O’Ward Takes Race 2 at Iowa, Disaster for Newgarden

Pato O’Ward took the win in the Hy-Vee Salute to Farmers 300 on Sunday, running up front all day long before Josef Newgarden suffered a mechanical issue, sending him into the turn 4 wall and promoting O’Ward to the race lead. O’Ward moves up to fifth in points with Newgarden finishing 24th and dropping to 4th in points after the race. The podium was rounded out by polesitter Will Power, who moved up to second in points, and Penske teammate Scott McLaughlin. Scott Dixon finished fourth, tied with Newgarden in the points, with Ganassi teammate Jimmie Johnson coming up in fifth.

Before his crash on lap 235, Newgarden was the points leader, and after his crash he fell to third in points, ahead of Dixon on a tiebreaker for wins. Points leader Marcus Ericsson saw his lead shorten even though Newgarden crashed, as Will Power moved to 8 points behind.