IndyCars - Iowa: IndyCars in the corn, two nights in a row

[MarkyS]

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This Friday night and this Saturday night the IndyCars will TWICE be circulating at speed around the little and fast bullring outside of Des Moines, as we do…

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The Iowa IndyCar 250s at Iowa Speedway

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The .875-mile high-banked oval is actually at Newton, Iowa and tickets have been for sale for race fans, so this double-header will be seen by live fans in the stands, as of right now. Both races will be 250 laps in length, starting in the late afternoon daylight and finishing in the dark. The Saturday race will be preceded by an ARCA race but as no IndyCar guys are in it, we will concentrate on the two IndyCar 250-lappers (218.75 miles each).

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The weekend schedule calls for a 90-minute practice on Friday afternoon, the first 30 minutes of which will be devoted to rookies and Iowa first-timers only. The rookies are Oliver Askew for Arrow McLaren SP, Alex Palou for Dale Coyne Racing w/ Team Goh and Rinus Veekay for Ed Carpenter Racing while the first timers are Pato O’Ward for Arrow McLaren SP and Jack Harvey for Meyer Shank Racing. Then, all cars will come out for the final hour of practice.

Following that will be qualifying for both races and this will be unique: Each car alone will do a warm-up lap followed by two hot laps. The FIRST hot lap will grid Race 1 on Friday and the SECOND hot lap will grid Race 2 on Saturday! This should be both fun and exciting. On Saturday the entire field will get a 2nd practice session to reset for the 2nd race.

The field has 23 starters for each race. Ed Carpenter will drive the # 20 Chevrolet for his own team both nights while his regular driver for the # 20, Conor Daly, will drive the # 59 Chevy for Carlin, subbing for Max Chilton who only does road and street courses - except for the Indy 500.

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left to right, Ed Carpenter, Conor Daly and Max Chilton

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Lastly, veteran Tony Kanaan will be driving the # 14 Chevy for AJ Foyt Enterprises, instead of rookie Dalton Kellett, as TK closes out his IndyCar career this season at select races…Like Iowa.

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Tony Kanaan

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Let’s get this thing going!!

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M

[MarkyS]

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Friday at Iowa - The IndyCars held practice for Race 1 and then qualifying…

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…for both tonight’s race and for Saturday’s race, today. The TOP FIVE leading the practice session were, in order of speed, Colton Herta for Andretti Steinbrenner, Conor Daly for Carlin, Will Power for Team Penske, Santino Ferrucci for Dale Coyne Racing w/ Vasser Sullivan and Josef Newgarden for Team Penske.

Shortly after the practice concluded the qualifying got underway, with the first of two hot laps per car qualifying for Race 1 and the second hot lap qualifying for RACE 2 on Saturday night. Each driver needed to get in TWO good laps, without fail, to start both races well.

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Here is the way the IndyCars will grid for the Iowa Grand Prix Race 1: [R] denotes rookie

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Row 1

Pole - Conor Daly, Carlin

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P2 - Josef Newgarden, Team Penske

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Row 2

P3 - Will Power, Team Penske

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P4 - Colton Herta, Andretti Harding Steinbrenner

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Row 3

P5 - Alexander Rossi, Andretti Autosport

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P6 - Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan

Row 4

P7 - Felix Rosenqvist, Chip Ganassi Racing
P8 - Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren SP

Row 5

P9 - Jack Harvey, Meyer Shank Racing
P10 - Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing

Row 6

P11 - Santino Ferrucci, Dale Coyne Racing w/ Vasser Sullivan
P12 - Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport

Row 7

P13 - Rinus VeeKay [R], Ed Carpenter Racing
P14 - Oliver Askew [R], Arrow McLaren SP

Row 8

P15 - Charlie Kimball, AJ Foyt Enterprises
P16 - Ed Carpenter, Ed Carpenter Racing

Row 9

P17 - Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing
P18 - Alex Palou [R], Dale Coyne Racing w/ Team Goh

Row 10

P19 - Tony Kanaan, A.J. Foyt Enterprises
P20 - Marco Andretti, Andretti Herta

Row 11

P21 - Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
P22 - Zach Veach, Andretti Autosport

Row 12

P23 - Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske

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Notable:

• This is Conor Daly’s first IndyCar pole and he was ecstatic. For much of the session he held pole on BOTH races, but lost out to Josef Newgarden and Will Power for Race 2 late in the day. Still, a Row 2 start and a pole are phenomenal for the Indianan.

