McLaughlin flies to fourth from last with Iowa masterclass

After crashing in qualifying, the Team Penske driver scythed his way through the field to finish just shy of the podium.

It was a steady rise through the field for McLaughlin in the #3 Xpel-backed Team Penske Chevy.

On raw speed alone, the Kiwi was able to make headway and eventually caught up to his teammates, who spent the lion’s share of the race at the front of the field.

McLaren’s Pato O’Ward took victory in his 100th start, beating pole position winner Josef Newgarden.

Newgarden led the most laps in the #2 Team Penske Chevy, with 232 to his name.

However, the decisive moment came during the final pit stop sequence when the American bobbled leaving the pit box. O’Ward executed an overcut and got the lead.

The Mexican driver survived a pair of late race restarts to pip Newgarden.

Will Power was third, making it a Team Penske two-three-four.

It marked the first Chevrolet-powered win of the season after Chip Ganassi Racing and Andretti Global took the first 10 race wins of the season between them.

“This is great,” said O’Ward.

“We’ve been waiting for this one all year. It’s crazy. My 50th race was also a win here in Iowa and that’s the only other win I have here.

“It’s a cool story. Great job by my Arrow McLaren guys and gals. This Chevy-powered machine… it’s about time.

‘I’m super happy I’m the Chevy guy that gave them the first win this year.

“Josef is the master at these races. He rules around here, so I knew we had to be spot on and I had to be so precise on the in-laps to beat him at his own game.

“This is awesome and we have another chance tomorrow. It would be really cool to double up.”

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The 275-lap race was a dramatic affair from start to finish.

Andretti Global’s Colton Herta spun before he even made it to the start-finish line to take the green flag.

The race eventually resumed on Lap 3 and ran green with Newgarden leading Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Conor Daly until the yellow came back out on Lap 75 when Jacob Abel crashed.

By that time, McLaughlin had surged from 27th to 14th.

The race resumed on Lap 86 and was incident-free until Lap 153 when another Andretti Global driver, Kyle Kirkwood, crashed.

Nolan Siegel goes around and backs into the wall at Iowa. pic.twitter.com/5PdgO7F6Nd

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He suffered a left front puncture, which sent him into the outside wall.

Nolan Siegel’s crash on Lap 246 brought proceedings to a halt. The red flag was drawn for repairs to the SAFER barrier.

Racing resumed, albeit briefly. With 14 laps to go, Prema Racing’s Callum Ilott brushed the wall and plucked the rear wing from his car.

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That set up a nine-lap dash to the chequered flag. O’Ward ultimately held sway and kept Newgarden at bay.

McLaughlin threatened to pass Power on the restart but settled for fourth.

Series leader Alex Palou was the quiet achiever in fifth as the leading Honda-powered entry for Chip Ganassi Racing. His nearest teammate was Scott Dixon in 10th.

The second race of the weekend gets underway on Monday at 3am AEST.

Results: IndyCar Series Synk 275 powered by Sukup, Iowa Speedway