Last-turn pass gives Newgarden IndyCar win at Texas

American driver Josef Newgarden crosses the finish line ahead of New Zealand's Scott McLau
AFP

American Josef Newgarden passed New Zealand teammate Scott McLaughlin on the final turn to win the IndyCar XPEL 375 by 0.669 of a second on Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway.

The dramatic victory brought IndyCar series owner Roger Penske’s racing team a 600th all-time victory across all programs.

McLaughlin led for 186 of the 248 laps over the 1.5-mile oval at Fort Worth and seized the lead with 43 laps remaining, then kept it until coming upon slower traffic in the last two laps and being passed on the outside at the end by Newgarden.

“Oh my gosh. I was fuming in the car,” Newgarden said. “We had all this traffic and it wasn’t helping me and then finally the last turn on the last lap it helped me.

“I was driving things loose, driving sideways off (turns) three and four. It was unbelievable. I hated doing that to a teammate.

“Last lap, last corner — that’s what it’s all about at Texas.”

McLaughlin, who won last month’s season opener at St. Petersburg and leads in the points chase by 28 after two events, hugged Penske teammate Newgarden and said, “Well done, bruh. I had no tires left.”

It was Newgarden’s 21st career IndyCar triumph and marked his eighth consecutive season with at least one triumph in the series.

McLaughlin started on the outside of the front row and seized the lead by passing Swedish pole sitter Felix Rosenqvist on the last turn of the first lap.

The 28-year-old Kiwi, a long-time star in Australian Supercars, kept the edge through the first two pit stop rotations and two restart crashes.

Newgarden passed McLaughlin on a restart with 100 laps remaining but McLaughlin, Dutchman Rinus Veekay and Australian Will Power passed back on lap 153 and each took a turn in the lead until the Kiwi racer made the penultimate pass for the lead on lap 205.

Sweden’s Marcus Ericsson finished third.

Former US stock car oval star Jimmie Johnson was sixth with his best IndyCar finish in his first series oval start.

Britain’s Jack Harvey, set to start 24th in a field of 27, was not medically cleared to race after a practice crash Saturday and was replaced for the race by American Santino Ferrucci.

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