Starting from 2nd place Car 2 Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet won the Sonsio Grand Prix at Road America presented by AMR for his 23rd NTT INDYCAR SERIES win. 2nd Place Car 8 Marcus Ericsson, Honda, started from 4th place. 3rd Place Car 27 Alexander Rossi, Honda, started from pole.
4th Place Car 28 Romain Grosjean, Honda, started from 6th place followed by 5th place Car 26 Colton Herta, Honda, started from 11th place. 6th Place Car 7 Felix Rosenqvist, Chevrolet, started from 7th place followed by 7th place Car 3 Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, started from 8th place. 8th Place Car 15 Graham Rahal, Honda, started from 22nd place followed by 9th place Car 9 Scott Dixon, Honda, started from 9th place. Lastly in the Top 10 was Car 30 Christian Lundgaard, Honda, 10th place, started from 13th place. Canadian Car 29 Devlin DeFrancesco, Honda finished in 18th place. Canadian Car 4 Dalton Kellett, Chevrolet finished in 23rd place.
The race had 5 Cautions for 9 laps: 1st Caution on lap 1 for Off Course: Car 48 in Turn 3. 2nd Caution on lap 4 for Contact: Car 10 in Turn 5. 3rd Caution on lap 8 for Contact: Car 12 and 29 in Turn 5. 4th Caution on lap 48 for Off Course: Car 5 in Turn 12. 5th Caution on lap 51 for Spin: Car 06 in Turn 14.
The race had 10 Lead changes among 7 drivers. Lap Leaders: Rossi, Alexander 1 – 14, Ericsson, Marcus 15 – 16, Sato, Takuma 17, Rosenqvist, Felix 18 – 24, Newgarden, Josef 25 – 27, Rossi, Alexander 28 – 29, Grosjean, Romain 30, Lundgaard, Christian 31, Newgarden, Josef 32 – 41, Ericsson, Marcus 42, Newgarden, Josef 43 – 55.
NTT INDYCAR SERIES Point Standings: Ericsson 293, Power 266, Newgarden 261, O’Ward 248, Palou 246, Dixon 224, Rossi 218, Rosenqvist 203, McLaughlin 199, Pagenaud 197.
NTT INDYCAR SERIES STATEMENT:
Newgarden Wins at Road America, Claims $1 Million PeopleReady Bonus
ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (Sunday, June 12, 2022) – It’s safe to say Josef Newgarden feels like a million bucks after winning the Sonsio Grand Prix at Road America presented by AMR on Sunday.
Newgarden drove to his third victory of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES season in the No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet and earned the $1 million PeopleReady Force for Good Challenge bonus. The Challenge rewards the first driver to win on all three types of circuits – road courses, street circuits and oval tracks – in 2022.
The $1 million is shared, with $500,000 going to Team Penske and Nashville-area native Newgarden and $500,000 donated to Newgarden’s chosen charities. Newgarden, who previously won this season on the Texas Motor Speedway oval and the Long Beach street circuit, selected two charities to split the $500,000 portion – SeriousFun Children’s Network and Wags and Walks Nashville.
“To finally get it done and most importantly to give that money to charity, half of that money is going to charity with SeriousFun Network and Wags and Walks Nashville,” Newgarden said. “I hope they’re happy about it. That’s a lot of money coming their way.
“You’ve got to be on your toes at all times (in this series). You can go in with a plan, but you probably have to change your plan 90 percent of the time once the race starts to unfold. To be able to hit all these disciplines with this team, for me it’s the best series in the world.”
2022 Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge winner Marcus Ericsson finished second in the No. 8 Huski Chocolate Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, 3.3710 seconds behind Newgarden. It was Ericsson’s fourth consecutive top-seven finish, and he regained the NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship lead by 27 points over previous leader Will Power, who finished 19th in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet.
NTT P1 Award winner Alexander Rossi finished third in the No. 27 NAPA AUTO PARTS/AutoNation Honda. A second consecutive podium result this month continued a strong surge for Rossi, who has three straight top-five finishes this season.
Romain Grosjean finished fourth in the No. 28 DHL Honda, with teammate Colton Herta rounding out the top five in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda after starting 11th. Andretti Autosport placed three cars in the top five – Rossi, Grosjean and Herta.
Newgarden, who started second, prevailed despite two cautions in the last 10 laps of the race that evaporated his 2.8-second lead over Rossi.
