First Impressions: Iowa 2022 Race One

1. Death, taxes, Josef Newgarden dominating Iowa. Did anyone expect less than this when it was announced Iowa was returning to the schedule and it would be a doubleheader? You could have written this result in ink last Christmas. 

But we see crazy stuff all the times in IndyCar, including at Iowa, and we have seem Newgarden pulverizing the field only to finish fourth. There were a few close moments as these cars were on worn tires and Newgarden was battling lapped traffic. In true short track form, the leader could pull away, but traffic made it hairy and brought the field back to Newgarden. 

Newgarden fought off efforts from Will Power, Marcus Ericsson, and Patricio O'Ward to overtake him and run away with this race, but each time Newgarden pulled through. The 2018 race must remain fresh in his mind, another one Newgarden dominated, but lost because he took it easy in traffic and James Hinchcliffe capitalized. In another world, this would be Newgarden's fifth Iowa victory, but four are just as good and he has a chance for a fifth tomorrow. 

He will also have a chance at the championship lead. The deficit is down to 15 points, but more on that in a moment.

2. Patricio O'Ward came on late and had the tires down the stretch. O'Ward was 6.1784 seconds at the checkered flag, but he was breathing down Newgarden's neck with 30 laps to go. Traffic assisted O'Ward, but he was there and ready to make a move. Ultimately, Newgarden held on, but O'Ward looked impressive and no one would have been shocked if O'Ward had pulled it out even over Newgarden.

3. Will Power bounced throughout the top five all race. Power pressured Newgarden for first. He dropped back to fifth and came back. Power dropped behind O'Ward and had a tough battle with Álex Palou for the final podium spot. Power held on and he also decreased the gap in the championship to 22 points. Power fell behind Newgarden, but this was a momentous day for Power.

4. Rinus VeeKay nearly pulled a podium out as Power slid back on tires. The margin between third and fourth was 0.0926 seconds. VeeKay has wonderful aggression on ovals. It really stood out in his rookie season with the Gateway doubleheader and he made an infamous move on Colton Herta. We didn't see VeeKay go to that level today, but he was unafraid in each corner. Again, these kind of days have to be the norm for VeeKay and for the last two seasons they have been spotty. He gets another chance tomorrow.

5. Scott Dixon was quiet in finishing fifth. This has been the story of Dixon's season. Not many flashy races with large numbers of laps led, but he is in the top ten and top five and you cannot find much fault with his results. Dixon was in the back half of the top ten for most of this race. If anything, his veteran savvy saved tires for the closing laps and that is when we saw him come on strong and pullout a top five. 

6. Álex Palou found speed late in the race and that was really the only time he was in the top five and battling for a podium position. Palou was caught in the battle with Power for third and at one point had to lift. That really killed his momentum for the closing laps of the race and instead of being third Palou dropped to sixth and ended up a lap down. That is not how you want to end a race but drivers had those moments throughout this race. If a driver lost momentum it was tough to get it back.

7. Romain Grosjean kind of saved Andretti Autosport's day, but it was still underwhelming for the team. Grosjean was great. He got better with every lap and this felt like Gateway all over again minus his struggles with cold tires. It has been a disappointing season for Grosjean and since May he has been in a rut. Hopefully today springboards a stronger final half of the season.

8. Marcus Ericsson took a big blow to the gut. At one point, Ericsson was in the top five, battling for a podium spot, and when battling Scott McLaughlin, Ericsson got wide and had to check up to keep it out of the wall. This dropped him to eighth and he never really recover. He was back to 11th at one point and late made moves on Graham Rahal and Jimmie Johnson to get back to eighth. 

Ericsson is 15 points up on Newgarden, 22 points up on Power and Palou and Dixon and both within 38 points of Ericsson. We could see any of the top five leave tomorrow as the championship leader. And people were worried IndyCar would have a dull championship this year.

9. Considering his practice speed, I am sure Graham Rahal was expecting better than ninth today, but he improved throughout this race and deserved this ninth-place result. In 2020, Rahal had two bad starting positions for the Iowa races, did well in the first race and did even better in the second race. Today reminded me of that, but Rahal will have more work to do tomorrow as he starts seven positions worse than today.

10. And it was another double top ten finish day for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing as Christian Lundgaard took tenth late over Jimmie Johnson. Lundgaard ran solidly on the edge of the top ten all race and he was in the right place when the checkered flag fell. Considering this is his third oval race, this was a great day for Lundgaard and though it is far from contending for victory, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing should be pleased with this day.

11. Jimmie Johnson had the best race of his IndyCar career, much better than his sixth-place finish in Texas. Johnson nearly threw it away in the first 16 laps. He clipped the apron in turn four and spun but kept it out of the wall. Johnson admitted post-race he tried to drive it like a stock car at Richmond, where he would clip the paint on corner exit. That doesn't translate to an IndyCar, but Johnson learned and looked good. He struggled with tires late and he went from a possible top five finish to 11th. Not finishing in the top ten is harsh considering how Johnson looked. He learned a lot for tomorrow.

12. Christian Lundgaard did finish in the top ten but Callum Ilott should be recognized for how he raced. Ilott was with Lundgaard on the edge of the top ten for most of this race. Ilott wasn't spectacularly at Texas, but he did well keeping that car straight and completing laps. On top of that, Ilott was respectable that day. This was much better than Texas. I don't see how he can stay at Juncos Hollinger Racing next year. I am pretty sure Chip Ganassi Racing has his number.

13. Andretti Autosport is far from where it was at Iowa from 2010 to 2015. Alexander Rossi was 13th and that was the best he was going to do today. Rossi was behind Devlin DeFrancesco for most of this race and in the closing stint when skill was necessary Rossi went forward while DeFrancesco again settled in to finish 17th. I don't see Andretti making big gains tomorrow, especially with Rossi. He might be able to finish 13th again or might get lucky and pull out a top ten, but Andretti has lost the Iowa magic it once owned.

14. Let's quickly run through the field. David Malukas was good and finished 14th. Kyle Kirkwood should be proud of a 15th-place finish considering how bad this race was going at one point. At least Kirkwood saw the checkered flag and completed 249 laps. Meyer Shank Racing has been lost all weekend. Hélio Castroneves was 16th. Simon Pagenaud made additional pit stops and finished 23rd. That is the one team not looking forward to tomorrow. 

15. HyVee has done a great job so far with this weekend. Sadly, the driver of the #45 HyVee Honda fell flat and today started well for Jack Harvey. Harvey qualified seventh. It felt like he was set for his best race of the season... and he was a non-factor and finished 18th. This season can only be described as disappointing for Harvey. He is one of the few drivers who has an actual sponsor that promotes him, but he cannot be finishing outside the top fifteen on a regular basis. 

It doesn't sound like the team is going to replace Harvey, but the results warrant the question being mentioned especially when his sponsor is doing this much for IndyCar. If HyVee is going to have this massive doubleheader race weekend it is going to want a driver that can at least be in the top half of the field. 

16. Just when you think Conor Daly is a sleeper for victory he finished 19th, one-lap down. That checks out. Dalton Kellett was three laps down in 20th That checks out as well. Takuma Sato retired five laps early. Sato has been rather anonymous all season. Scott McLaughlin had a loose right rear tire coming to the final restart and that cost him a top five finish. It would have been interesting if McLaughlin had remained in that lead group for that final run. I don't think he catches Newgarden, but he could have wound up one the podium. 

17. Colton Herta cannot catch a break, and I think this points to more worries about Andretti Autosport. The team is failing Herta more than Herta is failing himself. Today, it was the car having an electrical problem and not allowing Herta get the car into gear after he drove into the top ten. Herta could have had a top five result today, but the car failed him. 

Herta might be tied to the two less reliable teams at the moment in IndyCar: Andretti and McLaren. If Penske or Ganassi calls he should not hesitate to take the offer. These kind of things will not happen. 

18. Ed Carpenter and Felix Rosenqvist were the two accidents in today's race. Carpenter looked poor all race and I will keep questioning if the oval-only schedule is worth it. It is great he shows up to Indianapolis, and we should be happy Carpenter is willing to run another car for the oval races, increasing the grid size, but I have stopped viewing Carpenter as a potential winner. Outside of Gateway 2019 when a caution fell at the right time to put Carpenter into second place, he hasn't really challenged for a race victory since Indianapolis 2018. 

As for Rosenqvist, he just lost the rear. Iowa is rough. You catch a bump or a seam at the wrong time on worn tires and you are done. I am surprised we only saw the two spins today. Tires were dropping off quick. Tomorrow's race is 50 laps longer. It should provide a greater challenge for the drivers.

19. We get another Iowa race tomorrow, and I am thrilled Iowa is back. An unintelligent person will see only five cars finished on the lead lap and a 6.1784-second margin of victory with the winner leading 208 of 250 laps, but this was a fantastic race. Drivers were all over the place. There were three lanes at some points. Drivers would lose momentum and then gain it back. A car could make up ground late in a stint. This was tremendous. 

Romain Grosjean said something interesting to Motorsport.com's David Malsher-Lopez ahead of this race. Grosjean said, "I like short ovals because there's two lanes and that makes it really fun. There's nothing worse than sitting in one lane and following the guy in front of you 60, 70-plus laps."

Iowa is kind of the only multi-lane track in IndyCar. Texas is ruined. Indianapolis is one lane and these universal aero kit do not punch big enough of a hole nor have enough stability at the rear to race like we saw at Indianapolis Motor Speedway from 2012 to 2017. Gateway is marginally two lanes in turns one and two, but it is tricky, and turns three and four is really not recommended. 

