Summary of each IndyCar Race in 2024
By Dan Vielhaber
2024 INDYCAR RACE REVIEWS
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APR 28    GP of Alabama      BARBER MOTORSPORT PARK     BIRMINGHAM AL - 90 LAPS
MAY 11    SONSIO GP      INDY MOTOR SPEEDWAY R/C        INDIANAPOLIS IN -  85 LAPS
MAR 24      $1 Million Challenge       THERMAL CLUB                    Palm Desert - 20 LAPS
MAR 10      Firestone Grand Prix of  ST PETERSBURG      Street/Airport Race -  100 LAPS
INDEX
MAY 26       Indy 500          INDY MOTOR SPEEDWAY         INDIANAPOLIS IN -  200 LAPS
JUNE 02          Chevrolet Detroit GP           Street Race              DETROIT, MI -  100 Laps
JUNE 09     REV Group GP          ROAD AMERICA            ELKHART LAKE, WI  -  55 LAPS
JULY 07       Honda Indy 200                 MID-OHIO                  LEXINGTON, IL  -  80 LAPS
Points Leader - Pato O'Ward - 50
SEPT 15            Music City Grand Prix               NASHVILLE Superspeedway  -  80 LAPS
AUG 31                               HyVee 250 - Race 1                            Milwaukee Mile -  250 LAPS
AUG 17         Bommarito Auto Group 500        WWT Raceway      ST LOUIS -  260 LAPS
AUG 25     Grand Prix of Portland    Portland Int'l Raceway   PORTLAND OR -  110 LAPS
JUNE 23     Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey     WeatherTech Raceway CA -  90 LAPS
APR 21               Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach              LONG BEACH CA  -  85 LAPS
JULY 21                 Honda Indy Toronto                         TORONTO CANADA  -  85 LAPS
JULY 13         Hy-Vee Homefront 250 Race 1       Iowa Speedway       NEWTON IA  -  250 LAPS
JULY 14        Hy-Vee One Step 250 Race 2       Iowa Speedway        NEWTON IA  -  250 LAPS
Points Leader - Scott Dixon - 79
Points Leader - Colton Herta - 101
Points Leader - Alex Palou - 152
Points Leader - Alex Palou - 183
Points Leader - Scott Dixon - 216
Points Leader - Will Power - 236
Points Leader - Alex Palou - 329
Points Leader - Alex Palou - 411
Points Leader - Alex Palou - 336
Points Leader - Alex Palou - 379
Points Leader - Alex Palou - 285
Points Leader - Alex Palou - 514
Points Leader - Alex Palou - 443
Points Leader - Alex Palou - 484
2024 IndyCar Champion - ALEX PALOU - 544 points
Mar 10
Mar 24
Apr 21
Apr 28
May 11
May 26
June 2
June 9
June 23
July 7
July 13
July 14
July 21
Aug 17
Aug 25
Aug 31
Sept 1
Sept 15
Josef Newgarden
Alex Palou
Scott Dixon
Scott McLaughlin
Alex Palou
Josef Newgarden
Scott Dixon
Will Power
Alex Palou
Pato O'Ward
Scott McLaughlin
Will Power
Colton Herta
Josef Newgarden
Will Power
Pato O'Ward
Scott McLaughlin

Colton Herta
WINNER
SEPT 01                               HyVee 250 - Race 2                            Milwaukee Mile -  250 LAPS
Points Leader - Alex Palou - 525
The big bump in Turn 3, that caused so many problems last year, has been smoothed
out.

QUALIFYING
1.
Josef Newgarden captured the pole for Team Penske.
2. Starting beside him is
Felix Rosenqvist who was just 6/1000th of a second slower.
This is Rosenqvist's first time driving for Meyer Shank Racing.  

There is a different team in each of the first five starting positions:
3. Arrow McLaren (
Pato O'Ward)
4. Andretti Global (
Colton Herta)
5. Juncos Hollinger (
Romain Grosjean)
This is Grosjean's first time driving for Juncos Hollinger Racing.

THE RACE
The  weather was dry, 71 degrees, partly sunny and breezy.

A clean start, though
Christian Lundgaard had to pit to repair a cut rear tire incurred
during some first lap shuffling.

LAP 22 - Little passing had taken place and the race ran green until
Marcus Armstrong
hit the tire barrier in Turn 10, ending his race and bringing out the first caution.  That turn
would prove to be the most challenging during the race.  

All the cars pit during the caution except for Lundgaard.  Some shuffling to the order
took place, most notably,
Felix Rosenqvist and Herta move ahead of Newgarden, who
had lead until that point.  However, within four laps, Newgarden passed them both, as
did O'Ward.  One lap later,
Sting Ray Robb had a mechancial prolblem and went off
course in turn 1 bringing out the 2nd caution.  Robb did not return to the race.

LAP 53 -
Marcus Ericsson pit from P6 with mechanical problems.  They were unable to
solve the problem and he dropped out of the race.

Like Armstrong,
Colin Braun came into Turn 10 too fast. Braun went into the overshoot
area though and kept it out of the wall.  Next,
Scott Dixon came into the area too fast
and got a little swervy as he hastened to lower his speed.

LAPS 64-67 - Cars pit during green.  Herta stayed out an extra lap which then enabled
him to move ahead of
Scott McLaughlin and Rosenqvist.

LAP 69 - The caution came out for the third time as a car wrecked once again in Turn
10.  This time it was
Linus Lundqvist, who had been running mid-pack.  He was able to
get his car repaired and continue, though he would finish at the very back. Grosjean was
penalized for causing the accident.

After the race resumed, 3rd-place Herta was passed by
Scott McLaughlin and Will
Power
.

LAP 83 -
Augustin Canapino ran off into a run-off area, but spun the car around and
got back in the race.

Grosjean, in his first year with Juncos Hollinger Racing, retired with mechanical
problems.  He had ran in the top 10 during the first half of the race.

Newgarden had led 92 out of 100 laps and won the race with a comfortable 8 second
lead.  Following behind him was Pato O'Ward, McLaguhlin, Power and Herta.  
Alex
Palou
had began moving up from 11th after the green flag pit stop, and finished in 6th,
just ahead of Rosenqvist.

