Josef Newgarden sweeps two-race weekend in Iowa

Josef Newgarden swept a weekend doubleheader at Iowa Speedway by taking the checkered flag at the Hy-Vee One Step 250 on Sunday in Newton, Iowa.

After taking first place in the Hy-Vee Homefront 250 on Saturday, Newgarden doubled his pleasure with his sixth career victory at Iowa on Sunday.

He beat Team Penske teammate and polesitter Will Power of Australia by .705 of a second after a three-lap dash to the finish line following a late caution.

Newgarden, the 32-year-old driver of the No. 2 Hitachi Penske Chevrolet, is now 4-for-4 in winning IndyCar's oval races this season.

According to IndyCar, Newgarden won his fifth straight start at an oval track, a feat only matched by racing legends A.J. Foyt and Al Unser Sr.

Entering Sunday in second place in the series standings, Newgarden's victory will pull him within 80 points of championship leader Alex Palou of Spain, who finished the race in third place.

"I think what (Palou has) done this year, it's easy to see how he's gotten the points gap," Newgarden said in a post-race interview. "He's been tremendous. His team's been tremendous. I hope that we can close that. We've got to win more races on the 2 car to be able to do it."

Sweden's Felix Rosenqvist finished the race in fourth and Scott McLaughlin of New Zealand placed fifth.