Track Walk: Toronto 2025

The 13th round of the 2025 NTT IndyCar Series season is the one international trip on the schedule. Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada hosts an IndyCar race from the 39th time and this will be the 81st time IndyCar has raced in Canada. There have been four different winners in the last four Toronto races, and Honda has won three consecutive times. Canada will have one native driver entered in this year's race as we hit 22 years since a Canadian won in Toronto, and this year's race falls five days short of the 21st anniversary of the last Canadian win on Canadian soil. That would be Paul Tracy in the final Vancouver race on July 25, 2004. Only five races remain in the 2025 season, and this will be the final street race of the season.

Coverage

Time: Coverage begins at 12:00 p.m. ET on Sunday July 20 with green flag scheduled for 12:20 p.m. ET.
Channel: Fox
Announcers: Will Buxton, Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe will be in the booth. Kevin Lee, Georgia Henneberry and Jack Harvey will work pit lane.

IndyCar Weekend Schedule

Friday:

First Practice: 3:00 p.m. ET (75 minutes)

Saturday:

Second Practice: 10:30 a.m. ET (60 minutes)
Qualifying: 2:30 p.m. ET 
Sunday:
Warm-up: 8:32 a.m. ET (25 minutes)
Race: 12:20 p.m. ET (90 laps)

FS2 will have coverage of Friday practice session while FS1 will have coverage of Saturday's sessions and the Sunday morning warm-up. Fox will have race coverage.

Five More Laps

Prior to the 2025 season, Toronto was one of six races to see its race distance increased. This year's Toronto race will be 90 laps. Outside of the 2014 doubleheader, every Toronto race since it returned to the schedule in 2009 has been scheduled for 85 laps. This will be the longest Toronto race since 2003, which was scheduled for 112 laps.

This distance change is meant to change pit strategy and discourage fuel saving, making a three-stop strategy more likely than a two-stopper.

At Mid-Ohio earlier this month, the additional ten laps had most teams running a three-stop strategy, however, Scott Dixon was still able to win the race despite making one fewer pit stop. It was the third consecutive time a 90-lap Mid-Ohio race was won with a two-stop strategy. Though Dixon won on a two-stop strategy, the next four finishers made it on three stops. Six of the top ten finishers were three-stoppers, and four made it on two-stop strategies. However, 18 of the 22 lead lap finishers made at least three pit stops.

At 85 laps, Toronto has been a clear two-stop race. Seven consecutive Toronto races have been won with a two-stop strategy. The last Toronto race won with three pit stops was in 2015 when Josef Newgarden, along with the rest of the top fifteen used a three-stop strategy. 

In the last six Toronto races, no one finishing in the top seven made more than two pit stops. In 2022, the top 13 finishers each made it on two stops. 

However, there should be some concerns whether five extra laps will lead to one more pit stop. 

Last year, Kyle Kirkwood won at Toronto after stopping on lap 34 and lap 53, however, Álex Palou ended up finishing fourth after stopping on lap 24 and lap 49. Palou went 36 laps on his final stint. If drivers can make it 30 laps, this will easily be a two-stop race. 

In 2022 and 2023, each winner stopped prior to lap 49. In 2022, Scott Dixon made his final stop on lap 46 and lap 46 was the earliest anyone made their final pit stop. In 2023, Christian Lundgaard stopped on lap 18 and lap 48, but two drivers stopped prior to lap 48 and made it to the finish. Palou and Colton Herta each stopped on lap 43, and made it 42 laps on their final stint. 

Cautions did play a small factor. In 2022, there were two cautions for nine laps after lap 46. However, in 2023, there was only one caution for five laps after lap 43, and that came from lap 46 through lap 50. In last year's race, nine of the final 21 laps were under caution. 

Last year's race saw Rinus VeeKay and Graham Rahal finish in the top ten on three-stop strategies, but they ended up eighth and tenth respectively. There were only 12 cars that finished on the lead lap in last year's race, and 12 cars failed to finish the race. In 2023, Rahal was the only driver in the top ten with more than two pit stops, and Rahal stopped four times on his way to finishing ninth. Rahal stopped under the first caution for an opening lap incident. He then stopped on lap 37 before stopping under caution on lap 43 and then under caution on lap 48 when he was more in the pit window. In 2019, Rahal also finished ninth after making three stops, the only non-two-stopper in the top ten of that race.

The Final Street Race

Toronto is the fourth of four street races on the 2025 schedule, and only two drivers could end up as the king of the road.

With his two victories at Long Beach and Detroit, Kyle Kirkwood has the most street course points this season. Add on 30 from St. Petersburg and Kirkwood has scored 137 points from the first three street course events. The only driver who could pass him is Álex Palou. Palou has 96 points, 41 points behind Kirkwood with 54 points left on the table. 

Kirkwood will clinch best street course driver with a 16th-place finish.

If Kirkwood does not start the Toronto race, Scott Dixon has an outside shot at best street course driver. Dixon has scored 86 points through three street course races, 51 points behind Kirkwood. Along with an absent Kirkwood, Dixon would need to win Toronto with at least two bonus points scored to surpass the American. 

Dixon has more pressure behind and then a chance to jump to the top. Christian Lundgaard has 85 street course points while Scott McLaughlin rounds out the top five on 83 points. Lundgaard's best street course finish was third at Long Beach while McLaughlin's best was fourth at St. Petersburg after starting on pole position and leading the most laps. 

Colton Herta sits on 78 points while Felix Rosenqvist and Will Power are tied on 68 points. Rosenqvist and Power's best street course finish is fourth. Power holds the tiebreaker with his next best being fifth to Rosenqvist's seventh. 

There is a four-way for ninth. Josef Newgarden, Kyffin Simpson, Marcus Ericsson and Patricio O'Ward are all tied on 63 points. In order of tiebreaker, Newgarden is ahead as his best finish was third at St. Petersburg, Simpson was fifth at Detroit, Ericsson was sixth at St. Petersburg, and O'Ward's only top ten finish this year on a street course was seventh at Detroit. 

Alexander Rossi is eight points off the four-way tie for ninth with Marcus Armstrong a further three points behind Rossi. Santino Ferrucci rounds out the top fifteen on 50 points. Though Ferrucci was runner-up at Detroit, he suffered a 26-point penalty after his team was found to have run the incorrect driver equivalency weight. 

Sting Ray Robb has scored 47 points on street courses, one more than David Malukas. Rinus VeeKay has 38 points from street courses with Graham Rahal and Robert Shwartzman each earning 36 points from street races. Rahal holds the tiebreaker over Shwartzman as Rahal's best street cours result was 12th to Shwartzman's 16th. 

Conor Daly has 31 points while Christian Rasmussen has 29, Louis Foster has 28, Nolan Siegel has 26, Callum Ilott has 25, Jacob Abel has 24 and Devlin DeFrancesco has 21 points from three street course starts.

Siegel was not cleared to drive in the second Iowa race last week after his accident in the first race of the weekend. Arrow McLaren has contact Linus Lundqvist to be its reserve driver should the Swede's services be required.

Dating back to last season, Honda has won six consecutive street course races. Chip Ganassi Racing and Andretti Global have split the races three apiece. Scott Dixon and Kyle Kirkwood have each won twice while Colton Herta and Álex Palou have each won once.

Team Penske is Winless

We have completed 12 races and Team Penske is winless. 

The team did have its best race of the season at Iowa. 

In the Saturday race, Team Penske went 2-3-4 with Josef Newgarden ahead of Will Power and Scott McLaughlin. It was Penske's first time with multiple podium finishers all season. The team had three total podium finishes in the first ten races. The first Iowa race was the first double top five day for the team since the Grand Prix of Indianapolis in May, and it was the team's first double top ten day since Detroit at the start of June.

However, thing reared its ugly head on Sunday. McLaughlin was caught in an opening lap incident when Devlin DeFrancesco spun. Power suffered an engine issue and was done after 21 laps. Newgarden drove a respectable race and led 72 laps, but untimely cautions shuffled the Tennessean back to a tenth-place finish. The second Iowa race was the fourth time this season Penske has had multiple cars finish outside the top twenty. Prior to this season, Team Penske had not had a race where multiple cars failed to finish in the top twenty on the racetrack since 1998 CART season finale at Fontana.

This is the first time Team Penske has failed to win one of the first 12 races in a season since its winless season in 1999. Newgarden enters Toronto on a 16-race winless streak, his longest slump since he went winless in the first 67 starts of his career. Power is on a 15-race winless streak while McLaughlin is on a  13-race winless streak. 

Prior to the two-year quarantine from Toronto due to the global pandemic, Team Penske was ruling the Queen City. Penske had won three of four Toronto races with three different drivers. Penske had a driver on the podium in eight consecutive Toronto races.

In the three Toronto races since its return to the calendar in 2022, Team Penske's best finish is fifth. Last year, Penske failed to have one top ten finisher at Toronto. 

Power has won three times at Toronto, but he has finished outside the top ten in six consecutive races at Exhibition Place. His average finish over those six starts is 16.333. Since winning in 2016, he has led only one lap at Toronto. 

Newgarden is a two-time Toronto winner and prior to finishing 11th last year, he had six consecutive top ten finishes North of the Border. However, he has not led in the last four Toronto races after leading 25 laps from pole position in 2018. 

Last year was McLaughlin's worst Toronto finish after he and Power came together in turn five, putting McLaughlin into the barrier. This left the New Zealander with a 16th-place finish. Prior to that, he finished ninth and sixth in his first two visits. In 2023, he led 28 laps after starting second. McLaughlin has started in the top six in all three of his Toronto starts.

Team Penske has only five Toronto victories. Prior to its three-in-four-year run at the end of the 2010s, Penske won in 1993 with Paul Tracy and Power won there in 2010. 

Engine Picture

As we are nearing the end of the season, engine usage will play a bigger role in starting grid as some teams will exceed the four-engine limit and will start incurring grid penalties. An unapproved engine change and exceeding the four-engine limit leads to a six-spot penalty on a road or street course, and a nine-spot penalty on an oval. 

