Morning Warm-Up: Iowa 2024 Race Two

Scott McLaughlin gets to follow up his victory Saturday night from Iowa with a start from pole position for the second race of IndyCar's Iowa doubleheader. McLaughlin ran a lap of 17.0966 seconds (188.248 mph) on the second lap of his qualifying run. The lap set the track record around the 0.875-mile oval. It is McLaughlin's third pole position of the season and his third pole position in the last four oval races. The New Zealander is going for his third consecutive podium finish. The only time he has had three consecutive podium finishes in his career was in 2022 at Nashville, Gateway and Portland. 

Álex Palou missed out on pole position by 0.0615 seconds, but the championship leader will start second for today's race. Palou will look to rebound from his first retirement since the 2022 Road America race. His 23rd-place result last night was his worst finish on an oval since he was 28th in the 2020 Indianapolis 500. Palou has never had consecutive finishes outside the top twenty in his IndyCar career. His championship lead is down to 36 points over Patricio O’Ward. 

Scott Dixon makes it two Chip Ganassi Racing cars in the top three spots. Dixon was 0.0992 seconds off his fellow New Zealander McLaughlin's time. Dixon's fourth-place finish last night was his eighth consecutive top ten finish at Iowa. However, during this streak, he has led only a combined five laps over the 2,100 laps run.

Despite a minor hybrid issue, Colton Herta ended up qualifying fourth for the second race of the weekend. Herta was 0.1159 seconds off sweeping the pole positions for the weekend. Last night, Herta led the first 86 laps in last night's race before he lost the lead in the lane to McLaughlin. It was the most laps Herta has led in a race since his 2021 Laguna Seca victory, where he led 91 of 95 laps.

Felix Rosenqvist starts fifth, Rosenqvist's best starting position on an oval this season. After starting 11th and finishing 13th last night, it was the fifth time this season Rosenqvist has finished worse than his starting position. This is the fifth time he has started in the top five this season. He has finished worse than his starting position in three of his for top five starts in 2024.

Alexander Rossi takes sixth position. Prior to this weekend, Rossi had not started better than 18th in the last five Iowa races. He will have started in the top seven of both races this weekend. With his eighth-place finish last night, Rossi now has seven top ten finishes in his career at Iowa, but he still has not finished in the top five at the track.

Patricio O'Ward will start a position behind his Arrow McLaren teammate Rossi in seventh. O'Ward's runner-up finish last night was the 12th of his career. It was also the first time O'Ward has finished better than seventh in the race following a victory. In 2022, he was second in the first Iowa race and followed that one with a victory in race two.

Graham Rahal has his best starting position on an oval this season in eighth. Rahal's 16th-place finish last night was the fourth consecutive Iowa race he has finished outside the top ten. He has finished off the lead lap in five consecutive Iowa races. The last time he finished on the lead lap here was when he was third in the second race of the 2020 doubleheader.

David Malukas starts in the top ten for the second time this year as Malukas will be on the inside of row five. He was the final drier within a quarter-second of the pole position time. Malukas was unable to complete a lap in last night's race as he spun after clipping the apron in turn two. 

Agustín Canapino rounds out the top ten of the grid, Canapino's best starting position in his IndyCar career. His previous best was 13th at Laguna Seca three weeks ago. Canapino's 17th starting position in race one of this doubleheader was his best oval starting position, surpassing him starting 19th at Texas last year, his first career oval start.

Nolan Siegel will start 11th in his second career oval race. This comes one night after Siegel finished 12th in his first career oval start. He was the best finishing rookie last night. Siegel has been the top finishing rookie in two of his three races with Arrow McLaren. He was 12th at Laguna Seca last month.

Kyle Kirkwood makes it an all-American row six. Kirkwood went from 19th to seventh in last night's race. That gives Kirkwood nine top ten finishes this season and six consecutive. He has been the top Andretti Global finisher in only three races this season, but he has been the best Andretti car in both oval races in 2024.

Linus Lundqvist has the 13th starting position. Last night's retirement due to a mechanical issue means Lundqvist has finished outside the top ten in seven consecutive races. Four of those results have been finishes outside the top twenty. 

Josef Newgarden has been struggled for speed this weekend, and after starting 22nd in the first Iowa race, Newgarden starts a little better for race two in 14th. Prior to this weekend, Newgarden had not started outside the top ten at Iowa since 2016. This is the fourth consecutive race he has started outside the top ten, his longest top ten starting drought since 2014 when he started outside the top ten in both Houston races, Pocono and Iowa. 

Rinus VeeKay is two spots worse than he started for race one with VeeKay in 15th position. VeeKay's fifth-place finish last night was his first top five result since he was fourth in the first Iowa race two years ago. VeeKay went 32 races between top five finishes. 

Romain Grosjean has himself in 16th starting position. This is Grosjean's best starting position on an oval this season after starting 16th at Indianapolis and 20th yesterday. With a 24th-place finish last night, the Frenchman has finished outside the top twenty in two consecutive races. The only time he has had three consecutive results outside the top twenty in his career was last year between the Indianapolis 500, Detroit and Road America.

Pietro Fittipaldi started 17th in race one, and Fittipaldi starts 17th in race two as well. He is the only driver starting in the same position for both races of the Iowa doubleheader. Fittipaldi was spun out of last night's race after contact with Will Power coming to a restart. In ten races this season, Fittipaldi has finished off the lead lap in half of them.

With Jack Harvey stepping out of the #18 Honda for Dale Coyne Racing due to back and neck pain, Christian Lundgaard moves up to 18th starting position. Lundgaard has never started better than 17th at Iowa and his average starting position in six races is now 19.667. The only track where the Dane has a worse average starting position, with a minimum of three starts, is Indianapolis Motor Speedway. His average starting spot there is 29.667.

After taking eighth starting spot with his first qualifying lap, Santino Ferrucci ran much slower and will start 19th for the second race of the doubleheader. Ferrucci overcame a restart violation and falling a lap down to finish sixth in the first Iowa race. He has three consecutive top ten finishes. Only once in his career has Ferrucci had four consecutive top ten finishes. 

After 27 consecutive races starting outside the top ten, for the first time in his IndyCar career Sting Ray Robb will start inside the top twenty, thanks to Jack Harvey’s withdrawal from the race. Robb moves up to 20th position. His previous best starting position was 21st in the 2023 Long Beach race, his third career start. Robb started 24th for the first Iowa race.

Marcus Ericsson is 21st on the grid, his worst Iowa starting position. Including starting tenth yesterday, Ericsson had started tenth in three consecutive Iowa races and he had six top ten starts in his first eight Iowa races. His previous worst starting spot at this track was 15th. Ericsson does have five consecutive top ten finishes this season after finishing ninth last night. 

Will Power skimmed the wall exiting turn two on his second qualifying lap yesterday, and that means Power slots into 22nd on the grid for the Sunday race. This is Power's worst ever starting position for an Iowa race. After starting fourth yesterday, he had started in the top five in ten consecutive Iowa races, and he had started in the top ten of 17 consecutive Iowa races. His previous worst starting position at the track was 11th in his first visit in 2008.

Kyffin Simpson is on the inside of row 12. Simpson was 14th last night, his best finish since he was 14th at Barber Motorsports Park in April. He had finished outside the top twenty in five consecutive races prior to last night's result. Simpson is 24 points behind his Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Linus Lundqvist for best rookie in the championship. 

Katherine Legge starts two places did that she did last night in race one. Legge is starting 24th for today's race. Legge was able to make it to the finish in race one, albeit a lap down in 17th. It was the second-best finish for the #51 Dale Coyne Racing entry this season, one week after the #51 car scored its best finish with Toby Sowery in 13th at Mid-Ohio.

Marcus Armstrong had a strong qualifying run for race one, starting ninth, but a brush with the wall on his second lap meant Armstrong was relegated to 25th on the grid for the second race this weekend. Armstrong is coming off finishing tenth last night. It ended a three-race slump of finishing 17th or worse. 

Ed Carpenter will be in 26th at the green flag. This is Carpenter's worst starting position since he started 27th at Gateway last August. This is the third time in the last four oval races Carpenter is starting outside the top twenty. He has not started in the top ten on an oval outside of the Indianapolis 500 since he started ninth for the 2018 Iowa race. 

