One year ago, Josef Newgarden was in prime position to win at Iowa Speedway. Leading 229 laps, Newgarden's race all fell apart with around 100 laps to go. James Hinchcliffe would go onto win the race and Newgarden would settle for a fourth place finish.
"Last year I felt we had the car. It honestly fell apart with 100 laps to go" Newgarden said. "Why did it fall apart last year and how do we make it right again? I think we achieved that tonight."
Newgarden is no stranger to dominating races at the Iowa Speedway. In 2016, the Hendersonville, Tennessee driver lead 282 laps to score his first ever victory at the world's fastest short track. Newgarden got the lead shortly before a lap 51 rain delay and never looked back, finally redeeming himself for the disaster of last season's race.
However, Newgarden felt cheated in a different way as well. Following practice, he knew he had the pace for a pole winning qualfying run. The Team Penske driver would ultimately settle for third place, this left Newgarden short, and beyond frustrated.
"I was really a little bit frustrated yesterday just because I knew we had a pole-winning car, we didn't put it together," Newgarden said. "I'm very competitive, and I don't always show it, but you want to do well every session, every practice, every qualifying. You want to be the best. If you don't want that, then why are you here?"
Following the lackluster qualfying effort, the ensuing rain showers only served to amp up Newgarden even more. The driver of the No.2 Hitatchi Chevrolet was ready to get on the track and ready to lay it all on the line, despite nearly a three hour delay.
"I felt ready to rock. I just wanted to make amends for not getting the pole. The pole is not the most important thing," Newgarden said. "I kind of look at it like it's two races in the weekend. Qualifying is its own race and the race itself is its own race. The race specifically is more important. You want to win both."
"That's where that competitive spirit was. Yeah, I wanted to get it right tonight. That's when I really wanted to make it work." Newgarden added.
Newgarden has now stretched his championship lead back to 29 points over rival Alexander Rossi. The two drivers fought hard through the race, with the only exception being that Rossi was a lap down. Rossi had struggled during the early parts of the race before finding a late race groove and finishing in the top ten.
"Yeah, I was working on him. I think I overheated my tires a little bit trying to get by him," Newgarden said. "Then I was struggling for like five or six laps once I got by him. I was really struggling. He was coming back at me.
"Once I got through that overheating period, it was fine and we could move forward again. That's how this race is," Newgarden added "You got to really manage the cycle of the tires. They go through all these phases. You have one threat, you have to run a whole stint."
Newgarden will look to extend his points lead as the NTT Indycar Series thunder into Mid-Ohio on July 28th.
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