No. 1 PPG Dallara/Chevrolet – Josef Newgarden
Start: 3rd
Finish: 2nd
Status: Running
Laps Completed: 75/75
Laps Led: 0
Points Position: 2nd (-76)
Notes:
Josef Newgarden and the No. 1 PPG Chevrolet team continued their quest for a third NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship by producing a podium finish Saturday in the opening race of a doubleheader weekend at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
Starting third in the No. 1 PPG Chevrolet, Newgarden made quickly moved up one spot on the opening lap of the race and he continued run in the second position for most of the race.
Making pit stops on lap 21 and lap 47 just for tires and fuel, Newgarden found the handling of the PPG Chevy to his liking throughout the afternoon as he ran up front and was a consistent pursuer to teammate Will Power for the 75-lap race.
Newgarden was not able advance past Power but he did a good job holding off two former Mid-Ohio winners, third-place finisher Alexander Rossi and fourth-place runner Graham Rahal, to finish in second place during the race, which ran caution free.
Newgarden’s result marked his fourth podium finish of the 2020 season and the 33rd top-three effort of his INDYCAR career.
With Saturday’s finish, Newgarden maintained the second position in NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship standings as he closed the gap to 76 points behind leader Scott Dixon entering Sunday’s second race at Mid-Ohio.
Quote: “It was a pretty straight forward day. Where we started is where we finished with the PPG Chevrolet. It was good to get by Ryan (Hunter-Reay) right there at the beginning of the race and that helped us for sure. But, congrats to Will (Power) – he is still Will Power. He’s been knocked down a little bit this year, but he drove really well and that was a clinic he put on out there today. I’m really happy for him, but we were just a couple of tenths slower than him all day long today. I could kind of tell we were fighting for second today. Team Chevy – a 1-2 (finish) for us – so that’s good for them and I’m proud of that. We just need to be a little better. We picked up some good points today, which is good.”
TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!
