2020 Iowa IndyCar 250s
The 2020 Iowa IndyCar 250s was an IndyCar Series event that took place from July 17–18, 2020. It made up the fifth and sixth rounds of the series' 2020 season. The race was originally scheduled as a single race for July 18 for 300 laps, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic an additional race had to be added due to cancellations of other races so IndyCar officials made the weekend a doubleheader & shortened each race to 250 laps.[1] The race was also the second event of the 2020 season to allow spectators at the track, however there were restrictions regarding attendance.[2][3]
| Race details | |
|---|---|
| 5th and 6th round of the 2020 IndyCar Series season | |
 | |
| Date | July 17 and 18, 2020 |
| Official name | Iowa IndyCar 250s |
| Location | Iowa Speedway |
| Course | Permanent racing facility 0.875 mi / 6.458 km |
| Distance | 250 laps 218.75 mi / 352.044 km |
| Pole position | |
| Driver | Conor Daly (Carlin) |
| Time | 18.3711 |
| Fastest lap | |
| Driver |  Conor Daly |
| Time | 18.9515 (on lap 3 of 250) |
| Podium | |
| First |  Simon Pagenaud |
| Second |  Scott Dixon |
| Third | Oliver Askew |
| Pole position | |
| Driver | Josef Newgarden (Team Penske) |
| Time | 18.3559 |
| Fastest lap | |
| Driver | Josef Newgarden (Team Penske) |
| Time | 19.1928 (on lap 4 of 250) |
| Podium | |
| First | Josef Newgarden (Team Penske) |
| Second | Will Power (Team Penske) |
| Third | Graham Rahal (Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing) |
Entry list
The entry list for both races were released by IndyCar on July 15 with separate entry lists for both races. The only difference between the two was the main sponsor for Graham Rahal.[4]
All cars run a Dallara safety tub utilizing the IndyCar mandated Universal Aero Kit 18. All cars also will utilized Firestone tires.
| Key | Meaning |
|---|---|
| R | Rookie |
| W | Past winner |
Pre-qualifying notes
Racer.com's Robin Miller reported on July 15 that after speaking with IndyCar officials that the qualifying procedure for Iowa would be modified. There would be 1 session of qualifying on July 17, however it would not be a 2 lap average to set the field as was usually done on short ovals, rather lap 1 would set the cars starting position for race 1 and lap 2 would set the cars starting position for race 2.[7]
Combined Qualifying Session, July 17
| Key | Meaning |
|---|---|
| R | Rookie |
| W | Past winner |
| Pos Race 1 |
Pos Race 2 |
No. | Name | Lap 1 | Lap 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 59 | Conor Daly |
18.3711 | 18.3951 |
| 2 | 1 | 1 | Josef Newgarden W |
18.3796 | 18.3559 |
| 3 | 2 | 12 | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Will Power |
18.4112 | 18.3883 |
| 4 | 5 | 88 | Colton Herta |
18.4120 | 18.5566 |
| 5 | 21 | 27 | Alexander Rossi |
18.6831 | 19.0846 |
| 6 | 20 | 30 |  Takuma Sato |
18.6975 | 19.0242 |
| 7 | 10 | 10 |  Felix Rosenqvist |
18.7048 | 18.7841 |
| 8 | 12 | 5 |  Patricio O'Ward |
18.7534 | 18.8102 |
| 9 | 6 | 60 |  Jack Harvey |
18.7540 | 18.6549 |
| 10 | 9 | 8 | Marcus Ericsson |
18.7666 | 18.7495 |
| 11 | 16 | 18 | Santino Ferrucci |
18.7837 | 18.8818 |
| 12 | 4 | 28 | Ryan Hunter-Reay W |
18.7905 | 18.4705 |
| 13 | 15 | 21 |  Rinus VeeKay R |
18.8205 | 18.8681 |
| 14 | 13 | 7 | Oliver Askew R |
18.8344 | 18.8244 |
| 15 | 11 | 4 | Charlie Kimball |
18.8412 | 18.7888 |
| 16 | 14 | 20 | Ed Carpenter |
18.8584 | 18.8434 |
| 17 | 18 | 9 | Scott Dixon |
18.8631 | 18.9841 |
| 18 | 7 | 55 |  Álex Palou R |
18.8768 | 18.6702 |
| 19 | 8 | 14 |  Tony Kanaan W |
18.8782 | 18.7297 |
| 20 | 17 | 98 | Marco Andretti W |
18.9951 | 18.8970 |
| 21 | 19 | 15 | Graham Rahal |
19.1109 | 19.0136 |
| 22 | 22 | 26 | Zach Veach |
19.4520 | 19.9487 |
| 23 | 23 | 22 | Simon Pagenaud |
No Time | |
Race 1 – July 17
All sessions for race 1 took place on Friday, July 17.
The aeroscreen had its first major test when during an aborted restart on lap 157, Ed Carpenter Racing's Rinus VeeKay appeared to slow behind eventual race winner Simon Pagenaud and move to the right, and behind the Dutch rookie, Andretti Harding Steinbrenner Racing's Colton Herta was caught in an accordion affect, launching the No. 88 Honda over the left-rear tire of VeeKay's No. 21 Chevy. Prior to getting significantly airborne, Herta's unimpeded nose – minus its wings – attempted to spear into the left side of VeeKay's cockpit, level with his helmet. With the aeroscreen acting as a vertical barrier, Herta's nose was forced upward, sliding skyward on the screen before hitting the top of the aeroscreen frame and flying over VeeKay's Dallara DW12 chassis. This saved Veekay from apparent serious injury.[8]
Race
Notes: 1 Points include 1 point for leading at least 1 lap during a race, an additional 2 points for leading the most race laps, and 1 point for Pole Position.
Race statistics
|
Lead changes: 7
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Average speed: 132.220 mph (212.787 km/h)
Championship standings after the race
|
|
- Note: Only the top five positions are included.
Race 2 – July 18
All sessions for race 2 (except qualifying) took place on Saturday, July 18.
Race
Notes: 1 Points include 1 point for leading at least 1 lap during a race, an additional 2 points for leading the most race laps, and 1 point for Pole Position.
Race statistics
|
Lead changes: 12
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Average speed: 135.900 mph (218.710 km/h)
Championship standings after the race
|
|
- Note: Only the top five positions are included.
References
- "INDYCAR Announces Updated 2020 Series Schedule".
- "Fans Welcome for July 17–18 INDYCAR Races at Iowa Speedway".
- "IndyCar weekend schedule Iowa Speedway: Start times, TV, streaming info". July 15, 2020.
- "FAQ: Iowa INDYCAR 250s Doubleheader".
- "NTT Indycar Series" (PDF). www.imscdn.com. July 17, 2020.
- "NTT Indycar Series" (PDF). www.imscdn.com. July 18, 2020.
- "IndyCar tweaks Iowa qualifying plan". July 15, 2020.
- "IndyCar's aeroscreen passes its first real test at Iowa". July 18, 2020.