By Aaron Bearden, Open Wheel Editor
NEWTON, Iowa — Josef Newgarden entered this weekend’s trip to Iowa finish with a win and an average finish of 2.75 in his last four Iowa Speedway starts.
If Saturday’s opening practice is any indication, the defending Verizon IndyCar Series champion is in a good position to keep that streak of success going.
Newgarden laid down a 17.519-second circuit that averaged 183.711 mph to lead Saturday’s opening practice for the Iowa Corn 300. The Tennessean is searching for his second-straight victory after ending a streak of mediocrity with a win at Road America in June. He has one career win at Iowa, coming in his 2016 return from injury.
Team Penske teammate Will Power followed Newgarden in second with a time of 17.545 seconds. A pair of Andretti Autosport Hondas followed in third and fourth, with Ryan Hunter-Reay (17.568) and Alexander Rossi (17.662) claiming the positions. Zach Veach completed the top five, with Spencer Pigot, James Hinchcliffe, Simon Pagenaud, Marco Andretti and Ed Jones rounding out the top 10.
Of the 22 cars that made laps during the session, 17 completed 40 or more laps around the 7/8-mile Iowa oval. Jones completed a session-high 64 circuits, with Max Chilton (62) and Graham Rahal (60) also opting to complete 60 or more laps during the hour session.
The morning proved to be a challenge for both a rookie and veteran of the IndyCar tour. Matheus Leist’s session came to an end after just 15 laps when he lost control of his No. 4 Chevrolet, spinning into the Turn 2 wall and causing extensive damage.
https://twitter.com/IndyCar/status/1015621005430153216
Hinchcliffe committed a surprising error in the closing moments, spinning at the exit of Turn 2 from the apron after leaving the pit area with five minutes left in the session. The veteran continued on to pit road without issue, and the practice was able to be restarted with a few minutes remaining.
https://twitter.com/IndyCar/status/1015630366026149888
The IndyCar paddock will return for qualifying at 3:30 p.m. ET
Verizon IndyCar Series Practice 1 Results
| Pos. | No. | Name | Time | Diff. | Laps | Engine | Team |
| 1 | 1 | Josef Newgarden | 17.519 | –.—- | 45 | Chevy | Team Penske |
| 2 | 12 | Will Power | 17.545 | 0.0259 | 54 | Chevy | Team Penske |
| 3 | 28 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | 17.568 | 0.0493 | 37 | Honda | Andretti Autosport |
| 4 | 27 | Alexander Rossi | 17.662 | 0.1431 | 36 | Honda | Andretti Autosport |
| 5 | 26 | Zach Veach | 17.689 | 0.1707 | 45 | Honda | Andretti Autosport |
| 6 | 21 | Spencer Pigot | 17.773 | 0.2543 | 40 | Chevy | Ed Carpenter Racing |
| 7 | 5 | James Hinchcliffe | 17.777 | 0.2587 | 50 | Honda | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports |
| 8 | 22 | Simon Pagenaud | 17.777 | 0.2587 | 57 | Chevy | Team Penske |
| 9 | 98 | Marco Andretti | 17.786 | 0.2676 | 25 | Honda | Andretti Herta Autosport with Curb-Agajanian |
| 10 | 10 | Ed Jones | 17.808 | 0.2894 | 64 | Honda | Chip Ganassi Racing Teams |
| 11 | 9 | Scott Dixon | 17.834 | 0.3157 | 50 | Honda | Chip Ganassi Racing Teams |
| 12 | 15 | Graham Rahal | 17.896 | 0.3777 | 60 | Honda | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing |
| 13 | 6 | Robert Wickens | 17.897 | 0.3778 | 52 | Honda | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports |
| 14 | 20 | Ed Carpenter | 17.901 | 0.3822 | 47 | Chevy | Ed Carpenter Racing |
| 15 | 88 | Gabby Chaves | 17.926 | 0.4076 | 45 | Chevy | Harding Racing |
| 16 | 30 | Takuma Sato | 17.983 | 0.4637 | 58 | Honda | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing |
| 17 | 19 | Zachary Claman De Melo | 18.06 | 0.5408 | 42 | Honda | Dale Coyne Racing |
| 18 | 14 | Tony Kanaan | 18.087 | 0.5683 | 36 | Chevy | AJ Foyt Enterprises |
| 19 | 18 | Sebastien Bourdais | 18.115 | 0.5964 | 57 | Honda | Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan |
| 20 | 23 | Charlie Kimball | 18.342 | 0.8231 | 56 | Chevy | Carlin |
| 21 | 59 | Max Chilton | 18.359 | 0.8398 | 62 | Chevy | Carlin |
| 22 | 4 | Matheus Leist | 18.69 | 1.1713 | 15 | Chevy | AJ Foyt Enterprises |
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