After watching Iowa, I would love nothing more for IndyCar to have three more short ovals, but I am not sure they would necessarily match what we see at Iowa. We know Phoenix doesn't match it. I don't think Richmond would considering how the banking drops off from turn two to the back straightaway. The high line would be a massive disadvantage at Richmond. Milwaukee wouldn't race like that. I wish Loudon had more than just 2011 when it returned. The DW12 could have put on some good races there.

Memphis Motorsports Park isn't going to be an option, but I wish it was a viable option. I almost want to see IndyCar run Bristol just to try it and it could be really good. It would be tight, but I think IndyCar could make it work. If only Nazareth still existed. 

Either way, Grosjean is right and if IndyCar wants to succeed on ovals and duplicate what we see at Iowa elsewhere, it needs to find tracks where they can run at least two lanes. 

20. By the way, NASCAR is stupid for not racing at Iowa, specifically not bringing the Cup Series to Iowa. Iowa is what you get if Bristol and Darlington had a child. Tight confines with high tire degradation. And they own the damn place! Oh my goodness. Iowa should get a Cup race. It would be the best Cup race of the season. I know Newton, Iowa isn't a major media market, but NASCAR needs great races. Bristol, Martinsville and Darlington shouldn't get passes for legacy alone. If NASCAR continues to go to those small markets, it can introduce one more small market for the sake of great race. 

21. Either way, IndyCar has a second Iowa race tomorrow and we are all grateful for it. 

Morning Warm-Up: Iowa 2022 Race One

With Iowa being a doubleheader weekend for IndyCar, we enter Saturday with the grid for the first race yet to be determined. Qualifying will take place ahead of race one at 10:30 a.m. ET this morning. The qualifying format will be the same as what was used for the oval doubleheaders in 2020. 

Each driver will make a two-lap run. The first lap will determine the starting position for race one on Saturday while the second lap will determine the starting position for Sunday's race.

Will Power led the only practice session from Iowa Speedway on Friday afternoon with a lap at 18.5729 seconds. The two pole positions for the 2020 Iowa races were times of 18.3711 and 18.3559 seconds. After opening the season with five consecutive top five finishes, Will Power has only two top five finishes in the last five races. However, Power has either finished inside the top five or finished 15th or worse in every race this season. He has only four top five finishes in 13 Iowa starts with two runner-up finishes, including in the most recent Iowa race.

Conor Daly won pole position for the first Iowa race in 2020 and Daly was second in practice, 0.0049 seconds off Power. Daly has led laps in the last two Iowa races, and he started in the top five of both Iowa races in 2020. He started outside the top fifteen in his first three Iowa appearance. The last five times Daly has led in an IndyCar race have all been oval events. He hasn't led on a road/street course since the 2017 Sonoma season finale. The first seven races Daly led in his career were road/street course events. 

Scott McLaughlin had the #3 Chevrolet third in practice, 0.0217 seconds behind his Team Penske teammate Power. McLaughlin enters Iowa with three consecutive top ten finishes and he is looking for four consecutive top ten finishes for the first time in his IndyCar career. McLaughlin has been the top Penske finisher in the last two races and has been the top finisher in three races. Last year, he was the top Penske finisher in only one race.

Álex Palou was the top Honda in practice, fourth and 0.0560 seconds off the top time. Palou will be making his third and fourth Iowa starts this weekend. Palou finished a lap down in both races in 2020, but he was 11th in race one and 14th in race two. In each race, he was the second car one lap down, finishing behind Takuma Sato in race one and behind Conor Daly in race two. Palou had three top ten finishes in four oval races last year. 

Patricio O'Ward put the #5 Chevrolet fifth in practice, 0.0643 seconds off Power. O'Ward was the final driver with a tenth of the second of the fast time. He has finished outside the top ten in three consecutive races, a first since he ended 2020 with a 27th at Long Beach and opened this season with finishes of 12th and 15th at St. Petersburg and Texas respectively. He has not had four consecutive finishes outside the top ten since a seven-race stretch over his final six starts of the 2019 season with Carlin and the 2020 season opener at Texas with Arrow McLaren SP. He has one victory, six podium finishes, eight top five finishes and nine top ten finishes in 12 oval starts in his IndyCar career.

Marcus Ericsson was sixth in practice at 18.7313 seconds. Ericsson looks to maintain his championship leader through the Iowa doubleheader. Ericsson has led the championship after four of the last five races, the exception being after Belle Isle when he dropped to second, three points behind Will Power. Ericsson's championship lead has gone from 27 points, down to 20 points and back up to 35 points over the last three races. His 35-point lead is the largest championship lead we have seen this season.

Three-time Iowa winner Josef Newgarden was seventh, 0.1870 seconds behind Power. Newgarden is statistically one of the best drivers ever at Iowa. Newgarden is level for most victories with Ryan Hunter-Reay and Newgarden is the only driver with multiple Iowa victories entered in this year's race. He has eight consecutive top ten finishes at Iowa, seven of which are top five finishes. His worst finish in this seven-race span is sixth. His 1,150 laps led are 506 laps more than second most, Hélio Castroneves at 644 laps. Newgarden's victory in the second Iowa race two years ago was the first time the pole-sitter has won at Iowa.

Graham Rahal was just over a quarter-second off the fastest practice time in eighth Rahal scored Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing's best finish of the season with a tenth-place finish at Toronto. It was Rahal's best Toronto finish and his first top five finish at the track since 2011. Despite having only starting in the top ten four times in 14 Iowa starts, Rahal has ten top ten finishes at the track. He has finished outside the top ten in the last four oval races. 

Jimmie Johnson was ninth in practice, 0.2707 seconds back of Power. Johnson has completed 1,050 laps this season, the ninth most this season and more than Patricio O'Ward, Scott McLaughlin, Colton Herta and Felix Rosenqvist, four drivers that are in the top ten of the championship. Toronto was Johnson's third retirement of the season. 

Scott Dixon made it four Chip Ganassi Racing entries in the top ten of practice. Dixon's fastest lap was 18.8476 seconds. Dixon heads to Iowa fresh off his 52nd career victory at Toronto. Dixon has not had consecutive victories since he opened the 2020 season with three consecutive victories. The last two times he has consecutive victories they have been three-race streak. Prior to his 2020 run, Dixon's last winning streak was three races over Pocono and the Toronto doubleheader in 2013. 

Rinus VeeKay was 11th in practice. VeeKay has competed in six doubleheaders in his IndyCar career. The only time VeeKay has finished in the top ten of both races in a doubleheader was Gateway in 2020 when he was sixth and fourth. He has had at least one top five finish in four of those six doubleheaders, but he was 20th and 17th in the Iowa doubleheader two years ago. 

Felix Rosenqvist found himself 12th in practice. Rosenqvist is coming off his first podium finish in 35 races with his third-place result at Toronto. His previous podium finish was his first career victory at Road America in July 2020. Rosenqvist has not had consecutive top five finishes since the final two races of the 2019 season when he was second at Portland and fifth at Laguna Seca. That is the only time he has had consecutive top five finishes in his IndyCar career. 

Jack Harvey put the #45 HyVee Honda 13th in practice for the HyVee Iowa IndyCar weekend. Harvey is the top driver in the championship without a top ten finish this season sitting in 20th. Harvey was seventh in both Iowa races in 2020, his only two IndyCar starts at this track. Despite not having a top ten finish this season, Harvey has completed 839 of a possible 840 laps. He was a lap down at the Indianapolis 500. 

Colton Herta was the top Andretti Autosport driver in practice, 14th, 0.3342 seconds off the top spot. Herta is back up to eighth in the championship after his runner-up finish at Toronto. Herta's championship position has improved after the last two races, the first time it has improved after consecutive races this season. He has not had consecutive top five finishes this season. The last time he had consecutive top five finishes were when he won the final two races of 2021 and was fourth in the St. Petersburg season opener this February. 

Takuma Sato rounded out the top fifteen. Sato has finished outside the top ten in five consecutive races, his longest slump since a seven-race stretch that spanned the final four races of the 2017 season and the first three races of the 2018 season. He has two top ten finishes in 12 Iowa starts with eight finishes outside the top fifteen. 

Christian Lundgaard was the top rookie in practice, 16th. Lundgaard is the top driver in the championship without a top five finish this season sitting in 18th. Three drivers have had their first career top five finish come at Iowa and all three finished on the podium. The first was Hideki Mutoh, who was second in 2008. Spencer Pigot was third in 2018. Oliver Askew's only top five finish in IndyCar was a third in the first race in 2020. 

Winner of the first Iowa race in 2020, Simon Pagenaud, was 17th in practice. Pagenaud has not led a lap this season, the top driver in the championship without a lap led. Pagenaud has not led a lap in the last 13 races dating back to last season. This is the first time Pagenaud has not led a lap within the first ten races of a season. The previous longest stretch he had gone without a lap led in a season was seven races in the 2013 season. The first race he led that season was the second Belle Isle race, which wound up being his first career victory. 

David Malukas had the #18 Honda 18th in practice, with a time of 18.9416 seconds. Malukas has been the top Dale Coyne Racing finisher in four of the last five races, and Malukas is now level with Takuma Sato on five times as best finisher within the organization. Malukas has been the top Coyne finisher at each oval this season. 

