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JOSEF NEWGARDEN No. 2 PPG DALLARA/CHEVROLET
START - 4TH     
FINISH - 1ST     
POINTS - 18TH (-38) 

RACE RUNDOWN: Josef Newgarden and the No. 2 PPG Chevrolet team scored their second-consecutive NTT INDYCAR SERIES victory at Texas Motor Speedway in Sunday afternoon's PPG 375, leading a race-high 125 laps in the process. The win marks Newgarden's third victory at the 1.5-mile Fort Worth oval and the 26th win of his career, extending his mark as the winningest American driver currently in the series. Newgarden took the green flag from the fourth position but wasted no time in powering his No. 2 PPG Chevy to the front of the pack on the fourth lap of action. From there he was able to control the race until just past the halfway point when the handling of his Chevy went away, allowing the No. 5 of Pato O'Ward to make the pass. A rash of late-race cautions gave race strategist Tim Cindric several opportunities to work strategy and first time winner as a race engineer, Luke Mason, to make the necessary adjustments to give their driver the feeling he needed to move back to front. The penultimate caution flag of the day on Lap 233 set up a fierce battle to the finish with O'Ward, with Newgarden taking the win on the white flag as a final caution flag was waved simultaneously. 

NEWGARDEN'S THOUGHTS: "Great car. I don't know what else to say other than our car was fast. That's what made the difference. I sort of owe tuned it middle of the race. Pato ran up on us, got by us, was walking away. We got the tuning back, which was great. Reversed everything that I asked for. Got it into a happy window and were in position at the end. Team Chevy, PPG, a great weekend for us, great team effort. We're on the board. We are on the board. We were not on the board leaving St. Pete. We're on the board now."
 

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN No. 3 XPEL DALLARA/CHEVROLET
START - 15TH     
FINISH - 6th      
POINTS - 8TH (-34)
 
RACE RUNDOWN: Scott McLaughlin and the No. 3 XPEL Chevrolet team executed a solid race strategy to finish sixth in Sunday's PPG 375 at Texas Motor Speedway, nearly giving the New Zealander a top-five finish in each of his first three starts at the Fort Worth circuit. After setting fast time during the Saturday morning practice session, McLaughlin caught some unfortunate weather conditions on his qualifying run that resulted in a 15th-place starting position. He would lose a few more spots over the course of the first 20 laps of the race, but from that point forward he was one of the fastest cars on track. Race engineer Ben Bretzman made solid adjustments throughout the 250-lap event as race strategist Kyle Moyer kept his driver focused on passing the cars in front of him. The finished product was nine positions gained over the course of the race and the 18th top-10 finish of his young NTT INDYCAR SERIES career. 

MCLAUGHLIN'S THOUGHTS: "Overall pretty good day for the XPEL Chevy to move from 15th to sixth and that’s no mean feat. We actually went back to like 20th running at the start so really proud of the team. We had a one bad pit stop. I made a couple of mistakes in the race so that wasn't a perfect day but to still come back and salvage the sixth place, big props to the team and my car and my team and my engineer, Benny. So I feel really good going into the next Speedway."

WILL POWER No. 12 VERIZON 5G DALLARA/CHEVROLET
START - 8TH     
FINISH - 16TH     
POINTS - 9TH (-42)

RACE RUNDOWN: It was a challenging day for Will Power and the No. 12 Verizon 5G Chevrolet team as he finished 16th in the PPG 375 at Texas Motor Speedway. Power started eighth and gained one spot early, but as the first run of the race continued, his car would build loose and cause him to fall to 16th position. The Verizon 5G crew called for a front wing adjustment and speedy service would gain the reigning INDYCAR champion four spots on the restart. By lap 87, Power would fall outside the top-20, eventually going one-lap down as the leaders set a torrent pace lapping into the top-five. Try as he might, Power’s day would get soured a little more by a drive-thru penalty on lap 195 for a pit miscue. The two-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion soldiered on to bring the No. 12 car home in the 16th position at race’s end.

POWER'S THOUGHTS: "Ron (Ruzewski) and I were just talking about the day. Yeah, I think we probably could have got a top 10 out of our Verizon 5G Chevy. We didn't do that in part because of the drive through penalty for a mistake in the pits. It wasn't as bad as I thought. I expected it to be way worse than 16th. Yeah. Good regroup. Go on to Long Beach y'all”

WHAT'S NEXT: The next event for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES is the Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 16.