Written by Archie O’Reilly & Dan Jones
IndyCar’s 2024 Iowa Speedway doubleheader weekend did not offer the desired product in terms of overtaking action on track. But there was still drama and championship implications as Team Penske took double victory through Scott McLaughlin for the first time on an oval and Will Power for the first time at Iowa, ending a five-year wait for an oval win.
With double the points on offer compared to a regular IndyCar weekend, there was plenty of scope for success, disaster and even a mixture of the two across the pair of races. DIVEBOMB assesses the winners and losers…
Winner: Scott McLaughlin
“I was never going to call myself an IndyCar driver until I won on an oval,” the immediate words of Scott McLaughlin after taking home the chequered flag at the conclusion of Race One. It’s been a frustrating wait for McLaughlin - coming within inches of claiming that maiden win in Texas, two years ago.
McLaughlin’s win will steal the headlines, but the Kiwi performed spectacularly all weekend long. After topping practice, McLaughlin would qualify first and second, breaking the long-time Iowa lap record in the process. And after jumping Colton Herta in the pit sequence in race one, McLaughlin’s performance would be textbook, comfortably driving home to victory.
Race Two would be unfortunate for McLaughlin, Álex Palou and Will Power benefitting from the caution caused by Agustín Canapino, McLaughlin still settling for a very respectable third.
A stellar weekend throws McLaughlin right back into the championship mix - a far cry from the last place in the standings he found himself following his disqualification at St. Petersburg. He does remain 65 points off the lead, but McLaughlin has finally ticked off the all-important box in his career resume, that sees him as a serious contender for the rest of the season.
“It's correct. I felt like an open-wheel driver, but an IndyCar driver is someone that can win on all three racetracks.” Considering McLaughlin’s non-existent single-seater and oval experience when he made the switch over from Australia, it’s been a mighty rise through the ranks, especially after effectively dethroning the ‘King of Corn Country’ in Team Penske teammate, Josef Newgarden.
McLaughlin has been an outsider for the IndyCar championship for several years now, but ticking off that vital oval victory has been almost a requirement in the Kiwi’s trajectory. With Penske’s assertive dominance at both World Wide Technology Raceway, and the recent test at Milwaukee, McLaughlin has now placed himself as a serious championship contender.
Dan
Winner: IndyCar safety
Maybe the biggest winner of all from across the Iowa weekend was the safety of modern Indy cars. If it was not for the addition of the aeroscreen in 2020, the conversation after the massive last-lap four-car crash in the second race could be very different.
As Alexander Rossi suddenly and unexpectedly slowed after running out of fuel on the backstretch, the No.41 AJ Foyt Racing Chevy of the unknowing Sting Ray Robb vaulted over Rossi’s No.7 Arrow McLaren Chevy. The “so massive” closing rate led to unavoidable contact as Robb’s machine flew airborne, at one point perpendicular to the tarmac.
Robb admitted on Tuesday that his aeroscreen was severely damaged after his car landed with a 109G impact and flipped before skidding a fair distance ahead of coming to a halt. But that damage was because the system had done its job, with Robb’s helmet left unscathed where it could otherwise have been extremely nasty in years past.
That was not the only thing that the aeroscreen has to be thanked for. After both spinning in avoidance of the accident, Ed Carpenter’s No.20 Chevy ended up atop the No.27 Andretti Global Honda of Kyle Kirkwood.
The rear-left wheel was perched precariously above Kirkwood’s head. But again due to the aeroscreen, it had not breached the defence and did not contact Kirkwood’s helmet.
A word also has to be given for the robustness of the Dallara DW12 in taking the impact of the No.41 Chevy’s fall from the air, meaning he emerged with the worst wound a small blister on his finger after touching the scorching hot titanium aeroscreen. As a result, he is cleared and fit to race in Toronto.
The swift response of the AMR Safety Crew also warrants a mention. The instant Robb had slid past an entrance to the track, a vehicle had pulled out and he was being tended to the moment his car came to a halt. They are firmly among an awful lot to be thankful for.
Archie
Winner: The championship fight
Despite a second place finish on Sunday, a particularly uncharacteristic Álex Palou mistake has blown the IndyCar title fight a bit more open, with just six races to go before an IndyCar champion is crowned.
It was Palou’s first retirement in over two years, and saw his gap at the top close to 37, a gap which reduced further after Power’s victory in race two, closing the gap to 35. Whatever faced Palou last year, it was never truly in doubt that he would take the championship. This year feels very different.
Despite his podium on Sunday, Palou’s weakness still remains short ovals, with four to come in six races. Four drivers lie within 65 points of Palou in Will Power, Pato O’Ward, Scott Dixon and Scott McLaughlin. The only four drivers, other than Josef Newgarden, to win an oval race outside of the Indianapolis 500 since the turn of the decade.
