Simon Pagenaud, Penske, Iowa, IndyCar, 2020

IndyCar confirms return to Iowa in 2022 for double-header

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IndyCar will bolster the dwindling number of oval events in its schedule by returning to Iowa next season for a pair of races.

The 1.4 kilometre (0.894-mile) track will return to the calendar in the same July slot it occupied prior to being omitted from this year’s championship.

The venue’s return has come about thanks to the backing of HyVee. The Iowa-based supermarket chain joined Rahal Letterman Lanigan as a sponsor last season and returned this year to support entries driven by Santino Ferrucci and, at last weekend’s race, Christian Lundgaard.

The two races will be run to different lap counts as indicated by their titles. The Hy-VeeDeals.com 250 will take place on Saturday 23rd July, follows by the Hy-Vee Salute to Farmers 300 a day later. Previous IndyCar races at Iowa ran to 250-lap distances from the race’s inception in 2007 until 2014, when it was increased to 300 laps. It was reduced to 250 again for last year’s double-header.

Penske Corporation founder and IndyCar owner Roger Penske said the series was “extremely pleased” to announce its return to the track following a one-year absence.

Start, IndyCar, Iowa, 2018
IndyCar visited Iowa regularly until this year
“Over the years, Iowa has proven to be a fitting showcase for North America’s premier open-wheel series. A key oval and a hallmark on our schedule, we deeply missed seeing our fans in Iowa this year and look forward to what’s ahead.”

The loss of Iowa this year saw the number of oval venues plunge to a new low. Just four of the 16 races on the current schedule are being held on ovals, two of which are accounted for by another double-header at Texas Motor Speedway. The others are the Indianapolis 500 and this weekend’s race at Gateway in Illinois.

The Indy Racing League, fore-runner to the current IndyCar series, raced exclusively on ovals until 2005.

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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3 comments on “IndyCar confirms return to Iowa in 2022 for double-header”

  1. Major kudos to the HyVee supermarket chain for sponsoring 2 races at Iowa for next year in addition to fully funding a 3rd RLL racing entry for the whole of next season!

  2. I’m happy for this. Although I wish they came back to a track like Milwaukee.

    But my greatest wish is for the Brazilians to restore the Autódromo Internacional Nelson Piquet (Nelson Piquet International RaceTrack) in Rio, also known as Jacarepaguá, which was very favourite oval track ever.
    This track was just amazing!! Having no banking made the fast turns super exciting. PERFECT oval track.
    https://youtu.be/97IGUIywMLo?t=744

    1. Agree, it was a really cool track, drivers had to reduce gears to do the corners too, which was unseen on ovals, really nice.

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