A wise decision was made for 2019 in that the Iowa 300 (7 p.m. ET/NBCSN/INDYCAR Radio Network) was moved back to a Saturday race on the schedule. See, while the hype was huge because these cars always put on a great show under the lights on the 7/8 mile oval in the past, the problem is, no one really looked closely at the start time. What they all saw was for the first time since 2015, the race on the Iowa bullring returns to a Saturday night show. From 2016 through 2018, the race was moved back to a Sunday afternoon event. That unfortunately was costly in terms of attendance.

A hot day at the track with a race not taking place until late Sunday afternoon didn’t give fans much leeway to travel to watch the race. Why not stay at home, wherever that may be, and sit in air conditioning and watch instead of travel from a far to bake in the sun and get back home close to midnight?

A Saturday race in Iowa makes the most sense. The problem is, the heat will still be around this weekend and unfortunately the race itself may not run under the lights. While this could be the fifth time that the race was ever held at night, I don’t think it will.

The green flag for Saturday’s race is 6:15 p.m. locally, 7:15 p.m. ET. This race though, can run to completion in just under two hours, meaning the race should be done by 8:15 to 8:30 p.m. locally at the absolute latest.

Sunset for Saturday?

8:43 p.m. Iowa time.

That’s nearly 2 1/2 hours after the green flag is displayed. None of the past Indy Car races in Iowa have lasted that long.

Yes, the race could essentially run to completion before darkness even sets in. That means while it’s run later in the day, a still hot evening of action as temperatures are expected to soar into the mid 90’s for this weekend’s race.

Last year’s race was run from green flag to checkered flag in 1-hour and 47 minutes. In 2017, it was 1-hour and 55 minutes. 2016’s race was run three minutes shorter (1 hour and 52 minutes).

The only two races that lasted over two hours were coincidentally enough night races in 2014 and again in 2015. Both lasted barely over two hours with 2014 being 2-hours and 1 minute while 2015 was 2-hours and three minutes. That 2015 race is the longest in Indy Car history at Iowa.

From 2007 through 2013, the race was 50 miles shorter and none of which eclipsed the two hour mark in race duration. The longest was 1 hour and 53 minutes in 2012.

So, barring an unforeseen disaster on track, Saturday’s race won’t be a night race.

Could Heat Be An Issue For Teams/Drivers

A heat wave unfortunately will take place this weekend in the midwest, meaning Saturday’s Iowa 300 will once again be a scorcher. What effect will this have on the teams?

It will certainly make things difficult for the crewmembers as it’s naturally hard to do work on a hot race car with conditions in the 90’s and a heat index well over 100 degrees.

The drivers, well at speed, they don’t notice the heat but it’s during yellow flag action to where the stagnant warm air becomes more noticeable. But, Iowa is also one of the more physically demanding tracks on the circuit, so while obviously still being in a hotter than normal race car and high g-forces without any breaks, it could be a race of attrition on Saturday.

As I stated above, while the race will be run on Saturday evening, it likely won’t be dark yet. So, the weather will be hot and the track will be slick.