Welcome back to another enthralling edition of whatever it is that you call this. Rain rain rain in Iowa this weekend so I hope we can get all 300 laps in at a reasonable hour tonight. Strap in and enjoy the Iowa Corn Indy 300 with me.
—Prerace—
Rain… that’s going to be the story of the day. I hope the threat of an early checkered flag really makes all the drivers push as hard as they can. If the race can end at any time, it would be best to be out front all night
Power retrospective… lol… I’d really like to not write a single thing about him tonight. Please keep your nose clean Mr. Power
Powers clean shaven and has his glasses off his face. Feels like The Captain may have smacked some sense into him during the last week
Hellooooo UFD girls
Marco has been refreshingly honest and open this year. I’m really softening to him
Let’s be honest, PT look goofy as hell in that suit
IMSP Iowa race intro narrated by Diffey. Can’t get much better than that
Uninspired command. It’s not that hard guys…
And thank you NBCSN, a sub 30 minute prerace show is the perfect length
—Race—
Crows looks healthy considering the weather concerns. IndyCar feels big time in Iowa; what a great vibe
The high line shall now be called the Marco line
5
RHR looking racier than usual early on
Got to wonder is Marco toasts his tires too early in the race. He already looks like he’s about to start his usual early drop through the field
9
The laps click off super fast here
I can’t imagine anyone is saving fuel at this point in the race. Worth noting the director has yet to show the lead two so you’ve got to think they’re flying up there
13
And we see the leaders
21
Leaders look to be catching the field already
Dixon dropping quick, yet Kanaan has stood tough
Replay of Kimball’s start. HUGE save
26
Power has kind of stalled about behind Marco, but finally completes the moved
Hinch around Marco
Personal reminder: Stop picking Marco in fantasy
31
Brazilian knife fight ensuing for P1
34
YELLOW as soon as we go to commercial. Rain?
Race Control Reminder: Yes. Ok. Let’s not throw the green too early
Unfair, I know
Word from race control: they will not open the pits until they are positive the race will go green. They want to avoid racing on pit lane while it’s overly slick
39
RED
Radar looks relatively clear, this should be a quick red. I wonder if AIR TITAN!!! Is still in the house. Wouldn’t surprise me if NASCAR proper stationed one for this race. It would look just as bad on them if they can’t recover the track
Usual red flag rain delay blah blah blah… thankfully the jet driers are out already
Ethanol propaganda. At least they sponsor the race
Too bad INDYCAR has banned the use of chemical adhesives in pit boxes, I’m sure there’s toooons of high fructose corn syrup laying around the track somewhere
Look inside the director’s truck… very similar in size and brightness to the cave I pretend to play journalist in
Interview with Juan in the cockpit with helmet on. Cool?
Kevin Lee: Struggling with the bumps? Juan: yeeeeeeeeeeeaa
DVR has caught up to live picture 
Why does Diffey keep saying Iowa drives like a road course? Second mention in as many weeks
Excellent Interview with The Captain. References his fist fights with PT
Only thing PT was allowed to say on the radio? Yes sir or 10-4
40
YELLOW
Championship points swing look back. 2014 will be now known as the championship no one wants to win
Helio takes the lead on pit road
Biggest NBCSN pet peeve: Playing random radio chatter without any mention of who we are listening to
Turning a few more caution laps than I would have thought. Probably giving the guys a few extra sighting laps
49
GREEN
YELLOW
Sato and Mikhail with huge contact into the wall. Aleshin spun off the flat into Sato. Sato slow out of the car seems to have made it to the truck. +3 on the front wing for Aleshin on the last stop. Hmm…
Aleshin holding his wrist
Foyt: “… did like I said in Texas. All you gettin’ them is a bunch of damn idiots…”
Sato is such a nice guy
64
GREEN
Clean start and the Brazilian knife fight continues at the front like there wasn’t even a caution
68
Onboard with Ed. It looks like he adjust nearly every corner
Pags and Hinch side by side for like 5 solid laps. Excellent
76
Actually a fair amount of wheel to wheel racing
Kanaan around HCN as they catch the tail end of the field
80
THE RUSSIAN. His obvious mafia demeanor is welcome in IndyCar
Contrails
85
Right rear wing endplate delamination for JPM. Identical to RHR’s in practice
88
That debris is sitting in the racing line, but we are still green. TAKE THAT NASCAR HOT DOG WRAPPERS!!
93
YELLOW
Problems in the pits for JPM after the rear pod replacement. JPM was all fired up and Montoya-ey
Grandstands still look very full
97
Waived off restart for some problem with Bourdais. Seems sorted
2nd waived restart. TK told to slow and field told to pack closer. Well done race control
100
GREEN
Good jump for TK. HCN caught sleeping
104
Briscoe is looking pretty good tonight. I literally haven’t said that all year
Power blocking Ed?
108
It’s really cool that we have two Brazilians fighting for a Saturday night short track win
Replay of the Power/Ed incident. Power pinched him in the middle of the corner. That’s racing Ed, you should know that better than anyone
117
Power interview snippet: He is unapologetically focused. I’m coming around to this more honest, less whiney Will Power
127
Through the field
Surprised HCN can’t do more to catch TK. There is no way we are into fuel save mode. Iowa crashes cars
Bourdais looks like he may be done
Saavedra in the top 10?!
