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]

2020 Iowa Speedway

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
Race 1
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
Race 2
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]

Car No.	Driver Name	Owner/Team	Engine
1	Josef Newgarden  W	Team Penske	Chevrolet
4	Charlie Kimball	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Chevrolet
5	Patricio O'Ward	Arrow McLaren SP	Chevrolet
7	Oliver Askew  R	Arrow McLaren SP	Chevrolet
8	Marcus Ericsson	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
9	Scott Dixon	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
10	Felix Rosenqvist	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
12	Will Power	Team Penske	Chevrolet
14	Tony Kanaan  W	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Chevrolet
15	Graham Rahal	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda
18	Santino Ferrucci	Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan	Honda
20	Ed Carpenter	Ed Carpenter Racing	Chevrolet
21	Rinus VeeKay  R	Ed Carpenter Racing	Chevrolet
22	Simon Pagenaud	Team Penske	Chevrolet
26	Zach Veach	Andretti Autosport	Honda
27	Alexander Rossi	Andretti Autosport	Honda
28	Ryan Hunter-Reay  W	Andretti Autosport	Honda
30	Takuma Sato	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda
55	Álex Palou  R	Dale Coyne Racing with Team Goh	Honda
59	Conor Daly	Carlin	Chevrolet
60	Jack Harvey	Meyer Shank Racing	Honda
88	Colton Herta	Andretti Harding Steinbrenner Autosport	Honda
98	Marco Andretti  W	Andretti Herta Autosport with Marco Andretti & Curb-Agajanian	Honda
Sources:[5][6]

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	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

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Engine	Laps	Time/Status	Pit Stops	Grid	Laps Led	Pts.1
1	22	Simon Pagenaud	Team Penske	Chevrolet	250	1:41:25.2939	12	23	83	53
2	9	Scott Dixon	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	250	+0.495	12	17		40
3	7	Oliver Askew  R	Arrow McLaren SP	Chevrolet	250	+7.212	13	14		35
4	5	Patricio O'Ward	Arrow McLaren SP	Chevrolet	250	+13.989	13	8	30	33
5	1	Josef Newgarden  W	Team Penske	Chevrolet	250	+16.735	12	2	68	31
6	27	Alexander Rossi	Andretti Autosport	Honda	250	+19.600	13	5		28
7	60	Jack Harvey	Meyer Shank Racing	Honda	250	+20.048	13	9		26
8	59	Conor Daly	Carlin	Chevrolet	250	+20.534	13	1	13	26
9	8	Marcus Ericsson	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	250	+20.738	14	10		22
10	30	Takuma Sato	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda	249	+1 Lap	13	6	49	21
11	55	Álex Palou  R	Dale Coyne Racing w/Team Goh	Honda	249	+1 Lap	12	18		19
12	15	Graham Rahal	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda	248	+2 Laps	14	21		18
13	18	Santino Ferrucci	Dale Coyne Racing w/Vasser-Sullivan	Honda	247	+3 Laps	14	11		17
14	10	Felix Rosenqvist	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	247	+3 Laps	14	7	7	17
15	20	Ed Carpenter	Ed Carpenter Racing	Chevrolet	247	+3 Laps	14	16		15
16	28	Ryan Hunter-Reay  W	Andretti Autosport	Honda	247	+3 Laps	13	12		14
17	4	Charlie Kimball	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Chevrolet	245	+5 Laps	13	15		13
18	14	Tony Kanaan  W	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Chevrolet	213	In Pits	13	19		12
19	21	Rinus VeeKay  R	Ed Carpenter Racing	Chevrolet	156	Contact	3	13		11
20	88	Colton Herta	Andretti Harding Steinbrenner Autosport	Honda	156	Contact	2	4		10
21	12	Will Power	Team Penske	Chevrolet	142	Contact	3	3		9
22	98	Marco Andretti  W	Andretti Herta Autosport w/Marco Andretti and Curb-Agajanian	Honda	128	Mechanical	2	20		8
23	26	Zach Veach	Andretti Autosport	Honda	95	Mechanical	2	22		7
Official Box Score

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 Lap leader breakdown From lap To lap Total laps Driver 1 13 13 Conor Daly 14 70 57 Josef Newgarden 71 77 7 Felix Rosenqvist 78 126 49 Takuma Sato 127 137 11 Josef Newgarden 138 147 10 Simon Pagenaud 148 177 30 Patricio O'Ward 178 250 73 Simon Pagenaud

