With Iowa being a doubleheader weekend, the one qualifying session, scheduled for 3:45 p.m. ET, will set the grid for both races. Each car will make a two-lap run. The first qualifying lap will set the grid for Saturday night's race and the second qualifying lap will set the grid for Sunday's race.
Scott McLaughlin topped the Friday practice session with a lap of 17.3134 seconds. This was before McLaughlin ended the session with a spin off of turn four. The New Zealander did not make any contact with the wall and he was able to drive the car to pit lane. McLaughlin has started on pole position for the last two IndyCar oval races, at Gateway last year and at the Indianapolis 500 in May.
Álex Palou was only 0.0331 seconds off McLaughlin and second-fastest in practice. Palou has never started better than seventh at Iowa in six starts. He has finished better than his starting position in three of those races. However, Palou has only led one lap in his career at Iowa. He has been running at the finish of all six Iowa starts, but race two last year was the first time he had finished on the lead lap.
Last week's winner Patricio O'Ward was third in practice, 0.1633 seconds off McLaughlin's top time. O'Ward has never won consecutive races in his IndyCar career. He has finished outside the top ten in four of the five races after victories in his career. His best result in a race following a victory was ninth at Road America in 2021 after he won the second race at Belle Isle.
David Malukas ended up fourth quickest in a practice session for his third race weekend of the season, 0.1673 seconds from first. This is Malukas' first oval race of the season, and his first oval start since he was third at Gateway last year. In his two Iowa appearances, he has finished outside the top ten in the first race each time and he has finished eighth in the second race of the doubleheader each year.
Alexander Rossi rounded out the top five, 0.1985 seconds back. Rossi has only one top ten finish in the last two years at Iowa. He has never finished in the top five at Iowa in ten races. Rossi has started 18th or worse in the last five Iowa races. The only time he has led in at Iowa was four laps in his first Iowa start in 2016 during the first pit cycle in the race, laps 61-64.
Scott Dixon looks to bounce back after finishing 27th at Mid-Ohio when his car died on the pace laps only for the car to be repaired in time for Dixon to begin the race 21 laps down. Dixon was sixth in practice. He has not had consecutive finishes outside the top twenty since 2005 at Motegi and in the Indianapolis 500. Dixon will be making his 395th start tonight. In doing so, he will move ahead of Hélio Castroneves for second all-time in IndyCar starts. This will also be Dixon's 332nd consecutive start.
Agustín Canapino could be lined up for his best weekend in IndyCar. Canapino ended up seventh in practice, within 0.2144 seconds of the fastest lap in the session. Canapino had his own spin off of turn two late in the practice session, but he avoided contact with any barrier or automobile. His best oval finish was 12th at Texas last year.
Linus Lundqvist made it three Chip Ganassi Racing entries in the top eight. Since finishing third at Barber Motorsports Park, Lundqvist's average finish over the last six races is 19.667, however, the Swede has finished in the top fifteen in two of the last three races.
Colton Herta took ninth in practice. Herta was seventh in the second race at Iowa last year after he finished outside the top ten in his first six Iowa races. In 26 oval starts, he has only two top five finishes, fourth in the first Gateway race in 2020 and fifth in the second Texas race in 2021.
Will Power rounded out the top ten, 0.2831 seconds off his teammate McLaughlin. Power has started on pole position in four consecutive Iowa races and he started in the top three in nine consecutive Iowa races. He has five consecutive top five finishes at Iowa, which include four podium finishes. He has led a lap in eight of the last nine Iowa races.
Graham Rahal was the top Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing entry in the session in 11th, but Rahal will take on a nine-spot grid penalty for changing to his fifth engine this season. The best Rahal can start for the first race is tenth and that is if runs the fastest first qualifying lap in the session. He has started outside the top fifteen in five consecutive races.
Felix Rosenqvist was 12th in practice, just over three-tenths off the top ten. Rosenqvist was 0.1467 seconds slower than his Meyer Shank Racing teammate David Malukas. After opening the season with four consecutive top ten finishes, including two top five results, Rosenqvist has one top ten finish in the last five races.
Santino Ferrucci had car #14 as 13th quickest in practice. While Ferrucci has finished third and eighth at the Indianapolis 500 the last two years, his average finish in the other four oval races last year was 20.5 with his best result being 13th at Gateway. In five Iowa starts, his average finish is 18.2.
Rinus VeeKay has not finished in the top 14 in the last three races, but VeeKay was 14th in practice. VeeKay has finished 24th, 26th and 19th in the last three events. While the Dutchman was fourth in the first race of the 2022 Iowa doubleheader, his career average finish at the track is 15.833 with his next best finish being 17th.
