The 2025 IndyCar doubleheader at Iowa Speedway proved to be one of the most intense weekends of the season so far, two races, 550 laps, unpredictable weather leading up to the races, and no shortage of drama.
For the three New Zealanders on the grid, Scott McLaughlin, Scott Dixon, and Marcus Armstrong, it was a weekend of resilience and reward, highlighted by Armstrong’s first podium of the season, McLaughlin’s charge from last to fourth in Race 1, and Dixon climbing to third in the championship standings.
The weekend’s schedule was reshuffled early when Friday’s opening practice session was cancelled due to dangerous weather, including a tornado warning and thunderstorms in the area.
That left teams with just one shortened practice session on Saturday morning before qualifying and back-to-back races on the short 0.875-mile oval.
McLaughlin made the most of the limited running. The Penske driver topped the charts with a 183.514mph lap, comfortably ahead of rookie Nolan Siegel. Josef Newgarden, a six-time winner at Iowa and McLaughlin’s teammate, slotted in fifth.
Armstrong and Dixon also showed promising speed. Armstrong was ninth-fastest at 181.607mph, with Dixon right behind in tenth. All three New Zealanders ended practice inside the top 10, an encouraging sign ahead of the high-speed doubleheader.
Qualifying, however, brought a significant blow for McLaughlin. Warming up for his first flying lap in Race 1 qualifying, the No. 3 Chevrolet snapped loose entering Turn 1.
He hit the wall hard with the rear of the car, ruling him out of both qualifying sessions. Although uninjured and cleared by medical, the damage meant he would start at the back of the grid for both races.
Pole for Race 1 went to Josef Newgarden with a 183.999mph average. Conor Daly delivered a surprise lap for Juncos Hollinger to join him on the front row.
Dixon qualified sixth, putting him in a strong position for the first race. Armstrong’s better showing came in Race 2 qualifying, where he took 11th.
Alex Palou led the way in Race 2 qualifying with the fastest lap of the day, 184.014mph, securing his fourth pole of the season.
Felix Rosenqvist joined him on the front row. Newgarden started fourth, Dixon eighth, and Armstrong 12th. McLaughlin, still unable to run, would again line up last.
Race 1:
Race 1 began with chaos even before the green flag, as Colton Herta spun down the front stretch, bringing out a caution. Once racing got underway on Lap 9, Newgarden led from Daly, Rosenqvist, Palou and O’Ward.
McLaughlin immediately began a spirited charge through the field. Within the first 40 laps, he had gained 11 positions, moving up to 16th.
Armstrong ran where he started in 11th, while Dixon, who had jumped to fifth, moved past Nolan Siegel for fourth and set his sights on Pato O’Ward.
By Lap 69, McLaughlin was up to 14th, using the high line to great effect. His calculated aggression stood out, methodically picking off one car at a time.
The race’s second caution came at Lap 75 when Jacob Abel hit the wall hard in Turn 2. That triggered the first pit cycle of the day. Most of the field stopped, including all three Kiwis.
Dixon gained in the sequence, rejoining third. Armstrong slotted into eighth, and McLaughlin was now just outside the top 10.
When the race resumed on Lap 87, O’Ward wasted no time. He passed Dixon on Lap 89, then dove underneath Palou to move into second.
Daly followed suit, bumping Palou to fourth, with Dixon now fifth. Armstrong held eighth, and McLaughlin moved into 14th.
On Lap 153, Kyle Kirkwood hit the wall with a front-right failure, his second crash of the weekend, bringing out another caution. At the time, Kirkwood sat second in the championship, so it was a costly blow to his title hopes.
During the pit stops, Newgarden maintained the lead, followed by O’Ward and Palou. Dixon came out seventh, Armstrong eighth, and McLaughlin rejoined in 11th.
On the restart, Ferrucci got by both Ganassi Kiwis to move into seventh, but McLaughlin was soon back in action, passing Rasmussen and Foster, then moving into the top 10.
On lap 200 McLaughlin passed Armstrong, then Dixon, and went on to pick off Ferrucci for eighth. His charge wasn’t done. By Lap 224, he cleared Daly for sixth, and four laps later, overtook Rasmussen to enter the top five.
The final caution flew on Lap 248 after Nolan Siegel hit the wall again. The leaders all pitted under yellow, and when the dust settled, O’Ward led from Newgarden, Power, and McLaughlin. Armstrong sat ninth, with Dixon 10th.
A red flag followed for wall repairs with just 17 laps to go. When the race resumed with 14 to go, Ilott spun into the wall immediately, bringing out another yellow.