Hélio Castroneves found himself 19th in practice. Castroneves won his last start at Iowa Speedway in 2017. That was only Castroneves' second top five finish at this circuit. He was second in 2010 behind Tony Kanaan. Castroneves has led a lap in eight of his 11 Iowa starts and he has led 50 laps or more in five of those races. Castroneves has only started in the top ten twice this season, sixteenths at Texas and fourth at Belle Isle. This is his fewest top ten starting positions through the first ten races of a full season since his rookie season in 1998 when he only had two top ten starts.

Alexander Rossi rounded out the top twenty with a lap at 18.9906 seconds. Rossi must not like the letter "T" because his only retirements this season have been at circuits that start with the letter "T" (Texas and Toronto). Rossi has completed the fewest laps this season amongst the drivers who have started all ten races. Rossi has only completed 810 laps this season, fewer than even Jack Harvey and Callum Ilott, two drivers who missed races due to injuries. 

Callum Ilott was the first driver not to run in the 18-second bracket. Ilott's fastest lap was 19.0681 seconds, 21st in practice. Ilott makes inconsequential IndyCar history this weekend. Ilott will become the first driver to start an Iowa race with a last name beginning with the letter "I." We have already had one winner this season whose last name's initial was shared with the first letter of the track name. Scott McLaughlin won at Mid-Ohio. In 2021, Álex Palou won at Portland, and Will Power won at Portland in 2019 as well as Pocono while Alexander Rossi won at Road America and Scott Dixon won at Detroit.

Ed Carpenter is back this weekend in the #33 Chevrolet and he was 22nd in practice. Carpenter has finished outside the top ten in five of his last six Iowa starts and he has not had a top five finish at the track since he was fourth in 2015. The only time he has led at Iowa was in 2013 when he led 18 laps. He has retired from two of the last three Iowa races. 

Romain Grosjean was 23rd in practice. Grosjean has finished outside the top fifteen in five of the last six races, and Grosjean has failed to finish the first two oval races this season. He has dropped from eighth in the championship after having three top ten finishes through the first four races, 43 points off the championship lead to 15th, 154 points off the championship lead. 

Devlin DeFrancesco's first Iowa appearance had him 24th in practice. DeFrancesco has finished 18th or 17th in the last four races. DeFrancesco does have five consecutive top five finishes top twenty finishes after having only one top twenty finish in the first five races of the season. 

A.J. Foyt Racing had its two cars take the final two spots on the timesheet in practice. Dalton Kellett was 25th. Kellett has retired from four races this season, including at Toronto last week. Kellett has only one lead lap finish this season, which came at Road America. Kyle Kirkwood and Jimmie Johnson are the only other drivers who have started every race but have fewer than five lead lap finishes this season. Kirkwood has four and Johnson has two. 

Kyle Kirkwood was the slowest in practice, 0.7225 seconds off Power's top time. Toronto was Kirkwood's fifth retirement of the season and second consecutive. He has scored ten points or fewer in seven of ten races. His most points scored were 26 at the Indianapolis 500, the only double points races. He led five laps at Texas before having a spin in turn four, his first retirement of the season.

NBC's coverage of the HyVeeDeals.com 250 presented by Door Dash begins at 4:00 p.m. ET with green flag scheduled for 4:06 p.m. ET. The race is scheduled for 250 laps.

Track Walk: Iowa 2022

The 11th and 12th rounds of the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series season brings the series back to Iowa Speedway for the first time since the 2020 season. This will be the lone doubleheader weekend this season and it will be the third and fourth oval races out of five on the 2022 calendar. There have been seven different winners in the last seven IndyCar races with four teams represented among the race winners during this stretch. The driver who has led the most laps has won the last four races while the driver leading the most laps has won seven of ten races this season. 

Coverage

Time: Coverage for Saturday's race begins at 4:00 p.m. ET on Saturday July 23 with green flag scheduled for 4:06 p.m. ET. Coverage for Sunday's race begins at 3:00 p.m. ET on Sunday July 24 with green flag scheduled for 3:20 p.m. ET.
Channel: NBC
Announcers: Kevin Lee, Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe will be in the booth. Dave Burns, Dillon Welch and Nate Ryan will work pit lane.

IndyCar Weekend Schedule

Friday:

First Practice: 4:30 p.m. ET (90 minutes)

Saturday:

Qualifying: 10:30 a.m. ET

Race: 4:06 p.m. ET (250 laps) 

Sunday:

Race: 3:25 p.m. ET (300 laps)

* - All sessions will be available live on Peacock

Return to Iowa

One week after IndyCar made its first visit to Toronto since 2019, IndyCar makes its return visit to Iowa Speedway after the 7/8th-mile oval was not on the 2021 calendar. 

Iowa hosted IndyCar for 14 consecutive years from 2007 through 2020. The 2020 weekend was a doubleheader to increase the race total during the pandemic-altered season. 

Ten drivers have split the 15 races to take place at Iowa Speedway. Ryan Hunter-Reay and Josef Newgarden are tied for the most Iowa victories. Each driver has won three times at the track. Hunter-Reay is the only driver with consecutive victories at Iowa, having on in 2014 and 2015. Newgarden is the winner of the most recent Iowa race. 

Dario Franchitti and James Hinchcliffe are the only other drivers with multiple Iowa victories. Both drivers won at the track with two different teams. Dan Wheldon, Tony Kanaan, Marco Andretti, Hélio Castroneves and Simon Pagenaud each have one Iowa victory. 

Andretti Autosport has the most Iowa victories among steams. Andretti Autosport has seven Iowa victories, the inaugural race in 2007 and a six-race winning streak from 2010 through 2015. Team Penske has the next most victories with four. All four of Penske's victories have come in the last five Iowa races. Chip Ganassi Racing won twice in 2008 and 2009. Ed Carpenter Racing and Schmidt Peterson Motorsports are the only other teams to win at the track. 

In the ten Iowa races since engine competition returned to IndyCar, Chevrolet has won seven times, including the last three years. 

Newgarden has the best average finish at Iowa at 5.6 among drivers with at least three starts, just ahead of Pagenaud's 6.4 and Scott Dixon's 6.8. Dixon is level with Dan Wheldon for third-best Iowa average finish. James Hinchcliffe averaged a seventh-place finish in eight Iowa starts, just ahead of Alexander Rossi, Hélio Castroneves and Ryan Briscoe, who all have an average finish of 7.7.

Hideki Mutoh had an average finish of 8.3 over three Iowa starts. Graham Rahal's average finish is 8.6. J.R. Hildebrand, Danica Patrick and Marcus Ericsson are the only other drivers to have an average finish better than tenth with at least three Iowa starts. Hildebrand averaged a 9.3 in three starts while Patrick averaged 9.6 in five starts and Ericsson's average finish is 9.7 in three starts.

Newgarden has the most laps led at Iowa at 1,150. The next most is Castroneves on 644 and Kanaan is third at 523 laps, the only three drivers with over 500 laps led. Franchitti led 405 laps in six Iowa starts while Hinchcliffe led 190 laps. Power and Dixon are the only other drivers with 100 laps led at the track. Power has led 131 laps, one more than Dixon. 

Despite winning three times at Iowa, Ryan Hunter-Reay ranks 14th in laps led at the track with only 58 laps led out of 3,262 laps completed. Drivers who have led more laps at Iowa than Hunter-Reay include Pagenaud, Andretti, Briscoe, Vitor Meira, Wheldon and Takuma Sato.

Entering this weekend, only three drivers have started every Iowa race. Only Dixon is entered. Andretti and Kanaan are not on the entry list. 

A Doubleheader

For the tenth consecutive season, IndyCar will have a doubleheader weekend on its schedule, but this year Iowa is the only doubleheader weekend. There have been 18 doubleheaders in IndyCar since they were re-introduced in 2011 with the Firestone Twin 275s at Texas Motor Speedway. 

This Iowa weekend will be just the fourth time since 2011 a doubleheader has occurred on an oval, but the last time IndyCar went to Iowa it held a doubleheader. 

When IndyCar raced at Iowa two years ago, Team Penske swept the weekend. In three of the 12 doubleheaders held between 2011 and 2019, only three teams did a team sweep the race. In the six doubleheaders held since the start of the 2020 season, three have had a team sweep the races, but there hasn't been a driver sweep of a doubleheader since Graham Rahal at Belle Isle in 2017. The only other driver sweep since 2011 was Scott Dixon at Toronto in 2013. 

Chip Ganassi Racing and Team Penske have won ten of the last 12 races to take place during doubleheader weekends. 

In the 2020 Iowa doubleheaders, seven drivers finished in the top ten of both races. Pagenaud had the best average finish at 2.5 (1st & 4th) ahead of Newgarden's 3.0 (5th & 1st) and Dixon's 3.5 (2nd & 5th). Oliver Askew had the next best average finish, a 4.5 after finishes of third and sixth. Rossi and Jack Harvey each averaged a 7.0. Rossi was sixth and eighth in the top races while Harvey was seventh in both. Ericsson was ninth in both races. 

Patricio O'Ward went from fourth in race one to 12th in race two after a botched pit stop. Conor Daly fell from eighth to 13th while Takuma Sato went from tenth to 21st. Rahal jumped from 12th in race one to third in race two. Power was involved in an accident in race one and recovered to finish second in race two. Marco Andretti retired from race one and finished tenth in race two. 

With two races in successive days, a championship can swing in a blink. After six of the 18 doubleheaders since 2011, the championship lead has changed hands. On average, the championship leader loses 12.333 points in his championship lead after a doubleheader weekend. The biggest championship swing was 74 points after the 2013 Houston doubleheader when Castroneves went from a 49-point lead to trailing Dixon by 25 points. In three of the six times the championship lead has changed hands after a doubleheader, the lead entering that weekend was 35 points or more. In the other three years, it was 11 points or fewer. 

While the championship lead might not have changed hands, there have been four occasions where the championship leader remained the same, but lost ground to the rest of the field. On average, the championship leader lost 18 points in those cases. Coincidentally, three of those occasions occurred during Dixon's 2020 championship season when he led wire-to-wire to be champion. The only other time was with Juan Pablo Montoya in 2015 when Montoya lost four points in his championship after Belle Isle.

On seven times has a championship leader increased, but the championship leader averages only a 10.857-point increase in those circumstances. The largest increase was 25 points by Dixon after the 2020 Road America weekend. In four of these circumstances, the championship lead only went up by a single-point margin. 

Once has the championship lead remained flat after a doubleheader weekend. Will Power entered the 2014 Houston round up 39 points and he left Houston with a 39-point championship leader. 

Entering this weekend, 44 points cover the top five drivers in the championship. Ericsson has a 35-point championship lead over Power with Palou only 37 points off his teammate. Newgarden and Dixon are tied, 44 points behind Ericsson. 

With 108 points on the table and Ericsson likely starting both races, the largest gap that could be overcome this weekend is 98 points. Ninety-seven points cover top eight in the championship, meaning Patricio O'Ward, Scott McLaughlin and Colton Herta all have a mathematical shot of leaving Iowa as the championship leader.

A New Experience

Two years isn't a long time between events at a track, but since IndyCar was not at Iowa last year, there are many drivers who have never raced here before in IndyCar. Nine drivers to be exact have yet to race at Iowa in an IndyCar, eight of which have never raced at the track in any series. 

Scott McLaughlin is the one driver in the top ten of the championship who has never raced at Iowa before. This will be the fourth different oval he has ever raced on before after Texas, Indianapolis and Gateway. He has finished runner-up in each year he has raced at Texas. McLaughlin has had good runs at Indianapolis despite not getting the results in his two Indianapolis 500 starts. He was fourth in his lone Gateway race. 

This will also be Romain Grosjean's fourth oval he has driven on. Grosjean was 14th on his oval debut last year at Gateway, but he has failed to finish both oval races this season. He had an engine failure at Texas and an accident at Indianapolis. He completed 103 laps and 105 laps respectively in the two oval races this season.

Christian Lundgaard and Callum Ilott are two Europeans making their first trip to Iowa. Lundgaard has finished 19th and 18th in the two oval races this year. Ilott broke his wrist in his accident in the Indianapolis 500. Since then, he has finished in the top fifteen twice in three starts after having on top fifteen result in the first six races of the season. Ilott led five laps at Texas during a pit cycle.

David Malukas has never raced at Iowa before, but he swept the Gateway Indy Lights races last year. The only other oval Malukas competed on in the Road to Indy was Indianapolis Raceway Park in Pro Mazda in 2018. Devlin DeFrancesco won at Gateway in Indy Pro 2000 in 2019, but he also has not raced at Iowa before. DeFrancesco was in the top five of both Gateway Indy Lights races last year. Kyle Kirkwood won at Indianapolis Raceway Park in U.S. F2000 and at Gateway in Indy Pro 2000 before finishing runner-up to Malukas in both Indy Lights races last year at Gateway. 

Despite Iowa hosting 33 NASCAR national touring series races between its Grand National Series and Truck Series, Jimmie Johnson has never raced at Iowa Speedway. Johnson made 113 NASCAR Cup Series starts on short tracks and won 14 of them with 39 top five finishes and 63 top ten finishes. Johnson did win nine times at Martinsville, three times at Richmond and twice at Bristol. He also made a combined 19 short track starts between NASCAR's lower two national touring series where he had no victories, one top five finish and four top ten finishes. 

Of the nine IndyCar drivers who have never raced at Iowa in IndyCar, the one who has raced here is Dalton Kellett. Kellett was second in the 2015 Pro Mazda Iowa race, finishing behind then-Andretti Autosport teammate Weiron Tan. He made three Indy Lights starts athlete track and finished ninth, third and fifth in those races.

Scott Dixon Appreciation

Less than a week after picking up his 52nd IndyCar victory, Scott Dixon will have a chance at win #53 and surpassing Mario Andretti on the all-time victory list six days after he tied the legend. Dixon will get two cracks at it this weekend. 

Dixon's 52nd victory came in his 361st start. Andretti's 52nd victory came in his 377th start. A.J. Foyt's 52nd victory was in his 233rd start. 

Dixon went 442 days between his 51st victory and his 52nd victory. That was the third longest stretch between victories in his IndyCar career behind the 665 days between his first career victory at Nazareth in 2001 and his second career victory at Homestead in 2003 and the 820 days between his fourth career victory at Richmond in 2003 and his fifth career victory at Watkins Glen in 2005. 

Dixon averages 149.96 days between victories in his IndyCar career. 

With his victory at Toronto, Dixon has now won a race in 20 IndyCar seasons, extending a record. He has won a race in 18 consecutive season, extending a record. Lost in the celebration of Dixon's 52nd victory is another milestone reached in Toronto. With 40 laps led, Dixon returns the United States with 6,504 laps led in his IndyCar career. He is just the fourth driver to reach the 6,500 laps led milestone and with 550 laps scheduled for this weekend, he could move up to second all-time at Iowa. 

Dixon is currently 117 laps behind A.J. Foyt for third all-time and 188 laps behind Michael Andretti for second all-time. Mario Andretti is the all-time leader with 7,595 laps led.

On top of all the history Dixon has made, he is on the cusp of making more this weekend at Iowa. If Dixon starts both Iowa races, he will have made 300 consecutive starts, only the second time IndyCar history a driver will have made 300 consecutive starts. Tony Kanaan has the record of 318 consecutive IndyCar starts running from June 24, 2001 at the CART Portland race through the June 6, 2020 Texas season opener. 

Dixon has not missed a race since the 2004 Indy Racing League event at the Milwaukee Mile on July 25, 2004. He had two practice accident in the lead up to the race which left him with a bone chip in his right thumb and a sprained left ankle. The IRL medical staff did not clear Dixon to race that weekend. Dixon's first race back was on August 1, 2004 at Michigan where ehe finished seventh, behind Bryan Herta and ahead of Townsend Bell. It was Buddy Rice's third and final IndyCar victory. 

Not only could Dixon reach 300 consecutive starts this weekend, but he could match another record that Mario Andretti currently holds. Dixon has never won at Iowa Speedway and if he were to win this weekend it would be the 26th different track Dixon has won at in his IndyCar career, tying Andretti for the most different circuits with a victory. 

At Iowa, Dixon has nine top five finishes and 12 top ten finishes in 15 starts. He has three consecutive top five finishes, two of which have been runner-up results. The only track where Dixon has more starts and no victories is St. Petersburg where he has started 18 races. An Iowa victory would be his seventh on an oval one-mile or shorter in length. He has only won once on an oval a mile or shorter in length in the DW12-era. That was the 2016 Phoenix race.

Road to Indy

After not competing in Toronto, Indy Lights joins IndyCar at Iowa and will be the only Road to Indy series in competition this weekend. Iowa is the ninth of 14 races this Indy Lights season. This is the first of two oval races Indy Lights will run in 2022.

Linus Lundqvist leads the championship with 350 points and he has finished in the top five of every race this season. Lundqvist is the only driver with multiple victories this season having won four times. Eighty-seven points behind Lundqvist is Sting Ray Robb, who has seven top five finishes from eight races, but Robb has not won this season despite standing on the podium five times. 

Matthew Brabham is up to third in the championship after his runner-up result at Mid-Ohio, but he is still 96 points behind Lundqvist in the championship. Hunter McElrea is up to fourth in the championship after his Mid-Ohio victory, and McElrea has been on the podium in three consecutive races. He is 98 points behind Lundqvist. Benjamin Pedersen rounds out the top five, 104 points back of Lundqvist. Pedersen has three runner-up finishes this season, the most runner-up finish in 2022. 

Christian Rasmussen and Danial Frost are tied on 232 points. Each driver has a victory, but Rasmussen owns the tiebreaker with his next best result being a runner-up finish to Frost's fourth. 

Kyffin Simpson is a distant eight on 191 points. Antonio Serravalle is five points behind Simpson and one points ahead of Jacob Abel, who rounds out the top ten. Ernie Francis, Jr. is on 174 points and his best finish was seventh at the St. Petersburg season opener. Christian Bogle sits on 172 points with James Roe, Jr. on 160 points.

Indy Lights will race at 12:10 p.m. ET on Saturday July 23. The race is scheduled for 75 laps, the shortest Indy Lights race ever at Iowa. From 2007 to 2013, the race was 115 laps. From 2015 to 2018, the race was 100 laps. This is the first time Indy Lights has raced at Iowa since 2018. 

Fast Facts

Saturday's race will be the eighth IndyCar race to take place on July 23 and the first since 2006 when Justin Wilson won the Champ Car race at Edmonton and Tony Kanaan won the Indy Racing League race at Milwaukee. 

