ELKHART LAKE, Wis. – Josef Newgarden claimed a $1 million bonus Sunday for his win at Road America, where his third win of the season completed a trio of wins on IndyCar’s various circuits.
Newgarden won the Texas track and Long Beach track this season, and headed to Road America in search of a track victory that would make him the first IndyCar driver of the season. This tournament was won in all three rounds.
The reward is a $1 million payout from The PeopleReady Force for Good Challenge, which splits the reward between Team Penske and charities selected by Newgarden. Americans chose Wags and Walks by Nashville Children’s Network and SeriousFun. It was the first year of the challenge and pre-declared half-way of the IndyCar season; Newgarden is the only driver with multiple wins across eight of 17 races.
Newgarden beat winner Indianapolis 500 Marcus Ericsson of Chip Ganassi Racing 3,371 seconds after two late restarts, but Ericsson regained the lead with a runner-up.
Alexander Rossidriver Andretti Autosport, who started on the pole in search of his first win in three years, finished third and was followed by his teammates Romain Grosjean and Colton Herta.
Chevrolet won the race against Newgarden, but Honda took the next four places. Felix Rosenqvist by Arrow McLaren SP and Scott McLaughlin Penske’s is Friday and Saturday for Chevy.
Newgarden led Rossi by 2.8 seconds when Pato O’WardEngine’s failed with six laps left to set up the first late restart. afterward Helio Castroneves spin for another alert.
Newgarden had a great jump with Rossi in both the late reboots and never looked back.
Rossi had his first duel with Ericsson, and then with his teammates, as his losing streak stretched to 45 laps. His pole run on Saturday was his first in three years.
Newgarden won for the second time at Road America, but he was aiming for victory a year ago until his gearbox failed in the final laps and it delivered the victory for the defending champion. enemy IndyCar Alex Palou.
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Palou’s chances of defending last year’s win were almost instantly destroyed by an early clash with Ganassi’s teammate Ericsson. As Ericsson entered the Palou, the Swede’s right rear end made contact with the left front left side of the Palou, and the Spaniard veered off course.
“He’s trying to win the race in the third lap,” Palou said. “The car broke down. That’s it. Game over.”
Spirit, meanwhile, fell from the lead on IndyCar because of his own early crashes. A poor attempt in the qualifiers put Power in 15th at the start and he was attacked from behind by the rookie Devlin DeFranceco just eight laps in the race. Power finished in 19th place.
DeFranceco received a penalty for a foul to avoid collision, and Power dropped to second in the standings, 27 points behind Ericsson.
O’Ward’s engine failure sent him from third to fourth in the standings; Palou dropped from Wednesday to Thursday. Meanwhile, a win for Newgarden took him from fifth to third in points.
EARLY SPEED JIMMIE
Seven-time NASCAR Champion Jimmie Johnson had a frustrating day because of contact with Tatiana Calderon on the back of the package on the first ring. Johnson was on track to bring back the full color yellow. He finished 24th.
Calderon was in the field with Simona de Silvestro, marking the first time an IndyCar event has featured two female drivers since de Silvestro and Pippa Mann entered the 2015 Indianapolis 500.
NEXT
There’s a two-week break in the IndyCar schedule ahead of the July 3 race at Mid-Ohio in Lexington, Ohio. Newgarden won at Mid-Ohio last year.
