IndyCar, ARCA will have limited crowds July 17-18 at Iowa

The NTT IndyCar Series weekend doubleheader July 17-18 at Iowa Speedway will be held before limited crowds.

The series announced in a release Thursday that its twin 250-mile races and the ARCA race at Iowa will have a limited number of tickets available.

According to series and track officials, the maximum estimated crowd for both nights at the 0.875-mile oval would be between 5,000 to 6,000 people with proper social distancing.

Under health and safety protocols established with public officials, all fans will undergo temperature checks before entering parking areas. Groups of fans in attendance will be separated by at least 6 feet in the grandstands. Only essential racing personnel will have access to the infield.

According to guidelines provided on the Iowa Speedway website, fans will be provided complimentary masks upon entry. The track said “it is strongly encouraged for all guests to wear an appropriate face covering, but fans will not be required to wear one during the race weekend.”

Tickets will go on sale June 26 after existing ticketholders for the races have been assigned spots.

The IndyCar Series opened its season June 6 without fans at Texas Motor Speedway, and it will race without fans at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in a July 4 doubleheader with the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

IndyCar’s July 11-12 doubleheader at Road America, which is the third track on the schedule, has yet to announce its policy.

Several racetracks gradually have begun to open their grandstands in the past two weeks. IMSA announced Tuesday that its July 4 race at Daytona International Speedway will have a crowd of up to 5,000.

Homestead-Miami Speedway played host to a crowd of 1,000 military personnel, first responders and their families for its June 14 races, and 5,000 fans will be allowed Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway.

Bristol Motor Speedway announced Monday night that it would have up to 30,000 for the All-Star Race on July 15.

Here’s the release from IndyCar on Iowa Speedway:

INDIANAPOLIS (June 18, 2020) – INDYCAR will welcome fans to Iowa Speedway for the upcoming July 17-18 race weekend featuring the NTT INDYCAR SERIES Iowa 250 races and the ARCA Menards Series race.

Under the guidance of public health officials, medical experts and local, state and federal authorities, INDYCAR and Iowa Speedway will observe safe social distancing and provide enhanced hygiene and safety precautions for all fans in attendance at the event. Only a limited number of tickets will be available for the upcoming race weekend with each group of fans in attendance separated by at least 6 feet of distancing at Iowa Speedway, in order to align with Iowa state COVID-19 guidelines.

All previously purchased tickets for the July 17 and 18 race weekend will be honored by Iowa Speedway, including season tickets. Seating will be reassigned for all existing ticketholders in order to follow safe social distancing guidelines. Ticketholders will be notified about their specific seat locations in the coming days, and tickets will either be emailed or printed and distributed beginning July 1. A limited number of remaining tickets for the race weekend will then go on sale Friday, June 26, and fans will be able to secure their seats online through www.iowaspeedway.com or by phone at 866-787-8946.

Single-day tickets start as low as $15 for Friday, July 17 and $20 for Saturday, July 18, while all two-day ticket packages include a 10% discount. Tickets to the Iowa Speedway luxury hospitality suites will also be available for purchase, along with weekend camping and parking options. Safe social distancing protocols will also be in place for suite ticketholders and for all of the camping options at Iowa Speedway.

The July race weekend will feature two full points races for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES on back-to-back nights – the Iowa INDYCAR 250s. Friday, July 17 will include the high-powered NTT INDYCAR SERIES cars competing in the first of two 250-mile races under the lights at Iowa Speedway. On Saturday, July 18, ticketholders will enjoy the ARCA Menards Series Shore Lunch 150 in the afternoon, followed by the second Iowa INDYCAR 250 race that evening.

As part of the enhanced health and safety measures for the event weekend, all guests will be screened in their vehicles with contactless temperature checks before entering the parking areas and only essential racing personnel will have access to the infield. Hand sanitizer and face coverings will be distributed to each guest when they enter the track, and enhanced cleaning and sanitizing procedures will be implemented throughout the facility over the course of the weekend.

Additional protocols and guidelines for guests planning to attend can be found at www.iowaspeedway.com, along with pricing and seating options. A limited number of available tickets will be placed on sale beginning at 9 a.m. CT Friday, June 26 through the website or by calling 866-787-8946.

INDIANAPOLIS – Alex Palou had not turned a wheel wrong the entire Month of May at the Indy 500 until Rinus VeeKay turned a wheel into the Chip Ganassi Racing pole-sitter leaving pit road on Lap 94.

“There is nothing I could have done there,” Palou told NBC Sports. “It’s OK, when it is my fault or the team’s fault because everybody makes mistakes. But when there is nothing, you could have done differently there, it feels bad and feels bad for the team.”

Marcus Ericsson was a master at utilizing the “Tail of the Dragon” move that breaks the draft of the car behind him in the closing laps to win last year’s Indianapolis 500. On Sunday, however, the last of three red flags in the final 16 laps of the race had the popular driver from Sweden breathing fire after Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden beat him at his own game on the final lap to win the Indianapolis 500.

Despite the two disappointments, team owner Chip Ganassi was seen on pit road fist-bumping a member on his four-car team in this year’s Indianapolis 500 after his drivers finished second, fourth, sixth and seventh in the tightly contested race.

Those are pretty good results, but at the Indianapolis 500, there is just one winner and 32 losers.

“There is only one winner, but it was a hell of a show,” three-time Indianapolis 500 winner and Chip Ganassi Racing consultant Dario Franchitti told NBC Sports. “Alex was very fast, and he got absolutely caught out in somebody else’s wreck. There was nothing he could have done, but he and the 10 car, great recovery.

