Rounds 11 & 12: Hy-Vee Homefront 250, Hy-Vee Step 250, Iowa Speedway, July 21-23.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Rounds 11 & 12: Hy-Vee Homefront 250, Hy-Vee Step 250, Iowa Speedway, Newton Iowa. July 21-23.


For the second year in a row, Iowa Speedway will host the Hy-Vee IndyCar Race Weekend, since the speedway returned to the IndyCar calendar last year, with supermarket chain Hy-Vee as the title sponsor. Unlike last year's event, which had a 250 lap race and a 300 lap race, this years event will have two 250 lap races.

-

History
The AAA, (American Automobile Association) held it's first race in Iowa at the Tri-State Fair Grounds, in Burlington on July 9, 1915, with a distance of 100 miles (160 km). The AAA also hosted events at Des Moines Speedway in Valley Junction, on a one mile (1.60 km) wooden board track, in 1915 and 1916. The track though was closed and dismantled soon after.

Construction of the current speedway began towards the end of 2005 and was completed in July 2006. It is modeled after Richmond International Raceway, with input from famed NASCAR-star-turned-commentator Rusty Wallace. It has a track width of 60 feet and 12-14 degree compound banking in the turns. The front stretch features 10 degrees of banking and the backstretch has 4 degrees of banking.

Iowa Speedway was the first track to install SAFER Barrier around the track's entire perimeter and to subsequently upgrade to the second generation of SAFER Barrier, which doesn't use a concrete wall behind the energy absorbing structure.

The first major event to be held at the venue, was the Indy Racing League's inaugural Iowa Corn Indy 250 presented by Ethanol, on June 24, 2007. It was won by Dario Franchitti, driving a Dallara IR-05-Honda HI7R V8 for Andretti Green Racing. From 2014, the race distance was increased to 262.5 miles (422.45 Km) or 300 laps.

Since 2007, the race has been a perennial event on the IndyCar calendar, becoming a double-header in 2020, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which caused a number of races to be cancelled and the calendar to be revised.

Following the 2020 season, it was rumoured the track was up for sale and subsequently the race was left off the 2021 calendar, a long with races for the NASCAR Xfinity Series and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. However, Iowa Speedway returned for the 2022 IndyCar season with a double-header, after former series champion and team owner Bobby Rahal, managed to secure new sponsorship for the event from Iowa supermarket chain Hy-Vee, with a multi year deal.

-

Some trivia:
Driver with the most wins:
Josef Newgarden, 4
2016, 2019, 2020, 2022 Race 1.

Team with most wins: Andretti Autosport, 7:
2007, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015.

-

Track:
Iowa Speedway is the shortest track on the IndyCar calendar, with an average lap time of under 18 seconds. However, the track length is disputed by the two major series that run at Iowa. NASCAR timing and scoring uses a length of 0.875 miles (1.408 km), while IndyCar timing and scoring uses a length of 0.894 Miles (1.439 Km).


Track Layout



Length:
0.894 Miles - 1.439 Km
Turns: 4

Lap record:
Helio Castroneves, July 12, 2014. 17.2283 seconds, 186.809 mph (300.64 km/h).
Team Penske, Dallara DW12-Chevrolet Indy V6.

-

Last Year Race 1
https://www.indycar.com/news/2022/07/07-23-iowa-race1

Pole.
Will Power,
Team Penske,
Dallara IR18-Chevy IndyCar V6

Winner:
Josef Newgarden
Team Penske,
Dallara IR18-Chevy IndyCar V6

Laps: 250
Distance: 262.50 Miles (422.452 Km)
Race Time: 1:39:34.4218
Average Speed: 134.674 Mph (216.737 Km/h)
Fastest lap: Will Power-Team Penske. Lap 2, 19.4571 sec, 165.410 Mph (273.304 Km/h)

Cautions: 4
Laps: 17 - 21, 111 - 122, 127 - 132, 164 - 173

-

Last Year Race 2
https://www.indycar.com/news/2022/07...wa-sunday-race

Pole
Will Power,
Team Penske,
Dallara IR18-Chevy IndyCar V6

Winner:
Pato O'Ward
Arrow McLaren SP,
Dallara IR18-Chevy IndyCar V6

Laps: 300
Distance: 262.50 Miles (422.452 Km)
Race Time: 1:54:23.2097
Average Speed: 140.681 Mph (226.404 Km/h)
Fastest lap: Will Power-Team Penske. Lap 134. 19.224 sec, 167.415 Mph (269.428 Km/h )

Cautions: 2
Laps: 120 - 131, 235 - 248.

-

Practice and Qualifications:
Qualifying consists of two consecutive laps, with the first lap deciding the grid for Race 1 and the second lap deciding the grid for Race 2

Practice - Friday, Jul 21
4:30 PM - 6:00 PM ET

Qualifications - Saturday, Jul 22
10:30 AM - 11:45 AM ET

-

TV coverage
Race 1 - Saturday, Jul 22
NBC: 3:00 PM ET, UTC 7:00PM, BST 8:00PM
Sky Sports F1: 8:00PM

Race 2 - Sunday, Jul 23
NBC: 2:00 PM ET, UTC 6:00PM, BST 7:00PM
Sky Sports F1: 7:00PM