With Jack Harvey stepping out of the car due to a back and neck injury around, Conor Daly will take over the #18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda for the second race of the weekend. Daly ran at Iowa last year substituting for Simon Pagenaud. Daly was 21st and 17th in those races. This is Daly’s 19th start with Dale Coyne Racing. He made one start in 2015, ran the entire 2016 season with the organization, and the 2018 Indianapolis 500. Daly is the eighth Coyne driver this season. Harvey did qualify 18th for today's race. Despite his ailments, Harvey was only 0.4585 seconds off pole position on the second lap of the qualifying runs. 

NBC's coverage of the Hy-Vee One Step 250 begins at 12:00 p.m. ET with green flag scheduled for 12:30 p.m. ET. The race is scheduled for 250 laps.

First Impressions: Iowa 2024 Race One

1. It was a long time coming, but Scott McLaughlin's first career oval victory was bound to happen sooner rather than later. McLaughlin's oval record, for a man who had never run an oval prior to 2021, is remarkable. More times than not he is finishing in the top ten and pushing for a top five finish. He was second in his first oval race at Texas. Just over three years later, he is on the top step of the podium for the first time, on a night when even McLaughlin admits the pit crew won the race.

The new surface in the corners combined with the new tire compound and hybrid system made this race far different than any previous Iowa race. It was a single-lane race. Not much could be done off the bottom lane. That second lane in the middle of the track never developed, and making up positions would likely come down to pit stops and restarts.

McLaughlin got ahead of Colton Herta, who led the opening stint with McLaughlin on his heels, through the first round of pit stops. The first round of pit stops were under caution and McLaughlin got out ahead of Herta by about a foot. That was the race. 

There were a few challenges from Herta and later Patricio O'Ward, but once McLaughlin got through those first two or three laps after a restart, it was all his. No one could make a run and traffic was never a factor. There were a slew of restarts at the end, but at that point, no would could do anything to knock McLaughlin out of the top spot. 

A second victory of the season for McLaughlin and the #3 Penske Chevrolet, this one falling heavily on the shoulders of the pit crew.

2. Patricio O'Ward had a chance to steal a second race in as many weeks in the final pit cycle, but he could only manage second. O'Ward was in the top five the entire race. This was a race where if you had track position you kept track position. O'Ward didn't do anything remarkable other than not make a mistake.

3. When third is a bad day, you know you are pretty good. For Josef Newgarden, third is a bad day, but also a boost after how this weekend started. Newgarden was struggling for speed in practice. He qualified 22nd for this race, and he will start outside the top ten tomorrow.

Like McLaughlin, Newgarden credited the crew after this race for getting him up to third, but Newgarden's gets a little more credit. He made up many spots at the start and on restarts. The pit crew made it easier in the final stage of the race. The final pit stop moved him from eighth to fourth. Newgarden got that final position on his own, passing Scott Dixon in the final run to the finish. It looked like Newgarden was in for one of his worst Iowa races in a long time. Instead, he is on the podium, not a victory but not a disaster either.

4. Scott Dixon probably should have been on the podium. Colton Herta was caught out when he made his second and final pit stop under green and it just so happened Álex Palou spun exiting turn four as Herta was in his pit box. This moved Dixon up to second and he had a shot to leapfrog McLaughlin in the final pit cycle. 

Instead, Dixon had a slow getaway from his pit box and that allowed O'Ward to take second. Then Newgarden got Dixon in the final laps. This should have been at worst a third-place result for Dixon.

5. Rinus VeeKay kept his nose clean and picked up his first top five finish since Mid-Ohio in 2022. This was a team that needed a good result. Ed Carpenter Racing has been bad this year. VeeKay's summer has not gotten off to a great start. He mostly had good pit stops and didn't put a wheel wrong. Sometimes that gets you a great result.

6. Santino Ferrucci likely had the drive of the race. Ferrucci was penalized early for getting out of line on a restart. It was a stop-and-go penalty because he did not serve it quickly enough. Fortunately, Ferrucci got the wave around after Graham Rahal slowed on the circuit to bring out a caution. From that point, Ferrucci picked up a few spots here and there, on restarts, on pit stops. He went on a charge late and got up to sixth. Credit to him as he has seven top ten finishes this season after having one top ten finish all of last season, and there are still seven races remaining. 

7. Kyle Kirkwood survived this race. Kirkwood spent a great deal of this race outside the top ten. The only saving grace was the leaders weren't running down the back of the pack and lapping cars left and right. Kirkwood was the last car on the lead lap for a good 50-lap portion of the early stages, but Herta never got close to lapping him. By staying on the lead lap and out of trouble, Kirkwood could suffer and still finish seventh.

8. While Josef Newgarden gained four spots on his final pit stop, Alexander Rossi lost four positions, and Rossi could not do much to correct it from there. He couldn't go forward. He ended up finishing eighth. He spent much of this race in the top five and directly behind his teammate O'Ward. Eighth is fine but considering how his race was going, Rossi could have had more on this night.

9. Marcus Ericsson overcame only getting three practice laps yesterday before his accident to pull out a ninth-place result tonight. Nothing flashy here. It could have been worse. Ericsson had a brake fire before the final restart. He was looking to finish sixth or seventh before that, but the Swede was able to limp home in ninth. It is better than it could have been.

10. Marcus Armstrong had a peculiar final 40 laps or so. On one of the restarts, Armstrong's caution lights in his rear wing did not go out and kept blinking. He was black flagged for the issue, but that glitch is something that IndyCar controls. It appeared Armstrong was coming to pit lane, but remained on the bottom of the circuit. Directly ahead of him, Colton Herta half-spun and brought out a caution. 

Armstrong never did come in and on the ensuing restart, the problem was gone. It salvaged a top ten finish for him, which is a fair showing of his night.

11. This is a rough one for Colton Herta. Herta was controlling the opening stint and if he doesn't lose a spot in pit lane to McLaughlin on the first stop, his race likely goes differently. McLaughlin had the best car on the night, but Herta could have won with the track position. Herta should have been no worse than second tonight. 

The team had to come early for the second stop because Herta was experiencing a rough vibration and had fallen over three seconds behind McLaughlin. It was well within the pit window to make the finish, but it just happened to be the lap Álex Palou spins out and has his first retirement in over two years. 

Herta was frustrated on the radio about the team stopping that early, but it is easy to get upset when that caution happens literally as the team is changing tires. Herta couldn't hold on much longer and had been begging for a stop for the 20 laps prior to that. It is cruel that the team made the right call and it happened a caution came out as it was making the pit stop. If he goes one more lap, no problem, and Herta is pitting from second and hoping to do the reverse of the first round of stops to McLaughlin. Instead, Herta is caught a lap down and has to get the wave around back to the lead lap. 

The half-spin was another set-back. Maybe Herta finishes in the top ten if it doesn't happen, but this was a night where all the cards went against him. There was not much better he could do than finish 11th.

12. Let's get through the rest of the finishers quickly. Nolan Siegel ran all 250 lap. That is a crucial in your first career oval start. Siegel may have had a shot at the top ten but got swallowed up on those late restarts. He will learn.

Felix Rosenqvist was 13th and didn't do much. The same can be said for Kyffin Simpson in 14th. When nine cars end up retiring from a race, Sting Ray Robb is bound to finish 15th. 

Graham Rahal had a spindle in the rim break on him. Talk about a freak failure. Rahal wasn't going to finish in the top five in this one, but he could have snuck into the top ten. Instead, he was a lap down in 16th. Katherine Legge was also a lap down, which is about as good as we could expect from Dale Coyne Racing.

13. As for the cars that did not finish...

Well, Will Power did finish, but eight laps down after he spun Pietro Fittipaldi, who collected Ed Carpenter. Power also had a pit lane speeding penalty in this race, which he never recovered from. The contact was an error on Power and it ended Fittipaldi's and Carpenter's nights, two of which weren't that notable before the accident. 

Linus Lundqvist had some kind of failure when he was running in the top ten. Lundqvist and VeeKay had similar races going prior to Lundqvist's issue. 

It still isn't clear what happened to Christian Lundgaard. Lundgaard spun on the opening lap but he was well behind the accident where David Malukas spun up the track and collected both Juncos Hollinger Racing cars of Agustín Canapino and Romain Grosjean. Lundgaard was brought to garage and repaired, but returned to the race over 20 laps down. Lundgaard was able to run 178 laps and finish 22nd, but his race was done from lap one. 

Let's cover the opening lap incident here. Malukas clipped the apron and the JHR cars had nowhere to go. Malukas took all the blame. It is an error on him, but not the worst one in the world. Grosjean did get repaired and returned to the circuit.  