“Great recovery by all four cars because at half distance, we were not looking very good.”

After 92 laps, the first caution flew for Sting Ray Robb of Dale Coyne Racing hitting the Turn 1 wall.

During pit stops on Lap 94, Palou had left his stall when the second-place car driven by VeeKay ran into him, putting Palou’s Honda into the wall. The car sustained a damaged front wing, but the Chip Ganassi crew was able to get him back in the race on the lead lap but in 28^th position.

Palou ultimately would fight his way to a fourth-place finish in a race the popular Spaniard could have won. His displeasure with VeeKay, whom he sarcastically called “a legend” on his team radio after the incident, was evident.

“The benefit of being on pole is you can drive straight and avoid crashes, and he was able to crash us on the side on pit lane, which is pretty tough to do, but he managed it,” Palou told NBC Sports. “Hopefully next year we are not beside him. Hopefully, next year we have a little better luck.”

Palou started on the pole and led 36 laps, just three fewer than race leader Pato O’Ward of Arrow McLaren Racing.

“We started really well, was managing the fuel as we wanted, our car was pretty good,” Palou said. “Our car wasn’t great, we dropped to P4 or P5, but we still had some good stuff.

“On the pit stop, the 21 (VeeKay) managed to clip us. Nothing we could have done there. It was not my team’s fault or my fault.

“We had to drop to the end. I’m happy we made it back to P4. We needed 50 more laps to make it happen, but it could have been a lot worse after that contact.

“I learned a lot, running up front at the beginning and in mid-pack and then the back. I learned a lot.

“It feels amazing when you win it and not so good when things go wrong. We were a bit lucky with so many restarts at the end to make it back to P4 so I’m happy with that.”

Palou said the front wing had to be changed and the toe-in was a bit off, but he still had a fast car.

In fact, his Honda was the best car at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway all month. His pole-winning four lap average speed of 234.217 miles per hour around the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway was a record for this fabled race.

Palou looked good throughout the race, before he had to scratch and claw and race his way back to the top-five after he restarted 28^th.

In the Indianapolis 500, however, the best car doesn’t always win.

“It’s two years in a row that we were leading the race at the beginning and had to drop to last,” Palou said. “Maybe next year, we will start in the middle of the field and go on to win the race.

“I know he didn’t do it on purpose. It’s better to let that pass someday.”

Palou said the wild racing at the end was because the downforce package used in Sunday’s race means the drivers have to be aggressive. The front two cars can battle for the victory, but cars back in fourth or fifth place can’t help determine the outcome of the race.

That is when the “Tail of the Dragon” comes into the play.

Franchitti helped celebrate Ericsson’s win in 2022 with his “Tail of the Dragon” zigzag move – something he never had to do in any of his three Indianapolis 500 victories because they all finished under caution.

In 2023, however, IndyCar Race Control wants to make every attempt to finish the race under green, without going past the scheduled distance like NASCAR’s overtime rule.

Instead of extra laps, they stop the race with a red flag, to create a potential green-flag finish condition.

“You do what you have to do to win within the rules, and it’s within the rules, so you do it,” Franchitti said. “The race is 200 laps and there is a balance.

“Marcus did a great job on that restart and so did Josef. It was just the timing of who was where and that was it.

“If you knew it was going to go red, you would have hung back on the lap before.

“Brilliant job by the whole Ganassi organization because it wasn’t looking very good at half-distance.

“Full marks to Josef Newgarden and Team Penske.”

Franchitti is highly impressed by how well Ericsson works with CGR engineer Brad Goldberg and how close this combination came to winning the Indianapolis 500 two-years-in-a-row.

It would have been the first back-to-back Indy 500 winner since Helio Castroneves in 2001 and 2002.

“Oh, he’s a badass,” Franchitti said Ericsson. “He proved it last year. He is so calm all day. What more do you need? As a driver, he’s fast and so calm.”

Ericsson is typically in good spirits and jovial.

He was stern and direct on pit road after the race.

“I did everything right, I did an awesome restart, caught Josef off-guard and pulled away,” Ericsson said on pit lane. “It’s hard to pull away a full lap and he got me back.

“I’m mostly disappointed with the way he ended. I don’t think it was fair and safe to do that restart straight out of the pits on cold tires for everyone.

“To me, it was not a good way to end that race.

“Congrats to Josef. He didn’t do anything wrong. He is a worthy champion, but it shouldn’t have ended like that.”

Palou also didn’t understand the last restart, which was a one-start showdown.

“I know that we want to finish under green,” Palou said. “Maybe the last restart I did, I didn’t understand. It didn’t benefit the CGR team.

“I’m not very supportive of the last one, but anyway.”

Dixon called the red flags “a bit sketchy.”

“The red flags have become a theme to the end of the race, but sometimes they can catch you out,” Dixon said. “I know Marcus is frustrated with it.

“All we ask for is consistency. I think they will do better next time.

“It’s a tough race. People will do anything they can to win it and with how these reds fall, you have to be in the right place at the right time. The problem is when they throw a Red or don’t throw a Red dictates how the race will end.

“It’s a bloody hard race to win. Congrats to Josef Newgarden and to Team Penske.”

Follow Bruce Martin on Twitter at @BruceMartin_500

IndyCar, ARCA will race before limited crowds July 17-18 at Iowa Speedway

Strong rebounds for Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi amid some disappointments in the Indy 500