141
Still fighting up front. A night like this, with the strong crowd here even with the weather, makes me wonder if we can do this twice a year here. You could definitely go to Iowa in late April
147
Electrical issue for Bourdais
150
Saavedra fighting for P4 with Power
157
Saavedra around Power and Briscoe… Wut
161
Aaaaand he’s into the wall. Never change Saavedra
The look on his face is soul crushingly depressing
Some random dude counting down… 3. 2. 1.
Ed into P3. Showing very strong tonght
Saavedra may literally be crying inside the cockpit. I can make fun of him all I want, but you’ve got to respect that passion
169
Beautiful Midwestern sunset
JPM back on the lead lap
172
GREEN
Clean restart
And awesome racing
179
… Nothing to say… mesmerized…
182
Power may be struggling with the changing track
Pags and Hinch fighting again with RHR waiting to pounce on the loser
187
Hinch has totally lost his front end
Montoya into P12
193
The cars look stupid fast from the blimp/helicopter/ufo shot
205
TK running a lane up and not flirting with the wall too much. Incredibly comfortable with a 3 second lead
209
I think one of the personal allures to Iowa is that it is always a sprint race. There is a chance for a caution to fly at any time, and this is one place where the best place to be is out front so the gains from saving fuel are minimal
214
And Jan talks about the leaders needing to save a few sips of fuel. Dammit
218
Ed is falling faster than Andretti
231
YELLOW
Marco blow’d up
Well… he actually looks back at it… at least it’s not on fire, yo
That first pit stall that JPM is in is ever so slightly curved into T1. He gets a huge advantage pulling in and out of his stall. Even more so than usual for the first stall
TK drafting the pace car
232
GREEN
Ganassi boys are finally showing
Montoya P7
237
Dixon and TK side by side for the lead
256
Montoya has an engineer from NASCAR-land
263
I hate to say it, but Newgarden is fighting too hard for having such a poor handling car. He’s gonna end up in the fence with a friend if he continues this
264
TK around Dixon
270
JPM fighting Briscoe for P6. The drive Juan has put in has been unbelievable tonight
Ed’s really fighting the car
280
YELLOW
JPM into the wall
Ed chop blocked him. That was just plain dirty and Ed knows better. That’s the second time I’ve said that tonight. Shame on him. Ed is driving like a fool
Tires haven’t really matter tonight, I would be surprised if anyone too high up the order comes in
No action from race control. Lame
Hobbs: You can’t get any more blatant of a block. I agree Mr. Hobbs
JPM: “They all love preaching safe racing, but when you’re gonna pass them they’re all douche bags”
Kevin Lee: “They reviewed it and said no action taken” JPM: “Well then I’ll take some action later”
Very yes
291
GREEN
Let’s keep it clean boys
Sshh, no more talking. Racing
Ok, Both Penske cars are struggling
RHR into P2
Newgarden into P3
RHR is on new tires. I may have spoken too soon
298
RHR to P1
Newgarden into P2 on new tires as well.
I spoke WAY too soon
300
RHR wins
Excellent race
Hobbs: “Well who would have thought in a 100 years that that would have happened??” Well spoken Mr. Hobbs
RHR led 2 laps
5 wins in a row for Andretti Autosport at Iowa Speedway
Interviews, Interviews, interviews.
Enough of all that. I really enjoyed the evening and wish we could do more of this kind of stuff. The progressively banked ¾ mile Canadian Motor Speedway should by open in 2016 and could provide a similar experience. Nevertheless, Iowa always rocks my face off. It would be nice to knock this one off my bucket list in 2015.
Who knows what kind of coverage or not coverage of IndyCar will be coming here in the future, but these race notes things seem to be a hit so you will always be able to read my sideways take on an IndyCar race. I may do a few classic races during the offseason… suggestion welcome.
Eric Hall
anotherindycarblog 
Iowa delivered an unambiguously great race for the first time with the new car. Good to see. RHR and JPM lucked out with the huge failure of Helio and Power on the last restart. Both title hopes live, and I thought both were dead. JPM is fast, I haven’t seen him look this good since the 2009 Chase for the Sprint Cup. Enjoyed the broadcast, loved PT and Hobbs. Ed did not have a good race, I mean he was top 10 all day, but was not a threat to win, nor was his move with JPM good. Though I will say, it felt inevitable that one, if not both of them would crash, though not necessarily with each other. Ed was sliding and JPM was charging. I was impressed no one crashed on the last restart, so we got to see something crazy. I was really pulling for Newgarden, but an RHR win is acceptable. Felt bad for TK, but like JPM he’s knocking on the door and should be able to pull a win out. I am more worried about James Hinchcliffe. Newgarden, TK, and JPM have righted their ships, but Hinch needs a little work.
The race felt like classic Iowa/Indycar, as well as a bit Kentucky esque though without the drafting. This is a good thing. Though I personally am less supportive of short ovals in Indycar. I would say Iowa is the exception rather than the rule, RE: Pikes Peak/Richmond/Nashville. I’d like to see Phoenix though.
“Why does Diffey keep saying Iowa drives like a road course? Second mention in as many weeks” Why does Diffy say…..errr…scream…anything he does. Sorry just can NOT get into him as a lead announcer either in IndyCar, F1, or the Olympics. Bring in Bob Varsha, Jack Arute, or someone that doesn’t have to scream or walk over the mics of his color guys. Love these unfiltered posts btw!