With such an emphasis on oval performance, where Penske have looked imperious for years, it creates question marks over Palou’s ability to retain his crown.It places all the emphasis on the remaining road and street course races in Toronto and Portland.
It sets the season up for a thrilling climax, with five drivers from three teams all with a realistic chance of taking the title. As seen by Saturday’s race, mistakes can have huge implications, and one poor result will likely see any of the five having to do heavy catch up in the remaining races.
One of IndyCar’s key selling points is it’s unpredictability - it lacked that mouth-watering championship fight in 2023. 2024 could be a key redemption point. Palou, as he so often does, remains in the drivers seat, but with the calibre of drivers breathing down his neck, the championship battle has become more open than it once looked.
Dan
Winner: Underdog performers
In many ways, the Iowa weekend was one of the underdog. Even at the top, winner of five of the previous seven Iowa races, Josef Newgarden, was dethroned within his own team as each of his Penske teammates stood atop the rostrum as he had to settle for third and seventh.
But in terms of the wider field, there were many that impressed away from the supposed ‘top’ teams.
Ed Carpenter Racing’s Rinus VeeKay has had horrible luck recently, suffering multiple weekend-destroying mechanical issues. He was languishing 18th in the standings heading into Iowa but a first top-five finish since the opening Iowa race two years ago, backed up by ninth in the second race to double his top 10 tally for the year, has vaulted him to 15th.
Arguably the flashiest driver of the weekend was IndyCar’s season-long underdog Santino Ferrucci. The AJ Foyt Racing driver completed the most on-track passes across a weekend struggling for overtaking action, boldly running the high line and battling wheel-to-wheel until that second groove was no longer an option.
Ferrucci’s first race saw him knocked back with a drive-through penalty and subsequent stop-go penalty for failing to follow the race director’s instructions. But he recovered from a lap down to finish a frankly sublime sixth place, which was followed by a surge from 19th to 11th in the second race. Foyt now has Ferrucci and its No.14 Chevy 10th in points.
Graham Rahal’s display also warrants a mention. The Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing team had a torrid time of things on ovals in 2023 but Rahal qualified 12th and eighth, pegged back by a tyre failure in the first race but impressively finishing eighth in the second.
Chip Ganassi Racing’s Marcus Armstrong ran well to finish 10th in his first complete oval race on Saturday. Nolan Siegel’s first two IndyCar oval races also were solid for Arrow McLaren, with 12th and 14th-place finishes. Katherine Legge could have finished inside the top 10 if not for a wrong-awarded first-race penalty on her return with Dale Coyne Racing.
Archie
Loser: The Iowa product
There’s no beating around the bush, the weekend was a bit of a disaster.
Iowa has produced excellent races in recent years, and has quickly become a fan favourite, with its concerts and the double-header weekend. But a combination of factors made the races processional, and in truth, frankly boring.
The NASCAR Cup Series’ maiden visit to the venue last month saw the bottom lane repaved in order to open up multiple lanes for the heavier, slower cars. That caused an IndyCar disaster, with drivers completely unable to access the high lane, let alone overtake. An exclusive high-line practice session did minimal, and any driver who attempted to enter the high lane would find themselves spinning in practice.
Iowa had previously been notoriously bumpy, but the re-pave flattened out those bumps, and caused ridiculous speeds, even with the much heavier hybrids in the cars. It made it impossible to overtake as there was no lane openings and there were scarce overtakes outside of starts and restarts.
And for an oval package that has been so good in recent years, the heavier hybrids might cause concern, as noted by Ed Carpenter: “The ovals are going to look like this until we figure out how to get the downforce and tire package right and get some weight off of the car.”
IndyCar made changes since the test that initially raised these concerns, adding more downforce and changing the tyre compound. A race that used to be controlled by tyre degradation - often leading to four-stop strategies, ended up becoming a measly two-stopper, which was a shame, as all the overtaking was done on pit road.
It brings back memories of the notoriously slippy PJ1 at Texas Motor Speedway, which caused similarly dull races at the start of the decade. Once the PJ1 was removed and IndyCar opened up the high lane, the racing was excellent. This feels like it may unfortunately have to be a bit of a longer term project - with the highline not paved, and speeds on the low lane too fast.
With Iowa remaining a double header next year, changes must be made.
Dan
Loser: Josef Newgarden
There was a lot of talk about whether the drastic changes to the Iowa track could alter the pecking order through the field. On paper, Penske extending to seven wins in nine Iowa races suggests there was no reset as expected.
But with Newgarden having won all of the five races in that Penske-dominated run ahead of the 2024 Iowa doubleheader, the fact that his two teammates were the Penske victors does hint at a jumbling of the competitive order. McLaughlin notched his maiden oval win on Saturday and Power his first since Pocono in 2019 and first at Iowa on Sunday.
While McLaughlin started on the front row for both races, Newgarden had to settle for starting 22nd and 14th. A record six-time Iowa winner, Newgarden did show his mastery to scythe his way to third and seventh through a “calculated risk” approach in the races. But this was still a marked downturn.
