IndyCar Iowa Preview

James Hinchcliffe

Last year, Josef Newgarden led the most laps of the race (229) but with 45 laps to go James Hinchcliffe's SPM Honda passed Newgarden's Penske Chevy and pulled away to win the Iowa Corn 300 IndyCar race. Spencer Pigot and Takuma Sato finished 2nd and 3rd but that is because Newgarden gambled on a late caution and pitted for new tires but that was the wrong call. Newgarden came home 4th and Robert Wickens rounded out the top-5.

Can Hinchcliffe win again?

In the past four NTT IndyCar Series races at Iowa Speedway, Ed Carpenter Racing entries powered by Chevrolet have finished first or second.

The team owner/driver is aiming to add to the streak, especially in the No. 20 Autogeek Chevrolet he’ll drive at one of his favorite racetracks. Carpenter has recorded five top-five starts and five top-five finishes in the seven races at the .894-mile tri-oval since Chevrolet’s 2012 return to NTT IndyCar Series manufacturer competition.

Overall, four different Chevrolet drivers have won four of the seven Iowa races and recorded five pole starts. Under the lights July 20, nine drivers powered by the 2.2-liter, twin turbocharged, direct-injected Chevrolet V6 engine will compete in the 300-lap race.

“It’s been a place that as a team we’ve felt very comfortable. It’s a racetrack that I’ve always liked going to," said Carpenter, who competes on ovals while Ed Jones drives the No. 20 Chevrolet on street and road courses. “With as much as the tracks change over the years, we’ve always seemed to be able to adapt and get a car that’s comfortable and fast. Hopefully, that won’t be any different this year and Spencer (Pigot) and I can be strong."

Iowa 300 Fast Facts

Race weekend: Friday, July 19 – Saturday, July 20

Track: Iowa Speedway, a 7/8-mile (0.894-mile) oval in Newton, Iowa

Race distance: 300 laps / 268.2 miles

Entry List: Iowa 300 (PDF)

Firestone tire allotment: Ten sets for use through the weekend

Twitter: @iowaspeedway, @IndyCar, #Iowa300, #IndyCar

Event website: http://IowaSpeedway.com/

INDYCAR website: www.IndyCar.com

2018 race winner: James Hinchcliffe (No. 5 Arrow Electronics SPM Honda)

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]2018 NTT P1 Award winner: Will Power (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet), 35.2913 seconds, 182.391 mph (two laps)

One-lap qualifying record: Helio Castroneves, 17.2283 seconds, 186.809 mph, July 11, 2014

Two-lap qualifying record: Scott Dixon, 34.5588 seconds, 186.256 mph, July 11, 2014

NBCSN television broadcasts: Qualifying, 2 p.m. ET Friday, July 19 (live); Race, 7 p.m. ET Saturday, July 20 (live). Leigh Diffey is the lead announcer for the NBCSN broadcasts this weekend alongside analysts AJ Allmendinger and Paul Tracy. Pit reporters are Kevin Lee, Dillon Welch and Robin Miller.

Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network broadcasts: Mark Jaynes is the chief announcer alongside analyst Anders Krohn. Jake Query is the turn announcer with Dave Furst, Nick Yeoman and Michael Young reporting from the pits. All NTT IndyCar Series races are broadcast live on the Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network, Sirius 98, XM 202, IndyCar.com, indycarradio.com and on the INDYCAR Mobile app powered by NTT DATA. Live coverage of NTT IndyCar Series qualifying is available on Sirius 219, XM 209, IndyCar.com, indycarradio.com and the INDYCAR Mobile app.

NBC Sports Gold livestreaming: All NTT IndyCar Series practice sessions and qualifying will stream live on INDYCAR Pass on NBC Sports Gold, NBC Sports' direct-to-consumer livestreaming product.

At-track schedule (all times local):

Friday, July 19

10 – 11 a.m. – NTT IndyCar Series practice #1, NBC Sports Gold (live)

1:15 p.m. – Qualifying for the NTT P1 Award (single car/two timed laps), NBCSN (live); NBC Sports Gold (live)

6 – 7 p.m. – NTT IndyCar Series practice #2, NBC Sports Gold (live)

Saturday, July 20

5:35 p.m. – Driver introductions

6:10 p.m. – Command to start engines

6:15 p.m. – Iowa Corn 300 (300 laps/268.2 miles), NBCSN (live)

Race notes:

