Josef Newgarden kept his nose clean despite an early flurry of cautions to take the 2022 Sonsio Grand Prix at Road America.
The 31-year-old was made to work for the result, as a Pato O’Ward‘s engine expired with eight laps remaining. That brought out a late caution, and another followed soon after, setting up a three-lap shootout to decide the race.
In the end, there was no denying Newgarden, who crossed the line ahead of Marcus Ericsson and Alexander Rossi. Romain Grosjean and Colton Herta rounded out the top five.
Rossi, who started from pole, dominated proceedings until the first pit stops of the day. Although three cautions before Lap 10 change the strategy for some teams, the frontrunners stayed out until Lap 16.
Unfortunately for Rossi, Newgarden‘s stop was two seconds faster, which opened the door for the Team Penske driver to take the lead.
Newgarden never looked back from there, taking the chequered flag and a bonus million dollars from People Ready for winning on all three IndyCar disciplines – oval, street and road course – this season. He gets to keep half that prize money, with the other half going to charities of his choice.
Elsewhere, defending race winner and champion Alex Palou retired early on after making contact with teammate Ericsson.
The Swede dived down the inside, and unfortunately for the Spaniard, he turned in too abruptly, resulting in a damaged front-left suspension.
The result sees Newgarden move to third in the overall standings, 32 points back of leader Ericsson and five points back of Will Power. O’Ward and Palou complete the top five
Marca