Pietro Fittipaldi was the biggest mover of the race, moving up 11 places to finish 15th.
Josef Newgarden Dominated the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
This was an exhibition race held at a private race course.  
The track was used for extensive testing on Friday and Saturday.

The drivers were placed into two group through a random draw.
On Saturday night, the two groups qualified separately for two separate heat races on Sunday.

The first heat race proved exciting as a crash happened at the start as the field entered the
first turn.  
Romain Grosjean was spun off track by Scott Dixon.  Grosjean slid back onto the
track at the exit of the turn, knocking
Rinus Veekay out of the race and Dixon received a drive-
though penalty.  The heats were for 10 laps or 20 minutes.  The laps ran during the caution
caused by the accident did not count and the race was stopped after 8 laps as time expired.
Felix Rosenqvist won the heat.

The 2nd heat was won by
Alex Palou.  All three Rahal Letterman cars finished in the top 6,
meaning they would move on to the final race.

Qualifying speed was used in merging the top six from both heats to form the grid for the final
race.

The 20-lap final race was scheduled to be halted after the first ten laps for a 10-minute break.
The cars would refuel and receive chassis adjustments if desired during the half-time.  
However, tires could not be replaced.  It was thought that tire degradation would be great and
some teams were very concerned about saving their tires.  Testing had shown that cars could
lose 4-seconds a lap on tires used for 20 laps.

What resulted was an uneventful first half.  Palou easily led throughout, followed by
Scott
McLaughlin
and Rosenqvist.  Drivers who were starting toward the rear of the 12-car pack,
ran very slowly to pamper their tires and only trying to finish on the lead lap.  For instance,
Colton Herta fell 12-seconds behind the leader after the first lap.  By the last lap, he was over
a minute behind.  The only thing interesting about the first half was observing the strategies
being employed regarding tires.

The 2nd half of the race began with the cars running in single file and the racing became more
exciting.  Herta's tire strategy appeared to be working as he passed several cars.  The leaders
continued to push pretty hard and their tires did not give out.  While Herta was able to bring his
car in 4th, the leaders at the start - Palou, McLaughlin and Rosenqvist - had no problem
finishing on the podium.

The purse was $1,756,000 and divided among the 12 drivers, with the winner getting $500,000.
No Points
Perfect weather greeted all.  
Felix Rosenqvist just nipped Will Power for the pole.
Starting on the softer green alternate tires, Power took the lead at the start.

On Lap 15,
Christian Rasmussen crashed bringing out the first and only
caution.  After bouncing off a wall, he made contact with
Jack Harvey,
ripping a big hole in his car.  Rasmussen was out and Harvey would return,
but finish 2 laps down.

Rosenqvist had fell back to P6.  Power decided to pit during the caution,
along with
Scott Dixon and Kyle Kirkwood. These early stops split the fuel
strategy used by the leaders and would create a suspenseful race.

Josef Newgarden then led, followed by Marcus Ericsson, Colton Herta
and Alex Palou.  Newgarden and Ericsson pit on Lap 30. Palou followed on
the next lap and Herta on Lap 32.  

While those four then fell out of the top 10, Dixon led, followed by Power
and Kirkwood - the early pit stoppers.  These three drivers were praying for
a caution, but it never came.  They were forced to employ fuel saving
strategies.  When they next pit on lap 51, the other 4 drivers moved
forward.  However they also had to pit about 8-10 laps later.

Dixon resumed the lead, followed by Newgarden and Herta.

On lap 76, Newgarden got hit in the rear by Herta, causing his car to
temporarily stall.  That hesitation allowed Herta and Palou to get by him.
Dixon somehow managed to keep his car in the lead as these two drivers
pursued him to the end.

The biggest mover of the race was
Theo Pourchaire, who was making his
IndyCar debut.  The Frenchman moved from 22nd to 11th during the race.
The 2023 F2 champion was hired to fill-in for injured
David Malukas at the
Arrow McLaren team.
UPDATE APRIL 24 - Team Penske was found to have cheated, whether intentional or not,
by disabling IndyCar's control of their Push-To-Pass system, enabling the cars to use the
additional 50 h.p. on starts and restarts.  
Josef Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin were
disqualified and lost all points attained.  
Will Power, who did not use the PTP on restarts,
was penalized 10 points.  In addition, all prize money won by the team was forfeited and all
three entries were fined $25,000.

Second-place finisher
Pato O’Ward of Arrow McLaren has been promoted to first and
awarded the win.
Winner Scott Dixon
Weather was good - partly cloudy and 73 degrees.  Track temperature was 20 degrees
cooler than yesterday.

Scott McLaughlin started on pole.

Three cars at the back of the field were involved in trouble at the first turn of the first lap.
Involved were
Sting Ray Robb, Jack Harvey and Rinus VeeKay - who received a penalty
for avoidable contact.  All three cars were able to continue without a yellow flag. VeeKay
pulled into the pits to serve the stop and go penalty.

On lap 55, Robb's steering wheel broke and he ended his day with a crash into the tire
barrier.  Perhaps this incident on the opening lap precipitated the malfunction.

The next lap,
Santino Ferrucci made contact with Colton Herta's car.  Pato O'Ward went
off track in Turn 5, but kept going.  In a few laps, Ferruci was able to pass Herta.

O'Ward then forced
Pietro Fittipaldi into the tire barrier in T5.  O'Ward received his first of
two penalties for avoidable contact.  The caution lasted from Lap 6- 9.  

The beginning of this race was representative of the entire race - lots of aggressive driving
with contact and cars going off track in T5.

Scott Dixon was up to 7th on lap 18 when he went off track in T5.  He could never recover
from the positions he lost and finished 15th.

Christian Rasmussen started 13th.  On lap 25, he made contact with Marcus Ericsson
and went off track causing him to fall back to the end of the field.

Like the previous race, two pit stop strategies added intrigue to the race.  While three more
cautions came during the last half of the race, seven drivers stuck to a 2-stop strategy and
six of them finished in the top 12.  Among those drivers,
Felix Rosenqvist and Alex Palou
finished the highest - in P4 & P5 respectively.

