Will Power takes the elusive first win in the IndyCar Series at Iowa Speedway

NEWTON, Iowa – Will Power made his breakthrough Sunday at Iowa Speedway, winning the second IndyCar Series race of the weekend, his first victory at the track.

Power won by 0.3915 seconds over second-placed driver Alex Palou. Scott McLaughlin, who won Saturday’s race, finished third.

Power, who led 50 laps of the 250-lap race, has always been quick on the 1.44-kilometer oval – he has won seven pole positions here in his career – but has only finished on the podium five times in 18 starts. He finished 18th in Saturday’s race after starting fourth.

It was Powers’ 43rd career IndyCar victory, his first on an oval since his victory at Pocono in 2019.

The win completed Team Penske’s double-header after Scott McLaughlin won Saturday’s race. It was Penske’s ninth IndyCar victory at the track and the team’s third win at the track this season – Ryan Blaney won the NASCAR Cup Series race in June.

Power, who started 22nd on Sunday, moved up to second place during the first round of pit stops and took the lead after his second pit stop on lap 206, which was almost nine-tenths of a second faster than Palou’s.

Fears that the partial resurfacing of the corners in May would turn the oval into a single-lane track persisted throughout the weekend. There was little change among the top 10 drivers until the first round of pit stops, which began on lap 94, and then Palou was able to take the lead.

Palou stayed out until lap 100 and as he was coming down the pit lane, Agustin Canapino spun exiting the pit lane, which triggered a yellow flag and gave Palou an advantage over the cars that had pitted. Power only pitted after the yellow period and came out of the pit lane second behind Palou.

On the final lap, as Power took the checkered flag, a four-car crash occurred. Sting Ray Robb’s car rolled twice on the backstretch after clipping Alexander Rossi’s car. Kyle Kirkwood and Ed Carpenter were also involved in the crash. Robb was taken to the Infield Care Center on a stretcher, but gave a thumbs-up sign as he was transported to the ambulance.

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