Scott McLaughlin Secures First Oval Victory in First Half of Iowa Doubleheader

• IndyCar moved coverage of the first half of the Iowa Doubleheader from NBC to CNBC and Peacock after breaking news interrupted the timeslot.

• Scott McLaughlin dominated the race, leading 164 of 250 laps.

• McLaughlin's win capitalizes on the bad luck of many of the championship front runners to pull him back into the picture, climbing from eighth to fifth place.

Scott McLaughlin told people that he wouldn't claim to be an IndyCar driver until he won at an Oval. Saturday night in Iowa, McLaughlin broke through that barrier, winning at Iowa Speedway over Pato O'Ward and Josef Newgarden.

"I was never going to call myself an IndyCar driver until I won on an oval," McLaughlin told NASCAR on NBC. "So I'm going to call myself an IndyCar driver now, if you don't mind."

After an eventful first lap where David Malukas, Christian Lundgaard, and Agustin Canapino were all taken out in the first corner, the action slowed.

Colton Herta started on the pole and was marooned late in the race when he pitted from second just moments before championship leader Alex Palou spun, bringing out the yellow and shaking up the field.

The Penske driver credited his pit crew for the difference in his race today, they carefully and quickly executed to get McLaughlin out before Herta on the first competitive pit stop.

"What got it done tonight was the pitstops, the team," McLaughlin told NBC Sports.

Along with the bragging rights, McLaughlin gained three positions in the championship battle, moving back into the top five from eighth. McLaughlin, earlier this year, rebounded from his loss of points at St. Pete's with a win at Barber Motorplex Park. He further hopes to capitalize on the double points weekend as he starts on the pole for Sunday's race.

In the final laps O'Ward and Newgarden, the two most prolific oval racers on the current IndyCar circuit, were chasing Newgarden down. O'Ward claims that his car was capable of going faster and doing more but the changes to Iowas Speedway to secure their NASCAR date stifled the competition.

"My car had more," O'Ward said. "I was super happy with it all, race. You can't freakin' do anything with it with no two lanes. It's just a one-lane race track; if you try anything, you will probably end up in the wall. It's not worth to risk it."

With Palou's crash and O'Ward's second-place finish, the Arrow McLaren driver shortens the championship gap to 37 points.

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