Tag: Iowa Speedway

Herta, O’Ward encouraged after Iowa IndyCar test

The NTT IndyCar Series asked Andretti Global and Arrow McLaren to provide insights on aerodynamic changes, engine power output, and a range of different tires from Firestone on Tuesday at Iowa Speedway. According to Andretti’s Colton Herta and …

The NTT IndyCar Series asked Andretti Global and Arrow McLaren to provide insights on aerodynamic changes, engine power output, and a range of different tires from Firestone on Tuesday at Iowa Speedway.

According to Andretti’s Colton Herta and McLaren’s Pato O’Ward, good gains and solid directions were found that could restore the quality of racing that was lost last season during the Hy-Vee IndyCar Doubleheader Weekend.

The track underwent a repaving between the 2023 and 2024 IndyCar events, and teams found the new high-grip track surface, the heavier hybrid-powered cars, and the harder tires Firestone designed to deal with the extra weight to be at odds with the 0.875-mile oval.

The tough rubber and the related lack of degradation made for two processional races across July 13-14, and in Tuesday’s quest for solutions, Herta turned 199 laps in the No. 26 Honda with a best lap of 17.972s (179.079mph) and O’Ward generated a nearly identical lap of 18.030s (178.50smph) in the No. 5 Chevy across his 227 laps while sampling higher downforce and softer tires that began to degrade and lose grip on longer runs.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1408]

The only issue on Tuesday was the temperature, which hovered around 50F, which was not only far cooler than the most recent race, but also meant denser air piled more downforce onto the two cars than anticipated. Testing in like-for-like conditions would have given all parties a more accurate look at how the aero changes and different tires fared in hotter weather, but Herta was encouraged by the findings.

“We came with a little bit of a different downforce package, similar to what we ran at Nashville, which I think is positive because it’s a little bit more inefficient when you’re running in a group, but it’s way more inefficient for passing as it punches a huge hole in the air, and it’s just overall slower in a straight line. So that’s a positive,” Herta, who won the Nashville race, told RACER.

“We didn’t even really test many other things outside of that, just because we were happy with what it was. But we’re taking everything with a grain of salt, right? The high was 50 degrees out there, so we’re running outside the normal window so it’s hard to create as much tire deg. But with the thick air, I can say we probably did the first laps ever in this era’s DW12 that were flat around Iowa.”

O’Ward, who finished the test and headed for this weekend’s Formula 1 race at Circuit of The Americas, came away with positive takes — some that differed from Herta – on most of what was tried.

“I think we learned a lot more than we thought we would,” he said. “And I think we got a direction of what aero package and boost level we should have along with tires. We tried extremes. We tried a tire that didn’t degrade at all, which was what this year was like, which obviously made the racing horrible. But then we also went to the other extent and used a tire that degged very aggressively, even with the low temps.

“I don’t think that was bad at all. I actually think it was very reminiscent of what Iowa was like three years ago. You started a stint, feel you’ve got all the grip in the world, and then by lap 10 and 15, you’re already a second slower. And then by lap 40 and 50, you’re three seconds off the pace, and the better cars could go up to the second lane and pass the ones that were having to string out their tires to last.

“Then you started seeing cars that were able to do it, and then you started seeing cars that weren’t able to do it, and that it was that’s what truly made the race so crazy and enjoyable with all the strategies that were going around. Because then you would have cars on completely different lives of tire, and that’s what made the race. That is what we need, really. I think when we go back to race, it’ll be better than this year. It was a good test. I think it was very useful, for sure.”

