Iowa – Race 2: Palou takes revenge on Dixon

Starting from pole position, Álex Palou led the charge for Honda, who secured a hat-trick in this second race of the weekend, after seeing Chevrolet do the same on Saturday. However, the Spaniard was not the favorite for victory at the end of the race, but he was able to use his engine's power wisely, saving more fuel. When Josef Newgarden (Team Penske) and the other Chevrolet drivers had to stop for the last time, a caution caused by an accident by Colton Herta (Andretti) sealed the outcome of the race, in Palou's favor.

The two-time defending champion, however, had to resist the comeback of his teammate Scott Dixon until the end, after a final restart with twelve laps to go. While overtaking backmarkers had not been to his advantage since the start of the race, the Spaniard managed not to lose time behind Graham Rahal (Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing), to claim his first victory on a short oval.

“I honestly have no words! What an incredible day, and what an incredible year for us.”, he exulted on Victory Lane. “I can’t believe it, winning here is very special because I’ve always struggled on this kind of circuit. The strategy helped us at the end of the race, and it worked for us, after trying everything. Seven wins in one season is crazy. I thank everyone, I wouldn’t be able to achieve this without my team.”

After a pit issue cost him victory on Saturday, Josef Newgarden suffered the same misfortune twice this Sunday, as he seemed on his way to a seventh victory at Iowa Speedway. The American ultimately had to settle for tenth place, having notably lost a place to David Malukas (AJ Foyt Racing) during the final stop, following a front wheel problem. For Team Penske, this event was another race to forget, after a big rebound on Saturday (second, third and fourth). Scott McLaughlin was eliminated on the first lap following contact with Devlin DeFrancesco (Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing), while, as at Mid-Ohio, Will Power suffered an engine problem after about ten laps.

The busy summer of theIndyCar continues next Sunday with the only race taking place outside the United States, in the streets of Toronto, Canada.

IndyCar – Iowa
The classification of Race 2

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