We have already had a few penalties this season for engine changes. The earliest was at Detroit where Scott Dixon and Graham Rahal each had to serve six-spot grid penalties. Dixon took on his fifth engine at Detroit. Rahal had taken on an unapproved engine change during the Indianapolis 500 festivities, which had to be observed in the Motor City.

The only other grid penalty this season was Christian Rasmussen at Mid-Ohio. Rasmussen had an unapproved engine change after he lost an engine during the Iowa test prior to the Mid-Ohio weekend, which meant the Dane took on his fifth engine of the season. 

Engine count does play a pivotal role in paying out points for the manufacturers' championship. Any team that has exceeded the four-engine limit is ineligible to earn manufacturer points. The top two finishers from each manufacturer score points toward the manufacturers' championship. 

Entering the Iowa weekend, Santino Ferrucci and his #14 A.J. Foyt Racing Chevrolet was the only other Chevrolet on his fourth engine of the season. Every other Chevrolet team was on its third engine. During the Iowa weekend, four more Chevrolet teams took on their fourth engine of the season, the #2 Team Penske of Josef Newgarden, the #6 Arrow McLaren of Nolan Siegel, the #20 Ed Carpenter Racing of Alexander Rossi and the #76 Juncos Hollinger Racing of Conor Daly.

Will Power did lose an engine in the second Iowa race, meaning Power will likely be on his fourth engine starting this weekend at Toronto. 

In the Honda camp, Kyffin Simpson was the only other Honda besides Dixon to be on his fourth engine of the season. Every other Honda team was on its third engine. During the Iowa weekend, Graham Rahal in the #15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda became the third Honda team to take on a fourth engine of the season.

Approved engine changes occur once an engine reaches 2,000 miles. The remaining five races alone have a scheduled 1,138.64 miles remaining before we get to practice and qualifying where mileage will vary.

Over the last five race weekends, starting in Detroit, Dixon has completed 2,066.32 miles through all the races, qualifying sessions and practice sessions. Though Dixon is no longer eligible for manufacturer championship points, and he will have to take a grid penalty regardless, he will be due for taking on his sixth engine in 2025.

Engine count was pivotal in the 2023 manufacturers' championship because though Honda won 12 of 17 races, Chevrolet earned the manufacturers' championship as Scott Dixon and Álex Palou were each ineligible to earn manufacturer championship points in the final three races despite the two Chip Ganassi Racing drivers combining to win the final three races. Chevrolet ended up winning the manufacturers' championship by 12 points that year.

Through 12 races in 2025, Honda has 1,147 points, a 208-point advantage over Chevrolet with five races remaining. Chevrolet has won the last three manufacturers' championships. Prior to that, Honda has won four consecutive years from 2018 to 2021. The average points total for the last four manufacturers' champions is 1,455.75. 

While Honda has won the last three Toronto races, since engine competition returned to IndyCar in 2012, Chevrolet holds the edge at Toronto having won seven of 13 races.

Road to Indy

The bottom two rungs of the Road to Indy join IndyCar on its trip across the border, and we could see a championship claimed this weekend. 

In USF Pro 2000, Max Garcia enters with 384 points as he has won four of the last five races, and through 14 races Garcia has yet to finish worse than fourth. With his run of form this season, Garcia is 97 points clear of Ariel Elkin with 132 points left on the table. Garcia just needs to leave Toronto with a 67-point lead to clinch the championship. He could even clinch the championship halfway through this weekend. 

If after the first Toronto race, Garcia has at least a 100-point lead, meaning he just needs to score at least three points more than Elkin in the opening race, he will clinch the championship. 

There are two other drivers still mathematically alive for the USF Pro 2000 championship. Canadian Mac Clark is on 279 points while Alessandro de Tullio is on 267 points.

Clark has yet to win in his USF Pro 2000 career, and in 2025 he has nine podium finishes but has yet to stand on the top step. De Tullio won three of the first four races, but he has only finish on the podium twice in the last ten races, and he has not been on the podium in the last five races. 

Nineteen cars are entered this weekend, and there is a surprise entry. Liam McNeilly, who won the first five U.S. F2000 races before visa issues prevented him from re-entering the United States after he traveled back to his native United Kingdom in May, is entered in the #6 Jay Howard Driver Development entry for Toronto. Despite having not raced since April, McNeilly is still seventh in the U.S. F2000 championship standings. 

USF Pro 2000 will race at 4:20 p.m. ET on Saturday July 19, and at 10:20 a.m. ET on Sunday July 20. Both races are scheduled for 25 laps or 45 minutes.

It is honors even in U.S. F2000 as Toronto marks the penultimate round of the season before the Portland triple-header to cap off the championship. No matter what, U.S. F2000 will head to Portland with the title undecided.

Jack Jeffers and Thomas Schrage are tied on 288 points after 13 races. Jeffers has won three times while Schrage has won twice. Jeffers has eight podium finishes while Schrage has nine. 

Teddy Musella has one victory this season, and Musella is 32 points off the tie at the top of the championship. G3 Argyros is on 219 points in fourth while Caleb Gafrarar has 212 points in fifth, and Gafrarar scored his first victory of the season when he won the first Mid-Ohio race. Evan Cooley rounds out the top six on 190 points.

Then you have McNeilly on 163 points in seventh before reaching Indianapolis Raceway Park winner Anthony Martella in eighth on 156 points. Lucas Fecury and Sebastián Garzón round out the top ten on 148 points and 147 points respectively.

The first U.S. F2000 race will be on Saturday July 19 at 1:30 p.m. ET. Race two will be at 9:25 a.m. ET on Sunday July 20. Both races are scheduled for 20 laps or 40 minutes.

Fast Facts

This will be the tenth IndyCar race to take place on July 20 and the first since Josef Newgarden won at Iowa in 2019. 

This will be the fifth Toronto race run on July 20. Bobby Rahal won on this date at Toronto in 1996. Mark Blundell did it 1997. Both races of the 2014 Toronto doubleheader were held on July 20 after the Saturday race was rained out. Sébastien Bourdais won the first race, and Mike Conway won the second race.

Since reunification, the Toronto winner has gone on to win the championship six times in 14 seasons. Four of those championships went to Chip Ganassi Racing drivers (Dario Franchitti in 2009 and 2011, Scott Dixon in 2013 and 2018). 

As there have been four different drivers to win the last four Toronto races, there have also been four different teams to win the last four Toronto races.

The last time there were at least five consecutive Toronto races with a different team winning was 2004 through 2010. In the final four Champ Car years, Newman/Haas Racing, RuSport, Forsythe Racing and Walker Racing won while Chip Ganassi Racing and Team Penske won the first two years post-reunification.

The last time we had five consecutive different drivers win was from 2013 through 2016. Scott Dixon won the second race of the 2013 doubleheader, Sébastien Bourdais and Mike Conway split the 2014 doubleheader, Josef Newgarden won in 2015 and Will Power won in 2016.

The average starting position for a Toronto winner is 3.6315 with a median of third. 

Five consecutive Toronto races have been won from the front row. Twenty total Toronto races have been won from the front row.

It has been 37 races since there has been a winner from the fourth starting position. The most recent was Álex Palou at Mid-Ohio in 2023. 

Only once has a Toronto winner started fourth. That was Will Power in 2016.

Nine times has a Toronto winner started outside the top five, most recently was in 2017 when Josef Newgarden won from seventh. 

Three times has a Toronto winner started outside the top ten (Michael Andretti from 13th in 2001, Mike Conway from 11th in the second race in 2014, Josef Newgarden from 11th in 2015).

Only once in the last 29 races has a winner started outside the top ten. Will Power won from 22nd in the second Iowa race last year. In the 29 races prior to that, seven times did the winner start outside the top ten. 

The average number of lead changes in a Toronto race is 4.324 with a median of four.

Six of the last eight Toronto races have had at least five lead changes.

The average number of cautions for a Toronto race is 3.324 with a median of three. The average number of caution laps is 13.594 with a median of 12. 

Thirty consecutive Toronto races have had multiple cautions, and there has never been a caution-free Toronto race.

Predictions

Honda completes the sweep and Colton Herta makes it four street course victories from four street course races in 2025. Álex Palou finishes on the podium while Kyle Kirkwood must settle for a top five result and lose more points to the championship leader. At least four top ten finishes make at least three pit stops, but all of the podium finishers make it on a two-stop strategy. Christian Lundgaard is back as the top Ed Carpenter Racing finisher. Team Penske does not have any cars finish outside the top twenty, and no Penske car makes contact with another. Louis Foster gets his first top ten finish. Sleeper: Marcus Armstrong.

Second Impressions: Iowa 2025

1. Normally when we do a second impressions it is to cover a portion of a race that we did not have enough time for it in the immediate aftermath or it didn't quite fit with the big story afterward. This one is going to be entirely based on the experiencing the Iowa doubleheader weekend, what was going on around the area and the time at the racetrack.

2. Iowa capped off a week-long road trip across the Midwest and Plains that started in South Dakota, went down into Nebraska, looped through Wyoming before taking I-80 entirely through Nebraska and into Iowa, with a side-trip into Minnesota. 

The one thing that crossed my mind as I was driving to Iowa was the Iowa race weekend is the IndyCar event for a good chunk of the country. 

In Lincoln, Nebraska, I stopped in at the Museum of American Speed, which is housing the Unser Racing Museum collection after the Unser family museum closed two years ago. The Museum of American Speed has probably the second-largest IndyCar collection behind the Indianapolis Motor Speedway's museum. There was nothing suggesting IndyCar was in the area, but Iowa is the closest IndyCar race to Lincoln, Nebraska. 

Yes, it is over three hours away, but where else would someone from Lincoln, Nebraska go to an IndyCar race? Gateway is about seven hours away. The closest race to the West is either in California or Oregon. Neither are around the corner. 

