After a disastrous Detroit it was a relief to see IndyCar put on a decent race. Whilst overshadowed on the day by the brilliant Canadian Grand Prix, Road America was still a fun to watch and was bolstered by a two-year win drought coming to an end.

After qualifying, it appeared that a good race was in store for the Chip Ganassi drivers not called Dixon or Palou. Rookie Linus Lundqvist took his maiden pole, with Marcus Armstong slotting behind in third. Another driver feeling confident was Colton Herta, who needed to bounce back from a couple of self-inflicted errors. With Herta in second, the Chip Ganassi and Andretti teams held unbridled optimism. Unfortunately, with less experience comes less experience, which Linus Lundqvist promptly discovered when his teammate slammed into the back of him, ruining their races. Yet Colton Herta also wasn’t immune from the rear ending, as he was hit by the far more experienced Josef Newgarden. Armstrong received a deserved penalty, yet Newgarden was not, which appeared quite bizarre as both incidents were almost identical. Some would say that a member of the team already found to have cheated this year not being penalized was suspicious. Some would also say that when the owner of that team also owns IndyCar, that makes the situation even more suspicious. I would not say that, for I am incredibly neutral. Still… some would say.

With most of the opposition out of the way, it became easier for Team Penske to show their pace. Penske had opted for a low drag set up, making it incredibly easy for them to make overtakes on the straights. Scott McLaughlin proved this after the first caution, when he swept past Kyle Kirkwood to take the lead. An additional caution brought out by Kyffin Simpson’s crash made Penske’s job even easier. McLaughlin thus found himself leading a Penske 1-2-3. Yet, in what is becoming a common theme this season, drivers risked losing their position if they failed to manage the softer red tyres. These tyres degraded quickly, as was proven when Scott Dixon fell down the field to finish in twenty-first, having earlier ran as high as fifth. Josef Newgarden had already completed his red stint at the beginning of the race, so it would be up to Scott McLaughlin and Will Power to manage their red stints, or risk losing everything.

McLaughlin and Power managed their red stints perfectly, so McLaughlin still led a Penske 1-2-3 before the last round of pit stops. As McLaughlin was in front, the team elected to pit him a lap before Josef Newgarden in second. However, Newgarden overcut McLaughlin and had a healthy lead after his stop. However, as Will Power was third to come in, this did not last for Newgarden and the top three ended up in the reverse order of where they’d started. Will Power proceeded to drive a perfect final stint to take his first win in two years, along with the lead of the championship. Whilst Power largely had this win fall into his arms, it made me happy to see his drought end. Will Power seems like a very kind and quirky man, who deserves to still be fighting at the front in IndyCar.

Overall, the race was very normal. But normal for IndyCar is still a fun watch. All three Team Penske drivers have now won races and have had great pace this year. As IndyCar is soon to move into its oval races, where Penske have historically been stronger, Scott Dixon and Alex Palou are going to have a fight on their hands to win this championship.