After being left off of the schedule in 2021, the NTT IndyCar Series returns to the 1.4 km oval of Iowa Speedway for an exciting doubleheader weekend with the Hy-VeeDeals.com 250 and Hy-Vee Salute to Farmers 300.
Marcus Ericsson continues his run at the top of the points standings with 351 points, extending his lead to 35 points over second place Will Power. Alex Palou jumps to third place after the Honda Indy Toronto with 314 points, seven ahead of Josef Newgarden in fourth. And after his win in Toronto, Scott Dixon jumps into the top five tied with Newgarden on 307 points.
This Iowa doubleheader sits in the middle of a five-race stretch in a four-week span, and over 100 points will be on offer in this two-day window.
Will anyone be able to break Team Penske‘s dominance at Iowa in recent years? How will drivers deal with the physical demands of a doubleheader? How will the rookie class adapt to the bumpy, short oval? Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the Honda Indy Toronto.
WHAT HAPPENED LAST YEAR?
Iowa was also a doubleheader in 2020, where Simon Pagenaud and Newgarden made it a Penske Perfect weekend.
After starting last due to fuel pressure problems, Pagenaud and his team’s pit strategy propelled him to a victory in Race One.
The race was plagued with cautions and mistakes made on pit road, including a few incidents that showed the IndyCar world how important the new “aeroscreen” is.
On lap 144, Power had a right front wheel come loose off of his car, sending him into the outside wall on the exit of turn four. Had the bouncing tyre come any closer back to hitting Power’s car, the aeroscreen was now there to protect him from potential injury.
The very next restart the aeroscreen did it’s job again, protecting Rinus Veekay from an airborne Colton Herta. The restart was aborted, and that message didn’t reach the back of the field as Herta ran into Veekay at speed. If the aeroscreen had not been there, one of Herta’s tyres would have hit the Dutchman in the head. Thankfully, both drivers were okay.
The caution helped an off-strategy Pagenaud complete his last-to-first victory, with Dixon second and Oliver Askew of Arrow McLaren SP claiming his first career podium in third.
You can read the full race report here.
In Race Two, Newgarden put on a clinic, leading over 200 laps en route to his first win of the season.
From the drop of the green flag, Newgarden raced away to the lead, fending off a challenge from Pato O’Ward but otherwise cruising to a victory. Newgarden also became the first driver in history to win from the pole at Iowa with this victory. Following him on the podium was Power, with Graham Rahal earning his first podium finish in over a year after finishing third.
You can read the full race report here.
WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR THIS WEEKEND?
Penske has won four of the last five races at Iowa, and the ace of the bunch is Newgarden. The American has won three times at this track in the past six races, and showed the strength of the team’s oval program with a win at Texas earlier this season. While both Power and Scott McLaughlin will be contenders for the win, Newgarden is likely going to be the man to beat.
Speaking of McLaughlin, this is going to be his first time at the track, like it will be for many others. Christian Lundgaard, Callum Ilott, David Malukas, Devlin DeFrancesco, and Romain Grosjean will all be making their debuts at the oval, but the one debut to keep your eye on is going to be Jimmie Johnson.
Johnson’s oval prowess is well-known from his time in NASCAR, and he showed at Indianapolis that he still has that kind of pace in an IndyCar on ovals. Many felt that ovals would be the best opportunity for Johnson to get to victory lane, and he could be in for a very strong run this weekend.
Pit road will also be a place to keep an eye on, as many teams suffered from critical pit stop errors. With such a short track, drivers will be getting lapped during green flag pit stops, and an ill-timed caution could trap a contender and ruin their race.
We also saw how Pagenaud was able to take advantage of those cautions, as pit strategy and a luck caution could take a driver from the back of the pack to victory lane much like the Frenchman in 2020.
WEEKEND SCHEDULE
Friday 22 July
1330 PST / 1630 EST / 2030 GMT – Practice 1
Saturday 23 July
0730 PST / 1030 EST / 1430 GMT – Hy-VeeDeals.com 250 Qualifying
1300 PST / 1600 EST / 2000 GMT – Hy-VeeDeals.com 250
Sunday 24 July
0730 PST / 1030 EST / 1430 GMT – Hy-Vee Salute to Farmers 300 Qualifying
1200 PST / 1500 EST / 1900 GMT – Hy-Vee Salute to Farmers 300
WHERE CAN I WATCH?
Coverage in the UK for the race will be provided by Sky Sports F1.
In the United States, coverage for practice and qualifying will be streamed on the Peacock streaming service, with coverage for the races provided by NBC.
HOW CAN I KEEP UP WITH ALL THE ACTION?
You can follow all the all the action here at The Checkered Flag. We will be providing coverage of the practice, qualifying, and race sessions.
You can also follow IndyCar on Twitter (@Indycar) for live updates during the sessions.
