James Hinchcliffe wins at Iowa for 1st victory of 2018

NEWTON, IOWA » Less than two months after failing to qualify for the Indianapolis 500, James Hinchcliffe roared from behind to seize one of the more satisfying wins of his Indy Car career.

Hinchcliffe passed Josef Newgarden with just over 40 laps left to win at the Iowa Speedway on Sunday, his first victory of the season.

Hinchcliffe, who followed up his disaster at Indy with three finishes of 10th or worse in four starts, also picked up his first win since Long Beach in 2017 and his second victory at Iowa.

Hinchcliffe took first on the 0.894-mile track in 2013.

“This is such a good feeling after what happened in May. We knew we had it in us, and to come here and do it like that ... I’m just so stoked,” Hinchcliffe said.

Spencer Pigot was a career-best second, followed by Takuma Sato in his first podium since a stunning win at the Indy 500 in 2017.

Newgarden dominated much of the race, leading 229 of the 300 laps before Hinchcliffe seized control as Newgarden battled lap traffic.

Newgarden finished fourth.

Ed Carpenter threw a curveball at the field when he spun out and got clipped by Sato six laps from the finish, drawing a caution. Newgarden went in for new tires while Hinchcliffe stayed out, with the American hoping to catch Hinchcliffe if the race went green again.

It didn’t, and Hinchcliffe cruised past Iowa’s corn-inspired start-finish line in first for Schmidt-Peterson Motorsports. But it wasn’t all bad news for Newgarden, the defending champion. He moved from fourth to second in the standings behind Scott Dixon and cut his deficit to 33 points.

Dixon was never a factor, finishing a season-worst 12th.