• There have been six different winners in 11 NTT IndyCar Series races in 2019: Josef Newgarden (Streets of St. Petersburg, Raceway at Belle Isle Park-1 and Texas Motor Speedway), Colton Herta (Circuit of The Americas), Takuma Sato (Barber Motorsports Park), Alexander Rossi (Streets of Long Beach and Road America), Simon Pagenaud (Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, Indianapolis Motor Speedway Oval and Streets of Toronto) and Scott Dixon (Raceway at Belle Isle Park-2). The record for most different winners in a season is 11 in 2000, 2001 and 2014.
• There have been seven different NTT P1 Award winners in 2019. Will Power (Streets of St. Petersburg and Circuit of The Americas), Takuma Sato (Barber Motorsports Park and Texas Motor Speedway), Alexander Rossi (Streets of Long Beach, Raceway at Belle Isle Park-1), Felix Rosenqvist (Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course) Simon Pagenaud (Indianapolis Motor Speedway Oval and Streets of Toronto), Josef Newgarden (Raceway at Belle Isle Park-2) and Colton Herta (Road America). The record for most pole winners in a season is 12 set in the 1999 CART season.
• The Iowa 300 will be the 13th NTT IndyCar Series event at Iowa Speedway. Ryan Hunter-Reay and James Hinchcliffe are the only active drivers to win at Iowa Speedway more than once. Hunter-Reay has three wins (2012, 2014 and 2015), while Hinchcliffe (2013 and 2018) has two. Past winners Josef Newgarden (2016), Marco Andretti (2011) and Tony Kanaan (2010) are also entered in the event.
• The Iowa 300 will be the third oval race on the 2019 NTT IndyCar Series schedule. The previous two races were won by Simon Pagenaud (Indianapolis 500) and Josef Newgarden (Texas Motor Speedway). The remaining two oval races will take place at Pocono Raceway (Aug. 18) and World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway (Aug. 24).
• Andretti Autosport has won seven of the 12 previous races at Iowa Speedway, including six of the last nine races (Dario Franchitti 2007, Tony Kanaan 2010, Marco Andretti 2011, Ryan Hunter-Reay 2012, 2014 and 2015 and James Hinchcliffe 2013). Chip Ganassi Racing has two wins (Dan Wheldon 2008 and Franchitti 2009). Ed Carpenter Racing, which won the event in 2016 with Josef Newgarden, Team Penske, which won in 2017 with Helio Castroneves, and Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, which won last year's race with Hinchcliffe, have each won at Iowa once.
• Ryan Hunter-Reay and Dario Franchitti are the only drivers to win at Iowa Speedway and win the NTT IndyCar Series championship in the same season. Hunter-Reay accomplished the feat in 2012 and Franchitti in 2007 and 2009.
• No driver has won the NTT IndyCar Series race at Iowa Speedway from the pole.
• Three drivers have competed in every NTT IndyCar Series race at Iowa: Marco Andretti, Scott Dixon and Tony Kanaan. All are entered this year. Thirteen drivers entered have led laps at the track (Josef Newgarden 623, Kanaan 523, James Hinchcliffe 290, Dixon 126, Andretti 94, Will Power 80, Ryan Hunter-Reay 54, Graham Rahal 19, Ed Carpenter 18, Simon Pagenaud 13, Takuma Sato 10, Sebastien Bourdais 6 and Alexander Rossi 4).
• Ryan Hunter-Reay finished on the podium in five of the last seven Iowa Speedway races (2012-2015 and 2017) … Josef Newgarden has finished in the top four in four of the last five races at Iowa (2014-2016 and 2018) … Tony Kanaan has finished on the podium in five of his last nine races at Iowa … Marco Andretti has finished on the podium in four of his 12 starts at Iowa Speedway … Scott Dixon has started on pole three times (two earned) and has nine top-10 finishes at Iowa in 11 starts, but he has never finished better than third.
• Rookies Marcus Ericsson, Santino Ferrucci, Colton Herta and Felix Rosenqvist will race an NTT IndyCar Series car at Iowa Speedway for the first time this weekend. Herta previously raced at Iowa Speedway in Indy Lights.
• Tony Kanaan seeks to start his 312th consecutive race this weekend, which would extend his Indy car record streak that began in June 2001 at Portland. Kanaan is second all time in career starts after making his 370th start at Road America on June 23. Mario Andretti holds the record with 407.
• Scott Dixon has made 252 consecutive starts heading into the weekend, which is the second-longest streak in Indy car racing. Marco Andretti has made 228 consecutive starts, which is the third-longest streak in Indy car racing.
• Scott Dixon, the longest-tenured driver for Chip Ganassi Racing, is third on the all-time Indy car victory list with 45 wins. Sebastien Bourdais is sixth on the all-time list with 37 wins and Will Power is tied with Bobby Unser for seventh on the all-time list with 35 wins.
• Sebastien Bourdais will attempt to make his 200th Indy car start at Iowa. The four-time Indy car champion will become the 25th driver to reach the milestone in his career.

