Pato O'Ward wins first race of 2025 at Iowa Speedway

Pato O'Ward secured his first victory of the 2025 season by winning the Synk 275 at Iowa Speedway, defeating Josef Newgarden in a race that coincided with the Mexican driver's 100th IndyCar series start.

The Arrow McLaren driver ended Newgarden's dominance after the Penske star had led the first 232 laps of the race while chasing his seventh win at Iowa Speedway. The key to the outcome came down to pit stops and O'Ward's execution during the two restarts that decided the race.

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Josef Newgarden led 232 laps before losing to O'Ward

The race was decided in the final 14 laps when Nolan Siegel crashed in turn 4, bringing out a red flag for SAFER barrier repairs. O'Ward better capitalized on the two subsequent restarts to keep Newgarden behind and secure the victory.

The Team Penske driver had controlled the race from pole position, leading more than 100 laps for the 14th time in his career and 10th at Iowa. This marked the closest finish at Iowa since 2007.

"O'Ward got the track position and that was it," Newgarden admitted. "It was that simple."

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O'Ward's victory denied Team Penske its first win of the year, though the team still placed three cars in the top four. Will Power completed the podium in third, while Scott McLaughlin finished fourth after charging from last position.

McLaughlin had crashed in Saturday morning qualifying, forcing him to start last in both weekend races. The New Zealander had won at Iowa last year and led morning practice before his incident.

"I got a little high, I guess," McLaughlin explained about his crash. "I wouldn't say I was much higher than in practice. The nose just went and it was hard to recover from where I was, with all the steering input I had in the car."

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O'Ward jumps to second in 2025 IndyCar championship after Iowa

The victory moved O'Ward up to second in the championship standings, cutting Alex Palou's lead to 105 points. The Spaniard finished fifth and maintains the points lead, though his advantage shrank when Kyle Kirkwood suffered a hard crash on lap 153.

Kirkwood lost control of his Honda in turn 1 due to a right front issue, an impact that left him 140 points behind Palou in the standings. The Andretti Global driver had also crashed earlier in the race in turn 3.

The race saw five cautions for 47 laps, with five lead changes among five different drivers. The winner's average speed was 139.146 mph during 1 hour, 46 minutes and 0.6760 seconds of action.

Complete results Synk 275 powered by Sukup Iowa Speedway 2025

The second race of the doubleheader weekend will take place Sunday with the Farm to Finish 275 powered by Sukup, with coverage beginning at 1:00 p.m. ET.