Ferrucci drove a very aggressive race and thanks to a call to not pit during the 3d caution
on laps 55-59, moved up from 4th to lead the race for A.J. Foyt Racing.  Six laps later he
had to pit, but would bring it home in 7th.

The Arrow McLaren team had a terrible day; between O'Ward penalties and off track
excursion,
Alex Rossi's rear wheel coming off, and fill-in rookie driver Theo Pourchaire's
performance, they finished at the bottom of the field.

Josef Newgarden had moved up to 3rd before the first round of pit stops, but was
consequently driven off track by a pass attempt from
Marcus Armstrong, dropping
Newgarden back to 18th.  After the 3rd caution, he found himself at the very back of the
field.  He managed to work himself up to 16th on the last lap.

Though feeling ill and having suffered clutch problems over the weekend, Team Penske's
Will Power finished in 2nd while his teammate, Scott McLaughlin won the race, having led
58 of 90 laps.

Rookie
Linus Lundqvist was the biggest mover of the race.  The Ganassi driver started
20th and finished 3rd for his first IndyCar podium!
OMG!

A most bizarre incident
happened when a female
mannequin that was hanging
from the bottom of a walkway
that bridged the track, suddenly
fell during the middle of the
race, landing right by the edge
of the track as cars zipped by
within an inch of her!

It was crazy and one has to
wonder how many drivers and
fans were momentarily
alarmed, thinking it was a
human being!
Podium - Will Power (2nd),  Scott McLaughlin (1st), Linus Lundqvist (3rd)
Race Day weather was 70-degrees, partly cloudy and windy.

Alex Palou started on pole.  Starting beside him was Christian Lundgaard.  
Lundgaard passed him on the first lap at Turn 3 and led for the first 39 laps.  
The CGR team got Palou out on the track and in front of Lundgaard after his first pit stop.
He led the remainder, winning his 2nd race of the year.

There was chaos behind them at the first turn on the first lap.   
Pietro Fittipalid got into Rinus Veekay which caused a chain reaction.
Six cars were forced off into the grass.
August Canapino suffered front wing damage with a part going into the radiator of Sting
Ray Robb
.

Also on the first lap,
Marcus Ericsson tapped teammate Colton Herta, sending him off track.

There were some hard racing going on between
Santino Ferrucci and Romain Grosjean
that began on Lap 2 when Ferrucci forced Grosjean off track and into the grass.

On Lap 57, the AJ Foyt Racing team saw something wrong in the data from Ferrucci's car and
called him in, halting his race.  He was the only driver not to finish this race.

A mechancial problem on
Linus Lundqvist's car forced repairs and he fell from P8 to P24.

During the last round of pit stops,
Will Power moved ahead of 2nd place Lundgaard.  
Both drivers would hold onto those postitions to the end of the race.

Just after the last round of pit stops, on Lap 64,
Luca Ghiotto spun off track between turns
10 and 11.  This brought out the first and only yellow flag of the race.  (Ghiotto is driving a few
races for Dale Coyne Racing.)  This benefited
Scott McLaughlin who was just pitting and he
was able to advance from P11 to P6.

Palou's win moved him into the points lead.

Colton Herta was the Biggest Mover of the day, improving 17 positions (Started 24 / Finished 7.)
Pato O'Ward named winner
SUMMARY
The start of the race was delayed 4 hours due to rain.  The entire 200 laps were ran late in the day.

The race came down to an exciting finish.  In the closing laps, the lead was exchanged between
Pato O'Ward and Josef Newgarden.  Newgarden finished first, capturing his 2nd Indy 500 victory.
He won the race last year and becomes the first driver in 20 years to win back-to-back 500s.  
In addition to his $4.2 million prize money, he received an additional $400,000 for that feat.

While
Christian Rasmussen started in 24th and fought a hard race to finish 12th, becoming the
highest finishing rookie,
"Rookie of the Year" honors was, once again, awarded to a popular
Nascar driver -
Kyle Larson, who started in 5th, made mistakes and finished 18th.

Pole-sitter
Scott McLaughlin lead the most laps (66) and finished 6th.

The biggest mover of the race was
Conor Daly who gained 19 positions, starting 29th and finishing
10th.  Other big movers were
Scott Dixon, who began in 21st and finished in 3rd, and Graham
Rahal
who improved from 33rd to 15th.
It was 70-degrees and overcast in Detroit at race time.

Colton Herta started from pole on this short, tight, street course that has many 90-degree turns.

This race was marred by 8 caution periods.  The first happened on the first lap when too many
cars tried to get through a turn.  
Will Power was hit and spun into the wall which resulted in 5
cars getting stopped behind him.

After the restart, on Lap 13,
Santino Ferrucci hit Helio Castroneves that tangled him up with
Kyffin Simpson, which brought out the 2nd yellow.  Ferrucci motored away, but had to serve a  
stop-and-go penalty for avoidable contact.

The car of
Christian Rasmussen began smoking on Lap 24 which put him out of the race, but
did not bring out a caution.

Scott McLaughlin locked up into Turn 1 and ended up in the tire barrier.  That accident brought
out the 3rd yellow flag and cars began to pit.  A little rain fell for a moment, surprising everyone.  
Many cars pit for rain tires, but not the top 7 leading the race.

On Lap 40, Castroneves had to run into a run-off area while circulating under yellow.  Before the
race could go green, the track dried out and those on rain tires pit again for race tires.

The race was restarted several times but the yellow flag kept coming out before a lap could be
completed.  Laps 33 through 59 were all effectively yellow.  Incidents included
Rinus VeeKay
putting Will Power into a barrier, Herta running Tristan Vaultier and himself into a run-off area,
and Lundgaard hit
Romain Grosjean and blocked several cars.

The race ran under green for 3 laps (60-62) before McLaughlin put
Sting Ray Robb into a tire
barrier nose-first.  That brought out the 7th caution.  Many cars pit.

