Pato O’Ward’s pit crew — and a great drive after his last pit stop — stole the win away from a dominant Josef Newgarden at Saturday’s (July 12) Synk 275 Powered by Sukup at Iowa Speedway.
Newgarden went into the last round of stops, the only green-flag ones on the day, having led all laps to that point. However, a slight fumble on the left-front wheel cost valuable time. O’Ward soon stopped after assuming the lead, and his crew’s quick work got him out in front.
It wasn’t easy, though, from there, as the Arrow McLaren driver had to wait out a late red flag, one more yellow, and a ferocious charge by Newgarden over the last 10 laps. The win was his first of the year in his 100th career NTT IndyCar Series start, as well as Chevrolet’s maiden triumph of 2025 after Honda had swept every race this season.
“We had been waiting for this one all year,” O’Ward said. “It’s great. My 50th race was also a win here at Iowa, and that was the only other win I have here. It’s a cool story, great job by my Arrow McLaren guys and gals.”
Beating Newgarden is no small feat, as he has led more laps at Iowa than the rest of the field combined, and has six victories at the seven-eighths mile track. O’Ward hung around in the top five for the early stage of the race, but after a restart after the second round of stops, he pounced to get around Scott Dixon and Alex Palou to get up to second. From there, he bided his time.
“Josef is the master at these races,” O’Ward said. “He rules around here. I knew we had to be spot on, and I had to be spot on and precise on the in-laps to beat him at his own game. This is awesome.”
From the green, Newgarden took off from the pole and led the whole way until the final pit stops. His 232 laps led added to his record total at Iowa, pushing it over 2,000 in his career. But for the first time since James Hinchcliffe in 2018, someone had figured out how to best the King of Corn Country when he was contending.
While Newgarden’s runner-up was his best result since a third at the season opener at St. Petersburg, he came up short against a man who has run second to him seven times before. The duo have become budding rivals on ovals, as they’ve finished in the top two against one another ten times.
After the race, it was clear he was disappointed with the result.
“My car was quick, Team Chevy did a great job,” Newgarden said. “We finally got a win for Team Chevy, which is a big deal. They should have way more on the year.”
Heading into the race, the biggest question was how the track would race. After NASCAR, which owns Iowa, repaved the inside lane to help with stock cars, the new grip turned the former multi-groove race into a parade in 2024. New downforce regulations were implemented to improve the show. While the race wasn’t a classic Iowa show, it was better than either of the two last year.
Cars were able to overtake, as they widened the racing line to a half groove from the bottom. Restarts saw frantic action, but even during the later stages of runs, drivers with good setups made passes. Christian Rasmussen figured this out to good use, racing his way up to sixth, much like he did at Worldwide Technology in June.
The drive of the day belonged to Scott McLaughlin, who crashed during qualifying earlier in the day. His team got his car repaired and he moved up from last in the field to finish fourth, right behind teammate Will Power. Championship points leader Palou lost eight points in his massive lead, heading into tomorrow’s Farm to Finish 275, well ahead of O’Ward. Kyle Kirkwood‘s day ended much as it began in practice that morning – with a crash, which dropped him down from second in the points.
2025 IndyCar Synk 275 Results
IndyCar returns Sunday (July 13) for Race 2, with coverage on FOX at 1 p.m. ET.
Tom is an IndyCar writer at Frontstretch, joining in March 2023. Besides writing the IndyCar Previews and frequent editions of Inside IndyCar, he will hop on as a fill-in guest on the Open Wheel podcast The Pit Straight. A native Hoosier, he calls Fort Wayne home. Follow Tom on Twitter @TomBlackburn42.