FORT WORTH, Texas — Josef Newgarden won at Texas Motor Speedway for the second consecutive year Sunday when a thrilling wheel-to-wheel IndyCar battle with Pato O’Ward came to a sudden halt by a crash behind them.
Newgarden and O’Ward – at one point the only two drivers on the lead lap – frantically swapped the lead over and over during the final third of the race, and neither showed any inclination to lift off the gas in the fight for the win.
The two even bumped wheels at nearly 215 mph with two laps remaining. But then Romain Grosjean crashed while running fifth as the leaders took the white flag, IndyCar threw the caution and Newgarden won under yellow.
It was the third career victory at Texas for Newgarden, who won in a Chevrolet for Team Penske. He led a race-high 123 of the 250 laps.