• This is also Carlin’s first IndyCar pole and they get it with their substitute driver in the # 59 Gallagher car.

• Simon Pagenaud was fast in practice, but a fuel pressure problem right before his qualifying attempt ended his chances and he will have to start both races from dead last.

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Conor Daly - pole, at last

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The race is scheduled for broadcast on NBC-SN starting with pre-race at 8:30pm EASTERN time.

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M

[MarkyS]

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Friday night at Iowa - Simon Pagenaud goes from worst to first in Race 1…

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The remarkable French driver for Team Penske was unable to qualify his car today, necessitating a start from dead last, but it didn’t matter. Simon plowed through more than half the field and then caught a yellow at the right time to aid him in avoiding a final pit stop and he WON Race 1 at Iowa tonight. P2 was Scott Dixon for Chip Ganassi Racing who also started well back - from P17 - but like Simon, did what he could and then got a little lucky with the long final yellow. P3 was rookie Oliver Askew for Arrow McLaren SP who started the day in P14.

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Simon for the WIN

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The race was trouble-free until after 150 of the 250 laps, when Will Power for Team Penske pulled out of his pit and onto the track with a loose wheel-nut on the front left tire. The tire and Power parted company, sending the Australian hard into the wall and bringing out a full-course caution. That was cleared up fairly quickly but on the lap 157 restart the green flag was waived off. Unfortunately, the rear of the field was getting up to full speed as the front checked up. Mid-pack, Simon Pagenaud slowed and then Rinus VeKay for Ed Carpenter Racing checked up to avoid him but Colton Herta for Andretti Steinbrenner was not told of the waive-off and climbed up and over VeeKay, getting fully airborne in the process. That put both young drivers out of the race and needed a lot of clean-up by the AMR Safety guys.

It was that long clean-up that gave Pagenaud and Dixon the saved fuel they needed to finish the race without pitting.

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Notable:

• The WIN put Pagenaud into 2nd place in the points, but the P2 kept Dixon 50 points in the lead over Pagenaud.

• Pato O’Ward came home P4, right behind teammate Oliver Askew. That has O’Ward 3rd in the points.

• Clearly fast was Josef Newgarden for Team Penske but he was not able to capitalize on his speed in the last stint, going a lap down due to the timing of the last yellow.

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Your happy podium - That’s Scott Dixon in P2 on the left, Simon Pagenaud in P1 in the middle and Oliver Askew in P3 on the right:

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The IndyCars will hold a practice session during the day on Saturday, to allow teams to reset the cars for Race 2, which will be Saturday evening. The grid was set Friday afternoon and is listed next…

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[MarkyS]

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Saturday at Iowa - The IndyCars hold practice for Race 2…

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Following Friday night’s exciting Race 1 the IndyCars came out today to hold a second practice session for the weekend, to give teams a chance to make changes and prep for this evening’s Race 2. The TOP FIVE at the Saturday afternoon practice were, in order of speed, Josef Newgarden for Team Penske, Simon Pagenaud for Team Penske, Scott Dixon for Chip Ganassi Racing, Tony Kanaan for AJ Foyt Enterprises and Takuma Sato for Rahal Letterman Lanigan.