Christian Lundgaard will turn 21 years old on Saturday and Lundgaard could become the tenth driver to win an IndyCar race on his birthday. The last driver to do it was Dan Wheldon at Iowa on June 22, 2008. Lundgaard would be the youngest birthday winner and the first driver to have his first career victory occur on his birthday. 

Iowa has never produced a first-time winner.

Sunday's race will be the fifth IndyCar race to take place on July 24 and the first since Will Power won at Edmonton in 2011. 

The average starting position for an Iowa winner is 7.8 with a median of fourth. 

Josef Newgarden won the most recent Iowa race from pole position, the first time an Iowa race was won from pole position. 

The average finishing position for an Iowa pole-sitter is 8.6 and the pole-sitter has finished in the top ten of six consecutive Iowa races.

The race before Newgarden won, Simon Pagenaud won from 23rd on the grid, the worst starting position for an Iowa winner. 

Five of 15 Iowa races have been won from outside the top ten. 

Five of 15 Iowa races have been won from third on the grid. 

The driver that has led the most laps at Iowa has only won seven of the 15 races, including five of the last six Iowa races. (Franchitti 2007, Hinchcliffe 2013, Newgarden 2016, Castroneves 2017, Newgarden 2019, Pagenaud 2020 I, Newgarden 2020 II).

Second starting position has produced five winners this season, including the last three race winners. No other starting position has produced multiple winners this season. 

The only time an Iowa winner has started second was Josef Newgarden in 2016.  

The average number of lead changes in an Iowa race is 9.8667 with a median of ten. 

The fewest lead changes in an Iowa race was six in 2014. The most lead changes in an Iowa race was 16 in 2010. 

Eight of 15 Iowa races have had ten lead changes or more. 

The average number of cautions in an Iowa race is 4.333 with a median of five. The average number of caution laps is 48.333 with a median of 46. 

The most cautions in an Iowa race was seven in 2014. The fewest number of cautions in an Iowa race was the first race in 2020, which had only one caution. 

Eight of 15 Iowa races have had five cautions or more.

Predictions

Josef Newgarden and Colton Herta split the weekend. Neither will win from pole position but neither will win from second on the grid either. Christian Lundgaard will be outside the top fifteen on his birthday. A.J. Foyt Racing will not have double retirements in either race. Will Power has top ten finishes in both races. Jimmie Johnson will finish on the lead lap in at least one of the races. Marcus Ericsson will be the championship leader after the weekend, but Ericsson's lead will be smaller than when it started. Álex Palou does not make contact with any barriers or any other cars. Ed Carpenter Racing will have at least one top ten finishers in each race. At least one driver gets his first top five finish of the season this weekend. No car will have all four wheels off the ground during the race. Sleepers: Hélio Castroneves and Simon Pagenaud.

2022 Formula One Midseason Report

We are in the heat of summer. Days are getting shorter. Eleven Formula One races have been completed. Eleven more races remain. 

With new regulations, the first half of the 2022 season has been interesting. There is a good battle at the top of the grid where reliability and emotions remain a question mark. It is a battle-tested side against a historic organization in the midst of 15 years of ineptitude. And then there are eight other teams scratching for relevancy. 

Much has happened this season, but with the teams constantly developing these cars it doesn't feel like the results of the first half of the season has written in stone how the second half will play out, especially with the overhanging budget cap concerns that should play out over the later rounds. 

Before we move into the second half of 2022, we should look at what has happened so far.

Where are we now?

Through 11 races, the driver that ended the 2021 season as the championship leader is still the championship leader, but it hasn't been as straightforward as that.

Max Verstappen leads the championship with 208 points and Verstappen has won six of 11 races this season, though he did not take the championship lead until the Spanish Grand Prix, the sixth race of the season. 

Thirty-eight points behind Verstappen is Charles Leclerc, the winner of the most recent Formula One race. Lecelerc has three victories, the only other driver with multiple victories this season, and he led the championship for the first five races. 

Behind Leclerc is Sergio Pérez, 19 points off the Monegasque driver. Pérez won at Monaco and he has five podium finishes this year. Carlos Sainz, Jr.  scored his first grand prix victory at Silverstone, and Sainz, Jr. is 18 points behind Pérez as Red Bull and Ferrari alternate the top four in the drivers' championship. Sainz, Jr. has six podium finishes, the second most this season behind only Verstappen. 

George Russell and Lewis Hamilton are fifth and sixth in the championship respectively. Russell is on 128 points, 19 points more than Hamilton. 

There is a 45-point drop from Hamilton to Lando Norris in seventh. Meanwhile 45 points covers Norris in seventh down to Kevin Magnussen in 11th with Esteban Ocon, Valtteri Bottas and Fernando Alonso also covered with that blanket. 

Daniel Ricciardo has 17 points in 12th in the championship but six points cover Ricciardo, Pierre Gasly, Sebastian Vettel, Mick Schumacher and Yuki Tsunoda. Zhou Guanyu has five points. Alexander Albon and Lance Stroll each have three points. Nicholas Latifi has zero points and, in case you forgot, Nico Hülkenberg scored zero points in his two starts substituting for Sebastian Vettel in the opening two rounds while Vettel had COVID.

How is the championship battle?

Highly plausible. 

It could have been much better if Ferrari had better strategy and fewer mechanical problems. 

Leclerc left Miami up 19 points on Verstappen. Then he lost his turbo charger while leading in Spain, Ferrari botched the pit strategy at Monaco and cost Leclerc a podium result, a power unit expired in Azerbaijan, which sent him to the back of the grid for Montreal and then Ferrari failed to bring him in for tires under a late safety car at Silverstone, which dropped him from first to fourth once the checkered flag was waved. 

Even if you just flip Spain, Monaco and Great Britain, that is 41 points in Leclerc's favor. Verstappen would drop ten points in such circumstances and we could be looking at Leclerc up 13 points at this point in the season instead of trailing by 38 points, a 52-point swing. 

The championship will come down to if Ferrari is able to put Leclerc in the right positions and keep him there. The car has the speed. He won four consecutive pole positions and won none of those races. In those races alone, Verstappen outscored Leclerc 91 points to 30 points. 

In the last three races, it has been Verstappen with a 58-54 advantage. After the first four races it was Leclerc up 86-59. 

They are pretty even but Leclerc has to be better regularly over the remainder of the season. Thirty-eight points is far from insurmountable, but Verstappen and Red Bull are going to win at least four races. That is 100 points. Verstappen will likely at least match his 208-point output in the second half of the season. Leclerc will need to score 247 points in the final 11 races to beat Verstappen if that is the case, averaging 22.45 points per race. 

Can Leclerc be near flawless? There have been too many errors to think he can be that good, and while Red Bull had its gremlins early in the season, it has escaped those in the races for the most part since the Australian Grand Prix. 

It is really a two-horse race. Pérez isn't going to climb up and fight Verstappen for the title. Ferrari needs to prioritize a driver and that should be the one currently on top. 

Someone is Missing

That would be Mercedes and specifically Lewis Hamilton. 

It has been a difficult season for the German manufacture as it battle development issues and severe porpoising for much of the first half of the season. Recent changes have made the Mercedes more manageable and it has been quicker. It hasn't been entirely out of the discussion but it was mostly a distant third and ready to scoop up any opportunity prior to the last few races. 

Russell is 80 points behind Verstappen. Hamilton is 99 points back. 

Is there any hope Mercedes can win this championship? It would have to be perfect. I am talking 11 victories from 11 races. If Russell were to do that, Verstappen would only need 196 points to be champion. If Hamilton were to do it, that number would decrease to 176 points for the Dutchman.

I think Mercedes is going to win races in the second half of the season. Enough improvements will be made that it will have its day and take points from both Red Bull and Ferrari. 

In the Constructors' Championship it is Red Bull leading on 359 points, Ferrari on 303 points and Mercedes on 237 points. That is 122 points covering the top three. Of these three teams. Mercedes has the fewest retirements, one and that was Russell's accident on the opening lap at Silverstone. Red Bull has had five retirements and Ferrari has had six. 

Mercedes could split Red Bull and Ferrari, but there is a chance that Mercedes could improve enough while maintaining reliability that it could steal the Constructors' Championship. The odds are slim but it is more likely than either Mercedes driver winning the drivers' championship. 

Are things really more competitive with the new regulations?

Through 11 races in 2021, here are how podium finishes were broken via manufactures:

Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari: 27

The other seven teams: 6

And through 11 races in 2020:

Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari: 28

The other seven teams: 5

How does it look through 11 races in 2022?

Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari: 32

The other seven teams: 1

We are right back to where we were in 2019. In 2019, through 11 races, the only podium finish not from those three teams was Daniil Kvyat in a wet German Grand Prix driving for Toro Rosso. 

In 2022, the only podium finish not from those three teams was Lando Norris for McLaren at Imola. 

Red Bull and Ferrari have combined to win every race. The top three teams all have over 200 points. The other seven teams all have 81 points or fewer! There are 156 points between Mercedes in third and McLaren and Alpine tied for fourth! Williams is closer to McLaren than McLaren is to Mercedes based on points. 

However, the argument is it is more competitive in the middle of the field. Eight teams have had a top five finisher this season and Aston Martin was close with Sebastian Vettel finishing sixth at Azerbaijan. Six manufactures are represented in the top ten of the drivers' championship. One of those is Alfa Romeo's Valtteri Bottas. 

Alfa Romeo has 51 points. Its best points total since returning to Formula One was 57 points in 2019, Alfa Romeo's first season back on the grid. Haas has 34 points, its third most points total and it is only halfway through its seven Formula One season. It only needs 14 more points to have its second most prolific season. 