Power makes lucky and good a winning combination

While it might hardly rank as an upset for Team Penske to sweep IndyCar’s Iowa Speedway doubleheader, having Will Power as the front man for Sunday’s second half might looked a tall order from the Australian’s 22nd-place starting spot, the result of …

While it might hardly rank as an upset for Team Penske to sweep IndyCar’s Iowa Speedway doubleheader, having Will Power as the front man for Sunday’s second half might looked a tall order from the Australian’s 22nd-place starting spot, the result of a brush with the wall on his second qualifying lap. Given the challenges most drivers experienced with passing on the 0.875-mile oval this weekend, even a car with winning potential wasn’t going to be enough to overcome that. But Power figured out how to make the most of whatever breaks fate offered up, and made the most of them when they appeared,

“Yeah, I had a very good car. My plan from the beginning was to sit back and save a lot of fuel, just get the best possible number using the speed, lifting,” explained Power. “In that gap, prayed for a yellow because I knew there would be out-laps. That would be when people would be prone to mistakes. That’s exactly what happened.

“Even if it didn’t, we were just going to jump people by staying out. They come in, you’re just faster. Jump a few people to a sequence, as well. Either way we were going to go forward. But that was the big one, getting that yellow.”

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1408]

That yellow, following a spin from Augustin Canapino, enabled Power to pit from the lead and still emerge in second place behind Alex Palou — a massive gain in track position for the Verizon Chevy but still not quite enough. Power wasn’t done, though.

“I felt like we had a better car than Alex. Set back, saved fuel again,” the Penske driver related. “Went long. Jumped him over in that sequence. Good in-, out-laps. Amazing stops as usual by my guys. They’re the best in pit lane. Don’t have to take my word for it — just look at the times every time. I’m lucky with that.”

Lucky, but also taking full advantage. Power held off Palou over the final phase of the race to claim his 43rd career win, lifting him out of a tie with Michael Andretti for fourth on the all-time list.

“Fast in-lap, fast out-lap, fast pit stop. Good strategy, good car. That’s how you get to win in this series — and every now and then catch a Scott Dixon yellow,” Power said with a grin. “I need another 15 of them to catch up over the years. Colton Herta said to me, ‘Dude, if you didn’t get caught out by yellows early in your career, you would have another 15 wins or something.’ I’ll take them every time and not feel bad. I’ll be like, ‘Yep, I deserve that!'”

The win was all the sweeter for coming at an oval — his first on one since 2019 — and particularly at a track he’d never won on.

“It’s funny because I was trying to win this for so long. Even last year I finished second. I think I finished second a few times before the repave,” Power mused. “I didn’t really think I’d win today.

“You know how life goes, it just happens like that. Yeah, been trying to win this one for a long time. Stoked to tick that box. I’ve won a lot of races at a lot of tracks. When you tick a box at a track you haven’t won on, it feels pretty good.”

 

Tactical run takes Power from 22nd to victory in Iowa Race 2

Passing came at a premium during the second Hy-Vee doubleheader at Iowa Speedway, and thanks to a masterful strategy that saw Will Power saving fuel in the No. 12 Team Penske Chevy to shorten his final pit stop, Power overtook Alex Palou exiting the …

Passing came at a premium during the second Hy-Vee doubleheader at Iowa Speedway, and thanks to a masterful strategy that saw Will Power saving fuel in the No. 12 Team Penske Chevy to shorten his final pit stop, Power overtook Alex Palou exiting the pits and led the Chip Ganassi Racing driver and teammate Scott McLaughlin to the finish line.

Other than A.J. Foyt Racing’s Santino Ferrucci passing everything in sight in the middle of the 250-lap contest, it was a processional race where fuel strategy and pit stops made the difference, and when it mattered Team Penske got the job done and swept both races.

 

“Massive fuel save, honestly,” Power said of his secret to victory. “Just sitting in the pack and had a really good car, really fast car, so just sat back and use that pace to save fuel to get a massive number. I knew once all those guys pulled in, I could go hard. Then we caught a yellow, because that was the thing we were hoping for — to get one of those yellows — [to] put us to the front. I’ve been trying to win this race for years, so over the moon. The guys did a great job.”

Team Chevy also dominated the event with all three podium spots on Saturday and two of the three on Sunday.

Palou looked primed to get his first oval win, but settled for second.

