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Officials waved off the start but it appeared not everyone was aware. Chip Ganassi Racing driver Linus Lundqvist tried to pass his teammate Marcus Armstrong and rear-ended the #11 car.
Armstrong got loose and veered into the #2 of Newgarden who speared into the wall before getting to the start-finish line.
“Someone didn’t get the message,” Newgarden said over his radio.
Speaking after the incident, Newgarden was asked by IndyCar pit lane reporter Georgia Henneberry whether that remark was directed at the #8 of Lundqvist.
“Don’t ask me that question. Come on, I’m not trying to… Yeah, I get clobbered on the start,” Newgarden replied.
“Obviously it’s not our day. They go yellow and I get run into, so yeah, of course someone didn’t get the message.”
Newgarden was classified 27th at the end of 250 laps and Armstrong also failed to finish.
Lundqvist was 20th after contact with the wall late in the race took him out of contention.
THE START GETS WAVED OFF!
JOSEF NEWGARDEN IN THE WALL! #INDYCAR
📺 : USA Network | Peacock pic.twitter.com/upHGfz3QM6
— INDYCAR on NBC (@IndyCaronNBC) September 1, 2024
The other high-profile incident of the race saw Graham Rahal of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing get rear-ended by Ed Carpenter Racing driver Christian Rasmussen.
On older tyres, Rahal was being passed by multiple cars when Rasmussen appeared to come in hot and centre-punched the back of the #15.
“I’m good. The hardest impact was getting from behind. The actual hitting of the wall wasn’t too bad,” said Rahal.
“A fitting finish to a weekend that just seemingly cant give up. It’s been brutal for us as a team. I feel bad for Hendrickson and for all of our partners. It’s just been one of those weekends.”
Trouble for @GrahamRahal!
The No. 15 spins into the wall after contact from @ChristianR_DK.
📺: #HyVee250s – Race 2 on USA and Peacock pic.twitter.com/xoOrdvZlXe
— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) September 1, 2024
Rahal shredded Rasmussen for his driving conduct. The IndyCar veteran said he was also on the receiving end of a hit by the #20 a day earlier.
“Restart like that, old tyres, everybody around you has got stickers (new tyres), guys need to drive with their heads up,” said Rahal.
“Rasmussen hit me yesterday and flattened my left front, just absolutely dive-bombed me, drove right into the side of me, flattened my tyre.
“It’s very characteristic of him. It’s disappointing. A drive-through I don’t think will really deliver the message that he probably needs at this stage. He’s a young guy. He’ll learn from this, or I hope he does.
“For us as a team, this has just been a brutal weekend. We’ve got a lot of soul-searching to do to get better. These cars were the most difficult oval cars I’ve ever driven in my life in the last two days. Today was about survival frankly and we didn’t survive.”
