2017 Iowa Corn 300

The 2017 Iowa Corn 300 was an IndyCar Series event held at Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa on July 9, 2017. The event served as the 11th round of the 2017 IndyCar Series season. Will Power qualified on pole, while Hélio Castroneves snapped a three-year winless streak by taking victory.

2017 Iowa Corn 300
Race details
11th round of the 2017 IndyCar Series season
DateJuly 9, 2017
Official nameIowa Corn 300
LocationIowa Speedway
CoursePermanent racing facility
0.875 mi / 1.400 km
Distance300 laps
268.2 mi / 431.63 km
Pole position
DriverWill Power (Team Penske)
Time17.3929 + 17.3612 = 34.7541
Fastest lap
DriverHélio Castroneves (Team Penske)
Time18.1486 (on lap 144 of 300)
Podium
FirstHélio Castroneves (Team Penske)
SecondJ. R. Hildebrand (Ed Carpenter Racing)
ThirdRyan Hunter-Reay (Andretti Autosport)

Qualifying

Qualifying was held on Saturday, July 8. Will Power took pole position with a two-lap time of 34.7541 (185.210 mph). Beside him on the front row was J. R. Hildebrand, who secured his first career front-row start. Rounding out the top five were Hélio Castroneves, Ed Carpenter, and Takuma Sato. Carlos Muñoz crashed during his qualifying attempt, relegating him to starting last. It was the third time in the last four events that Muñoz had registered no time in qualifying.[1][2]

Race

The race was held on Sunday, July 9. At the start, Will Power swept into the lead, while both Hélio Castroneves and Ed Carpenter passed J. R. Hildebrand for second and third, respectively. Takuma Sato rounded out the top five. On lap 20, Castroneves moved past his teammate Power for the lead and began puling away. Further back, Graham Rahal began a move through the field to third place, while Mikhail Aleshin moved up to fourth. Aleshin's run would come to an early end on lap 57, as he lost control of his car, spun, and crashed into the outside wall in turn two, bringing out the race's first caution period. During the caution, the field made their first pit stops, with Castroneves emerging still in the lead, with Power, Rahal, Carpenter, and Hildebrand behind.

Racing resumed on lap 67 with the leaders remaining in order. However, positions second through sixth battled after the restart, eventually resulting in Hildebrand moving up to second place on lap 93. Four laps later, Hildebrand caught and passed Castroneves for the lead of the race and began to pull away. Behind them, Ryan Hunter-Reay was able to move around Carpenter to move into the top 5. On lap 100, Castroneves dropped to third behind his teammate Power. By lap 109, the running order was Hildebrand, Power, Castroneves, Rahal, Hunter-Reay, and Josef Newgarden, who had moved ahead of Carpenter.

On lap 132, the race saw its second caution period when Carlos Muñoz hit the wall coming out of turn 4, bringing an end to his race. The caution period saw the race's second round of pit stops, during which Castroneves managed to leapfrog both Hildebrand and Power to reclaim the lead of the race, while Hunter-Reay moved into fourth ahead of Rahal. The race restarted on lap 142, with Power immediately passing Hildebrand for second and Rahal passing Hunter-Reay for fourth. After a few laps, though, Hildebrand once again passed Power and began to close on Castroneves. His charge was stopped when the race's third caution period waved as Conor Daly made contact with the front straight wall on lap 171. With the caution came another round of stops, with Castroneves emerging in front of Power, Hunter-Reay, and Hildebrand. The race lead belonged to Charlie Kimball, who had elected not to pit during this caution period.

Racing resumed again on lap 182, with Castroneves taking less than a lap to reclaim the lead, while behind, Rahal was able to get around Hildebrand. The leaders were able to quickly dispatch of Kimball and continue their pursuit of Castroneves. On lap 196, caution once again waved, this time for a passing rain shower. Most of the leaders stayed out, while a few drivers farther back in the field, including Newgarden, Scott Dixon, and Simon Pagenaud, elected to pit. On lap 208, the race was halted as the rain grew heavier, though only lasted for roughly 10 minutes.

Racing finally resumed on lap 210 with Castroneves in the lead, while Newgarden, on new tires, moved into the top six after only nine laps. Castroneves, though, managed to pull out a sizable lead before making his final pit stop on lap 253. However, after the cycle of stops, Hildebrand emerged ahead of Castroneves, having stopped for fresh tires seven laps before Castroneves. Castroneves quickly caught back up to Hildebrand and managed to move back in front after using a slower back-marker as a pick. Castroneves pulled away and lead the remainder of the race to take victory.

Castroneves's victory snapped a 54 race winless drought going back the 2014 Dual in Detroit.[3] It also marked his 30th career victory in IndyCars. Hildebrand's second place matched his career best finish. Hunter-Reay rounded out the podium with a third-place finish. Rahal and Power finished out the top five. In the championship, Dixon maintained his lead in the points, but now stood only eight points in front of Castroneves. Pagenaud, Power, and Newgarden ran third through fifth in the points.[4][5][6]