“It was a good weekend,” he said. “Yesterday, it was a terrible day for us. Just made too many mistakes, but rebounded today, almost got the win, and it was really tough to pass. I think nobody could pass. It was a very boring race to drive. They got us in the pits because they had a little more fuel, same as what we did to [McLaughlin]. Solid P2 moving forward to Toronto next week.”

McLaughlin made major headway in the championship in Iowa jumping to fifth in the standings and slashing his deficit to Palou almost in half.

“We could have easily got two wins, but we got two podiums, and that’s a great day,” he said. “I come into some tracks now — Toronto, Gateway, Portland — that I’ve won before. I feel really strong. It’s the end of the season, so yeah, it’s anyone’s game.”

The only significant drama from the race occurred on the final lap — after Power and his pursuers took the checkered flag — as Sting Ray Robb crashed into the slowing Alexander Rossi which sent Robb airborne and upside down and Rossi, Kyle Kirkwood and Ed Carpenter into each other, with Carpenter vaulting over Rossi onto the top of Kirkwood’s cockpit. All barring Robb were seen and released by IndyCar Medical. Robb, who was announced by the series as awake, alert, and in good condition, was dispatched to a local hospital for further evaluation.

The fourth race in three straight weekends is up next in Toronto before IndyCar heads into a long Olympic break.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1408]

The closer at Iowa had polesitter Scott McLaughlin lead the opening laps ahead of Alex Palou and Scott Dixon. Josef Newgarden moved up to P10 from P14 and Conor Daly, starting P27, was up to P24 by lap 5.

Lap 25 and the race was following Saturday’s 250-lap run where passes at the start and restarts were where moves were made, and a few laps later, the field was largely locked into position until pit stops or a caution occurred. McLaughlin led Palou by 0.7s and Dixon by 1.4s.

Santino Ferrucci, who started P19, was holding P15 by lap 30 and was searching for a way past Linus Lundqvist in P14.

On lap 42, McLaughlin’s lead over Herta was the same 0.7s and 1.3s on Dixon. Twenty four laps later, the Penske driver’s lead over Herta was the same 0.7s and 1.2s. Newgarden was stuck in P10 and Ferrucci was stuck in P15. Nothing was happening.

Conor Daly pitted on lap 88. His right-front tire changer didn’t get the wheel tight, had to retrieve the wheel gun to hit it again, and lost many laps.

Lap 92 and McLaughlin’s lead over Herta was still 0.7s and 1.3s on Dixon.

The first round of pit stops proper began at lap 95. McLaughlin came in the next lap from the lead. Herta follows.

Palou was lapping in the lead at lap 100 and pitted just as Agustin Canapino spun in Turn 2 exiting the pits. The first yellow flew on lap 101 as Palou completed his stop and left the pits. Championship contender Will Power had yet to pit when the pits closed and took the lead on fumes.

Lap 105 and Palou was second; McLaughlin, third; Dixon, fourth and Herta, fifth.

Power resumed in second after pitting on lap 108, with the field ready to get back to racing. The series first needed to move some cars around before the restart. Newgarden sat P10 and Ferrucci, P16. Green flew again at lap 114.

Lap 118 and Daly overtakes teammate Katherine Legge for P24. Lap 119 and Ferrucci was up to P13; Newgarden was still P10. Ferrucci took P12 from Felix Rosenqvist on lap 121, then P11 from Newgarden two laps later. In another two laps, he takes P10 from Romain Grosjean.

By lap 150 the no-passing phase has been in effect for a while. Palou led Power by 0.25s and McLaughlin by 1.2s. Daly retires.

Lap 166 and Palou leads Power by 0.4s and McLaughlin by 1.1s. Lap 177 and Palou leads Power by 0.4s and McLaughlin by 1.1s. Lap 187 and Palou leads Power by 0.4s and McLaughlin by 1.1s. You see the pattern… Rosenqvist pits with some form of right-rear suspension issue.

McLaughlin and Ferrucci pit on lap 198 as more start to head in.