Lap 74 - On the restart,
Scott Dixon had taken over the lead.  At Turn 3, Newgarden hit Kirkwood
in the rear and spun himself which brought
Alex Palou to a stop.  Alex Rossi hit Newgarden in the
rear as he went by.  The yellow flag flew for the 8th and final time.  Newgarden swiped the wall
and bent his toe-link.  The newly crowned Indy 500 winner pit and his car was repaired, but he
would finish 6 laps down.

The green came out on Lap 74.  The extended caution laps had helped Dixon save fuel and now
he began to pull away from
Marcus Armstrong.  A fierce battle broke out as Kirkwood attemped
to pass Armstrong.

On Lap 83,
Marcus Ericsson passesd Kirkwood for 3rd and then began chasing Armstrong.  
With two laps left to go, he finally got around Armstrong for 2nd.  Ericsson was the biggest mover
of the day, having started in 19th position.

Dixon won.  It is his 58th IndyCar victory!
Rain on Saturday created slick conditions for both practice and qualifying.
Josef Newgarden suffered a big crash during the closing moments of qualifying, destroying his car.
Ganassi rookie
Linus Lundqvist got his first IndyCar pole.

The weather was nice on race day with a temperature of 71 degrees and partly cloudy.

There was chaos at the front on the first lap, sparked off by
Marcus Armstrong  hitting Lundqvist
and both spun. This resulted in
Josef Newgarden hitting Colton Herta from behind.  Graham Rahal
also went off track.  There would be two more cautions before the race went green again on Lap 10.
Lundqvist spun out Herta, who was now in last place.  
Sting Ray Robb cause Felix Rosenqvist to go
off track, sending him to the back.
Christian Rasmussen caused Kyffin Simpson to crash into a tire
barrier.

Will Power moved up from 6th to join his other two Team Penske teammates at the head of the field
by lap 24.  He went on to win the race and Team Penske finished 1-2-3.

Herta, who had started in 2nd and was knocked to the back during the first few laps, fought his way
back to finish 6th.  However, technically, Rahal was the biggest mover of the race - moving from 24th
to 10th.
All Penske Podium
The weather was nice - 61 degrees and clear skies.

Kyle Kirkwood started from pole and led the first 24 laps before being passed by Alex Rossi
and Alex Palou.

Starting at the front in this race is usually important.  None of the Penske drivers qualified for
the first three rows.  

Will Power started 15th, but went off track in T4 on the first lap, putting him in the back.  He
slowly worked his way forward, entering the Top 10 at the mid-point of the race.  He finished
in 7th, much better than his teammates.

Josef Newgarden also moved his way to the front by the mid-point.  By lap 70, he found
himself leading as the nine drivers in front of him made pit stops.  He got very lucky when he
needed to pit as
Marcus Armstrong crashed and the officials delayed throwing the yellow,
leaving the pit lane open long enough for Newgarden to dive in.  This enabled Newgarden to
cycle into 2nd instead of 10th!  Unfortunately for him, a few off track excursions dropped him
back and he finished 14th.

Palou won the race, as previous lap leaders
Colton Herta and Rossi finished 2nd and 3rd
respectively.  Palou moved back into the points lead.

Other notes:

19 y/o
Nolan Siegel made his first start for Arrow McLaren and finished 12th.

Having sat out all season due to an injury,
David Malukas made his return with his new team,
Meyer Shank Racing.  Although his arm is still healing, he finished a respectable 16th.

Romain Grosjean secured Juncos Hollinger Racing's best finish ever - 4th!
2nd - Colton Herta
Andretti Global
1st - Alex Palou
Chip Ganassi Racing
3rd - Alex Rossi
Arrow McLaren
The Mid-Ohio course received a repave, except for Pit Lane and the Turn 1 section that was
repaved last year.  The project entailed replacing 6,000 tons of asphalt and took 5,000 man-hours.

The new IndyCar hybrid system debuted today.  The system adds 105 lbs to the car.  This weight
is in the rear of the car, which all the drivers must adapt to.  The system delivers an additional 60
hp to the rear wheels, but seems to only work for about 3 seconds per lap.  Braking regenerates
the battery.  Adding complexity and weight to the car is a bad idea imo, but I think IndyCar is doing
it in an effort to stay relevant with technology while it tries to attract other engine manufacturers.

The Push-to-Pass system is still available and also provides an additional 60 hp when applied.

Ganassi's
Alex Palou barely edged out McLaren's Pato O'Ward for the pole.

On race day, the weather warmed up and was in the 80's.

Scott Dixon's hybrid system screwed up, stranding him on the course, and a caution came out
as the race was about to start.  His day was over before it could begin.

Drivers chose either a 2-stop strategy (everyone who finished in the top-13) or a 3-stop.

The race was fairly uneventful.  Palou led until a slow pit stop (Lap 56) put him behind O'Ward.
O'Ward led the remaining laps and won.
Winner Pato O'Ward
RECAP
The race started at 4:45pm instead of 12:45pm, due to rain.

On the first lap,
Tom Blomqvist got low in turn 1 and spun out, taking Marcus Ericsson and
Pietro Fittipaldi out with him.

On the restart, Larson mis-shifted and lost 9 positions.

After a restart on Lap 27, Linus Lundqvist crashed in Turn 1.

On Lap 80, McLaughlin was leading, with
Colton Herta 2nd and Newgarden 3rd.  Six laps
later, Herta spun and crashed in the south Chute.  For those that pit, Newgarden got out first.

Newgarden was leading on Lap 100, followed by
Santino Ferrucci and McLaughlin.

On Lap 107,
Ryan Hunter-Ray spun out and damaged his front wing after making wheel
contact with Dixon.

On the restart,
Marco Andretti spun in the first turn and hit the wall.

On Lap 132, several front-runners pit under green. Larson is penalized for speeding on the pit
road.

Alexander Rossi passed McLaughlin and Newgarden for the lead on Lap 135.

On Lap 147, Will Power crashed in Turn 1.  On the restart,
Pato O'Ward took the lead and
over the next 20 laps, he would swap it with teammate Rossi.  Follwing them were Dixon,
Newgarden,
Alex Palou, McLaughlin, Rinus VeeKay, Daly, Ferrucci and Kirkwood.

