Honda PR

Honda IndyCar Series Iowa Message Points

Posted on by Steve Wittich

Iowa Corn 300
Iowa Speedway, Newton, Iowa
2 p.m. EDT Sunday, July 8, 2017
NBC Sports Network
IMS Radio Network Live Stream and Broadcast

MANUFACTURER COMPETITION 

  • Honda comes to Iowa Speedway having scored five victories in 2018, and leads the Verizon IndyCar Series Manufacturers’ Championship with 832 points, to 707 points for rival Chevrolet.
  • Honda’s most recent victory came at Texas Motor Speedway last month, as Scott Dixon dominated the second half of the race to score his second victory of 2018, and the 43rd of his career, moving him into third place on the all-time IndyCar wins list, trailing only AJ Foyt (67) and Mario Andretti (52).
  • Honda drivers also took third through ninth places in Texas, led by Alexander Rossi in third, followed to the checkers by James Hinchcliffe, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Graham Rahal, Takuma Sato, Sebastien Bourdais and Ed Jones, respectively.
  • Heading into this weekend’s race in Iowa, Honda drivers hold the top three – and seven of the top 10 – positions in the drivers’ championship.  Dixon leads the way with 393 points, while fellow Honda drivers Hunter-Reay and Rossi are tied in second with 348.  Rahal stands sixth (278) and Robert Wickens is seventh (274). Bourdais (235) and Marco Andretti (232) round out the top 10.
  • Earlier in June, Honda drivers swept both rounds the “Dual in Detroit” doubleheader race weekend on Belle Isle, Dixon led Honda’s first-through-sixth domination of Saturday’s race, playing a two-stop pit strategy to perfection to score his first win of 2018. Hunter-Reay finished second, with Rossi taking third.  Fourth through sixth included Honda drivers Andretti, Sato and Jones.
  • On Sunday, Hunter-Reay’s three-stop strategy proved superior, as he recorded his first victory of 2018 after chasing down and passing the two-stopping Rossi for the win.  Rossi subsequently had to make a late-race pit stop after a tire puncture, though Honda drivers again dominated the finishing order, claiming five of the top six positions at the checkers.  Jones took third, followed by Dixon, Rahal and Wickens, respectively.
  • At the season-opening Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in March, Sebastien Bourdais led a first- through sixth-place Honda sweep. In mid-April, Rossi dominated the Grand Prix of Long Beach from the pole for his first victory of the season.  Honda drivers claimed five of the top six finishing positions at Long Beach.
  • The 2018 season marks the seventh year of manufacturer competition in the Verizon IndyCar Series, following six years of Honda serving as single engine supplier from 2006-11.  Chevrolet and Honda are again battling for supremacy throughout the 17-race season.
  • Drivers using Honda engines have won 230 Indy car races and 12 Indianapolis 500s, both during years of multi-manufacturer competition (2004-05, 2012-present); and during Honda’s 2006-11 tenure as single engine supplier to the series. 
  • Since its founding in 1993, Honda Performance Development (HPD), the racing arm of the American Honda Motor Co., Inc., has grown from just a handful of staffers to approximately 150 associates; and from an engine-rebuilding facility, focused on a single racing series, to a complete motorsports Research & Development organization, engaged in programs ranging from the Verizon IndyCar Series and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship to grassroots and entry-level categories including karting and the SCCA Formula 4 Championship.

HONDA AT IOWA SPEEDWAY

  • The Verizon IndyCar Series visits Iowa Speedway for the second of three short-oval races this season.  With a lap distance of just 0.89 miles, the banked Iowa track is the shortest circuit on the 2016 schedule.  
  • Honda drivers have scored seven wins in 11 races at Iowa Speedway.
  • In 2015, Honda’s Ryan Hunter-Reay won for the second consecutive year, successfully battling Josef Newgarden as the pair repeated its 1-2 finish from the previous season.
  • As the engine supplier to the IndyCar Series from 2006-2011, Honda powered the winner of the first five races at Iowa Speedway, beginning with Dario Franchitti at the inaugural 2007 event.  Franchitti won again in 2009.  
  • Other Honda-powered race winners at Iowa include the late Dan Wheldon (2008), Tony Kanaan (2010) and Marco Andretti (2011).

HONDA RACING/HPD VIDEOS

  • Video recaps from this weekend’s Honda Indy car racing action in Iowa, and Acura Motorsports activities in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park, are being posted on the “Honda Racing/HPD” YouTube channel.