Problems in the opening lap
At the start, polesitter Alex Palou managed to hold on to the lead, while the entire field made it through the first two corners without incident. Later in the lap, things went wrong when Devlin DeFrancesco lost control of his car in Turn 4. During his spin, he also made contact with Scott McLaughlin, sending both cars into the wall.
Once the track was cleared, fourth-place starter Josef Newgarden worked his way up to second. He immediately launched an attack on Palou for the lead, but was unable to complete an overtake.
Team Penske’s nightmare season continued after just twenty laps. In addition to losing McLaughlin in the opening lap, Will Power had to park his car in the pits after 21 laps due to engine issues.
The race remained green until lap fifty, when Sting Ray Robb lost control of his Juncos Hollinger Racing car in Turn 1 and slid backwards into the wall.
Newgarden takes the lead, but bad luck strikes again
At the restart, Newgarden immediately attacked Palou for the lead once more. In Turn 4, he finally managed to overtake Palou on the high line. Newgarden then built a lead of up to five seconds, while Palou came under heavy pressure from David Malukas.
On lap 130, Newgarden was the first driver to make his second scheduled pit stop. Unfortunately for Newgarden, this came at a very unlucky time, as Marcus Ericsson crashed in Turn 4 due to a puncture. Newgarden’s #2 Penske crew shortened his stop by not giving him a full tank, but the American still fell a lap behind and dropped to thirteenth.
Newgarden’s misfortune handed the lead back to Palou, ahead of David Malukas, Pato O’Ward, and Conor Daly.
On lap 176, the race was neutralized once again after Callum Ilott lost control of his car in Turn 3 and crashed. This was around the point where drivers had to decide whether or not they could make it to the finish. Nearly everyone dove into the pits. Only Kyle Kirkwood stayed out, taking over the lead ahead of Palou and Malukas.
At the restart, Palou immediately attacked Kirkwood, and after a multi-lap battle, the Ganassi Racing driver reclaimed the lead.
Newgarden back in the lead, but more bad luck
After his earlier misfortune, Newgarden capitalized on a caution and was already up to fifth place after the restart. The Penske driver picked off one car after another and, with 35 laps to go, caught up to Palou. It took less than two laps before Newgarden launched an attack and overtook him for the lead!
It soon became clear why Newgarden was so much faster than Palou — just a few laps later, he pitted again. Once more, the timing was unfortunate: with just over twenty laps to go, Colton Herta suffered a puncture and crashed, bringing out another caution.
This gave Palou a free pit stop, while drivers like Malukas, Newgarden and O’Ward dropped back to positions eight through ten. Palou held onto the lead at the restart, going on to claim his first-ever IndyCar win on a short oval.
Full results of the race on Iowa Speedway
PhotographyPenske Entertainment
