta for third. 

Newgarden held the lead to the finish, followed by McLaughlin, Lundqvist, Herta, and Palou.

After the race, McLaughlin explained that he had a hybrid error at the final restart, which meant he was unable to get the power down as he would have wanted.

Newgarden thanked his Team Penske crew for the victory — his second of 2024, and his fifth at Gateway.

Herta was awarded a penalty for a harsh defense against Linus Lundqvist, promoting Palou to fourth.

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