Iowa Speedway isn't right down the road either, but Lincoln, and in turn Omaha, Nebraska, are within the Iowa Speedway bubble. Even if you live in southern Minnesota, Iowa Speedway is closer than Road America and Milwaukee. This race isn't only about Iowa. 

That is a large area to promote the race in, and if not enough people are driving from these neighboring states, is it worth the promotion? After this weekend, it couldn't have hurt to promote there too, right? 

There may have been 10,000 people combined over Saturday and Sunday. It could not have hurt promoting in Lincoln and Omaha. Those two places have populations of about 300,000 and 500,000 respectively. Throw in the 200,000 for Des Moines and that that is nearly a million people. Go east to Iowa City and Cedar Rapids and that is another 400,000-plus people. 

That is covering a lot of ground, but Iowa City is an hour away and the Wisconsin venues are over four hours away. If you are anywhere near the University of Iowa and have interest in seeing IndyCar, you are going to Iowa Speedway.

If you take those four markets and get 15,000 people to show up from Des Moines alone with an additional 3,000 from the other three areas plus an additional 2,000 people coming from greater distances, the grandstands at Iowa Speedway would have at least looks respectable. 

3. Outside of some signage on buses, I didn't see much promotion in Des Moines for the races happening less than 45 minutes away. To be fair, there are not as many billboards on I-80 as you would think, and I was in Des Moines for four days. I wasn't watching all the local television and listening to every radio station. For the brief time I was there, the Iowa IndyCar weekend didn't come up. 

To be fair, neither did the NASCAR weekend, which happens in less than a month's time. 

4. With this being an IndyCar-promoted race, the promotion falls on IndyCar. 

With HyVee as the weekend sponsor, it got the word out there. The concerts also likely helped sell tickets, but when you lose such a title sponsor and that was funding the promotional side of the race, you are in big trouble if you cannot match that. 

Sukup stepped up to sponsor the weekend, but that was not announced until mid-April, about three months before the race weekend. I don't know how far in advance you need to buy local air time or put up billboards or print promotional material, but I sense Sukup didn't have the same budget as HyVee nor did Sukup have the same amount of time to get the word out. 

That is a tough bind for the series to be in.

5. I do want to address Iowa Speedway's contributions to the promotion of the IndyCar weekend, which was none at all. 

I understand if this is an IndyCar-promoted event that Iowa Speedway is not paying for local television and radio advertisements and billboards. I understand that. That is fair.

What I do not understand is Iowa Speedway couldn't throw IndyCar a bone and post about the race on social media? That is free. That takes nothing at all to do. One a day during the work days in the few weeks leading up to the event. 

I don't understand how the track didn't at least want its client in IndyCar to at least do the best it could. Simply posting about it gets the word out. Why wouldn't Iowa Speedway, even if it was not getting more money for a larger crowd, not want an event on its grounds to do the best it possibly could?

What bothered me the most was  on Friday, when there was a tornado warning around the racetrack and the Newton, Iowa-area, Iowa Speedway's social media was dead silent. 

There weren't 20,000 people at the track on Friday, but there were still a few hundred people at the track. There could have been more people planning on coming out around 3:00 p.m. It costs nothing at all to post that there is bad weather in the area, those planning on driving to the track should not head to the facility, and those at the facility should find shelter and possibly point them to safer locations. 

I think it is abhorrent Iowa Speedway didn't have the decency to at least warn people when a tornado was in the area, and specifically, about a mile-and-a-half from the track. Regardless if IndyCar is promoting the event or the track is promoting the event, if a tornado came through and took out the racetrack, Iowa Speedway would be on the news. Iowa Speedway wouldn't get off the hook because it wasn't promoting the event taking place when a tornado hit. 

The track couldn't even do the bare-minimum when it came to public safety. That is worse than not doing anything in terms of race promotion.

6. Going back to IndyCar, when you are the promoter, the lack of attendance falls on you. There is no one else to blame. We can point fingers at Iowa Speedway's lack of help all we want, but from the way things look, this race depended too much on HyVee's support, and if you are not getting close to equal of that from the new partner, it is on you to make up the difference. 

What sucks is we know IndyCar can draw at Iowa. It did it for years prior to HyVee's involvement. We know 25,000 to 30,000 people can show up. All those people didn't die in the last five or six years. But despite racing regularly in Iowa since 2007, it is clear the series has not made any roots and developed a nature following in the local area. 

For as much as we blame the lack of promotion, if people had a good time and loved the event, they will make sure they will go again. They will mark on their calendars when the race is returning, note when the email comes into their inbox for ticket sales and actively search out the event if they haven't heard anything. 

Why hasn't that been the case for IndyCar? You can say last year was bad racing, but that is one year. People can still go to an event. The Miami Grand Prix might not be the greatest racing but there are still people who want to go. That shouldn't be any different for Iowa or any IndyCar event. If the event is worth it, people will attend. 

7. If the HyVee budget wasn't there for promotion, IndyCar almost has to treat itself like minor league baseball. 

When I was a kid, I remember the local independent league team would have the pocket schedules or posters out everywhere. Pizzerias, car dealerships, banks, barber shops, you name it! That would be the case in four or five surrounding towns. 

It would not hurt IndyCar to put itself in public places. If you are IndyCar, a pocket schedule doesn't work, but posters do. Go into the market and find pizzerias and local restaurants willing to put a poster up on the bulletin board. Go into coffeeshops, ice cream parlors, arcades, local karting track, bowling alleys, etc.

This is where it is important to connect to the local market. I know Scott McLaughlin went and threw out the first pitch at an Iowa Cubs game, but that is one singular event. You need something that is almost annoying where people turn there head and always see it. "IndyCar. July 12-13. Iowa Speedway." 

It is not some grand promotional push, but it is a small thing that can be done on a limited budget. 

8. To reiterate, I was a traveler passing through Des Moines and didn't see the full extent of the promotional effort on local television, but in the New York-area, when Supercross is coming to the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, New Jersey, I see at least one commercial a night during Jeopardy for the Supercross race for at least two if not three weeks. 

Is IndyCar doing that? I don't know, but I cannot think of a better spot for a commercial. It doesn't have to be much. One commercial during Jeopardy for ten or 15 days goes a long way. I am not saying that is all IndyCar needs to have 30,000 people at Iowa again, but that is where IndyCar should be targeting. People are going to see it that is for sure.

9. I have been writing for years that we have to stop blaming the IndyCar fans for not supporting IndyCar oval weekends. IndyCar does not have 20,000 affluent people who can attending four-to-six race weekends a season across the country. If IndyCar wants an oval race to succeed, it must find a way to draw from that local market. 

At least 85-90% of the attendance should be locals, i.e. people that live within 90 minutes of the track. With how spread out Iowa is, maybe that is within two hours of the track. The remaining 10-15% should be fly-in fans or extended travel fans, and they should be gravy. If IndyCar events are trying to survive on the reverse, the event will fail, and it is stupid to believe the reverse is a winning strategy. 

The state of Iowa has a population of around 3.25 million people. About 1% of Iowa's population is 32,500 people. IndyCar couldn't draw 1% of the state for its only visit to the Hawkeye State? Hell, half of a percent would have done IndyCar wonders!

That is a bigger relevance issue for IndyCar. It cannot be relying on 10,000 people from Indiana to go to all the races. When Supercross goes to the Meadowlands, it isn't relying on 40,000 flying across the country from California to make the race a success. 

This has been an IndyCar issue almost forever it feels like, but it is pretty basic on what it must do to have healthy events.

10. It doesn't help that oval weekends are rather dead on track. 

The rain on Friday basically saved Saturday because Saturday became practice at 9:00 a.m., Indy Lights race at 11:00 a.m. and IndyCar qualifying at 12:30 p.m. There was still nearly three hours between the end of qualifying and the start of the race. 

It was better than Sunday when cars ran installation laps at 9:15 a.m. and then nothing happened until noon. 

This is an issue as old as time for IndyCar and ovals. For a road course weekend, it can have three or four support series and at most there is 20 minutes of down time on circuit. IndyCar hasn't been able to replicate that on ovals. 

USF Pro 2000 and U.S. F2000 aren't going to any oval races beyond Indianapolis Raceway Park on Carb Day. IndyCar has brought USAC Silver Crowns in and that always seems to be done for one year and then not done again for another six years. IndyCar isn't going to pair with ARCA. It isn't going to create another oval series. 

Iowa's front straightaway has what I believe is an 1/8th-mile oval. I really wish there was a legends cars series that could have filled the time. I don't care if I don't know any of the drivers or they are all 15 years old. It is at least something to be on track and keep people entertained. Bring out some quarter-midgets or karters for all I care.

I don't know what kind of turmoil Stadium Super Trucks is in that it only runs once a year at Long Beach, but Roger Penske has enough money. Buy it and bring it to all the IndyCar oval weekends. It isn't going to be able to fill the entire three-hour gap, but if it can take up 45 minutes that helps. 

It is hard to sell an event when most of it is just people wandering around trying to stave off boredom. There just needs to be more. 

11. The in-house production for IndyCar pre-race does not help the experience. If there was more competition on track, that would solve most of the issues, but without it, the PA system is either silent or playing music, but worst of all it is flat in the build up to the race. 

We have driver introductions and then it is just music playing. Then the video boards will play a five-minute recap of last year's race...  

Then there is another song...

Then the video board is showing Patricio O'Ward in the simulator explaining Iowa Speedway... 

Another song...

A tease video... 

Invocation and national anthem... 

Song...

Order to clear the grid... 

Song... 

Order of drivers to their cars... 

Song... 

Command to start engines...

And then we get the radio broadcast. 

There must be a dedicated in-house pre-race show. Find a personality to host. Get a former driver or two as analysts. That should take up the 90 minutes prior to green flag. That show should be getting additional driver interviews off of introductions. It should be teasing the race we are about to see. What fuel strategy should be. Who was looking good, who was in trouble, etc. 

It must be live and keep the people engaged. You still need to be selling the event to the people at the event. If it is informative, the crowd is at least going to appreciate it if not love it.