Herta pits on lap 203. Dixon came in one lap later. On lap 205, Palou ducked in while Power stayed out. He brought the No. 2 in a lap later.

 

Thanks to “Penske Perfect” pit work, Power came out the lead in front of Palou on lap 208.

No-passing came back over the next 10 laps. Power led Palou by 0.4s and McLaughlin by 2.6s. Newgarden was up to P8. Ferrucci was back to P14.

Lap 232 and Power led Palou by 0.4s and McLaughlin by 2.5s. Without a caution, this is how it was expected to finish.

Power crossed the line ahead of Palou and McLaughlin on lap 250 as a huge crash occurred coming out of Turn 2, with Ed Carpenter’s car sitting on top of Kyle Kirkwood’s cockpit. Alexander Rossi was also involved, and even worse, Sting Ray Robb slid past upside down.

Rossi looked slow coming out of Turn 2, and while Robb attempted to take avoiding action, he drove over Rossi’s left-rear tire and shot into the air before crashing down and barrel rolling.

The AMR Safety Team got to Robb’s car quickly in Turn 3 and turned it over. All drivers appeared to be OK, but Robb was placed on a stretcher—he was moving his limbs and smiling while talking to the EMTs—and taken for observation.

RESULTS

Big crash at close of second Iowa race after Robb clips Rossi

While Will Power was driving under the checkered flag after 250 laps of NTT IndyCar Series racing on Sunday at Iowa Speedway, behind him in Turn 2, all hell was breaking loose as four trailing drivers racing to the finish line crashed and two took …

While Will Power was driving under the checkered flag after 250 laps of NTT IndyCar Series racing on Sunday at Iowa Speedway, behind him in Turn 2, all hell was breaking loose as four trailing drivers racing to the finish line crashed and two took flight.

The incident started with A.J. Foyt Racing’s Sting Ray Robb, who came upon an off-the-pace Alexander Rossi from Arrow McLaren exiting Turn 2, and attempted to steer left in avoidance, but didn’t clear him, rode over Rossi’s left-rear tire, and was fired skyward and tipped into a series of barrel rolls as he crashed down — upside down — and slid to a stop in Turn 3.

Behind him, the crashing Rossi was followed by the crashing Kyle Kirkwood from Andretti Global and Ed Carpenter from his own team, who rode over Rossi and landed atop Kirkwood’s aeroscreen.

Rossi, Kirkwood and Carpenter were seen and released by IndyCar Medical. The series announced Robb was, “Awake, alert, and in good condition,” and would be transported to a local hospital for further evaluation.

“He’s pretty much like a parachute when you’re sitting perpendicular to the road,” Kirkwood said of Robb’s car. “When I lifted out of the throttle in the corner, I suddenly spun myself.”

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1408]

For Carpenter — who was taken out in Saturday’s racer when Sunday’s winner Will Power hit and spun Pietro Fittipaldi, who in turn hit Carpenter — it was a double dose of misfortune that felt highly unnecessary.

“I’m fine. Just angry,” he said. “I knew Alex was off pace up ahead. My spotter told me a few laps before. It looks like Sting Ray misjudged the closing rate somehow, even though it was clear Alex was slow. And then I spun trying to get down. Just a shame. Two days in a row. Two accidents that I was just a victim of. I just hate it for the team. Brutal.”

Four overnight hybrid changes ahead of Iowa Race 2

The launch of the NTT IndyCar Series hybrid era has brought a range of new items to the championship, including a procedure that was put to use for the first time after Saturday night’s crash-filled 250-lap contest at Iowa Speedway. With the …

The launch of the NTT IndyCar Series hybrid era has brought a range of new items to the championship, including a procedure that was put to use for the first time after Saturday night’s crash-filled 250-lap contest at Iowa Speedway.

With the addition of the new Chevy- and Honda-built energy recovery systems inside the bellhousings that bridge the internal combustion engines and transmissions, the series has set an impact threshold for the ERS units, and with numerous crashes throughout the Hy-Vee Homefront 250, the 50G limit was exceeded by multiple cars in their clashes with walls, or each other.

