Over the past four years, one team has had a strangle hold on the 0.0.875-mile oval in Newton, Iowa, letting their competitors follow them throughout the night. Now heading into this year’s event, Andretti Autosport will be looking for their fifth straight Iowa Speedway victory. Their chances look strong as AA enters the weekend with four drivers that could potentially snatch up the win, with three of those drivers being past winners.
Defending race winner James Hinchcliffe has been fast on the ovals, but has had issues take him out of contention each week. He showed the speed to be a top-five finisher at Indianapolis, however a wreck took him out of contention. He was also quick last week, but found himself finishing in the back half of the top-10 as a result of a speeding peantly. With a average finish of ninth at Iowa, Hinchcliffe will be looking for a good run to carry momentum into his hometown event next weekend in Toronto.
2012 race winner Ryan Hunter-Reay will be trying to bounce back this weekend after mechanical issues took the 2012 champion out of the race at Pocono. Hunter-Reay has been strong this year, as witnessed by his Indianapolis 500 victory, though has suffered mechanical problems that have taken him out of the running on multiple ocassions. It seems to be same story, new year as that was what took RHR out of the championship battle last year. If he wants to stay in the battle this year, he badly needs a win if he even wants a chance at catching the Team Penske duo at the top of the standings.
2011 race winner Marco Andretti has been spectacular at Iowa Speedway in the past, scoring four podium finishes in seven Iowa starts. He has also shown speed this year, finishing in the top-five in the Indianapolis 500. Andretti is also known for being stronger on the ovals versus the road/street courses. So could be the weekend that Andretti returns to victory lane?
Notably, in each year that AA has won the race, it has been with a new face in victory lane as Tony Kanaan kicked off the streak in 2010 and was followed by Andretti, Hunter-Reay and Hinchcliffe. If the trend is to continue, Carlos Munoz has a good chance at doing it as the young rookie has shown that he can duel with the best of them on the ovals. Munoz impressed everyone by finishing in the top-five at Indianapolis last year in his rookie season. This year, he continues to impress with speed across the board, including another impressive Indianapolis finish. With more laps under his belts to get used to what his car needs to run well and coming off a third place finish at Pocono, is it time for the rookie to shine?
