Alex Palou has won his sevnth Indycar event for the season. File pic. Photo: AFP
Evergreen New Zealand racing driver Scott Dixon has finished second to Alex Palou, who has claimed his seventh Indycars title of the season with a win in Iowa.
Kiwi Marcus Armstrong had his first podium of the season, with third place in the IndyCar Farm to Finish 275, his sixth top-10 finish in a row.
But Scott McLaughlin's race was over before it really started, eliminated in a crash on the first lap.
It was a 1-2 finish for Chip Ganassi Racing, but Palou had to withstand a strong challenge on the final lap from Dixon, who had his first victory for the season a week earlier in Mid-Ohio.
Palou won by 0.528sec on the tight 1.43km Iowa Speedway course, benefitting by taking a pit stop while a caution flag was out. He had been in third place, but his break was a lucky one as it disadvantaged leader American Josef Newgarden who had emerged from the pit lane with a yellow flag out, a situation that happened twice to him during the race.
With 11 laps to go, Palou had the lead and Dixon edged past Armstrong in second. And it remained that way until the finish line.
"I cannot really believe it, honestly, and winning here is super special. I struggled on short ovals for so long. Super happy. Another win. Seven wins in one year is insane," said Palou on the Sky Sport broadcast.
Dixon was pleased with his effort after finishing ninth in the first race on the track on Sunday.
He said he was proud at how his team "had thrown the kitchen sink'' in getting the car ready after issues on Sunday.
"We weren't sure how it was going to go,'' Dixon said after the race.
"We needed a longer race today.''
Armstrong was thrilled with his first podium finish of the season for Meyer-Shank Racing.
"We made it happen today," he said.
"We are getting better every single race, I'm gelling with my crew better every race."
McLaughlin had been hoping to follow up his fourth placing on Sunday, but it all turned bad when he was unable to avoid Devlin DeFrancesco's car which spun out suddenly in front of him. McLaughlin's car cannoned into the wall and he was unable to continue.
"It sucks. I was really excited for today,'' McLaughlin said.
It was a bad day for Team Penske with Will Power having to retire from the race after his car lost power.
Palou extended his lead in the driver standings. He now has 515 points, ahead of Pato O'Ward, who won Sunday's race, on 386 with Dixon third on 342.
Armstrong, who finished ninth on Sunday, is seventh with 267 points, while McLaughlin is 12th with 234.
