It’s not often a driver is paid a cash bonus in Victory Lane, but this was no ordinary win for Josef Newgarden and Team Penske on Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway.
Newgarden rocketed his No. 2 Chevrolet past teammate Scott McLaughlin on the outside of turn 4 on the final lap and won a drag race to the checkered flag, hanging on for victory by .0669 of a second in the first oval race of the NTT IndyCar Series season.
The win was Team Penske’s 600th across all racing disciplines, and team owner Roger Penske was ecstatic to lay six crisp $100 bills on Newgarden’s palm in Victory Lane as a special bonus. Newgarden led just three of the 248 laps, while a dominant McLaughlin led 186 trips around the high-banked, 1.5-mile oval.
“Unbelievable,” Newgarden said. “I think Scott led 95 percent of the laps. I hate doing that to a teammate, but I was going for it, just like he was.
“Man, I was loose. I was driving the thing sideways off (turns) 3 and 4. I was trying to get a win. I’m just so pleased for everybody. Last lap, last corner – that’s what it’s all about at Texas.”
Marcus Ericsson finished third, 1.3537 seconds behind Newgarden. It was Ericsson’s career-best finish on an oval.
Will Power finished fourth, as Penske drivers earned three of the top four spots in the race. Team Penske also has won both races this season, as series points leader McLaughlin triumphed Feb. 27 in the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
Dixon finished fifth.
Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson achieved a career-best finish with ease by placing sixth in his first series oval race after starting 18th. Johnson’s previous best finish was 17th last year as a rookie, when he only raced on road and street courses.
“I hoped to qualify in the top 10 and race in the top 10,” Johnson said. “Missed the qualifying mark a bit, but once we hit the halfway point of the race, I really could sense and feel the car. It became second nature, and off I went. We knew going oval racing would help, and today got us into the competitive mix.”
McLaughlin, who started second next to pole sitter Felix Rosenqvist, grabbed the lead on lap 206 when rookie Callum Ilott pitted from the lead after trying to stretch fuel well beyond the normal pit cycles. McLaughlin put himself into position to inherit the lead a lap earlier by passing Rinus VeeKay Chevrolet for second in turn 1.
Newgarden, who started seventh, drove to second and pulled to within .462 of a second of McLaughlin with 25 laps to go. McLaughlin expanded that lead to .914 of a second with five laps remaining as both drivers diced through lapped traffic.
New Zealand native McLaughlin tried to manage the gap between his car and the slower cars ahead of Ilott and fellow rookie David Malukas as the final laps ticked down, and Newgarden pounced. The gap between the top two was .315 of a second at the white flag.
As McLaughlin slowed slightly with Malukas’ car ahead, Newgarden moved up half a lane in turns 3 and 4 and pulled outside of and even with McLaughlin exiting turn 4. The slingshot-like whip around the final corner gave Newgarden the momentum he needed to win the drag race to the finish line.
“I was livid in the car because we had all this traffic and it wasn’t helping me, and then right when I needed it to help me, it helped me,” Newgarden said. “Literally last corner, last lap, the traffic helped me out.”
“Second is a great day, but unfortunately, we made a little lapse and at the end of the day lost,” said McLaughlin. “If you’re going to lose to anyone, your teammate is the guy you want to lose it to. Gutted I couldn’t get it done for XPEL and Chevy. But at the end of the day, we’re there, and I learned a lot in the race that going to help us going in May to the Speedway.
“But I’m gutted. It still hurt. It’s how it is. But I’m pretty proud of how we’re running. My car wasn’t probably as good as it had been in traffic as it had been the whole race. I knew I was building push, I was building tightness. Once he (Newgarden) got on the outside there, I couldn’t come up above the line. I was stuck. I thought about going outside on Malukas there, but I was worried I would push up into the gray and into the fence. You’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t.”
Newgarden averaged 165.467 mph in a race slowed by four cautions for 52 laps.
NTT IndyCar Series
Texas Motor Speedway – Fort Worth, TX
XPEL 375 – March 20, 2022
1. (7) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 248, Running
2. (2) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 248, Running
3. (14) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 248, Running
4. (4) Will Power, Chevrolet, 248, Running
5. (5) Scott Dixon, Honda, 248, Running
6. (18) Jimmie Johnson, Honda, 248, Running
7. (11) Alex Palou, Honda, 248, Running
8. (15) Simon Pagenaud, Honda, 248, Running
9. (27) Santino Ferrucci, Honda, 248, Running
10. (8) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 248, Running
11. (19) David Malukas, Honda, 248, Running
12. (9) Colton Herta, Honda, 247, Running
13. (21) Ed Carpenter, Chevrolet, 247, Running
14. (25) JR Hildebrand, Chevrolet, 247, Running
15. (10) Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 247, Running
16. (20) Callum Ilott, Chevrolet, 247, Running
17. (22) Dalton Kellett, Chevrolet, 246, Running
18. (16) Conor Daly, Chevrolet, 245, Running
19. (24) Christian Lundgaard, Honda, 233, Contact
20. (3) Takuma Sato, Honda, 140, Contact
21. (1) Felix Rosenqvist, Chevrolet, 138, Mechanical
22. (26) Graham Rahal, Honda, 128, Contact
23. (6) Helio Castroneves, Honda, 128, Contact
24. (17) Devlin DeFrancesco, Honda, 128, Contact
25. (23) Kyle Kirkwood, Chevrolet, 113, Contact
26. (13) Romain Grosjean, Honda, 103, Mechanical
27. (12) Alexander Rossi, Honda, 11, Mechanical
Winner’s average speed: 165.467 mph
Time of Race: 2:09:29.7270 Margin of victory: 0.0669 of a second
Cautions: 4 for 52
Lead changes: 15 among 12 drivers
Lap Leaders: McLaughlin 1 – 56; Sato 57 – 61; Castroneves 62; Kirkwood 63 – 67; Hildebrand 68; McLaughlin 69 – 149; Newgarden 150 – 151; McLaughlin 152 – 158; VeeKay 159 – 163; Power 164 – 183; Ericsson 184 – 193; Carpenter 194 – 197; Malukas 198 – 200; Ilott 201 – 205; McLaughlin 206 – 247; Newgarden 248.
Point Standings: McLaughlin 97, Power 69, Palou 67, Newgarden 65, Ericsson 58, Dixon 55, Herta 50, VeeKay 50, Pagenaud 39, Johnson 35.