Newgarden nabs it at the last gasp
In 2021, it took until the 10th race for Team Penske to score its first win of the season. Two races into 2022, and The Captain’s armada has yet to be beaten. And this latest victory, scored by 2017 and 2019 champion Josef Newgarden, was achieved in dramatic style, by passing his St Petersburg-winning team-mate Scott McLaughlin on the last turn of the final lap to win by 0.0669 seconds.
As Newgarden said, had his attempt on the high line failed, had his car slithered sideways into the wall, Penske was still going to triumph. And that was important, because this was Team Penske’s 600th victory across all disciplines.
As the defeated McLaughlin admitted, he was just a tad too tentative, but in fact he was being a touch too hard on himself. Yes, he could have gone two-wide to overtake the backmarker ahead and used up the two lanes, thereby leaving Newgarden short of options to make the winning pass, but by then his Chevrolet-powered car, which had led 186 of
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