Fast Facts: Iowa Corn 300
Race weekend: Saturday, July 8 – Sunday, July 9
Track: Iowa Speedway, a 7/8-mile (0.894-mile) oval in Newton, Iowa
Race distance: 300 laps / 268.2 miles
Entry List: Iowa Corn 300 (PDF)
Firestone tire allotment: Ten sets for use through the weekend
Twitter: @iowaspeedway, @IndyCar, #IowaCorn300, #IndyCar
Event website: www.IowaSpeedway.com
INDYCAR website: www.IndyCar.com
2016 race winner: Josef Newgarden (No. 21 Fuzzy’s Ultra Premium Vodka Chevrolet)
2016 Verizon P1 Award winner: Simon Pagenaud (No. 22 Menards Team Penske Chevrolet), 34.6334 seconds, 185.855 mph (two laps)
One-lap qualifying record: Helio Castroneves, 17.2283 seconds, 186.809 mph, July 11, 2014
Two-lap qualifying record: Scott Dixon, 34.5588 seconds, 186.256 mph, July 11, 2014
NBCSN television broadcasts: Qualifying, 3 p.m. ET Saturday, July 8 (live); Race, 5 p.m. ET Sunday, July 9 (live). Kevin Lee is the lead announcer for the NBCSN broadcasts this weekend alongside analysts Townsend Bell and Paul Tracy. Pit reporters are Jon Beekhuis, Katie Hargitt, Anders Krohn and Robin Miller.
Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network broadcasts: Mark Jaynes is the chief announcer alongside analyst Davey Hamilton. Jake Query is the turn announcer with Rob Howden, Nick Yeoman and Michael Young reporting from the pits. All Verizon IndyCar Series races are broadcast live on network affiliates, Sirius 212, XM 209, IndyCar.com, indycarradio.com and on the INDYCAR Mobile app. All Verizon IndyCar Series practice and qualifying sessions are available on IndyCar.com, indycarradio.com and on the INDYCAR Mobile app.
Video streaming: All practice sessions for the Iowa Corn 300 will stream live on RaceControl.IndyCar.com and on the INDYCAR YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/indycar).
At-track schedule (all times local):
Saturday, July 8
10 – 11:15 a.m. – Verizon IndyCar Series practice #1, RaceControl.IndyCar.com (Live)
2 p.m. – Qualifying for the Verizon P1 Award (single car/two timed laps), NBCSN (Live)
6:15 – 6:45 p.m. – Verizon IndyCar Series practice #2, RaceControl.IndyCar.com (Live)
Sunday, July 9
3:10 – 3:20 p.m. – Verizon IndyCar Series pit stop practice
4:05 p.m. – Driver introductions
4:40 p.m. – Command to start engines
4:44 p.m. – Iowa Corn 300 (300 laps/268.2 miles), NBCSN (Live)
Race notes:
• There have been eight different winners in the 10 previous Verizon IndyCar Series races in 2017: Sebastien Bourdais (Streets of St. Petersburg), James Hinchcliffe (Streets of Long Beach), Josef Newgarden (Barber Motorsports Park), Simon Pagenaud (Phoenix Raceway), Will Power (INDYCAR Grand Prix and Texas Motor Speedway), Takuma Sato (Indianapolis 500), Graham Rahal (Raceway at Belle Isle-1 and Raceway at Belle Isle-2) and Scott Dixon (Road America). Bourdais’ win at St. Pete on March 12 gave him sole possession of sixth on the all-time Indy car victory list. Power’s win at Texas on June 10 tied him with Dario Franchitti and Paul Tracy for ninth on the all-time list with 31 wins. Dixon’s win at Road America on June 25 was his 41st career victory and he will tie Michael Andretti for third all-time with his next win.
• The Iowa Corn 300 will be the fourth of six oval races on the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series schedule. The previous three races were won by Simon Pagenaud (Phoenix Raceway), Takuma Sato (Indianapolis 500) and Will Power (Texas Motor Speedway). The remaining two races will take place at Pocono Raceway (Aug. 20) and Gateway Motorsports Park (Aug. 26).
