IndyCar | Race 1 | Iowa | O'Ward fends off long time leader Newgarden to take victory - Motorsport

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The first race of a IndyCar doubleheader at Iowa Speedway is in the books, view the full race 1 report and results below. Josef Newgarden started on pole, with teammate Scott McLaughlin at the back after crashing in qualifying. Luckily for the Kiwi Team Penske did a superb job to get his car ready in time.

Instant caution

As the green flag was waved, Colton Herta spun as he got below the white line. The caution was straight out. It dropped him to P27 and last.

When the race properly got going, Palou and Siegel overtook Rosenqvist and Power for P3 and P7 respectively.

From the back, Scott McLaughlin quickly worked his way up to 22nd by lap 15 as he dispatched of four cars.

Before catching the tailenders, Newgarden eased out to a 1.2s lead over Daly, with Palou closely following the JHR driver.

Down near the back, McLaughlin continued to charge through the field as he passed DeFrancesco, Lundgaard, Shwartzman, Rahal and Kirkwood to be 17th by lap 35.

Into turn 3, Christian Rasmussen had a massive slide and somehow saved it.

On lap 39, Pato O’Ward cleared Felix Rosenqvist for P4 as the front runners got into heavy traffic. The Swede started to struggle and lost more spots to Dixon, Siegel and Power to tumble to P8 by lap 45.

The Team Penske express continued apace as McLaughlin overtook Ilott for P15 on lap 58. That meant he was up 12 spots. Ten laps later he cleared Ericsson for P14.

Second caution as Jacob Abel crashes

A caution was thrown on lap 75 as Jacob Abel crashed in turn 2. He got high into the marbles and clouted the wall. Christian Rasmussen somehow avoided his broken car.

Everyone came in under caution. Newgarden maintained his lead, with Palou, Dixon, O’Ward and Power jumping Daly through that sequence. JHR had a slow stop as the left rear took a while to get on.

The Kiwi also got ahead of the Mexican who he was behind in the first stint. Armstrong, Siegel, Ferrucci and Rosenqvist completed the top 10. Scott McLaughlin remained in P14.

On the restart, Daly and O’Ward went on the rampage. Daly cleared Power initially, and then he followed O’Ward through when the Mexican overtook Dixon and Palou in quick succession.

The moves continued as Power overtook Dixon for 5th, with McLaughlin passing Ericsson once again, this time for P13.

On lap 100/275, Newgarden led O’Ward, Daly, Palou, Power, Dixon, Siegel, Armstrong, Ferrucci and Rosenqvist.

There was a hairy moment in the battle for P15 as Callum Ilott and Christian Rasmussen touched heading towards turn 3. The Dane’s front wing made light contact with the back of the PREMA as the Brit drifted down. Both drivers soon cleared Ericsson for P14 and P15.

Championship contender crashes out

A truly terrible day for Kyle Kirkwood came to an end on lap 152 as he crashed out of P18. He had a right front tyre failure and found himself in the barriers at turn 2. It followed a similar story for Christian Rasmussen in testing who had a tyre failure, with Firestone bringing a different tyre to the event.

Once again in the pit cycle, Palou gained a spot. He jumped Daly for P3. Siegel got the jump on Dixon for P6, too. Meanwhile Scott McLaughlin made up two spots to be 11th.

Newgarden, O’Ward, Palou, Daly, Power, Siegel, Dixon, Armstrong, Ferrucci and Foster was the top 10 before the restart. Felix Rosenqvist was all the way back down to 14th.

With the track clean, it was action all the way on the restart. Siegel cleared Power, with Ferrucci sweeping around the outside of Dixon. Rasmussen overtook Foster and McLaughlin to move into the top 10.

Felix Rosenqvist continued to plummet, falling to 18th with 105 laps remaining.

Power, McLaughlin and Rasmussen go on the charge

Power went on a small charge, passing Siegel and Daly to move into 4th. His teammate Scott McLaughlin kept his charge going, passing Foster for P11 with a brilliantly brave move in turn 4.

Rasmussen and McLaughlin then started working their way through together as they both overtook Dixon and Armstrong to move up to 8th and 9th.

The ECR driver continued his charge like at Gateway, quickly clearing Ferrucci and Siegel to be 6th with 75 laps to go. McLaughlin also passed the AJ Foyt racer.

On lap 217, Will Power overtook Alex Palou into turn 3 for P3. It was a pass that had been coming for a while. McLaughlin would continue the Penske show as he passed Siegel for 7th.

In late stint pace, Conor Daly struggled. Rasmussen and McLaughlin overtook him as he fell to P7. The Kiwi then overtook the Dane for 5th as he gained 22 spots to that point.

Pato O’Ward jumps Josef Newgarden

With 42 laps to go race leader Josef Newgarden boxed, meaning someone else finally led the race. However, O’Ward boxed a lap later. A great in lap by the Mexican was absolutely massive as he got the jump on the Penske for the net lead. Unfortunately for Newgarden, a very small issue on the left front was super costly.

Behind them, Power, McLaughlin and Palou completed the top 5 as the Spaniard extended his stint.

Nolan Siegel the latest to hit the barriers as a red flag appears

Running in 8th, Nolan Siegel crashed at turn 4 to bring out the caution with 27 laps to go. He lost the rear and that took the full impact as he clouted the safer barrier hard. He was slightly limping after jumping out of the car.

A red flag had to be thrown for repairs to the wall where the Arrow McLaren driver crashed. In that period before the red flag was eventually thrown, Alex Rossi boxed with an engine issue.

O’Ward, Newgarden, Power, McLaughlin, Palou, Rasmussen, Ferrucci, Daly, Armstrong and Rahal was the top 10 on the restart.

Ilott the latest to crash

It was a brief return to action. After Rasmussen passed Alex Palou into turn 2 for 5th, Callum Ilott carried too much speed, got high and hit the wall, damaging his rear wing. The race resumed again with ten to go.

On the restart, Palou took 5th back from Rasmussen, with Daly getting Ferrucci for P7.

Out front, O’Ward fended off relentless pressure from Newgarden to take his, McLaren’s and Chevrolet’s first IndyCar win of 2025. Power and the magnificent McLaughlin completed a 1-2-3-4 for Chevy. Despite continuing their winless run, it was a good day for Team Penske.

Behind them, Palou bagged more big points as his march toward the title continues. Rasmussen, Daly, Ferrucci, Armstrong and Dixon completed the top 10.