It is going to cost money but it goes a long way, and what was provided at Iowa was a disservice to the people attending. I have never been to a Formula One race, but I cannot imagine it is that dull in the full hour before the start of the race. It doesn't have to be the Indianapolis 500 at every race, but it should at least feel like you are building up to the race and keep people on edge. I have been to plenty of baseball, basketball, hockey and football games to know how far IndyCar is from drumming up excitement for its own event. 

Unfortunately, I know not to expect that to change. 

12. Sidebar, why wasn't Indy Lights a doubleheader? 

The Indy Lights race took 28 minutes and five seconds to run on Saturday. 

Money is the answer, but are budgets that tight that Indy Lights couldn't run two 75-lap races at Iowa? That would have helped immensely on Sunday. Even if the races are only a half-hour.

13. This next one is an infrastructure fix for Iowa Speedway. 

The only way into the garage area is through the tunnel in-between turns one and two. Why in 2006 they didn't build a pedestrian tunnel from under the main grandstand into the infield, I haven't a clue, but it is quite the hike from the grandstands to the garages, and you have to walk along the road that goes down hill outside the circuit. 

There were shuttles running between the two areas, but you don't always want to wait for a shuttle. 

However, outside of turn one at Iowa Speedway is the activation area where the merchandising tent and trailers were parked as well as some other displays. At the end of that gravel area is the hill that leads down to the infield tunnel to the garage area, but that was fenced off. 

Iowa should take that hill and turn it into a staircase with a zig-zagging ramp. It would cut the walking time from the garage area to the grandstands in half, it not shorten it much more. 

Again, easier said than done, but I don't know why a racetrack isn't thinking like that. The last thing people want is an inconvenient walk.

14. Speaking of racetracks not thinking, if the biggest gripe against attending a day race at Iowa is the heat, why not construct covering over the grandstand? 

It does baffle me that the United States struggles with building covered grandstands. This is at all sports venues, not just racetracks. 

This weekend wasn't that bad in terms of the heat. Saturday was rather nice with the wind. Sunday was good but the aluminum seats are baking the entire morning prior to the race. Then the race begins and the grandstands are directly in the sunlight for the entire day. The shadows don't start coming over the grandstands until about 5:00 p.m. local time. 

I think about the hillsides at Sepang International Circuit, and I wonder why couldn't Iowa (and most ovals) build awnings over the grandstands?

Iowa is not that big of a grandstand. There is enough space to build it so it can cover the grandstand and some of the concourse level as well.

Again, this is something that will not happen, but it would make the attending experience one million times better. Just spend the money. NASCAR has it! 

15. There was a thought that crossed my mind that there is a good chance Iowa Speedway's lower lane was re-paved only for NASCAR to use the track twice and leave for good, which could coincide with IndyCar leaving for good.

Think about NASCAR's schedule for a second. There have been two big rumors in the last month.

A San Diego street course will replace the Chicago street course... 

And in turn, Chicagoland Speedway will return to the schedule. 

The problem is the math does not add up. If San Diego and Chicago are a straight swap, how does Chicagoland return? 

It would have to come from another track. Chicagoland is a NASCAR-owned track. The Chicago street race is a NASCAR-promoted event. The Speedway Motorsports, Inc. tracks (Texas, Charlotte, Atlanta, Las Vegas, Loudon, etc) aren't going to lose a race. It will have to come from a NASCAR assortment of tracks.

What could be in peril?

Darlington? It has two dates but I don't get the sense it will take a second away.

Daytona is keeping two dates.

Homestead is going back to the finale slot with its only race.

Kansas is maybe the most beloved circuit on the Cup schedule. I don't think it would lose either of its dates. 

If Martinsville lost a race, people would riot. 

Michigan is already down to one race, as is Richmond. 

Phoenix is sticking with two, plus NASCAR needs a race early in the season and Phoenix has the best climate for a March race. 

Talladega isn't losing either of its races, and Watkins Glen isn't going anywhere.

What does that leave?

The runt of the group is Iowa Speedway. Is it 35,000 people at Iowa Speedway or 50,000 people at Chicagoland Speedway?

I think we know the answer. 

How cruel would that be that NASCAR re-paved part of Iowa, when arguable it didn't have to, only for it to be used twice for the NASCAR Cup Series and completely ruin the IndyCar racing held there?

NASCAR didn't do the re-pave to spite IndyCar, but it also didn't really care how IndyCar was doing either. 

Prepare yourself for in the next month or two to find out Iowa is off the NASCAR schedule and think about all the changes that were done for basically nothing if the race only lasted two years. 

16. A lot of this has been criticism. Solutions have been offered. 

I wanted to go to Iowa Speedway because I wanted to go to a different venue and it worked out that it could become a full week to see part of the country I had never visited before. 

I liked Iowa Speedway. There really isn't a bad seat in the house. Even in the lower section you can see the entire racetrack in one of the top few rows. I wish to have attended under better circumstances in terms of the race itself and IndyCar's health at the facility, but even without it, I could tell how cool this little place can be. 

I said it after Sunday, seeing a bad race at the racetrack is still a day at the racetrack. Both of the races might not have been sensational events, but it is still great to see cars fly by in person. There weren't 1,000 passes in each race, but it was fun to watch someone line one up and make a move. We did see Josef Newgarden run down Álex Palou and David Malukas and re-take control of a race after being caught out by a caution. 

The track is different from how it was prior to the re-pave, but it at least got better than last year. Some of that is a year of wear on the surface. Some of it is the adjustments IndyCar made. There are reasons to be hopeful, but there are too many pitfalls to ignore with this event. 

I wish it wasn't this way. I wish the support was strong enough to justify working through the rough times. I wish we didn't go into a race weekend already frustrated with how it was going to work out. 

If IndyCar leaves Iowa, it did all it could on the racing side, but the series clearly has its shortcomings when it comes to promoting events. That is something that will need to be addressed because I don't think IndyCar-promoted oval races are going anywhere. It already does the Indianapolis 500 and Milwaukee, and racetracks aren't lining up to host IndyCar. 

If there is any silver-lining from this weekend for the series it is I hope it can be a learning experience for the future. 

Musings From the Weekend: Why is IndyCar Wasting its Money in Iowa?

Here is a rundown of what got me thinking...

Christian Horner was fired, and we have been talking about that all week. It was a good weekend for a set of brothers. It rained a lot in Germany. The Formula E championship was clinched with a round remaining, and the finale will now be an extended celebration for a home driver. There was a rebound in Berlin. Something is becoming inevitable. There was a historic winner in a junior series. Álex Palou continues to be dominant, but we need to talk about the venue and IndyCar’s future. 

Why is IndyCar Wasting its Money in Iowa?

It is amazing how quickly things can change. 

In 2022, after a one-year hiatus away from Iowa Speedway, IndyCar's return was celebrated. The injection of funding from Hy-Vee turned Iowa into a destination weekend. Doubleheader races. Big concert acts. Tickets were pricey, some felt slighted, but it was an IndyCar weekend that stood out from the others. The racing continued to be competitive and whether some people were only there for the music or there for racing, it drew a crowd.  

After three years, Hy-Vee moved on. Iowa Speedway made an unexpected decision to re-pave the bottom lane of the racetrack a little over a month before last year's race, leaving IndyCar and Firestone scrambling for a solution. The disparity of the two lanes of the track turned a race weekend that saw well over 2,000 combined total passes over two races into two races that combined for less than a quarter of that total. Quickly, the mood turned. 

IndyCar tried this year to improve the racing after last year's display, but there is only so much the series can do when a racetrack decides to have half its asphalt be brand new and then other half be 18 years older. Everyone went into last year's race nervous, and everyone went into this year's dismayed. At the test last month, everyone knew this would not be a good race weekend. It was slightly better than last year, but it neglects what we know Iowa could be and the Iowa we lost. It is difficult thing to accept because until 2024, Iowa had been a great track for IndyCar. 

Now IndyCar must ask itself this difficult question, why waste its money for two unsatisfactory races?

Iowa is a rental. IndyCar rents the facility and promotes this race on its own, which the series didn’t do a good job at, but that is another story. 

Sukup Manufacture, Co., the world's largest family-owned and operated manufacturer of grain storage, drying and handling equipment, took over as the title sponsor from Hy-Vee. Iowa Speedway doesn't really care if IndyCar is there. In the build up to the IndyCar race, Iowa Speedway's website never featured it on the main page. It listed IndyCar as one of its events under the calendar, but it didn't do anymore to encourage people to support an event running at its facility. If IndyCar is willing to write a check, Iowa Speedway and its owner (NASCAR) will happily accept it. 

But why should IndyCar choose to return to a track where it is unnecessarily difficult to put on a satisfactory race? 

IndyCar could invest millions and test religiously in the build up to next year's race to get the most out of it, but IndyCar isn't going to do that. It barely organized a test ahead of this year's race, and even after that test, the series and Firestone still decided to make changes ahead of the race weekend, meaning everyone was heading into this doubleheader running something untested. They wasted a day gathering data just to start from scratch. 

Iowa had been one of IndyCar's best races, and it had tremendous support over the years, but even before the pandemic attendance had dipped. It bounced from night race to day race to late-evening race. Some were turned off when it became more than just a race weekend and ticket prices increased with big musical acts performing. Now the racing is frustrating. It isn’t really good. That great audience has mostly been turned off. If the race is bad, and no one is showing up, and the main sponsor who supported this race backed out, and the funding is less than what you were first getting, why go back?

The racing is not returning to its pre-2024 level anytime soon. Maybe in three or four years, but that is long wait, one IndyCar cannot afford. It would be one thing if there crowd was going to be there no matter what. If 30,000 people showed up every year at Iowa no matter the quality of racing, then IndyCar has a case to stick it out until the track wears even if it takes a few years. That isn't the case. The crowd didn’t have that type of devotion. 

If IndyCar is going to spend millions of dollars to run a race weekend, why do it at a place where the support is gone and the racing is bad? 

