Can Power Turn Pole Into Win?

Just 1 time in the 15 races at the Iowa Speedway has the pole winner gone on to win the race in the end. Power has won 18 times from the pole in his career but is 0-for-4 at Iowa though. Just 1 time in the last 11 races in NTT INDYCAR Series competition has a pole winner won as well. Can Power turn his pole run into a race win later today?

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Newgarden’s Race To Lose?

In saying that stat about Power, the last 3 races on the season were won by a 2nd place starter. Newgarden starts 2nd. He won from here in 2016.

Newgarden’s led 111 or more laps in 5 of his last 7 Iowa starts including three wins, a pair of runner-ups, a fourth, fifth and sixth place result in the last eight tries. He’s won 2 of the last 3 here at that.

He led 214 laps in his last win in 2020. He also led 245 of 300 in his win in 2019 and 282 of 300 in his 2016 triumph. On top of that, he led 229 laps in a fourth place finish in 2018 too. Furthermore, he led 111 laps in a 2015 runner-up as well.

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Can Anyone Top Team Penske?

Penske has won 4 of the last 6 here in Iowa. They’ve won 7 of the last 10 short oval races. With having all 3 cars in the top 3 Rows for each race this weekend, will anyone top them?

Pato O’Ward starts 4th and has 3 straight podiums on another short oval in Gateway. He was 4th here in Race 1 of 2020. O’Ward was also 5th in practice on Friday.

Another one is Conor Daly. He was 2nd in practice on Friday and starts in Row 2 in both races this weekend. Can he score his 1st career victory this weekend?

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Driver Performance

With temperatures in the upper 90s and the heat index eclipsing triple digits, I’m curious to how the drivers will be feeling after 250 laps of racing on Saturday. Who is feeling okay and who may need some medical attention to get rehydrated. That’s big because we race again in about 22 hours after the conclusion of this race in the heat of the day again.

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Ganassi Camp

They didn’t expect to be very strong this weekend. Short ovals aren’t their top tracks.

A day after Chip Ganassi Racing put all 4 of their cars in the top 10 P4-P6-P9-P10 in practice, they struggled. in qualifying Their top qualifier for Race 1 is points leader Marcus Ericsson in 12th. Scott Dixon and Alex Palou will share Row 7 in starting 13th and 14th respectively. Jimmie Johnson starts 15th. For Sunday’s race, they’ll roll off P12 (Palou), P13 (Johnson), P15 (Ericsson) and P18 (Dixon).

Ganassi won 2 of the 1st 3 years here but has been 0-for-12 since.

With Ericsson holding onto the points lead, Palou in 3rd and Dixon in a tie for 4th, I’m curious on where they stand in points leaving this weekend with Power starting on the pole both days, Newgarden starting 2nd both days, O’Ward being 4th and 8th respectively and Scott McLaughlin starting in Row 3 each day.