Rule 15.2.5.3, which governs approved ERS changeouts, calls for the spec bellhousing supplied by Ilmor Engineering to be removed if a crash exceeds 50Gs, and while there’s no mandatory change required, a physical inspection of the ERS must be performed by Ilmor and a determination is then made as to whether the bellhousing can return to duty or if it needs to be replaced.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1408]

The Chip Ganassi Racing team split Alex Palou’s crashed No. 10 Honda after the race for his ERS to be evaluated, and it was given the green light to go back for today’s 250-lapper. The same was true for Pietro Fittipaldi’s crashed No. 30 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda, whose ERS was, in IndyCar Medical parlance, “checked and released” and approved for competition.

The crashed No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevy wasn’t as fortunate, and was given a replacement bellhousing and fresh ERS unit for today’s event. RLL’s Christian Lundgaard also received a new ERS package after his system overheated after his first-lap spin and stall, which led to heat soak and the need for cooling before the Dane could return to the race more than 20 laps later. And Juncos Hollinger Racing Agustin Canapino, who’s No. 78 Chevy was wrecked in the crash caused by David Malukas, has a new hybrid for the race.

The last ERS change, according to the series, is with Chip Ganassi Racing’s Linus Lundqvist, whose No. 8 Honda ground to a halt late in the race. RACER understands the Swede’s ERS unit stopped working, and with its motor generator unit connected to the same input shaft that sends power from the turbo V6 motors to the transmission, a failure of any sorts with the ERS tends to come with a need to stop the car.

IndyCar’s curfew for the garages on Saturday night was 11pm, giving teams little more than 90 minutes to affect repairs. Many of the teams, including those who needed to pull and possibly replace bellhousings, tell RACER they were there past 3am ET, and returned hours later to prepare for the 12:30pm green flag.

Daly to sub for Harvey in Iowa Race 2

The back and neck pain that plagued Jack Harvey during last weekend’s NTT IndyCar Series race at Mid-Ohio – which carried over to new levels of pain being suffered in the cockpit of the No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda on Friday and Saturday at Iowa …

The back and neck pain that plagued Jack Harvey during last weekend’s NTT IndyCar Series race at Mid-Ohio — which carried over to new levels of pain being suffered in the cockpit of the No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda on Friday and Saturday at Iowa Speedway — has led the tough-as-nails Briton to step aside and let former Coyne driver Conor Daly complete the Hy-Vee doubleheader.

Daly, who agreed to be Harvey’s standby if such a need arose, was already in Iowa and donned Harvey’s race suit to start the cockpit fitment process at approximately 6pm ET, two hours prior to the start of the 250-lap contest Saturday night. Whatever plans the team had for Daly in Race 1 would be torpedoed by IndyCar’s Rule 4.3.3.1, which says a replacement drivers cannot go straight into a race without turning laps in the car prior to the race.

Harvey took the start, completed 28 laps, and retired in 25th place.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1408]

With no time to hold a special session for Daly prior to Race 1 due to the concert being held on the front straight, the series scheduled a 15-minute run for the IndyCar veteran between 10:05-10:20am ET, just over two hours prior to the 12:30pm start for the 250-lap finale.

Due to the driver change for Race 2, Harvey’s starting position of 18th was forfeited and Daly, who last raced at the Indianapolis 500, will start last.

RACE 2 STARTING LINEUP

Foyt team revels in best showing of 2024

A few hours before the start of Saturday night’s Hy-Vee Homefront 250, A.J. Foyt Racing PR veteran Anne Fornoro brought her team some new tribute stickers made in honor of the recently departed racing legend Parnelli Jones, who died in June at the …

A few hours before the start of Saturday night’s Hy-Vee Homefront 250, A.J. Foyt Racing PR veteran Anne Fornoro brought her team some new tribute stickers made in honor of the recently departed racing legend Parnelli Jones, who died in June at the age of 90.

