IRL - Iowa Corn Indy 250

[DanicaFan]

7 of 17

Race - Iowa Corn Indy 250

Location - Iowa Speedway

Date - June 21st

TV Schedule - 12:30pm Eastern - ABC

Course Type - 1 (7/8 exact) Mile Oval

Distance - 250 Laps / 218.75 Miles

Qualifications - June 20 - 4:15pm -5:45pm Eastern

2008 Pole Sitter - Scott Dixon

2008 Winner - Dan Wheldon

[DanicaFan]

Here is the entry list for this race..

Car # & Driver / Car Name / Team

#2 Raphael Matos / US Marines-Luczo Dragon Racing / Luczo Dragon Racing
#3 Helio Castroneves / Team Penske / Team Penske
#4 Dan Wheldon / National Guard Panther Racing / Panther Racing
#5 Mario Moraes / KV Racing Technology -Votorantim / KV Racing Technology
#6 Ryan Briscoe / Team Penske / Team Penske
#7 Danica Patrick / Boost Mobile-Motorola / Andretti Green Racing
#9 Scott Dixon / Target Chip Ganassi Racing / Target Chip Ganassi Racing
#10 Dario Franchitti / Tom Tom / Target Chip Ganassi Racing
#11 Tony Kanaan / Team 7-Eleven / Andretti Green Racing
#13 EJ Viso / PDVSA HVM Racing / HVM Racing
#14 Ryan Hunter-Reay / ABC Supply Co. -AJ Foyt Racing / AJ Foyt Enterprises
#18 Justin Wilson / Z-Line Designs / Dale Coyne Racing
#20 Ed Carpenter / Menard's -Vision Racing / Vision Racing
#23 Tomas Scheckter / Mona-Vie - Dreyer & Reinbold Racing / Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
#24 Mike Conway / Dad's Root Beer - Dreyer & Reinbold Racing / Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
#26 Marco Andretti / Team Venom Energy / Andretti Green Racing
#27 Hideki Mutoh / Formula Dream / Andretti Green Racing
#98 Jaques Lazier / CURB-Agajanian Team 3G - CURB -Agajanian-Team 3G
#02 Graham Rahal / McDonald's Racing Team / Newman-Haas-Lanigan Racing
#06 Robert Doornbos / Newman-Haas-Lanigan Racing / Newman- Haas- Lanigan Racing

[SarahFan]

down to 20 cars

hmm

[ChicagocrewIRL]

After all the oval parades (except Milwaukee) this year, I am NOT looking forward to this race. I never thought I would ever hear myself say that.

As a long time oval racing fan it has come down to the sad fact that I find street and road course parades more interesting than oval parades.

[NickFalzone]

Actually Iowa is likely to be one of the few ovals this year with some good racing. It's the big and fast ovals that are a Penske/ganassi snoozefest. Iowa, Richmond, and the Glen should be a good set of races. As far as the car count though, I'm disappointed. Only 20 cars? Where's Fisher? Tagliani? On the other hand, with the exception of perhaps Conway, I'd say this field top to bottom is very strong. Lazier's got a bad car, but no one on this list is a real backmarker.

[DanicaFan]

I remember this race back in 2007. The weather changed unexpectedly to where it was overcast and cool, not hot and sunny as predicted. The IRL had brought a different tire for the conditions and caused 3 big crashes that day.

Dario Franchitti came home with the victory.

[speeddurango]

07 race was bad, cars lined up single file on the inside, and no one could ever make a pass. 08 race was good, cars for some reason couldn't stick to the bottom and quite a few passings happened. I still don't feel open wheel cars belongs to any oval shorter than 1 mile though.

[Wilf]

I still don't feel open wheel cars belongs to any oval shorter than 1 mile though.

You say that because the races at Richmond have been so bad????

[DavePI2]

I agree durango, that is one reason there are only 20 cars. Too hard to put them back together.

[ChicagocrewIRL]

http://www.cbssports.com/autoracing/story/11873262

"The track recently added 6,500 temporary seats, boosting the seating capacity to 36,500. With hospitality tents, suites and standing-room only tickets thrown in, Iowa Speedway president Jerry Jauron said he expects to draw about 42,000 for the Iowa 250."

Sounds like the folks that promote the Iowa race do a great job getting folks to the track. Congrats Iowa !!!

[SarahFan]

Yahoo weather on my Iphone lists rain for tomorrow in Newton Iowa....that sucks

here is salt lake this morning it's raining....yesterday was sunny..

the speedway is a day or so directly east from me...

[SarahFan]

cars are on track...

and current via ive Timing i am seeing something i likely will never see again.....Mike Conway is atop the charts

[SarahFan]

last years top speed was a 17.4sec 184.94MPH lap by mutuh

*indycar.com reports only lists combined practice speeds.... was qaulifying rained out?


currently RHR sits atop the charts at 18.1/177.36

none of the top ten in points has turned a hot lap

[SarahFan]

cars are on track...

and current via ive Timing i am seeing something i likely will never see again.....Mike Conway is atop the charts


and as is frequently the case i am proven wrong......Mike conway again goes to the top of the charts

[SarahFan]

less than 5 minutes after the track is green for the entire field briscoe goes to the top of the charts....

Danica P2
helio p3

[SarahFan]

Target 1-2


Marco brings out the yellow

[DanicaFan]

Practice Session 1 is over. Unfortunately, Marco Andretti had a crash during practice and will have to go to his back-up car. He will have to start at the back of the field due to not being able to get a car ready in time for qualifications.

Here are the results of the first practice session...

Car # & Driver / Speed

1. #9 Scott Dixon -181.692
2. #2 Dario Franchitti - 181.320
3. #26 Marco Andretti - 180.890
4. #11 Tony Kanaan - 180.784
5. #6 Ryan Briscoe - 180.614
6. #4 Dan Wheldon - 180.583
7. #3 Helio Castroneves - 180.562
8. #7 Danica Patrick - 180.419
9. #23 Tomas Scheckter - 180.304
10. #02 Graham Rahal - 180.272
11. #24 Mike Conway - 180.100
12. #5 Mario Moraes - 179.986
13. #20 Ed Carpenter - 179.620
14. #06 Robert Doornbos - 179.475
15. #13 EJ Viso - 179.463
16. #14 Ryan Hunter-Reay - 179.383
17. #27 Hideki Mutoh - 179.090
18. #2 Raphael Matos - 177.423
19. #18 Justin Wilson - 172.989
20. #98 Jaques Lazier - 171.242

[SarahFan]

dfan.... You ok?


You didn't interject a 'danica will be on pole and run away with the race win' into that post

[DanicaFan]

dfan.... You ok?


You didn't interject a 'danica will be on pole and run away with the race win' into that post

My bad. I figured that goes without saying... ;)

But yes, I do predict a pole and a win for her at Iowa.

[DanicaFan]

There is still another practice session today but this is the qualification order...

1. #27 Hideki Mutoh
2. #9 Scott Dixon
3. #13 EJ Viso
4. #98 Jaques Lazier
5. #6 Ryan Briscoe
6. #06 Robert Doornbos
7. #2 Raphael Matos
8. #26 Marco Andretti ( Due to Crash - will not make qualifying attempt)
9. #4 Dan Wheldon
10. #20 Ed Carpenter
11. #14 Ryan Hunter-Reay
12. #02 Graham Rahal
13. #18 Justin Wilson
14. #24 Mike Conway
15. #23 Tomas Scheckter
16. #3 Helio Castroneves
17. #10 Dario Franchitti
18. #5 Mario Moraes
19. #11 Tony Kanaan
20. #7 Danica Patrick

[SarahFan]

My bad. I figured that goes without saying... ;)

But yes, I do predict a pole and a win for her at Iowa.

:)

[DanicaFan]

Practice Session 2 is now in the books..

Here are the results...

Car# & Driver / Speed

1. #10 Dario Franchitti - 182.031
2. #6 Ryan Briscoe - 181.937
3. #11 Tony Kanaan - 181.905
4. #3 Helio Castroneves - 181.879
5. #4 Dan Wheldon - 181.200
6. #9 Scott Dixon - 181.043
7. #5 Mario Moraes - 181.010
8. #7 Danica Patrick - 180.600
9. #23 Tomas Scheckter - 180.417
10. #02 Graham Rahal - 180.338
11. #13 EJ Viso - 180.190
12. #27 Hideki Mutoh - 180.088
13. #14 Ryan Hunter-Reay - 179.099
14. #18 Justin Wilson - 179.095
15. #20 Ed Carpenter - 179.093
16. #24 Mike Conway - 178.997
17. #06 Robert Doornbos - 178.354
18. #2 Raphael Matos - 178.225
19. #98 Jaques Lazier - 173.868

[chuck34]

RHR is finally getting something together. Granted 13th is not too good, but he is ahead of Carpenter for once. Here's to hoping that he can start to get the Foyt stuff straightened out.

[DanicaFan]

Qualifications are put on a slight delay at this time due to a "weeper" on the track. A weeper if you dont know is where water seeps up through a crack on the track. This weeper is located in turn 4.

[jackmart]

what is the latest on quals?

[beachbum]

Still delayed for "weepers".

[DanicaFan]

Not looking good either. There is rain moving in.

[DanicaFan]

Qualifications are going now.

[jackmart]

ok, now im confused, what happen to briscoe? anything or just he was next to qualify?

[DanicaFan]

Qualifications are called off. They will now fall in order of points.

[SportscarBruce]

Rusty's Folly, the Bowl Oval, strikes again.

:dozey:

[SportscarBruce]

If this was the Des Monies Grand Prix there would be qualifying AND racing today, rain or no rain. So much for bang-for-the-buck...

[DanicaFan]

Since qualifications were cancelled due to weepers, the starting line-up is based on entrant points.

Here is the starting grid..

Row 1

1. #3 Helio Castroneves
2. #6 Ryan Briscoe

Row 2

3. #9 Scott Dixon
4. #10 Dario Franchitti

Row 3

5. #7 Danica Patrick
6. #4 Dan Wheldon

Row 4

7. #11 Tony Kanaan
8. #26 Marco Andretti

Row 5

9. #02 Graham Rahal
10. #18 Justin Wilson

Row 6

11. #27 Hideki Mutoh
12. #2 Raphael Matos

Row 7

13. #20 Ed Carpenter
14. #06 Robert Doornbos

Row 8

15. #5 Mario Moraes
16. #23 Tomas Scheckter

Row 9

17. #21 Ryan Hunter-Reay
18. #13 EJ Viso

Row 10

19. #24 Mike Conway
20. #98 Jaques Lazier
__________________

[ozrevhead]

Since qualifications were cancelled due to weepers, the starting line-up is based on entrant points.

can someone explain this entrant points rule IndyCars have got....how does a driver get entrant points etc.

You think they would use Championship points at the time to determin the starting grid or even practice times like you would in MotoGP and other motorsport

[Hoop-98]

can someone explain this entrant points rule IndyCars have got....how does a driver get entrant points etc.

You think they would use Championship points at the time to determin the starting grid or even practice times like you would in MotoGP and other motorsport

Like NASCAR, cars are the "entrants", drivers are assigned to cars.

The 3 car is the point leader.

rh

[Nikki Katz]

Has this started yet? The feed on their website isn't working today.

[SportscarBruce]

Nazereth, PIR (original), Homestead (original), Pikes Peak...

Those were drivers short tracks.

Oh where oh where have you gone?

[harvick#1]

Nazareth and Pikes Peak were great facilities.

Pikes Peak was great because of the altitude change and the drivers having to control the engines better

[NickFalzone]

Wasn't attendance abysmal at those tracks? While the racing was good, if no one shows up you can't blame them for being dropped.

[Hoop-98]

http://scoring.indycar.com/flash/?utm_medium=popup&utm_source=indycar&utm_campaign=site_ts_click

http://i41.tinypic.com/ngr67a.jpg

A different kind of Oval test, some are making a failing grade....

rh

[gm99]

This is turning into a crashfest...

[Hoop-98]

http://i44.tinypic.com/npgsgl.jpg

rh

[52Paddy]

Kanann is gone!

[Hoop-98]

http://i44.tinypic.com/30hpzt0.jpg

rh

[DanicaFan]

Congrats to Dario Franchitti for the win.

[52Paddy]

Congrats to Dario Franchitti for the win.

Ditto and kudos to Mutoh for his podium :up:

[DanicaFan]

Im proud of Danica, she led 24 laps today. http://trb.ipbfree.com/html/emoticons/smile.gif

Here are the final results..

1. #10 Dario Franchitti
2. #6 Ryan Briscoe
3. #27 Hideki Mutoh
4. #4 Dan Wheldon
5. #9 Scott Dixon
6. #23 Tomas Scheckter
7. #3 Helio Castroneves
8. #24 Mike Conway
9. #7 Danica Patrick
10. #20 Ed Carpenter
11. #02 Graham Rahal
12. #26 Marco Andretti
13. #98 Jaques Lazier
14. #11 Tony Kanaan
15. #06 Robert Doornbos
16. #2 Raphael Matos
17. #5 Mario Moraes
18. #18 Justin Wilson
19. #14 Ryan Hunter-Reay
20. #13 EJ Viso

[MDS]

Thirteen cars running at the end is an embarrassment

[DanicaFan]

Thirteen cars running at the end is an embarrassment

How about only 4 cars on the lead lap! :confused:

[SarahFan]

I thought it a decent showing today.....had some solid ontrack action..

Conway had a strong showing....Schekter was racing..

Kannaan was fast, but No luck...

field was short to begin with... so the final # of finishers is what it is....


Dario was stout.... and Ryan is showing himself to be racy and patient having completed all the laps run this season and having led over 40% of them...



couple Broadcast things.....unless i missed it there wasn't a mention of the next race on Versus..... not good



and for all the time they have dedicated danica when she wasn't leading over the past 3 seasons...... they gave her no time when she was today...go figure

[TURN3]

I missed practically the entire weekend away for a training seminar. I followed the race on twitter through my phone best I could but there was no mention of how Danica failed to win!!! Somebody please explain, I'm dying to know. She did bring it home 9th is see..albeit in a top 8 car and only 13 cars running at the finish. It is no wonder this prodigy of racing is being talked about for a top ride next year in every series. Just incredible that she didn't come home with another dominant race and I'd appreciate any help with explainations to catch me up.

By the way, PT tweeted while the race was going on too. Funny as heck, apparently Helio had contact with Dixon causing him to pit from the lead...PT says if he were Dixon he'd punch Helio in the face...HILARIOUS!

[underpowered]

By the way, PT tweeted while the race was going on too. Funny as heck, apparently Helio had contact with Dixon causing him to pit from the lead...PT says if he were Dixon he'd punch Helio in the face...HILARIOUS!

Ha Ha. I think Scott is too kind sometimes.

[jimispeed]

................not impressed..................... :(

[Lousada]

The first half of the race was great. After Kanaan crash when everybody got on the same strategy nothing happened anymore. Only 13 cars passing the halfway mark must be pretty awful for the spectators.

Ps. I thought the directing was a lot better this race. They did show a lot of the battles further down the field.

[chuck34]

couple Broadcast things.....unless i missed it there wasn't a mention of the next race on Versus..... not good


I saw one mention of VS. Not much, but they did say the next race was Sat. night on VS.

As for the race, I thought the first half was fairly good. But, like Lousada said, after the Kannan crash, not much happened. Everyone seemed to go into fuel/tire conservation mode. Made it a bit boring. At this point I'm not really sure how to "fix" the racing?

Oh and a shout out to Conway. I thought he held his own today. Maybe I'm out to lunch, but I think with a bit of experience he'll be a decent driver some day soon.

[SarahFan]

I saw one mention of VS. Not much, but they did say the next race was Sat. night on VS.

As for the race, I thought the first half was fairly good. But, like Lousada said, after the Kannan crash, not much happened. Everyone seemed to go into fuel/tire conservation mode. Made it a bit boring. At this point I'm not really sure how to "fix" the racing?

Oh and a shout out to Conway. I thought he held his own today. Maybe I'm out to lunch, but I think with a bit of experience he'll be a decent driver some day soon.

I must have missed it......

agree about first half vs secind half....

and how about a shout out to Schekter also!

[FIAT1]

Like watching group of amateurs. Boring.

[anthonyvop]

Only 20 cars started.
13 finished
Only 4 on the lead lap.
Boring oval.

IndyCar needs help.........NOW.

On the positive side the Stands did look full. Andbody know the attendance figures?

[chuck34]

I must have missed it......

agree about first half vs secind half....

and how about a shout out to Schekter also!

Yes Schekter did one heck of a job as well. The broadcast guys kept talking about how Larry Curry sat everyone down for a meeting last week. I guess it really worked. That team is looking to have things going in the right direction now.

[dataman1]

Only 20 cars started.
13 finished
Only 4 on the lead lap.
Boring oval.

IndyCar needs help.........NOW.

On the positive side the Stands did look full. Andbody know the attendance figures?

You hit the nail on the head. I was impressed with the crowd. Did they pay or was there a give away? Is this one of those season ticket tracks, have to buy all the races if you want to see NASCAR?

[chuck34]

[quote="anthonyvop"]
IndyCar needs help.........NOW.
QUOTE]

Ok, go start another thread and tell us what sort of help you would give them. I'm tired of people b!tching about things and not putting forward solutions.

[SarahFan]

the announcers twice said 42k in attendance

[SarahFan]

IndyCar needs help.........NOW.
QUOTE]

Ok, go start another thread and tell us what sort of help you would give them. I'm tired of people b!tching about things and not putting forward solutions.


whats equally annoying is the folks that take individual problems and explain them away ( or accept them, see brazil) one by one and fail to look at the big picture

[chuck34]

whats equally annoying is the folks that take individual problems and explain them away ( or accept them, see brazil) one by one and fail to look at the big picture

You saying I'm doing something like that? If so what would you like a better explaination on?

[NickFalzone]

The tickets were sold out for this race they said it was standing room only, but Iowa is a smaller facility only 40k+ seats. I imagine it would have done maybe 50-60k if they had more grandstands set up.

I thought the racing was good, small ovals like this and Milwaukee have had much better action than the big ovals and the road courses. Anyone if ABC got any decent ratings for yesterday?

[garyshell]

IndyCar needs help.........NOW.


Ok, go start another thread and tell us what sort of help you would give them. I'm tired of people b!tching about things and not putting forward solutions.

Chuck34, don't hold your breath waiting on anthony to offer any sort of possible solution. Expect him to play the "I am a reporter" card any moment now.

Gary

[coogmaster]

Only 20 cars started.
13 finished
Only 4 on the lead lap.
Boring oval.

IndyCar needs help.........NOW.

On the positive side the Stands did look full. Andbody know the attendance figures?

Boring oval? At least there was passing, wheel to wheel racing (not as often as I would prefer, obviously), and the occasional 3 wide, not to mention some crashes (don't like them, but it adds to the action). Also, clearly Iowa is a drivers race track, AKA you'd never see Scheckter and Wheldon making outside passes like that on Red & White cars at tracks like Indy, Texas, Kansas, ect.

That being said, still better than the boring street parades we saw at the beginning of the year, with little or no passing at all. I'm not defending all ovals, because lets face it Kansas & Texas were sleepers, but we should hang on to these short ovals because they are the only venues RIGHT NOW that are producing somewhat exciting racing. I think Iowa has been the most exciting race of the year, so far.

By the way, IndyStar today reported that next year, 2 road courses will likely be added to the schedule, one in Brazil, and the Skip Barber Road course, at the expense of 1 oval currently in the series. The rumor is that the oval would be Milwaukee (according to IndyStar), but my question is, WHY Milwaukee, when the stands were practically full at the race? Why not dump Kansas, where the attendance was lower than Indy qualifying??

[ChicagocrewIRL]

I was very depressed and disappointed by the oval races this year, save Milwaukee, which I attended in person, and I was not looking forward to this race. I am a big fan of oval racing but have been underwhelmed by the oval racing this year and those ovals did nothing but provide fodder for the elite road course lovers/oval haters to spew their poison; poison that so far has been deserved. Having said all that... the next thing I have to say is HALLELUJAH for IOWA !!!!

What a great race. The cars were mostly side by side though out the race and traffic made it impossible for the leader to run away. There were good green flag pit stops even though there were several caution periods due to the tight racing conditions. 4 cars on the lead lap ? WHO CARES !! ??? It's a short oval ferchrissake ! The majority of the field SHOULD be lapped, but lapped cars were not out of the running by any means. 13 cars running at the end ??? Embarrassment ? Hell no. That's more than half the field running on a track I would classify as a bull ring short oval with superspeedway banking.

The crowd was electric, HUGE, and enthusiastic and all in all I would say this was a very successful event. CONGRATS IOWA SPEEDWAY

I guess I should come to expect the negative hater speech from those with an agenda no matter how good the product, it will always come forth. I think I would have a coronary and die if the haters out there ever gave credit where credit was due.

[ChicagocrewIRL]

Chuck34, don't hold your breath waiting on anthony to offer any sort of possible solution. Expect him to play the "I am a reporter" card any moment now.

Gary

......and one who posts prominently on a hater forum we all know exists but laugh at on a regular basis.

[chuck34]

Chuck34, don't hold your breath waiting on anthony to offer any sort of possible solution. Expect him to play the "I am a reporter" card any moment now.

Gary

No breath holding here.

[peasant]

What a great race. The cars were mostly side by side though out the race and traffic made it impossible for the leader to run away.

What race were you watching? I saw that at the start, but as the race went on it was more and more of a parade. Makes me wonder if the issue is tires, because the track was clean initially after the rain, and the racing was good, the more rubber they laid down, the worse it got. The second 1/2 had very little on track passing.