• The Iowa Corn 300 will be the 11th Verizon IndyCar Series event at Iowa Speedway. Ryan Hunter-Reay is the only active driver to win at Iowa Speedway more than once. Hunter-Reay has three wins (2012, 2014 and 2015). Past winners Josef Newgarden (2016), James Hinchcliffe (2013), Marco Andretti (2011) and Tony Kanaan (2010) are also entered in the event.
• Andretti Autosport has won seven of the 10 previous races at Iowa Speedway, including six of the last seven races (Dario Franchitti 2007, Tony Kanaan 2010, Marco Andretti 2011, Ryan Hunter-Reay 2012, 2014 and 2015 and James Hinchcliffe 2013). Chip Ganassi Racing has two wins (Dan Wheldon 2008 and Franchitti 2009). Ed Carpenter Racing won the event last year with Josef Newgarden.
• Ryan Hunter-Reay and Dario Franchitti are the only drivers to win at Iowa Speedway and win the Verizon IndyCar Series championship in the same season. Hunter-Reay accomplished the feat in 2012 and Franchitti in 2007 and 2009.
• No driver has won the Verizon IndyCar Series race at Iowa Speedway from the pole.
• Four drivers have competed in every Verizon IndyCar Series race at Iowa: Marco Andretti, Helio Castroneves, Scott Dixon and Tony Kanaan. Sixteen drivers entered have led laps at the track (Kanaan 523, Castroneves 427, Josef Newgarden 393, James Hinchcliffe 245, Dixon 126, Andretti 87, Ryan Hunter-Reay 54, Will Power 34, Graham Rahal 19, Ed Carpenter 18, Simon Pagenaud 11, Charlie Kimball 7, Takuma Sato 7, JR Hildebrand 4, Alexander Rossi 4 and Max Chilton 2).
• Josef Newgarden has finished on the podium in the last three races at Iowa Speedway…Ryan Hunter-Reay finished on the podium in every Iowa Speedway race from 2012-2015…Tony Kanaan has finished on the podium in five of the last seven races at Iowa Speedway… Marco Andretti has finished on the podium in four of his 10 starts at Iowa Speedway…Dixon has started on pole three times (two earned) and has eight top-10 finishes at Iowa in 10 starts, but he has never finished better than third.
• Two rookies – Esteban Gutierrez and Ed Jones – are entered. Jones, who has raced at Iowa Speedway in Indy Lights, leads the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings. Gutierrez will be making his first start on an oval.
• Tony Kanaan seeks to start his 276th consecutive race this weekend, which would extend his Indy car-record streak that began in June 2001 at Portland. Teammate Scott Dixon has made 217 consecutive starts heading into the weekend, which is the second-longest streak in Indy car racing.
• Helio Castroneves will attempt to make his 338th career Indy car start, which ranks third on the all-time list. Tony Kanaan will attempt to make his 337th Indy car start, which is fourth all-time. Both are competing in their 20th season of Indy car racing in 2017.
IOWA CORN 300 PRE-RACE QUOTES:
SIMON PAGENAUD (No. 1 Menards Team Penske Chevrolet): “I’m excited about Iowa. It’s one of my favorite short ovals. I’ve had some good success there. We’ll be wearing the Menards colors again which is awesome to have to have onboard in the Midwest where they have such a great presence. It’s a track where we should have a little advantage with our Chevy package and expect to strong there. We got the Verizon P1 Pole there last year and finished fourth. So, we’re definitely excited to go back and maybe finish a little higher this time.”
JOSEF NEWGARDEN (No. 2 Fitzgerald Glider Kits Team Penske Chevrolet, 2016 Iowa Corn 300 winner): “I’m really pumped for the race at Iowa. For starters, I won last year, which was huge for me and my career. Secondly, we’re racing again in the No. 2 Fitzgerald Glider Kits Chevy in which I won earlier this season in at Barber. And on top of that, we’re coming off a solid finish at Road America. We’ve been working on our oval program since Texas and have a lot of things we want to try out that we think will give us a really strong car. The whole team is really excited to head to that race and see what we can do.”
