By: Spencer Neff
July 21,2023

Results

Josef Newgarden got his Hy-Vee Race Weekend at Iowa Speedway started as the four-time winner at the Newton, Iowa bullring has become accustomed to, being fastest in the field.

Newgarden, winner of four of the last five oval events on the NTT INDYCAR SERIES schedule, posted a best lap of 176.428 mph, lapping the .894-mile oval in 18.2420 seconds.

Scott McLaughlin made it a Team Penske 1-2 to start off the weekend , ending the afternoon .0477 of a second back of his teammate. McLaughlin finished third in Race 2 of last year’s doubleheader, his first weekend at the short track.

Marcus Ericsson, who finished second to Newgarden at the 107th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge, finished the opening 90-minute session slotted behind Newgarden and McLaughlin, The Chip Ganassi Racing driver was the fastest Honda in the field. Honda has not won at Iowa since 2018, when James Hinchclffe did so with Schmidt Peterson (Now Arrow McLaren-a Chevrolet team).

Honda’s last win on a short oval (less than 1.3 miles long) was in 2020, when CGR’s Scott Dixon won Race 1 of the doubleheader at WorldWide Technology Raceway (Gateway)

After winning Race 2 of the 2022 doubleheader at Iowa, Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward was fifth. Last week’s winner Christian Lundgaard started off his primary sponsor’s race weekend seventh on the speed chart.

Making a second appearance in three races as substitute for a recovering Simon Pagenaud, Conor Daly posted the ninth fastest lap overall.

Midway through the session, rookie Agustin Canapino spun in Turn 2 while making his way out of pit lane. While not hitting anything, the Juncos Hollinger Racing driver prompted the first caution of the weekend to re-fire his stalled Dallara-Chevrolet.

As fellow rookies Sting Ray Robb and Benjamin Pedersen ran here during their 2022 Indy Lights (now Indy NXT by Firestone) campaign,

Canapino is the only driver in the field of 28 without prior experience at Iowa Speedway. Despite his car stalling, the Argentine racer was best among the trio of rookies in the field, 24th on the speed chart.

As practice wound down, A.J. Foyt Racing’s Santino Ferrucci brushed the Turn 4 wall, prompting a brief caution of less than three minutes. Once the track was cleared, the remainder of the session was run without incident.

Up next

Here is the remaining on-track schedule for this weekend. Keep up with indyCar1909.com for all the latest on the NTT INDYCAR SERIES at Iowa Speedway.

At-track schedule (all times Central):

FRIDAY, JULY 21

5:30-6:15 p.m. INDY NXT by Firestone Qualifying (Single car, Two laps), INDYCAR Live

7:30 p.m. Pit Stop Competition

SATURDAY, JULY 22

8:30 a.m. Qualifying for the NTT P1 Award (Single car, Two laps (Lap 1/Race 1; Lap 2/Race 2), Peacock

10:05 a.m. INDY NXT by Firestone at Iowa Speedway “Drivers, start your engines)

10:10 a.m. INDY NXT by Firestone at Iowa Speedway (75 laps/67.05 miles), Peacock

2 p.m. NBC on air

2:01 p.m. “Drivers, start your engines”

2:06 p.m. Hy-Vee Homefront 250 presented by Instacart (250 laps/223.5 miles), NBC (Live)

SUNDAY, JULY 23

10:05-10:30 a.m. NTT INDYCAR SERIES systems check (Out and In Lap)

1 p.m. NBC on air

1:25 p.m. “Drivers, start your engines”

1:30 p.m. Hy-Vee One Step 250 presented by Gatorade (250 laps/223.5 miles), NBC (Live)

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