NEWTON, Iowa — Scott McLaughlin continued his quick weekend at Iowa Speedway on Saturday night time, successful the primary race of the IndyCar Collection doubleheader for his first victory on an oval monitor.

McLaughlin led 164 of the 250 laps, successful by practically a half-second over second-place driver Pato O’Ward on the 0.875-mile oval.

McLaughlin has had the strongest automobile all weekend. He had the quickest time in Friday’s apply, set the monitor single-lap document in qualifying Saturday afternoon on his second lap to earn the pole for Sunday’s race, and began on the surface of the primary row of this race after posting the second-fastest first lap throughout qualifying.

And he was the quickest out of the pits when it counted throughout two caution-flag stops.

Colton Herta, the pole-sitter for the race, led the primary 86 laps, however misplaced the lead by a slender margin when McLaughlin beat him out of the pits throughout a caution-flag spherical of pit stops. Herta tried to get by on the restart, however McLaughlin was capable of maintain him off.

McLaughlin was main by greater than three seconds when sequence factors chief Alex Palou crashed on Lap 177. Herta, who had simply pitted earlier than the Palou crash, went a lap down, and McLaughlin stored his lead after the pit stops throughout the warning flag.

McLaughlin, along with his sixth profession win, gave Crew Penske its eighth IndyCar win at Iowa Speedway. It was the second win for a Penske automobile on the monitor this season — Ryan Blaney gained the NASCAR Cup Collection race in June.

Josef Newgarden, McLaughlin’s teammate who swept final yr’s doubleheader, completed third after beginning twenty second. Scott Dixon was fourth, and Rinus VeeKay was fifth.

The priority, after the partial repaving of the monitor in Might, that there would solely be one racing groove proved to be true till late within the race. The one change within the high 10 by the primary 80 laps of the race got here when Santino Ferrucci, working fifth on the time, needed to serve a stop-and-go penalty for being out of line on a restart.

Palou completed twenty third. He has a 37-point lead over O’Ward, 43 factors over Will Energy and 44 over Dixon. McLaughlin moved as much as fifth place, 59 factors again.