Honda PR

Honda at Iowa Speedway: Race Reports

Posted on by Patrick Stephan

Ericsson Leads Honda Effort at Iowa Speedway

  • Marcus Ericsson runs fourth for Honda in first round of NTT INDYCAR SERIES doubleheader race weekend at Iowa Speedway
  • Scott Dixon runs sixth, Kyle Kirkwood seventh; while Alex Palou maintains large championship points lead with eighth-place finish
  • Second 250-lap race set for Sunday

NEWTON, IA (July 22, 2023) – Marcus Ericsson continues to shine on the oval tracks of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, leading the way for Honda with a fourth-place finish today in the first 250-lap race of a doubleheader weekend at Iowa Speedway.

Ericsson’s Chip Ganassi Racing teammate, Scott Dixon, recovered from handling issues early in the contest to finish sixth, just ahead of Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach race winner Kyle Kirkwood in his Andretti Autosport Honda,

Championship leader Alex Palou now holds a 98-point advantage over today’s race winner Josef Newgarden with an eighth-place finish in his Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.

HY-VEE Homefront 250 Honda Race Results

  • 4th Marcus Ericsson Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
  • 6th Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
  • 7th Kyle Kirkwood Andretti Autosport Honda
  • 8th Alex Palou Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
  • 9th Takuma Sato Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
  • 11th Romain Grosjean Andretti Autosport Honda
  • 12th David Malukas Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Honda
  • 14th Helio Castroneves Meyer Shank Racing Honda
  • 18th Jack Harvey Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
  • 19th Colton Herta Andretti Autosport Honda
  • 20th Christian Lundgaard Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
  • 21st Conor Daly Meyer Shank Racing Honda
  • 22nd Devlin DeFrancesco Andretti Autosport Honda
  • 25th Sting Ray Robb-R Dale Coyne Racing with RWR Honda
  • 28th Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda [Did not finish – contact]

R – Rookie

NTT INDYCAR SERIES Manufacturers’ Championship (unofficial, after 11 of 17 rounds)

Honda 915 points

Chevrolet 847 points

NTT INDYCAR SERIES Drivers’ Championship Standings (unofficial, after 11 of 17 rounds)

1. Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 442 points

2. Josef Newgarden, Team Penske – 98

3. Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing Honda -114

4. Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren -133

5. Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing Honda -135

Quotes

Marcus Ericsson (#8 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) finished fourth: “This track is always so much fun. It feels like you’re constantly either overtaking or running side-by-side with someone. When you have a good car, like I did in the #8 Huski Honda, it’s fun. We had a strong day, starting 10th and finishing fourth. That’s a good day’s work.”

Kyle Kirkwood (#27 Andretti Autosport Honda) finished seventh: “We learned a lot today. It felt like we had really good pace at the end of each stint, which was very encouraging for us. We ran a little bit different setup from our teammates, and I think we’ll be able to build on that tomorrow based on our pace today. Our third stint in particular, the #27 Honda was just on rails. We need to take that, tune on it, and keep the car in that window tomorrow.”


Mark Crawford (Large Project Leader, Honda Performance Development) on today’s race at Iowa Speedway: “Today wasn’t our day, but we’ve got tonight to review our data, work on our issues and hopefully come back stronger in tomorrow’s race to run at the front.”

Fast Facts

Honda continues to lead the 2023 NTT INDYCAR SERIES Manufacturers’ Championship, with seven victories and nine poles in 11 races this season. Honda currently has an unofficial 68-point advantage (915-847) over rival Chevrolet. The company is seeking its fifth NTT INDYCAR SERIES Manufacturers’ Championship in the last six years in 2023.

The NTT INDYCAR SERIES completes a hectic run of five races over a six-week period this Saturday and Sunday at Iowa Speedway with a doubleheader race weekend, the only twin-race weekend on the 2023 NTT INDYCAR SERIES schedule.

Next

The 2023 NTT INDYCAR SERIES remains at Iowa Speedway for Sunday’s second round in the double-header HY-VEE race weekend. Coverages of the 250-lap HY-VEE One Step 250 starts on NBC tomorrow at 3 p.m. EDT.

