First- Will Power. Not much more to say about his prowess as a qualifier. He swept the poles today for the second year in a row. 70 career poles is a record that may never be touched. Each year it seems to take Power longer to win his first pole of the season. In 2022 he won just three poles- two at iowa and at Laguna Seca.

The Race

Today was the first time I have watched a race from Iowa on television in eight years. It is definitely a better race to watch at the track. I found today’s race a bit of a snoozer. The Penske domination was fascinating but Newgarden even made a sham of the competiton between the three drivers.

At home I missed a lot of the crazy action that happens all around the track every lap. NBC having comnmercial breaks every four laps or so did not help. They also lost a lot of laps coming back from breaks as they felt a need to show the countryside around the track. Yes, it is beautiful. Keep those shots in prerace.

I will give Josef Newgarden his due. he owns this track. Heck, he owns oval racing. Only three other drivers have won four ovals in a row, and they are legndary ones- A. J. Foyt, Al Unser, and Nigel Mansell. That is aver nice club to a part of.

Alex Palou did not get hurt too badly today. His eighth place finish cot him 19 points of his lead. I’m not sure that he will get any of the points back tomorrow, but if he keeps the lead in the 90s, he will be fine.

If Pato O’Ward’s crew can figure out how to get his car to pass someone, he might have a chance tomorrow. Tomorrow and at gateway are his last two best hots at winning this year.

Chip Ganassi Racing again placed all four drivers in the top 10. Marcus Ericsson was fourth, Scott Dixon sixth Alex Palou eighth, and Takuma Sato ninth. Ericsson had one of the best drives of the race.

Tomorrow’s starting lineup should make for a more interesting race with Newgarden starting seventh and O’Ward lining up 11th. The cars will be in race trim tomorrow as well.

Thanks for following along today. See you tomorrow.