Josef Newgarden had everything to leave Iowa as Indy's leader, but the wall had other plans. Five rounds to go, and absolutely nothing is decided
Josef Newgarden came out of Saturday's Indy race in Iowa great. He was extremely dominant, won the 24th of his career to prove that he is a master on short ovals, and had a script ready to be repeated on Sunday. And it ended up repeating itself for 234 laps. The American stayed on Will Power's tail at the start, made the right move at the right time, was leading comfortably and had everything to become the new championship leader.
However, fate had a different plan. Whether by mistake or car failure, the two-time champion made a rare mistake in the lead and crashed the #2 Penske into the wall with less than 70 laps to go. A big loss. If he woke up on Sunday with 15 points behind Ericsson, he sees the disadvantage increase by another 19.
Is there room to recover? Of course there is. Who doesn't remember Álex Palou regaining the lead in 2021 after the engine blowout in Indianapolis and the crash at Gateway? The thing is, Palou always drew attention last season for his regularity and timely wins. Josef wins, but is not regular. Not counting the times he triumphed, he didn't even get on the podium in 2022.
And let's have some psychology for Josef to deal with so many blows that prevent the three-time championship. In 2020, he had an irregular start and saw Scott Dixon shoot to the top. In 2021, two consecutive races lost in the final laps. And now, practically in his playground, he sees more points going away.
Who had nothing to do with it and comes out with a well-deserved victory is Pato O'Ward. Living a fast since Alabama, the Mexican didn't deserve to be only fifth in the classification. He has had a good season, but McLaren's reliability problems have left him behind. However, he is only 36 points behind the leader Marcus Ericsson. The pulse is still beating.
"I'm very excited, very happy, we knew we had a good car, so it was just about capitalizing and being there at the right time. The team did a great job to pick the moments to go into the pits and it was very enjoyable. It was a great weekend," concluded the Mexican, who finished the first race on Saturday in the second position.
Now, Indy enters its final straight. There will be 5 races, with 1 street race and 1 oval. Marcus Ericsson maintains the level of consistency to stay first, but has a Will Power just as consistent and with higher flights. Newgarden, Dixon and O'Ward still dream, but each with different equipment, moment and motivations. The next stop is Indianapolis, and the balance promises to continue.