O’Ward flips INDYCAR script vs. Newgarden with win at Iowa Speedway
Pato O’Ward celebrates after winning the Synk 275 powered by Sukup NTT IndyCar Series race Saturday at Iowa Speedway. Photo by Joe Skibinski
By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio
Dust off the Victory Lane sombrero!
Native Mexican Pato O’Ward “got creative” in his battle of wills-and-wits with INDYCAR ovalmeister Josef Newgarden Saturday at Iowa Speedway en route to victory in the Synk 275 powered by Sukup. O’Ward punctuated his 100th career NTT IndyCar Series start with a pair of late-race restarts during the final 14 laps to record the first win of the 2025 season for himself, Arrow McLaren and Team Chevy.
Pato O’Ward – Synk 275 Powered By Sukup – Photo by Joe Skibinski
“Yeah, for my race, I started getting creative,” said O’Ward, a 26-year-old native of Monterrey, Mexico, with family ties to San Antonio, Texas. “Josef is the master at these races – he rules around here, so I knew that we had to be spot-on. We’ve had so many duels, Josef and I, but he has a percentage that comes out on top more. Today is the day that changes.”
O’Ward’s pit crew turned in a quicker final pit stop than Team Penske’s aces to overtake Newgarden, who had led the race’s first 232 laps and seemed on his way to a record-extending seventh win in bucolic Newton, Iowa. Following a red flag stoppage to repair the track’s Turn 4 SAFER Barrier, O’Ward kept Newgarden behind him on restarts with 14 and nine laps remaining.
Josef Newgarden – Synk 275 Powered By Sukup – Photo by Chris Owens
O’Ward’s margin of victory in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet was 0.2352-seconds, the closest Iowa finish since 2007 when Scotsman Dario Franchitti edged Marco Andretti by 0.0861-seconds.
In oval races where Newgarden and O’Ward have finished first-and-second, O’Ward most recently prevailed over Newgarden in 2021 on Texas Motor Speedway’s high-banked/1.5-mile oval in Fort Worth. O’Ward had finished second to Newgarden in four subsequent oval races since that Sunday at “The Great American Speedway” in Cowtown.
Newgarden’s signature win against O’Ward remains the 2024 Indianapolis 500, when Josef passed Pato on the 200th and final lap around the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Pato O’Ward – Synk 275 Powered By Sukup – Photo by Chris Owens
SEE: Race Results
Coincidentally, O’Ward scored his first victory on Iowa Speedway’s 0.894-mile, short-track in 2022 in his 50th series start. That day, O’Ward also had Team Penske drivers filling his mirrors – Australian Will Power followed by Scott McLaughlin of New Zealand. Saturday, O’Ward led Newgarden, Power and McLaughlin, respectively, across the finish line.
In doing so, O’Ward denied Team Penske its first win of the year. One of the three Penske drivers had won eight of the past nine series races at Iowa, including double-header sweeps each of the past two years. McLaughlin put on an inspired display Saturday, charging from the 27th/last starting position after crashing in qualifying during the morning practice.
Pato O’Ward – Synk 275 Powered By Sukup – Photo by Chris Owens
Still, this race was all about the latest chapter in Pato vs. Josef.
“I mean, he’s the guy that I’ve been most around, especially to win races,” said O’Ward, who led 33 of 257 laps en route to his eighth series win. “If it wasn’t for him, I would have a lot more wins. But he’s a tough competitor. I think this year for him has been quite different to what it’s been in the past. I see him very differently, to be honest, like his attitude and everything is definitely not the Josef that I’ve always praised, I would say.
Pato O’Ward – Synk 275 Powered By Sukup – Photo by Joe Skibinski
“But I’ve studied him. I know how to race him. He gets what he gives. If he was flirting with fire there, then that’s what he got. And that’s what I was going to give him because you get to these points in your career, and for me especially today when I was behind him, I said, ‘Today is the day that’s going to change’ because obviously he’s got a lot more experience than I do. But I think over the years I’ve grown to realize that I’m pretty handy, at least in certain ovals, and I believe our package is very strong, and it’s important to capitalize when we can get those wins.
