Favorites and Sleepers: Iowa

Fox Sports

11-07-2025

INDYCAR
Honda is a perfect 10-for-10 in 2025, including both oval wins this season at Indianapolis Motor Speedway by NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship leader Alex Palou and at World Wide Technology Raceway by Kyle Kirkwood.
But Iowa Speedway has been Chevrolet territory, with nine straight wins. Team Penske has dominated, claiming eight of those, including a 2024 doubleheader sweep by Scott McLaughlin and Will Power, and 2023 weekend sweep by Josef Newgarden.
Power and Arrow McLaren driver Pato O'Ward also have finished second in five of the last seven Iowa races, while Penske has also scored 11 NTT P1 Awards in the last 13 races here. However, only one pole-sitter has won at Iowa in the last 21 attempts – Newgarden in 2020.
Can Honda break Chevy's grip? Will Penske stay near-perfect in Iowa?
The Synk 275 powered by Sukup starts at 5 p.m. ET Saturday, with the Farm to Finish 275 powered by Sukup taking the green flag at 1 p.m. ET Sunday. Both races air on FOX, the FOX Sports app and the INDYCAR Radio Network.
Favorites
Josef Newgarden (No. 2 Astemo Team Penske Chevrolet)
Despite a brutal stretch with finishes 25th, 25th and 27th in his last three starts this season, Newgarden could be the comeback story of the weekend. He has dominated at Iowa in the past with six wins in 16 starts, including a 2023 sweep and 1,847 laps led at the .894-mile short track, including nine of his last 13 starts leading 111 or more laps. He's been especially strong in Race 1, with four straight top fives compared with two top-five finishes in Race 2, both being wins.
Scott McLaughlin (No. 3 XPEL (Race 1), Gallagher Insurance (Race 2) Team Penske Chevrolet)
McLaughlin, like Newgarden, has suffered bad luck on circle tracks this season. He crashed on the pace lap at Indy and suffered a mechanical DNF at WWTR. Also, he enters with a string of finishes of 30th, 12th, 24th, 12th and 23rd, respectively, in the last five races this season. Still, he won Race 1 at Iowa last year, earning his first oval win, and followed that with a third-place finish in Race 2. He's riding a streak of five straight top-five finishes at Iowa.
Pato O'Ward (No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet)
O'Ward enters Iowa as a clear contender, boasting four podium finishes in his last six starts at the short oval. He won Race 2 in 2022 and finished runner-up in Race 1 last year. His Race 1 record is especially strong, with finishes of fourth, second, third and second, respectively. Though Race 2 has been more up-and-down (including a win and a 12th), his oval form this season – third in the '500' and runner-up at WWTR – makes him one to watch.
Will Power (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet)
Power finally broke through for his first Iowa win last year in his 18th start, capping a strong recent run at the track. He's landed five podiums in his last seven Iowa races, including three runner-up finishes. Power has been dominant in Race 2, with finishes of second, second, second and first since 2020. Race 1 has been less consistent, with results of 21st, third, fifth, and 18th. Still, his Race 2 form makes him a serious threat.
Alex Palou (No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda)
Fresh off his Indy 500 win, Palou is building momentum on ovals. He finished second in Iowa's Race 2 last year and has two podiums in his last three Race 2 starts. While Race 1 has been less kind with no top-fives in four tries, Palou has shown strong pace. He crashed while running in the top 10 in Race 1 last year. Can Palou end Chip Ganassi Racing's recent Iowa drought (0-for-18 since 2009)?
Sleepers
David Malukas (No. 4 Clarience Technologies Chevrolet)
Malukas has quietly built a solid oval résumé. Though last year's Iowa outings with Meyer Shank Racing yielded finishes of 26th and 13th, he posted back-to-back eighth-place finishes in Race 2 with Dale Coyne Racing in 2022 and 2023. His Race 1 results of 14th and 12th were less impressive but consistent. Malukas also shined at the Indy 500 with a runner-up finish and showed speed at WWTR, qualifying fourth and leading 67 laps before a late mistake dropped him to 12th. He's a dark horse with upside.
Scott Dixon (No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda)
Dixon may be winless in 21 Iowa starts, but don't count him out. The six-time series champion has quietly strung together nine straight top-six finishes at the short oval, including a pair of runner-up results. Despite Iowa being one of only five active tracks he hasn't conquered, Dixon's consistency keeps him in the conversation. He's not a favorite, but he's absolutely a sleeper with the experience and pace to steal a win.
Santino Ferrucci (No. 14 Sexton Properties/AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet)
Ferrucci showed promise last season with a sixth and 11th place at Iowa, his and AJ Foyt Racing's first races at this oval with a Team Penske technical alliance. Strong top-five finishes in the Indy 500 and at World Wide Technology Raceway this year make him a driver to watch this weekend.
Colton Herta (No. 26 Gainbridge Honda)
Herta showed strong pace at Iowa last year, leading 86 laps in Race 1, his best showing in four attempts, before finishing 11th. He improved in Race 2 with a solid fifth-place finish, following a seventh the year before. Herta's qualifying has been impressive, too, with six top-six starts in his last eight visits. However, Andretti Global Andretti drivers are 0-for-11 at Iowa since winning seven of the first nine races at the bull ring. But Andretti Global has won two of the last three oval races in the series, with Herta victorious in the 2024 season finale at Nashville Superspeedway and Kirkwood winning last month at WWTR.
Marcus Ericsson (No. 28 Delaware Life Honda)
Ericsson has been solid at Iowa, never finishing worse than 11th until a 23rd-place result in Race 2 last year. He posted strong runs with a fourth and ninth in 2023 and followed with a ninth-place finish in Race 1 last year. Consistent and competitive, Ericsson remains a contender.
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