IndyCars - Iowa: Dual Duels in the corn, this weekend

[MarkyS]

the little high-banked bullring just outside of Des Moines, Iowa, is back on the schedule after a year’s absence and making it even sweeter is this will be a double-header weekend, as we do…

The Hy-VeeDeals.com 250

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and

The Hy-Vee Salute to the Farmers 300

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The names say it all, as Midwest grocery chain Hy-Vee is sponsoring both races in the afternoon of Saturday and Sunday, with music concerts both before and after each race, added in for the price of admission for local fans. Also added in will be an Indy Lights race on Saturday - The first of two oval races the series will do, this season.

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The venue is Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa, which was designed by NASCAR great Rusty Wallace. It is .875 miles in length, and the banking of the track is ten degrees on the frontstretch and four degrees on the backstretch. The turns are progressively banked starting from 12 degrees at the bottom and escalating to 14 in the top line. All that banking on the small track produces speed and lots of great racing.

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.18 IndyCars came to test at Newton one month ago and the speeds were great, with just over 18 seconds to do a lap. Previous WINNERS who will be out there again this weekend include Simon Pagenaud (2020), Helio Castroneves (2017) and Josef Newgarden, who TOPPED that recent test. Newgarden has WON here 3 times - 2016, 2019, and 2020. Many of the current drivers have never been to Iowa. In addition, this will be a HOT weekend, and that may drastically affect the speeds

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As we said, the Indy Lights will be here to support the IndyCars with Season Round 9 on Saturday, midday, so let’s take a look at them:

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Indy Lights are the TOP step of the IndyCar training system known as the Road To Indy. The car is the Dallara IL-15 and is much closer to an IndyCar in performance and feel than the smaller cars on the ladder - a great training ground to step up to the big cars. The Dallara uses a 450 hp turbo-charged engine from AER. The adjustable brakes are by PFC and are the biggest in the Road to Indy. The cars have much wide wheels, providing much more grip. The IL-15 has one more thing - Push-to-Pass, just like on the big cars. That is, an additional burst of 50 horsepower is available to the driver under most conditions, with the push of a button on the steering wheel. Push to Pass will NOT be available at Iowa, however, on either the Lights or the IndyCars.

The drivers are typically graduates of USF2000 and Indy Pro 2000, but can often come from GP3 or GP2 in Europe. These drivers are ready to make the move to the big cars by season’s end and many of the drivers in IndyCars are recent graduates of Indy Lights. The Lights have held 8 races, so far, and the current points leader is Swedish sophomore Linus Lundqvist for HMD Motorsports, with 8 TOP FIVES including 4 WINS and 5 poles. His nearest rival is Sting Ray Robb for Andretti Autosport, but Linus has a substantial lead.

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Linus Lundqvist

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Both the Lights and the IndyCars will only have 1 practice session apiece this weekend, and that happens on Friday. Let’s GET THIS THING GOING!!!

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M

[MarkyS]

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Friday afternoon at Newton - The Indy Lights hold their practice session…

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…and topping the runs was points leader Linus Lundqvist for HMD Motorsports.

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Here was the order of speed for the Indy Lights P-1 practice, with times for the TOP FIVE: [R] denotes rookie; time is for 1 lap

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1 - Linus Lundqvist, HMD Motorsports - time of 00:20.3402s for a speed of 158.229mph

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2 - Matthew Brabham, Andretti Autosport - time of 00:20.3724s for a speed of 157.978mph

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3 - Hunter McElrea [R], Andretti Autosport - time of 00:20.4004s for a speed of 157.762mph

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4 - Christian Rasmussen [R], Andretti Steinbrenner Racing - time of 00:20.4134s for a speed of 157.661mph

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5 - Jacob Abel [R], Abel Motorsports - time of 00:20.4188s for a speed of 157.619mph

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6 - Sting Ray Robb, Andretti Autosport
7 - Danial Frost, HMD Motorsports
8 - Benjamin Pedersen, GRG w/HMD Motorsports
9 - Christian Bogle, HMD Motorsports
10 - Kyffin Simpson [R], HMD Motorsports

11 - Ernie Francis, Jr. [R], Force Indy
12 - Antonio Serravalle, HMD Motorsports
13 - James Roe [R], TJ Speed Motorsports

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Notable:

• Linus gets the top spot and was the only guy to get into the 158 mile-per-hour speeds but Matty Brabham is right there and led the session until the last 5 minutes.