Pato O’Ward – Synk 275 Powered By Sukup – Photo by Joe Skibinski
“I knew I had all the pieces in place to outright beat him at his own game. Yeah, that’s what we did today, and it obviously is a great feeling to go into (today’s race) and know that we’ve got a car that we can fight our way forward and battle our way and see what we can make happen.”
O’Ward and the Penske teammates delivered Chevrolet its best result of the season in its corporate rivalry with Honda Racing, finishing 1-2-3-4 and winning the first time this year.
In addition, former series champion Tony Kanaan celebrated his first victory as Team Principal of Arrow McLaren.
Josef Newgarden, Pato O’Ward and Will Power – Synk 275 Powered By Sukup – Photo by Chris Owens
“Oh, it means a lot to me,” said Kanaan, the popular Brazilian who won the INDYCAR championship in 2004 and the 2013 Indianapolis 500. “This kid (O’Ward) is unbelievable. I’ve been a fan of Pato even before I was here. We’ve been through quite a bit in the past three years and I’m a big supporter. We’re here to win, and he has this team around him, and he delivers when it needs to be delivered. Glad that I’m part of this.
“I mean, as a team, we’re chasing a championship but also we get so much support from Chevy that it was not getting any easier for us every race to have a Honda win. For me, it was a matter of we’ve got to do it. Obviously, I wanted a Chevy to win. Most likely I want us to win. It came down to that. I think the series needed this as far as (Alex) Palou is doing a great job, but we wanted to break that.”
Alex Palou – Synk 275 Powered By Sukup – Photo by Joe Skibinski
Palou, the three-time/reigning series champion from Spain, had won six of the series’ first nine races for Chip Ganassi Racing with Honda power. Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood (three wins) and six-time series champion Scott Dixon of CGR and New Zealand (one win) had dominated the first 10 races.
The dash to the finish Saturday was set into motion by the aforementioned Turn 4 accident involving O’Ward’s teammate, Nolan Siegel. After running in the top-10 most of the race, Siegel spun backward into the wall, contact that damaged the energy-absorbing SAFER Barrier. INDYCAR issued a red-flag stoppage to preserve the remaining few laps as workers patched the wall.
O’Ward got a noticeable jump on Newgarden on the ensuing restart, but PREMA Racing’s Callum Ilott of Great Britain drifted high on that lap and brushed the Turn 1 wall. Ilott was able to return to the pits without much trouble and the race restarted with nine laps remaining.
Josef Newgarden – Synk 275 Powered By Sukup – Photo by Chris Owens
Newgarden got a better run on O’Ward on that try, but on the second time around Josef’s No. 2 Astemo Team Penske Chevrolet wiggled momentarily in Turn 1. O’Ward was able to slip further away, eating up laps that would have been valuable to Newgarden’s bid.
“O’Ward got track position and that was game-over. It was as simple as that,” Newgarden said, tersely, after leading more than 100 laps for the 14th time in his career and 10th time at Iowa Speedway. “I mean, he pushed me up in (Turn) 3 in the restart when I had a good run. You’re going for the win, so I almost…I can’t fault him. But with this package I was flat-out. Couldn’t do anything different. He got position, and that was that.”
Alex Palou – Synk 275 Powered By Sukup – Photo by Joe Skibinski
Trailing the Penske cars to the finish in fifth was Chip Ganassi Racing’s Palou, the series’ runaway point-leader. Palou, driver of the No. 10 DHL Honda, lost seven points off his lead as O’Ward jumped into second in the standings, albeit 106-points behind with six races to go.
O’Ward said his “creativity” is the by-product of his multiple battles with Newgarden, a two-time series champion for team-owner Roger S. Penske.
