O’Ward surprises in Iowa, winning race no. 2

Pato O’Ward earned his second win of 2022 in a wild race No. 2 of the Hy-Vee race weekend Sunday at Iowa Speedway.

The win is O’Ward’s fourth career NTT INDYCAR Series win and is a much-needed confidence booster after struggling the last three races.

Just like in race no. 1, Josef Newgarden looked to be setting sail on the field as he took the lead just before Lap 100 and lapped up to 5th place. However, on Lap 235, a mechanical issue sent Newgarden’s car hard into the turn four wall – ending his day in 24th.

The race’s only other caution was on Lap 120 when the No. 14 of Kyle Kirkwood made contact with the turn 2 wall. Kirkwood’s car was the fourth car claimed by turn two during the weekend.

No.48 Jimmie Johnson put in an impressive performance Sunday as he finished fifth – his first career top 5 finish.

While Newgarden lost ground in the championship, his teammate No. 12 Will Power earned his second-straight 2nd place finish. and closed the gap to eight points, with five races to go, after No. 8 Marcus Ericsson finished 6th.

NOTABLE FINISHES: No. 18 David Malukas – 8th, No. 51 Takuma Sato – 10th, No. 77 Callum Illott – 11th.

Before Sunday’s race, it was announced Iowa Speedway would be on the IndyCar schedule for the next three seasons – 2023, 2024 and 2025.

The Hy-Vee Indycar Weekend was arguably a massive success and all drivers in the field stated they are looking forward to coming back in 2023.

The next race for the 2022 NTT INDYCAR Series will be next weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course on July 30th, 12 p.m. ET on Peacock and NBC.