The six-time Iowa winner Josef Newgarden only had the speed to round out the top fifteen in practice. Newgarden was 0.4178 seconds slower than his Team Penske teammate McLaughlin at the top. Newgarden has not started outside the top ten at Iowa since 2017 when he started 16th. He has started in one of the top three positions in seven of the last eight Iowa races and eight of the last ten.
McLaren's latest hire, Nolan Siegel, took 16th in practice in what will likely be his first IndyCar start on an oval. Siegel did attempt to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 in May with Dale Coyne Racing when an accident in the last chance qualifying session ended his hopes of making the race. He has raced at Iowa before. Siegel was caught in an accident with Hunter McElrea in last year's Indy Lights race at Iowa. Siegel's race ended after 63 laps and he was placed in 15th out of 16 cars.
Pietro Fittipaldi was 17th fastest in practice. Fittipaldi is the best driver in the championship without a top ten finish this season. The Brazilian is 20th in points. His only top ten finish in 18 career starts was ninth in the 2018 Portland race. That race was 2,141 days ago.
Kyle Kirkwood could only muster enough speed to be 18th fastest in Friday's lone session. Kirkwood has five consecutive top ten finishes and eight top ten finishes this season. He entered this year with only eight total top ten finishes in his career. His best finish on an oval is seventh, which came in the first Iowa race last year and in the Indianapolis 500 this past May.
Christian Lundgaard was the slowest RLLR car in practice in 19th. Lundgaard has finished outside the top ten in eight consecutive oval races. His most recent and in fact only top ten finish on an oval in his career was tenth in the first Iowa race in the 2022 doubleheader. Tonight's race is 363 days after Lundgaard's first career victory at Toronto.
Romain Grosjean rounded out the top twenty, 0.5955 seconds off the fastest time. Grosjean's only top ten finishes on an oval were at Iowa. The Frenchman was in the top ten in both races of the 2022, finishing seventh and ninth. In 12 career oval starts, Grosjean's average finish is 16.5.
Marcus Ericsson only completed three laps in the practice session before having an accident in turn three. Prior to the contact with the wall, Ericsson's fastest lap was at 17.9104 seconds, putting him 21st in the session. Ericsson has never finished worse than 11th in seven Iowa races, and he has six consecutive top ten finishes at the 7/8th-mile oval.
Jack Harvey ended the session in 22nd. Last week at Mid-Ohio, Harvey was battling back and neck pain as he finished 26th out of 27 cars. It was the third consecutive race Harvey has finished outside the top twenty, and the fourth time in eight starts. This is Harvey's first oval of the season as he was absent from the Indianapolis 500.
Marcus Armstrong struggled to find speed and was 23rd in practice. Armstrong was only 0.6127 seconds off the fastest time. After having three top ten finishes within a four-race span, ending with his first career podium finish in Detroit, Armstrong has finished 26th, 22nd and 17th in the last three races.
If 24th wasn't bad enough for Katherine Legge in the lone practice session, she also had a spin off of turn four, but didn't hit a thing. Legge is back for her second and third races of the 2024 season after she ran the Indianapolis 500 in the #51 Honda. Legge's only other Iowa appearance was in 2012 where she finished 15th driving the #6 Chevrolet for Dragon Racing. In her most recent oval start that wasn't the Indianapolis 500, she was ninth in the 2012 season finale at Fontana.
Sting Ray Robb rounded out the top 25 in practice. Robb was disqualified from the second race last year at Iowa after he was sent onto the track with an unsecured tire. A wheel nut came lose as Robb left his pit box and his Dale Coyne Racing crew did not tell Robb to stop the car before returning to the circuit.
Kyffin Simpson ended up 26th in practice, and he will have some work to do if he hopes to start much better than that for the race tonight. Simpson will take on a nine-spot grid penalty for changing to his fifth engine this season. He has started outside the top twenty in seven of nine races this season.
Ed Carpenter was the slowest car in the session running at 18.4823 seconds in what is Carpenter's second race weekend of the season. Carpenter will drive the #20 Chevrolet for the remainder of the oval races this season while Christian Rasmussen will run the car at Toronto and Portland.
Qualifying will be at 3:45 p.m. ET on Peacock. NBC's coverage of the Hy-Vee Homefront 250 begins at 8:00 p.m. ET with green flag scheduled for 8:05 p.m. ET. The race is scheduled for 250 laps.