Pit crews for the team’s No. 14 Chevy driven by Santino Ferrucci and the No. 41 Chevy piloted by Stint Ray Robb applied the stickers to both cars, just below the car numbers on the roll hoop (below), and when Ferrucci returned 250 laps later, he’d earned the team’s best finish of the season after starting eighth, being penalized to restarting out of line, serving a penalty and losing a lap, and charging back to sixth at the checkered flag.

Teammate Robb also registered his best finish of 2024 after starting 24th and finishing 15th. It was a banner day for both Foyt cars, racing with the 1963 Indianapolis 500 winner along for the ride, where Ferrucci once again showed his oval prowess, and Robb demonstrated his capabilities while others faltered or crashed, brought a lot of smiles and pride on pit lane.

“I don’t think anyone’s got my racecraft on these short ovals,” Ferrucci told RACER. “The closest and best driver out here is probably Josef Newgarden. He also moved from the back to the front, but I think it’s us just for race pure racecraft to go back to front and yeah, we did it with Parnelli Jones on board. I wondered who the hell is driving the car! Makes a lot more sense now.

“But I think between the two of us, on short oval racecraft, we’re unmatched. I think we just proved that again tonight.”

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1408]

It took a stern radio message from team president and race strategist Larry Foyt to get Ferrucci’s head back in the game after he was ordered to perform a stop-and-go on lap 43 for the restart violation, followed by a second penalty for failing to follow IndyCar’s directions.

Plummeting from fifth to 22nd, Ferrucci had to dig deep, get back on the lead lap, and salvage a decent result for the No. 14 Chevy. From there, he put on a show, passing cars high and low, and got to sixth in the end.

“I think we threw away a podium tonight early on, then it kind of just got worse, and Larry just came on the radio and basically said, ‘Grow up and get on with it.’”

Ferrucci’s seventh top 10 result from 11 events moved him from 13th in the drivers’ championship to being tied for 11th with Andretti Global’s Marcus Ericsson, and entering Sunday’s Race 2 at Iowa, the Connecticut native is just seven points away from breaking into the top 10.

Iowa Race 1 shuffles championship order behind Palou

Alex Palou’s worst finish in more than two years could have done major damage to his quest to win a third NTT IndyCar Series championship. A sequence of errors by the Spaniard turned what could have been a great day after qualifying and running …

Alex Palou’s worst finish in more than two years could have done major damage to his quest to win a third NTT IndyCar Series championship. A sequence of errors by the Spaniard turned what could have been a great day after qualifying and running third, but stalling his No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda at the first round of pit stops sent him towards the back of the field. Late in the race, he spun on his own and crashed, which is a rarity for the reigning champion, but it did leave him 23rd at the finish.

The last time things went this bad, it was June of 2022 at Road America — 38 races ago — where he placed 27th after clashing with former teammate Marcus Ericsson, and in a normal race, his lowly finishing position would have been harmful in the drivers’ standings. But thanks to the poor result from Team Penske’s Will Power, who held second entering Iowa with a deficit of 48 points, and left the first race in third after falling to 18th at the checkered flag, Palou’s lead didn’t take much of a hit.

It’s been cut to 36 points by the new second-place driver Pato O’Ward from Arrow McLaren, who won last weekend in Mid-Ohio and was runner-up Saturday night in Iowa. Power’s back to third, but closer to Palou at 43 points down.

“It’s done,” Palou told RACER of putting the bad day to rest. “We lost nine points to P2. The P2 guy (Power) moved and everybody stretched out. It’s only nine points smaller, but it was a terrible day for us. That doesn’t mean that I’m happy and only looking at points, but looking at the positive, the results that we had from the last couple of races gave us the opportunity to do a really terrible day.

“If I had to wait three weeks for the next race, I would have probably tortured myself a little bit more. But I have a race tomorrow, and I’m starting with a great car. So it’s done. I did two terrible mistakes, and it’s best to move on and not make those mistakes again.”

