Photo by Kyle McInnes

Indycar- Just when you think you know how things will turn out, they turn out differently.

A chaotic beginning set the tone for another entertaining race. The started was waved off, and polesitter Josef Newgarden’s day ended when he was punted by Marcu Armstrong into the front stretch wall.

Before that happened, what looked like a very short day for Alex Palou and a loss of the championship lead turned out with him losing just 10 more points to Will Power. Power spun on a restart and went down a lap. he recovered to 10th at the end, but attrition allowed Palou to finish 19th.

After a disjointed first half, the race settled into a game of pit strategy. It appeared Herta had the upper hand until Sting Ray Robb’s wall contact with 21 laps to go allowed the leaders to take fresh tires. McLaughlin

The waved off start because the back of the field was not in line caused chaos at the front. Some drivers slowed, and others accelerated. I have seen the green flag waved with worse formations than how the field lined up today. It would help if Race control stopped allowing the last half of the field to lag so far behind on the pace laps. Perhaps the grid should start out in rows of two, then have a tire scrub lap, and reform.

Today’s race had 816 passes, more than yesterday. Given the good racing we saw at Milwaukee this weekend, and what we watched at Gateway, I think the hybrid wasn’t the issue at Iowa. It may have been the track.

Movers

Scott Dixon finished second from 17th.

Colton Herta finished third after starting 18th. He nearly won the race.

Marcus Ericsson went rom 16th to 5th, and Kyke Kirkwood finished eighth from 19th oin the grid.

Overall, Mikwaukee had a successful return to its Indycar roots. The attendance was great both days. There may have been a few more fans here today. The racing was very good.

I will stop here since I need to hit the road. Thanks for following along this weekend. I will have a complete Milwaukee wrap up tomorrow.