Josef Newgarden’s third Texas Motor Speedway win was a classic. Yes, he led 123 of the 250 laps, but his victory wasn’t certain until the drop of the chequered flag. Or rather, the drop of the final yellow on lap 249, when the field was frozen and finished under its fifth caution. Had the race played out to the end, who knows whether the Penske driver could have held on to beat the man who led 91 laps and dominated much of the second half of the race: Pato O’Ward of Arrow McLaren?
In the final, frantic shootout, O’Ward, on three occasions, crossed the start/finish line ahead of his foe, swinging to the outside through the dog-leg of the front straight. Did Newgarden have a tactic for keeping his nosecone ahead for the crucial lap?
“I was watching the runs every lap, kind of trying to gauge what I needed to do, where I needed to be,” said the two-time champion, who has now racked up 26 victories. “I think the difference maker for our car was that it just had really good speed.
