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.
