Newgarden dominates but ends weekend in hospital
He didn’t take pole for either race in last weekend’s double-header at Iowa Speedway, but Josef Newgarden should have emerged with two wins. His imperiousness around the D-shaped 0.894-mile oval in Newton, Iowa, is legendary. He entered the weekend having led 1150 laps here, his closest rivals among active drivers being Will Power and Scott Dixon… on 131 and 130 respectively.
Newgarden pushed his Iowa tally up to 1506 laps across the two days, but took ‘only’ one win, a comprehensive rout of the opposition on Saturday – 208 of 250 laps led after passing pole-winning team-mate Power on lap 23 following a restart. The following day, Newgarden was set to achieve something similar in the longer 300-lap race, despite waiting a whole 83 laps to find a way around Power (polesitter again). But on his 235th lap, between Turns 3 and 4, something appeared to fail on the right rear suspension, and the #2 Team Penske Dallara-Chevrolet ‘squatted’ down, its left-front uselessly pawing the air, and the car snapped into a spin that sent it up the track, making heavy contact with the SAFER barrier on the outside of Turn 4.
Newgarden alighted from the car, looked winded
