INDYCAR - Nashville
Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix
Start: 6th, Finish: 1st, Points: 12th (-395)
RACE RUNDOWN: Josef Newgarden and the No. 2 Astemo Chevrolet team got back to their winning ways in Sunday's Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway, leading 60 laps en route to the team's first win of the season. The victory was the 32nd of Newgarden's to break a four-way tie for 10th place on the all-time list, and it continues his streak of seasons with at least one win to 11. Newgarden rolled off the grid from the sixth position and maintained positioning inside the top five following his second pit stop of the day. The two-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion took his first lead of the night on Lap 147 and eventually built a lead of over two seconds. After pitting for the final time on Lap 186, Newgarden briefly lost the lead to teammate Scott McLaughlin during the pit cycle. He would take advantage of McLaughlin running too high in Turns 1 and 2 on Lap 205, allowing Newgarden to race underneath him to hold off the No. 10 of Alex Palou for his first victory in his hometown. The win vaulted Newgarden to 12th-place in the final series standings.
NEWGARDEN'S THOUGHTS: I’m just glad we got one without anything going wrong. For the No. 2 crew. Just happy to celebrate with this team. They deserve it. It’s rewarding for our team; they’ve done a great job. Obviously, Will won in Portland, which was a huge lift for everybody, and he really deserved it. I think he could have won this race today. It was a shame to see what happened to him. He’s a legend. It was great for our team, Astemo, and Team Chevy. Tough year, tough, tough year, but good to get a win here at the end.