• The TOP FIVE are separates by a mere 0.08 seconds

• Andretti Autosport got all four cars in the TOP SIX, with Jacob Abel putting in a great run to separate Sting Ray Robb from his teammates.

• All 13 drivers are making their first start at Iowa, this weekend. However, the entire field did take part in a test earlier this year.

• Kyffin Simpson started the season driving for TJ Speed Motorsports, but he will be driving for HMD Motorsports in this race and for the rest of the season.

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Jacob Abel speaks of his session:

INDY NXT

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Linus Lundqvist

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The Lights will qualify on Saturday morning and then race just after Noon, Eastern time. Next, the IndyCar hold their own practice session…

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M

[MarkyS]

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Friday afternoon at Newton - the IndyCars hold their practice session…

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This will be the one and only session and it is doubly important, because there will be no qualifying set-up. The cars will have to qualify on Saturday using the race set-ups, so the race set-ups have to be very fast, as well as manageable and forgiving over a few hours - Not easy to get it all.

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Here was the order of speed for the IndyCars P-1 session, with times for the TOP FIVE: [R] denotes rookie; times are for 1 lap

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1 - Will Power, Team Penske - time of 00:18.5729s for a speed of 173.285mph

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2 - Conor Daly, Ed Carpenter Racing - time of 00:18.5778s for a speed of 173.239mph

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3 - Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske - time of 00:18.5946s for a speed of 173.083mph

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4 - Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing - time of 00:18.6289s for a speed of 172.764mph

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5 - Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren SP - time of 00:18.6372s for a speed of 172.687mph

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6 - Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing
7 - Josef Newgarden, Team Penske
8 - Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
9 - Jimmie Johnson, Chip Ganassi Racing
10 - Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing

11 - Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing
12 - Felix Rosenqvist, Arrow McLaren SP
13 - Jack Harvey, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
14 - Colton Herta, Andretti Autosport
15 - Takuma Sato, Dale Coyne Racing w/ Rick Ware Racing
16 - Christian Lundegaard [R], Rahal Letterman Lanigan
17 - Simon Pagenaud, Meyer Shank Racing
18 - David Malukas [R], Dale Coyne Racing w/ HMD Motorsports
19 - Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing
20 - Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing

21 - Callum Ilott [R], Juncos Hollinger Racing
22 - Ed Carpenter, Ed Carpenter Racing
23 - Romain Grosjean, Andretti Autosport
24 - Devlin DeFrancesco [R], Andretti Steinbrenner
25 - Dalton Kellett, AJ Foyt Enterprises
26 - Kyle Kirkwood [R], AJ Foyt Enterprises

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Notable:

• Conor Daly set the fastest lap of the session in the first ten minutes of running and held it until about 3/4ths of the way through before Will Power finally eclipsed it. Daly’s only IndyCar pole was set here at Iowa, so look for him to be a RABBIT here.

• Power’s time is short of the speed that Josef Newgarden set in the June test, here at 00:18.377 seconds, but it was a lot cooler, relatively speaking, in June. Many drivers will be wearing coolsuits during the race to keep their body temperatures safe.

• Best team? Well, Team Penske has all three drivers in the TOP TEN and holds P1, P3 and P7, but Chip Ganassi has all four drivers in the TOP TEN and holds P4, P6, P9 and P10, and that includes Jimmie Johnson, who has never raced here in Stock Cars or IndyCars. He is the best performing track rookie, while Christian Lundgaard for RLL is the best series rookie, at P16.