On Friday afternoon the IndyCars held qualifying for both this weekend’s races and we have the results for Race 2 here. Compare these TOP GUYS from Friday to today’s practice. The only common denominator is Newgarden, though Tony Kanaan is making his last race at Iowa very interesting, as he starts from P8 tonight.,

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Here is the way the IndyCars will grid for the Iowa Grand Prix Race 2: [R] denotes rookie

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Row 1

Pole - Josef Newgarden, Team Penske

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P2 - Will Power, Team Penske

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Row 2

P3 - Conor Daly, Carlin

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P4 - Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport

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Row 3

P5 - Colton Herta, Andretti Harding Steinbrenner

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P6 - Jack Harvey, Meyer Shank Racing

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Row 4

P7 - Alex Palou [R], Dale Coyne Racing w/ Team Goh
P8 - Tony Kanaan, A.J. Foyt Enterprises

Row 5

P9 - Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing
P10 - Felix Rosenqvist, Chip Ganassi Racing

Row 6

P11 - Charlie Kimball, AJ Foyt Enterprises
P12 - Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren SP

Row 7

P13 - Oliver Askew [R], Arrow McLaren SP
P14 - Ed Carpenter, Ed Carpenter Racing

Row 8

P15 - Rinus VeeKay [R], Ed Carpenter Racing
P16 - Santino Ferrucci, Dale Coyne Racing w/ Vasser Sullivan

Row 9

P17 - Marco Andretti, Andretti Herta
P18 - Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing

Row 10

P19 - Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
P20 - Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan

Row 11

P21 - Alexander Rossi, Andretti Autosport
P22 - Zach Veach, Andretti Autosport

Row 12

P23 - Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske

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Notable:

• Due to his failure to come out for qualifying on Friday, Race 1 WINNER Simon Pagenaud has the same task in front of him tonight - start from dead last and make the best of it. He will not remain at the rear for long.

• Josef Newgarden will need bad luck not to be able to capitalize on his pole. The Team Penske driver is twice a previous race WINNER here, including 2019, while Ryan Hunter-Reay is three times a WINNER here. Other previous WINNERS are Marco Andretti and Tony Kanaan.

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Josef Newgarden - his race to lose

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The race is scheduled for broadcast on NBC-SN starting at 8:30 pm EASTERN time.

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[CanadianJudo]

I hear this is becoming the most popular sport during lockdown.

[MarkyS]

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Saturday night at Iowa - Josef Newgarden cruises to an easy victory.

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The youngest driver for Team Penske became the second three-time winner at Iowa Speedway with a commanding drive from pole to checkers. P2 went to teammate Will Power, finally having the good night he has worked for since season’s start. P3 went to Graham Rahal for Rahal Letterman Lanigan, who struggled all weekend to find speed and found it when he needed it the most, coming from the back at the start of the race to challenge Power for the last stint.

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Newgarden led 218 laps of the 250 lap event. His biggest pursuer all night was Pato O’Ward for Arrow McLaren SP and O’Ward looked poised to attack late in the race and take the lead when his last pit stop proved disastrous, with a loose left rear wheel nut stopping him from leaving the pits quickly. He would finish P12 but nevertheless comes away from Iowa fourth in the points.

Also having a great night was Team Penske‘s Simon Pagenaud who managed to come from last to a P4 finish, putting him second in the series points. Point leader Scott Dixon pulled in P5, allowing him to keep his huge lead in the points.

The other car for Arrow McLaren SP with Oliver Askew at the wheel was almost as fast as Pato and managed to pull in P7 to match his podium finish on Friday. The Arrow boys are already a force to be reckoned with.

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left to right, Patricio O’Ward, Oliver Askew and Simon Pagenaud

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Your happy podium - that’s Will Power on the left in P2, Joseph Newgarden in the middle in P1 and Graham Rahal on the right in P3:

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

1 - Scott Dixon - 244
2 - Simon Pagenaud - 195
3 - Josef Newgarden - 191
4 - Pato O’Ward - 162
5 - Will Power - 142

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Two great races over two evenings, this is a format we can get behind for the future. The IndyCar gang now get a much-needed three-week vacation before arriving at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for the next round of racing in early August.

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