Next year will not be different, and if the definition of insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly hoping for a different result, it would be insane for IndyCar to return to Iowa Speedway in 2026. 

It is awful to accept, but IndyCar should take that money and look for another facility to rent. As much as it hurts to lose Iowa, it is a chance for IndyCar to go elsewhere. If only 10,000 people are going to show up over two days, why not go to a venue and an area of the country you currently are not running? What is the difference between 10,000 people over two days in Iowa and say 20,000 or 25,000 people showing up for Pocono or Richmond? 

This is an oval weekend IndyCar supports. If the series is going to prop up one oval weekend a year, it better be a weekend where the racing is at least good. This is a chance for IndyCar to go somewhere else and branch out. 

For six years we have been talking about how the Northeast (really the entire East Coast) is barren of IndyCar. IndyCar has three good options, Pocono, Richmond or Loudon. Pocono is a known. Its IndyCar crowds were better than what Iowa pulled in this weekend. With Pocono’s NASCAR race in late-June, I am not sure mid-July is when IndyCar would like to go, but IndyCar could shuffle the schedule around to get Pocono back to late-August. Richmond was on the doorstep of a return in 2020 before the pandemic. Mid-July isn't ideal for Richmond, but dates could be shuffled around for it to run in spring time.

Loudon is actually perfect for this weekend. It hosted NASCAR races in mid-July for the longest time. The NASCAR weekend is now in September. IndyCar could run this weekend and it would still be two months before the NASCAR weekend. Also, the weather was rather hospitable at this weekend in New Hampshire. The high yesterday was 82° F. 

If the Northeast isn't an option, then do something notable. Rent out Michigan and run a 500-mile race. IndyCar's biggest race is a superspeedway and that is the only time we get to see these cars at their maximum potential. It is borderline criminal IndyCar doesn't run at least two or three a season. It is definitely short-sighted, but if IndyCar needs an oval race, give the people an oval weekend. Give us big speeds and slingshot passes! NASCAR's Michigan weekend was at the start of June. IndyCar could move a few dates around and place Michigan at the end of July, and also give it some breathing room from the Detroit weekend. The state of Michigan already has a date and it isn't expanding the spread of the series, but there aren't that many other options, especially for ovals.

Where else is IndyCar going to run? Kansas? Chicagoland considering NASCAR is rumored to be returning? Those are Midwest tracks and Gateway is basically in the middle of those two. Let's rob Peter to pay Paul!

Charlotte Motor Speedway would be good, but some are still haunted by ghosts. I would be for going to North Wilkesboro. It would be the smallest track IndyCar has ever run and it is an unvisited area of the country for the series, but it is a facility that has received significant upgrades and I think the locals will support any race that comes through. Rockingham's future is too unstable to give it a race. 

Atlanta is unlikely with its reconfiguration. I would love to see Darlington for the sake of seeing it, but I don't think it is realistic nor am I sure the racing would be good. Dover is too dangerous. Martinsville is too small. I don't think Bristol would be good, but hey, it couldn't be worse than Iowa. 

Then there are the options that do not work if you need a summer race. You could go to Homestead, Phoenix or Texas, but those would have to be spring races. With IndyCar going to Arlington and NASCAR racing at Texas in May, I don't think Texas is returning. Las Vegas is there, but it also has a ghost problem. 

Those are basically all of your oval options, and more aren't coming anytime soon. IndyCar's oval future depends on making it work with what exists. Otherwise, there will no oval weekends outside of Memorial Day weekend very soon. 

I don't see a reason to return to Iowa. That doesn't have to be a disaster. IndyCar can use this to find root somewhere else. It can use this to create a new race and find a new audience. If in four or five years things have changed, and Iowa is serviceable again, a return can be considered, but not in 2026. IndyCar must go somewhere and have at least good racing. Give Gateway or Milwaukee the doubleheader weekend, and find another track where people can tune in and see a good race. 

We know that will not be the case for Iowa. It is no longer worth IndyCar wasting its money on a weekend that leaves nobody happy.

Champion From the Weekend

Oliver Rowland clinched the Formula E championship with a fourth-place finish in the second race at the Berlin ePrix.

Winners From the Weekend

You know about Álex Palou, but did you know...

Marc Márquez won MotoGP's German Grand Prix. Márquez also won the sprint race. Deniz Öncü won in Moto2, his second victory of the season. David Muñoz won in Moto3, his second victory of the season.

Mitch Evans and Nick Cassidy split the Berlin ePrix.

Shane van Gisbergen won the NASCAR Cup race from Sonoma, his second consecutive victory and third of the season. Connor Zilisch won the Grand National Series, his third victory of the season 

The #12 Hertz Team Jota Cadillac of Alex Lynn, Norman NATO and Will Stevens won the 6 Hours of São Paulo. The #87 Akkodis ASP Team of José María López, Clemens Schmid and Rǎzvan Umbrǎrescu won in LMGT3.

The #99 AO Racing Oreca of Dane Cameron and P.J. Hyatt won the IMSA race from Mosport. The #81 DragonSpeed Ferrari of Albert Costa and Giacomo Altoè won in GTD Pro. The #45 Wayne Taylor Racing Lamborghini of Danny Formal and Trent Hindman won in GTD.

Toprak Razgatlioglu swept the World Superbike races from Donington Park. Stefano Manzi and Can Öncü split the World Supersport.

Brodie Kostecki (race one) and Broc Feeney (race two and three) split the Supercars races from Townsville.

Myles Rowe won the Indy Lights race from Iowa, his first career victory. 

Coming Up This Weekend

IndyCar makes its one trip to Canada for the Toronto weekend.

MotoGP has its final race before the summer break, and it is a return to Brno, Czech Republic.

NASCAR returns to an oval for the semifinal round of its in-season tournament at Dover. 

Super Formula has a doubleheader at Fuji. 

GT World Challenge America heads down to Virginia International Raceway.

The World Rally Championship will be in Estonia.

First Impressions: Iowa 2025 Race Two

1. It is never a surprise when Álex Palou wins in the NTT IndyCar Series. Palou was starting on pole position after all for the second race from Iowa Speedway. He set himself up to be the man to beat from the very start, and it looked like he had at least one suitable challenger. Josef Newgarden made himself known early, and it felt like Newgarden was set to get on top after one slipped through his fingers yesterday. Instead, Newgarden was on the wrong side of two cautions while Palou had the cautions fall his way and ultimately take off the pressure.

Twice Newgarden had just made his pit stop from the lead and a caution came out, catching him a lap down. He drove from tenth to first after the first time. Newgarden had a slow final stop, but it felt like this would be his race. Instead, Palou was there for the opportune moments.

Palou was going to finish second if Newgarden had cautions fall in his favor. This wasn’t going to be a lucky win where Palou wasn’t in the picture until running long on one stint. Palou ran up front the entire race. He might not have been the best car, but his team ran the best strategy, and in a way not leading allowed him to run longer. The second time, Newgarden had to run hard to catch up to the leaders. That stop was always going to come earlier than the rest. The one thing he could not afford was a caution. Each time, it came. 

After Patricio O’Ward won yesterday, some thought Palou was losing ground. Well, Palou’s victory gives him a 129-point lead and this weekend was a net-gain of four points over O’Ward. Crisis averted. With five races remaining, Palou is looking fine. 

As for the record book, this is seven victories from 12 races. There are two ovals (Milwaukee and Nashville), two west coast races (Laguna Seca and Portland) and a foreign trip (Toronto) remaining. He needs to win four of the final five to get the single-season victory record. Three gets him a share. That victory at Mid-Ohio would have gone a long way. His season isn’t over. Palou will win again. The question is how many?

2. Because of that final caution for Colton Herta getting into the wall, it allowed a number of drivers to check a break. Scott Dixon was one of those guys. Dixon might have finished in the top ten without that caution. At one point, Dixon slipped out of the top ten. It was not his strongest day, but the caution elevated Dixon into a podium position. 

Dixon didn’t really threaten Palou. He kept him honest, just like Mid-Ohio, but it would have required another error from the Catalan driver for Dixon to get his second victory of the season. It lifted Dixon into third in the championship. 

3. Marcus Armstrong was on for a top ten result today before the final caution. The final caution turned what should have been seventh or eighth into third. It is a generous result, but Armstrong has had one of the most unheralded seasons. This is his eighth top ten finish of the season. He is seventh in the championship and ahead of all three Penske drivers. Armstrong should have his future locked down.  

4. David Malukas ran well and held his own agains Palou and Newgarden in this race. Malukas would have been on the podium without that late caution. After yesterday where he wasn’t a factor, Malukas kept his name in the game for the entire race. He didn’t lead but he was in the picture. The right run could have led to a big result. 

5. Patricio O’Ward couldn’t quite get back into the battle for the win after yesterday. He got stuck around fifth or sixth the entire race. It was hard to pass. You could make a few moves but at some point everyone stalled out. At that point, it came down to others making mistakes. A few times, O’Ward was able to use slower traffic as a pick. 

6. That final caution turned nothing into something for Christian Lundgaard. I don’t think he spent a lap in the top ten until the final pit cycle. Then the caution locked Lundgaard into a top ten spot. He had track position and held on to finish sixth. This wasn’t a great weekend for Lundgaard. He struggled. This is a flattering result. 

7. Felix Rosenqvist likely would not have finished in the top ten without that late caution. Rosenqvist ran better today than yesterday but he still faded over the course of this race. It is his biggest flaw. Qualifies well, falls from promising positions. It does not matter if it is an oval, road course or street courses. It has still been a good year for Meyer Shank Racing, another step forward after moving forward in 2024. 

8. Christian Rasmussen was always in line for a top ten. His race topped out around eighth. Rasmussen looked competitive all weekend. He was aggressive and willing to make some brave moves. This has been a strong sophomore season for the Dane. He is earning himself a third season. 