After the final pit stops, Dixon and Newgarden began swapping for the lead.  By Lap 185, it
was Newgarden and Rossi battling.

With 5 laps to go, O'Ward passed Newgarden for the lead.  An epic battle ensued between
the two drivers.  On the last lap, Newgarden made the final pass for the lead and won the
race.
Winner Josef Newgarden
Pato O'Ward Led With 1 Lap To Go
This was the first oval race of the IndyCar Hybrid Era.
The drivers had one practice session yesterday, before qualifying this afternoon.

QUALIFYING
They qualified in reverse order of the point standings.
Each driver got a warmup lap followed by two qualifying laps.
The first qualifying lap set the order for tonight's race and the 2nd lap for tomorrow's
noon race.

Scott McLaughlin set a new track record on his 2nd lap, going 188 mph.
Colton Herta won the pole for tonight's race.

RACE
A caution came out before the first lap was complete.  David Malukas lost it and hit the
wall, collecting both Juncos Hollinger Racing cars (Canapino and Grosjean) and sending
them into the wall.  All three were out of the race.  
Christian Lundgaard also lost it, but
didn't hit anything.  However, something broke on his car and he was out of the race too.

Josef Newgarden, who had started 22nd, passed a lot of cars on the outside in that first
lap, moving up to 14th!

The race restarted on Lap 19.

Jack Harvey is suffering from mysterious back and neck pain which affected him at the
last race.  He had trouble exiting the racer today after the 3-lap qualifying session.  The
Dale Coyne Racing team were planning on using
Conor Daly as a replacement driver, but
IndyCar had not qualified him to race.  Harvey tried to race anyway, but had to retire on
lap 28 due to great pain.

On Lap 42, IndyCar gave
Santino Ferrucci a stop-and-go penalty for being out of line at
the restart and then failing to honor a drive-through penalty.  This dropped him from 5th to
a lap down and the back of the field on Lap 43.

Everyone pit on Lap 84 during the second caution.  McLaughlin beat Herta out of the pits
to take the lead.  Meanwhile,
Alex Palou lost time in the pits when he stalled his engine.
He fell from 3rd to 19th.  (He did the same thing at the last race and it cost him the win.)
He had worked his way up to 11th by Lap 175, when he lost control and hit the wall,
ending his day.  

On the restart, Herta almost passed McLaughlin, but failed.  Newgarden was now in 10th.
Will Power, who had been in 5th, received a stop-and-go penalty for speeding in the pit
lane, which moved him to the back of the field.

Herta reported a severe vibration problem on Lap 140, but being in 2nd place, the team
made him stay out.  He finally pit on Lap 174.  Unfortunately for him, that is when Palou
crashed bringing out the 3rd caution of the race, and everyone else were able to pit under
yellow.  Herta was given the wave around, but still ended up at the back of the field.  He
would finish in 11th.

The race resumed on Lap 188.  The leader was McLaughlin, followed by
Pato O'Ward
and Scott Dixon.  Newgarden had came out of the pits in 4th!

There was a caution on Lap 211 and another on lap 224.

As the race was restarting, Power got on the power too soon and ran into the back of
Pietro Fittipaldi causing him to spin and collect Ed Carpenter, sending both into the wall.
That brought out another caution. Team Penske was able to replace the nose on Power's
car and get him back in the race, but he was a lap down.

The race restarted on Lap 238.  Newgarden passed Dixon on the next lap to take P3.

McLaughlin led every lap since passing Herta (164 laps) and won the race.  This was his
first win on an oval track.

There were six cautions for a total of 66 laps.  Out of the 27 cars which started the race,
15 were on the lead lap and 9 did not finish.

Newgarden was the biggest mover of the race, improving 19 positions.

While Ferrucci had been at the back of the field and a lap down, he finished in P6, behind
Rinus VeeKay.
The safest place to pass on the one-line Iowa track is in the pits
2nd - Pato O'Ward
1st - Scott McLaughlin
3rd - Josef Newgarden
The weather was hot and Scott McLaughlin was on the pole.  He led the first 94 laps.

Due to an accident during qualifying,
Will Power started in 22nd.  He moved up two
spots on the first lap and soon settled into 19th.

Everyone except Power pit under green between laps 92-100.  On Lap 101,
Augustin
Canapino
spun and stalled, bringing out the first caution.  Power was then able to pit
under yellow.  This moved him into 2nd, behind
Alex Palou!

Behind Power were McLaughlin, Dixon, Herta, O'Ward and Rossi.  This order did not
change until the 2nd and final pit stops.  Power took the lead over Palou thanks to a
faster pit stop.
As the cars headed for the checkered flag, Sting Ray Robb was launched straight up into the air
after running into the back of Alexander Rossi.  Robb's car turned sideways as it came down and
did a barrel roll, landing upside down. This triggered another collision.
Rossi slid across the track, causing Ed Carpenter and Kyle Kirkwood to hit the inside wall.
Carpenter ended up atop KIrkwood's car.  All the drivers appeared to be ok.
Winner Will Power
The order of the Top 5 remained unchanged to the end and Power
won his 2nd race of the season.

This was Power's first win at the Iowa Speedway.  

He was also the biggest mover of the race.

It was his 43rd IndyCar victory, which moved him into 4th place and
ahead of
Michael Andretti in the All Time Most IndyCar Wins list.  

Note:
Conor Daly substituted for Jack Harvey.  Daly suffered
mechanical problems on Lap 140 and was the first out of the race.
There was not much passing during the race and it was a bit boring, until the end, when  
Sting Ray Robb survived a spectacular accident on the last lap that took out three other cars.
Colton Herta was fastest in each session and won the pole.

Alex Rossi broke his thumb during a crash in practice on Friday.  Arrow McLaren flew Theo
Pourchaire
in from France to replace him.  The Frenchman arrived an hour before qualifying!

Making his first IndyCar appearance was IndyNXT driver,
Hunter McElrea, driving the Dale
Coyne Racing No. 18.  This car is normally driven by Jack Harvey, but he missed the last
race due to back pain.

RACE DAY

The weather was nice.