14. Álex Palou was already in for a rough night prior to his spin. On the first pit stop, Palou entered in third, but stalled exiting his box. This knocked him out of a top three position and at the back of the lead lap. Palou made up some ground in that second stint, but stalled out before he could get into the top ten and then he spun almost halfway down the main straightaway. 

It looked like something broke at first, but it was just a driver error. It is his first retirement since Road America in 2022. In that race, Palou was spun off after contact with then-teammate Marcus Ericsson. This is truly Palou's first major mistake since the 2022 Grand Prix of Indianapolis when he spun on a damp surface and got stuck in the grass, costing him a lap. Even then there is some forgiveness. Palou doesn't make mistakes often. He will rebound from this. For the moment, the championship is a little tighter.

15. I want to take a second to talk about Jack Harvey. During the week, it was made public Harvey was battling back and neck problems at Mid-Ohio and suffered through that race. He was going to give Iowa ago, but it was clear during qualifying he was not going to be capable of going the full distance. Conor Daly will likely be in the car tomorrow for race two. Daly wasn't in the car tonight because Daly had not completed any practice laps and there was not enough time for a special session. That meant Harvey had to start the race. This was always going to be a start-and-park effort. 

Harvey was just lucky two other cars were knocked out on the opening lap and it gave him two more spots, but effectively no more points because Harvey was 25th and everything from 25th on down pays five points. It at least helps with his average finish. 

Considering Harvey isn't technically full-time as he already missed the Indianapolis 500, and Dale Coyne Racing has no shot at victory, the team should have been proactive and sat Harvey before this weekend even began. If DCR is that concerned about Leader Circle positioning, it should have put a healthy driver in the car from the start and saved the seat for when Harvey was comfortable. 

That might be a little bit of hindsight, but it is also the pragmatic thing to do at this point in the season. Give Harvey Toronto off and let his Olympic break begin early. There is no point rushing him out if he cannot go more than five green flag laps at Iowa. 

16. Night races are rough in terms of writing. It is tougher when it is the first race of a doubleheader and the second race is about 14 hours away. We will have time to write about the track, the tires, the lack of a second lane and more after race two. It could be different tomorrow, but it likely will not be. We will do a more thorough breakdown once this entire weekend is in the books.

Oh! Race control. One quick thing on race control... it policed restarts very tightly tonight. There were multiple penalties for cars getting out of line. We cannot get mad at race control for enforcing the rules and then complain when restarts look like a mess and are a free-for-all. 

It was different. It didn't help that this was a race where passing was nearly non-existent. If this had been any other Iowa race, we likely would not have had any of those penalties or race control would not have been in a position to call any of those. 

Whenever race control gets involved, people automatically get upset. No matter what, it is seen as overreach, but I don't know how else a race should be officiated. Otherwise, it looks like anarchy and everyone is upset that the drivers do as they please. 

Let's just say this race didn't save itself from race control being a headline once it was over. That will likely be the bigger story once this weekend is over. 

Morning Warm-Up: Iowa 2024 Race One

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.

Track Walk: Iowa 2024

The tenth and 11th rounds of the 2024 NTT IndyCar Series season will be the first of two doubleheader weekends of the season, this one from Iowa Speedway. This is the start of a stretch that will see six oval races in the final eight races of the season. With seven oval races on the 2024 calendar, it is the most oval representation since the 2011 season. With Patricio O'Ward victory at Mid-Ohio, Chevrolet and Honda continue to alternate victories, and dating back to last season we have gone ten races without either manufacturer winning consecutive races. Iowa is a track that heavily favors that trend ending. 

Coverage

Time: Coverage for race one begins at 8:00 p.m. ET on Saturday July 13 with green flag scheduled for 8:05 p.m. ET. Coverage for race two begins at 12:00 p.m. ET with green flag scheduled for 12:15 p.m. ET.
Channel: NBC
Announcers: Leigh Diffey, Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe will be in the booth. Kevin Lee, Georgia Henneberry and Dillon Welch will work pit lane.

IndyCar Weekend Schedule

Friday:

First Practice: 3:35 p.m. ET (2 hours and 15 minutes)

Saturday:

Qualifying: 3:45 p.m. ET 

Race: 8:05 p.m. ET (250 laps)
Sunday:
Race: 12:15 p.m. ET (250 laps)

Josef Newgarden is the Man to Beat

No driver is happier to have Iowa as a doubleheader than Josef Newgarden. 

The Tennessean has won six times at the circuit, including four of the last five races. Newgarden swept the doubleheader last year, leading 341 of the combined 500 laps. Newgarden has led over 100 laps in nine of the last 11 Iowa races, and he has led over 200 laps in six of those races. 

Newgarden has led 1,847 laps at Iowa, by far the most all-time at the circuit. He has led 49.77% of the laps he has run at the track. He is 1,464 laps clear of the next closest active drivers in laps led at the 7/8-mile oval. Will Power has led 383 laps. The only other active driver to lead over 100 laps at Iowa is Scott Dixon on 131. 

Newgarden is the hottest oval driver at the moment with nine victories in the last 12 oval races. Newgarden's Indianapolis 500 victory in May made this his ninth consecutive season with an oval victory, matching the record that Bobby Unser and Johnny Rutherford holds. Newgarden has won multiple oval races in four of the last five seasons. He has won at least three oval races in the last two seasons.  

With 16 career oval victories, Newgarden is tied for 13th-most oval victories in IndyCar history with Dario Franchitti. The only driver entered this weekend with more oval victories is Scott Dixon with 25. Another weekend sweep would put Newgarden in a tie for 12th all-time with Hélio Castroneves.

Iowa might not be coming at a better time for Newgarden, as he enters this weekend tenth in the championship and he has finished outside the top fifteen in six of nine races this season. Newgarden has finished worse than his starting position in seven of nine races in 2024. In four of those races, he has started in the top five. In the last two races, Newgarden has spun off course while running in a top ten position. 

Newgarden has finished outside the top twenty in six of the last 13 races dating back to last season. Prior to this stretch, Newgarden had only six finishes outside the top twenty in his prior 117 starts. During that stretch, he had a run of 67 consecutive races finishing inside the top twenty. 

Among full-time drivers, Newgarden's average finish of 15.111 ranks 15th, behind the likes of Santino Ferrucci, Romain Grosjean and Graham Rahal. Newgarden is on pace to have his worst average finish in a season since his rookie year in 2012 when his average was 18.2. Prior to this year, he has averaged a top ten finish in eight consecutive seasons.

Newgarden has not had consecutive top ten finishes since he had four consecutive top five finishes last year over Toronto, the Iowa doubleheader and Nashville. A brush with the wall left him with a 25th-place finish at Gateway last year, but Newgarden has six top five finishes in his last seven oval starts, and he has 15 top five finishes in the 21 oval races since the start of the 2020 season.

New Surface

If there is anything that could trip Newgarden up, it would be a change to Iowa Speedway, and there is a change at Iowa. 

Earlier this year, the track re-paved sections of the circuit in preparations for the inaugural NASCAR Cup Series race held at the track last month. It was deemed the surface was not suitable ahead of that race. However, due to a constrained schedule, a partial re-pave was only completed. The bottom lanes in each set of turns were re-paved while the outside lane along the wall remained untouched. Each straightaway was also not re-paved. 

This was the first surface work ever done to the short track. The track had been untouched since it opened in 2006. 

IndyCar did run a test at Iowa last month, which doubled as another test session for the hybrid system. All 27 entries participated in the test. Colton Herta topped the test with an unofficial lap at 16.954 seconds. Scott McLaughlin was second, only 0.017 seconds off Herta. Honda took four of the top six positions. Marcus Ericsson was third ahead of Graham Rahal and Patricio O'Ward. Scott Dixon was sixth.

All of the top six exceeded the single-lap track record, which Hélio Castroneves set in 2014. Castroneves ran a lap at 17.2283 seconds on the second lap of his qualifying run, an average speed of 186.809 mph. Scott Dixon holds the two-lap qualifying records at an average speed of 186.256 mph, which was also set in 2014. The fastest race lap occurred in 2008 when Ryan Briscoe ran at 17.4908 seconds, 184.005 mph.

There were a handful of incidents in the test session. Josef Newgarden made contact with the wall while Pietro Fittipaldi, Romain Grosjean and Will Power all had accidents. 

The new asphalt allowed for greater corner speeds but put more physical stress on the drivers. Tire degradation was not significant during the test, but conditions were ideal. This test took place in conditions that were about 75º F. Forecast for this weekend will have warmer temperatures. Highs will be pushing 90º F on Saturday with it climbing to about 92º F on Sunday. Higher temperatures are believed will lead to more tire wear, and could open up the racetrack beyond one lane at the bottom of the track.