“They’re just such long races,” O’Ward said during his post-race presser. “There’s time to get your car in the window, start getting creative on where you want to place it. So yeah, we got moving in that second restart, and as soon as I got to Josef, he’s one of the guys that when you’re behind him, he tries to outsmart you, definitely. He’s been running ovals for more than I’ve been in the series. That experience only comes with laps and he’s also very strong here, so I knew that we had to be perfect.
“We capitalized on that in-lap. I think I went a little bit over the limit and risked a bit more than I was planning to, but it actually worked out because he was right on our gearbox on (Turns) 3 and 4 when we came out. Yeah, great pit stop. Did my job to secure us that overcut and that’s pretty much what gave us the win today.”
Kyle Kirkwood – Synk 275 Powered By Sukup – Photo by Aaron Skillman
Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood took a big hit in both the race and in points when his No. 27 Sukup Honda veered hard into the Turn 1 wall on Lap 153. An issue with the right-front corner of the car appeared to cause the excursion. That was the native Floridian’s second accident of the day, as he crashed at the other end of the track after appearing to get too low in Turn 3.
Kirkwood not only lost a standings position to O’Ward, but Palou also pulled away by another 27 points, putting the season’s three-time winner 140 points in arrears.
On the race’s 75th lap, series rookie Jacob Abel saw his No. 51 Abel Construction Honda drift high in Turn 2, where he, too, hit the wall. Neither he nor Kirkwood was injured.
Second half of the weekend double-header will be staged today with the Farm to Finish 275 powered by Sukup. Broadcast coverage of the 275-lap/245.85-miler will begin at 1 p.m. (EDT) on FOX, the FOX Sports app and the INDYCAR Radio Network.
Nolan Siegel – Synk 275 Powered By Sukup – Photo by Joe Skibinski
Arrow McLaren’s Nolan Siegel will not compete in today’s Farm to Finish 275. Following an on-track incident on Lap 248 during Saturday’s race at Iowa Speedway, Siegel was not cleared to compete by the INDYCAR Medical Team.
In addition, Arrow McLaren management made the decision to park the No. 6 NTT DATA Arrow Chevrolet.
“There’s no place I’d rather be than out there driving today, especially from P5, one of my best starting positions of the season,” said Siegel, a 20-year-old native of Palo Alto, Calif. “I know I’m in good hands with the INDYCAR Medical Team and thank them for the great care they provide us drivers. Most of all, I feel for the No. 6 car crew. They gave me a rocket this weekend and put in a ton of work last night with hopes we’d be racing today. They deserve to be out there fighting for podium, and we’ll be back soon to do just that.”
Team Principal Tony Kanaan, a former INDYCAR champion, said Siegel is experiencing “the worst feeling in the world. The most important thing, though, is that he’s fit to race, and unfortunately that’s not the case today.
“It was a tough decision to park the car, but we’ve been through this before. We just found out this morning he’s not cleared, and we decided the best thing for the team is to not rush into switching drivers this weekend. It’s too much of a shuffle and unnecessary stress when we’re right back to racing in Toronto in a week. After today, we’ll have to make a contingency plan in case Nolan’s not cleared to race in Toronto.”
Myles Rowe – INDY NXT By Firestone at Iowa Speedway – Photo by Travis Hinkle
Myles Rowe celebrated an historic INDY NXT by Firestone victory Saturday at Iowa Speedway _ and then politely took a bow. Rowe completed a stirring, late-race pass for the lead and then held on to become the first African-American driver to win a series race. Rowe’s margin of victory at the finish was 1.3927-seconds.
SEE: Race Results
This is the second season in INDYCAR’s developmental series for the 25-year-old Georgia native who resides in New York. Rowe’s open-wheel credentials include the 2023 USF Pro 2000 Championship.
“I’m super-proud to be able to represent and be winning now and be up-front,” Rowe said after driving the No. 99 Abel/Force Indy entry into Victory Lane. “It’s super-crucial to be able to see somebody that looks like you doing well, someone to look up to. Especially when you’re younger, things are a lot bigger and seem a lot more unfeasible, especially motorsports-related.