The final restart came with nine laps left. O’Ward led a trio of Penske cars, Newgarden, Power and McLaughlin. McLaughlin launched a late attack on Power for the final podium spot but couldn’t make the move stick.
O’Ward and Newgarden battled right to the flag, with O’Ward holding on to take his second win of the season.
McLaughlin finished fourth, up 23 places from last on the grid in a sensational recovery. His drive earning him the biggest mover award in the race.
Armstrong and Dixon brought home top-10 finishes in ninth and tenth.
Race 2:
Race 2 brought an immediate reversal of fortunes. On Lap 1, Devlin DeFrancesco lost the rear exiting Turn 2 and clipped McLaughlin, who was caught completely unaware. The contact pushed the Kiwi into the wall and out of the race on the spot, a cruel blow after Saturday’s heroics.
Once racing resumed on Lap 12, Newgarden moved into third ahead of Malukas. Dixon ran eighth early, Armstrong close behind in ninth. A mechanical failure ended Will Power’s race just as he was running inside the top five, elevating Armstrong to seventh and Dixon to eighth.
On Lap 50, Sting Ray Robb crashed heavily, prompting another caution. Newgarden continued to pressure Palou and eventually passed him on Lap 66 to take the race lead. Dixon had climbed to sixth, with Armstrong right behind in seventh.
Lap 130 saw Marcus Ericsson crash in Turn 2. The caution came just after Newgarden had pitted, a stroke of bad luck that dropped him down the order. Palou cycled back into the lead, followed by Malukas, O’Ward, and Daly. Armstrong was now fifth, Dixon seventh.
Another caution followed on Lap 177 for Callum Ilott, whose crash reshuffled the order yet again. Kirkwood, who hadn’t pitted, temporarily led but was swallowed up after the restart. Palou regained the lead, with Malukas and Daly following.
Dixon and Armstrong were now in the top five. The two briefly made contact, Armstrong’s rear brushing Dixon’s front wing, but both continued. Newgarden re-emerged in the fight, passing Malukas for second.
With 27 laps to go, Daly and Malukas pitted under green. Newgarden and O’Ward followed, handing the lead back to Palou. Armstrong cycled to second, Dixon to third.
A Lap 229 caution for Colton Herta’s crash played perfectly into the hands of Palou, Armstrong and Dixon, who pitted under yellow and returned to the front.
On the final restart with 11 laps remaining, Dixon passed Armstrong for second. The pair pulled clear of the field, but Palou held his nerve to take the win, his seventh of the year.
Armstrong brought the car home in third, his first podium of the season and his first since Detroit 2024. It was also his sixth consecutive top-10 finish.
“Yeah we made it happen, I was confident we’re gonna have a good day because last night we were finding our feet towards the end of the race and we’ve been saving fuel for two races now waiting for a situation like that there at the end so I was very happy when I saw that yellow at the end” said Armstrong
“We’re just getting better every single race. I’m gelling with my crew better and better every race, but this championship is so so competitive, you need to be on every single session, every single lap, just like Alex Palou is, so we’re getting there slowly, we’re getting there”
Dixon’s second-place result, combined with his top-10 from Race 1, moved him up to third in the championship standings.
“Yeah, it was definitely a lot of changes [to the car], you know, we weren’t really too sure how it was going to go. Obviously, we have an amazing engineering group here, and Brad, Chris, and everybody did a phenomenal job to throw the kitchen sink at it yesterday basically,” said Dixon
‘We were all kind of frustrated about not being able to use the highline, so we tried to fix that, and obviously, today it took us a little bit to work it out, but once we did, you know the car was super fast.
Top 10 Championship Standings After Iowa:
- Alex Palou – 515 pts
- Pato O’Ward – 386 pts
- Scott Dixon – 342 pts
- Kyle Kirkwood – 335 pts
- Christian Lundgaard – 300 pts
- Felix Rosenqvist – 298 pts
- Marcus Armstrong – 267
- Will Power – 244 pts
- Colton Herta – 244 pts
- Santino Ferrucci – 237 pts
- Scott McLaughlin 234 pts (12th)
The three Kiwis leave Iowa with momentum and some silverware, Armstrong riding high after a breakthrough podium, Dixon firmly back in the championship fight, and McLaughlin showing front-running pace despite a brutal run of misfortune.
Next up is the streets of Toronto in Ontario next weekend, 19-21 July, where the tight, bumpy layout and unforgiving concrete barriers promise another intense weekend of racing.
Header Image: Penske Entertainment – Joe Skibinski
