Credit: WikiCommmons
Following Saturday’s thrilling Synk 275, excitement was high in the crowd for another intense day of oval racing at Iowa Speedway. Qualifying for the second race of the weekend saw Alex Palou secure pole position, with Felix Rosenqvist alongside him on the front row and David Malukas starting in third.
The race began cleanly at the front, with Palou attempting to pull away early. However, when Scott McLaughlin and Devlin DeFrancesco collided heavily at the end of the first lap, both drivers’ races were ended, and the field saw an early caution.
At the restart, Josef Newgarden impressively made his way up to third and set his sights on Rosenqvist in second, soon overtaking him to move up the order. The race then settled into a rhythm of clean, uninterrupted laps, although Will Power’s promising run came to an unfortunate end due to mechanical problems which forced his retirement.
The second caution flag appeared after Stingray Robb crashed into the wall, bunching the field once again. At this point, the top three consisted of Palou, Newgarden, and Malukas. When racing resumed, Newgarden capitalized on the restart, skilfully overtaking Palou on lap 65 to take the lead.
However, as Newgarden approached pit lane, another untimely caution was triggered by a . This reduced Newgarden’s race lead to 13th place once the green flag flew again. Nonetheless, with impressive skill and resilience, Newgarden once again began an intense charge through the field, reclaiming the lead with bold passes on both David Malukas and Alex Palou. But the demands of the race caught up with him during his next pit stop, and a slow transition saw him hand the lead back to Palou and even slip behind Malukas.
With multiple caution periods and strategic pit cycles shaping the race, the final 10 laps promised an electrifying finish. Alex Palou held the lead, closely followed by Marcus Armstrong and Scott Dixon. Dixon, showing his trademark tenacity, made a strong push and moved into second place behind his Chip Ganassi teammate.
Despite Dixon’s pressure through the closing stages, Palou maintained composure and precision, avoiding the errors that had hampered him at Mid-Ohio. As a result, he secured a hard-fought victory, ensuring a 1-2 finish for Chip Ganassi Racing at Iowa Speedway.
Marcus Armstrong claimed a well-earned third place, followed by David Malukas in fourth and Pato O’Ward rounding out the top five.
The NTT INDYCAR SERIES travels to Canada for the next round of the 2025 season, with the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto. The race will take place on Sunday July 20th.
