INDYCAR SERIES hitting oval portion of schedule

After seven of the first eight races of the season taking place on either street or road courses, the NTT INDYCAR SERIES heads into its oval-heavy schedule, kicking off with a doubleheader this weekend at the Iowa Speedway in Newton.

The Hy-Vee Homefront 250 and Hy-Vee One Stop 250, taking place on "The World's Fastest Short Track", start a stretch of six races on oval tracks over the final eight events of the season. After this weekend, ovals will be featured at World Wide Technology Raceway, the Milwaukee Mile (two races) and the season finale at the Nashville Superspeedway.

Defending INDYCAR SERIES champ Alex Palou, driving primarily the No. 10 DHL Honda with American Legion branding for Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR), continues to lead the points race again this year. He’s coming off a second-place finish in the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio and leads second-place Will Power by 48 points.

And driving the No. 8 American Legion Honda promoting the Be the One mission, CGR rookie Linus Lundqvist still has the lead in the Rookie of the Year race, holding a 24-point lead over Christian Rasmussen after last week’s 15th-place finish. Lundqvist qualified for Mid-Ohio’s Fast 12 and started the race 10th.

On Wednesday, Iowa’s American Legion Riders provided an escort for Lundqvist’s trailer into Newton ahead of this weekend’s race schedule. Click here to see photos from the escort, and photos and video from the escort here.

Both of this weekend’s races will be 250 laps and 233.5 miles on the Iowa Speedway’s .875-mile tri-oval with variable banking that drives like a much bigger superspeedway and features laps under 18 seconds.

In addition to two races, the weekend also will include concert performances by Post Malone, Kelsea Ballerini, Luke Combs and Eric Church
This weekend’s broadcast schedule (all times ET):

·         Friday, July 12 – NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice, 3:35-6 p.m. (Peacock).

·         Saturday, July 13 – NTT INDYCAR SERIES qualifications, 3:45-4:45 p.m. (Peacock); Hy-Vee Homefront 250, 8-10 p.m. (NBC and Peacock).

·         Sunday, July 14 – Hy-Vee One Stop 250, noon-3:30 p.m. (NBC and Peacock)

NTT INDYCAR SERIES Notes:·

·         The Hy-Vee Homefront 250 presented by Instacart and Hy-Vee One Step 250 presented by Gatorade will be the 10th and 11th races of the 2024 season. There have been six winners in nine NTT INDYCAR SERIES races this season. Pato O’Ward (Streets of St. Petersburg and Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course), Scott Dixon (Streets of Long Beach and Streets of Detroit), Scott McLaughlin (Barber Motorsports Park), Alex Palou (Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course and WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca), Josef Newgarden (Indianapolis 500) and Will Power (Road America) have all won in 2024. The modern record (1946-present) for the most different winners in a season is 11 in 2000, 2001 and 2014.

·         Hy-Vee INDYCAR Race Weekend, featuring the Hy-Vee Homefront 250 presented by Instacart and Hy-Vee One Step 250 presented by Gatorade, will be the second and third oval races of the 2024 NTT INDYCAR SERIES schedule. The first oval race of the season was won by Josef Newgarden (Indianapolis 500). The remaining oval races will occur Aug. 17 at World Wide Technology Raceway and Milwaukee Mile on Aug. 31 and Sept. 1.

·         With the introduction of the INDYCAR hybrid power unit, The Hy-Vee INDYCAR Race Weekend will mark the use of horsepower assist on an oval for the first time. Hybrid energy deployment will include unlimited activation with a maximum deployment of 105 kilojoules (kJ) per lap.

·         The Hy-Vee Homefront 250 presented by Instacart and Hy-Vee One Step 250 presented by Gatorade will be the 20th and 21st NTT INDYCAR SERIES events at Iowa Speedway. Josef Newgarden is the only entered driver to win at Iowa Speedway more than once. Newgarden has six wins (2016, 2019, 2020 Race #2, 2022 Race #1, 2023 Race #1 and 2023 Race #2). Past winner Pato O’Ward (2022 Race #2) is also entered in the event.

·         Andretti Autosport has won seven of the 19 previous races at Iowa Speedway (Dario Franchitti 2007, Tony Kanaan 2010, Marco Andretti 2011, Ryan Hunter-Reay 2012, 2014 and 2015 and James Hinchcliffe 2013). Team Penske also has seven wins (Helio Castroneves 2017, Josef Newgarden 2019, 2020 Race #2, 2022 Race #1, 2024 Race #1 and 2024 Race #2 and Simon Pagenaud 2020 Race #1). Chip Ganassi Racing has two wins (Dan Wheldon 2008 and Franchitti 2009).

·         Josef Newgarden has won nine of the last 12 oval races on the NTT INDYCAR SERIES schedule – including three of the four races held at Iowa Speedway during Hy-Vee INDYCAR Weekend in 2022 and 2023.

·         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.

·         Scott Dixon is the only driver to have competed in every NTT INDYCAR SERIES race at Iowa, and although he has 11 top-five finishes in his previous 19 starts on the oval, he’s never won at “The World’s Fastest Short Track.” Twelve drivers entered have led laps at the track (Josef Newgarden 1,847, Will Power 383, Dixon 131, Pato O’Ward 97, Graham Rahal 32, Ed Carpenter 18, Felix Rosenqvist 9, Alexander Rossi 4, Marcus Ericsson 3, Scott McLaughlin 2, David Malukas 1 and Alex Palou 1).

·         Milestones: Scott Dixon will attempt to make his 332nd and 333rd consecutive starts, extending his record streak … Saturday’s race will mark Dixon’s 395th INDYCAR SERIES start, which will break a tie with Helio Castroneves for second on the all-time list.

To learn more about The American Legion’s Be the One veteran suicide prevention program, click here.