On the first lap, too many cars were trying to get though a turn which resulted in a crash,
leaving
Christian Rasmussen out of the race and Santino Ferrucci returning to the pits for
a new nose and tires for his car.

A lap after the race restarted,
Augustin Canapino hit Scott Dixon and rebounded into the
wall, knocking himself out of the race and bringing out the second caution.

While pitting on lap 54, Team Penske screwed up the pit stop for
Josef Newgarden and he
fell from 3rd to 8th.  Dixon then moved into P3 and would finish the race in that position.

Kyffin Simpson crashed on Lap 67, bringing out the 3rd caution.

Two laps after the restart, there was a huge crash that brought out the red flag.
Running in 6th,
Pato O'Ward started it when he spun in turn 1 and backed it into the wall.
Marcus Ericsson was forced to the left and into the wall beside him.  The next four cars
made it through the turn, but the next three hit the front of O'Ward's car one after the other in
rapid succession.  First,
Pietro Fittipaldi, clipped the left front corner of O'Ward's car, and
Once the race resumed, with 10 laps to go, Will Power dove inside his teammate Scott
McLaughlin
, who was in 4th.  Power hit McLaughlin, sending him into the wall and out of the
race.  Power received a drive-through penalty and finished in 12th, right behind Newgarden.  

Herta, followed by his Andretti teammate
Kyle Kirkwood, led the entire race.  It was a
remarkably dominant weekend for Herta.  

The biggest movers of the race were
Alex Palou, finishing 4th, and Rinus VeeKay, finishing
8th.  Both drivers improved 14 spots.
was launched into the air and then slid along the wall.
Ferrucci hit him next, dead center, and flew high into
the air, turned sideways, hit the fence with the bottom
of his car and landed inverted atop Fittipaldi's car
before landing on the track upside down.  
Nolan Siegel was the third car to hit O'Ward, but
richocheted into the wall on the other side of the track,
knocking O'Ward into the center of the track.  
Toby Sowery, trying to avoid O'Ward, couldn't stop
before hitting the rear of Siegel.  
Pourchaire meanwhile, was able to weave through the
mess without hitting anyone.  Pourchaire had started
from the back and went on to finish 14th.
The Aftermath - 5 cars out
ANDRETTI 1-2             Kyle Kirkwood and Winner Colton Herta
QUALIFYING

Felix Rosenqvist qualified 2nd, but like Alex Palou and Scott Dixon, had an
unauthorized engine swap at Toronto and all three suffered 9-spot grid
penalties.  This moved
David Malukas up alongside Scott McLaughlin on
pole.  Behind McLaughlin were his two Penske teammates.

Colton Herta crashed during qualifying and had to start at the rear.

RACE

Race day was sunny with some wind.

While some feared this track might have just one line and be a little boring like
Iowa, that was not the case.  Cars were able to run two wide.  The upper lane
were kept fairly clean of marbles throughout the race thanks to a couple of
sweepings that took place during cautions.

Fuel strategies were still important.  This is a high down-force track which mean
bad fuel mileage.  Some drivers were trying to do just 4 pit stops.  As it turned
out, only Herta was able to accomplish that.

On the first lap,
Herta brazenly weaved through traffic, at one point going 4-
wide, to pick up 6 spots.

The action was fast and furious, but the first caution came on just lap 8 when
Ed Carpenter and Katherine Legge came together.  There was no apparent
body damage to the cars, but Legge's day was over.

Another yellow flew a couple laps after the restart involving
Kyle Kirkwood and
the Junco cars of
Conor Daly and Romain Grosjean.  It started when Daly ran
into the back of the slowing
Rinus VeeKay. Daly began to spin and was hit by
Kirkwood, who was hit by Grosjean behind him.  Daly did a complete 360.
Kirkwood's damage allowed him to put in a few more laps, but he had to retire
on Lap 53.  Daly and Grosjean returned to the race, but were a few laps down.

On the restart, Will Power passed Malukas for the lead.  Behind Malukas was
McLaughlin,
Josef Newgarden and Pato O'Ward.  On Lap 42, a mechanical
problem sent O'Ward to the pits and his race was over.

Herta passed Palou on Lap 34 to move into the top 10.

The rear of
Kyffin Simpson's car came loose exiting T4 and he hit the wall
backwards, bringing out the 3rd caution on Lap 85.

On Lap 196, Newgarden lost control while trying to pass Herta.  He did a half
spin, but did not hit anything.  That brought out the 4th caution.  While he and
Mclaughln used the opportunity to pit, Power and Malukas did not, and were in
the lead at the restart.  However, they had to pit under green ten laps later.  

With 20 laps to go, they had passed Palou and
Linus Lundvist and were now
behind leader McLaughlin, Newgarden and Herta.

Malukas tried to pass Power on the inside and it looked like Power pinched him,
causing Malukas to spin and hit the wall!  Malukas was out. That brought out the
5th caution and the two leaders pit for fuel and tires.  If Herta needed more fuel,
Power was in good contention for the win.

Newgarden was the leader for the restart.  He didn't floor it the second the light
turned green, as is his right, and that caused havoc behind him as a couple of
drivers were impatient and nailed it too soon. Power lunged forward tapping the
rear of Herta and backed off to immediately be hit from behind by
Alex Rossi.
That turned Power in towards the wall and Rossi's car flew up into the air,
coming down to collide with Power.  They slid into the inside wall, collecting
Romain Grosjean on the way.  All three were finished!  Power was furious.
IndyCar threw the red flag.
On the restart, with 7 laps to go, Newgarden was
leading followed by McLaughlin, Herta, Lundqvist
and Palou.  Lundqvist was able to pass Herta
though Herta tried blocking him.  The race finished in
that order, however, Herta was given a penalty for
the blocking and had to give up a position, falling
down to 5th. None the less, Herta moved into 2nd in
the standings.  Those five were the only cars on the
lead lap.

The three Penske cars led the most laps - Power
with 117, McLaughlin with 67 and Newgarden the
final 17.  

Herta was the biggest mover of the day, improving
20 positions.
Josef Newgarden Winner
Rossi Hits Power on Restart
Grosjean Gets Collected in Resulting Crash
Santino Ferrucci won the Pole.  This was his first and it was A.J. Foyt Racing's first
pole in ten years.  It appears the technical help they've been getting from Team
Penske has been paying off this season.

