Texas IndyCar: Newgarden swipes last-gasp win from McLaughlin's grasp

McLaughlin, winner of the 2022 IndyCar opener at St. Petersburg, led for 186 laps having taken the lead on the opening lap from polesitter Felix Rosenqvist, but got caught behind traffic which allowed Newgarden in for a late charge.

Carrying more momentum through Turns 3 and 4, the #2 Penske caught the tail of the leader and went around the outside of McLaughlin to grab the win by 0.0669 seconds.

Having looked every bit as comfortable on the Texas oval as he did in his rookie season, McLaughlin led through an early caution period following Alexander Rossi's glacial trickle to the pitlane as his Andretti-run machine slowed to a crawl, maintaining that lead through the opening pitstop period - with Newgarden 12.5s behind on his Penske stablemate following the first pitlane visits.

But Newgarden drew closer as he picked his way through the order and McLaughlin had to contend with various bouts of traffic, and through three caution periods during the middle portion of the race, with Andretti rookie Devlin DeFrancesco proving to be the epicentre of all three.

Following that trio of interruptions, McLaughlin then had to contend with multiple plays for the lead from his rivals in the second half of the race; Newgarden attempted to wrest control of the race on lap 150, but the Kiwi repassed his team-mate shortly after.

Rinus VeeKay was next to mount an assault on McLaughlin, who began to drop back slightly as Will Power rounded both drivers to momentarily factor in the lead.

But content to remain within the pack for a spell, McLaughlin then repassed VeeKay on the 205th lap around the circuit - assuming the lead after the off-sequence Callum Ilott made a pitstop. Newgarden and Marcus Ericsson followed through soon after, dropping