Josef Newgarden continues mastery of Iowa Speedway, wins Hy-VeeDeals.com 250

NEWTON — Rusty Wallace is the official owner of Iowa Speedway.

Someone might want to inform Josef Newgarden of that fact.

Newgarden took the lead on early and never looked back, winning the Hy-VeeDeals.com 250 presented by DoorDash on a steamy Saturday afternoon at Iowa Speedway.

It was Newgarden's fourth win of the season and fourth career win at Iowa Speedway.

"It gets harder every time we come here," Newgarden said. "I feel like when we came here in '16, we just demolished the field. It was like taking candy from a baby. Every year since, it's gotten harder. I feel like everyone is figuring it out."

The win vaulted Newgarden two spots in the championship standings, leap-frogging Will Power and Alex Palou into second place. Newgarden is just 15 points behind leader Marcus Ericcson heading into Sunday's Hy-Vee Salute To Farmers 300 presented by Google. That race is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. at Iowa Speedway.

"It's been a frustrating year in some regards," Newgarden said. "But it's been tempered with great results. We have four wins. I feel like we show up at most of these weekends capable of winning the race. Fortunately four of them have worked out pretty nicely."

While Newgarden won't officially be home until Aug. 7 when the NTT IndyCar Series heads to Nashville for the Streets of Nashville.

Pato O'Ward, who was in the top five all afternoon, made a late run on Newgarden before settling for second.

"It was a solid points race for us (Saturday)," O'Ward said. "I think we used up our tires a little bit more than Josef did, so he had a little bit more to give in the end. I was happy with my car."

"I felt like Pato was not easy to beat (Saturday)," Newgarden said. "I feel like we put the hammer down with 20 or 30 to go, but before that point he was coming like a freight train. With 30 laps to go I was like, 'Who is this MacLearn coming up on me?' He snuck up on me."

Power, Rinus VeeKay and Scott Dixon rounded out the top five.

Power, who earlier in the day pulled within one of Mario Andretti for most pole positions earned in IndyCar, looked set to pull away early. But a caution on Lap 17 when Jimmie Johnson spun out on the high side gave Newgarden the opening he needed.

"It was a good battle," Power said. "The last restart is what hurt me the most, having to keep guys behind. I was happy to end up third. I was glad I didn't fall back further. There were some good lessons in there for (Sunday)."

Newgarden took the lead on the subsequent restart.

After half the field took pitstops on Lap 60, Johnson briefly took the lead with Marcus Ericcson and Dixon in pursuit.

The race featured 772 passes, 372 from drivers in the top 10.

Twenty-one laps later Johnson pitted, handing the lead back to Newgarden.

Newgarden would not be caught the rest of the day, continuing his domination at Iowa Speedway.

Newgarden will start Sunday's race on the outside of Row 1 next to polesitter Power.

"I just don't feel like it's an easy beat down here anymore," Newgarden said. "If we miss something, we will get beat. That could happen (Sunday) if we're not on our game. I don't feel like we have a big advantage here anymore."

Matt Levins is a sports reporter for the USA TODAY Network in Burlington, Iowa, who has covered local sports for 31 years. Reach him at mlevins@thehawkeye.com.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Josef Newgarden wins IndyCar race at Iowa Speedway on Saturday