9. Robert Shwartzman likely should not have finished in the top ten, but he raced like he should have been in the top ten, and the final caution put him a spot to finish ninth. Shwartzman lost ground early after he sped on pit lane during his first stop. He drove forward after that though. He didn’t drive into the top ten. This was going to be a 15th-place day before that final caution. Take them however you can get them. 

10. We touched upon Josef Newgarden’s two poorly timed pit stops. He looked like the best car, and prior to his second stop of the day, the one where he was caught out the first time, Newgarden was cutting through back-markers. It looked like he had learned from yesterday and was putting traffic between him and Palou. That might have cost him though. 

Newgarden made some bold moves, and he was better in traffic. Traffic is what allowed him to close on Palou and Malukas before the final round of pit stops. Newgarden saw that everyone had to stop again and ran hard to push the competition. He was just on the wrong side of the caution again.

For how well he ran, Newgarden made a few errors. He made a few aggressive looks that forced him to back out. His final pit stop was another slow stop and he cycled out of the pit lane behind Malukas after passing him on the track. Newgarden was going to have work to do. 

On the final restart, he was in eighth and lost spots. I don’t know how much he was deflated after all the work he did to find himself behind the eight-ball again. Add that on top of yesterday and how this season has gone, it is likely Newgarden is fried mentally. Additional setbacks are grueling. 

Considering how this season has gone, this was a good weekend for Newgarden, but it is hard to shake that he should have won one of these races. 

11. How the hell did Jacob Abel finish 11th?

I swear I saw him get lapped four times in this race. He obviously got the wave around multiple times and didn’t stop before that final caution. That was a lucky result.

Abel was right ahead of Rinus VeeKay. VeeKay had run well most of today. I don’t think he was behind Abel until the very end. 

12. Kyffin Simpson, too! Simpson never looked competitive and then ended up 13th! It shows how important it is to run as long as you can on that final stint. The caution will only help you if you make your final stop as late as possible.

13. I guess the same goes for Louis Foster, the final car on the lead lap in 14th. It was a good result even if he did nothing memorable. The key thing is Foster is making laps and making it to the finish of races. 

14. Everyone from 15th on down was off the lead lap.

Santino Ferrucci did not have a strong race. He got into the top ten late, but most of this race he was 14th to 17th. He got caught out by the final caution. 

Conor Daly was looking good for a top five, definitely a top ten, but Daly stopped before the final caution and was trapped a lap down. He was much better than 16th today. 

Alexander Rossi stopped before the Herta caution and it cost him a top ten. Rossi and Rasmussen were running around each other the entire race. 

Kyle Kirkwood went off-strategy and did not stop under the fourth caution for Callum Ilott’s accident. Kirkwood was always going to make one final stop while some thought the leaders could stretch it. Kirkwood had spent the entire race outside the top ten. He had to do something different. I don’t think it would have worked out into a victory if the Herta caution never came out, but I think Kirkwood could have snuck out a top ten result. 

Graham Rahal was three laps down in 19th. I don’t know what he did today. 

15. This was a rough weekend for Andretti Global. None of the three cars had speed, which is odd considering how they ran last year. Herta hit the wall. Marcus Ericsson hit the wall. Both were apparently tire failures. Coincidentally, these two cautions were the ones that caught out Newgarden. This group will be glad the next race is Toronto. 

16. Callum Ilott looked competitive before he spun in turn four. Ilott is being beat by Shwartzman this year. The prior IndyCar experience only gets you so far with a new team, and Ilott has carried this group at times, but it has been surprising that it is Shwartzman pulling out top ten results on ovals while Ilott is retiring from races and making mistakes.

17. Sting Ray Robb had an accident. That is not a surprise. Robb has run better this year. He is still out of his depth. 

18. Team Penske could only shake the crappy days for half of the doubleheader weekend. Scott McLaughlin had nowhere to go when Devlin DeFrancesco spun in front of him. Will Power looked racy after starting sixth only to lose an engine after 21 laps. It is hard to fathom this is the kind of season Team Penske is experiencing. 

19. We had one fewer driver in this race. Nolan Siegel was not cleared to race after his accident yesterday. Let’s hope Siegel will be cleared for Toronto. But it is Arrow McLaren. We know how they operate. 

20. This race was better, and it was good. This is where we need to have an honest conversation about a good race. After the 2013 Indianapolis 500, I got nervous because suddenly we had a “500” with 68 lead changes when two years prior only a handful had seen more than 30 lead changes. I think we focus too much on the numbers, especially since IndyCar shares them and promotes the total number of passes in a race, but a good race isn’t as simple as meeting a quota. 

This race had 382 total passes, the most in the last two years at Iowa. It is still miles off the totals from 2023, but we saw Newgarden race down the leaders. We saw side-by-side racing. It was still difficult to pass, and it is frustrating to watch drivers make runs only to get chopped off. In the middle of the stint, it felt like most of the passes came before one car tried to pass another only to lose ground and for the car behind them to have greater momentum to end up ahead.

This was better, but it can take another step. It should feel this difficult to pass at Iowa. The tail end of the field dictated the race more than it ever did from 2007 to 2023. 

21. Was this weekend enough to save Iowa? I have already written something for tomorrow, and there are other observations from this weekend on site I will ruminate over the next few days. I don’t think it was enough and even if it was, it was too little too late. 

IndyCar did all it could on the racetrack. They were dealt a bad hand last year and knew it wouldn’t get better this year, but the future of this event is more than just what was on-track, though that is the biggest piece of the pie.

22. It was nice going to a different track. It will be nice next week watching Toronto from home. We are halfway through the July marathon. 

Morning Warm-Up: Iowa 2025 Race Two

Álex Palou will lead the field to the green flag for the second race of IndyCar’s doubleheader weekend from Iowa Speedway. Palou took the top spot with a lap at 17.4900 seconds in qualifying. This is Palou’s fourth pole position of the season and second in three races. In nine career pole positions, Palou has won six times. He has never finished worse than fourth when starting on pole. 

Felix Rosenqvist is a surprise second on the grid as the Meyer Shank Racing driver was 0.0037 seconds off Palou. This is Rosenqvist’s best starting position of the season, and his first front row start since he was on pole position for last year’s Long Beach race. After starting third yesterday, his best two Iowa starts have come this weekend. 

David Malukas will start third as the Illinoian was 0.0615 seconds slower than Palou. This is Malukas’ sixth time starting in the top ten in the last seven races. He has finished in the top ten in only two of those previous five top ten starts. Malukas started third in the second Iowa race in 2023 before finishing eighth. 

Josef Newgarden’s quest for a seventh Iowa victory will resume from fourth on the grid for the second race of the weekend. Newgarden was 0.0666 seconds off Palou. With 232 laps led yesterday, Newgarden has now led 2,079 laps in his career at Iowa. Prior to yesterday, Newgarden had only led 25 laps this season. 

Nolan Siegel takes fifth on the grid, his second top five starting position in three races. Siegel fell 0.0783 seconds off pole position. This will be the first time Siegel is starting in the top ten on an oval. After his accident yesterday, Siegel has failed to finish on the lead lap in four of the last six races. 

Will Power was 0.0900 seconds behind Palou, and Power takes sixth on the grid. Power has finished in the top five in seven of his last eight Iowa starts, including his third-place finish yesterday. It was Power’s second podium finish of the season. 

Conor Daly finished seventh yesterday and Daly will start seventh for race two from Iowa. This is the first time Daly has started in the top ten in consecutive races since he started third in both Iowa races in 2022. Daly has finished in the top ten in three consecutive oval races. 

Scott Dixon will be beside Daly on row four. After finishing tenth yesterday, Dixon has four consecutive top ten finishes, his best run of form since he had a 16-race streak that started at Barber Motorsports Park in April 2023 and ended with his Long Beach victory in April 2024. 

Patricio O'Ward will have a little extra work to do if he hopes to win in his 101st start. O’Ward will start ninth. Only once has he won from ninth or worse. He won from 16th at Belle Isle in 2021. After his victory yesterday, five of O’Ward eight career victories have come on doubleheader weekends. 

Graham Rahal rounds out the top ten on the grid, and this is Rahal’s first top ten start on an oval since he started eighth for the second Iowa race last year. He went on to finish eighth in that race, his most recent top ten result on an oval. 

Robert Shwartzman has his second-best starting position of the season in 11th. It is only the second time Shwartzman has started in the top fifteen. The other time was pole position at the Indianapolis 500. He has finished 20th or worst in his last three starts. 

Marcus Armstrong will have a reunion of sorts with his old Prema teammate Shwartzman on row six. Armstrong has five consecutive top ten finishes, the best streak in his IndyCar career. He has seven top ten finishes this season, and he had nine top ten finishes all of last season. 

Callum Ilott will start directly behind his Prema teammate Shwartzman in 13th. This is Ilott’s second-best start of the season. He started ninth at Road America. This will be Ilott's 50th career start. Only one driver has had a first career victory come in a 50th career start. That was Danica Patrick at Motegi in 2008. 

Marcus Ericsson is the top Andretti Global starter in 14th. Ericsson has finished 12th in the last two races and he finished 13th in two of the three races prior to that. After finishing 23rd in the second Iowa race last year, this is the first time the Swede has failed to score a top ten result in consecutive Iowa races. 

Alexander Rossi starts 15th. This is the seventh consecutive race Rossi is starting outside the top ten. He has finished outside the top ten in five of those races. Yesterday was only the second time Rossi has retired from a race this season. The other was the Indianapolis 500. Both retirements have been due to mechanical issues. 

Louis Foster takes the outside of row eight. Foster dropped from 12th to 14th in yesterday’s race. It was the fifth consecutive race Foster has finished worse than his starting position. It was also the second consecutive race he has finished 14th. 

Christian Rasmussen will look to continue his strong oval form from 17th on the grid. Rasmussen has three consecutive top ten finishes on ovals. The last time an Ed Carpenter Racing driver had four consecutive top ten finishes on ovals was Josef Newgarden in 2016. That streak included a victory at Iowa. 

