IndyCar's only double header of the season, reducing the number of races left to five, was always going to be absolutely crucial for teams and drivers chasing points, contracts and cash for 2026.
We got much better racing than was anticipated, a variety of race styles and plenty of drama. The person who was supposed to win - although they surpassed 2000 laps led, which is ridiculous - didn't win, meaning the neutral had a reason to follow.
We break down the winners and losers from the Iowa double header.
Winner: IndyCar
After a recent pre-event test where there was a tyre failure and a 2024-style difficulty to overtake, some drivers wrote off the Iowa as a dud. There would be no high line for overtaking, qualifying would decide the race, and would the tyres even last?
Fast forward to Saturday and Sunday and it looked like a video game, or perhaps, like Iowa is supposed to. Drivers were able to use two lanes with ease and pass inside or outside.
IndyCar made a number of car technical changes and even slotted in a high line practice to get rubber higher up the track, even after two tornadoes had decimated the event schedule in the lead up.
Sometimes I think IndyCar is guilty of inaction or not reacting quickly enough. No one can say that here. An event was saved by quick thinking and well-executed preparation.
Loser: Andretti Global
What a nightmare for Andretti.
Despite no other team reporting serious tyre issues in the races, Andretti had three - one on each car - across the double header. There’s no exact cause reported yet.
For Kyle Kirkwood, he crashed in practice and had his failure in race one, taking 18th in race two, which meant his gap to Alex Palou went from 113 to 180. Game over.
Contact between Alexander Rossi and Colton Herta. pic.twitter.com/HXBtnueSuR
— INDYCAR on FOX (@IndyCarOnFOX) July 13, 2025
Colton Herta was hit by everything but the pace car before his issue in race two after finishing 13th in race one, the team’s best.
Marcus Ericsson was 15th in race one, then had his failure in race two.
The caution is out at Iowa for Marcus Ericsson. pic.twitter.com/6D5b6tCwL6
— INDYCAR on FOX (@IndyCarOnFOX) July 13, 2025
As weekends go, about as bad as most teams have had all year given the circumstances.
Winner: Josef Newgarden
This was a tough choice as Josef Newgarden failed to win either race at Iowa, but he was so clearly once again the best driver of the weekend, and so often this year misfortune for him has been a DNF that a second and a 10th feels like a championship win.
He surpassed 2000 laps led at this track in race one only to be pipped by some late strategy play and a wonderful in-lap by Pato O’Ward, which proved the difference. In race two Newgarden was the class of the field again but was twice pinned laps down by cautions, finishing a couple of seconds ahead of a car he'd lapped twice previously in the race.
Newgarden’s gone from 19th to 14th in the points this weekend and all he can really do is take things weekend by weekend. He’s been far better than the results show - even if there’s been some uncharacteristic errors in there - and that was on display here again.
I don't know if there will ever be a driver in top-level single-seaters, and especially IndyCar, who is this good on one specific track, ever again.
Winner: Christian Rasmussen
An amazing save by Christian Rasmussen. pic.twitter.com/K2EiIvl5j8
— INDYCAR on FOX (@IndyCarOnFOX) July 12, 2025
On ovals this year, he’s made something like 50 overtakes. Christian Rasmussen is IndyCar’s own walking highlight reel. After third at Gateway, he was sixth and eighth at Iowa to leap ahead of team-mate Alexander Rossi in the points standings.
He’s aggressive and pisses people off with how robust he is, but it’s producing results.
Above all, he seems to have a ‘save’ that beggars belief every oval he goes to.
Loser: Callum Ilott
We wrote a feature recently about how Ilott’s performances had been underrated. He looked really quick and racey this weekend but crashed in both races, while his team-mate Robert Shwartzman picked up a ninth in race two.
He should have really been in the top six, but for not taking tyres on the last stop, and his car was overfilled with fuel.
Callum Ilott loses the rear and backs into the wall. pic.twitter.com/HFt8y1vVQO
— INDYCAR on FOX (@IndyCarOnFOX) July 13, 2025
Winner: Alex Palou
Finally, the lazy questions about Alex Palou’s performances on short ovals can end, with a pole and win in race two, which showed how far he has come.
Unlike someone like Rasmussen, or Romain Grosjean when he came to ovals, Palou has never been the flamboyant, aggressive and sometimes wild driver that grabs the eye on an oval. He’s been strong and consistent as is his style.
It should also be said that Ganassi made a big step at Iowa for this weekend, even if Palou was on the podium last year.
Another vintage performance, and he extended his championship lead again, this time to 129.
He can afford to lose 25.6 points per race to his rivals and still win the title. Ridiculous.
Loser: Nolan Siegel
Siegel had ran really strongly in race one at Iowa before a solo crash landed him in the wall and with a concussion. He will be evaluated on Thursday to see if he is fit to race in Toronto.
A shame that this happened at all, but especially when he had shown signs of pace. Another ‘could have been’ result as he sits 21st in the standings.
Winner: Marcus Armstrong
He’s on the longest run of top 10s of any driver in the series, Marcus Armstrong also looked stronger than Felix Rosenqvist over the Iowa weekend, which is no mean feat against his Meyer Shank team-mate.
A late podium was both fortunate and deserved in race two. He’d been battling through the top 10 all day and then the late caution made sure he had a better chance than most to fight. He made the most of it.
He’s performing right at the perfect time of the year, if he keeps this up, Shank will have an unchanged line-up next year.
Loser: Team Penske
While Newgarden was a winner despite, erm, not winning, Penske can’t get the same treatment because it had three cars and therefore six chances to win a pair of races it should have.
We’ve documented Newgarden’s weekend. The trio - with Will Power and Scott McLaughlin - did finish 2-3-4 in race one. But the second race was a nightmare, McLaughlin was taken out before the green flag by Devlin DeFrancesco and Power didn’t last much longer after an engine issue.
The team has averaged roughly one DNF per race and has eclipsed 12 now, and is 12 races without a win to start this season.
Winner: Pato O’Ward
His race one win was everything that is underrated about Pato O’Ward. He was sharp, consistent and patient, looking after his tyres, staying in position, until the closing stages when he saw a chance to strike. He also beat Newgarden in a straight up fight, which he's more often than not come out second best of in that fight usually.
His in-lap was a full second quicker than Newgarden’s. Traffic could have played a role in that for Newgarden but still, epic from O’Ward.
A more fuel-save heavy race was never going to suit the Chevrolet cars as much in race two and O’Ward didn’t look lethal like he had in race one but rallied back to fifth, his third top five in as many races.
Palou is a cut above this year so the next best thing you can do is establish yourself as the next best thing.