HELIO CASTRONEVES (No. 3 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet): “Road America was a really great race for us, and the whole team is ready to head to Iowa. The No. 3 Hitachi Chevrolet team and I learned a few things at the other oval events that we think can apply to this track that we thing will bring us a really strong car. It’s one of those tracks that I’d like to get a win at and the competition is always good. Iowa fans are always a fun crowd so I’m ready to go back and see them.”
CONOR DALY (No. 4 ABC Supply AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet): “Iowa is both very physically and mentally demanding. I really enjoyed racing there back in the (Mazda) Road to Indy days and hope to have some success in an Indy car there as well. Short oval racing is always exciting, so we hope to come out of it with a lot of experience gained and a good finish.”
JAMES HINCHCLIFFE (No. 5 Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda): “We had a successful test at Iowa (last) week, so I’m looking forward to getting back on track for the race weekend. I’ve had some not so great results in the past couple of weeks, but I won in Iowa in 2013, so hopefully, we can come away with another win and turn around our luck for the rest of the season.”
MIKHAIL ALESHIN (No. 7 SMP Racing Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda): “It’s nice to be back at a small but really fast track. I like Iowa a lot because it’s very challenging to a race driver and to the team. What I like even more is that we’ve always been competitive and fast there. We finished in the top five there last year and had a decent qualifying, so I have pretty big expectations for this year. This team is very strong there and I think we should have a good weekend.”
MAX CHILTON (No. 8 Gallagher Honda): “I always think about Iowa and my first win here in Indy Lights. It’s a great track to race on and the speeds are quite high for such a small oval track. You really have to switch gears going from the biggest road course we run (Road America), to the smallest oval we run on, in back to back events. The Gallagher team is working hard for results and I’m looking forward to hitting the track this weekend.”
SCOTT DIXON (No. 9 NTT Data Honda, 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series points leader): “We just finished an advance media tour in Des Moines, Iowa last week and it’s always great to see the enthusiasm the media and fans have for Indy cars at Iowa Speedway. You have very high g-force loading and there is always a lot of action on this bullring-style track. You really have to be on your game with traffic and the quick lap times. The track has a lot more character having weathered in over the past few years and the bumps in Turns 1 and 2. I think we’re going to be in for a bit of an uphill battle as our overall package seems to be at a slight disadvantage on the short ovals like this track and likely Gateway.”
TONY KANAAN (No. 10 NTT Data Honda): “Road America was a difficult weekend for us, so I’m ready to get back on an oval and hopefully turn the second half of our season around. Iowa Speedway is such a fun track to race, even though it’s definitely one of the more challenging tracks we visit during the season with the high banking and heavy g-forces. I love it when we can put on a good show for the fans and the short oval in Iowa never disappoints.”
WILL POWER (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet): “I think Iowa is going to be a really fun race this year. Last year, Josef (Newgarden) had us all covered, so I definitely want to turn that around. With him now being on the team, and seeing how he performed there, I think it could but fun to battle again. The No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet team’s oval program is in a great place. We had an awesome car at Texas and we’ll have another one at Iowa, as well. The crowd is always excited there and the track is fun, so I’m happy to be going back there this weekend.”
CARLOS MUNOZ (No. 14 ABC Supply AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet): “Iowa Speedway has been a hard track for me, but I do like the corn there! I find it really challenging because it is a low grip level track and it is also bumpy. You have to think ahead – it’s fast and you have to think how you’re going to make a pass–think for 2 or 3 laps on how to do it before you actually do it. It’s a tough track to race. Recently we’ve made a lot of progress with the car setups because as a team we are understanding the car more. Hopefully we can continue that progress and get a good result.”
GRAHAM RAHAL (No. 15 GEHL Honda): “Iowa has been fairly good to me, results wise, in the past. The 2015 race was a huge race for us. We finished fourth even with the issues that we had. As we go into it this year, I think we should be looking pretty good. Hopefully we can get a good, stable, consistent car over the long run. It’s key for us to have a good result with where we are in the points now, and everything else considered. It’s crucial that we go there and have a really strong points weekend. We certainly cannot let ourselves down and not qualify towards the front and race there too. Iowa is difficult because it is so fast – it’s a little bullring. But it also has quite a lot of bumps, particularly over the tunnel in Turn 1. And Turns 3 and 4 now are pretty much solid bumps throughout. With these cars and how low we run them and how fast the cornering speeds are, it makes it extremely tricky for us and provides many, many opportunities for mistakes. Hopefully we can overcome that and have an issue-free, solid race. We’re 38 points out of second place and I believe we are going into some races that we can be very strong. Penske is always good on the bumps at Iowa but I fully anticipate that we will be one of the guys to beat throughout the remainder of the season. Hopefully we can get the job done starting this weekend in the GEHL Honda.”
