Between a few spins and crashes and pauses, Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin ruled the opening 250-lap NTT IndyCar Series race at Iowa Speedway and took the first oval win of his career with the No. 3 Chevy.
Polesitter Colton Herta led the race until the first round of pit stops on lap 84, but fine work by McLaughlin’s “Thirsty 3s” crew got him to the pit-exit line with a few inches to spare in front of Herta, and from there, the New Zealander dominated the remaining 166 laps to dominate the night ahead of Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward and teammate Josef Newgarden in an all-Chevy podium.
The Kiwi will start Sunday morning’s 250-lapper from the pole.
SAVE OF THE SEASON!
Unbelievable catch from @ColtonHerta 🤯
📺: #INDYCARatIowa on CNBC and Peacock pic.twitter.com/IT9AcMQ9sR
— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) July 14, 2024
“Just checked off probably one of my biggest goals that I had this year,” McLaughlin said. “It was a team win. They put me out in front and got me the lead, and I was able to show how good our car was, just controlling the pace at the front. We’ll move forward and know that we’ve got a good car for tomorrow. We’re even better when the sun’s up. So hopefully we can carry it on.”
O’Ward’s strong week of work in the No. 5 Chevy has netted a win and a second, which vaulted him to second in the championship. The predicted lack of passing outside of the start and restarts meant challenging for the win wasn’t an option.
“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t bummed about the race and how it raced,” he said. “Really tough to get that second lane working. Compared to I don’t know how many on-track passes we had last year, probably not even a tenth of that [tonight]. That was a bit frustrating because I thought we had a very strong car, definitely a car that was capable of winning. Just no way to get around a car.”
Newgarden was the biggest mover of the race, motoring from 22nd to third.
“Calculated risk tonight,” he said. “You were flirting with disaster. It wasn’t a given. There wasn’t the real estate to use, just second-hand. It’s not like a second nature-type thing you could use. You were risking the car every time you tried to move offline on somebody.”
Attrition was high as mistakes and desperate moves on restarts meant just 19 of the 27 cars finished. It was a rough day for the two championship leaders heading into race one as Alex Palou stalled his car while in the top three, then crashed on his own. He was credited with 23rd. Will Power speared Pietro Fittipaldi from behind, which wrecked Fittipaldi’s car and the following car of Ed Carpenter. Power pitted to repair his bent suspension and was later given a penalty, which left him in 18th.
Race 2 is right around the corner at 12:30pm ET. Race 1 wasn’t particularly clean or exciting, with drivers stuck in long pass-free stretches. We’ll see if the change from night to day will make a difference.
The first of the Hy-Vee doubleheader races at Iowa Speedway went green for a half-lap before the first caution flew as David Malukas dipped his left-front tire below the apron in Turns 1 and 2, spun, and collected Agustin Canapino and Romain Grosjean. Behind them, Christian Lundgaard, sporting the event sponsor’s name and colors, spun as well for the same reason that rotated Malukas and was towed to the pits. Grosjean was able to drive away from the scene of the accident, pitted, and the Juncos Hollinger Racing team took the car to the garage.
“A rookie mistake,” Malukas said of the incident.
Before the yellow, Herta got the jump on McLaughlin and led into the corner and, behind him, Palou drew alongside McLaughlin but was returned to third for the restart. Lundgaard was able to get his car refired, but 18 laps down.
The lap 20 restart had Herta leading McLaughlin and Palou. Starting P22, Newgarden was up to P14 by lap 25. Santino Ferrucci was up from P8 to P5 by lap 30 and chasing Scott Dixon.
Jack Harvey pitted on lap 30 and retired from the race as a result of the fearsome pain he was experiencing.
By lap 38, Herta’s lead over McLaughlin was resting at 0.5s. Palou wasn’t as close with a 2.3s gap to the leader, who was preparing to lap teammate Kyle Kirkwood. Santino Ferrucci received a stop-and-go penalty, which he served on lap 44, for being out of line on the restart.
Lap 50 had Herta holding 0.7s over McLaughlin and not much else was happening as passing was not happening, for the most part.
Ed Carpenter pitted on lap 70 after sliding up the track. Herta was down to 0.5s on McLaughlin and 1.8s on Palou. Newgarden was holding station in P13.
The second yellow flew on lap 81 when Graham Rahal slowed due to a broken right-front wheel, which had the inner spokes crack and lead the outer portion of the wheel to vibrate. He pitted and returned with fresh wheels and tires.
Lap 84 saw the whole field pit, and Palou was the big loser as his P3 turned into P19 when he got halfway out of the box when the car stalled after he left in second gear instead of first. It promoted Dixon to third behind McLaughlin and Herta, but after a review of the pit-exit camera, McLaughlin got to the line first and was placed ahead of Herta.
Ferrucci stayed out under caution and got back to the lead lap and P20 for the restart.
Lap 94’s return to green had Herta getting aggressive blocking Dixon and he tried to take the lead from McLaughlin, but it was unsuccessful. Will Power was sent to pit lane for a speeding violation and by lap 98, Palou was up to P14. Newgarden was up to P10.
Herta was down 0.8s to McLaughlin and Dixon was 1.4s back by lap 105. Pato O’Ward, in fourth, was 2.2s arrears, and Alexander Rossi was 3.1s behind. Marcus Ericsson, in P6, was 3.9s away from the leader.
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The second stint was much like the first, where no passing was happening.
Palou’s recovery halted in P14, behind Sting Ray Robb. Newgarden circulated in the same P10.
Linus Lundqvist served a penalty for being out of line on the restart at lapo 134.
Lap 140 and McLaughlin was up 1.1s on Herta and 1.6s on Dixon. Newgarden (P9) and Palou (P13) moved up one spot when Lundqvist was required to pit.
Palou got ahead of Robb for P12 on lap 150. Herta, complaining of a tire vibration, fell to 2.2s back. Herta continued to fade, and by lap 167 was 3.5s down. Dixon was only 0.3s behind him.
Lap 170 and Herta’s backing up brought O’Ward into the frame, who climbed to 0.3s behind Dixon.
Herta dove for the pits on lap 174. Dixon was 4.0s behind McLaughlin in P2.
The third caution was required for a spinning and crashing Palou on lap 177. Herta paid the price for the timing, having lost P2. He’d restart in P17.
Final stops for the field occurred on lap 181. O’Ward jumped Dixon and emerged in P4. Newgarden was the bigger mover to P4, with Marcus Armstrong in a surprising P5.
The lap 189 restart had Rinus VeeKay take P5 from Armstrong as Ferrucci made a number of passes. Ferrucci was up to P11 by lap 191.
A no-passing rhythm was established by lap 205 in the final stint. McLaughlin led O’Ward by 0.9s, Dixon by 2.0s, and Newgarden by 3.0s.
Lap 211 and Lundqvist coasted to a stop on the inside of Turn 1. No changes happened up front upon the lap 220 restart.
Another caution flew on lap 223 as Herta half-spun trying to pass Rossi. Armstrong was called to pit lane by the series, but he stayed out.
The lap 230 restart went straight back to caution as a crash by Ed Carpenter and Pietro Fittipaldi triggered another pause. Fittipaldi was hit from behind by Power, who bent his left-front suspension. Fittipaldi’s spinning car was collected by Carpenter, who did heavy damage to the back of his car.
Lap 235 and Power returned with suspension repairs, but ran last in P18.
The lap 239 restart saw Newgarden take P3 from Dixon; Ferrucci took P6 from Ericsson.
McLaughlin sealed his first oval win ahead of O’Ward and Newgarden for an all-Chevy podium on lap 250.