Report
Key Meaning
R Rookie
W Past winner

Qualifying
Pos No. Name Lap 1 Lap 2 Total Time Avg. Speed (mph)
1 12 Will Power 17.3929 17.3612 34.7541 185.210
2 21 J. R. Hildebrand 17.4635 17.5550 35.0185 183.811
3 3 Hélio Castroneves 17.4323 17.6051 35.0374 183.712
4 20 Ed Carpenter 17.5087 17.5687 35.0774 183.503
5 26 Takuma Sato 17.6313 17.6092 35.2405 182.653
6 7 Mikhail Aleshin 17.6951 17.5840 35.2791 182.454
7 10 Tony Kanaan W 17.6533 17.6373 35.2906 182.394
8 19 Ed Jones R 17.6351 17.6756 35.3107 182.290
9 5 James Hinchcliffe W 17.7812 17.7445 35.5257 181.187
10 15 Graham Rahal 17.8306 17.7047 35.5353 181.138
11 1 Simon Pagenaud 17.7926 17.7429 35.5355 181.137
12 98 Alexander Rossi 17.7679 17.7678 35.5357 181.136
13 8 Max Chilton 17.7927 17.7841 35.5768 180.927
14 83 Charlie Kimball 17.8763 17.7130 35.5893 180.863
15 28 Ryan Hunter-Reay W 17.8020 17.8163 35.6183 180.716
16 2 Josef Newgarden W 17.8017 17.8903 35.6920 180.343
17 9 Scott Dixon 17.8168 17.8834 35.7002 180.302
18 18 Esteban Gutiérrez R 18.0032 17.8785 35.8817 179.389
19 4 Conor Daly 18.0040 18.0336 36.0376 178.613
20 27 Marco Andretti W 18.4225 19.0640 37.4865 171.710
21 14 Carlos Muñoz - - No Time No Speed
OFFICIAL BOX SCORE

Source[7]

Race
Pos No. Driver Team Engine Laps Time/Retired Pit Stops Grid Laps Led Pts.1
1 3 Hélio Castroneves Team Penske Chevrolet 300 1:55:11.2807 4 3 217 53
2 21 J. R. Hildebrand Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet 300 +3.9647 4 2 38 41
3 28 Ryan Hunter-Reay W Andretti Autosport Honda 300 +4.5845 4 15 35
4 12 Will Power Team Penske Chevrolet 300 +5.7403 4 1 23 34
5 15 Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda 300 +10.1811 4 10 30
6 2 Josef Newgarden W Team Penske Chevrolet 300 +11.0500 5 16 1 29
7 1 Simon Pagenaud Team Penske Chevrolet 300 +12.2562 5 11 2 27
8 9 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 300 +14.3653 5 17 24
9 10 Tony Kanaan W Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 300 +15.1184 4 7 22
10 5 James Hinchcliffe W Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda 300 +15.8243 4 9 20
11 98 Alexander Rossi Andretti Herta Autosport Honda 299 +1 Lap 4 12 19
12 20 Ed Carpenter Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet 299 +1 Lap 4 4 18
13 18 Esteban Gutiérrez R Dale Coyne Racing Honda 299 +1 Lap 4 18 17
14 8 Max Chilton Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 299 +1 Lap 4 13 2 17
15 83 Charlie Kimball Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 298 +2 Laps 4 14 10 16
16 26 Takuma Sato Andretti Autosport Honda 298 +2 Laps 5 5 14
17 27 Marco Andretti W Andretti Autosport Honda 298 +2 Laps 5 20 7 14
18 19 Ed Jones R Dale Coyne Racing Honda 297 +3 Laps 5 8 12
19 4 Conor Daly A. J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet 168 Contact 5 19 11
20 14 Carlos Muñoz A. J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet 130 Contact 3 21 10
21 7 Mikhail Aleshin Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda 56 Contact 0 6 9
OFFICIAL BOX SCORE

1 Points include 1 point for leading at least 1 lap during a race, an additional 2 points for leading the most race laps, and 1 point for Pole Position.

Source for time gaps:[8]

Championship standings
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included.

References
  1. DiZinno, Tony (July 8, 2017). "Powers supplants Hildebrand to score Iowa pole". MotorsportsTalk.com. NBC Sports. Retrieved July 11, 2017.
  2. Robinson, Mark (July 8, 2017). "Power goes out last, ends up first in Iowa Corn 300 qualifying". IndyCar.com. Newton, Iowa: Brickyard Trademarks, Inc. Retrieved July 11, 2017.
  3. Meredith, Luke (July 9, 2017). "Helio Castroneves wins in Iowa to end 3-year drought". Associated Press. Newton, Iowa: AP Sports. Associated Press. Archived from the original on March 16, 2018. Retrieved July 14, 2017.
  4. Malsher, David (July 9, 2017). "Iowa IndyCar: Perfect Castroneves scores first win in three years". Motorsport.com. Newton, Iowa: Motorsport Network. Retrieved July 11, 2017.
  5. Robinson, Mark (July 9, 2017). "Castroneves ends victory drought; climbs fence at Iowa". IndyCar.com. Newton, Iowa: Brickyard Trademarks, Inc. Retrieved July 11, 2017.
  6. Pruett, Marshall (July 9, 2017). "Castroneves ends 3-year drought with Iowa win". Racer.com. Newton, Iowa: Racer Media & Marketing, Inc. Archived from the original on July 11, 2017. Retrieved July 11, 2017.
  7. "Race Report: 2017 Iowa Corn 300". theapexracing.co. TheApex.racing LLC. July 5, 2017. Retrieved July 11, 2017.
  8. "Indycar 2017 Iowa". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved July 11, 2017.
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2018 Iowa Corn 300
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