NEWTON, Iowa -- Cowboy hats are stacked in a compartment on the Dale Coyne Racing transporter, the crew’s partial reward for delivering Justin Wilson the winning car in the Firestone 550 at Texas Motor Speedway on June 9.

Maybe engineer Bill Pappas and bandmates will break them out this weekend for the Milwaukee IndyFest Presented by XYQ before returning to the team’s Illinois base for a show and tell with family and friends.

The victory – his first on an oval – was especially satisfying to Wilson, who was on the receiving end of heartfelt congratulations during a June 12 test at Iowa Speedway.

Click it: Watch the full Firestone 550

“After Detroit, Dale said, ‘Which race do you really want to win on?’ and without hesitation I said, ‘I want to win at Texas. People think I can't drive at this track, so I want to put that to rest.’ To have the car to do it is a great feeling. 

“Typically, we've run flat out there, and the quickest car usually wins as far as straight line speed, not necessarily balance and handling. For me, it was this is a track I seem to have struggled on the most over the last few years, and like every driver I've got an ego so I wanted to put that straight.”

He did under the lights, charging through the field after starting 17th and overtaking Graham Rahal on Lap 226 of 228 in an entertaining race for drivers and spectators on the 1.5-mile, high-banked oval.

Moving to the Milwaukee Mile and then to the .875-mile, progressively banked Iowa Speedway for the June 22-23 Iowa Corn Indy 250 continues to showcase the challenges for teams/drivers/manufacturers competing in the IZOD IndyCar Series championship.

Wilson has competed six previous times at the Milwaukee Mile in Champ Car and the IZOD IndyCar Series, with a best finish of second in 2006 with RuSport (among four top-10 finishes at the historic track). He placed 10th last June with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, and joined 18 drivers in testing there May 29. 

“I definitely think that oval racing is part of IndyCar and, for me, that's what differentiates IndyCar to every other open-wheel series around the world,” Wilson said. “It's what makes it special, and that's why I want to race here. 

“As a driver you want to be the best. You want to master every type of discipline that you're faced in that series, and here we go to Indianapolis, which is fantastic, we go to road circuits, we have got street circuits, short ovals, and then a mile-and-a-half track. I think it's a lot of fun knowing that you can master that.

“As a series champion, you have to do it consistently throughout the year, and I think that's what makes the series champion pretty special.”

Nineteen drivers put in a full day at Iowa Speedway, which has played host to the series since its opening in 2007. Katherine Legge, JR Hildebrand and Mike Conway hung around for a second day of track time June 13, joining Oriol Servia.