In light of the recent Iowa test, IndyCar announced it would reduce downforce in hopes of lowering corner speed. Teams will be limited on rear wing level to the third of six possible levels, and teams must run a wicker. This should be a 10% reduction in downforce, removing 450 pounds. This should also increase tear wear. 

Iowa has been a lively race lately. Last year's two races had 1,502 passes and 1,168 passes respectively. Each race exceeded 300 passes for position. Five of the last nine Iowa races have exceeded 700 total passes, including the last four races, and all nine Iowa races since 2017 have had at least 200 passes for positions. The last nine Iowa races have averaged 807.667 total passes and 276.888 passes for position. 

This will be the second consecutive race weekend where IndyCar is racing on a track with new surface. Mid-Ohio had been completely re-paved prior to this year's race. In recent years, IndyCar has also raced on new surfaces at Road America and Laguna Seca, which coincidentally were the two race weekends prior to Mid-Ohio. Both those circuits were re-paved ahead of IndyCar's visits last year.

Oval Records

Josef Newgarden is understandably the big favorite at Iowa this weekend as he has won nine of the last 12 oval races, but how does the rest of the grid fare on ovals?

You might be surprised to learn that Newgarden does not have the best average finish at Iowa Speedway. Among drivers with at least three Iowa starts, Patricio O'Ward has the best average finish. In six starts, O'Ward averages a 5.333 finish with a victory, three podium finishes, four top five finishes and five top ten finishes. His worst finish at this track is 12th.

Since O'Ward entered IndyCar in 2019, he has the second-best average finish in oval races. In 21 starts, his average finish is 5.524, behind only Newgarden's 5.231.

Only three other drivers since 2019 have an average oval finish inside the top ten. Scott Dixon has an average of 7.115, Scott McLaughlin's average is 8.733, and Álex Palou is on the nose averaging a tenth-place finish in 21 career oval starts. 

Dixon is one of the three oval winners not named Josef Newgarden in the last dozen oval races. Dixon won at Gateway last year, the third time in the last four seasons he has won an oval race. Iowa remains one of the few places Dixon has not won at in IndyCar. In 19 starts, he has four podium finishes, 11 top five finishes and 16 top ten finishes at Iowa. Dixon enters this weekend with seven consecutive top ten finish at this circuit.

McLaughlin's oval record is something of legend. In 15 oval starts, he has five podium finishes, eight top five finishes and 11 top ten finishes. He has four consecutive top ten finishes in oval races dating back to last season. He has started on pole position for the last two oval races. In four Iowa starts, McLaughlin has two podium finishes and three top five finishes. 

Palou is not thought of as a strong oval driver because, like McLaughlin, Palou has not won an oval race yet, but he has seven consecutive top ten finishes in oval races dating back to Gateway 2022. Removing the six oval races with Dale Coyne Racing, Palou has six top five finishes and 13 top ten finishes in 15 oval starts with Chip Ganassi Racing.

It hasn't just been Josef Newgarden dominance, it has been Chevrolet dominance on ovals. Since 2020, Chevrolet has won 14 of 21 oval races. Chevrolet has won seven consecutive Iowa races, nine of the last ten Iowa races, and 11 of 14 Iowa races since the return of engine competition in 2012. 

At one point, Andretti Global was the king of the cornfield in Iowa, having won seven of the first nine Iowa races, including six consecutive from 2010 through 2015. Since that streak, Team Penske has matched Andretti's mark for most Iowa victories, as both teams enter with seven wins at this track. Andretti Global has one top five finish in the last ten Iowa races. Ryan Hunter-Reay was third in the 2017 race. The Andretti organization has gone 27 consecutive oval races without a victory. Its most recent oval win was Pocono 2018.

Since that 2018 Pocono race, Honda has won eight oval races. Ganassi is responsible for five of them, four with Dixon and one with current Andretti Global driver Marcus Ericsson, who famously won the 2022 Indianapolis 500. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing has won two oval races since then, including the 2020 Indianapolis 500 with Takuma Sato. RLLR has never won at Iowa, and it only has three podium finishes and six top five finishes in 30 entries at the track. 

The other Honda victory was Meyer Shank Racing at the 2021 Indianapolis 500. The good news for MSR is it has David Malukas in its lineup, a driver that has an average finish of 10.7 in ten career oval starts. Malukas has finished eighth in the second race of the Iowa doubleheader the last two years. Felix Rosenqvist's oval results have been spotty. In 26 oval starts, Rosenqvist has an average finish of 15.923. He has only two top five finishes on ovals in his career, including a fourth last year in the second Iowa race.

A Year Since a First-Time Winner

Come Tuesday, we will celebrate the one-year anniversary of Christian Lundgaard's first career IndyCar victory, which occurred in Toronto. If there is no first-time winner this weekend at Iowa, IndyCar will go more a year between first-time winners in the series. There has been at least one first-time winner the last five seasons and there are only eight races left for that first-time winner. There is only one issue this weekend. There has never been a first-time winner at Iowa. It should also be noted the next first-time winner will be the 300th winner in IndyCar history. 

Twelve of the 27 drivers entered this weekend have not won an IndyCar race yet in their careers.

The top driver in the championship without an IndyCar victory is Santino Ferrucci. Ferrucci has six top ten finishes this season, including in the last two races. He has not had three consecutive top ten finishes since a four-race run in 2021 as a part-time driver with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.

Romain Grosjean will be making his 57th career start this weekend, and he remains in search for that first career victory. Grosjean's five runner-up finishes without a victory in his career has the Frenchman tied for the third-most runner-up finishes all-time without a victory with Raul Boesel and Russ Snowberger. Only Vitor Meira (eight) and Geoff Brabham (six) have more runner-up finishes without a victory.

Marcus Armstrong will be making his first appearance at Iowa this weekend, and it could be the place where Armstrong picks up his first career victory. The New Zealander only completed six laps in his first oval start at the Indianapolis 500 in May. An engine failure ended his race before it even got started.

Along with Armstrong, his rookie teammates Linus Lundqvist and Kyffin Simpson are also making their first Iowa starts in IndyCar. Both drivers did compete at Iowa in Indy Lights. Lundqvist lost a victory in the 2022 race after a penalty for blocking relegated him to fourth. Simpson was 11th in 2022, the final car on the lead lap, and last year his race ended after only completing three laps after contact with Danial Frost.

Pietro Fittipaldi isn't only looking for his first career victory at Iowa. Fittipaldi is looking for his first career top ten finish on an oval. His best oval finish in seven oval starts was 11th at Gateway in 2018. He has finished outside the top twenty in five of his seven oval starts, including 32nd in the Indianapolis 500 in May. 

Agustín Canapino makes it both Juncos Hollinger Racing drivers in search for a first career victory at Iowa. Canapino was 16th and 26th in the two Iowa races last year. He brushed the wall in the second race and had to stop for lengthy repairs. 

Other drivers going for their first career victory this weekend are Sting Ray Robb, Nolan Siegel, David Malukas, Jack Harvey and Katherine Legge, who will drive the #51 Honda for Dale Coyne Racing.

The last five first-time winners in IndyCar won at a road or street course. The most recent first-time winner on an oval was Patricio O'Ward at Texas in 2021. Of the 17 first-time winners in the DW12-era, the only other one that won on an oval was Alexander Rossi in the 2016 Indianapolis 500. If you go back to since reunification, out of 22 first-time winners, the only others that came on ovals were Danica Patrick at Motegi in 2008, Ryan Briscoe at Milwaukee in 2008, and Ed Carpenter at Kentucky in 2011.

Indy Lights

Iowa marks the tenth of 14 rounds in the 2024 Indy Lights season, but it is the first oval race of the calendar for the junior series. Four of the final five races will be ovals for Indy Lights. 

Louis Foster increased his championship lead at Mid-Ohio with a runner-up finish, and on 386 points, Foster is now 41 points ahead of Jacob Abel, who was third at Mid-Ohio, Abel’s third time finishing third in the last four races. 

Caio Collet picked up his first career Indy Lights victory at Mid-Ohio. It was Collet's third consecutive podium finishes, and now third in the championship, the Brazilian is 71 points behind Foster with five races remaining. A fourth-place finish has Callum Hedge on 220 points in fourth. 