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1408]

And where the hybrid racing goods took from Scott Dixon at Mid-Ohio, who fell from third in the standings to fifth and 71 points shy of Palou when his energy recovery system malfunctioned and left him 27th and last, they gave back in Race 1 where Dixon finished fourth, improved to fourth in the championship, and cut the gap to his teammate Palou to 46 points.

The other major shift in the run for the title was with Race 1 victor Scott McLaughlin, who arrived in Iowa a distant eighth in the standings and 105 points shy of Palou.

His dominant win, which added three bonus points on top of the 50 he earned for the win, vaulted McLaughlin to fifth in the standings. He also slashed the margin to the championship leader to 58 points, and with his form and the pole for Race 2, more headway could be made if another podium result is produced.

Herta, McLaughlin split Iowa poles with new track record

The NTT IndyCar Series’ unique oval doubleheader qualifying procedure where a driver’s first lap sets their position for race one and the second lap secures their place for race two saw Colton Herta earn his first oval pole and Scott McLaughlin …

The NTT IndyCar Series’ unique oval doubleheader qualifying procedure where a driver’s first lap sets their position for race one and the second lap secures their place for race two saw Colton Herta earn his first oval pole and Scott McLaughlin record a new track record.

Herta will start first for race one and fourth for race two in the No. 26 Andretti Global Honda (187.655mph/186.980mph) after being one of a few drivers to experience issues with their energy recovery system.

“It’s awesome,” Herta said. “Got the monkey off my back. A little bit of a bizarre one.”

Herta, along with Arrow McLaren’s Alexander Rossi, and Dale Coyne Racing’s Jack Harvey, dealt with an absence of the 60hp punch from the ERS to assist their laps speeds. In the case of Herta and Harvey, the series gave them opportunities to requalify, which both teams accepted. In Herta’s case, he returned to the car, strapped in, and was pushed to the head of pit lane while asking the Andretti team, “We seem pretty good here. Are we smart to do it?”

His question was answered moments later when the car was pulled from the line and his P1 and P4 starting positions were preserved.

McLaughlin was second behind Herta for race one in the No. 3 Team Penske Chevy and has pole for race two (187.526mph/188.248mph).

“Can’t be unhappy with two front rows,” he said before addressing whether his second lap, which was a rare and faster speed than the first, was a byproduct of luck or working on his handling tools.

“I think a little bit of both. I think the car has been really strong since we started testing here, even on the other compound, doing it actually later in the run, that’s been how it has been in the race as well. So hopefully that bodes well for us.”

After Herta and McLaughlin in qualifying for race one, which takes place Saturday night, it was championship leader Alex Palou from Chip Ganassi Racing, Penske’s Will Power, Ganassi’s Scott Dixon, and Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward completing the top six.

In race two, McLaughlin has Palou, Dixon, Herta, Meyer Shank Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist, and Arrow McLaren’s Alexander Rossi as the five behind him (full positions and speeds in the results PDFs below).

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1408]

Marcus Ericsson, who destroyed most of the rear of his No. 28 Andretti Global Honda in practice on Friday, got his first laps in the repaired car during qualifying and put in a stellar performance on his first lap and then fought oversteer on the second (race two P10/race two P22).

The greatest surprise in qualifying was an off-form Josef Newgarden, whose No. 2 Chevy lacked pace for the Iowa master (P22/P14).

Wiggles were visible in some of the qualifying attempts, and the first to make contact was Marcus Armstrong, who clipped the wall exiting Turn 2 with the right-rear wheel. His lap one speed was enough, at that time, to lead qualifying for race one, but the contact on lap two left him 12th at the halfway point in the session. He’d hold onto earn a career-best P9 for race one.

Will Power also glanced off of the Turn 2 exit wall with his right-front tire on his second lap, but the hit was much lighter than Armstrong’s.

