The NTT IndyCar Series heads to the Iowa Speedway this weekend for the Iowa IndyCar 250. It’s the fifth round of the 2020 series and the second time on an oval track.
“We want to keep doing what we’re doing,” commented NTT IndyCar Series leader Scott Dixon. “You really need to stay focused and maximize these opportunities. Winning the first four races (as a team) was nice, but now our focus turns to winning this weekend at Iowa.
“You need to be prepared, unload fast and work quick because everything is happening so quickly with two races in two days. There is no room for mistakes.
“We were able to get the results in last week’s doubleheader, but that was last week, and Iowa presents a new challenge. I know the PNC Bank No. 9 team will be up for it.”
The 250-lap race of the 7/8 mile (0.894-mile) oval gets underway late Saturday evening at 8:45pm local time (12:45pm NZ time Sunday)
Here are the Fast Facts heading to Iowa
1/ The Iowa INDYCAR 250s will be the first doubleheader event at Iowa Speedway and the 11th INDYCAR oval doubleheader held since 1967. The last doubleheader was June 11, 2011, when the Firestone Twin 275s were held at Texas Motor Speedway.
2/ The Iowa INDYCAR 250s will be the 14th and 15th NTT INDYCAR SERIES races at Iowa Speedway. Ryan Hunter-Reay and Josef Newgarden are the only entered drivers to win at Iowa Speedway more than once. Hunter-Reay has three wins (2012, 2014, 2015), while Newgarden (2016, 2019) has two. Past winners Marco Andretti (2011) and Tony Kanaan (2010) are also entered in the event.
3/ The Iowa INDYCAR 250s will be the second and third oval races of the 2020 NTT INDYCAR SERIES schedule. The previous oval race was won by Scott Dixon (Texas Motor Speedway). The remaining two oval races will take place at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (Aug. 23) and World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway (Aug. 30).
4/ Andretti Autosport has won seven of the previous races at Iowa Speedway, including six of the last 10 races (Dario Franchitti 2007, Tony Kanaan 2010, Marco Andretti 2011, Ryan Hunter-Reay 2012, 2014, 2015 and James Hinchcliffe 2013). Chip Ganassi Racing has two wins (Dan Wheldon 2008 and Franchitti 2009) as does Team Penske (Helio Castroneves 2017 and Josef Newgarden 2019). Ed Carpenter Racing, which won the event in 2016 with Newgarden, and Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, which won in 2018 with Hinchcliffe, have each won at Iowa once.
5/ Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dario Franchitti and Josef Newgarden are the only drivers to win at Iowa Speedway and win the NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship in the same season. Newgarden accomplished the feat in 2019, Hunter-Reay in 2012 and Franchitti in 2007 and 2009.
6/ No driver has won the NTT INDYCAR SERIES race at Iowa Speedway from the pole.
7/ Three drivers have competed in every NTT INDYCAR SERIES race at Iowa: Marco Andretti, Scott Dixon and Tony Kanaan. All are entered this year. Eleven drivers entered have led laps at the track (Josef Newgarden 868, Kanaan 523, Dixon 128, Andretti 94, Will Power 129, Ryan Hunter-Reay 54, Graham Rahal 19, Ed Carpenter 18, Simon Pagenaud 15, Takuma Sato 10 and Alexander Rossi 4).
8/ Ryan Hunter-Reay has finished on the podium in five of the last eight Iowa Speedway races (2012-2015 and 2017) … Josef Newgarden has finished in the top four in five of the last six races at Iowa (2014-2016 and 2018-2019) … Tony Kanaan has finished on the podium in five of his last 10 races at Iowa … Marco Andretti has finished on the podium in four of his 13 starts at Iowa Speedway … Scott Dixon has started on pole three times (two earned) and has 10 top-10 finishes at Iowa in 13 starts, but he has never finished better than second.
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