Newton, Iowa — Josef Newgarden crushed the competition to claim his __th career win at Iowa Speedway in the HyVee Deals 250 presented by DoorDash.

The Hendersonville, Tennessee cruised ahead to lead 208 of 250 laps en route to his fifth win of the season and 24th career win overall.

Pato O’Ward came home in second place while netting his third podium of the season ahead of Will Power in third.

Rinus VeeKay matched his career-best result on an oval in fourth while Scott Dixon rounded out the top five.

Power leads Penske 1-2 in opening stint.

Will Power started on the heels of winning his 57th and 58th career poles and set the early pace over teammate Josef Newgarden with Ed Carpenter Racing’s Conor Daly towing the line in third.

Jimmie Johnson’s spin on Lap 17 brought out the first yellow flag. A handful of backmarkers, including Colton Herta and Scott Dixon, used the opportunity to short-pit.

Newgarden leapfrogged Power on the Lap 23 restart while Pato O’Ward jumped ahead of Daly to take third. Marcus Ericsson improved from 12th on the grid to take fourth from Daly.

Colton Herta’s four tire stop proved fortuitous as he raced into the top five on Lap 40 while the Chip Ganassi Racing duo of Scott Dixon and Johnson marched into the 11th and 12th positions.

Herta’s climb continued as he dispatched O’Ward for third while Newgarden and Power held the top spots.

Strategy vaults Johnson briefly to lead, Newgarden back in control

Conor Daly kicked off the pit stop sequence on Lap 52 while the Penske brigade stopped on Lap 60 and 61 which handed the lead over the Jimmie Johnson. Johnson enjoyed 28 laps up front while Newgarden emerged ahead in the pit queue while O’Ward leapfrogged Power for second.

Newgarden’s lead over O’Ward ballooned to 3.03 while POwer held third over Ericcson while Scott McLaughlin crept into fifth place.

Johnson quickly unlapped himself and trudged forward picking off spots with relative ease by aid of fresher Firestone rubber.

Herta’s march plataued as he struggled with grip and dropped down to 11th until Felix Rosenqvist’s crash slowed the action on Lap 110.

Newgarden leads short stint

Newgarden’s team executed a perfect stop to defend the load over O’Ward, Ericcson Power while McLaughlin overtook power for fifth. Meanwhile, Colton Herta had a mechanical issue

Newgarden petaled away on the Lap 123 while Ericsson and Power quickly inhaled O’Ward for second before the action was slowed on Lap 127 for debris.

Newgarden prevailed in a brief scrap with Ericcson and continued his blistering pace. The scrap forced Ericsson into the clutches of Will Power, who took over the spot on Lap 137.

He then fell into the crosshairs of Pato O’Ward who worked past the NTT IndyCar Series points leader to take third on Lap 157.

Ericcson struggled in traffic and hit the marbles on lap 165 which send him off line and dropped to ninth place.

Ed Carpenter’s crash on Lap 164 brought the field down pit road for the final time.

Newgarden on cruise control in final stint

Newgarden remained on top during the final pit exchange ahead of Power, O’Ward, McLaughlin and Palou.

McLaughlin dropped to pit lane with a loose right rear lugnut while Palou overhauled O’Ward for third while VeeKay moved up to fourth.

Palou couldn’t challenge the Penske pair as the race crossed the 200-lap marker and fell into the clutches of O’Ward who took over the spot on Lap 207.

The field fanned out as O’Ward battled with Power for second place, which allowed Newgarden to expand his lead to 2.4 seconds by Lap 225. O’Ward briefly closed to within a half a second as they navigated lapped traffic but could not mount a charge.

Newgarden jetted away after dicing through traffic and crossed line 6.58s ahead.