McLaughlin breaks oval duck with dramatic Iowa win

Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin has broken through for his first oval win at Iowa Speedway in a dramatic 250-lap affair.

From second on the grid, McLaughlin got to the lead after the first round of pit stops after breating Andretti Global’s Colton Herta out of pit lane who suffered from an ill-timed caution late in the race.

At the chequered, McLaughlin beat McLaren’s Pato O’Ward and comeback king Josef Newgarden who rose 19 spots from 22nd on the grid.

It was a special win for McLaughlin having waited 16 oval races to get his first speedway win.

“What got it done tonight was the pit stops, the team, got me out in front of Herta there and we showed our pace,” said McLaughlin.

“That’s a big deal today, man. I’ve been working on that for a couple years. It takes a lot of hard work.”

It was especially poignant after being pipped at the post by Newgarden at Texas Motor Speedway in just his fifth oval start.

“I got pipped at the post a couple years ago and it stung,” said McLaughlin.

“I’m really stoked for this whole team, proud of the whole team at Penske. 

“I was never going to call myself an IndyCar driver until I won on an oval so I’m going to call myself an IndyCar driver now, if you don’t mind.

“Hopefully the floodgates open. We bloody need them to because we’re a fair way behind in the championship. We’ll see how we go.”

After a lap one crash triggered by David Malukas, the first stanza of the race ran green until lap 80 when Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Graham Rahal began to slow and brought out the caution.

TROUBLE on the opening lap!

Multiple cars are involved, bringing out the yellow flag.

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— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) July 14, 2024

Rahal reported a driveline issue but onboard footage appeared to show the right front out of alignment. The team changed tyres and reported back that the wheel had cracked.

The caution came with the first pit stops in sight and the field made its way to the pit lane on lap 84, led by Andretti Global’s Colton Herta. That would be the final time Herta led all race.

McLaughlin came out of the pits just ahead of Herta. Behind them, there was drama for points leader Alex Palou who stalled from third place. The Spaniard duly fell to the bottom of the pile and restarted in 19th.

A frenetic restart followed on lap 94. Up to third, Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon showed his nose to the inside of Herta who blocked and looked to the inside of McLaughlin.

They went WHEEL-TO-WHEEL on that restart!

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— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) July 14, 2024

McLaughlin and Herta went side-by-side into turn one. Although there were fears the high line wouldn’t have enough grip, McLaughlin held sway on the outside to maintain his lead.

As lap 100 approached, Power was delivered a drive-through penalty for speeding on pit lane. That dropped him from sixth and down a lap.

McLaughlin controlled the second green flag phase through to the second round of pit stops. Herta kept pace with McLaughlin but as the pit stops approached he began to fall back into the clutches of Dixon.

The pivotal moment came on lap 175 when Herta came to the pit lane. As he stopped for fuel and tyres, Palou suddenly spun on his own coming onto the front straight.

Will this have significant title implications?

Another look at what happened to @AlexPalou.

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— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) July 14, 2024

That was a massive blow for Herta as he dropped to the tail of the field.

McLauglin led the field into the pits on lap 182 and came out ahead of O’Ward, Dixon, and the biggest mover Newgarden in fourth.

McLaughlin led the lap 189 restart without much in the way of a challenge from O’Ward.

The race went yellow again on Lap 211 when Chip Ganassi Racing rookie Linus Lundqvist stopped on the apron with mechanical troubles.

After a 10-lap safety car period, the race resumed. McLaughlin maintained his lead but behind him Herta got loose into turn three and half spun. IndyCar quickly threw the yellow despite an incredible save.

SAVE OF THE SEASON!

Unbelievable catch from @ColtonHerta 🤯

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— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) July 14, 2024

On the restart with 22 laps to go, Power rear-ended Pietro Fittipaldi of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing and sent the Brazilian into a spin. IndyCar team owner-driver Ed Carpenter had nowhere to go and collided with the spinning Fittipaldi.

Power suffered damage to his left front wheel, relegating him to the pit lane briefly. He was able to return to the race, albeit several laps down, while Fittipaldi and Carpenter suffered race-ending damage.

McLaughlin held out O’Ward on the final restart and cruised home to take the chequered flag. Newgarden was third ahead of Dixon and quiet achiever Rinus Veekay.

McLaughlin’s win and Palou’s failure to finish has cut the Chip Ganassi Racing driver’s advantage in half.

Palou leads on 336 points but only 37 ahead of O’Ward, who has moved up to second. A mistake-riddled day for Power has dropped him to third and 43 points in arrears. Dixon lies fourth and 46 points back while McLaughlin’s win vaults him into fifth and 59 points off the lead.

The IndyCar Series continues with the second leg of its double-header at Iowa Speedway on Monday (AEST) from 2am.

IndyCar Series: Iowa Speedway, Hy-Vee Homefront 250 race