Three weeks removed from an exciting but controversial race at Auto Club Speedway that brought pack-style racing back to open-wheel competition for the first time since 2011, several drivers fear that the aerodynamic setup the series has mandated for Iowa will produce the same kind of too-close-for-comfort action.
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“Iowa is such a little bullring, it’s so fast”.
He was in contention for a win at Fontana three weeks ago until he was involved in a big wreck.
All of those drivers will also be powered by Chevrolet engines and aero kits, which have proven to have quite the advantage over their Honda counterparts this season.
Chip Ganassi Racing is always competitive at Iowa. The qualifying session will be held just a few hours before today’s race, and the physical toll of running on such a high-banked oval – with temperatures expected to be in the 90s for most of the weekend – should make for one of the season’s most challenging weekends. That may not be the case for Saturday night’s 300-lapper, and the idea of ultratight racing in such tight quarters has some drivers nervous. I was hoping it would come to us, and it did. The G-loadings that you’re getting and how quick they get the cars to perform (under 18-second laps) around the track is spectacular. Juan Pablo Montoya and Scott Dixon fill out the second row, followed by Simon Pagenaud and Will Power.
Bourdais earned his first oval win in nine seasons last week at the Milwaukee Mile, even though IndyCar officials ruled he was “too light” in post race inspection he will get to keep the “W”. “This was one we really had to work for”.
Iowa Speedway is the second short oval of the 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series season, following last week’s race at the historic Milwaukee Mile. He qualified 19th and crashed out with 20 laps remaining in an incident that left him fuming at Ed Carpenter.
Colombian ace Juan Montoya’s stake on the IndyCar Series has received a shake after he suffered an early exit from the Iowa Corn 300.
Castroneves, who is tied with Graham Rahal for third in the standings, 69 points behind Montoya, is another former Iowa pole victor seeking his first win at the venue. But Hunter-Reay said it’s tough to be “overly optimistic” about Saturday night’s race because of the recent struggles. “You have to really stay alert because you are in traffic a lot”.
Andretti would appear to have the edge based on its overwhelming success in Iowa.
The Andretti Autosport driver became the ninth different victor in 13 races this campaign as the unpredictable season continued. I was driving the snot out of it. It was loose, and I just kept my foot to the floor, ” Hunter-Reay said.
Kanaan, who is now Dixon’s teammate with the Ganassi team, is another perennial Iowa front-runner.
“Something broke. As soon as I let it up, something gave out, ” Montoya said. “So when we show up for a race weekend we have to turn everything upside down, basically”, Hunter-Reay said.
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Which will it be?