• Nice mix of Chevys and Hondas in the TOP TEN, with 5 for each brand, though Chevy holds the TOP THREE.

• The # 11 Chevrolet for AJ Foyt Enterprises was supposed to be here with JR Hildbrand driving, but the ROKIT sponsorship problems remain unresolved.

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Simon Pagenaud explains Iowa:

NTT INDYCAR SERIES

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Will Power - TOPS in the P-1 session

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The IndyCars will take to the track on Saturday at 10:30 EASTERN time to qualify for both races they will do, this weekend. Qualifying will be broadcast LIVE on Peacock Premium. This was the last on-track activity of the day.

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M

[MarkyS]

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Saturday morning at Newton - The Indy Lights are qualified!

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Qualifying on the Iowa oval is simple: Each car goes out alone, one at a time, and does a warm-up lap followed by two hot laps. The speeds from those two laps are averaged and the fastest guy is on the pole, with everyone else grided in order of diminishing speeds.

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Here is the way Indy Lights will grid for Season Round 9, with times for the TOP SIX: [R] denotes rookie; times are for two laps; speed is the average of those two laps.

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Row 1

Pole - Hunter McElrea [R], Andretti Autosport - time of 00:40.3553s for a speed of
159.503mph

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P2 - Linus Lundqvist, HMD Motorsports - time of 00:40.3970s for a speed of 159.339mph

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Row 2

P3 - Sting Ray Robb, Andretti Autosport - time of 00:40.4747s for a speed of
159.033mph

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P4 - Danial Frost, HMD Motorsports - time of 00:40.5623s for a speed of 158.689mph

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Row 3

P5 - Christian Rasmussen [R], Andretti Steinbrenner Racing - time of 00:40.5802s for a speed of 158.619mph

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P6 - Jacob Abel [R], Abel Motorsports - time of 00:40.6184s for a speed of 158.470mph

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Row 4

P7 - Christian Bogle, HMD Motorsports
P8 - Matthew Brabham, Andretti Autosport

Row 5

P9 - Benjamin Pedersen, GRG w/HMD Motorsports
P10 - Ernie Francis, Jr. [R], Force Indy

Row 6

P11 - Kyffin Simpson [R], HMD Motorsports
P12 - Antonio Serravalle, HMD Motorsports

Row 7

P13 - James Roe [R], TJ Speed Motorsports

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Notable:

• Hunter McElrea is on a role, following his first series WIN at Mid-Ohio, last race. This is his 3rd Indy Lights pole.

• Matthew Brabham was much faster in practice but decided to go with more of a race set-up for qualifying, compared to others, as the cars will not be allowed to be adjusted between qualifying and the race, later today. We will see if the strategy plays out during the race.

Matty Brabham

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The Indy Lights race is schedule for 12:15 EASTERN time today and will be broadcast LIVE on Peacock Premium. Next up, the IndyCars qualify for both their weekend races…

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M

[MarkyS]

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Saturday morning at Newton - The IndyCars are qualified!

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Qualifying on the Iowa oval for the IndyCars is simple and somewhat similar to the qualifying procedure for the Indy Lights, - a warm-up lap followed by two hot laps - with one difference: Hot Lap 1 of the IndyCar qualifying will be used to grid Race 1 of the weekend, while Hot Lap 2 will be used to grid Race 2 of the weekend. That way, both races will be qualified by the end of the session. Of course, that makes this session even more important.