Kyffin Simpson begins race two where race one left off, in 18th position. Yesterday was Simpson’s worst result since he was collected in an accident when Kyle Larson spun at the Indianapolis 500. Simpson has finished outside the top fifteen in eight of ten career oval starts. 

Colton Herta will take 19th on the grid, his second-worst starting position ever at Iowa. Herta’s worst came yesterday when he started 23rd. Yesterday’s race when Herta went from 23rd to 13th was the first time he has ever finished better than his starting position in an Iowa race. 

Santino Ferrucci rounds out the top twenty on the grid. This is Ferrucci’s worst starting position on an oval since he started 26th at Gateway in 2023. Yesterday’s seventh- place finish for Ferrucci was only his second top ten finish at Iowa. 

Kyle Kirkwood’s rough weekend will begin its final leg from 21st on the grid. Kirkwood had an accident in practice yesterday and in the race. His 26th-place result yesterday was his worst result since he was 28th in the 2023 Indianapolis 500. Kirkwood has fallen to third in the championship, 140 points behind Álex Palou.

Christian Lundgaard will start 22nd. After Lundgaard finished a lap down yesterday in 22nd, combined with Kirkwood’s accident, that leaves only one driver who has completed every lap this season. That is Patricio O’Ward. Lundgaard has finished outside the top ten in three of the last four races. 

Devlin DeFrancesco will start 23rd for the second time in three races. DeFrancesco has three consecutive top twenty finishes, a first for him since the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, Gatewat and Portland rounds toward the end of the 2023 season. 

Sting Ray Robb is starting 24th. Robb went from 24th to 22nd in race one from Iowa. He has finished off the lead lap in seven of 11 races in 2025. Only twice has Robb finished on the lead lap on an oval. That would be in last year’s Indianapolis 500 and the first race of last year’s Iowa doubleheader. 

Jacob Abel is the top Dale Coyne Racing starter for the second time in three races. However, this is the fifth consecutive race Abel is not starting better than 25th. His retirement yesterday was only the second time Abel has failed to finish a race this season. A mechanical issue took him out of the Grand Prix of Indianapolis. 

Rinus VeeKay will be to Abel’s outside on row 13. VeeKay has finished at least nine spots better than his grid position in four consecutive races. He has finished better than his starting spot in nine of 11 races in 2025. He was 16th yesterday. It was the sixth time in nine Iowa starts he has finished outside the top fifteen. 

Scott McLaughlin went from 27th to fourth yesterday, and McLaughlin starts 27th again for race two after he had an accident on his qualifying run. Only four races in IndyCar history have been won from 27th starting position or worse. Fred Frame won the 1932 Indianapolis 500 from 27th. Three races have been won from 28th. Ray Harroun was the first to do it in the first Indianapolis 500. Louis Meyer won from 28th at Indianapolis 25 years later. Hélio Castroneves won the 2008 season finale from Chicagoland Speedway from 28th. 

Fox's coverage of the Farm to Finish 275 Powered by Sukup begins at 1:00 p.m. ET with green flag scheduled for 1:22 p.m. ET. The race is scheduled for 275 laps. 

First Impressions: Iowa 2025 Race One

1. We are going to keep this short because it was a full day at the track, it is late, and there will be a full day tomorrow. I think Patricio O’Ward was the second-best driver on the day from Iowa Speedway, but he remained on Josef Newgarden’s heels, and when it came time to pounce in the final pit cycle, O’Ward’s pit crew executed a flawless stop while Newgarden’s bobbled. O’Ward cycled to the lead and had to hold off a few late attempts from Newgarden. He did and in his 100th start, O’Ward scored victory.

We know this is O’Ward’s level. When it comes going toe-to-toe, he can beat the best of them. He did it last year at Mid-Ohio when Álex Palou dominated the first 2/3rds before the final pit stop and O’Ward cycled to the lead but had to defend mightily. Arrow McLaren won this race today, and deservedly so.

2. It wasn’t a victory, but Team Penske needed this day. Josef Newgarden needed this day. It is one that got away, but Penske and Newgarden needed a race where it showed it still had it. It wasn’t a victory but 232 laps led from pole position shows not all is lost. 

It was one slow pit stop that cost them. Newgarden nearly had O’Ward on the Mexican’s out-lap. This race really came down to fractions. A pit stop that was 0.2 seconds faster might have kept Newgarden ahead. He didn’t need a second. 

3. Will Power had a strong day to finish third. Power made passes on track to get to third. He overtook Álex Palou and Conor Daly. There was a fair amount of distance between the top two and the rest of the field, but Power led the way. Even if you go back to his championship season in 2022, Power has this ability to just be fifth every race, and sometimes it nets him a few more spots and he is on the podium without being flashy. 

4. There was not an abundance of passing today, but Scott McLaughlin did his fair share. In the opening stint, I watched McLaughlin almost exclusively. In a backup car, he could have struggled, but I think a Penske backup car is a top five car in the paddock. Maybe Ganassi could have achieved something like this. McLaughlin was a force from the start. Cautions aided in his ascendancy. Fourth is an honorable result. Now he has to do it all over again tomorrow. 

5. Álex Palou lost 20 points to Patricio O’Ward today, but Palou was still fifth and he has nothing to worry about. Palou hung in the top five all race. The pressure is on O’Ward to do that again. Palou is starting on pole position tomorrow. If O’Ward wants to pick up some more points, he will have to go through Palou. Easier said than done. 

6. I don’t know if the broadcast caught it, but in the first stint of the race, Christian Rasmussen had a big moment in the middle of turns three and four and nearly had his race end before he could complete 50 laps. He caught the car, lost some spots, but Rasmussen gained those and then some. The Dane was spectacular today. He made some daring passes, and the sophomore has been the darling on the ovals this season. 

7. Conor Daly didn’t do bad, but he didn’t quite hang with the leaders. Daly lost ground on pit stops and he was shuffled back. He held onto a top ten spot the entire race and earned a moral victory beating Santino Ferrucci in a race to finish seventh. It is a small token for the day but a missed opportunity. 

8. As noted, Santino Ferrucci was eighth. Ferrucci was in the top ten all race, but never got higher than sixth. Colton Herta’s spin at the start might have taken away Ferrucci’s chance to make a big move at the start and gain four or five spots, but he still had multiple restarts and never made that big move we expected. Good day but not a great day for Ferrucci.

9. Marcus Armstrong quietly finished ninth today. He didn’t make many waves, but he hung in position and he ran long on his last stint, led some laps, and ended up ninth. We have about four or five drivers up for unsung driver of the year. Armstrong is one of them. 

10. At one moment, it looked like Scott Dixon was set to finish in the top five. Then Dixon faded and in the final pit cycle he was outside the top ten. In the final run to the line, Dixon got tenth. Not his greatest day. It could have been worse. 

11. Graham Rahal had a quiet run to finish 11th. 

David Malukas should be a little disappointed finishing 12th. 

Colton Herta somewhat recovered from spinning at the start to finish 13th. Andretti Global didn’t really show any speed today from the start of practice. 

Louis Foster was 14th and for a moment was in a top ten spot. 

Marcus Ericsson cannot get out of that hole between 12th and 15th. 

Rinus VeeKay didn’t have a good qualifying run but climbed to 16th. 

Bad day for Felix Rosenqvist. Rosenqvist kept dropping through the field and he started third. He starts second tomorrow. Hopefully the team learned something. 

I don’t know if Kyffin Simpson, Devlin DeFranceso or Robert Shwartzman did anything noteworthy. 

Bad day for Christian Lundgaard. One pit lane penalty for speeding on his first spot knocked him out of the top twenty and he never got back there. 

Sting Ray Robb was 22nd. Yep. Sounds about right. 

12. He had five retirements. 

Callum Ilott hit the wall late. Ilott made the most passes in this race. It was because he was a lap down and took tires when the field had older rubber. Ilott was fun to watch though the passes were for nothing. 

Nolan Siegel threw away a top ten result he could not afford to throw away. O’Ward really saved Arrow McLaren’s day. 

Alexander Rossi had a mechanical failure knock him out of the race. He had a good race early as well.

Kyle Kirkwood knocked down the turn two wall and it effectively killed whatever slim championship hopes Kirkwood had. It was a rough day with a practice accident as well. Hopefully, things look up on Sunday. 

Jacob Abel had an early accident as he was struggling at the end of the first stint. It is a tough way to learn. 

13. It was a better race than I expected. It wasn’t outstanding. There was some passing, but we know what Iowa once was and it is far from that. It helped that there was drama in a late shakeup during the final pit cycle, and O’Ward and Newgarden had a battle to the end. Sometimes it doesn’t matter about the total number of passes, but the right time for a pass. In the final laps, it felt possible Newgarden could make a move and claim victory. That is what it was like at Texas in 2022. Passing was difficult and felt unlikely, but Newgarden made a move coming to the checkered flag and we had a photo-finish. 

It is still tough to watch the leader ride around the tail of the field for 45 laps. There were passes when one car ran a little too wide but no one was making runs on their own. 

I will also admit, watching a bad race at the race track is still watching a race at the race track. It is a good day. There wasn’t much going on, but you scan the field and watch a few battles. Watch a few cars get close. Sometimes you see the move happen. That is why I focused on McLaughlin at the start. That was worth it even if nothing happened between positions fifth through 14th. The cars buzzing by at 185 mph. How can it be a bad day?

That doesn’t excuse how things have been, but IndyCar has done all it could after last year’s re-pave. As I watched the race and walked back to the car, I toyed with things IndyCar could have tried. It isn’t going to change before tomorrow. At least tomorrow’s race will be on a track that is rubbered up and it should be better. Better still might not be that thrilling. It helps that the grid is mixed up. All hope is on tomorrow.

14. We can go over bigger picture things later, but we have another race in last than 24 hours and we really do not know what could happen. 

Morning Warm-Up: Iowa 2025 Race One

All IndyCar on-track action from Iowa Speedway was rained out on Friday, leading to an amended schedule on Saturday ahead of the first race of the weekend. 