The competition isn't there at the top. Any hope of McLaren, Alpine or AlphaTauri sneaking onto the front row and possibly pulling out a podium or being in position to steal a race victory should the big teams hit trouble at once isn't there. It doesn't feel like that will change much over the final 11 races.

Who is most disappointed?

It would be easy to say Mercedes because it hasn't won in the first 11 races, but that group appears to have things point in the correct direction and still comfortably in the top three of the championship. 

For a team that is fourth in the Constructors' Championship and is the only team in the bottom seven to have a podium finish, McLaren seems the most disappointed. They aren't as close as they were the last two years. Danial Ricciardo isn't producing to the level expected from him. Considering McLaren only picked up its first victory in nearly a decade last year, fourth in the championship shouldn't be a bad thing, but it felt the Woking-based outfit was ready to be a regular contender again and it hasn't quite made it back to that level.

Who is most encouraged?

We touched upon Alfa Romeo and Haas and both should be encouraged. 

Bottas is regularly in the points and batting another big name driver. Haas hit a rut over spring time, but Kevin Magnussen has shown great pace in the car and Mick Schumacher just had the best two races of his career. 

But in a strange way I think Williams should be one of the most encouraged teams on the grid. It only has three points, but Alexander Albon has performed exceptionally well with finishes of 12th or better in five races and he s ahead of Lance Stroll in the championship, albeit on tiebreaker, but still. Albon has made it out of Q1 on three occasions, not to forget mentioning Nicholas Latifi made it to Q3 in the wet at Silverstone. 

Williams is still at the bottom of the grid and a distant bottom at that, but it has held its own and had inspiring days so far this season.

Which driver is most stuck in his current situation?

Pierre Gasly! 

This is Gasly's sixth Formula One season. He has raced for Toro Rosso/AlphaTauri at some point in all six and he will drive for the organization for a seventh season in 2023. 

Remember when this was a development team? Seven years on the vine is long enough. Gasly will turn 27 years old before the start of the next season. Red Bull isn't bringing him back any time soon. Ferrari isn't calling. Mercedes isn't calling. It looks like Alpine isn't going to call on a Frenchman once Alonso retires. 

McLaren has about 37 drivers signed for its various programs. Alfa Romeo and Haas would be lateral moves. I am not sure anyone has a clue what Aston Martin is doing other than trying to be a copycat to be successful, and Williams would be a step back. 

Gasly is stuck. Realistically, where is he going to go after 2023? Even with his greatest season, he would still end up driving for AlphaTauri for an eighth season. I am not sure what the answer is because as long as AlphaTauri will have him, Gasly should probably stick around. Does he really want to jump into the world of hypercar/LMDh programs at the age of 28? He might win there and earn more respect but it feels like he is anchored to this identity and cannot escape being the best Formula One driver no one wants to give a serious opportunity to. 

Who would be suited trying IndyCar in 2023?

Sebastian Vettel isn't going to IndyCar because no one could afford his salary, Vettel has no interest and Aston martin is going to keep him around for at least another season, but if there was ever a driver who needed a breath of fresh air and would enjoy the driving nature of IndyCar it would be Vettel.

Vettel could get into a suitable car and have a great chance of competing for race victories. He notably pointed out to Road America being a proper circuit and he would get a chance to experience it as well as Mid-Ohio, Barber Motorsports Park and Laguna Seca. I think he would appreciate it more than any other driver on the grid, sans Kevin Magnussen who spent 2021 in IMSA and ran a few of those circuits. 

I don't think Vettel will ever drive an IndyCar. Past comments make it clear his interest is below zero on competing in IndyCar before, but this is the closest I think he has ever been to considering it because he has done it all in Formula One already. He is a four-time champion and won over 50 grand prix. The last four seasons have been draining. He is unlikely ever going to be in a contender for a race victory ever again and if he were to end up in that situation it would be as a number two driver to a younger talent. 

Vettel just turned 35 years old. He could spend the next five years in Formula One, make about $50 million but only get on another five or six podium finishes, receive the sentimental cheers for the accomplishment but mostly be an afterthought. Or he could spend another year in Formula One and then leave for IndyCar and have a five to ten year career there, experience a new set of circuits that would test his ability, drive a less-sophisticated car but in a setting where his input could go further and he could possibly win races and do something only Mario Andretti, Emerson Fittipaldi and Nigel Mansell accomplished. 

The choice is up to Vettel, but there is life outside Formula One. He might be starting to realize that. 

Is there a driver who can be the surprise of the second half of the season?

We know Red Bull and Ferrari are race winners. If Verstappen wins the championship, no surprise. If Leclerc comes back and wins the championship, slightly a surprise but not really because we know it is possible. 

Mercedes winning 11 consecutive races to close the season and stealing all the hardware? A surprise, but it is Mercedes and we would all feel like we were duped. 

Who would be a surprise that would have us all thinking, you know, I am not sure I saw that coming? 

Fernando Alonso, anyone? 

Alonso is tenth in the championship on 29 points. Not spectacular, but he has scored points in six consecutive races, including a fifth at Silverstone. The Alpine is good, nothing thrilling, but Alpine could find a rhythm and just consistently score points over the second half of the season and do so with Alonso smartly bringing the car home each race. 

This could be where Alpine gets fourth in the Constructors' Championship while teething problems continue to plague McLaren through the remainder of the season. Alpine moves up to fourth, Alonso leads the way and possibly even jumps Esteban Ocon in the championship, and we end 2023 saying Alonso still has it. 

That sounds like a season-ending storyline when the final checkered flag is waved at Abu Dhabi.

How do the final 11 races play out?

It would be easy to look at the first 11 races and say it will be Red Bull versus Ferrari with each manufacture having another mechanical blip or two along the way but ultimately Red Bull holding on to claim its first Constructors' Championship since 2013 and Verstappen becoming a double world champion. But for as predictable you could say this season has been there have been many curveballs and we are going to see more. 

I have already said I think Mercedes will win multiple races. I believe Mercedes will continue upward and combined with its reliability it will push for second in the Constructors' Championship. 

Last year, Red Bull felt the heat at times and stumbled. In its favor is it is Ferrari breathing down its neck and Ferrari hasn't closed anything out since 2007. 

We also aren't sure how the budget cap will play into the end of this season. Red Bull has been the most vocal about relaxing it and team principal Christian Horner has sad teams could miss races later in the season due to it. That isn't going to happen, but it will likely cause some headaches from the sounds of it. 

Ferrari should push Red Bull, but Red Bull is too weathered to lose to the untested Ferrari bunch. There will be a breaking point where Red Bull flexes its muscle and Ferrari either cannot counter or it snaps trying. 

This will at least be interesting through the United States Grand Prix, but there is a solid chance trophies will be claimed early. 

Musings From the Weekend: Fixing Toronto

Scott Dixon moved himself into a tie for second most IndyCar victories with Mario Andretti. Lawyers are going to be more prominent in IndyCar circles over the next few races. The Road to Indy is inching toward its championship-deciders. There was a thrilling final lap at Lime Rock Park. Robert Wickens is human after all. Testing continues for LMDh programs. Formula E got 1960s television treatment for its only race weekend in the United States. NASCAR is verging on pure chaos. Here is a rundown of what got me thinking.

Fixing Toronto

When IndyCar last left Toronto in 2019, I wrote about the event feeling it was being squeezed out of the city and with the tight pit configuration the course needed to be adjusted. Three years later, it is good to be back in Toronto after missing two years due to the pandemic, but with this year's race having its most entries since 2012 and the grid possibly growing in 2023 beyond 25 cars, IndyCar and Toronto must realize an adjustment is needed. 

Toronto has largely had the same layout since its first race in 1986, but a notable adjustment would be needed to address the largest issue with the current circuit, the pit lane layout. 

Pit lane has been too tight since it moved to its serpentine location along the final turns in 2016 and that was with only 22 cars. With the grid now above two-dozen entries and ready to expand further, Toronto cannot fit anymore cars in its pit lane location. Pit stalls were only 35-feet in length for this year's race, five feet shorter than they were in 2019 to account for the additional cars. It would be unwise to shrink pit stalls even further and frankly there comes a point where they cannot be any smaller. IndyCar should acknowledge it is at that point and the next option is working with Green Savoree Promotion and the city to adjust the circuit.

Exhibition Place is really the only place in Toronto that can host this race, but it has some room to accommodate a different circuit layouts. It would be tough to get used to something different but it is necessary and other circuits have changed before. Long Beach has had many different configurations. Vancouver had multiple layouts, as did Edmonton and Cleveland, though both those were airport circuits. Look at Belle Isle! It had multiple layouts as well. 

Toronto can make this change and survive. It can also make this change and improve. Outside of turn three, is the current Exhibition Place layout the best we can do? It is certainly a suitable circuit in terms of length, but outside of the rare side-by-side battle that carries into turn five and occasional pass attempt into turn eight, the second half of the circuit is rather pedestrian. Even with the tightened set of final corners we see less passing into turn one. 

The only thing working for the current layout is the Lake Shore Boulevard straightaway and turn three. The rest can be changed. How can we improve the pit lane, improve the rest of the circuit and still keep the current turn three layout intact? 

I have four proposals for a new Toronto course. 

Let's start with the pit lane first. IndyCar needs space. Exhibition Place does not have much space. Options are limited, but there is one area. 

