Sports

Newgarden claims first IndyCar Series win close to home; Rahal makes it 1-2 US finish

Associated Press
Published | Updated

Josef Newgarden (67), right, celebrates after winning the Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park, Sunday, April 26, 2015, in Birmingham, Ala. Newgarden held off a hard-charging Graham Rahal on Sunday in the Indy Grand Prix of Alabama for his first IndyCar Series victory. (Joe Songer/AL.com via AP) MAGS OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT (The Associated Press)

Josef Newgarden (67) celebrates after winning the Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park, Sunday, April 26, 2015, in Birmingham, Ala. Newgarden held off a hard-charging Graham Rahal on Sunday in the Indy Grand Prix of Alabama for his first IndyCar Series victory. (Joe Songer/AL.com via AP) MAGS OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT (The Associated Press)

Josef Newgarden held off a hard-charging Graham Rahal on Sunday in the Indy Grand Prix of Alabama for his first IndyCar Series victory.

Newgarden got his milestone win at Barber Motorsports Park a few hours from his hometown of Hendersonville, Tennessee, with most of the major drama coming behind him.

Rahal finally slipped past Scott Dixon on the final lap after several tries, giving the American drivers a 1-2 finish.

Dixon had his sixth podium finish in as many years in Alabama. He had picked up the 36th win of his career last week at Long Beach, moving into sole possession of fifth place in the series. He still couldn't quite breakthrough in Alabama.

Newgarden had posted second-place finishes in each of the past two years before finally finishing up front for CFH Racing, a merger of Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing and Ed Carpenter Racing.