Will Power Completes Weekend IndyCar Sweep for Team Penske at Iowa

Saturday night and Sunday midday were like night and day—literally—for Will Power and Alex Palou.

In the first race of a two-day IndyCar Series doubleheader at Iowa Speedway Saturday night, Power and Palou had two of their worst finishes of the year. Power, his run hampered by penalties, finished 18th, nine laps off the pace of winner Scott McLaughlin. Palou failed to finish, a crash leaving him with a 23rd-place run.

Sunday sunshine reversed those results as the two drivers were as hot as the weather. Power won the second half of the doubleheader with a strong late-race run, and Palou protected his point lead with a second-place finish.

With six races left on the IndyCar schedule, Palou has a 35-point lead over second-place Power and a 52-point lead over third-place Pato O’Ward.

Races remain on the streets of Toronto and at World Wide Technology Raceway, Portland International Raceway, the Milwaukee Mile and Nashville Superspeedway.

More Power To Will

Sunday’s race resulted in Will Power winning for the first time at the seven-eighths mile Iowa oval. He had not won an oval race since scoring at Pocono Raceway five years ago.

The win marked a significant milepost in Power’s long career. The 43rd win of his IndyCar career moved him into fourth place all-time, breaking a tie with Michael Andretti.

“I’ve been trying to win this race for years and years,” Power said. “So I’m over the moon.” He said fuel saving made the difference as he advanced from 22nd to the win.

“Honestly, I was just sitting in the pack,” he said. “I had a really good car—a really fast car, so I sat back and used that pace to save fuel and get a massive (fuel) number. I knew once all those (leaders) pulled in I could go hard, and then we caught a yellow. That was sort of the thing we were hoping for, to get one of those yellows to put us to the front. Then we were able to get better fuel mileage behind Palou and go a lap longer than him and then jump in (to pit).”

Palou made a few charges at Power in the closing miles of the race but finished.39 of a second behind.

McLaughlin Completes Circle

Scott McLaughlin had a learning curve to conquer on IndyCar ovals after success racing Australian Supercars.

On Saturday night at Iowa Speedway, he checked that big mark on his list, winning the first 250-lapper after winning a pit duel with Colton Herta.

“The XPEL Chevy was unreal, and what got it done tonight was the pit stops by the team,” McLaughlin said. “Got me out in front of Herta there, and we showed our pace. That is a big deal today, and we have been working on that for a couple of years. It takes a lot of hard work, and I got bit by this place for a couple of years and it stung. I am really stoked for this whole team and for the whole team at Penske.

“I was never going to call myself an IndyCar driver until I won on an oval. So I’m an IndyCar driver now, if you don’t mind. Hopefully the floodgates open. We bloody need them to for the championship.”

McLaughlin outran Pato O’Ward and Josef Newgarden to the finish, scoring his second win of the year and the sixth of his career. Newgarden started 22nd and advanced through the field quickly. McLaughlin led the final 164 laps.

McLaughlin finished third in Sunday’s race to complete a stellar weekend. “First and third, I’ll take that,” he said.

Flying Cars Not In the Script

Sunday’s race ended in a bit of a mess as cars suddenly thought they could fly.

On the last lap, Alexander Rossi ran low on fuel and slowed dramatically. Sting Ray Robb closed on Rossi’s car quickly, hitting its left rear. The contact sent Robb’s Chevrolet into the air and then into a tumble on the track surface. The car landed on its aeroscreen, and Robb was placed on a stretcher after being removed by safety workers. He was taken to a nearby hospital but was listed in good condition.

Ed Carpenter and Kyle Kirkwood also were involved in the crash. Carpenter’s car came to a stop on top of Kirkwood’s, with Carpenter’s left rear tire sitting on Kirkwood’s aeroscreen. After a tense minute or so, workers helped Kirkwood exit his car.

“I’m not sure exactly what happened with the fuel load, but we had to go into a pretty crazy save mode there at the end,” Rossi said. “I think we were going to get there, but unfortunately there was an incident where I was beginning to lose fuel out of Turn 2, and it ended our day.”

Sunday's Results

Hy-Vee One Step 250 presented by Gatorade NTT IndyCar Series

Results Sunday of the Hy-Vee One Step 250 presented by Gatorade NTT IndyCar Series event on the 0.894-mile Iowa Speedway, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):

1. (22) Will Power, Chevrolet, 250, Running
2. (2) Alex Palou, Honda, 250, Running
3. (1) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 250, Running
4. (3) Scott Dixon, Honda, 250, Running
5. (4) Colton Herta, Honda, 250, Running
6. (7) Pato O'Ward, Chevrolet, 250, Running
7. (14) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 250, Running
8. (8) Graham Rahal, Honda, 250, Running
9. (15) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 250, Running
10. (16) Romain Grosjean, Chevrolet, 250, Running
11. (19) Santino Ferrucci, Chevrolet, 250, Running
12. (13) Linus Lundqvist, Honda, 250, Running
13. (9) David Malukas, Honda, 250, Running
14. (11) Nolan Siegel, Chevrolet, 250, Running
15. (6) Alexander Rossi, Chevrolet, 249, Contact
16. (12) Kyle Kirkwood, Honda, 249, Contact
17. (18) Christian Lundgaard, Honda, 249, Running
18. (23) Kyffin Simpson, Honda, 249, Running
19. (25) Marcus Armstrong, Honda, 249, Running
20. (17) Pietro Fittipaldi, Honda, 249, Running
21. (20) Sting Ray Robb, Chevrolet, 248, Contact
22. (26) Ed Carpenter, Chevrolet, 248, Contact
23. (21) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 248, Running
24. (24) Katherine Legge, Honda, 248, Running
25. (10) Agustin Canapino, Chevrolet, 221, Mechanical
26. (5) Felix Rosenqvist, Honda, 184, Mechanical
27. (27) Conor Daly, Honda, 140, Mechanical

Race Statistics
Winner's average speed: 154.768 mph
Time of Race: 01:26:38.7472
Margin of victory: 0.3915 of a second
Cautions: 12 laps
Lead changes: 6 among 4 drivers

Lap Leaders:
McLaughlin, Scott 1 - 94
Palou, Alex 95 - 100
Power, Will 101 - 106
Palou, Alex 107 - 203
Power, Will 204 - 205
Lundqvist, Linus 206 - 208
Power, Will 209 - 250

NTT INDYCAR SERIES Point Standings:
Palou 379, Power 344, O'Ward 327, Dixon 322, McLaughlin 315, Herta 299, Kirkwood 274, Rossi 265, Newgarden 247, Ferrucci 221, Rosenqvist 219, Ericsson 209, Lundgaard 203, Rahal 177, Grosjean 177, VeeKay 177, Armstrong 173, Lundqvist 156, Simpson 125, Fittipaldi 124, Robb 116, Rasmussen 104, Canapino 104, Harvey 80, Siegel 79, Pourchaire 75, Malukas 54, Blomqvist 46, Ilott 39, Carpenter 32, Ghiotto 27, Castroneves 26, Daly 26, Legge 24, Larson 21, Sato 19, Sowery 17, Vautier 12, Braun 10, Hunter-Reay 6, Andretti 5