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IndyCar: Indianapolis results, standings – Josef Newgarden closes the gap

By Asher Fair

Josef Newgarden, Team Penske, IndyCarFinals 35
Josef Newgarden, Team Penske, IndyCarFinals 35 /
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Josef Newgarden won the first of two races of the IndyCar Harvest Grand Prix doubleheader at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course to close the gap on Scott Dixon in the championship.

Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden entered the 12th of 14 races of the 2020 IndyCar season, the first race of the Harvest Grand Prix doubleheader at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, needing to outscore Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon by at least 24 points per race over the final three races to win the championship.

The driver of the #1 Chevrolet hadn’t outscored him by 24 points in a single race all year. But he changed that and reduced Dixon’s lead from 72 points all the way down to 40.

This win is Newgarden’s third of the season. He and Dixon, who has won four times this year, are the only two drivers to win more than one of the season’s first 12 races.

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Newgarden, who had never finished higher than seventh place in his first seven starts at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, took the lead from Andretti Harding Steinbrenner Autosport’s Colton Herta after Herta went off course, and he never looked back.

Newgarden won the 85-lap race around the 13-turn, 2.439-mile (3.925-kilometer) natural terrain road course in Speedway, Indiana by 14.2940 seconds over Andretti Autosport’s Alexander Rossi in second place behind the wheel of his #27 Honda.

Ed Carpenter Racing rookie Rinus VeeKay, who started from the pole position behind the wheel of his #21 Chevrolet, finished in a career-high third place. Herta ended up finishing behind him in fourth behind the wheel of his #88 Honda ahead of Chip Ganassi Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist in fifth behind the wheel of his #10 Honda.

Team Penske’s Will Power, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Graham Rahal and Meyer Shank Racing’s finished in sixth, seventh and eighth behind the wheels of their #12 Chevrolet, #15 Honda and #60 Honda, respectively. Rahal overcame an early spin en route to his seventh place finish.

Dixon could only manage a ninth place finish behind the wheel of his #9 Honda. Teammate Marcus Ericsson rounded out the top 10 in 10th behind the wheel of his #8 Honda.

This race did not feature any caution flag periods, and the only driver who failed to finish the race was Andretti Herta Autosport’s Marco Andretti, who was forced to retire late with a mechanical issue.

Here are the full race results of the first race of the 2020 IndyCar Harvest Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

Race Results
1st – Josef Newgarden
2nd – Alexander Rossi
3rd – Rinus VeeKay
4th – Colton Herta
5th – Felix Rosenqvist
6th – Will Power
7th – Graham Rahal
8th – Jack Harvey
9th – Scott Dixon
10th – Marcus Ericsson
11th – Max Chilton
12th – Conor Daly
13th – Charlie Kimball
14th – James Hinchcliffe
15th – Santino Ferrucci
16th – Simon Pagenaud
17th – Alex Palou
18th – Takuma Sato
19th – Ryan Hunter-Reay
20th – Helio Castroneves
21st – Sebastien Bourdais
22nd – Pato O’Ward
23rd – Sage Karam
24th – Dalton Kellett
25th – Marco Andretti

Here are the updated championship standings following Newgarden’s win.

Rank – Driver: Points (Behind)
1st – Scott Dixon: 478 (0)
2nd – Josef Newgarden: 438 (-40)
3rd – Colton Herta: 360 (-118)
4th – Pato O’Ward: 346 (-132)
5th – Will Power: 334 (-144)
6th – Graham Rahal: 328 (-150)
7th – Takuma Sato: 312 (-166)
8th – Simon Pagenaud: 291 (-187)
9th – Felix Rosenqvist: 275 (-203)
10th – Ryan Hunter-Reay: 271 (-207)
11th – Alexander Rossi: 270 (-208)
12th – Santino Ferrucci: 265 (-213)
13th – Rinus VeeKay: 261 (-217)
14th – Marcus Ericsson: 250 (-228)
15th – Jack Harvey: 249 (-229)
16th – Conor Daly: 214 (-264)
17th – Alex Palou: 198 (-280)
18th – Charlie Kimball: 187 (-291)
19th – Oliver Askew: 181 (-297)
20th – Zach Veach: 166 (-312)
21st – Marco Andretti: 158 (-320)
22nd – Max Chilton: 118 (-360)
23rd – Tony Kanaan: 106 (-372)
24th – James Hinchcliffe: 104 (-374)
25th – Ed Carpenter: 81 (-397)
26th – Dalton Kellett: 62 (-416)
27th – Helio Castroneves: 48 (-430)
28th – J.R. Hildebrand: 28 (-450)
29th – Sage Karam: 26 (-452)
30th – Fernando Alonso: 18 (-460)
31st – Spencer Pigot: 17 (-461)
32nd – Ben Hanley: 14 (-464)
33rd – James Davison: 10 (-468)
34th – Sebastien Bourdais: 9 (-469)

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The next race on the 2020 IndyCar schedule is the second race of the IndyCar Harvest Grand Prix doubleheader. This race is set to be broadcast live on NBC from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET tomorrow afternoon.