Penske IndyCar drivers rejuvenated after strong Synk 275 race

After suffering a poor run of form in 2025, Team Penske and its IndyCar drivers seemed to have found some performance in Iowa with all three of the team's drivers finishing in the top five.

Josef Newgarden and Will Power both saw themselves finish on the podium in second and third while Scott McLaughlin drove himself from the back of the grid to fourth in a storming recovery drive.

Crashing out of qualifying, the Kiwi didn't set a lap time to qualify for either races after he lost the rear out of turn one on his Synk 275 qualifying lap.

Hitting the wall with the back left of his car, it seemed unlikely he would be able to start in the Synk 275 race which was due to happen only three hours after the qualifying session ended.

Gutted by the incident, McLaughlin shared he thought he had the pace for pole which he proved with his race pace later that day.

After the crash, McLaughlin said: “I got a little high I guess [but] I wouldn’t say I was too much higher than I was in practice and just the nose went around on me and it was to come back from where I was.

“Really sad for Expel Chevy and then tomorrow with Chevy Gallagher as well. We could easily have put it on pole but never say die attitude of this team, we’ll keep working and, yeah, a mistake on me and thankful I’m ok.”

McLaughlin carved his way from last through pure racing pace and using a mid-to-high line with some excellent moves such as around the outside of Louis Foster on the start/finish line.

After a late red flag and Caution which led to a sprint to the line, McLaughlin tried to challenge Power for the final podium position but fell short.

However there was no disappointment post-race for McLaughlin despite this.

On X, McLaughlin shared: "Not often P4 feels like a win but today it does. Amazing job by the whole team, the 2 crew, 12 crew and the #Thirsty3s all jumped in to get us sorted before the race. Can’t thank them all enough. Great to get a result. Ready to do it all again tomorrow!".

 While McLaughlin was delighted with his result, Newgarden seemed to be downbeat about his second place finish despite the optimistic result for the American driver after finishing outside the top 25 in the last three races.

In all three of the last races Newgarden has found himself in various incidents which included a dramatic crash which saw him and the car on its head at the Bommarito Automotive Group 500.

Last weekend at Mid-Ohio, Newgarden barely started his race before he spun out after a "weird" rear lock-up.

On X, Newgarden said after Mid-Ohio: "Every time I think this season couldn’t get worse.

"Really strange rear wheel lock up that I still don’t understand. Just have to keep your head down and focused on what you can control. Sorry to Graham, innocent bystander in that. Load up and move on to Iowa."

Back to his favourite track, it has been a much more positive weekend for the multiple world champion who put it on pole for yesterday's race and will start fourth in the Farm to Finish race later today.

Leading 232 laps of the total 275, Newgarden was unfortunate not to win after he pitted a lap before Pato O'Ward and an issue on the front left tyre meant he had a slow stop.

O'Ward came in a lap later and managed to jump Newgarden out of the pits.

Despite his best efforts, Newgarden couldn't get back into the lead and post-race seemed downtrodden despite his return to form.

He said: "Once O’Ward got track position there, that was game over, just as simple as that.

“My car is quick and Team Chevy did a great job; finally getting a win for Team Chevy is a big deal and they should have had way more in the year so good to finally get one.”

Newgarden will be looking to win Farm to Finish with both him and Penske clearly having the pace to allow the king of corn to reinstate his reign at the track.

Newgarden's teammate, Will Power had a much more quietly impressive race than both his teammates working his way through Chip Ganassi drivers, Scott Dixon and Alex Palou to third after starting seventh.

Unable to keep up with O'Ward and Newgarden, he kept McLaughlin from stealing the final podium position to take home valuable points.

He said: "It was a really fun race. I just wanted to have a solid day, finish in the top five with no issues. 

"I think we're definitely going to improve the car for tomorrow, so it'd be really nice to fight for the win. So we'll get after it."