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Here is the way the IndyCars will grid for Season Round 11, with times for the TOP SIX: [R] denotes rookie; time is for one lap; speed is for Hot Lap 1

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Row 1

Pole - Will Power, Team Penske - time of 18.0607s for a speed of 178.199mph

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P2 - Josef Newgarden, Team Penske - time of 18.1031s for a speed of 177.782mph

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Row 2

P3 - Conor Daly, Ed Carpenter Racing - time of 18.1341s for a speed of 177.478mph

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P4 - Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren SP - time of 18.1399 s for a speed of 177.421mph

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Row 3

P5 - Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske - time of 18.1571s for a speed of 177.253mph

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P6 - David Malukas [R], Dale Coyne Racing w/ HMD Motorsports - time of 18.1900s for a speed of 176.932mph

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Row 4

P7 - Jack Harvey, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
P8 - Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing

Row 5

P9 - Takuma Sato, Dale Coyne Racing w/ Rick Ware Racing
P10 - Romain Grosjean, Andretti Autosport

Row 6

P11 - Felix Rosenqvist, Arrow McLaren SP
P12 - Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing

Row 7

P13 - Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing
P14 - Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing

Row 8

P15 - Jimmie Johnson, Chip Ganassi Racing
P16 - Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan

Row 9

P17 - Colton Herta, Andretti Autosport
P18 - Devlin DeFrancesco [R], Andretti Steinbrenner

Row 10

P19 - Alexander Rossi, Andretti Autosport
P20 - Christian Lundegaard [R], Rahal Letterman Lanigan

Row 11

P21 - Simon Pagenaud, Meyer Shank Racing
P22 - Callum Ilott [R], Juncos Hollinger Racing

Row 12

P23 - Ed Carpenter, Ed Carpenter Racing
P24 - Kyle Kirkwood [R], AJ Foyt Enterprises

Row 13

P25 - Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing
P26 - Dalton Kellett, AJ Foyt Enterprises

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Notable:

• The question was whether it was better to go out early, while the track was cooler, or to go out later, with more rubber put down by previous drivers. The answer was the latter.

• Conor Daly captured pole for both races, but the Race 2 pole was later taken away by Colton Herta. Then Josef Newgarden took both poles. Finally, as Newgarden and Daly watched together, Power took both poles from Josef. This is Power’s 65th pole and Race 2 was his 66th pole. He is now one pole away from Mario Andretti’s IndyCar record of 67.

• Chevrolet took the TOP FIVE spots in Race 1, with David Malukas the best Honda and the best rookie, in P6.

• A number of cars danced on the bumps in the track and a few looked very loose but no one hit anything.

• Jack Harvey put in his best qually of the year for sponsor Hy-Vee in P7, leading the Rahal Letterman Lanigan contingent.

• The cars will now be sequestered in Parc Ferme and will not be touched again until the race, later today.

Jack Harvey

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Will talks about his accomplishment:

NTT INDYCAR SERIES

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The IndyCar race is schedule for LIVE broadcast at 4:00pm EASTERN time today on NBC and will be simultaneously broadcast LIVE on Peacock Premium. Next up, the Indy Lights race. The grid for this is in post # 4…

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M

[MarkyS]

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Saturday, midday at Newton - the Indy Lights race…

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Taking his 2nd WIN of the season from pole was Hunter McElrea for Andretti Autosport. P2 went to teammate Christian Rasmussen from his P5 start while P3 went to Matthew Brabham from his P8 start, completing an Andretti sweep, but this podium was initially NOT the race podium.

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Matthew Brabham sacrificed a good grid spot in qualifying in order to have a great race set-up on his car and it started to pay off on the opening lap as Brabham passed Christian Rasmussen for P5 while Ben Pedersen for GRG w/HMD Motorsports took P8 from Ernie Francis for Force Indy. Pole-sitter Hunter McElrea meanwhile got away cleanly and started to open up a gap back to P2 starter Linus Lundqvist for HMD Motorsports. On lap 3 Matty passed Danial Frost for HMD to take P4 while Ben took P7 from Jacob Abel for Abel Motorsports. On lap 6 Matty set Fastest Lap. By lap 9 Hunter was 1.4 seconds ahead of Linus. Ben hit the bump in Turn 2 and almost lost it, sliding sideways down the track, but he caught it - not before he dropped back to P10, however.

