Eric Smith

What’s at stake for Saturday’s 2023 Hy-Vee Homefront 250

Saturday’s Hy-Vee Homefront 250 (3 p.m. ET, NBC, INDYCAR Radio Network) will mark the 11th race of the 17 slate NTT INDYCAR SERIES season. Here’s what at stake for the 250 lapper.

  • Catching Palou – 4 of the top 5 drivers in Friday’s practice are in the top 6 in points entering this weekend. However, 1 of those 4 wasn’t the points leader. The thing is what a streak that Alex Palou has been on lately though too. While he’s had a top five finish in each of the last 8 races run on the season, he’s also had five top two results in the last six at that which includes 4 wins at that. His lead has jumped to 117 points as a result. However, the door could possibly be open for a comeback of sorts for his competition over the next 5 races. Palou has finished 11th, 14th, 6th and 13th at Iowa and 15th, 12th, 20th and ninth in Gateway. He did look strong here in the June test but was also only 15th in practice too. He starts 7th.
    • Scott Dixon meanwhile is second in points but has had a top 7 finish in all but one race run in 2023. He has four straight top fours right now and while winless 0-for-17 at Iowa, Dixon has been solid here as of late with five straight top five finishes. He has 3 top 8’s in his last four at Gateway too. He’ll roll off 4th.
    • For third in points Josef Newgarden (-126) he’s led 111 or more laps in 7 of his last 9 Iowa starts including four wins, a pair of runner-ups, a fourth, fifth and sixth place result in the last 10 tries. He’s won 3 of the last 5 here as well as having scored 5 wins in the last 7 short oval races in general. He’s 2-for-2 on ovals this season and was quickest on Friday and 3rd in qualifying for today’s race.
    • You also have fifth in Pato O’Ward (-143) to deal with too. O’Ward has been great in Gateway (3rd, 2nd, 2nd, 4th) and even better here: 4th, 12th, 2nd, 1st. In his last 14 oval starts in general, he’s finished 6th, 3rd, 2nd, 3rd, 1st, 4th, 2nd, 15th, 2nd, 2nd, 1st, 4th, 2nd and 24th respectively. He won the last time out here last July and was fifth on Friday. He also qualified 5th on Saturday.
      • The duo has combined to have won 7 of the last 8 oval races in general with Newgarden winning 6 of the last 8 all by himself.
      • On short ovals in general, Newgarden and O’Ward have won five in-a-row dating back to Race 2 at World Wide Technology Raceway in 2020. They’ve also gone 1-2 in 5 of the last 12 oval races too.
    • Scott McLaughlin (-159) has 12 top 5 finishes so far and among his 12 top 5 finishes in the sport, 5 of which came on ovals. He was second in Texas 1 in 2021 and fourth in Gateway that season. Last year, he was second at Texas, third in Iowa 2 and third again in Gateway. This year, he was sixth at Texas and comes to Iowa on the heels of finishes of 7th (Detroit), 8th (Road America), 5th (Mid-Ohio) and now 6th (Toronto) respectively. He was P2 in practice to go along with starting 2nd in both races this weekend.
    • Will Power (-175) was on the podium in both races last year and starts on the pole for both races this weekend.
  • Honda vs. Chevy – Honda has won 9 of the 10 poles and 7 of the 10 races run this season. Chevy however has won 2 of the remaining 3 races including being 2-for-2 on ovals.
    • Last year, Chevy swept the podium on both days in taking 4 of the 5 spots on the lead lap on Saturday’s race last year and a 1-2-3 sweep a day later.
    • They’ve now won 7 of the last 8 here in Iowa to go along with 5 of the last 7 at the World Wide Technology Raceway including three straight.
    • The thing is, Honda elected to test here last month. Chevy only brought Juncos, Foyt and ECR. Penske and McLaren skipped and instead went to Road America. Did the test allow Honda to close that gap?
    • 3 of the top 5 speeds in practice belonged to the bowties with the usual contenders here too. They also have 4 of the top 5 starters too.
  • RLL’s Momentum – Bobby Rahal made some changes to the team after a disappointing Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix and as a result, the team is responding. Graham Rahal was on the front row in Mid-Ohio. Christian Lundgaard won the pole in Toronto then followed that up with a win a day later. With this being such a big race for RLL in regards to momentum and sponsorship activation with Hy-Vee, I’m curious to see how they finish in Saturday’s race.
  • Staying Clean – With another 250 lap race on Sunday, keeping yourself out of trouble on Saturday is a big key to how your Sunday will go. You don’t want to be making repairs from crash damage or mechanical failures overnight.
  • Andretti Autosport – They need a good weekend. Last week in Toronto, they had the pace in the dry conditions. In the wet, they faltered. Now, can they make up for it this weekend at Iowa. It’s no secret that Iowa hasn’t been as kind to the organization as it once was. They won 7 of the 1st 9 races but are 0-for-8 since. However, Colton Herta led the June test, was 4th in practice and comes to Iowa on the heels of 2 poles in the last 3 races. He was on the podium the last time out and had the quickest lap time heading into qualifying a week ago. Herta has 2 top 20 finishes in six tries here and that was 7th in 2019 and 12th in Race 2 last year. I’m also watching Romain Grosjean who needs a good weekend to end this slide. Grosjean came into the Month of May in Indianapolis beaming with confidence. He had finished runner-up for two straight races and sat 15 points out of the lead in fifth. At that point, a win felt was a foregone conclusion.
    • At that point too, he and Andretti Autosport were nearing a contract extension for next season. Now, heading to Iowa in late July, he still has no contract offer in hand and appears that his brief stint with the team could come to a dire end.
    • That’s because Grosjean has struggled mightily since.
    • He has 2 poles and a third place start in the 4 races before Indy. In the 7 races since, he’s qualified 18th, 19th, 3rd, 19th, 14th and 9th respectively. In regards to finishes, Grosjean has finished 11th, 30th, 24th, 25th, 13rd and now 22nd.
    • Sunday in Toronto was his fifth crash in 10 races.
    • Grosjean has been slumping and went from fourth in points entering the Indy 500 down to 13th leaving Toronto.
    • Grosjean was 7th and 9th as a rookie last year though so the optimism is there.
  • Then you have Kyle Kirkwood who just needs to find his footing. If he can get a mistake free weekend, he is more than capable of a win.
  • Penske Sweep? – They start 1-2-3 on Saturday. Can they stay there? The last time someone went 1-2-3 in an INDYCAR race was in 2020 at Mid-Ohio when Andretti Autosport swept the podium with Colton Herta, Alexander Rossi and Ryan Hunter-Reay. The last time before that was Team Penske in Sonoma in the 2017 season finale with Simon Pagenaud, Josef Newgarden and Will Power.
    • It’s a feat that’s only happened 13 times in general with Penske doing it 9 of the times.
    • 1979 Team Penske at Ontario: BUnser, Mears, MaAndretti
    • 1980 Penske at Michigan: MaAndretti, BUnser, Mears
    • 1994 Penske at Milwaukee: Unser Jr., Fittipali, Tracy
    • 1994 Penske at Portland: Unser Jr., Fittipaldi, Tracy
    • 1994 Penske at Mid-Ohio: Unser Jr, Tracy, Fittipaldi
    • 1994 Penske a tLoudon: Unser Jr, Tracy, Fittipaldi
    • 1994 Penske at Nazareth: Tracy, Unser Jr., Fittipaldi
    • 2004 Andretti at Nazareth: Wheldon, Kanaan, Franchitti
    • 2005 Andretti at St. Pete: Wheldon, Kanaan, Franchitti, Herta
    • 2011 Penske at Sonoma: Power, Castroneves, Briscoe
    • 2013 Ganassi at Pocono: Dixon, Kimball, Franchitti
    • 2017 Penske at Sonoma: Pagenaud, Newgarden, Power
    • 2020 Andretti at Mid-Ohio: Herta, Rossi, Hunter-Reay
    • Can Penske do so today?
    • Penske has been the top dog on short ovals in general since 2018 with 9 wins in 13 tries. Josef Newgarden is tops among drivers with winning 7 of those 9 races for Penske himself.

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