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Brave racing was once again the norm at the Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday and Penske's Josef Newgarden delivered the goods as he beat McLaren's Pato O'Ward on the very last lap of a thrilling IndyCar finale.
The two drivers were front-runners all afternoon in the PPG 375, with the event marked by five caution periods and which ended under the yellow flag.
O'Ward appeared to have the speed to beat his rival to the flag when Newgarden edged ahead on lap 249 of the 250-lap speed fest, just seconds before Romain Grosjean's triggered the final caution when he crashed into the wall in Turn 2, which sealed the leaders' fate.
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Coincidentally, it was Newgarden's second consecutive last-lap win in Texas.
"Pato gave me all the respect in the world when he was racing next to me," commented the two-time IndyCar champion. "
"It was really hard to fight those guys. I think (Alex) Palou was super strong, too. There are just no gimmes. It was packed up today, very difficult to get away.
"There were parts when we were good, parts when we were weaker. But when we needed to be good, the car was there at the end."