RACE

On the first lap,
Will Power passed Ferrucci for the lead, then Scott Dixon got
shoved off the road by
Kyle Kirkwood.  As Dixon regained control approaching the
next turn,
Pietro Fittipaldi came bouncing over the curbs on the inside and hit Dixon,
sending him into the guard rail and severely damaging his car.  This is only the
second time that Dixon was knocked out of the race on the first lap.  The first time
was at Motegi in 2005!

While Dixon blamed Kirkwood, IndyCar penalized Fittipaldi for "Avoidable Contact"
and he had to do a drive-through.

On Lap 23, Fittipaldi got into more trouble.  He dove into the inside of
Conor Daly at
a turn, but he came in too hot, locked up his tires and hit Daly, spinning him.  Both
cars continued and Fittipalidi was slapped with another drive-through penalty.

On Lap 59,
Colton Herta pit from P4.  He stalled the car leaving the pits, but quickly
restarted it using the hybrid system.  This is not allowed.  (Herta later said he did not
know that. Hm, even I knew that.  I would think a professional would have the rules
memorized.)  I do not see a reason for that rule.  IndyCar appeared not to know
what to do about it and they ended up telling him to allow the car behind him by.
That car was a lapped car and Herta retained P4.

On Lap 62,
Romain Grosjean spun going through a turn.  He restarted it and sped
straight into the racing line without looking.  Rasmussen ran right into him. Both cars
were damaged.  After repairs, they ran the rest of the race a few laps down.
Grosjean received a drive-through penalty for "Unsafe Behavior" and fell another lap
down.

Power led almost all of the laps and beat 2nd-place
Alex Palou to the finish line by
9.8 seconds.  
Josef Newgarden came in 3rd.

Power is the first driver to win three races this season.
Marcus Armstong was the biggest mover of the race, starting 20th and finishing 5th.
Power Leads Ferrucci
WIll Power Winner
IndyCar drivers only had one practice session this weekend - a 1.5 hour session on
Friday, after a short session to lay some rubber on the track.

Qualifying was Saturday afternoon, three hours before the first race.  It consisted
of a warm-up lap followed by two qualifying laps.  The first qualifying lap set the
order for the first race and the second lap set the grid for tomorrow's race.  
Scott
McLaughlin
won the pole for today's race.  Seven drivers had unapproved engines
changes at Portland and were penalized today with 9-place grid penalties.  
Josef
Newgarden
suffered the most, as he had qualified 2nd, but would start the race in
11th.

RACE

Conor Daly, who was recently hired by Juncos Hollinger Racing, was also
penalized and started 25th.  At the start, he went to the outside and passed many
cars.  By Lap 3, he settled into P15.  By lap 100, he had moved up to P12.  

Linus Lundqvist passed McLaughlin for the lead on Lap 48.

Pato O'Ward took over the lead after the first round of pit stops.  He would fight
for it over the next 51 laps  wtih
Colton Herta and McLaughlin, finally securing it on
Lap 119 and never relinquishing it.

Katherine Legge spun into the infield on Lap 82, but kept it off the wall.  This
brought out a caution and  everyone pit except McLaughlin and
Sting Ray Robb.
The track was also swept by sweeper trucks.

On Lap 147, after the 3rd round of pitstops,
Marcus Ericsson tried to pass
Newgarden on the inside in Turn 2.  They were wheel-to-wheel when Ericsson spun
and collected Newgarden, sending them both into the wall and out of the race.
While each driver blamed the other, race control deemed it a racing accident.
Power moved into P3, just behind points leader
Alex Palou.  Struggling to stay in
the championship, Power's mission was to finish ahead of Palou.

By Lap 184, while cars began making their final pit stops, Daly was in 10th.  The
final caution suddenly came out when a wheel flew off of Herta's car after his pit
stop.  Daly, Power,
Christian Lundgaard and Lundqvist had not yet pit, and were
able to do so under yellow.  This benefited all four drivers.  Meanwhile, Palou, who
pit on Lap 185, fell from P2 to P7 and Power found himself 3 positions ahead of
him.

When the race went green, Daly found himself in 6th.  He quickly passed
Lundgaard and Lundqvist to take over P4.  

On Lap 222, Power and Daly passed 2nd place
Santino Ferrucci. Power went on
to finish 2nd and keep his championship hopes alive.  

Daly was happy to get a podium in only his 3rd race with the JHR team.  It was
team's first podium.  Daly was also the biggest mover of the race, improving 22
positions, with 51 passes.

This was O'Ward's 3rd win of 2024.  This was
Scott Dixon's 400th IndyCar race.
Will Power - P2
Pato O'Ward - Winner
Conor Daly - 3rd
With two races left to run, Will Power sat 43 points behind leader Alex Palou.  

Josef Newgarden started on pole with team-mate Scott McLaughlin beside him.

During the pace lap, Palou's car sat unmoving on the track!  This brought out a
caution before the green flag waved, but the race lap counter had started.  His car
was dragged back to the pits, then towed to the garage, as the laps ticked down.
This was looking fortunate for Power's championship hopes.

The race soon started, but did not make it past the starting line before another
caution!  As the cars were speeding up and heading for the green flag,
Linus
Lundqvist
hit his teammate Marcus Armstrong who then hit Newgarden.
Newgarden crashed into the inside wall and the pole sitter's race was over before
it could begin.  Lundqvist received a penalty for "Avoidable Contact."

The race finally started on Lap 16.  

Unlike yesterday, today's race strategies were about tires, not fuel savings.  All the
teams took more pit stops.

The electrical problem on Palou's car was fixed by a new battery and he rejoined
the race 29 laps down.

On Lap 44, Power passed teammate McLaughlin for the lead.

Yesterday's winner,
Pato O'Ward, was called into the pits on Lap 87.  He had
been running 5th.  There was a problem with his car and O'Ward was out.

Sting Ray Robb spun and kept his car from hitting anything, but another caution
came out on Lap 113.  Half the drivers pit.  McLaughlin came out ahead of Power,
but
Alex Rossi and Scott Dixon stayed out and were now in the lead.

