Photo: Chris Owens
Indy Nxt’s cars will run with reduced power in this week’s round at Iowa Speedway after a rapid pace was set in a test there.
The circuit was repaved in various areas through 2023 and ’24, and there were differing grip levels between the areas of old and new asphalt around the short 0.88-mile lap when the championship arrived there last July for its race event.
In qualifying the single and two-lap track record was smashed, with new average speed benchmarks of 171.088mph and 170.625mph being set.
Due to the prospect of single-lane action, the race was shortened from 75 to 55 laps. A lengthy caution period meant drivers could also push harder during green flag laps than anticipated, and IndyCar’s drivers had helped grip up the repaved sections with a practice session that rubbered in the high line.
Indy Nxt returned to Iowa a month ago for a test day. HMD Motorsports’ Josh Pierson was fastest, completing a lap of the 0.894-mile circuit in 18.275 seconds and at an average speed of 176.109mph.
The top 11 drivers went under the track record, and several were fast enough to have qualified for IndyCar’s 2024 races there.
Pierson would have pushed Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyffin Simpson off 27th and last on the grid for the first Iowa 250.
The slowest two qualifiers for the second Iowa 250 were Marcus Armstrong (Ganassi) and Ed Carpenter (Ed Carpenter Racing). There were 16 drivers in testing who beat Carpenter’s 19.0203s qualifying laptime, and Andretti’s Dennis Hauger and Lochie Hughes joined Pierson in beating Armstrong’s 18.5305s.
“I don’t know what to except after having the test,” Hughes told media. “They’re going to slow us down. I think maybe the top five or eight of us at the test were quick enough to qualify for the IndyCar race. So that would be cool! They should just let us race [with them]. Looking forward to it. It’s obviously a bit of a different oval to [Gateway].”
HMD Motorsports’ Caio Collet, sixth in the test, also commented on being “surprisingly too quick”.
“The series is trying to slow us down a little bit. So we will see how the rules [are], how it will play out next weekend. But really looking forward to go back in an oval. We had a really good race last time out in Gateway, very exciting for all the fans. I think for me not so much in the last 15 laps. But it was always nice to watch, and hopefully we can put on a good show again.”
IndyCar confirmed to Formula Scout today that Indy Nxt’s cars will be slowed down at Iowa.
“With the recent track repave and an updated tire from Firestone, the speeds of the Indy Nxt cars continued to increase as witnessed at the June open test,” said a series representative. “Taking these factors into account, IndyCar has decided to reduce engine power in an effort to ensure an appropriate performance window as these young drivers continue hone their oval racing skills.”