Josef Newgarden wins at Illinois for second of season

8/22/2021 12:41:29 AM EST

Josef Newgarden took advantage of wrecks and mechanical failures in galloping to his second win of the season Saturday night, making up big ground in the IndyCar points race in the process.

Newgarden is now just 22 points behind leader Pato O'Ward of Italy after taking the checkered flag at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Ill.

"It's big," Newgarden said afterward. "Any win is important for the year. I wish we had a couple more up to this point and were in a different position, but we've always got to fight with where we're at and what we've got in our hands."

O'Ward finished second with polesitter Will Power claiming third. Scott McLaughlin and Sebastien Bourdais rounded out the top five.

Spain's Alex Palou, who entered the race No. 1 in the points standings, wrecked out on Lap 65 and exited Saturday night in second place, 10 points behind O'Ward. New Zealand's Scott Dixon, who entered the night in third place, got caught up in the same wreck and dropped to fourth in the season-long standings.

Dixon and Palou finished the race in 19th and 20th, respectively.

Takuma Sato, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Simon Pagenaud, Marcus Ericsson and Jack Harvey rounded out the top 10.

--Field Level Media

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