With one of two races done during this season’s IndyCar double-header, we have crowned a new race winner in 2025. At today’s race in Iowa, Pato O’Ward lit up the track, leading the Penske Trio and our championship leader, Alex Palou to victory. That wasn’t all, though. In under 24 hours, Iowa has brought us 4 cautions, some of the biggest movers we’ve seen all season, qualifying crashes, and even a tornado.
Here are the key takeaways from Race 1 at Iowa.
Pato O’Ward Back on Top
It is almost poetic that at his 100th race start, Pato O’Ward has claimed his first victory of the 2025 season. After starting 5th in the first race at Iowa, Pato held steady in the top 4 throughout the first 232 laps of this 275 lap race. It was his final pitstop on Lap 232 that saw Pato emerge in front of Josef who had lead the race all evening.
After a stumble on Josef’s front left tire in the pit box, Pato was able to fend off Newgarden in stunning form to finish just seconds in front of the pole-sitter. Pato is an expert at consistency and remaining out of on track crashes this season. However, in Iowa, today, his expert defense against Josef reaffirmed his nickname as “Mr. Quick Hands”.
“We’ve been waiting for this one all year. My 50th race was a win here in Iowa. It’s a cool story. It’s a 1-2-3 Chevy podium. I’m the first one to give them a win this year. I had to be so precise on my in and out laps to beat [Newgarden]. Great racing out there.” – Pato O’Ward
Pato’s win will shoot him up into 2nd in the championship. He will surpass Kyle Kirkwood to trail IndyCar’s Championship Leader, Alex Palou.
Penske Fights On
Team Penske has had a season full of struggles, controversy, and flat out bad luck. Today, at Iowa, all three of the drivers can manage a soft smile while they recalibrate for Race 2. Team Penske finished 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, just being edged out from the win by Pato.
Scott McLaughlin, though, may be the driver of the day and certainly the hero of Team Penske in Iowa. After an unlucky crash during qualifying, McLaughlin started in last place. So, how did he find himself in P4 to finish the race? The most controlled and masterful driving that we have seen from Team Penske all year. By Lap 40 Scott McLaughlin gained 11 positions and by Lap 183 he WAS P11. After a few ‘well timed’ cautions that gave McLaughlin the jump on drivers such as Conor Daly and Alex Palou, the podium was within reach. You’d have never known that he had just crashed hours prior to the race start in Iowa.
Meanwhile, Josef Newgarden and Will Power finished 2nd and 3rd, respectively, making up for their poor performances in Mid-Ohio. Their races were stories of consistency and clean racing with the only mistake happening in Josef’s pit box to cost him the win in Iowa.
Andretti’s Struggles
While Team Penske can breathe a sigh of relief after Iowa Race 1, Andretti has had a day to forget. Two of the four cautions today were caused by Andretti drivers. Colton Herta spun at the race start. Kyle Kirkwood crashed at Lap 153 after ANOTHER crash earlier today in practice. Colton Herta went on to finish in 13th, just trailed by Marcus Ericsson in 15th.
Kyle Kirkwood was completely out of form in Iowa with the second-most wins this season behind Alex Palou. Colton Herta, although winless, wasn’t completely out of character – gaining 10 positions even after his Lap 1 spin. Marcus Ericsson has been out of form all year, though. Even with several cautions, fast pit stops, and slower cars around him no positions were gained by the Swede.
Hopefully, tomorrow, although with their low starting positions, (P14, P19, and P21), Andretti can have a better day than Iowa Race 1.
A New Short Oval ‘King’
Christian Rasmussen has been the hot topic of conversation at both of IndyCar’s short oval tracks this year. He earned his first ever podium at the Bommarito 500 at Gateway and climbed 13 positions to finish 6th today in Iowa.
Christian has been dialed in and hungry during the Oval courses this year, but none more than today in Iowa. Wheel-to-Wheel action and bold moves put Christian on the map for not only viewers of the race, but spotters around the track. Several spotters warned their drivers that Rasmussen was behind as if being chased by a ghost in a horror movie.
Rasmussen was always in control even if his moves were bold. On Lap 191 he dove in front of the formidable Scott Dixon and battled the championship leader almost successfully for many laps after the final restart of the race. One thing’s for sure, Rasmussen LOVES to see short ovals on the IndyCar calendar.
Consistency and Crashes
Iowa brought us several other driving stories worth mentioning.
Conor Daly continues to impress with Juncos Hollinger on ovals. Although he finished P7 after starting P2 and running in the top 3 for half of the race, Daly has shown consistency in oval racing again and again. He will start P7 in tomorrows’ second race in Iowa.
Marcus Armstrong has been the face of consistency this season, finishing in the Top 10 for the past 5 races in a row. This is especially true in Iowa as his more experienced teammate, Felix Rosenqvist fell to P17 after a P3 start. Consistency is key for Armstrong as he chases his first podium of the season and first race win in IndyCar. We can take a guess that it’s coming soon for the Kiwi.
Nolan Siegel is taking consistency in the opposite direction, unfortunately, as he crashed out of the race in Iowa on Lap 250. Siegel’s performance has been all over the map this year with several crashes to his name, but several strong finishes. With several podium finishes spread across his Arrow McLaren teammates, Siegel needs a strong finish tomorrow at Race 2 in Iowa.
How will this shake out tomorrow for Race 2 with our Championship Leader, Palou on pole?
Let’s see how these performances compare in under 24 hours with Race 2 of our IndyCar Doubleheader in Iowa!
Feature Image: IndyCar Media Center
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