From IndyCar:
NEWS: Nolan Siegel has not been cleared by INDYCAR Medical and will not compete today at Iowa Speedway.
Arrow McLaren will not run the No. 6 entry in Race 2.
Statement from Arrow McLaren:
Siegel hit the wall hardin turn on.lap 248 in Saturday’s race. The impact necessitated a red flag for wall repair.
IndyCar will.leave Siegel’s 13th starting spot open on the grid.
Siegel will receive 3 points for today’s race by rule.
Yesterday was fun. Let’s do it again. Will Power thinks that the second line will be fully usable today, which could make today’s race even better than what we saw yesterday.
Today’s schedule: Central Times
9:30-9:35 Install lap
Noon FOX on air
12:20 Green Flag
The starting lineup
I think the winner will come from the first two rows. This may be the day that Newgarden gets back to Victory Lane. he has to be estra hungry after yesterday.
Some interesting stats from Pato O’Ward’s win Saturday. He is only the second driver to have more than one win at Iowa. Josef Newgarden has six wins.
O’Ward won in his 100th career start. His first Iowa victory came in his 50th start.
Results from Saturday.
I will be back for a brief wrap up after the race, then I need to head home. I will have a full weekend summary on Monday.
Its IndyCar future still remains uncertain, but Iowa Speedway put on a very good race today as we saw a new season winner and Chevrolet may have saved their season.
Chevrolet took a sledgehammer and smashed their losing streak into a million pieces. Pato O’Ward led the three Team Penske cars across the finish line in Race 1 at Iowa Saturday. It was O’Ward’s first win of the season as well as the first win for Chevrolet.
Arrow McLaren is just he third team to score a victory in 2025, and O’Ward is just the fourth driver to win a race.
O’Ward got past Josef Newgarden during the final pit stops and held on through two yellow flags and a restart after a red flag. Today’s finish was the closest at Iowa since 2007.
Team Penske had their best day of the season. Newgarden won pole and led 230 laps. Will Power finished third and Scott McLaughlin ended the day in fourth after starting last. Still, there is probably frustration in nthe Penske camp that the victory eluded them.
Kyle Kirkwood had his worst day of the year. He crashed in practice this morning, then he hit the wall during the race. Kirkwood dropped to third in the points standings.
Nolan Siegel had a great run spoiled by his crash on lap 257. he had a top ten all but clinched.
The yellows seemed to come just in time for pit stops or just after a pit cycle had been completed.
The red flag was appropriate as the wall needed to be repaired. Just happened at a bad time for the leader. O’Ward said he wasn’t worried about the restart after the red flag.
Compared to 2024’s races, this Iowa race was not quite up to the old Iowa races, but it was much better than last year. There were passes, mad dashes off pit lane, and a fight for the lead most of the second half of the race. Let’s hope for more of the same tomorrow.
Weather in Iowa is usually brutally hot. While today was warm, it was definitely the most comfortable I have ever been at this track. Tomorrow’s weather will be similar to today’s.
Tomorrow’s race begins at 12;20 pm. FOX comes on the air at noon Central.
Congratulations to Myles Rowe who won the IndyNXT race today. Rowe passed points leader Dennis Hauger with about 15 laps left to win his first indy NXT race and his first oval victory,
According to pole sitters Josef Newgarden and Alex Palou, how the racing will be is still an unknown. Indy NXT looked very racy this morning, but we shall see.
The finish line corn is back! Replaced by a Hy Vee logo the past few years, the traditional ear of corn has returned to its rightful place at the start/finish line
Scott mcLaughlin and Kyle Kir4kwood go into today’s race with untested rebuilt cars. Kirkwood got some laps during his qualifying run, McLaughlin’s first laps will be in the race.
It is time for oval qualifying order to be set on practice times rather than points. Qualifying groups are set by time on road and street courses, so setting the order by practice times on ovals would make qualifying procedures uniform for every race.
If there is a race at Iowa next year, it will be a single event, not a doubleheader. With fewer than 12,000 tickets sold for the weekend and no promotional help from the track, this venue seems doomed to be off the IndyCar schedule in 2026. IndyCar needs to find a way to make it worth the track’s while to have this event. Perhaps give the track a percentage of the gate. Give Iowa Speedway free signage at races earlier in the year.
If need be, pair IndyCar with another series (shudder!).