The first restart, on Lap 50, lasted less than half a lap because four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves spun in his No. 06 AutoNation/SiriusXM Honda exiting the final turn on the uphill climb to the green flag. That bunched the field again on the 14-turn, 4.048-mile road course for a restart on Lap 52, with Newgarden leading Rossi, Ericsson, Herta and Grosjean.
Two-time series champion Newgarden rocketed away from the field on the second restart, just as he did the first. Those rapid restarts built too big of a gap for any challenges, helping Newgarden avoid a repeat of his heartache in last year’s race at Road America, when he lost the lead to Alex Palou due to a mechanical problem on a restart with two laps to go.
Newgarden led a race-high 26 of 55 laps, taking the top spot for good during rivals’ pit stops on Lap 43.
“I was just trying to stay focused on what I had to do,” Newgarden said. “Just an unbelievable job by everybody at Team Penske.”
While Newgarden was locked into a winning groove over the last three laps, a mad scramble for the next four positions unfolded behind him.
Ericsson dove under Rossi in Turn 1 on Lap 53 after the restart to take second. Then Grosjean passed Herta for fourth place while crossing under the flag stand with the white flag unfurled to signal the final lap.
“I tried to be really aggressive on that last restart, and it cost us,” Rossi said. “But we were trying to win the race. But ultimately a good day. Josef certainly had a little better base than us, and it took us until the last stint to dial in the balance of the car.
“We were coming back on him pretty quickly. I don’t think we could have beat him, but all in all, it was a good day.”
The runner-up finish for Ericsson came despite contact with teammate and reigning series champion Palou while racing for third in Turn 5 on Lap 4. Palou finished 27th in the No. 10 The American Legion Honda.
“First of all, I’m really sorry,” Ericsson said. “You never want to have contact with a teammate. From my point of view, the door was open, and I was already side by side. If you see a gap, you go for it. It’s important at the beginning of the race to get track position.
“It was a really good race, and we had a really strong weekend. Super happy with P2.”
The next NTT INDYCAR SERIES race is The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio presented by the All-New Civic Type R on Sunday, July 3 (noon ET, NBC, Peacock Premium, INDYCAR Radio Network).
Sonsio Grand Prix at Road America presented by AMR Race Results
ELKHART LAKE, Wis. – Results Sunday of the Sonsio Grand Prix at Road America presented by AMR NTT INDYCAR SERIES event on the 4.048-mile Road America, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, car #, driver, engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):
- (2) Car 2 Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 55, Running
- (4) Car 8 Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 55, Running
- (1) Car 27 Alexander Rossi, Honda, 55, Running
- (6) Car 28 Romain Grosjean, Honda, 55, Running
- (11) Car 26 Colton Herta, Honda, 55, Running
- (7) Car 7 Felix Rosenqvist, Chevrolet, 55, Running
- (8) Car 3 Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 55, Running
- (22) Car 15 Graham Rahal, Honda, 55, Running
- (9) Car 9 Scott Dixon, Honda, 55, Running
- (13) Car 30 Christian Lundgaard, Honda, 55, Running
- (12) Car 77 Callum Ilott, Chevrolet, 55, Running
- (10) Car 60 Simon Pagenaud, Honda, 55, Running
- (20) Car 45 Jack Harvey, Honda, 55, Running
- (18) Car 20 Conor Daly, Chevrolet, 55, Running
- (19) Car 51 Takuma Sato, Honda, 55, Running
- (14) Car 18 David Malukas, Honda, 55, Running
- (17) Car 21 Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 55, Running
- (21) Car 29 Devlin DeFrancesco, Honda, 55, Running – Canadian
- (15) Car 12 Will Power, Chevrolet, 55, Running
- (24) Car 14 Kyle Kirkwood, Chevrolet, 55, Running
- (27) Car 16 Simona De Silvestro, Chevrolet, 55, Running
- (16) Car 06 Helio Castroneves, Honda, 55, Running
- (23) Car 4 Dalton Kellett, Chevrolet, 55, Running – Canadian
- (26) Car 48 Jimmie Johnson, Honda, 54, Running
- (25) Car 11 Tatiana Calderon, Chevrolet, 54, Running
- (5) Car 5 Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 46, Mechanical
- (3) Car 10 Alex Palou, Honda, 36, Contact
Race Statistics
Winner’s average speed: 117.174 mph
Time of Race: 01:53:02.8097
Margin of victory: 3.3710 seconds
Cautions: 5 for 9 laps
Lead changes: 10 among 7 drivers
Next Event: Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course July 3
INDYCAR
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