Helio Castroneves has returned to victory lane for the first time in three years at the Iowa Corn 300, after the Brazilian veteran led 217 of the 300-lap race around the short oval to end his victory drought and pick up Penske’s first win at Iowa.
After starting on the second row of the grid Castroneves wasted no time in rising to the front, overtaking J.R. Hildebrand and team-mate Will Power to take the lead during the early stages of the race.
Despite the early lead Castroneves endured a race long battle with Hildebrand and Power, eventually pulling away during the final few laps to convincingly pick up his 30th career victory.
Hildebrand was forced to settle for P2 despite a strong display at the front of the pack, equalling his best career result.
Iowa expert Ryan Hunter-Reay managed to scythe through the order from P15 on the grid to finish third for Andretti Autosport, with the 2012 champion picking up considerable ground during the pit-stops under caution in particular.
Initial pole sitter Will Power was forced to settle for P4, after being overshadowed by team-mate Castroneves throughout the majority of the race.
Graham Rahal also enjoyed a competitive race for RLL Racing, rising up from P10 on the grid to come home a respectable fifth ahead of Josef Newgarden.
Reigning champion Simon Pagenaud was P7 for Penske, ahead of four-time champion Scott Dixon who also managed to make ground after a poor qualifying performance.
Dixon managed to maintain his championship lead despite a far from perfect race weekend, with Castroneves now only eighth points adrift in second in the drivers’ championship.
Tony Kanaan and James Hinchcliffe rounded out the top ten, with Kanaan in particular struggling somewhat during the early stages of the race with the handling of his Ganassi car.
Ed Carpenter could only manage P12, despite a competitive qualifying performance and a strong start to the race.
Former Formula 1 racer Esteban Gutierrez was impressive on his oval debut, avoiding any on-track skirmishes and coming home a respectable P13 for Dale Coyne Racing,
The race was interrupted by four full course cautions and even a short red flag delay after a brief and very light sprinkle of rain fell over the Iowa Speedway.
Mikhail Aleshin brought out the first full course caution of the afternoon, after the Russian racer spun into the barrier to become the first retirement.
Carlos Munoz and Conor Daly suffered identical issues on their way to retirement, with both drivers grazing the wall in separate incidents and then limping back to the pits.
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