By lap 15 Hunter was plus 1.9 on Linus, but he then started to get slowed by lapped traffic and Linus began to catch up. On lap 20 the gap to Hunter was down to 1.5 seconds. By lap 25 it down to 0.7 seconds. On lap 28 Rasmussen passed Danial Frost for P5. On lap 30 the gap between Linus and Hunter was only 0.3 seconds and Linus was coming hard. On lap 34 Linus was inside and beside Hunter and the two stayed side-by-side for two laps, until Hunter chopped down and took the air off Lundqvist’s front wing. Linus dropped back into the clutches of Sting Ray Robb for Andretti in P3 and Matty Brabham in P4, who were having their own battle. Those three were three wide for most of lap 37, but eventually Linus was able to stay in P2 with Robb still in P3.

On lap 41 Robb and Brabham were again side-by-side and Brabham was able to take to P3 spot. At the same moment James Roe for TJ Speed Motorsports blew his front right tire, sending him into the Turn 2 wall hard, bringing out a full-course caution. Roe was okay but the car was a disaster. On the lap 63 restart Hunter appeared to drift into the marbles in the high groove and Linus jumped into the lead, with Brabham following on lap 64 into P2. On lap 65 Brabham was beside Lundqvist and the two stayed that way or close to it for three laps. On lap 70 Linus went low and Matt went high, with Lundqvist eventually drifting up until he squeezed Brabham against the wall and his right rear heavily damaged Brabham’s front wing. Brabham tried to stay in the race in P2 despite the damage but was eventually passed by first Hunter and then Rasmussen on the final lap, lap 75. Linus crossed the line in first place 3.4 seconds ahead of Hunter, who was 4.6 seconds ahead of Christian.

Ahhh, but then race control reviewed the contact between Linus and Matty and decided to penalize Lundqvist by three positions, putting him in P4 and handing the WIN to Hunter.

A great race with tons of action and a dramatic finish!

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Notable:

• Lundqvist insisted post-race that his spotter had told him he was clear of Brabham when he went up but Race Control still deemed the accident his fault. As a driver, you have to listen to your spotter, but you WIN or lose as a team - spotter included - so, that isn’t an excuse, except to say to a fellow driver, “I didn’t intend to wreck you.”

• Brabham was the fastest car on the track and had five laps to make the pass on Linus for the WIN. Race Control clearly thought that he was robbed of a legitimate chance for a WIN. Linus was very fast all race long, however, and we will never know if he could have held on, anyway.

• Linus was lucky, in a way. Had the penalty been assessed during the race, it would have been a drive-through penalty, which would have cost him more positions. Brabham was the guy who was most hurt, losing a likely WIN, but at least he finished ahead of Lundqvist.

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Here was the incident that changed the race outcome:

INDY NXT

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…and here are race highlights:

RACE HIGHLIGHTS // 2022 INDY LIGHTS AT IOWA SPEEDWAY

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Your happy podium - That’s Christian Rasmussen in P2 on the left, Hunter McElrea in P1 in the middle and Matthew Brabham in P3 on the right:

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Hunter McElrea from the podium:

INDY NXT

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With this result, here are the TOP FIVE in points leaving Iowa:

1 - Linus Lundqvist, 383
2 - Hunter McElrea, 306
3 - Sting Ray Robb, 293
4 - Matthew Brabham, 289
5 - Christian Rasmussen, 272

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Next up for the Indy Lights will be Round 10 at Nashville, August 7th, in support of the IndyCar race weekend. Next, the first IndyCar race. The grid for this is in post # 5…

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M

[SixFoot]

I dueled with some corn last night too!

[MarkyS]

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Saturday at Newton - IndyCar Race 1…

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…was WON, or dominated all the way through, by Josef Newgarden for Team Penske, from his P2 start. P2 went to Pato O’Ward for Arrow McLaren SP from his P4 start while P3 went to pole-sitter Will Power for Team Penske.

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Will Power led the field away cleanly in front of a huge crowd of fans but he was in the lead for only 22 laps before Josef took over. The only other leader for the rest of the race was Jimmie Johnson for Chip Ganassi Racing who had a great race, going from his P15 start to finally end the day in P11, despite a spin on track that he recovered from. Johnson developed his own high line on the track where no one else dared tread and he made it work, pass after pass, as the race ebbed and flowed through 4 cautions.

