Josef Newgarden grabbed Iowa Speedway by the cob by sweeping the Hy-Vee 250 doubleheader weekend. Newgarden scored his fifth and sixth wins respectively at Iowa Speedway extending his all-time number of wins at the circuit. Additionally, Newgarden assumes the record for most consecutive NTT IndyCar Series wins on oval tracks with five. In the end, Newgarden led a grand total of 341 laps between both races. It was a Team Penske clinic all weekend long in the corn state.

Will Power ruled the timesheets in both qualifying rounds. With both lap times averaging in the 17 second range, Power scored his 69th career pole for Race I and became the first IndyCar driver to achieve their 70th career pole, when he clocked fastest for Race II. The weekend was a pure demonstration for why Will Power is the all time leader in NTT IndyCar Series poles.

Power led 119 of the 250 laps in Race I but was no match for his Penske teammate and came home P5. In Race II, Power led 30 laps, but a late race yellow flag allowed the Aussie to thrive on the final restart, resulting in him standing beside Josef Newgarden on the podium in second place.

Álex Palou‘s weekend at Iowa Speedway was free of any potential problems regarding his preservation of the coveted championship lead. In Race I, Palou led a lap and kept his American Legion Honda clean. The Chip Ganassi Racing superstar bettered his showing on the oval for Race II, when Palou, like Will Power, took advantage of the late-race restart and made it to the podium, in P3. The only downside to Álex Palou’s title fight over the course of the weekend was Josef Newgarden’s weekend-sweeping dominance at Iowa Speedway.

With five races remaining in 2023, Álex Palou’s championship lead shrinks back down to 80 points above Josef Newgarden, giving the Penske driver added optimism on achieving his third career IndyCar title. Scott Dixon remains in third with teammate Marcus Ericsson in fourth. Scott McLaughlin jumps back into the top 5 in points in a tie with Pato O’Ward.

The NTT IndyCar Series will return next weekend on the streets of Nashville for the final street course round of the 2023 season. Live TV coverage for the Big Machine Grand Prix is Sunday, August 6th, at 12:00 Noon EDT on NBC.