Reece Gold moved up to fifth on 212 points while Jamie Chadwick sits a point behind Gold in sixth. Myles Rowe finished 17th or worse for the third time in the last four races after he was 19th at Mid-Ohio. Rowe is down in seventh on 203 points. 

Salvador de Alba takes eighth in the championship on 181 points, three more than James Roe, Jr., Jonathan Browne and Christian Bogle, who are in a three-wide tie for ninth.

Abel started on pole position last year at Iowa and finished second to Christian Rasmussen. Josh Pierson is the next best returning driver as Pierson was sixth last year ahead of Foster in seventh. 

Indy Lights will race at 2:05 p.m. ET on Saturday July 13. The race is scheduled for 100 laps. 

Fast Facts

Saturday's race will be the seventh IndyCar race to take place on July 13 and the first since Scott Dixon won the first race of the 2013 Toronto doubleheader.

Sunday's race will be the tenth IndyCar race to take place on July 14 and the first since Simon Pagenaud won at Toronto in 2019.

Scott Dixon has won twice on July 14, first in 2007 at Nashville, and second in 2013 at Toronto, the second race of the doubleheader. 

This Iowa weekend is the second doubleheader to occur on July 13-14 after the 2013 Toronto doubleheader, which Scott Dixon swept. 

Those Toronto victories were the 31st and 32nd victories in Dixon's career. He has won 26 races in the 11 years since the Toronto doubleheader.

Only once has a first-time winner occurred on July 13. Ted Horn's first career victory was on July 13, 1947 at the Bainbridge Fairgrounds in Bainbridge, Ohio. It was the only IndyCar race ever held at Bainbridge.

Four times has a first-time winner occurred on July 14. Reeves Dutton and Ira Vail each had their first career victories occur on July 14, 1917 at the Twin City Motor Speedway in Minneapolis. Eddie Sachs' first career victory was on July 14, 1956 at Lakewood Speedway outside of Atlanta. Adrián Fernández's first career victory was on July 14, 1996 in Toronto.

The average starting position of an Iowa winner is 7.157 with a median of fourth.

Only three Iowa races have been won from the front row (2016, 2020 race II, 2022 race I). Josef Newgarden won all three races.

Six of 19 Iowa races have been won from third starting position, including Josef Newgarden in the first race of last year's doubleheader.

Six Iowa races have been won from outside the top ten, most recently the first race in 2020, where Simon Pagenaud won from 23rd, the worst starting position for an Iowa winner. 

Nine of 19 Iowa races have been won from outside a top five starting position, most recently the second race last tear, where Josef Newgarden won from seventh. 

The average number of lead changes in an Iowa race is 9.052 with a median of nine. 

Eight Iowa races have had at least a double-digit number of lead changes, but only two in the last eight Iowa races have had more than seven lead changes. 

The average number of cautions in an Iowa race is 3.947 with a median of four. The average number of caution laps is 43.947 with a median of 44.

The fewest cautions in an Iowa race is one, which occurred in the first race in 2020 and the first race last year. The 2020 caution lasted 26 laps, but last year's one caution period in the first race lasted 14 laps, the fewest number of caution laps in an Iowa race. The previous low was 17 cautions laps, which were spread over two caution periods in 2018. 

The most cautions in an Iowa race is seven, which occurred in 2014.

Predictions

Scott McLaughlin and Colton Herta split the Iowa races. Josef Newgarden will have a top ten finish in one of the races but he will finish outside the top ten of the other. Álex Palou's championship lead will remain within ten points of his current 48-point gap over second. RLLR will have a grand total of one top ten finisher over the two races. Alexander Rossi will be the top McLaren driver in at least one race and the worst McLaren finisher in the other. There will be no loose tires. There will be no disqualifications. Dale Coyne Racing will complete fewer than 980 combined laps this weekend. There will be plenty of noise about ticket prices, concerts, doubleheaders, the tight turnaround between races. No one will be happy. Everyone will find flaws. Sleeper: David Malukas.

Musings From the Weekend: What Should Be Done With Dale Coyne Racing?

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

Lewis Hamilton completed a poetic victory at the British Grand Prix in Silverstone, the 104th of his career. The weather cooperated in Chicago until the Cup race decided to get started, and then Mother Nature started raining on the parade for a second consecutive year. Supercars caught some attention in Townsville. MotoGP is heading into its summer break after the championship swung on multiple occasions over two days in Germany. Apparently, European Le Mans Series races are no longer streamed live on YouTube in the United States. Didn't matter anyway because a technical infraction changed the winner after the fact. IndyCar had its hybrid system debut at Mid-Ohio, and Patricio O'Ward put himself in the history book as the first hybrid winner, but there is something deeper I want to discuss.

What Should Be Done With Dale Coyne Racing?

In a sense, this was an anniversary weekend for Dale Coyne Racing at Mid-Ohio. 

Dale Coyne Racing made its first IndyCar race at Mid-Ohio in 1984. For 40 years, Coyne has been the symbol of perseverance in American open-wheel racing. Never the biggest team, never having strong sponsor or manufacturer support, Coyne has managed to remain in competition for the better part of 40 years. 

There have been low points and high. Coyne didn't win a race until its 25th year. It basically did not compete at all during the 2001 and 2002 seasons. It has led the championship after four races, four more than anyone could have anticipated 20 years ago. Coyne has partnered with the likes of Walter Payton, Jimmy Vasser and Rick Ware. It has been the springboard for a few careers while also being the home to a few forgotten one-offs. 

This weekend, DCR gave another driver his debut. Toby Sowery drove the #51 Honda, becoming the fourth driver this season to make his IndyCar debut with the Coyne organization. Sowery was a winner in Indy Lights and was third in the 2019 championship. Lacking an abundance of funding, Sowery piecemealed part-time Indy Lights seasons in 2021 and 2023. This past year he started dabbling in sports cars. 

With Dale Coyne Racing lacking full-time drivers in 2024, the door opened for Sowery to make his debut this weekend at Mid-Ohio and, as the team has been doing for the better part of 40 years, another driver gets to say he raced in IndyCar thanks to Coyne. 

It is wonderful to see new drivers get opportunities in IndyCar. Many drivers are interested in IndyCar at this moment. The problem is there are only 27 seats. With three-dozen drivers hanging around at any time, nine drivers will be on the sidelines. It is nice to see new faces get their shot, but how much can really be achieved in one race?

Sowery did not make his debut after a wealth of testing and adjusting to the car. He came in cold turkey, the same way Luca Ghiotto dropped in the car having never tested an IndyCar nor seeing Barber Motorsports Park before arriving for practice that Friday afternoon. Colin Braun at least had a brief test with the team before running St. Petersburg. Sowery did impress with a 13th-place finish, matching DCR’s best result of 2024. However, Sowery’s future with the team has nothing to do with what he does on-track but with the money he can find off-track. Coyne isn’t hiring anyone. 

These drivers get to say they have raced in IndyCar, but are these weekends really going to lead to something greater? Are they really fair to the driver? They are already set behind the eight-ball to begin with then add running with Dale Coyne Racing and it is not a recipe for success. 

We can look over Dale Coyne Racing's track record and see a number of successful drivers that made their debut with the team as a one-off. That strategy is out-dated in 2024. 

The grid is closer than it has ever been and with equipment virtually bulletproof, no driver is going to stand out with a conservative run, able to take lesser equipment and get an outstanding finish. A slow car is a slow car more than ever at this time. Engines do not detonate on a regular basis. Waste gates aren't crapping out in five entries in each race. Mechanical attrition is extinct. The 22nd-fastest car isn't going to finish seventh though four laps down with a slow and steady approach. It is going to maybe finish 17th because a few cars are going to have issues. 

We know Dale Coyne Racing can be a competitive team. It wasn't that long ago Sébastien Bourdais won the season opener and finished second in the second round. Dale Coyne Racing had the fastest car at the start of Indianapolis 500 qualifying in 2017. It was a brief moment when DCR poured its resources into getting the most out of its ability. The championship was always going to be a stretch, but it was a top ten contender. 

Over the last seven years, DCR has slowly reverted to its old ways. It is costly to be competitive. The partnership with VasserSullivan deteriorated, engineers leave like Oakland A's prospects, the team doesn't secure its own funding and relies on what a driver brings. They are only as good as the drivers' ability whose checks they accept. 

For every promising David Malukas, there is Sting Ray Robb who will struggle to crack the top twenty. When they cannot find full-time money, it is pinching pennies from the pockets of anyone who would like to take a spin, hence why the team has run seven different drivers through the first nine races in 2024. 

