IndyCar at Iowa: Friday Practice Report

IndyCar

The session was topped by Will Power, with a 173.285 mph lap, after Conor Daly led the session for most of the running time. Two track inspection cautions delayed the session somewhat, as the final caution ended up with a fox on track. Daly came in second with a 173.239, and McLaughlin in third with a 173.083. Palou and O’Ward rounded out the top 5, while Palou ran 119 laps, 5 more than Harvey, who came in 13th.

IndyCar’s first trip to Iowa comes at a busy time, as the series enters a busy stretch both on and off track. Silly season tension and a tight points battle come together at a 7/8ths bullring, where it will be pushing 100 degrees Saturday. Several drivers can use this as their springboard to gain spots in the points standings with two good finishes, like Herta or Newgarden, or to go for broke and try to win, like Johnson and Daly.

Indy Lights

45 minutes of Lights practice ended with championship leader Linus Lundqvist on top of the sheets, posting an avg speed of 158.229 mph. Matthew Brabham, who completed the most laps in the session at 83, 14 more than any other driver, was second at 157.978. Brabham set the fastest time early, and continued to run almost the entire session, before Lundqvist put a flier in at the end. Hunter McElrea had the third fastest speed at a 157.762, while Kyffin Simpson in his first practice with HMD was only able to record the 10th fastest speed, a 155.516.

This is the first oval for Indy Lights this season, and the first time at Iowa Speedway for most of these drivers. All of these drivers have some form of experience racing on ovals, and about 5 have raced on an oval in Indy Lights, last year at Gateway. One of the big stories that led into the week was the switch of Kyffin Simpson from TJ Speed to HMD, with the possible pausing of TJ Speed’s Indy Lights program in 2023. James Roe is left as the remaining driver in the TJ Speed Indy Lights program, and they intend to finish out the year. Simpson is signed to a multi-year development deal with Chip Ganassi Racing, and doesn’t appear to be going anywhere. Simpson is known as a driver who brings both money and talent, having dominated the Formula Americas championship in 2021 with TJ Speed. Lundqvist and Pederson appear to be in contention for IndyCar seats next year, and these oval events are important to IndyCar teams.