Myles Rowe – INDY NXT By Firestone at Iowa Speedway – Photo by Aaron Skillman
“We’ve been working every minute for this, and we knew we had the pace. It was about waiting for the last half of the race and seeing what we could do with it.”
Fourteen laps from the finish, Rowe drove around series point-leader Dennis Hauger on the outside in Turn 4 as they came upon lapped traffic. Rowe’s experience paid off as Hauger, a series rookie from Norway, was competing in just his second oval race.
“We don’t stop here. I’m looking for a lot more than this,” said Rowe, who is fourth in the standings. “But I’m glad we could get this (win), for sure.”
The race featured 130 on-track passes and 55 passes for position, both figures ranking in the top three of INDY NXT by Firestone races staged on Iowa Speedway’s short-track.
Hauger’s strong run in Andretti Global’s No. 28 Nammo machine helped extend his series lead to 73 points over teammate Lochie Hughes of Australia, a rookie driving the No. 26 McGinley Clinic/USF Pro Championship entry. Hughes finished 16th in the 19-car race after being penalized for a Lap 3 incident involving Rowe.
Hughes, winner of last month’s oval event at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Ill., was trying to hold off Rowe for second place when Rowe moved to the inside on the backstretch. Their cars touched, with Hughes’ left rear tire taking a brush from Rowe’s front wing. Race control deemed that Hughes had moved defensively, drawing a drive-through penalty that dropped him down a lap to the field.
Andretti Global’s Salvador de Alba of Mexico, who had turned the fastest lap in Friday’s practice, finished third in the No. 27 Grupo Indi entry.
Several drivers experienced spins off Turn 4 without contact. HMD Motorsports’ Josh Pierson tried to take the high line around teammate Caio Collet of Brazil for third place on Lap 26, but lost the back end of the car. On the ensuing restarts, American-Ecuadorian Juan Manuel Correa of HMD Motorsports and Mexico’s Ricardo Escotto of Andretti-Cape Motorsport spun on Lap 30 while Davey Hamilton Jr. of HMD Motorsports did the same on Lap 34.
The series will resume at the end of the month when a double-header is staged at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in California on Saturday, July 26, and Sunday, July 27. Those represent the 10th and 11th races of the 14-event schedule.
FOX SPORTS’ 2025 NTT INDYCAR SERIES BROADCAST COVERAGE SCHEDULE
Sunday, March 2 _ Streets of St. Petersburg, Fla. (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)
Sunday, March 23 _The Thermal Club, Thermal, Calif. (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)
Sunday, April 13 _ Streets of Long Beach, Calif. (Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global)
Sunday, May 4 _ Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Ala. (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)
Saturday, May 10 _ Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)
Sunday, May 25 _ Indianapolis Motor Speedway Oval (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)
Sunday, June 1 _ Streets of Detroit (Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global)
Sunday, June 15 _ World Wide Technology Raceway, Madison, Ill. (Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global)
Sunday, June 22 _ Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis. (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)
Sunday, July 6 _ Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington (Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing)
Saturday, July 12 _ Iowa Speedway, Newton, Race 1 (Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren)
Sunday, July 13 _ Iowa Speedway, Newton, Race 2 (FOX, 1 p.m.)
Sunday, July 20 _ Streets of Toronto, Canada (FOX, noon)
Sunday, July 27 _ WeatherTech Raceway, Laguna Seca, Monterey, Calif. (FOX, 3 p.m.)
Sunday, Aug. 10 _ Portland (Ore.) International Raceway (FOX, 3 p.m.)
Sunday, Aug. 24 _ The Milwaukee Mile, West Allis, Wis. (FOX, 2 p.m.)
Sunday, Aug. 31 _ Nashville Superspeedway, Lebanon, Tenn. (2:30 p.m.)
NOTE _ All times Eastern. Dates and times subject to change.
