Josef Newgarden surged late and pulled off a remarkable drive to win the Good Ranchers 250 at Phoenix Raceway.
The Tennessee native was 10th on a late restart with fresh tires on his #2 Team Penske Chevrolet, but charged through the field and took the lead with seven laps to go to take victory, the 33rd of his IndyCar Series career. In the end, he beat Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood by 1.77937s on the 1-mile tri-oval.
Pole-sitter David Malukas, Newgarden’s teammate, was third to take the final spot on the podium.
Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward finished fourth, ahead of Meyer Shank Racing’s Marcus Armstrong.
The Race
Malukas was able to jump out to a solid lead at the start, pulling a gap of almost 2s on teammate Newgarden after just 10 laps.
Moments later, though, the first caution waved after Dale Coyne Racing’s Dennis Hauger spun off Turn 2. Fortunately, the ‘Norwegian Nightmare’ kept it off the wall and then proceeded to drive backwards down the straightaway before whipping his #19 Honda back around in Turn 3 and continue on.
Although Malukas got a clean getaway on the Lap 19 restart, it became tense just behind.
Graham Rahal propelled his #15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda back around Alex Palou #10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda for third. Then, shortly after, Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Rinus VeeKay attempted an outside pass on Palou going through the dogleg, but the two came together and it led to the reigning and four-time series champion retiring out of the race in his 100th start after just 22 laps.
Malukas held the top spot in the approach to the pit cycle, making his first stop on Lap 73. After exiting the pits, though, he was thrust into a tense wheel-to-wheel battle with Newgarden, with the teammates even making contact briefly before the latter eventually pushed ahead.
It was O’Ward, though, who pitted on Lap 68, that ended up ahead courtesy of the undercut on strategy and cycled to the lead.
Pit stop botched! Mick Schumacher loses lead lap in Phoenix
Photo by: Penske Entertainment
Rasmussen then came onto the scene with a strong charge, vaulting to second and then to the lead with an outside pass through the dogleg on Lap 109. O’Ward pitted 10 laps later.
The second caution came out on Lap 142 after Louis Foster’s #45 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda scrubbed the wall. Kirkwood cycled to the lead as Rasmussen pitted, along with Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon.
Kirkwood took the restart on laps that were 25 laps older, along with teammate Will Power, who were 1-2 on the Lap 155 restart. The Andretti duo held firm for several laps until Rasmussen took the lead on Lap 191. Following another cycle of pit stops, Power found the lead six laps later and was thrust into a fight with Rasmussen.
With the fight on, the two rolled around as Power tried to keep Rasmussen behind. On Lap 206, Power and Rasmussen collided. Power’s #26 Andretti Global Honda drifted high on the exit of Turn 2 but found the left-front of Rasmussen’s #21 ECR Chevrolet. The contact left Power with a flat tire, and Rasmussen saying “something doesn’t feel right” over the radio as the caution came out once more.
Despite the concerns over damage, Rasmussen stayed out, ahead of O’Ward and Kirkwood.
O’Ward opted to pit, along with Newgarden, while Rasmussen stayed out as did Kirkwood. The restart was on Lap 218, which saw Rasmussen get away clean from Kirkwood, while O’Ward and Newgarden began to carve through the field from ninth and 10th.
O’Ward’s climb was stunted as he broke into the top five, but Newgarden fought through and managed to get up to the top three with 10 laps remaining.
Kirkwood got around the battered race car of Rasmussen with eight laps to go, but then lost the lead a lap later to the surging Newgarden.
Despite an admirable fight, Rasmussen was unable to hold pace and fell down the running order to finish 14th. Meanwhile, Newgarden comfortably rode to his first win of the season, with Kirkwood and Malukas joining him on the podium.
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
– The Motorsport.com Team
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: motorsport.com