Jack Harvey was the first driver out to qualify and fought through technical problems and immense pain during the run. IndyCar took a moment after his outing in the No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda to reset its track-wide network after realizing Harvey’s energy recovery system was not triggered to function when he left pit line and drove over the pit-exit timing loop.

With a non-functioning ERS limiting his overall speed and leaving him last on the developing grid, the series raised its hand for being the cause of the issue and gave him a second chance to qualify, which offered an improvement. A second instance of ERS issues on the make-up run led to IndyCar giving Harvey, who was wracked with pain, to give it a third try where he’d out-qualify Newgarden, Ed Carpenter, and other oval stars (P19/P18). The Coyne team has former driver Conor Daly on standby if Harvey’s unable to compete due to the ongoing back and neck pain he endured in Mid-Ohio.

UP NEXT: Race one, 8 p.m. ET, NBC

RACE 1 LINEUP

RACE 2 LINEUP

Intense day of heat and work ahead for IndyCar teams in Iowa

Tonight’s 250-lap NTT IndyCar Series race on the rapid Iowa Speedway oval will be an intense one set in high heat for the 27 drivers. The dozen-plus crew members on each of those cars will face a different kind of intensity as a long day of action, …

Tonight’s 250-lap NTT IndyCar Series race on the rapid Iowa Speedway oval will be an intense one set in high heat for the 27 drivers. The dozen-plus crew members on each of those cars will face a different kind of intensity as a long day of action, starting with qualifying at 3:45pm ET, post-qualifying setup changes and an 8pm race that will run for at least 90 minutes, is only part of what they have to deal with in temperatures that will climb over 90 degrees.

With an anticipated checkered flag somewhere around 9:30pm, the teams who are fortunate to get through the 250 laps without contact on the tight 0.875-mile circuit will have until 11pm to start preparing their machines for Sunday morning’s Race 2 — another 250 laps — with a green flag at 12:30pm ET. For those who have broken cars to fix, the 11pm garage curfew will be lifted, but there’s no escaping the fact how hundreds of crew members will be worn out by the heat, and worn out by the long day-to-night-to-day construct for the Hy-Vee doubleheader once it’s over Sunday afternoon.

“The first part of this is we have some planned parts we’re changing,” Chip Ganassi Racing’s reigning championship-winning team manager Barry Wanser told RACER. “Ideally, we come out of the race unscathed, as far as no crashed cars. If there’s any crashes, we’ll move people from the other cars into that car to help replace whatever parts need to be replaced. But the rest of the cars, we have some pre-planned changes, a lot of right-side suspension parts with the loading here in Iowa being so high.

“So rather than worry about something failing, it’s just better to change out some parts with fresh stuff for tomorrow race. So we have the normal prep work we do and those parts changes, and the goal is to try to get out of here tonight as soon as possible, get some sleep, because we’re back at 6am tomorrow.”

IndyCar has tried to help manage the workload by closing the garages until 11:30am today, and once they’re filled with crews, teams will look to limit their personnels’ exposure to the heat by bringing them into the air-conditioned transporters once they’re done with car- or track-based duties.

“All the crews have to go through it,” Wanser said, noting Sunday’s high is expected to reach 94F. “Going into today, the cars are pretty much ready to go after we prepped them after practice on Friday. We’ll make whatever overnight changes the engineers thought about to what they need for qualifying. And then, this is kind of unique. Most doubleheaders have a qualifying impound between qualifying and Race 1, but we don’t have impound this year, so we’re going to be able to specifically run a qualifying setup that we worked on yesterday, and then we’re going to be able to change that after qualifying for more of a race setup.

“Then we race and they kick us out at 11, so we’ll get as much work completed that we can tonight. And it’s also just keeping everybody hydrated, keeping everybody fed, and hopefully ending the night with good races and clean race for all five cars of ours. If we can get out of here at 11 and don’t have to stay later to repair things, that’ll be huge. Then it’s back to the hotels that are nearby, get as much sleep as possible and come back at 6, get lined up, and do it again.”