“I knew in practice I had a really good race car,” Newgarden said. “It’s what do we do for qualifying? The other unfortunate thing… I’m the first [Penske] guy out. Circumstantially the way this year has flowed, that is another timing issue. It is like a cascading thing. It just keeps adding onto the pain.
“We don’t get anybody to look at. If I’m going second, two teammates to look at... if we’re guessing on the No.2 car, at least we have something to guess with. We were the guy helping the other guys guess. It’s the way it goes. It’s our own problem to deal with that we’re sitting that far back in points.”
Circumstantial or not, the changes to Iowa did take away a large part of Newgarden’s advantage, even if he still delivered where he could in both races. While his recovery drives were impressive, he did not have the same opportunity to make his usual omnipotent impression courtesy to the changes to the track that has become his home away from home.
He sits ninth in the championship standings, 132 points behind Alex Palou’s leading tally and with the race where he usually makes the greatest gains now in the past. He leaves Iowa only 11 points closer to the championship lead, which will take a herculean effort to overturn with only six races remaining.
Archie
Loser: The No.18 entry
It has been a messy year for Dale Coyne Racing. Jack Harvey has been the only form of stability driver-wise for the majority of the season, and even that stable ship is becoming rocky.
Harvey valiantly drove through neck and back spasms throughout Mid-Ohio, which suddenly arose mid-weekend, but Harvey was continuing to fight those same gremlins coming into Iowa. The Brit was visibly struggling after his first qualifying run, clambering out the car with the assistance of his team in a particularly gingerly fashion - only made worse by IndyCar recommending Harvey to re-do his qualifying run two times further due to a hybrid issue.
“I’m a very lucky person to get to do this for a job, but it’s agony in the car. I can’t really describe it at this point. I probably did more laps than I thought we might, and I’m a competitive person, as is everyone who does this, but it splits your spirit to the core when you can’t do it,”
It was a wise decision from Harvey and the IndyCar medical team to park it after 28 laps when the Brit was in such excruciating pain, but drove enough to get the necessary owners points.
Conor Daly was meant to step in for Harvey in Race One, but was denied by IndyCar as they required Daly to have a practice session prior to running - they couldn’t authorise this until the morning of race two. Daly’s day would end early too after a mechanical failure on Lap 140.
The series has been relentlessly praised for its safety, but it doesn’t feel right that Harvey was almost forced his hand in racing in conditions he was obviously not fit for. Let’s say a similar accident to the one that ended race two occurred with Harvey, it’s hard to imagine Harvey getting out in a hurry under the pain he was in.
IndyCar has the power to override the rulebook, and this feels like an occasion where that would be necessary. Daly is an oval expert, and has driven thousands of laps around Iowa, and what’s a 10 minute session going to realistically do?
It’s since been announced that Hunter McElrea will step in for Harvey at Toronto, as he gets a much-needed recovery week - but the weekly nightmare that seems to happen at Dale Coyne Racing continues.
Dan
Loser: Doubleheader incidents
Drivers and teams can emerge from doubleheader weekends as heroes. But for others, doubleheaders can be filled with toil and the pain of a bad weekend is double as much. For one, Alex Palou said he has “never supported” the concept of doubleheaders and the associated strain placed on all involved.
Teams are stretched regardless, with only a single practice session before having to turn the cars over to qualifying trim, then immediately into race trim before preparing to race again a mere 14 hours after the chequered flag in the first.
Marcus Ericsson’s No.28 Andretti Global crew had the tough task of having little practice time before their driver crashed in Turn 4, meaning his next appearance on track was for his two qualifying laps. But things only got tougher for a number of teams that suffered the dreaded fate of crashing out of the first race.
The Juncos Hollinger Racing pair of Agustin Canapino and Romain Grosjean both collected the spinning No.66 Meyer Shank Racing Honda of David Malukas on the first lap of the opening race. Teams often combine crews for such repair jobs so it was a real stretch for Juncos to repair both cars - which they laudably did - in time for the second race.
Even a minor crash for Palou left his team thrashing overnight, which puts into perspective the job that must have been undergone to build up a back-up car for Canapino. By the time work had finished for even teams without crashes, the early hours of the morning had been reached and crews had to return to the track not long after daybreak.
Ed Carpenter’s No.20 crew had the toughest task of all, with their car destroyed in each race; neither accident was the fault of Carpenter, who also had a tough weekend speed-wise. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Pietro Fittipaldi was involved in the late Race One crash with Carpenter.
Thoughts also have to go out to the likely sleep-deprived AJ Foyt Racing, Arrow McLaren and Andretti crews with major repair jobs ahead of Toronto - only five days after the Iowa chequered flag. Four cars, including Carpenter’s, were essentially “totalled” in the dramatic last-lap crash also involving Sting Ray Robb, Alexander Rossi and Kyle Kirkwood.
Archie
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