Newgarden always had someone near him or even in his mirrors but he was never actually challenged for the lead when in it. Truly, the only times he was even near trouble was while slicing through back-marker traffic, but then his opponents encountered the same traffic and Josef would get away again.

Big movers in the race included points-leader Marcus Ericsson for Chip Ganassi who moved 10 spots from his P12 start all the way to P2 and looked to be a true challenger to Newgarden, but he eventually lost much of that and ended up in P8. Also gaining and then keeping ten spots each were rookie Callum Ilott for Juncos Hollinger, P22 to P12, and rookie Christian Lundgaard for RLL, P20 to P10.

Points leaders with good days were Scott Dixon and Alex Palou, both for Chip Ganassi, as they went from P13 to P5 and P14 to P6 respectively, helping their championship chases stay alive.

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Notable:

• This is Josef’s 4th WIN at Iowa and that makes him the record-holder, here. He has led 1350 laps at Iowa and has also finished every lap in the last nine INDYCAR races at Iowa. That’s incredible consistency and power.

• The WIN was Newgarden’s 4th WIN of the season and puts him in 2nd place behind Ericsson in the championship at the moment, supplanting Will Power.

• Finding walls on their own were Felix Rosenqvist and Ed Carpenter, while Colton Herta had a problem with his clutch that cost him several laps. Felix and Ed should have their cars ready for Race 2 and neither were hurt.

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Here are some of the race highlights:

RACE HIGHLIGHTS // HY-VEEDEALS.COM 250

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Your happy podium - left to right, Pato O’Ward in P2, Josef Newgarden in P1, the Firestone Firehawk and Will Power in P3:

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Race 1 was the last on-track activity of the day. The grid for tomorrow’s Hy-Vee Salute to Farmers 300 is following…

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M

[MarkyS]

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Saturday at Newton - The IndyCar Grid for Race 2…

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As previously stated, the grid for Race 2 was set during qualifying, earlier in the day, by using the 2nd hot lap of each driver’s qualifying run.

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Here is the way the IndyCars will grid for Season Round 12, with times for the TOP SIX: [R] denotes rookie; time is for one lap; speed is for Hot Lap 2

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Row 1

Pole - Will Power, Team Penske - time of 18.0796s for a speed of 178.013mph

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P2 - Josef Newgarden, Team Penske - time of 18.0907s for a speed of 177.904mph

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Row 2

P3 - Colton Herta, Andretti Autosport - time of 18.1293s for a speed of 177.525mph

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P4 - Conor Daly, Ed Carpenter Racing - time of 18.1536s for a speed of 177.287mph

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Row 3

P5 - Takuma Sato, Dale Coyne Racing w/ Rick Ware Racing - time of 18.1545s for a speed of 177.278mph

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P6 - Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske - time of 18.1550s for a speed of 177.273mph

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Row 4

P7 - Jack Harvey, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
P8 - Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren SP

Row 5

P9 - Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing
P10 - Felix Rosenqvist, Arrow McLaren SP

Row 6

P11 - Romain Grosjean, Andretti Autosport
P12 - Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing

Row 7

P13 - Jimmie Johnson, Chip Ganassi Racing
P14 - David Malukas [R], Dale Coyne Racing w/ HMD Motorsports

Row 8

P15 - Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing
P16 - Simon Pagenaud, Meyer Shank Racing

Row 9

P17 - Christian Lundegaard [R], Rahal Letterman Lanigan
P18 - Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing

Row 10

P19 - Ed Carpenter, Ed Carpenter Racing
P20 - Kyle Kirkwood [R], AJ Foyt Enterprises

Row 11

P21 - Alexander Rossi, Andretti Autosport
P22 - Callum Ilott [R], Juncos Hollinger Racing

Row 12

P23 - Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
P24 - Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing

Row 13

P25 - Devlin DeFrancesco [R], Andretti Steinbrenner
P26 - Dalton Kellett, AJ Foyt Enterprises

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Notable:

• In most cases the driver’s 2nd hot lap was their fastest lap, as the tires were optimal, so this grid is a faster grid than the Race 1 grid.

