2015 Iowa Corn 300 Preview

At just seven eighths of a mile, Iowa is the shortest circuit on the calendar. A test of physical strength in addition to mental strength makes the 2015 Iowa Corn 300 one of the tougher races on the calendar to get a strong result at. Another trilling race last time out at Wisconsin produced another surprise winner, but not a new one this season. Sebastien Bourdais is beginning to cement his name into the IndyCar greats with a brilliant win where he was one lap ahead of the entire field at one point. However, Penske seemed to struggle, and this is starting to allow a few underdogs to get their nose into the ring as we head into the business end of the season.

This will be the final race before a seemingly endless four week break, the same length as Formula 1’s. This is also the second of two short ovals this season, so those who performed well last weekend will be hoping for a similar result here. As always, getting your timing right with the cautions and staying out of trouble will more than likely lead to a strong result.

Out of the eight runnings of this event, four of the wins are shared amongst three drivers who will line up on the grid on Saturday night (or incredibly early Sunday morning for those in Europe).  Ryan Hunter-Reay is the only active repeat winner of this event, with Tony Kanaan and Marco Andretti taking one win each in the past. Dario Franchitti (twice), the late Dan Wheldon and the recovering James Hinchcliffe also have had success here in the past.

Despite losing out to the likes of Bourdais, Graham Rahal and team mate Helio Castroneves at Milwaukee, Juan Pablo Montoya extended his lead in the championship last time out. However just one point separates third and fifth in the standings, with the top six all within 100 points of each other with well over 250 on the table still.

Oddly, there are no driver changes from the last round. Ed Carpenter makes his penultimate appearance this season as he will not take part at Mid Ohio or at Sonoma. Ryan Briscoe is set to remain in the SPM car in place of Hinchcliffe until the end of the season.