Josef Newgarden celebrates on the podium after winning Sunday’s NTT IndyCar Series race at Road America. Photo: Penske Entertainment: James Black
It’s safe to say Josef Newgarden feels like a million bucks after winning the Sonsio Grand Prix at Road America on Sunday.
Newgarden drove to his third victory of the NTT IndyCar Series season in the No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet and earned the $1 million PeopleReady Force for Good Challenge bonus. The Challenge rewards the first driver to win on all three types of circuits – road courses, street circuits and oval tracks – in 2022.
The $1 million is shared, with $500,000 going to Team Penske and Nashville-area native Newgarden and $500,000 donated to Newgarden’s chosen charities. Newgarden, who previously won this season on the Texas Motor Speedway oval and the Long Beach street circuit, selected two charities to split the $500,000 portion – SeriousFun Children’s Network and Wags and Walks Nashville.
“To finally get it done and most importantly to give that money to charity, half of that money is going to charity with SeriousFun Network and Wags and Walks Nashville,” Newgarden said. “I hope they’re happy about it. That’s a lot of money coming their way.
“You’ve got to be on your toes at all times (in this series). You can go in with a plan, but you probably have to change your plan 90 percent of the time once the race starts to unfold. To be able to hit all these disciplines with this team, for me it’s the best series in the world.”
Marcus Ericsson finished second, 3.3710 seconds behind Newgarden. It was Ericsson’s fourth consecutive top-seven finish, and he regained the series championship lead by 27 points over previous leader Will Power, who finished 19th.
Pole sitter Alexander Rossi finished third. A second consecutive podium result this month continued a strong surge for Rossi, who has three straight top-five finishes this season.
Romain Grosjean finished fourth, with teammate Colton Herta in fifth. Andretti Autosport placed three cars in the top five – Rossi, Grosjean and Herta.
Newgarden, who started second, prevailed despite two cautions in the last 10 laps of the race that evaporated his 2.8-second lead over Rossi.
The first restart, on lap 50, lasted less than half a lap because Helio Castroneves spun exiting the final turn on the uphill climb to the green flag. That bunched the field again on the 14-turn, 4.048-mile road course for a restart on lap 52, with Newgarden leading Rossi, Ericsson, Herta and Grosjean.
Newgarden rocketed away from the field on the second restart, just as he did the first. Those rapid restarts built too big of a gap for any challenges, helping Newgarden avoid a repeat of his heartache in last year’s race at Road America, when he lost the lead to Alex Palou due to a mechanical problem on a restart with two laps to go.
Newgarden led a race-high 26 of 55 laps, taking the top spot for good during rivals’ pit stops on lap 43.
“I was just trying to stay focused on what I had to do,” Newgarden said. “Just an unbelievable job by everybody at Team Penske.”
While Newgarden was locked into a winning groove over the last three laps, a mad scramble for the next four positions unfolded behind him.
Ericsson dove under Rossi in turn 1 on lap 53 after the restart to take second. Then Grosjean passed Herta for fourth place while crossing under the flag stand with the white flag unfurled to signal the final lap.
“I tried to be really aggressive on that last restart, and it cost us,” Rossi said. “But we were trying to win the race. But ultimately a good day. Josef certainly had a little better base than us, and it took us until the last stint to dial in the balance of the car.
“We were coming back on him pretty quickly. I don’t think we could have beat him, but all in all, it was a good day.”
The runner-up finish for Ericsson came despite contact with teammate and reigning series champion Palou while racing for third in turn 5 on lap 4. Palou finished 27th.
“First of all, I’m really sorry,” Ericsson said. “You never want to have contact with a teammate. From my point of view, the door was open, and I was already side by side. If you see a gap, you go for it. It’s important at the beginning of the race to get track position.
“It was a really good race, and we had a really strong weekend. Super happy with P2.”
NTT IndyCar Series
Road America – Elkhart Lake, WI
Sonsio Grand Prix At Road America – June 12, 2022
1. (2) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 55, Running
2. (4) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 55, Running
3. (1) Alexander Rossi, Honda, 55, Running
4. (6) Romain Grosjean, Honda, 55, Running
5. (11) Colton Herta, Honda, 55, Running
6. (7) Felix Rosenqvist, Chevrolet, 55, Running
7. (8) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 55, Running
8. (22) Graham Rahal, Honda, 55, Running
9. (9) Scott Dixon, Honda, 55, Running
10. (13) Christian Lundgaard, Honda, 55, Running
11. (12) Callum Ilott, Chevrolet, 55, Running
12. (10) Simon Pagenaud, Honda, 55, Running
13. (20) Jack Harvey, Honda, 55, Running
14. (18) Conor Daly, Chevrolet, 55, Running
15. (19) Takuma Sato, Honda, 55, Running
16. (14) David Malukas, Honda, 55, Running
17. (17) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 55, Running
18. (21) Devlin DeFrancesco, Honda, 55, Running
19. (15) Will Power, Chevrolet, 55, Running
20. (24) Kyle Kirkwood, Chevrolet, 55, Running
21. (27) Simona De Silvestro, Chevrolet, 55, Running
22. (16) Helio Castroneves, Honda, 55, Running
23. (23) Dalton Kellett, Chevrolet, 55, Running
24. (26) Jimmie Johnson, Honda, 54, Running
25. (25) Tatiana Calderon, Chevrolet, 54, Running
26. (5) Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 46, Mechanical
27. (3) Alex Palou, Honda, 36, Contact
Winner’s average speed: 117.174 mph Time of Race: 01:53:02.8097
Margin of victory: 3.3710 seconds
Cautions: 5 for 9 laps
Lead changes: 10 among 7 drivers
Lap Leaders: Rossi, Alexander 1-14; Ericsson, Marcus 15-16; Sato, Takuma 17; Rosenqvist, Felix 18-24; Newgarden, Josef 25-27; Rossi, Alexander 28-29; Grosjean, Romain 30; Lundgaard, Christian 31; Newgarden, Josef 32-41; Ericsson, Marcus 42; Newgarden, Josef 43-55.
Point Standings: Ericsson 293, Power 266, Newgarden 261, O’Ward 248, Palou 246, Dixon 224, Rossi 218, Rosenqvist 203, McLaughlin 199, Pagenaud 197.
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