Toiday’s Schedule: All Times Central

8:00 am Gates Open
8:30 am – 9:00 am Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires Qualifying
9:30 am – 10:45 am NTT INDYCAR SERIES Qualifying for Races 1 and 2 Peacock
11:15 am – 12:20 pm Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires Race (100 laps) Peacock
1:00 pm – 1:50 pm Tim McGraw Concert
3:00 pm – 5:00 pm NTT INDYCAR SERIES HyVeeDeals.com 250
presented by DoorDash (250 laps) Green flag at 3:30 NBC, Peacock
5:30 pm – 7:00 pm Florida Georgia Line Concert

If qualifying for the Indianapolis 500 is the most pressure in qualifying in Indycar, Iowa qualifying has to be the second most pressure. Drivers are qualifying for both races. The first lap is for today’s race, the second lap is the time for tomorrow’s race. Cars must race today as they qualify.

The session to set the lineup will be in cooler conditions that Friday’s practice, while the race will be run in similar conditions to Friday.

Just 0.7225 seconds separated the fastest car from the slowest in practice. One smallbobble can mean a big penalty in the starting lineup.

The race could be Team Penske versus Conor Daly and Pato O’Ward. Daly exuded confidence all day Friday. O’Ward is due for a reversal of his recent misfortunes. WE could be in for a really good race today.

Notes

The qualifying order may help the early runners as the temperatures rise during the session. Daly goes out in the middle of the round, which might help him.

If you are at the track, hydrate and take shade breaks. HyVee sells a very nice Indycar cooling towel.

One thing that struck me yesterday was the amount of advertising on the track’s outside wall, I have never seen so much at an Indycar track. Parts of the walls look like an NHL rink’s boards.

Qualifying order: