After track action was rained out the day before, IndyCar adjusted Saturday’s schedule to allow drivers to have a practice session before the rest of the double-header weekend.
27 cars took to the track early in the day, just as low clouds and fog burned away.
The fastest driver during the runs was Scott McLaughlin, setting a fast lap of 183.514 MPH around the 7/8-mile oval.
McLaughlin won the first race at Iowa last season, and appears to be leading the charge for Team Penske to finally get a win this year.
He also headed up a contingent of Chevrolet-powered drivers, who filled the top six positions at the end of the running.
Nolan Siegel was second quickest in his Arrow McLaren machine, with Alexander Rossi third on the time sheets in his #20 Ed Carpenter Racing entry
Pato O’Ward had the fourth best time, and the fifth fastest was the driver with the most wins at Iowa Speedway Josef Newgarden. The six-time winner at Iowa is also in desperate need of a good result.
Christian Rasmussen was sixth fastest, just ahead the first Honda representative Alex Palou in seventh.
A few drivers were way off the pace, including Rinus VeeKay and Jacob Abel. Both drivers were nearly 10 MPH off the pace, with Abel’s Dale Coyne Racing crew working through an engine issue throughout the session.
Issues for some
There were multiple stoppages during the 50-minute session, with a few drivers finding trouble in their early runs.
Kyle Kirkwood suffered the most damage during the dedicated high line practice designed to build rubber into the upper groove for later in the weekend.
He was looking to pass a slower car, and simply lost the rear end of his #27 Andretti Global Honda.
Kirkwood did well to keep the car from spinning around, but did hit the wall flat with the right side of his machine.
His car was towed back to the paddock after having only completed 19 laps, and his crew has quick work to do before qualifying.
Marcus Ericsson and Pato O’Ward also spun, but neither caused any damage to their cars.
Ericsson was attempting to enter pit road and spun through the infield grass, while O’Ward spun while accelerating out of the pits.
Christian Rasmussen attempted to run in the high line late in the session, but the marbles had built up and he drifted wide.
He was able to get away with only a slight brush of the wall, but still brought out a momentary caution period while officials watched to make sure he could get back to pit lane on his own.
Drivers and teams only have two hours of down time before qualifying takes place at 12:30 PM central time.
