Josef Newgarden held off Indianapolis 500 champion Marcus Ericsson on Sunday to win the Sonsio Grand Prix at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis.
Newgarden, driver of the No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet, started from second position and led 26 of the 55 laps. He took the lead for good during Lap 43 while other drivers pitted, and he held on during two cautions over the final 10 laps.
“I was just trying to stay focused on what I had to do,” Newgarden said. “Just an unbelievable job by everybody at Team Penske.”
It marked the 23rd IndyCar win of the 31-year-old’s career.
After his early-season victories at Texas Motor Speedway and on the streets of Long Beach, Calif., Newgarden earned a $1 million bonus for becoming the first driver to win on all three types of circuits (road, street and oval) this season. Half of the money is shared with charities of Newgarden’s choice.
“To finally get it done and most importantly to give that money to charity, half of that money is going to charity with SeriousFun Network and Wags and Walks Nashville,” Newgarden said. “I hope they’re happy about it. That’s a lot of money coming their way.”
Though Ericsson didn’t win, he earned enough points to overtake Will Power as the series points leader (293 to 266). Ericsson finished 3.371 seconds behind Newgarden, who is now in third in the points race.
Alexander Rossi, Romain Grosjean and Colton Herta rounded out the top five.
–Field Level Media
