Iowa Speedway Tag

By Aaron Bearden, Open Wheel Editor When Joe Graf Jr. took the checkered flag fifth at Iowa Speedway, it would be natural to assume that he would be happy with the run. Graf had never seen the 7/8-mile oval before, after all, and he had just one top five in his previous six ARCA Racing Series results. But when he climbed out of his No. 77 Ford, the Chad Bryant Racing (CBR) rookie was less than pleased. “No I’m not,” Graf told Motorsports Tribune when asked if he was content withRead More

By Aaron Bearden, Open Wheel Editor Harrison Burton’s in an interesting stage of his budding racing career. At 17 years old, the son of NASCAR veteran Jeff Burton is too young to leap up to the Camping World Truck Series full-time. Burton has already conquered the K&N Pro Series East – he’s the defending champion – and his nine-race Truck schedule for Kyle Busch Motorsports kept him from picking another tour to to contest for the championship in 2018. The North Carolinian is an upcoming prospect with wins ranging from Bristol Motor SpeedwayRead More

By Aaron Bearden, Open Wheel Editor MDM Motorsports driver Chase Purdy brought home his fourth-consecutive top five in Saturday’s Fans With Benefits 150. But unlike his other results, Purdy was far from content to be so close to his first ARCA Racing Series victory at Iowa Speedway. Purdy surged in the final run to the checkered flag to claim a third-place finish in ARCA’s lone 2018 trip to Iowa – a strong run, but one that fell short of what the Mississippian believed he was capable of that night. “It’s aRead More

By Aaron Bearden, Open Wheel Editor Chandler Smith came to Iowa Speedway without experience on larger ovals and unsure of what to expect. He nearly left the track with the checkered flag. Smith rose through the field over the course of the 150-lap event and shadowed ARCA Racing Series points leader Sheldon Creed to the finish en-route to a second-place result in Saturday’s Fans With Benefits 150. The run was Smith’s fourth top five and fifth top 10 in five-career ARCA starts. “This is my first time ever being on aRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer NEWTON, Iowa— Heading into Sunday afternoon’s Verizon IndyCar Series Iowa Corn 300 at Iowa Speedway, Spencer Pigot had just five top-10 results in 32 starts, with his best career finish a seventh-place showing at Mid-Ohio in 2016. An unexpected lack of rear grip cost Pigot a lot in qualifying and his No. 21 machine lined up back in the 18th position on the 22-car starting grid. But after a solid 300 laps at the 7/8-mile oval, he had earned his first podium result, crossing the stripeRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer NEWTON, Iowa — Battling four-wide with 15 laps to go in Sunday’s Iowa Corn 300 at Iowa Speedway, Robert Wickens got around Spencer Pigot for the third position and everything looked set for the Canadian duo to share the podium as his Schmidt Peterson Motorsports teammate James Hinchcliffe was poised to earn the team’s first victory of the 2018 season. That all changed when the caution flag flew for just the second time of the race with seven laps to go when Ed Carpenter got sidewaysRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Despite having two cautions for minor incidents, neither resulted in retirements, but Sunday’s Iowa Corn 300 at Iowa Speedway saw three drivers calling it a day due to car issues. Each retirement resulted significant implications to not only each team, but for one driver, the Verizon IndyCar Series championship. Among the three retirements, A.J. Foyt Racing rookie and 2017 Iowa Indy Lights winner Matheus Leist’s was a cultivation of a sour weekend, beginning in Saturday’s opening practice, when his No. 4 ABC Supply Chevrolet hadRead More

By INDYCAR NEWTON, Iowa – James Hinchcliffe has been seeking a reboot to his Verizon IndyCar Series season after not qualifying for the Indianapolis 500 in May. He found redemption with a victory Sunday at the Iowa Corn 300. The Schmidt Peterson Motorsports driver led the final 45 laps on Iowa Speedway’s high-banked oval to collect his sixth career victory and first since Long Beach in April 2017, 26 races ago. “This is such a good feeling after what happened in May,” Hinchcliffe admitted. “We knew we had it inRead More

By Aaron Bearden, Open Wheel Editor NEWTON, Iowa —  With Josef Newgarden out front and dominating, the Verizon IndyCar Series’ annual trip to Iowa Speedway looked like 2016 all over again through 250 laps. Newgarden looked poised to win his second-straight race, in similarly dominant fashion to June’s Road America romp. Instead he ended the race outside of the podium. Newgarden led a race-high 229 laps in Sunday’s Iowa Corn 300, lapping as high as fifth on the field through a caution-free opening 139 laps. The Tennessean trapped points rivals Scott Dixon and Alexander RossiRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer NEWTON, Iowa— After getting behind the wheel of one of his team’s Chevrolets at a recent Iowa Speedway test, team-owner Mason Mitchell decided he had to drive when the ARCA Racing Series rolled into his hometown track. Mitchell announced to the team on Monday morning at the competition meeting that he would drive a second entry for the team in Saturday night’s Fans with Benefits 150. Mitchell hails from West Des Moines, Iowa and parked it in victory lane at the 7/8-mile oval in aRead More