Penske looks to end IndyCar slump

Associated Press

newton, iowa

IndyCar powerhouse Team Penske has never won at Iowa Speedway, even though the open-wheel series has been running at the track for more than decade.

This offseason, Penske brought in the driver who last year executed perhaps the most impressive run that Iowa had ever seen.

Josef Newgarden broke an IndyCar record in Iowa for Ed Carpenter Racing, leading 282 out of 300 laps to win despite a broken right clavicle and a fractured right hand.

Newgarden will return today, this time in the No. 2 car for Penske.

Newgarden is a race in the standings, behind teammates Simon Pagenaud (second) and Helio Castroneves (third) and ahead of Will Power (sixth).

“We’ve got the Iowa king on the team now this year. So if we don’t win it this year, we’re in trouble,” Power joked about Newgarden.

Power will start from the pole, giving Penske three straight poles at Iowa. But none of the previous 10 race winners in Iowa started first.

Newgarden started second last season and slipped by Pagenaud, the pole sitter, early on to seize the control he never relinquished.

“I think I’m as surprised as everybody that Team Penske hasn’t won a race here,” Newgarden said. “They’ve got great equipment [and] they’ve got good knowledge around here.”

Andretti Autosport has been dominant at Iowa, winning six of the last seven races.

History suggests that this could be the weekend that Andretti’s Ryan Hunter-Reay, the 2012 series champion, turns his season around.

Hunter-Reay has recorded just two top-10 finishes in 2017. But Hunter-Reay won at Iowa in 2012, 2014 and 2015.