This is not the strategy to be competitive, nor is this the answer for a driver hoping for a break. Coyne is doing all it can to remain on the grid, but at a time when IndyCar is on the verge of a charter system where 25 entries will have guaranteed spots on the grid, the bar must be higher. 

The charter system isn't going to raise the funding for all the teams to a level where it will ease their concerns. The charter system is going to be "Leader Circle +"... maybe. We have no clue how the evolution from "Leader Circle" to "Charter System" will see a financial gain for the teams. This could simply end up being a re-branding and turning de facto to de jure. 

If that is the case, Dale Coyne Racing will likely continue operating as it how been, and that isn't for the greater good of IndyCar. If IndyCar is guaranteeing entries into every race then every team must attempt to compete at its highest level. Rotating seven drivers through two cars over nine races isn't it. Waiting until late-January, six weeks before the season opener, is not when the team should be testing for the first time with drivers it is still not committed to for the season. 

It has the legacy, but should Dale Coyne Racing be included in the Charter System, especially when it appears there could be 29 full-time entries for the 2025 season and IndyCar is talking about limiting the grid to 27 cars for all races outside of the Indianapolis 500?

Prema Racing, a stalwart in the European junior series that has produced Formula Two and Formula Three champions, has already announced it plans on entering two cars in the 2025 IndyCar season. We don't know what Prema's lineup will look like, Logan Sargeant has been heavily rumored to be a driver and that is a discussion for a later date, but in terms of commitment, Prema sounds more serious than Coyne at this time. 

Why should Prema be the team fighting to qualify for the two available positions when it has made a greater commitment to IndyCar than Dale Coyne Racing? In terms of investment, Prema should be awarded at least one charter, if not two, over Coyne. 

Coyne has been around for 40 years, but which organization will be raising IndyCar's profile in the year 2025 and beyond? 

The charter decision should be greater than racing because charters in their nature about more than racing. It is about business. The teams are looking for value beyond what they do on the racetrack. What team is going to give you the most beyond the racetrack? We know how Coyne operates. We know the limitations. The modus operandi will not change in year 41. IndyCar needs a change. It shouldn't be afraid to drop its smallest team for one that has more ambition and will bring more to the table.

That is harsh. That is business.

There should at least be an ultimatum. Perhaps Coyne should not be entirely cut out, but it should not be gifted two charters when it has only really fielded one full-time driver this season. It should get one charter and at least one should be for Prema. Coyne is clearly not a team capable of fielding two competitive entries. If it had one to focus on, Coyne could hopeful produce a car that could at least push for the top ten, something we know it is capable of when it puts in the effort. 

IndyCar's goal of the charter system should be to maximize the competition and ability of all its entrants. That is the very least the series can ask for in exchange for guaranteed entry. In that case, Dale Coyne Racing should be given less for the best of everyone.

Winners From the Weekend

You know about Lewis Hamilton and Patricio O'Ward, but did you know...

Francesco Bagnaia won MotoGP's German Grand Prix, his fourth consecutive victory, after Jorge Martín fell from the lead with two laps remaining. Jorge Martín won the sprint race. Fermín Aldeguer won the Moto2 race, his second victory of the season. David Alonso won the Moto3 race, his sixth victory of the season. Héctor Garzó swept the MotoE races.

Alex Bowman won the NASCAR Cup race from Chicago. Shane van Gisbergen won the Grand National Series race, his third victory of the season.

René Rast and Nicki Thiim split the DTM races from the Norisring.

The #14 AO by TF Oreca-Gibson of Louis Delétraz, Robert Kubica and Jonny Edgar won the 4 Hours of Imola after the #65 Panis Racing Oreca-Gibson was penalized for speeding under a full course yellow. The #11 Eurointernational Ligier-Nissan of Matthew Bell and Adam Ali won in LMP3. The #85 Iron Dames Porsche of Sarah Bovy, Rahel Frey and Michelle Gatting won in GT3.

Cam Waters and Matthew Payne split the Supercars races from Townsville.

Caio Collet won the Indy Lights race from Mid-Ohio, his first career victory. Nikita Johnson swept the USF Pro 2000 races. Max Taylor (race one and three) and Evagoras Papasavvas (race two) split the U.S. F2000 races.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli (sprint) and Isack Hadjar (feature) split the Formula Two races from Silverstone. Arvid Lindblad swept the Formula Three races.

Coming Up This Weekend

IndyCar has a doubleheader in Iowa, including a Saturday night race.

NASCAR will be at Pocono. 

The FIA World Endurance Championship returns to Interlagos.

IMSA sends LMP2, GTD Pro and GTD to Mosport.

World Superbike is at Donington Park.

First Impressions: Mid-Ohio 2024

1. The first half of the 2024 Honda 200 appeared to be set as one of the dullest races of the season and decade, but the second round of pit stops shook up the race and turned it in a gripping battle between two of IndyCar's brightest talents. 

Álex Palou was gone, spending most of the first half of the race over four seconds clear of the field with Patricio O'Ward in second. Third place was over ten seconds behind about 15 laps into this race and never got closer than that. This was Palou's race to lose. 

During the second stint of the race, Palou lost chunks of time to O'Ward as the final pit stop approached for both drivers. What went from a four-second lead was less than a second when O'Ward peeled into the pit lane on lap 54. Running long proved to be the better strategy on the first stint. Palou didn't need any extra advantage going a lap longer than O'Ward, but it all went pear-shaped as Palou was slow getting away from his pit box and it allowed O'Ward to sweep into the lead. 

It was a tight battle over the final 24 laps with little more than a second between the two drivers to the finish. Back-markers played a role, and it was going to remain a battle until the final lap. Palou pushed but could not break O'Ward, who took his second victory of the season, his first won on the road in nearly two years. 

O'Ward expressed great relief after this race, and rightfully so. He has been good, but not necessarily showing enough to be the best driver. Prior to this race, he had only led 11 laps all season, all in the Indianapolis 500. This result keeps O'Ward's championship hopes alive, but he has much work to do over the final eight races.

2. It is a victory loss for Palou, but he is still a big winner this weekend. Palou exits with a 48-point lead over Will Power in second of the championship. O'Ward is now third but 70 points back. It isn't over, but Palou is in a comfortable position and controls serve with eight races remaining. 

Palou doesn't make mistakes and there is no one else in IndyCar at the moment that can go on a tear that would scare the Catalan driver. Knowing Palou, he is going to finish eighth or better in final eight races. Maybe he has one off-day. Palou is going to score at least 180 points over the final eight races. He is already up 48 points on everyone. Is Will Power really going to score 228 points over the final eight races? Is O'Ward going to score 250 points over the final eight races? 

It is not quite over, but boy is Palou in control.

3. This was a two-horse race and if you had no clue Scott McLaughlin was third, 16.1558 seconds back, no one would blame you. McLaughlin ran 30 laps on his first stint, and he used that to leapfrog Colton Herta and Marcus Ericsson. That's it. That is all McLaughlin did all race and it got him a podium finish. Nothing flashy. Nothing outstanding. Just one long stint and never coming close to the top two.

4. We could cover Colton Herta and Marcus Ericsson right here because they were fourth and fifth, and we will. Andretti Global is good. This has been a good season, arguably a better season across the board than the previous two years, but fourth and fifth has never felt so far away from first. They got beat on one stint and lost out on a podium position. Both Herta and Ericsson struggled on the alternate tire. It cost Herta on the second stint. It cost Ericsson on the final stint. It is good, but there is a lot of work to do.

5. Frankly, once you get beyond Palou and O'Ward, there is not much to say about the rest of the finishers. We will try. It will be brief. For example, Alexander Rossi finished sixth. That's about all you can say. I am not sure Rossi was featured once on the broadcast. Did you have see Rossi isolated on your screen or in a battle with someone? I cannot recall once seeing him featured on screen. It is not a bad result. It isn't a great result when your teammate wins the race immediately after it was announced you would not be retained by your team for the 2025 season. C'est la vie.

6. If there is anything Rossi can celebrate it is he finished a spot ahead of the man that will be replacing him in 2025, as Christian Lundgaard was seventh, but this is why Lundgaard is going to Arrow McLaren next year. Lundgaard carried Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing all weekend. The Dane has been carrying RLLR for three years. He was comfortably in the top ten. His two RLLR teammates couldn't even break the top fifteen.

