News

Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio
Lexington, OH July 5, 2026

JOSEF NEWGARDEN No. 2 PPG CHEVROLET

START: 9TH 
FINISH: 9TH 
POINTS: 6TH (-134)

RACE RUNDOWN: Josef Newgarden and the No. 2 PPG Chevrolet team earned a ninth-place finish in Sunday's NTT INDYCAR SERIES race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Continuing to battle a left foot injury, Newgarden showed his trademark determination throughout the 90-lap event, which ran caution-free from start to finish. After starting ninth, the throwback Bobby Unser 1981 Indy 500 winning livery slipped to 12th by lap seven as the field settled into the opening stint. When the early pit window opened on Lap 10, strategist Jonathan Diuguid instructed Newgarden to close the gap to the cars ahead while managing his overtake usage efficiently. Pleased with his pace as the first round of stops approached, the team called Newgarden to pit road on Lap 27 for four primary tires and fuel after encouraging him to maximize his overtake deployment. Newgarden steadily worked his way forward, climbing to ninth by Lap 36 and reporting that the track was beginning to lose overall grip, prompting a planned wing adjustment at his next stop. Newgarden moved into fourth by Lap 45 before cycling to the race lead during the pit sequence. He returned to pit road on Lap 50 for four alternate tires, fuel and a wing adjustment, rejoining the race in ninth position. A final stop on Lap 66 for four primary tires and fuel required no additional changes. Newgarden maintained a consistent pace and brought the No. 2 Chevrolet home in ninth place.

NEWGARDEN'S THOUGHTS: "Great job by my PPG team. The car was great, Team Chevy continues to step it up on the natural terrain circuits. Looking forward to racing at my home track at Nashville Superspeedway."

SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN No. 3 GOOD RANCHERS CHEVROLET

START: 23RD 
FINISH: 16TH  
POINTS: 8TH (-142)

RACE RUNDOWN: Scott McLaughlin and the No. 3 Good Ranchers Chevrolet started 23rd and finished 16th in Sunday's 90-lap NTT INDYCAR SERIES event at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. The 2022 winner of the event originally qualified 17th, but a mechanical issue in the morning warmup prompted an engine change and subsequent six-spot grid penalty per INDYCAR rules. McLaughlin and the patriotic red, white and blue "Meat Wagon" gained positions early, moving to 21st in the opening 10 laps. When the early pit window opened on Lap 10, strategist Tim Cindric encouraged McLaughlin to close the gap to the cars ahead before making his first stop on Lap 15 for four primary tires and fuel with no changes to the car. McLaughlin continued to make progress throughout the race, climbing to 15th by Lap 36 as the next pit cycle began. He returned to pit road on Lap 40 for four primary tires, fuel and a front wing adjustment before rejoining the field. Running 16th by Lap 45, McLaughlin remained in the thick of the midfield battle and held the position through Lap 53. With no full-course cautions to reset the field and passing opportunities limited, McLaughlin brought the Good Ranchers Chevrolet home in 16th place at race's conclusion.

MCLAUGHLIN'S THOUGHTS:  "Certainly, a challenging weekend for the Good Ranchers Chevrolet team. We knew it was going to be difficult to move forward from our original starting spot, and the engine change only made that task tougher by moving us further down the grid. Still, I'm proud of the effort from the entire team to get the engine changed and give us a chance to race. We were able to gain a few positions throughout the day, which was encouraging. Sometimes you have weekends like this, but we'll put it behind us, learn from it and focus on being ready for Nashville in two weeks."

DAVID MALUKAS No. 12 VERIZON CHEVROLET

START: 5TH  
FINISH: 8TH  
POINTS: 4TH (-66)

RACE RUNDOWN: David Malukas and the No. 12 Verizon team continued an impressive first season together by earning an eighth-place finish in Sunday's NTT INDYCAR SERIES race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio. The result marked the Chicago native's eighth top-10 finish in 10 starts during the 2026 season. Malukas spent much of the race running inside the top three, settling into third place at the start and maintaining that position through the opening stint. Early in the event, the No. 12 team instructed Malukas to stay attached to the leaders, and by Lap 18 he was doing just that while posting some of the fastest laps on the track. The team's first pit stop came on Lap 25 for four Firestone primary tires and fuel with no adjustments, allowing Malukas to remain third through Lap 36. Despite running in traffic during the middle stages of the race, Malukas continued to hold third place before pitting on Lap 49 for Firestone alternate tires and a front-wing adjustment. The final stop for primary tires was slower than planned, costing valuable track position. Despite the setback, Malukas continued to battle in the caution-free event and crossed the finish line in eighth place.

MALUKAS' THOUGHTS: "Overall, a really good weekend. We flipped this car three or four times. Back and forth, back and forth to get into a window and the car was there every single time. That race was unfortunate for us. We made some mistakes here and there. This track is all about getting as much time as you can and you slowly go backwards a little bit. To say P8 is our worst, is really awesome. These guys are so awesome, and there is so much more to come from this team. We'll learn from these mistakes and go get them at the next one. Thank you to Verizon and thank you to Chevy."