Right around where the original pit lane was located is a parking lot. That area is currently used as a fan area and the support series paddock are in that area. It was once where the IndyCar paddock was before it moved into the convention center across the street when the pit lane moved. 

The IndyCar paddock would have to move back to the outdoor area and the pit lane could run along that arrow. It would tighten the fan area and push the grandstands back, but where the current final corners are could become a fan space with a spectator bridge crossing the main straightaway. 

But moving pit lane means we would need to completely change the circuit and how cars get onto pit lane. The entirety of Princes' Boulevard would be used. How can we have this pit location and have a suitable circuit? Here is the first option?

Layout #1: 1.51 Miles

Pros: Turn three remains unchanged. Longer main straightaway. Circuit remains in the same general area.

Cons: The shortest street circuit in IndyCar would become even short. It is rather dull outside of two areas. Also, what is that around the turn two area at the intersection of Fleet Street, Manitoba Drive and Canada Boulevard?

Yep, light rail tracks, IndyCar's arch nemesis. I don't think Toronto is going to change its public transportation for IndyCar. I also think if the circuit went this direction that part of the light rail service would have to shut down due to how close the cars would be. That seems like a negative considering Toronto probably prefers spectators taking light rail to the event. Plus, this part of the circuit would be very narrow. 

It could work as IndyCar would run parallel to the tracks and not over them at speed like in San Jose and Baltimore, but it would still be unideal. Next!

Layout #2: 1.31 Miles

Pros: Turn three remains unchanged. Longer main straightaway. Circuit remains in the general area. Avoids light rail tracks. It would add an oval to the IndyCar schedule. More laps. 

Cons: The shortest street circuit in IndyCar would become even short. It looks like crap. There would be two great passing areas and a 125-lap race sounds appealing, but this isn't good enough. 

Can we have something bigger?

Layout #3: 2.18 Miles

Pros: Turn three remains unchanged. Longer main straightaway. The circuit would be lengthened and expand into the city.

Cons: It would run along the light rail line. It would spill out of the Exhibition Place area and cause more traffic disruptions. It would be rather tight around the Coronation Park section before it turns back onto Lake Shore Boulevard. 

Ok. What else can we do? The truth is the current turn three section, the best part of the circuit, would limit any new configurations. Using the current turn three, no matter what, means the circuit would need to make a right onto Princes' Blvd to get to the pit entry. 

Let's throw out the restrictions. What is the best circuit we can construct while keeping the circuit confined to the Exhibition Place area?

Layout #4: 2.27 Miles

Pros: Larger circuit. Long main straightaway. A one-mile back straightaway. Confined to Exhibition Place... mostly. It is really using all of the Exhibition Place area.

Cons: This is ambitious. I am not sure IndyCar, Green Savoree Promotions and the city of Toronto could agree to terms on this. It would be more expensive as more fencing would be needed. Those roads currently not used for the circuit would likely need some work before race cars could use them, although looking at the current Toronto track layout, they couldn't be any worse than what IndyCar raced on yesterday. And a straightaway over a mile in length poses some safety concerns. 

But damn it! Doesn't Toronto need something like this? It needs a 21st century identity. IndyCar needs something spectacular, especially for such a historic venue. The current Toronto layout was made in the 1980s, a time when IndyCars were rather unsophisticated and unsafe. The current car might be heavy, but it provides some stellar street course racing, arguably the best we have ever seen in IndyCar while also being as safe as ever. 

Toronto has been on the ropes for a decade. It has been looking woozy for the last five years and we have been waiting for the towel to be toss in the ring. 

In 2026, BMO Field will host a few games in the FIFA World Cup, a tournament that will likely run between mid-June and mid-July. FIFA isn't going to allow a street circuit to be constructed outside one of its venues when matches are taking place. If IndyCar is lucky, maybe we could have a Toronto race in late-August that year. There is a good chance 2025 could be the last year we have a Toronto race unless IndyCar does something spectacular to bring the race back to the level it once had in the late 1990s and early 21st century. 

Canada has been a great supporter of IndyCar for nearly four decades, but this current relationship is in the middle of its roughest patch yet, and any future together will require some work and a realization it is time to make some changes. 

Winners From the Weekend

You know about Scott Dixon, but did you know...

Nick Cassidy and António Félix da Costa split the Brooklyn ePrix races.

Louis Foster swept the Indy Pro 2000 races. Myles Rowe and Jace Denmark split the U.S. F2000 races. 

Christopher Bell won the NASCAR Cup race from Loudon, the 14th different winner through the first 20 Cup races. Justin Allgaier won the Grand National Series race, his third victory of the season. 

The #9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche of Matt Campbell and Mathieu Jaminet won the IMSA race from Lime Rock Park. The #1 Paul Miller Racing BMW of Bryan Sellers and Madison Snow won in GTD. 

Ukyo Sasahara won the Super Formula race from Fuji, his first career victory.

Toprak Razgatlioglu swept the three World Superbike races from Donington Park. Dominique Aegerter swept the World Supersport races and he has now won nine consecutive races through ten races this season.

Kalle Rovanperä won Rally Estonia, his fifth victory of the season. 

Tony Stewart won the SRX race from I-55 Speedway.

Coming Up This Weekend

IndyCar's return to Iowa with a doubleheader. 

While the Tour de France wraps up in Paris, Formula One roars around Circuit Paul Ricard.

NASCAR's only trip to Pocono. 

GT World Challenge America visits Watkins Glen. 

SRX closes its season at Sharon Speedway in Ohio.

First Impressions: Toronto 2022

1. After a week where Chip Ganassi Racing's future became murkier, Ganassi's greatest driver lifted the present from the mess and showed it is still going to be alright with Scott Dixon behind the wheel. 

Not only was it a victory but it was the long-awaited 52nd victory, and Dixon is now tied with Mario Andretti for second all-time. Win #52 took longer than we all thought it would. After ending 2020 with 50 victories and his sixth championship, it felt destined to occur in 2021. It wasn't a matter of if he would hit 52 in 2021, but how far would he surpass it. Instead, we waited 442 days for Dixon to equal Andretti in the record book after what was one of the hardest stretches in Dixon's career.

But it hasn't been that bad. Dixon entered this weekend with eight top ten finishes from nine races. He was sixth in the championship. It just hasn't been as flawless as we know from Dixon. He probably should have won the Indianapolis 500 only for the worst speeding penalty of his career to happen. Outside of Indianapolis, there hasn't really been a race where it felt like Dixon was in the fight. But you never count out Dixon. 

This was a quintessential Dixon victory. Qualifies second, runs in the leader's shadow over the first stint, leap frogs him in the pit cycle, sail to victory. Dixon always had the car, but he knows how to be smart and beat another driver. Dixon has probably won ten races this way. I am not sure the rest of the grid has ten of these victories combined. Once Dixon got to the lead he wasn't going to look back. 

It is Dixon's first victory of the season. It took him 442 days to get from #51 to #52. We cannot pencil in if #53 will come, but this victory alone vaults Dixon into the championship discussion when he hasn't really been mentioned in it through the first nine raes. If there is anyone who can turnaround a season from this position, it is Dixon. He has done it before. With four races over the next three race weekends, Dixon could change the championship landscape in a blink. 

2. My only question with Colton Herta's strategy is why the team didn't have him stay out an extra three to five laps. Dixon makes his stop and comes out in traffic. Dixon is behind Jimmie Johnson and Conor Daly. Herta comes in immediately the next lap and emerges ahead of Dixon, but Dixon had warm tires and passed Herta into turn one. 

If Herta waits a few more laps, Dixon is likely balked behind Johnson and Daly, loses a few seconds and Herta comes out ahead of Dixon and likely ahead of all four drivers. It would have been smooth sailing for Herta in that scenario. I understand waiting to cover Dixon and not being caught out if a caution occurred, but I think the team should have analyzed the scenario a little more and given it another few laps. 

Outside of that, Herta was one of the best two drivers today. He could have won, but second is a fair outing as well.

3. It wasn't the cleanest third-place finish for Felix Rosenqvist, but it is a result that has been coming for the Swede. Rosenqvist has been as good as his much more celebrated Arrow McLaren SP teammate this season. O'Ward has been great, but Rosenqvist has been close to him across the board. Rosenqvist has been good and has been in the conversation in most of the races. Mechanical issues ended two of his better opportunities this season at Texas and Mid-Ohio. This day was bound to come for him. 

Did this day have to come after taking out Alexander Rossi? Perhaps not, but Rosenqvist's contact with Rossi wasn't the most blatant thing we have ever seen. They were side-by-side through turn three, Rosenqvist's car stepped out on him, it slammed into Rossi's right front tire and Rossi was sent straight into the barrier. 

I expected a penalty. Rosenqvist wasn't in complete control of his race car. If it isn't a penalty, ok, but it must be called that way for the rest of the season. In the same way Rosenqvist has been there but had a few opportunities taken from him, this was a tough break from Rossi. He was comfortably in the top five before the contact. He just had a horrible result at Mid-Ohio. It seems like every time Rossi gets a run of good results, a run of bad results immediately cancel it out. 

4. Graham Rahal had a great day, scoring Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing's first top five finish of the season. RLLR was quick in practice and was hard done in qualifying. Rahal went long on the first stint and because most of the field was stuck behind Johnson and Daly, it helped Rahal not lose as many positions once he made his stop. Rahal wasn't as far down after his first stop and was better positioned for the rest of the race.