Cautions:1 for 26 laps From lap To lap Total laps Reason 144 169 26 Accident car #12 (Power) turn 4; then during aborted restart contact cars #21 (VeeKay) and #88 (Herta) front straight

Average speed: 132.220 mph (212.787 km/h)

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Scott Dixon 213 1 2 Simon Pagenaud 163 1 3 Patricio O'Ward 143 1 4 Josef Newgarden 137 3 5 Colton Herta 130

Engine Manufacturer standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Honda 430 2 Chevrolet 361

• 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

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Engine	Laps	Time/Status	Pit Stops	Grid	Laps Led	Pts.1
1	1	Josef Newgarden  W	Team Penske	Chevrolet	250	1:38:40.5189	3	1	214	54
2	12	Will Power	Team Penske	Chevrolet	250	+2.786	3	2	2	41
3	15	Graham Rahal	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda	250	+3.564	3	19	13	36
4	22	Simon Pagenaud  W	Team Penske	Chevrolet	250	+6.124	4	23		32
5	9	Scott Dixon	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	250	+6.575	4	18	2	31
6	7	Oliver Askew  R	Arrow McLaren SP	Chevrolet	250	+16.000	3	13	10	29
7	60	Jack Harvey	Meyer Shank Racing	Honda	250	+16.618	4	6		26
8	27	Alexander Rossi	Andretti Autosport	Honda	250	+17.886	3	21		24
9	8	Marcus Ericsson	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	250	+18.520	4	9		22
10	98	Marco Andretti  W	Andretti Herta Autosport w/Marco Andretti and Curb-Agajanian	Honda	250	+20.017	4	17		20
11	14	Tony Kanaan  W	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Chevrolet	250	+20.742	4	8		19
12	5	Patricio O'Ward	Arrow McLaren SP	Chevrolet	249	+1 Lap	3	12	1	19
13	59	Conor Daly	Carlin	Chevrolet	249	+1 Lap	4	3	4	18
14	55	Álex Palou  R	Dale Coyne Racing w/Team Goh	Honda	249	+1 Lap	3	7		16
15	10	Felix Rosenqvist	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	248	+2 Laps	3	10		15
16	4	Charlie Kimball	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Chevrolet	248	+2 Laps	4	11		14
17	21	Rinus VeeKay  R	Ed Carpenter Racing	Chevrolet	248	+2 Laps	3	15		13
18	18	Santino Ferrucci	Dale Coyne Racing w/Vasser-Sullivan	Honda	247	+3 Laps	5	16		12
19	88	Colton Herta	Andretti Harding Steinbrenner Autosport	Honda	247	+3 Laps	6	5		11
20	26	Zach Veach	Andretti Autosport	Honda	247	+3 Laps	3	22		10
21	30	Takuma Sato	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda	247	+3 Laps	5	20		9
22	28	Ryan Hunter-Reay  W	Andretti Autosport	Honda	178	Contact	4	4	4	9
23	20	Ed Carpenter	Ed Carpenter Racing	Chevrolet	112	Contact	2	14		7
Official Box Score

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 Lap leader breakdown From lap To lap Total laps Driver 1 56 56 Josef Newgarden 57 58 2 Will Power 59 60 2 Scott Dixon 61 62 2 Graham Rahal 63 106 44 Josef Newgarden 107 107 1 Patricio O'Ward 108 111 4 Conor Daly 112 119 8 Graham Rahal 120 171 52 Josef Newgarden 172 174 3 Graham Rahal 175 178 4 Ryan Hunter-Reay 179 188 10 Oliver Askew 189 250 62 Josef Newgarden

Cautions:2 for 24 laps From lap To lap Total laps Reason 114 125 12 Accident car #20 (Carpenter) turn 2 180 191 12 Accident car #28 (Hunter-Reay) turn 2

Average speed: 135.900 mph (218.710 km/h)

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Scott Dixon 244 2 Simon Pagenaud 195 1 3 Josef Newgarden 191 1 4 Patricio O'Ward 162 5 5 Will Power 142

Engine Manufacturer standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Honda 495 2 Chevrolet 457

• Note: Only the top five positions are included.