Action will begin with a high-line practice session at 10:00 a.m. ET before a 45-minute practice following. Qualifying will now run at 1:30 p.m. before the race is run at 5:00 p.m. Like previous doubleheaders, each car will make a two-lap run in qualifying. The first qualifying lap will set the grid for today's race. The second lap will set the grid for tomorrow's race.

Álex Palou hopes Iowa sees him extend his championship lead and keep up his strong start to the season. Palou won the Indianapolis 500, and he is now looking for his second career oval victory. He could become the fourth driver to win the Indianapolis 500 and at Iowa in the same season. Dario Franchitti did it in the inaugural Iowa season in 2007. Ryan Hunter-Reay was next to do it in 2014. Josef Newgarden did it two years ago. Palou's second-place finish at Mid-Ohio was the 39th podium finish of his IndyCar career. He has eight podium finishes from the first ten races this season. 

Kyle Kirkwood is 113 points behind Palou, and Kirkwood hopes to make a dent into the Catalan’s championship lead. Kirkwood is the most recent oval winner in IndyCar after he was first at Gateway. Andretti Global has not won consecutive oval races 2013 when Ryan Hunter-Reay won at Milwaukee and James Hinchcliffe won at Iowa. The last individual Andretti driver to win consecutive oval races was Hunter-Reay, who won at Milwaukee and Iowa in 2012.

Patricio O'Ward is 125 points behind Palou. This race marks the 100th start of O'Ward's IndyCar career. He becomes the third Mexican driver to make at least 100 IndyCar starts, joining Adrián Fernández (194 starts) and Michel Jourdain, Jr. (156 starts). Five drivers have won in their 100th start. Three drivers did it at the Illinois State Fairgrounds. A.J. Foyt was the first in 1965, Roger McCluskey did it in 1968, and Mario Andretti did it in 1969. Mike Mosley was the next to do it at Milwaukee in 1975. The most recent winner in a 100th career start was Patrick Carpentier at Mid-Ohio in 2002.

Fresh off his 59th career victory, Scott Dixon looks to become the second driver to reach 60 victories in an IndyCar career. This will be Dixon's record-extending 413th IndyCar start. A.J. Foyt's 60th career victory came in his 268th start at Texas World Speedway in 1978. Dixon has won consecutive races six times in his career, most recently in 2023 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Gateway. The New Zealander has never won at Iowa despite having won at a record 28 different circuits. 

Christian Lundgaard got back on the podium when he was third at Mid-Ohio, his fourth podium finish of the season. After finishing tenth in his first Iowa start in 2022, Lundgaard has an average finish of 19.6 over his last five Iowa starts. The Dane has finished outside the top fifteen in at least on Iowa race over his three doubleheader appearances. 

Despite a top ten finish at Mid-Ohio, Felix Rosenqvist lost two spots in the championship and dropped to sixth. With a sixth-place finish at Mid-Ohio, Rosenqvist has seven top ten finishes through ten races. He had seven top ten finishes over the entire 2024 season. This Iowa race falls on the five-year anniversary of his only career victory, which came at Road America and was a part of a doubleheader weekend. 

Colton Herta hopes to go on a run of good results. He was fourth at Mid-Ohio, but prior to that he was outside the top ten in four of the previous five races. Herta was fifth in the second race last year at Iowa, his best finish at the circuit. In nine Iowa starts, Herta's average finish is 14.888. Herta has never finished in the top ten in the first race of an Iowa doubleheader weekend. He was 11th in the first race last year after starting on pole position.

Marcus Armstrong’s four consecutive top ten finishes has placed him eighth in the championship through ten races. Armstrong heads to Iowa with four consecutive top ten finishes, the best streak of his IndyCar career. Last year, Armstrong was tenth in the first race of the Iowa doubleheader. Meyer Shank Racing has had double top ten finishes in two consecutive races and four times this season. MSR had only two double top ten days entering this season. 

Will Power has finished outside the top ten in three consecutive races, his worst form since 2021. Power won the second race last year at Iowa, and he could become the third driver with consecutive Iowa victories. Ryan Hunter-Reay did it in 2014-15, and Josef Newgarden has done it twice, winning the second race in 2020 and the first race in 2022 before sweeping the 2023 doubleheader. 

Santino Ferrucci rounds out the top ten in the championship though he is coming off finishing 16th at Mid-Ohio. Ferrucci has four consecutive top five finishes on ovals dating back to last season. A.J. Foyt Racing's only top five finish at Iowa was in the inaugural Iowa race in 2007 where Darren Manning finished fifth.

Scott McLaughlin won the first race last year at Iowa, and a victory would be a big boost since McLaughlin has five consecutive results outside the top ten, three of those being finishes worse than 20th. Prior to this season, McLaughlin had ten consecutive top ten finishes on ovals. Through the first two oval races this season, McLaughlin's average finish is 27th.

Though he has only two top ten finishes this season, David Malukas is 12th in the championship. Malukas has not finished better than his starting position in the last four races. He had finished better than his starting position in four of the first six races. Malukas has finished outside the top fifteen in half the races this season. 

Rinus VeeKay has six top ten finishes and three consecutive heading into Iowa. The Dutchman was fifth and ninth in the doubleheader last year. The last time Dale Coyne Racing had a driver with at least seven top ten finish was 2019 when Santino Ferrucci had seven top ten finishes, and Sébastien Bourdais had nine top ten finishes. Despite his six top ten finishes, VeeKay has finished outside the top fifteen in the other four races. 

Alexander Rossi looks to achieve a first in his IndyCar career. Rossi has made 18 starts since his last top five finish, third at Laguna Seca last year. This is the longest top five finish drought of Rossi's career. He has never had a top five finish at Iowa in 12 starts. Rossi looks to avoid four consecutive results outside the top ten for the first time since 2022. 

Kyffin Simpson enters Iowa on a high. Simpson has finished in the top ten in three of the last four races. He had one top ten finish in his first 23 starts. His best career oval finish was 13th in the second Milwaukee race last year. Simpson did finish 14th and 18th at Iowa last season. He has led a lap in the last two races. 

Christian Rasmussen is one of four drivers to finish in the top ten of both oval races this season. Rasmussen did not run in last year's Iowa race, but he won in his most recent visit to the circuit in Indy Lights in 2023. Rasmussen has been the best finishing Ed Carpenter Racing driver in both oval races this season. 

Nolan Siegel is on a run of respectable run of form. Siegel has finished in the top fifteen of the last two races. The only time Siegel has had three consecutive top fifteen finishes was this May when he was ninth at Barber Motorsports Park and 13th in both races from Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Only once has Siegel led laps in his IndyCar career. He led eight laps at Gateway last year. 

Conor Daly has high hopes this weekend after he was fastest at a test held at Iowa last month in which 21 cars participated. Daly has finished outside the top ten in six consecutive Iowa starts. His only top ten finish at Iowa was eighth in the first race of the 2020 doubleheader, which Daly started on pole position with Carlin.

Josef Newgarden is in the middle of his worst slump since 2012 with three consecutive results outside the top twenty, and all three have been retirements. Last week at Mid-Ohio, Newgarden completed only one lap. The only times he has failed to complete a lap in a race was 2012 at Long Beach, his third career start, and the 2021 season opener at Barber Motorsports Park.

Marcus Ericsson’s top ten finish drought is up to nine consecutive races, but there should be a reason for optimism. Ericsson has seven top ten finishes in nine Iowa starts, but he has only on top five finish at the circuit. He was fourth in the first race of the 2023 doubleheader. He has finished in the top ten in the 11th race of the season in four of the last five seasons. 

Graham Rahal has finished outside the top fifteen in five consecutive races, and he does not have a great run recently at Iowa. He has finished outside the top fifteen in three of the last four Iowa races. Rahal was eighth in the second race of the Iowa doubleheader. It was his best finish at the track since he was third in the second race of the 2020 doubleheader. 

Louis Foster has started in the top six of the last two races, and he will be looking for his best oval start. Foster has started 20th and 21st in his first two oval races. Foster won last year's Indy Lights race at Iowa. He led only the final six laps, taking the lead from James Roe, Jr. Two drivers have won at Iowa in IndyCar and Indy Lights: Josef Newgarden and Patricio O’Ward. 

Robert Shwartzman scored his first top ten finish in the most recent oval race at Gateway, but he has finished outside the top twenty in the last two races. Shwartzman has finished outside the top twenty in five races this season. He has yet to finish on the lead lap in three consecutive races, and he was on the lead lap at Mid-Ohio. 

Sting Ray Robb was 18th at Mid-Ohio, his third-best finish of the season after his ninth at Long Beach and 15th at Detroit. In four Iowa starts, Robb's average finish is 22.25. He has finished better than his starting position in three of the last four races. Only twice has Robb finished worse than his starting position this season, both Indianapolis races. 

Devlin DeFrancesco has finished outside the top fifteen in nine of ten races this season. This has the Canadian 25th in the championship through ten races. He was 23rd and 22nd in the championship in his first two IndyCar seasons. While DeFrancesco was 11th at the Indianapolis 500 in May, he has finished outside the top fifteen in eight of 12 career oval starts.

Callum Ilott is sitting on 95 points, one of three drivers yet to crack 100 points this season. Ilott's finishing position has improved over the last four races. After being disqualified at the Indianapolis 500 and classified in 33rd, Ilott has finished 26th, 18th, 15th and 13th in the last four races. In four Iowa starts, Ilott has never finished worse than 15th. 

Jacob Abel has taken a step forward since failing to qualify for the Indianapolis 500. In the first five races, Abel’s average finish was 25th. In his last four starts, his average finish is 21st. Abel was second in the 2023 Indy Lights race at Iowa. He was 15th in last year's race and he was sixth in his first start in 2022. 

FS2 will show practice while FS1 will broadcast qualifying.

Fox's coverage of the Synk 275 Powered by Sukup begins at 5:00 p.m. ET with green flag scheduled for 5:20 p.m. ET. The race is scheduled for 275 laps.