By: NTT INDYCAR SERIES (Photo Courtesy INDYCAR)
NEWTON, Iowa (Sunday, July 14, 2024) – Add Iowa Speedway to the list of tracks where Will Power has won an NTT INDYCAR SERIES race.
Power put that one on his impressive list with a victory in Sunday’s Hy-Vee One Step 250 presented by Gatorade. In doing so, Team Penske’s two-time series champion pushed his career race win total to 43, giving him sole possession of fourth place in the sport’s history. Power tied Michael Andretti’s career total last month with a victory at Road America.
Sunday’s race was Power’s 19th attempt at the short oval east of Des Moines, Iowa. He had won an event-leading seven poles, but finishing second on four occasions, including last year, had been his best race result. His last oval-track victory was nearly five years ago at Pocono Raceway. He now has 10 career oval wins.
“I’ve been trying to win this race for years (and) years,” said Power, who started deep in the 27-car field due to brushing the wall in Saturday’s qualifying session. “So, I’m over the moon (happy).”
Power, 43, drove from the 22nd starting position and then received quick service from his No. 12 Verizon Business Team Penske Chevrolet crew to beat series leader Alex Palou during the final exchange of pit stops under green conditions. Power’s time advantage over Palou in that sequence was about nine-tenths of a second, according to information collected by NTT DATA.
The separation between Power and Palou at the finish line was .3915 of a second.
Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin, the winner of Saturday night’s Hy-Vee Homefront 250 presented by Instacart, finished third. He led the race’s first 94 laps to push his two-night consecutive laps led total to 259.
McLaughlin lost Sunday’s lead when a caution came out on Lap 101 for Agustin Canapino’s stalled car in Turn 2. As Palou was on pit road at the time and Power hadn’t yet made his scheduled stop, those two drivers cycled to the front, pushing McLaughlin back to third.
Power rode behind Palou for 104 of the next 114 laps before overtaking him on the second pit stop. That was the difference in the race’s outcome on a sunny and hot Midwestern afternoon.
“Massive fuel (saving),” Power said of how he moved up through the field. “Honestly, (I was) just sitting in the pack. 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 (frontrunners) pulled in (for pit service) 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 the pits).”
Said McLaughlin: “We probably caught the caution at the wrong time, (but) first and third (in the two races), I’ll take that.”
Dixon finished fourth in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing while Colton Herta fifth in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda of Andretti Global w/Curb-Agajanian.
With the victory, Power cut Palou’s lead in the standings to 35 points with six races remaining.
As Power and Palou were crossing the finish line, a multicar crash coming off Turn 2 occurred. Sting Ray Robb ran over the back of Alexander Rossi’s car, vaulting Robb’s car high in the air vertically. Behind them, Ed Carpenter and Kyle Kirkwood spun and with Rossi, they ended up against the inside retaining wall with Carpenter’s car on top of Kirkwood’s.
Rossi, Kirkwood and Carpenter safely climbed from their damaged cars. Robb gave two thumbs up before being transported to a local hospital as a precaution for further evaluation.
Practice for the 12th race of the season, the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto, begins Friday at 3 p.m. ET at Exhibition Place in Toronto. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Christian Lundgaard earned his first series race victory last year on the temporary street circuit.
Sunday’s 85-lap race will air live on Peacock and the INDYCAR Radio Network.
*****
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