IOWA 300 PRE-EVENT QUOTES:

Newgarden led most laps last year

JOSEF NEWGARDEN (No. 2 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet): "(The NTT IndyCar Series) is maybe the most competitive series in the country and as we go further in the championship battle, we know every point counts. Heading into Iowa this weekend, we are keeping that at the forefront of our minds as we try to expand our championship points lead and compete for a shot at the title. Iowa is a track I've had some success at, so the team and myself are feeling pretty positive. Iowa is so unique for us because it's a short track, so we definitely will approach it a different way than we would another oval like Texas or a street or road course. But don't let it confuse you, it's fast and we know we'll have a strong Hitachi Chevy this weekend."

MATHEUS LEIST (No. 4 ABC Supply AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet): "Iowa, it's a tough place. We struggled there in the past as a team, but we've worked hard through the season trying to improve our baseline for the short ovals. Luckily we have some time on Friday and I know we'll figure it out and have a decent car for the race on Saturday. I think the Iowa race being a night race now will be more interesting and I think the fans can expect some more entertainment than last year, let's see how it goes. Looking forward to it."

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE (No. 5 Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda): "Iowa has been good to us in the past, so we always look forward to getting back there. It kind of sucks that the race we were particularly strong at last year has had the most changes, having a higher boost level and moving to a night race. But even with that, I'm confident that we can roll off with a strong No. 5 Arrow car. Marcus (Ericsson) had a great test here a few weeks ago so hopefully, we can have the same form we had here last season."

MARCUS ERICSSON (No. 7 Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda): "I'm very excited to get to Iowa. Although it's another new track for me to race at, we were there a couple of weeks ago for a test which went really well. It's a special place – such a small track – but we will obviously still be seeing some high speeds. It's also a bumpy track, so that was for sure a challenge during our test, and everyone says the race as well will be challenging to manage the car smoothly over the bumps. Obviously with such a short track and short lap it will be a very intense race, a lot of overtaking. I'm looking forward to that challenge. Arrow SPM won there last year with James (Hinchcliffe), so we know we have a good car there and James is very strong there, so I will try to lean on him as much as possible. We're aiming to have a really good team result."

SCOTT DIXON (No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda): "Iowa Speedway is such a tough track for racing Indy cars. You have very high G-force loading and there is always a lot of action on that little bullring-style track. You really have to be on your game with traffic and the quick lap times. It's got a lot more character having weathered in over the years. I really love this event and especially the fans that attend – they really love Indy car racing and show their support. I'm glad we're back to a Saturday night race. This track always presents a unique challenge."

FELIX ROSENQVIST (No. 10 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda): "We tested at Iowa Speedway just the other week prior to Toronto and I learned a lot. Scott (Dixon) came to help with the setup on the No. 10 car, which was great. I've never been to Iowa so to have him come set up the car was really, really helpful. I'm going to try and learn as much as I can from Scott and the team. This will be a new challenge for me but I know the team is up for it and we'll be ready to go."

WILL POWER (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet): "What happened at Toronto was really unfortunate, but I'm putting that behind us. The Verizon Chevy team is strong and I know we can put that behind us and have a great run at Iowa. We still are fifth in championship points right now, so that is something we'll have to battle as we head toward the end of the season. We've been able to win at a number of the tracks we're heading to in the home stretch and I feel really comfortable at all of them. We just need to focus and focus on performing as best as we can."

TONY KANAAN (No. 14 ABC Supply AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet): "Iowa's always been a good place for me. I had a win there and it's one of the tracks that I have the highest average finish. I've finished on the podium a lot of times there. It's a really short oval. I really enjoy it and I'm looking for some redemption after last year. We did a lot of work over the winter to try to make sure that we will be competitive there this year. We're going to have more power there this year because (INDYCAR) increased the boost for that type of track so I'm looking forward to it."

GRAHAM RAHAL (No. 15 One Cure Honda): "Iowa is a tough track, it's super small, really intense with no margin for error. It's gotten pretty bumpy over the years. It's an interesting place to go race. It always puts on a great race and having it on Saturday night will be even better, so I'm excited. We've had some good results there before> We've been competitive there before and expect to be competitive this time around and will try to get a win there. At night, the track cools down and it's a greater spectacle, there is more passing but overall it is just a greater spectacle to watch and be a part of."

SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS (No. 18 SealMaster Honda): "We have qualified well on the ovals this year and the No. 18 SealMaster Honda has been strong in the races, so I am pretty happy about that. Iowa's track is trickier than the other ovals, especially if as expected, the weather is hot. The team tested there with Santino (Ferrucci) and we got some data, but unfortunately, I wasn't able to go. Hopefully, we'll unload and have another competitive oval car. At this point in the season, I'm just looking to have a good result and see how things play out. We just need to keep working hard and hopefully catch a break."

