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Although there was little overtaking at the resurfaced Iowa track, which hosts the debut of IndyCar’s new hybrid car, there were plenty of stories to tell about the championship with six races remaining.
The repaving and the hybrid bike’s debut dominated the pre-event headlines, but after the doubleheader it was all about the championship leader proving he’s no robot and his lead shrinking and two Team Penske wins – one winning for the first time on the oval, the other his first on the oval since 2019 – keeping the pressure on.
We’ve picked out the biggest winners and losers from the Iowa weekend. Let us know in the comments if we got your pick right or if we left someone out.
Winners
Alex Palou’s competitors
It was a great weekend for a few drivers who must have watched with delight when Alex Palou’s car broke down in the pit lane in the first race and then slid off very late into Turn 4 to end the day in 23rd place.
Will Power’s strategic win in the second race also prevented Palou from fully recovering by grabbing his first victory on the oval track the next day.
Turning point against Palo
Willpower +13
Pato Award +18
Scott Dixon +14
Scott McLaughlin +39
With six races remaining, four of them on the oval, Palou’s first oval win may have been a knockout blow to the confidence of the others, but they live to fight another day and can rest easy knowing the Spaniard is human, on a weekend in which his compatriots at Wimbledon and the European Championships showed no sign of slowing down.
Of the three tracks on the calendar, Palou and Pato O’Ward have only raced on one, while Power and Scott Dixon have raced on all three. It’s a great end to the season.
Scott McLaughlin
Winning the first race and third in the second was a huge boost for McLaughlin, who now believes he can truly call himself an IndyCar driver after winning on the oval track. Not sure what that means for the likes of Colton Herta and Palou!
Winning on the oval this year was a big goal for McLaughlin, as he had come close to winning just one corner in the past.
McLaughlin has credited his new mentor Simon Pagenaud for helping him improve his oval performance, including an Indy 500 pole, and with Team Penske being so strong on the oval in general, this could really be the beginning of McLaughlin’s next phase of IndyCar competitiveness.
If he can add more stability, he’ll be the complete package.
It is worth noting that if it were not for the pay-to-pass scandal in St. Petersburg, McLaughlin would have been on the same level as Bauer, and thus would have outperformed Ballou even more.
Santino Ferrucci
Ferrucci’s goal over the last eight races was to finish in the top 10 of the championship, and he has moved into that position with six races to go. It’s a big opportunity for the AJ Foyt team.
The company has made a significant number of hires behind the scenes over the past two years, and in partnership with Team Penske, it has reaped the benefits, meaning it is on track for its highest finish in the championship since 2010.
Ferrucci has been a big part of that as he trails teammate Sting Ray Rob by 105 points.
Speaking of Rob, it was great to hear that he was quickly released from the hospital after crashing into Alexander Rossi’s slowing car and doing a terrifying barrel roll.
Rinus Vichai
It was an under-the-radar weekend for a driver who has struggled in 2024, but as free agency increases, Rinus Fekkai had two top-10 finishes at Iowa, finishing fifth and ninth. His experienced oval team owner Ed Carpenter was 20th and 22nd, respectively, involved in crashes but already back in the pack by then.
Vichai has shown promise in Iowa before but this big result adds 50 points to his tally which was just 125 points before the weekend. It will be interesting to see if this helps him move up the driver market.
Losers
IndyCar in Iowa
Of course, how you rate the quality of a racing event can be very subjective.
On the other hand, Newgarden, winner of five of the last seven Iowa races, has not won either race here, and we have had two different winners and a nice swing in championship points.
But the Iowa track had been neutralized by repaving, changing the grip dynamic and making running on two-wides nearly impossible unless on a restart after sweeping the track.
“I don’t know who decided to make this change, they ruined a great race,” said Arrow McLaren driver Patou O’Ward.
The tires didn’t deteriorate much even in the hottest race on Sunday, so there wasn’t a lot of action there. Races were won more through qualifying, strategy and pit stops than anything else.
This is not to disparage the winners, but this was a bad event on the track.
The new hybrid model seems to have had little impact either, except for the few reliability issues it caused.
I haven’t heard drivers talk about the unit’s impact on the track at all. This can be fixed once the machine is tested more, but it’s a shame it can’t be maximized now when the excitement is at its highest.
Andretti Autosport
Hertha managed to pick up some points to close in on Alex Palou, and Marcus Ericsson also managed to secure another top-ten finish, but ultimately it was a tough weekend for the team.
Herta was leading in the first race but bad luck saw him drop down the order as he was in the pits when the caution came out due to Palou’s accident. Herta then had to make the best save of the season.
Save the season!
Incredible catch from @Colton Herta 🤯
📺: #IndyCar in Iowa On CNBC and Peacock pic.twitter.com/IT9AcMQ9sR
— NTT IndyCar Series (@IndyCar) July 14, 2024
Fifth and eleventh were good recoveries, but given that he was on pole and fastest in the next test, it was likely to be disappointing for him and the team.
Kyle Kirkwood lost a top-ten finish badly after his car slid on the last lap of Race 2 avoiding Rob’s crash, and Ericsson suffered a very slow pit stop in the same race that left him several laps behind. He ended up in 23rd, ending a streak of five top-ten finishes.
Felix Rosenqvist and Meyer Shank
Felix Rosenqvist was ninth in the championship before going to Iowa but left it 11th in the standings. His brilliant early season form seems to be long gone now.
He was in the top five in the second race, but a mechanical problem that has not yet been confirmed took him out of contention after a slow pit stop and a loss of places on the restart had already affected his chances earlier.
The team’s other car, driven by David Malukas, was robbed of the top two after a flat tire on the return to Laguna Seca and broke down in the pits at Mid-Ohio after qualifying third. But his crash in the first race, at the first corner, was not his finest hour. He apologized for it.
Problem on opening lap!
Many cars were involved, which brought out the yellow flag.
📺: #IndyCar in Iowa On CNBC and Peacock pic.twitter.com/I7zu2vKDAz
— NTT IndyCar Series (@IndyCar) July 14, 2024
He finished 13th in the second race, with every little point crucial in this team’s battle to be in the top 22 in the standings, which award cash prizes at the end of the year.
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