7. Kyle Kirkwood did nothing flashy and was eighth. The top five streak is over but the top ten streak continues. Three top ten finishers is a great day for Andretti Global. Last season, the team had one triple top ten day. This season, Andretti has four triple top ten days and this was the third consecutive race all three Andretti cars have finished in the top ten. Progress, but I am sure the organization would love to progress to a victory soon. 

8. Christian Rasmussen had his best day in an IndyCar, finishing ninth, his first career top ten finish. Rasmussen lost a few spots in the first pit cycle, but he remained in the top ten. He didn't overdrive the car and cost himself on track. He has been prone to that. Rasmussen didn't make any enemies in this race. He is prone to that as well. Nice showing for the Dane.

9. Nine drivers decided to try a three-stop strategy, and when cars were diving to pit lane between lap 11 and lap 16, it felt like this was going to be a different race. Perhaps tire wear was greater than anticipated and we would see everyone on three-stop strategies that varied wildly. 

Instead, the three-stop strategy was a foolish gamble and of the 17 drivers that ran a two-stopper, 13 took the top 13 positions, including Santino Ferrucci in tenth. Ferrucci didn't do anything noteworthy but run a two-stop strategy, and it got him another top ten finish. Don't over think it and sometimes you get good results.

10. Will Power, David Malukas and Toby Sowery rounded out the top 13, all on two-stop strategies. Power wasn't great this weekend. He started 15th, spent the entire race about 13th and finished 11th. Malukas stalled on his first pit stop and it cost him a top ten position. He wasn't necessarily going to finish in the top five, but if Malukas nails that first stop he is likely in the top ten and might have been seventh or eighth. 

Sowery had a respectable debut. He was handcuffed driving for Dale Coyne Racing. The speed isn't going to be there, and Sowery came in with no testing time whatsoever let alone any time with the hybrid system. The team didn't do anything flashy. It stuck to a two-stop strategy, and that was the right strategy. Sowery kept it on the road and he got 13th, matching Dale Coyne Racing's best finish of the season. 

11. Felix Rosenqvist was the best of the three-stoppers in 14th. Rosenqvist rolled the dice after starting 19th due to a grid penalty. It got him five spots. Could have been worse.

12. Sting Ray Robb ran a two-stopper and was 16th. That sums up Robb's day.

13. We can lump most of the three-stoppers here. Marcus Armstrong was 17th ahead of Graham Rahal, Rinus VeeKay, Nolan Siegel and Kyffin Simpson. When a number of teams were on the alternate tire and not losing seconds each lap, it was clear the three-stop strategy was doomed. The three-stoppers were not flying through the field. They all got stuck in traffic. It was a shame because for about ten laps it felt like we were going to see this race get mixed up even as Palou pulled away and that didn't happen.

14. Somehow, Agustín Canapino did 31 laps on his final stint. Romain Grosjean spun while running about 15th with two laps to go. The Juncos Hollinger Racing cars ended 22nd and 23rd. JHR had a good two-race run prior to this. It was back to reality this weekend.

15. An extra word for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing because this was its home race. Lundgaard did great, Graham Rahal looked good in practice, all that pace vanished when it came time for qualifying and the three-stop strategy didn't work. Pietro Fittipaldi was anonymous for the ninth consecutive race. This was RLLR's home race and next week is RLLR's most important race with Hy-Vee sponsoring the Iowa weekend. Iowa has historically been one of RLLR's worst tracks. If the rumors are true and Hy-Vee is following Christian Lundgaard to Arrow McLaren, it could be the beginning of a difficult transition for RLLR.

16. Josef Newgarden is broken. Newgarden attempted a three-stop strategy today. Nothing wrong with that. It looked like Newgarden was the one driver who could turn a three-stop strategy into a respectable finish. However, Newgarden clipped the curb in turn ten a few laps prior to his final stop and that cost him a handful of seconds. That easily cost him about five or six spots in the pit cycle. 

However, Newgarden picked up a pit lane speeding penalty, a stop-and-go for failure to follow IndyCar's direction and then another pit lane speeding penalty exiting the stop-and-go, and that was all in three laps! Newgarden went from possibly coming out about tenth or 11th to coming out about 20th to a lap down in 25th. 

Four months ago, we left St. Petersburg believing Newgarden had found something spectacular after dominating the season opener and being outspoken about cutting away the distractions to solely focus on his driving and his family. Outside of one magical May afternoon, Newgarden has been a disaster this season. He has six finishes outside the top fifteen through nine races. If this is Newgarden without distractions then he must return to being distracted. Focusing is clearly not his strength.

17. I don't know how Jack Harvey ended up a lap down in 26th, but we will talk about Dale Coyne Racing tomorrow. You are likely not going to like what you hear. That is what we call a tease.

18. We expected someone would have a bad first day with the hybrid system. Unfortunately, it was Scott Dixon, who broke down on the final pace lap and missed the first 21 laps before running a de facto 40-lap test session. I am sure we will fine out what the exact issue was but on the broadcast it was said to be a quick fix, albeit a quick fix that cost him 21 laps. 

This was the one issue in the entire race for the hybrid. We saw a few longer pit stops. Conor Daly speculated on Twitter that, because Mid-Ohio requires a long first gear combined with the added weight from the hybrid system, it left cars more prone to stalling and having bogged down pit box releases. That really isn't an issue but more something everyone must adjust to. 

For all the fears about cars dropping out due to an abundance of hybrid issues, there was one, and if Dixon run two or three more laps in the morning warm-up, he might have not even experienced it in the race. 

19. Let's take about the tires because we spent the first half of the season noticing the lack of tire wear in races because Firestone had built harder compounds expecting the extra weight of the hybrid for the start of the season, and that weight wasn't there. 

In the first race with the hybrid system, the wear wasn't there either. This was also the first race on fresh asphalt at Mid-Ohio. That might have played a role and cancelled out any effect of the extra weight. Iowa has some fresh asphalt next week as well. We might not truly know how the tires wear until Toronto in two weeks. 

The key thing with the second half of the season is we will all be learning. We have seen one race with the hybrid system. We have no conclusions to draw on how it will change races, whether that be in on-track action or tire wear or fuel conservation, until the end of the season. Even then we will really won't know much because six of the final nine races are ovals. We will likely have a good idea of how it runs on ovals when the season is over, but still be learning about road courses and street courses into 2025. 

Mid-Ohio was one of three road/street courses for the hybrid this season. Its only street course is Toronto and the only other road course is Portland. We will still be learning into 2025 and, with an offseason in-between, adjustments will be made.

20. This is a repeated note about Mid-Ohio. You have likely heard this one before. 

From 2013 to 2019, every Mid-Ohio race was 90 laps. We regularly saw two-stop vs. three-stop strategy races during that time, and it allowed for some thrilling finishes and wonderful drives. Since 2020, every Mid-Ohio race has been 80 laps or fewer. Can we please increase Mid-Ohio back to 90 laps? None of those seven 90-lap races exceeded two hours. Five of those seven races were an hour and 50 minutes or shorter. 

Ten laps make a big difference at Mid-Ohio. 

Could we at least split the difference and run 85 laps? From 2007 to 2012, Mid-Ohio was 85 laps. I understood when it was a doubleheader in 2020 and both races were 75 laps. I do not understand how it became an 80-lap race in 2021 and has remained 80 laps ever since when that only produces a two-stop race with very narrow pit windows. 

When it comes to race lengths, IndyCar knows what it takes to produce a compelling race. Mid-Ohio was increased to 90 laps in 2013 because the series knew an extra five laps would open up the race and make a three-stop strategy more enticing to teams. The 80-lap distance leans toward it more likely being a dull race. The series controls its race distances. There is no way ten laps at Mid-Ohio are that costly to the teams. The financial margins cannot be that tight. There are much greater problems if that is the case. For all that is good, please return to 90 laps in 2025!

I know IndyCar won't increase it, but silence isn't going to change anything. Mind as well make some noise even if I am the only one who can hear it. 

21. Next up is a doubleheader at Iowa. Everyone gets the night race they clamored for, but remember the second race is going to be about 14 hours later, so no whining about the teams being overworked. You wanted this. Now it is time to choked down your medicine. 

Morning Warm-Up: Mid-Ohio 2024

Álex Palou won his second consecutive pole position with a lap of 65.3511 seconds in the final round of qualifying at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, and Palou will hold the honor of being the first pole-sitter in IndyCar's hybrid-era. It is the sixth pole position in Palou's career. He has won from four of his first five career pole positions. The Catalan has finished on the podium in every Mid-Ohio start with Chip Ganassi Racing. Mid-Ohio is one of four tracks where Palou has at least three podium finishes in his career. The others are the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, Road America and Laguna Seca. Palou is attempting to become the first driver to three victories for the second consecutive season. The last driver to be the first to three victories in consecutive seasons was Josef Newgarden, who did it from 2017 through 2019.

