GP Indy: Newgarden wins and comes back on Dixon

Josef Newgarden (Team Penske) won the first round of the Harvest GP doubleheader, on the road in Indianapolis, ahead of Alexander Red (Andretti Autosport), and the pole sitter, Rinus VeeKay (Ed Carpenter Racing)

This success, his third of the season, allows him to get closer to Scott Dixon, the overall leader, who had to settle for ninth place. Forty points now separate the New Zealander from his runner-up, with two races remaining: the first, from Saturday, for the second race of this doubleheader, then the curtain down in St Petersburg (October 25).

Starting in 2nd position, Newgarden took a big chance of victory on the 60th of 85 laps, when Colton Herta (Andretti Autosport), then in the lead, failed to tame his mount under braking and ended up in a breakaway. 
 

A costly mistake for @ColtonHerta handed the lead to @JosefNewgarden!#INDYCAR // #HarvestGP // @USA_Network pic.twitter.com/BZdDVtOfof

— IndyCar on NBC (@IndyCaronNBC) October 2, 2020

The Tennessee native then took off. He ultimately finished 14 seconds ahead of Rossi, while Herta had to settle for fourth place. 

The French, simon pagenaud (16th) and Sébastien Bourdais (21st), were never able to join the fight at the forefront. 

On Saturday, from 20:30 p.m., Newgarden, now the only driver to mathematically maintain his chances of catching up with Dixon, will have a new opportunity to get closer to the leader. But the New Zealander will win his sixth title if he has a lead of more than 54 points at the end of the race.