SANTINO FERRUCCI (No. 19 Cly-Del Manufacturing Honda): "I'm looking forward to going to Iowa Speedway this weekend. I've had a couple of occasions already to go there in the last month. One was to help out Habitat for Humanity and then we also took part in a one-day test. Things went well at the test and I think we're up to the task. Our oval results so far have been above average for a rookie and hopefully, we can continue that trend this weekend."

ED CARPENTER (No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet): "I am very excited to be getting back into the car and even more so for it to be under the lights at Iowa Speedway. Texas feels like it was months ago! I am looking forward to getting the No. 20 Autogeek Chevrolet back up front. We have had a good streak of strong finishes at Iowa as a team. I want to add another one to our resume on Saturday night."

SPENCER PIGOT (No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet): "We had a great result at Iowa Speedway last year with my first podium finish, so we'd love to match that or do one better this time around! 2018 was my first Indy car race at Iowa, so it will be nice to go back knowing a bit more of what to expect. Moving the race back to the evening should make it a great experience for our fans as well, and hopefully, the No. 21 Autogeek Chevrolet can put on a good show for them."

SIMON PAGENAUD (No. 22 Menards Team Penske Chevrolet): "Toronto was such a great weekend, but it is time to focus on Iowa with the Menards Chevy team. I'm determined to keep the momentum going. I told Roger (Penske) before Toronto that I'm 100 percent in and I'm going to give him everything I have. We just going to have to approach Iowa the same way. We have to execute. I think the momentum that we have shows the potential of our team. That's what you need to do to go out and win championships."

ZACH VEACH (No. 26 Gainbridge Honda): "I really love the short ovals – it's just classic American racing. Iowa Speedway is the one place you feel like you can really make a difference and outdrive people. I can't wait. We had a really good race car at Iowa last year, passed quite a few cars and I expect we will have a good car again, and hopefully, we can drive to where we need to be."

The Andretti team has struggled a bit at Iowa recently – can they recover?

ALEXANDER ROSSI (No. 27 NAPA AUTO PARTS Honda): "I love racing at Iowa – it's such a unique track that keeps us on edge for the whole distance. Racing under the lights this year is just going to be an added bonus."

RYAN HUNTER-REAY (No. 28 DHL Honda): "I'm excited to return to Iowa, especially now that it is back to a night race. We've made three trips to victory lane in the past, and hopefully, we'll be ending the weekend back in the winner's circle with the DHL Honda. We're just over halfway through the season, so we have to turn our luck around and get some strong results."

TAKUMA SATO (No. 30 Mi-Jack / Panasonic Honda): "Iowa is a fun place. It's extremely tight as a short oval. We had a great race last year. We have a very good baseline car setup. Obviously, this year is going to be a night race, so the conditions will be very different from last year, but we hope and believe we can have a competitive car at Iowa Speedway."

SAGE KARAM (No. 31 SmartStop Self Storage Carlin Chevrolet): "I'm really excited to be back again this weekend with Carlin and SmartStop Self Storage for the Iowa 300. Iowa Speedway has always been a good track for me in the past, so I'm really looking forward to getting to work there. Coming off of a very productive weekend in Toronto, I'm looking forward to applying everything I've learned and continuing to work with the team to get the best results possible. A huge thank you to everyone at Carlin and SmartStop Self Storage for a great opportunity to race at one of my favorite tracks."

CONOR DALY (No. 59 Gallagher Carlin Chevrolet): "I want to thank everyone at Carlin and Gallagher for another chance to get behind the wheel of the No. 59 Gallagher Carlin Chevrolet this weekend at Iowa Speedway. I'm looking forward to picking up where we left off in Texas. These oval weekends are short, but now that I've already had a weekend with the team I think we'll be starting in a much better spot."

COLTON HERTA (No. 88 Harding Steinbrenner Racing Honda): "I'm looking forward to racing at Iowa Speedway again. I ran there in Indy Lights last year and loved it. I'm especially looking forward to the added horsepower that INDYCAR is putting in the Honda engines. And we're finally racing at night at Iowa Speedway which will be a lot of fun. I think racing at night will open up the second lane which will hopefully allow more passing and create a great show for the fans."

MARCO ANDRETTI (No. 98 U.S. Concrete / Curb Honda): "I always like going to Iowa and I'm excited it's back to a night race. The track has gotten bumpy, so we need to get the Andretti Autosport magic back and fight for another solid result at the track. It is going to be a super hot race, so we'll need to get the car to a comfortable position over the long stints."