Patricio O'Ward missed out on pole position by 0.0024 seconds, but this is O'Ward's best starting position of the season and his first front row start since Nashville last year. O'Ward has never finished in the top five at Mid-Ohio. In five starts, his best finish is eighth and his average over those five Mid-Ohio races is 12th. The only other circuit where O'Ward has made at least three starts and does not have a top five finish is the Nashville street circuit. 

David Malukas takes third on the grid in his second race of the 2024 season. Malukas was 0.2998 seconds from pole position. This matches his career-best starting position. He started third in the second Iowa race last year. Mid-Ohio is one of three tracks where Malukas has multiple top ten finishes. He was ninth and sixth in his first two Mid-Ohio visits. The other tracks where he has multiple top ten finishes are Iowa and Gateway.

Colton Herta will start fourth. Herta has finished better than or equal to his starting position only twice in six Mid-Ohio starts. He went from 13th to ninth in the first race in 2020, and he won from pole position in the second race of the 2020 doubleheader. He has finished at least ten position worse than his starting spot in the last three Mid-Ohio races.

Marcus Ericsson makes it two Andretti Global cars starting in the top five. This matches Ericsson's best starting position of the season. He started fifth at Long Beach. Ericsson has three consecutive top ten finishes entering this weekend. The Swede has had at least one stretch of five consecutive top ten finishes in each of the last four seasons. 

A grid penalty for Marcus Armstrong moves Scott McLaughlin up to sixth starting position. McLaughlin was 0.0234 seconds off advancing to the final round. McLaughlin's 21st-place finish at Laguna Seca two weeks ago snapped an eight-race streak of top ten finishes on permanent road courses. Since 2022, only twice has McLaughlin not finished in the top ten on a permanent road course. Both of those races were the Grand Prix of Indianapolis in 2022 and 2023.

Alexander Rossi has the #7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet starting in seventh. In his first seven times starting seventh in his career, Rossi has one podium finishes, three top five finishes, four top ten finishes and an average finish of tenth. The American has five top five finishes in nine Mid-Ohio races. His average finish at the circuit is 7.222.

Christian Rasmussen has his best career starting position in eighth. Rasmussen's previous best was 13th at Detroit. The Dane scored his best finish on a road/street course at Laguna Seca when he was 13th. It was only the second top fifteen finish in his brief IndyCar career. His other top fifteen result was 12th in the Indianapolis 500.

Christian Lundgaard takes ninth on the grid. Lundgaard has made it out of the first round of qualifying in seven of eight road/street course races this season, and he was 13th at Road America last month. If Lundgaard does not finish in the top ten, he will match the longest top ten finish drought of his IndyCar career. 

Linus Lundqvist rounds out the top ten. Lundqvist won once at Mid-Ohio in five Indy Lights starts. The only driver to win at Mid-Ohio in IndyCar and Indy Lights was Paul Tracy. The only driver to win at Mid-Ohio in the Atlantics Championship and IndyCar was Patrick Carpentier.

Marcus Armstrong made the Fast Six, but a six-spot grid penalty for taking on his fifth engine this season knocks Armstrong down to 11th starting position. In the first four races, Armstrong had an average finish of 12.75. In the last four races, his average finish has been 20.25. Six-spot grid penalty.

Romain Grosjean made it out of the first round of qualifying for the second consecutive race and fourth time this season, but he will start 12th. Grosjean enters having finished seventh and fourth in the last two races. Grosjean has never had three consecutive top ten finishes in his IndyCar career.

Scott Dixon was 0.0449 seconds shy of making it out of group two in the first round, and Dixon must settle for 13th, one position better than expected after a grid penalty to Felix Rosenqvist. Dixon was runner-up last year at Mid-Ohio. He has not had consecutive podium finishes at Mid-Ohio since he won in consecutive years in 2011 and 2012. 

Kyle Kirkwood fell 0.0444 seconds off making it out of group one, and this leaves Kirkwood with his worst starting position since he was 18th at St. Petersburg in March. Kirkwood won 11 times in 13 Mid-Ohio starts across five junior series, including going seven-for-seven in the Road to Indy races. He has finished 26th and 17th in his first two IndyCar visits to the circuit. 

Will Power will start 15th, the third time in the last five Mid-Ohio races he has started outside the top ten. In his first 11 Mid-Ohio appearances, Power's average starting position was 3.181. In the five Mid-Ohio appearance since, his average starting position is 12.8. This is the ninth race of the season. Power has finished third in the ninth race of the season in four consecutive seasons. 

Nolan Siegel makes his second start with Arrow McLaren, and the fourth of his IndyCar career from 16th. This is Siegel's best career starting position. He had not started in the top twenty in his first three starts. In 16 Road to Indy races at Mid-Ohio, Siegel had four podium finishes, but his average finish was 10.125.

Josef Newgarden resets his worst starting position of the season for the second consecutive race, as Newgarden is in 17th starting position. Newgarden started 14th two weeks ago at Laguna Seca. Only twice has Newgarden finished in the top five in the ninth race of the season. Both of those results were victories in 2019 at Texas and in 2020 at Gateway.

Graham Rahal starts his 18th Mid-Ohio race, his home race, in 18th position. This is the seventh time this season Rahal is starting outside the top ten. It has been 11 races since Rahal's most recent top five result. His longest top five drought was 19 races from Long Beach 2008 through the 2009 Indianapolis 500. 

Felix Rosenqvist was 0.0218 seconds from making it out of the first round of qualifying in group one, but a six-spot grid penalty for changing to a fifth engine this season knocks Rosenqvist down to 19th starting position. After opening the season with five consecutive races starting in the top ten, he has started 19th or worse in three of the last four races.

Rinus VeeKay rounds out the top twenty in the #20 Chevrolet. VeeKay has finished 26th, 24th and 26th in the first three permanent road course races this season. VeeKay's most recent top five finish on a road or street course was fourth at Mid-Ohio in 2022, 25 road/street course races ago.

Santino Ferrucci occupies the 21st starting position. Through eight races, Ferrucci has five top ten finishes in 2024. His most top ten finishes in a season was seven as a rookie in 2019. Four of those top ten finishes in 2019 were on ovals. 

Agustín Canapino starts on the 11th row for the second consecutive year at Mid-Ohio. This time it is a position worse in 22nd. At Laguna Seca two weeks ago, Canapino picked up his best career IndyCar finish on a permanent road course in 18th. It is one of two top twenty finishes Canapino has on permanent road courses. 

Kyffin Simpson ended up 23rd on the grid. This is the third time Simpson has started 23rd this season. His best two finishes this year have been when he has started 23rd, 12th at St. Petersburg and 14th at Barber. Simpson opened the season with an average finish of 15th through the first four races. In the last four races, Simpson's average finish is 23.75.

Toby Sowery makes his IndyCar debut from 24th starting position. Sowery becomes the 91st driver to race for Dale Coyne Racing. Dale Coyne Racing's first start in IndyCar was on September 2, 1984 at Mid-Ohio. The team had failed to qualify for seven of the first ten events in that 1984 season, five with Dale Coyne as the driver, prior to Coyne making the Mid-Ohio race and finishing 14th after starting 26th, albeit 17 laps down. 

Sting Ray Robb starts 25th, but it is the 26th consecutive race he has started outside the top twenty. Robb started and finished 22nd last year at Mid-Ohio, one lap down. Robb has finished better than or equal to his starting position in seven of the first eight races this season. The only exception was finishing 26th after starting 25th at Barber Motorsports Park.

Jack Harvey is on the outside of the 13th row. Harvey has made 23 starts since his most recent top ten finish, a tenth at Nashville in 2022. Harvey's average finish over that time is 20.608. He started 26th at Laguna Seca two weeks ago and his race ended 13 laps early due to an engine failure.

Pietro Fittipaldi is the third of three Honda drivers to have a six-spot grid penalty for taking a fifth engine. This knocks Fittipaldi to last on the grid. Fittipaldi was the best Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing driver at Laguna Seca in 14th. It was only the second time this season Fittipaldi has been the best RLLR finisher. The other was at St. Petersburg, where he was 13th. 

NBC's coverage of the Honda 200 from Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course begins at 1:30 p.m. ET with green flag scheduled for 1:53 p.m. ET. The race is scheduled for 80 laps.