• Unlike Race 1, the cars can and will be adjusted, changed and repaired overnight, before Race 2.

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The IndyCar race is schedule for LIVE broadcast at 3:00pm EASTERN time Sunday on NBC and will be simultaneously broadcast LIVE on Peacock Premium.

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M

[MarkyS]

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Sunday at Newton - IndyCar closes out the weekend with Race 2…

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…and it will be remembered as a heartbreaker for Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden and a thrill for Pato O’Ward for Arrow McLaren SP who WON from his P7 start. Pulling in 2nd was Penske’s Will Power from pole while teammate Scott McLaughlin came home 3rd from his P5 start.

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The race started much as race 1 on Saturday, with Will Power taking the field to the green flag and leading several laps with teammate Josef Newgarden in tow. And also like Saturday, Pato O’Ward made the most of the opening laps to cut away at the cars between himself and the two Penske leaders. Will led a little longer today but gave up the lead to Josef on lap 84. Newgarden then took command, just as he had done in Race 1, with Pato eventually getting to and by Power due to a superior pit stop and his in and out laps. On lap 235, while easily maintaining a respectable lead, Josef entered Turn 4 near the apron when his right rear suspension failed, sending him into the Safer barrier and out of the race. The leaders all pitted during the clean-up and Pato was able to stay in the lead ahead of Power coming out of the pits. For the 66 remaining laps he held it easily, to take the WIN.

Newgarden finished the day in 24th place and that moved him back into 3rd place in the standings, behind Will Power. Points-leader Marcus Ericsson had another good day, going from P15 to finish in P6 and he maintains the lead. Scott Dixon also drove extremely well, going from P18 to P4 and he is still in 4th place.

Having his best IndyCar finish ever was Jimmie Johnson for Chip Ganassi. In Race 1 he taught everyone else that the third lane was available, so he wasn’t alone up there in Race 2, but he still used it to great advantage, going from a P13 start to finish in P5.

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Here are the race highlights:

RACE HIGHLIGHTS // HY-VEE SALUTE TO FARMERS 300

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Notable:

• After the wreck, Newgarden was interviewed and seemed physically fine. He took the usual trip to the infield care center for evaluation and was released, but IndyCar now reports that after the race he fell and was returned to the care center. He was then transported to a local hospital for further evaluation. He is awake and alert.

• This is Pato’s 2nd WIN of the season and 4th of his career and it puts him from 6th to 5th place in the standings, a mere 36 points out - 5 drivers within 36 points!

• Scott McLaughlin’s P3 moves him into 7th place in the standings.

• Best finishing rookie was David Malukas for Dale Coyne who went from P14 to P8 - his best finish of his season - but rookie Callum Ilott for Juncos Hollinger went from P22 to P11 - 11 spots up.

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Your happy podium - Left to right, that’s Will Power in 2nd, Pato O’Ward in P1, the Firestone Firehawk and Scott McLaughlin in P3:

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With these results, here are the TOP FIVE in points leaving Iowa:

1 - Marcus Ericsson, 403
2 - Will Power, 395
3 - Josef Newgarden, 369
4 - Scott Dixon, 369
5 - Pato O’Ward, 367

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Both races were outstanding, with action and thrills throughout the entire field, as is likely to happen on a short oval. Race sponsors Hy-Vee set the standard that everyone else will find hard to match, with big improvements to the track and entertainment for the fans over the two days of racing, with 4 free music concerts, as well as new amenities for campers, including a portable convenience store. WELL DONE, Hy-Vee!!

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The next outing for the IndyCars will be next weekend, as they return to the Indianapolis Road Course for the shared IndyCar / NASCAR weekend, the Gallagher Grand Prix.

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