Let’s go racing. I’ll be back after the race.
Team Penske regained a little bit of their luster as Josef Newgarden took pole for this afternoon’s race 1 at Iowa Speedway. Alex Palou nipped Felix Rosenqvist on the last qualifying lap of the day for the pole for race 2.
All was not perfect for Team Penske, however, as Scott McLaughlin crashed on his first qualifying lap. He will start 27th today and tomorrow.
Some drivers not normally in the qualifying conversations had strong runs this afternoon. Conor Daly starts second today and seventh tomorrow. The Foyt drivers, Santino Ferrucci and David Malukas, share row five this afternoon. Malukas rolls off third Sunday.
Felix Rosenqvist held the pole for race 2 until Palou turned the fastest lap of the day on his second lap. Palou’s speed of 184.014 mph was faster than Newgarden’s first lap by 0.015 mph, 0.014 of a second.
Race 1 starts at 4:20 pm Central, FOX coming on air at 4pm (5 pm Eastern.)
Interesting stat- Palou starts fourth today, and Newgarden starts fourth tomorrow.
Race 1
Race 2
Scott McLaughlin led IndyCar’s only practice before qualifying for the doubleheader at Iowa Speedway this morning.
Pato O’Ward spun on the backstretch but didn’t hit anything. He continued back to the pits. ChristianRasmussen brushed the wall but didn’t suffer much damage.
Kyle Kirkwood did not get out for practice.
After an adventure filled Friday, I am now at Iowa Speedway. High line practice just finished, with Conor Daly recording the fastest speed. The session had one major inxident.
Kye Kirkwood went low then came up high, hitting the wall with the right side of the card. The damage didn’t look too bad, but he may not get back for the main practice.
Josef Newgarden touched wheels with Alexander Rossi, but both cars kept going without further issues.
My journey to Iowa began in chaos. Just as I was about to leave for the airport 5:45 am, a text from Soutwest informed me that I had been rebooked on flight departing at 3:30 pm and arriving in Des Moines after my connection at 11 pm. Communication with the airline produced no palatable alternative, so I decided to drive.
The drive is long, and the rainstorm I encountered 50 miles from the track did not help my mood. By the time I reached the exit to the track, the rain was very heavy. I pulled into the convenience store lot and parked. I found out the tracked had cancelled activity for the rest of the day.
Weather will not be an issue for the rest of the weekend. In fact, this morning is the most pleasant and comfortable I have ever been at Iowa.
IndyCar practice has just started. I will be back after practice with results as Indy NXT will get their race underway.
Revised schedule: All times Central.
Gates open at 10 am.
Only Indy NXT qualifying has not carried over.
An install lap at 8:55 am begins the day.
IndyCar practice will consist of two groups doing high line practice for 15 minutes each followed by a 45 minute full field practice.
The Indy NXT grid is set by points standings. Dennis Hauger will start on pole.
The time between qualifying and the race may be a concern for anyone having an issue on their qualifying run.
I was wondering why this was a three day event to begin with.
I now television had a big say here, but IndyCar had an opportunity top move today’s race to a night contest.
From IndyCar:
| NEWTON, Iowa (Friday, July 11, 2025) – Inclement weather forced the cancellation of the first day of NTT INDYCAR SERIES action at Iowa Speedway, setting up a busy two days for the Sukup INDYCAR Race Weekend. NTT INDYCAR SERIES races will be held as scheduled. The Synk 275 powered by Sukup is set for 5 p.m. ET Saturday followed by the Farm to Finish 275 powered by Sukup at 1 p.m. ET Sunday. Both races will air live on FOX, the FOX Sports app and the INDYCAR Radio Network. The NTT INDYCAR SERIES will be first on the .894-mile oval Saturday with install laps beginning at 9:55 a.m. followed by 30 minutes of high-line group running. All cars will get 45 minutes of regular practice beginning at 10:45 a.m. FS2 will air live coverage of the sessions. The 75-lap INDY NXT by Firestone at Iowa Speedway race will be held at noon ET on FS1 .NTT INDYCAR SERIES qualifying will move to 1:30 p.m. on FS1. Each car will be permitted two timed laps, the first helping to set the starting lineup for the Synk 275 powered by Sukup. The second lap will do the same for the Farm to Finish 275 powered by Sukup. |
The Pit Window by Mike Silver 