ESTEBAN GUTIERREZ (No. 18 UNIFIN Honda): “It’s great to approach the race weekend having done some testing at the track. Obviously, it’s a completely new racing style for me. An oval seems very basic from the outside but it’s actually quite complex. I really enjoyed it at the test, and I’m very excited to do my first oval race at Iowa. It will definitely take some time for me to adapt, especially racing with other cars around. That will be an interesting experience. I’m looking forward to it. It was really fun to drive on the oval, I think it’s very nice how you can really feel every change, every movement in the car because you are on the limit for so long that you are able to feel everything from the car. It’s given me a lot more knowledge about the Indy car.”
ED JONES (No. 19 Boy Scouts of America Honda): “It was nice to have the chance to test at Iowa last week ahead of this weekend’s race. That said, I think it’s going to be difficult again for the Honda teams this weekend, like it was in Phoenix. It should be an interesting race. I think tire degradation is going to be a big factor and will play into the race. It should make for more racing and people making more mistakes. I look forward to it. It will be important to qualify well and try to stay up there. I have a good record on ovals, especially at Iowa in Indy Lights, so I hope to keep that going.”
ED CARPENTER (No. 20 Fuzzy’s Vodka Chevrolet): “I am always excited to race at Iowa Speedway and be a part of the Iowa Corn 300. It has been a track where I have always been comfortable and enjoyed racing. It is an important race for us as we won the race as a team last year and we hope to repeat that feat in front of our Fuzzy’s Vodka fans.”
JR HILDEBRAND (No. 21 Fuzzy’s Vodka Chevrolet): “I am really looking forward to getting back to Iowa Speedway where we expect to have a strong weekend. I’ve always enjoyed it there and feel like I have a pretty good handle on it, so I’m very ready to get on track and get to work with the Fuzzy’s Vodka 21 car guys.”
TAKUMA SATO (No. 26 Andretti Autosport Honda): “Iowa is one of the most challenging short ovals. It is such a short lap but high-banked, constant-cornering means almost no rest in the straights, so this could be one of the most physically demanding tracks, too. I personally have some great memories in Iowa including my first pole position, and I’ve always enjoyed this busy, tough race. We had a very productive test last week and the team has a strong history at Iowa, too. So, although it looks like quite a challenging weekend for us, I am looking forward to having a good weekend in Iowa.”
MARCO ANDRETTI (No. 27 Andretti Autosport Honda): “Road America didn’t go our way and was an unfortunate race result. It feels like we’re in a cycle of bad luck and circumstance, but we’ll work to rebound in Iowa. It’s a fun track where we have a strong history — it’s been good to me in the past and we’re hoping to see that Iowa victory lane again.”
RYAN HUNTER-REAY (No. 28 DHL Honda): “I’ve always loved racing at Iowa Speedway and I think our results show it. The No. 28 team has three wins at Iowa and we’re focused on getting number four for the DHL guys. Ever since the latest downforce rules package has been mandated, we have been struggling to keep up. Hopefully we can find some speed on race weekend to be at the front fighting for another win.”
CHARLIE KIMBALL (No. 83 Tresiba Honda): “Iowa Speedway is always challenging, both mentally and physically. But really it’s such a great track for the fans–being able to see the whole track from the grandstands makes it a really cool and unique stop on our circuit. The Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing team has had a chance to recharge and we’re just ready to get after it this weekend.”
ALEXANDER ROSSI (No. 98 Andretti Autosport/Curb Honda): “Iowa was one of our best results last year and with the productive test we had last week, I feel good going into this weekend. This is one of my favorite tracks on the calendar, so I will be looking to put on a great show for the fans and hopefully get us to victory lane for the first time this year.”
Sources: Curt Cavin/Verizon IndyCar Series PR