Team Penske again was the big winner in the Hy-Vee INDYCAR Race Weekend at Iowa Speedway.
The victories by Scott McLaughlin in the Hy-Vee Homefront 250 presented by Instacart and Will Power in the Hy-Vee One Step 250 presented by Gatorade gave Roger Penske’s organization its second consecutive NTT INDYCAR SERIES sweep of the short track, and it was the fifth time in the past eight years that Team Penske was the lone team in victory lane there.
In 2017, the sole winner was Helio Castroneves. Two years later it was Josef Newgarden. In 2020, Simon Pagenaud and Newgarden won races. Last year, Newgarden swept both.
Team Penske drivers led 309 of the weekend’s 500 laps, which interestingly is fewer than they led a year ago when Newgarden paced 341, Power 149 and McLaughlin two for a combined 492.
The weekend wins pushed Team Penske’s total to five for the season in 11 opportunities, but its drivers are still chasing Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou for the championship. Palou leads second-place Power by 35 points, fifth-place McLaughlin by 65 points and ninth-place Newgarden by 132 points.
A few additional bits of information from over the weekend:
Robb Released after Scary Accident
AJ Foyt Racing’s Sting Ray Robb certainly went for a ride on the last lap of Sunday’s race, his No. 41 Goodheart Vet/Pray.com Chevrolet getting vertical after contact with Alexander Rossi’s slowing No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet coming out of Turn 2. Rossi’s car was running out of fuel. The cars of Ed Carpenter and Kyle Kirkwood spun behind them.
Robb was taken to Mercy One Des Moines Medical Center for observation, examined and released.
The accident was reminiscent of Dario Franchitti’s wild ride at the end of the 2007 race at Kentucky Speedway when he ran over the back of Kosuke Matsuura’s car, which had slowed after taking the checkered flag. Like Robb’s car, Franchitti’s flew in the air.
Power Finally Wins at Iowa
Power has 43 career race wins in this series, good for fourth place on the all-time list. Next in his pursuit is Mario Andretti, who won 52 races. A.J. Foyt leads with 67. Scott Dixon has 58.
Iowa Speedway became the 23rd track where Power has won. It became the seventh oval, joining Texas Motor Speedway, Auto Club Speedway, Milwaukee Mile, Pocono Raceway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway and World Wide Technology Raceway.
Power won three times at Pocono and twice at Texas, part of his 10 career oval wins. Among active drivers, Power’s oval total ranks third behind Dixon’s 22 and Newgarden’s 15. Carpenter has three, Graham Rahal, Rossi and Pato O’Ward two, and Marcus Ericsson one.
McLaughlin Weekend’s Biggest Winner
McLaughlin had the two best results over the weekend, with a third-place finish in Race 2 complementing his Race 1 win from the pole.
Not coincidentally, he scored the most points in the two-race event, enabling him to jump to fifth in the standings with an improved chance of winning his first series title.
The following is the top 10 in points scored at Iowa:
- Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske: 90
- Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren: 68
- Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing: 64
- Will Power, Team Penske: 63
- Josef Newgarden, Team Penske: 61
- Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing: 52
- Colton Herta, Andretti Global w/Curb-Agajanian: 51
- Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing: 50
- Santino Ferrucci, AJ Foyt Racing: 47
- Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global: 40