This is Rahal's best finish ever at Toronto and his first top five finish since 2010! I am not sure if this is a big swing in the right direction for this group. Rahal sounded confident after this race. He is bullish for Iowa. You have to start somewhere when turning it around. This could be the day for the RLLR bunch.

5. Out of nowhere, Marcus Ericsson was fifth today, and this feels like a pivotal moment of a championship season. Ericsson was running in the top ten before the sequences of cautions mid-race, but Josef Newgarden was in the top three and it looked like Ericsson was lose points in his championship lead. 

Then Newgarden had a slow stop, the field was shuffled around and Ericsson went forward to fifth. Instead of losing possibly 15 points in this race, he gained 15 points in his championship lead. If Ericsson gets through the Iowa doubleheader next weekend and either holds serve or extends his championship lead, it feels like the Astor Cup will be his in September. He doesn't make enough mistakes to worry and no one has put any pressure on him. 

Time is running out for anyone to make a move. 

6. There was a brief moment in today's race where Álex Palou had a run on Ericsson and the first thought on my mind was if Palou made any contact with Ericsson that cost Ericsson a serious amount of points, Palou would be fired before he could drive back to the pit lane and get out of the car. 

Palou is on the verge of being fired every moment of every day from now until the season ends. It was bad enough Palou had an accident in practice. If he were to take out teammates, let alone the one leading the championship, he can kiss the rest of his 2022 season goodbye. 

Team turmoil aside, Palou was impressive today starting from the back of the field. Ganassi might be mad at Spaniard, but Palou knows his talent and he knows he deserves to be paid as a champion. If Ganassi wants Palou, and he clearly wanted him on Tuesday at 3:35 p.m. when the team announced it was exercising its extension, sit down and come to terms on a price. 

The answer to all of your questions is money. McLaren is presenting Palou with opportunities beyond IndyCar, most notably, Formula One, but cash is king.

7. Simon Pagenaud was racy and finished seventh. Not his greatest race ever, but a good one. If he wasn't caught out in qualifying, he might have positioned himself for a top five finish. Either way, this isn't a result to complain about.

8. Graham Rahal was fourth. Christian Lundgaard was eighth. Lundgaard was around the top ten all race. Lundgaard had a few good moves and wasn't a push over in this one. Lundgaard has held his own on a team that hasn't been spectacular. He really hasn't done anything wrong this season, and he is the top rookie in the championship. That makes sense.

9. Strange day for Team Penske. Scott McLaughlin was running around the top five for most of this race and was then hung out wide on one restart, drove through the marbles and lost a handful of positions. This relegated McLaughlin to ninth, which isn't a true representation of his race.

10. And then there was Josef Newgarden in tenth. Newgarden had one long pit stop and could not recover. He went from probably a podium position to tenth. That is a 15-point drop, not to forget mentioning Newgarden was about five spots ahead of Ericsson prior to that pit stop and instead he finished five spots behind Ericsson. 

Newgarden cannot afford another day like this one. He has to be spotless for the final seven races, and he should be happy the next two are at Iowa.

11. Patricio O'Ward fought his way to 11th. O'Ward never was comfortable this weekend. The team went long on the first stint. It helped, but 11th is probably the best he was going to do today. 

12. David Malukas was running in the top six and was pushing McLaughlin and Rossi, but Malukas lost spots on pit stops and really was in a battle in the middle of the field. This wasn't the kind of day Malukas was hoping for, but there are positives to pull from it. 

13. Rinus VeeKay and Ed Carpenter Racing went off strategy after the Rossi caution. VeeKay already went long on the first stint. When the Rossi caution came out, the field stopped on lap 47. That was 38 laps to the end. It was going to be tough for anyone to make it on fuel, but one caution would help get them there. VeeKay and ECR banked on the race staying green. It was worth the risk. Instead, cautions came, VeeKay had to stop under yellow and he was 13th, which feels about right for his day. 

14. Let's quickly go through the field. Callum Ilott had a damaged front wing send him off in turn three and he still recovered to finish 14th. The only problem is Ilott started seventh in this race and I don't recall him running one lap in the top ten. I know he did, but he has to take one of these top ten starting positions and turn it into a top ten run. 

Will Power had a good start but couldn't keep it up through the rest of the race and finished 15th. Not a good day for Power's championship hopes. Romain Grosjean was nowhere all race and was 16th. But he is a former Formula One driver. He is good enough to wipe the IndyCar field. Hélio Castroneves was anonymous in 17th. Devlin DeFrancesco ended up 18th and DeFrancesco has still not finished better than 17th in his IndyCar career. 

15. Jack Harvey was 19th, but it felt like he was a mile off his RLLR teammates, and he started next to Rahal. This season hasn't gone to plan for Harvey. I am not sure how tight the team is with Harvey, but expectations were he would be better than 19th. Conor Daly was slow, the team took a gamble and it didn't pay off and he finished 20th. Sounds about right. 

Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Kirkwood got together. Johnson is slow and leaves the door open. Kirkwood was ambitious and arguably desperate. Kirkwood needs to bring the car home more often. This was race ten and Kirkwood has five retirements. He needs to go into a race with the mindset of bringing the car home in one piece as a victory. To finish first, you must first finish. Kirkwood has to figure out how to finish races. 

Alexander Rossi was classified in 23rd, Dalton Kellett lost an engine after 30 laps in another race with Foyt mechanical failures, and Takuma Sato failed to complete a lap after hitting the barrier on exit of turn two on the opening lap. Sato does not do well at Toronto. 

16. I want to touch upon Peacock because this was the first IndyCar race exclusively streamed. Long before this television contract, back in the days of ABC having five network races, including the Indianapolis 500, and NBCSN having the rest of the races on cable, there was a vocal segment of IndyCar fans who said all they wanted was a streaming package for IndyCar races. They wanted all the races available via streaming. 

In 2022, we have a streaming platform that carries every IndyCar race, along with every IndyCar practice and qualifying, and all we hear is people complain they have to spend $5 a month for said streaming platform. 

I am not an über-capitalist who believes a company's philosophy should be to drain every penny out of a person's pocket, but I believe there is a fair cost to everything. At $5 a month, $60 for the entire year, Peacock isn't some extravagant premium service. If you are an IndyCar fan, and you really want to watch IndyCar, you can figure out a way to budget to have Peacock to see this one race. 

On top of that, this was one race. This is the only race on Peacock. Fourteen races are on network NBC. You don't even need cable for network NBC. Two races are on USA. There is an affordable way to watch IndyCar if you want to watch IndyCar. 

I understand the frustration of needing multiple streaming services to watch everything, and I understand it seems unnecessary to get a service that you will only use for one thing, but each individual must sit down and ask what do they want and how they can get it. IndyCar wasn't charging $200 to see this one race. This was different and uncomfortable for some, but this wasn't the worst thing to ever happen to IndyCar.

Remember, IndyCar races used to be moved to ESPN Classic if there was rain or the television window was going long. Danica Patrick's only IndyCar victory was shown live on ESPN Classic. Yes, it was at Motegi and delay to 10:00 p.m. ET on a Saturday, but was ESPN Classic any easier to find than Peacock? 

And if you think Peacock is bad, look at how CBS, network CBS, handled the Formula E race on Saturday. It was raining, the top two cars piled into the barriers, a red flag immediately came out, and CBS left the broadcast at the end of the television window before we even knew what would happen next. And it didn't move the race to CBS Sports Network or let people know they could continue watching via a streaming service. Bob Varsha signed off and basically said, "Google it" to find out what the final results would be! 

We need perspective and we need to approach these circumstances rationally. It is going to be ok, and if it makes you feel any better, both Iowa races will be on NBC, the IMS road course the week after that will be on NBC, the Nashville race the week after that will be on NBC and six of the final seven races will be on NBC. Don't complain that you cannot find the races. 

17. It was nice for IndyCar to be back in Canada, and this was the first Toronto race in three years, but the circuit looked to be something fresh out of 1986, not 2022. 

For starters, the tire barriers in the corners looked substandard. It didn't help that they didn't have sponsor wrapping around them leaving them exposed until race day on Sunday. Either they weren't ready, which means the promoter wasn't prepared for the race weekend or it took until Saturday for someone to notice and a rush order was put on them. Either way, it wasn't a good thing.  

The pedestrian bridge prior to turn three was left exposed for the world to drink in its rust. That was once covered with sponsorship as well. 

Then there was the racetrack coming up and I feel like we have been seeing chunks of pavement breaking up during races for the last three or four times IndyCar has raced at Exhibition Place.

Everyone loves to mention how Roger Penske owns the series. Toronto wasn't "Penske Perfect." It wasn't even "Speedway, Indiana Taco Bell Perfect." If this was the first Toronto race, we would all say it was unacceptable and IndyCar should think twice about returning. Toronto has been on the schedule for over 30 years. It must be better than this. 

IndyCar must hold itself and its races to a higher standard. IndyCar isn't Formula One and cannot force regular re-paves of municipality streets, but it can maintain a respectable aesthetic. Green Savoree Promotions is responsible for Toronto. It is also responsible for St. Petersburg, Mid-Ohio and Portland. There have been enough complaints about Mid-Ohio's infrastructure lately to make you wonder whether Green Savoree is capable of running four events. 

It was nice to be back in Toronto, but 2023 must be better than that. 

18. And after this physical street course race, IndyCar turns around and will have a doubleheader at Iowa. The season is picking up pace, and it is only getting more demanding on the teams and drivers.