Palou Scores Podium Result for Honda at Iowa Speedway

  • Alex Palou finishes third at second round of NTT INDYCAR SERIES doubleheader HY-VEE race weekend at Iowa Speedway
  • Scott Dixon runs sixth for second consecutive day; Colton Herta finishes seventh

NEWTON, IA (July 23, 2023) – A closing-laps charge from Alex Palou netted the NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship points leader a third-place finish today in the HY-VEE One Step 250, closing race in a double-header weekend at Iowa Speedway.

As a result, Honda driver Palou continues to hold a strong, 80-point lead in the chase for the 2023 Drivers’ Championship over Josef Newgarden, who swept both races this weekend.

Palou’s Chip Ganassi Racing teammate, Scott Dixon, finished sixth for the second day in a row; just ahead of a Honda trio that included Andretti Autosport’s Colton Herta; an impressive David Malukas for Dale Coyne Racing with HMD, eighth; and Marcus Ericsson in ninth.

HY-VEE One Step 250 Honda Race Results

  • 3rd Alex Palou Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
  • 6th Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
  • 7th Colton Herta Andretti Autosport Honda
  • 8th David Malukas Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Honda
  • 9th Marcus Ericsson Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
  • 11th Kyle Kirkwood Andretti Autosport Honda
  • 12th Romain Grosjean Andretti Autosport Honda
  • 13th Christian Lundgaard Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
  • 16th Helio Castroneves Meyer Shank Racing Honda
  • 17th Conor Daly Meyer Shank Racing Honda
  • 19th Jack Harvey Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
  • 20th Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
  • 21st Devlin DeFrancesco Andretti Autosport Honda
  • 25th Takuma Sato Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
  • 28th Sting Ray Robb Dale Coyne Racing with RWR Honda [Did not finish]

R – Rookie

NTT INDYCAR SERIES Manufacturers’ Championship (unofficial, after 12 of 17 rounds)

Honda 978 points

Chevrolet 943 points

NTT INDYCAR SERIES Drivers’ Championship Standings (unofficial, after 12 of 17 rounds)

1. Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 477 points

2. Josef Newgarden, Team Penske – 80

3. Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing Honda -120

4. Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing Honda -147

5. Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske -148

Quotes

Alex Palou (#10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) finished third, continues to lead the Drivers’ Championship points standings after 11 of 17 races: “Honestly, we’re very happy to finish on the podium here today. We were struggling a lot the first couple of runs, and some issues with the balance of the car. But we made changes that improved the car, had a good strategy and great pit stops. All that, plus a good restart at the end, got us to the podium. So super proud for everyone on the team. There’s still a lot for us to improve here, but we gained a lot of confidence this weekend.”

Colton Herta (#27 Andretti Autosport Honda) finished seventh: “We didn’t have the ultimate pace we needed today, but our strategy kept us in the hunt. My Andretti Autosport team did a great job. Our car balance was better than yesterday, so we’ve made some slight improvements. We just need to keep going with that. Our car today was much better than yesterday, so a top-10 finish was a good reward for all the work we did this weekend.”

Mark Crawford (Large Project Leader, Honda Performance Development) on today’s race at Iowa Speedway: “We made some progress this weekend, thanks to everyone at HPD for their efforts, but still have quite a bit of work to do to improve our performance here. Now we’ll go on to Nashville and the rest of the remaining five races on the schedule, carry on doing our best every weekend for the rest of the season.”

Fast Fact

Honda continues to lead the 2023 NTT INDYCAR SERIES Manufacturers’ Championship, with seven victories and nine poles in 12 races this season. Honda currently has an unofficial 35-point advantage (978-943) over rival Chevrolet. The company is seeking its fifth NTT INDYCAR SERIES Manufacturers’ Championship in the last six years in 2023.

Next

After a hectic run of five races over a six-week period, the 2023 NTT INDYCAR SERIES now takes a week off before resuming on the streets of Nashville, Tennessee, for the August 4-6 Big Machine Music City Grand Prix.