Power was in 6th and as the race restarted, Power put down too much power and
spun!  He fell back to 11th place.

On the next lap,
Christian Rasmussen hit a slow Graham Rahal, spinning him
and sending him into the outside wall bringing out a caution.  Power then made
a pit stop for tires, then another for a front wing adjustment.  When the race
restarted on Lap 137, Power was in 13th and a lap down.  Palou had moved up to
21st due to attrition.

Rossi continued leading until he had to pit on Lap 164.  Herta took over the lead and
held it until his pit stop on Lap 187.  After ten laps, the remaining six drivers on the
lead lap pit and Herta resumed the lead on Lap 199.

With fresher tires, McLaughlin was able to pass him on Lap 218 for the lead. Herta
was followed by Rossi,
Santino Ferrucci and Dixon.

On Lap 228, Robb got loose and hit the wall, bringing out the final caution.  All the
drivers on the lead lap pit for what fresher tires they had left.  

On the restart Rossi got passed by Dixon and Herta.  As Dixon drove the fastest
laps of the race trying to catch McLaughlin,
Santino Ferruci got by Rossi for 4th.
With one lap to go, Marcus Ericsson got by Rossi for 5th.

McLaughlin won his third race of the season.  

Palou's misfortune at the start of the race seemed like a miracle being handed to
Power, especially when Power took the early lead.  If he won, he might be leading
the championship going into Nashville.  However, Palou received 11 points for
finishing P19 and Power received 21 points for 10th.  Palou leads Power by 33
points heading to the last race.

Dixon finished 2nd, capturing his 58th IndyCar podium, moving past
Mario Andretti
into 2nd place on the "All-Time Most Podiums" list, behind A.J. Foyt, who had 67.  
Dixon was the biggest mover of the race, improving 15 positions.

Ferrucci again finished 4th.  He made 63 passes, the most of any IndyCar driver in
a single race this season.
As Polesitter Josef Newgarden races towards the starting line,
contact between Ganassi drivers knocks him out of the race.
Scott McLaughlin
Winner
Due to construction in Nashville, the street race was moved 30 miles east to the
Nashville Speedway, a 1.3-mile tri-oval that IndyCar has not visited since 2008.
It is the only all concrete oval race for the series.

There was nothing scheduled for Friday and the first practice, qualifying and

final practice were all scheduled for Saturday.

The speedway had ground down a section of the track right before the entry to

Turn 4 to try and remove a bump.  This resulted in problems during practice for
both IndyCar and INDY NXT
, from drivers losing the rear and sliding into the wall,
to cars bottoming out.  Nolan Siegel suffered a big hit after only 5 laps of practice
due to the bump
.  The damage prevented him from particpating in qualifying.
Nothing was done to try and remedy the situation and all the drivers just had to
be careful.

Kyle Kirkwood edged out Josef Newgarden for the pole.

Rain fell, postponing the final practice for hours.  It was decided that instead of

running the cars in two groups, everyone would practice at the same time.  The
practice was also shortened.  The first part of the session was simply running a
high line to try and rubber in the track, followed by normal practice.  The
session got underway so late that they had to turn on the speedway's lights.
The temperature was much cooler now and therefor it was hard for the teams
to gain much insight into how the cars would behave the following afternoon when
it would be warmer.


There were more unknowns going into this race than any other to begin with
; now
there was
less data than they had hoped for.  None the less, the race was fast,
exciting and clean!


RACE DAY

Sunday was overcast and warm - 84-degrees and a mild 8
-mph wind.

Will Power needed to finish first or second today to have a chance at winning
the championship.  He started from P4 while points leader Alex Palou started
back in 24th after a 9-position grid penalty was applied.  On Lap 12, Power's
seatbelt came unfastened and he had to pit!  It took a long time for the crew to
get it fastened and by the time he rejoined the race, he was 5 laps down.  Palou
finished 11th and won the championship for the 2nd year in a row, and the 3rd
time in five years.

Kirkwood had led the entire race until he pit on Lap 54.  Two laps later,
Felix
Rosenqvist hit the wall, ending his race and bringing out the first caution.
Many race leaders pit during the caution and Kirkwood ended up back in 10th
when the race restarted.  Marcus Armstrong suffered a similar timing blow,
having pit on Lap 55 from P5 and fell back to P11.

Josef Newgarden now led, followed closely by Colton Herta.

Katherine Legge dropped out after touching the wall and bringing out a 2nd
caution on Lap 89.

All the leaders pit during the caution except for
Alex Rossi who would inherit the
lead over Newgarden.  Herta lost a few positions during the stop, but quickly
passed Marcus Ericsson and David Malukas to position himself behind
Newgarden once again.

Rossi gave up the lead when he pit on Lap 124.  He took on his first set of

alternate tires.  The rules for this race require each driver to use two sets of
reds, so he would have to stop again just to exchange them.

On lap 135,
Ericsson crashed out.  Everyone pit during the 3rd caution except
for
Pato O'Ward, who then moved into the lead of the race.  He finally pit on
lap 161 and fell back a lap to P12.  Newgarden had fallen back to P7 at that
point.

Over the next 40 laps, Herta, Malukas and Kirkwood were fighting over the lead.

During the closing laps, Malukas and Kirkwood both had to stop for a splash of
fuel.  O'Ward inherited the lead, but Herta immediately passed him and held on
to win his first IndyCar oval race. Newgarden was also able to get by Kirkwood
to finish 3rd.  Kirkwood led the most laps in the race.

Herta was the only full-time driver in 2024 to finish every race.  He ends up 2nd
in the 2024 Standings.

Scott
McLaughlin was the biggest mover of the race, improving 13 position.  He
started 18th, due to a 9-spot grid penalty due to an unapproved engine change,
but
finished 5th.  He came in 3rd in the final point standings.

After 16 years, this is the last IndyCar event broadcast by NBC Sports.  Fox
Sports will begin coverage of the NTT IndyCar Series beginning in 2025.
Herta 1st --- O'Ward 2nd -- Newgarden 3rd