Turns 3-4 are flatter at 9 degrees. That pass and the checkered flag that Newgarden captured a few laps later helped earn Newgarden his first NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship. Helio Castroneves has come the closest, twice finishing second before winning in 2003. A race of champions (or eventual champions): Eight of the first nine races at Gateway were won by drivers who were already series champions or soon became one. Castroneves and Takuma Sato, who won last year’s race, are the outliers. The two NTT INDYCAR SERIES drivers delivered a spectacular finish to last year’s race.

Follow MotorMouth on social media:

• 
• 
• 
•