Round 11: Iowa Corn 300, Newton, Iowa. July 8-9.
The AAA, (American Automobile Association) held the first race in Iowa, at the Tri-State Fair Grounds, in Burlington on July 9, 1915, with a distance of 100 miles (160 km). The AAA also hosted events at Des Moines Speedway in Valley Junction, on a one mile (1.60 km) wooden board track, in 1915 and 1916. The track closed and was dismantled soon after.
Construction of the current speedway began towards the end 2005 and was completed in July 2006. Iowa Speedway was the first track to have the SAFER Barrier installed around its entire perimeter and used a second generation of the barrier, which doesn't have a concrete wall behind the energy absorbing structure.
The first major event to be held at the new venue, was also the Indy Racing League's, inaugural Iowa Corn Indy 250 on June 24, 2007, which was won by Dario Franchitti, driving a Dallara IR05-Honda HI7R V8 for Andretti Green Racing. From 2014, the race distance was increased to 262.5 miles (422.45 Km) or 300 laps.
The Iowa Speedway is the shortest track on the IndyCar calendar, at 0.875 miles (1.408 Km) long, with an average lap time of under 18 seconds. Qualifying is decided by a two-lap speed average.
Last year Pagenaud took pole but Newgarden took the lead for the first 50 laps. During the first round of scheduled pitstops, the lead went from Pagenaud, to Chilton and then Rossi, before going back to Newgarden. The first caution came out on lap 108, when Hunter-Reay had an engine failure and came to a halt on the track. The race restarted on lap 128, with Newgarden pulling away from the field.
There was a second caution on lap 179, when Montoya's engine failed and his car stopped on the track. Racing resumed on lap 188. The third and final caution came lap 246, Chilton spun at Turn 2. This bunched the field up for a 40 lap sprint to the end. Newgarden, still leading, again pulled away to win by over four seconds from Power. Only five cars remained on the lead lap. Newgarden set a record for most laps led in a Verizon IndyCar Series race with 282.
Some trivia:
Driver with the most wins: Ryan Hunter-Reay, 3: 2012, 2014, 2015.
Team with most wins: Andretti Autosport, 7: 2007, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015.
Track:
Length:
0.894 mi - 1.408 km
Turns: 4
Lap record:
Single lap. July 12, 2014, Helio Castroneves, 17.2283 seconds, 186.809 mph (300.64 km/h). Team Penske, Dallara DW12-Chevrolet IndyCar V6.
Two-lap qualifying average. July 12, 2014. Scott Dixon, L1 - 17.2662 seconds. L2 - 17.2926 seconds, 186.256 mph (299.75 km/h). Chip Ganassi Racing, Dallara DW12-Chevrolet IndyCar V6.
Last year's winner:
Josef Newgarden,
Ed Carpenter Racing,
Dallara DW12-Chevrolet IndyCar V6
Laps: 300
Distance: 262.50 Miles (422.452 km)
Race Time: 1:52:16
Average Speed: 143.33 mph 230.667 km/h)
Cautions: 3, laps 42.
Broadcast:
NBCSN 5:00pm ET.