The most frightening moment of the Hy-Vee INDYCAR Race Weekend at Iowa Speedway occurred on the final lap of Sunday’s Hy-Vee One Step 250 presented by Gatorade.
Sting Ray Robb’s car ran over the rear of Alexander Rossi’s No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. Rossi’s car was running out of fuel and Robb didn’t slow his No. 41 Goodheart Vet/Pray.com Chevrolet for AJ Foyt Enterprises in time.
The contact catapulted Robb’s car high in the air vertically before tumbling down the backstretch.
Robb, who finished 15th on Saturday night, gave a thumbs up after exiting the vehicle. He was transported to Mercy One Des Moines Medical Center where he was examined and released, AJ Foyt Racing said in a social media post Sunday evening.
"Sting Ray's family and AJ Foyt Racing would like to extend our gratitude to the AMR Safety Team for their quick response, to INDYCAR medical staff for their thorough care and INDYCAR for the high safety standards of our race cars that allowed Sting Ray to walk away from a horrific accident today," the team said in its post. "Thank you to everyone for your well wishes. We appreciate your support!"
The contact between Robb and Rossi created a chain reaction behind with the cars of Ed Carpenter and Kyle Kirkwood spinning.
“Rossi was out of fuel, and I was told about it a lot earlier than that,” Kirkwood said. “Super unfortunate. I don’t understand why he (Rossi) was still online, (the racing surface) at that. Obviously, he’s trying to protect as much as he possibly can.
“I also don’t understand why Sting Ray (Robb) didn’t pass him. Obviously, the closing rate was big and late in the race you’re starting to lose a little bit of reaction timing. So maybe that has something to do with it. But it was a very scary incident. I’ve never seen a car fly in the air in front of me like that and the direction that he actually went, the car slowed so much that I had to slow so much and I spun myself out from the rate of speed I was trying to slow. To be honest, I think the drivers in front could have potentially done a better job to reduce the risk of something like that happening.”
Kirkwood praised the efforts of the AMR Safety Team for getting to him so quickly. He said he didn’t have the ability to get out of the race car with Carpenter’s No. 20 Guy Car Chevrolet resting on top of his, and he briefly became claustrophobic. He credited the safety team for calming him down.
McLaughlin Back in Championship Race
Scott McLaughlin entered the Hy-Vee INDYCAR Race Weekend fifth in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES standings but 105 points behind leader Alex Palou. Following a pair of 250-lap races, McLaughlin chopped 40 points off the deficit.
McLaughlin scored his first career oval victory in Saturday night’s Hy-Vee Homefront 250 presented by Instacart. A day later, McLaughlin brought his No. 3 XPEL Team Penske Chevrolet home third.
“This bloke next to me (Palou was alongside in the press conference) doesn’t make many mistakes. When he does, I have to capitalize,” he said.
For the second consecutive race, Palou made a mistake in pit road in Race 1 here. At the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on July 7, Palou entered pit lane for his final pit stop with the race lead. He was slow exiting his pit box, which relegated him to second-place behind Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward.
A similar issue happened Saturday. Palou had gearing issues when trying to speed out of his pit box in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Palou dropped from third to 19th after his initial pit stop.
Palou regained ground but crashed on Lap 176 dropping him to a 23rd-place finish. That was the two-time and reigning series champion’s worst finish in two-years, a span of 36 races when he crashes and finished 27th in the June 2022 race at Road America.
McLaughlin joked that Palou, who rebounded Sunday to finish second to Team Penske’s Will Power, “is a real “INDYCAR driver.”
That was a reference to McLaughlin saying he didn’t consider himself a true open-wheel driver until he picked up an oval victory, a feat he did in Race 1 of the weekend.
Rahal Happy with Track Evolving for Better Race Sunday
The box score will show Graham Rahal started eighth in his No. 15 One Cure Honda for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing and finished in that position – a season best. His previous best was a ninth-place finish in May’s Sonsio Grand Prix around the 2.439-mile, 14-turn Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
“Our One cure team was honestly damn good today,” said Rahal after scoring his 143rd career top-10 finish. “It’s a shame because on the first stint, we thought we were getting a really good fuel number. We could have had another fuel map in there probably to get even better. That early pit stop costs us compared to a couple cars.”
Rahal said the addition of how the track evolved as the race went along allowed him to make those spots back up and to challenge for what should have been a top-five result, instead.
“I thought the track was contrary to what everybody’s going to want to believe, the track was getting better,” he said. “Guys were using one and a half lanes. You were able to actually pass. I was able to pass a couple guys but yesterday that was going to be a hope and a prayer. So, I thought it was better.”
Daly Subs for Harvey; Day Short Lived
Jack Harvey elected to skip Sunday’s race as the Dale Coyne Racing driver has been dealing with neck and back pain the past two NTT INDYCAR SERIES races. He retired from Saturday night’s race after 28 laps, 18 of which run under caution. Harvey ended up 25th among the 27 competing drivers.
"Unfortunately, we're going to have to call it a weekend," Harvey said in a social media post. "I've been meeting with IndyCar medical since last week and it is their recommendation that I do not drive today. This decision totally splits my competitive spirit to the core. I love this (team) but I can't give 100% with this pain. Simply, I can't drive to the maximum.
"There is some relief that my bud (Daly) will be subbing in today, I wish him and the team all the best in the race. I really appreciate all the support and messages. We will be back."
Conor Daly was called in as Harvey’s replacement in the No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda Sunday. His day was short-lived, retiring on Lap 140 with mechanical issues, relegating him to a 27th-place finish.
Odds and Ends
· Palou lost 13 points in the standings this weekend but still holds a 35-point lead over Power, the Race 2 winner. Palou has three top-two finishes in the last four races and finished second last year in Toronto, the site of next Sunday’s race.
· McLaughlin has finished third in three of the last five races this season, including Sunday afternoon. Since his Barber Motorsports Park victory on April 28, McLaughlin boasts an average finishing position of 7.1.
· Scott Dixon finished fourth for the second consecutive Iowa Speedway race and has an average finishing position on ovals this season of 3.66.
· Saturday night’s second-place finisher, Pato O’Ward, finished sixth on Sunday. O’Ward has an average finish on ovals this season of 3.33 following a runner-up in the 108th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge.
· Josef Newgarden swept both Iowa Speedway races last season but finished third and seventh this weekend. He failed to lead a single lap among 500 circuits turned this weekend.