American drivers swept the top four positions - and six of the top seven - as Andretti Autosport driver Ryan Hunter-Reay captured his first victory of the Verizon IndyCar Series season Saturday night in the Iowa Corn 300. Hunter-Reay prevailed by .5046 of a second over Josef Newgarden to become the ninth different winner in 13 Verizon IndyCar Series races this season.
Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate Sage Karam finished a career-high third. Graham Rahal placed fourth for his third consecutive top-five finish, and Carlos Munoz, who won at Detroit in May, was fifth.
The last time Americans swept the podium in a Verizon IndyCar Series event was the 2006 Indianapolis 500 Mile Race, when Michael Andretti followed winner Sam Hornish Jr. and Marco Andretti across the finish line in one of the most historic finishes at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
It was the sixth consecutive victory for Andretti Autosport at Iowa Speedway and the third victory at the track for Hunter-Reay, who was also battling Newgarden for the win one year ago, when he beat the CFH Racing driver to the finish line by .5814 of a second.
"The No. 28 DHL Honda was on rails at the end," said Hunter-Reay, who had only one top-five finish this season entering the race. "This one we really had to work for. After a tough season, this one is really nice."
Following a Lap 278 restart, Hunter-Reay held off multiple challenges by Newgarden in the No. 67 Wichita State University/CFH Racing Chevrolet.
"To finish second was bittersweet," said Newgarden, who qualified seventh. "We had a winning car, but it's a credit to the team to finish second."
Juan Pablo Montoya's championship points lead appeared to take a hit when the No. 2 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet made right-side contact with the Turn 2 SAFER Barrier on Lap 10 of the 300-lap race. It was his first DNF of the season and the first in 18 races since the 2014 race at Iowa Speedway.
"We had a good car. It was a little loose the first couple of laps, so I was just really taking it easy, biding my time," said Montoya, who qualified third. "Something broke."
A mechanical issue in the final third of the race plagued the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet of Scott Dixon, who entered the race 54 points behind, and an 11th-place finish by pole sitter Helio Castroneves, allowed Montoya to enter the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio on Aug. 2 relatively unscathed.
Rahal moved to second in the standings -- 42 points behind -- while Dixon, who finished 18th, is 48 points back and Castroneves is 54 points out of the lead.
Iowa 'Bachelor's' Whirlwind Includes Fast Laps at Iowa Speedway
It's been a whirlwind year for Chris Soules. The Iowa native was second runner-up on the ABC dating show "The Bachelorette" in 2014; was "The Bachelor" earlier this year and engaged briefly to the woman he selected; and finished fifth in this spring's "Dancing with the Stars" competition.
That whirlwind was nothing like what the 33-year-old farmer experienced this morning when he took a ride around Iowa Speedway in the INDYCAR Experience two-seater with Verizon IndyCar Series driver Conor Daly at the wheel.
"That was awesome!" Soules exclaimed after stepping out of the race car. "The G forces in those turns is intense. I'm hooked, I want to do it again. Maybe I've found a new hobby."
Soules was invited to today's Iowa Corn 300 at the 0.894-mile oval by Honda officials and was told he could receive a ride around the track from a driver. "But they never said I was going to go full speed and to have a legit race car and driver flying me around this thing," he said.
"The way this track is banked, when you get down on it, it's crazy," Soules said. "You don't really have that perspective from the stands or from TV how steep that is. It's just intense.
"I can see why you have to be an athlete and in good shape because of the toll that takes on your body going around the track like that," he added. "To do that 300 times (in the race), that's a long time to be out there. Two hours straight, that's unbelievable. I have a whole new level of respect for these guys."
Former '500' Winner Rice Is Carpenter's Eyes in the Sky
Buddy Rice, the 2004 Indianapolis 500 Mile Race winner, is serving as a spotter at Iowa Speedway for CFH Racing co-owner/driver Ed Carpenter in the No. 20 Fuzzy's Vodka Chevrolet. Rice, who has spotted from atop the grandstands in the past for James Davison and JR Hildebrand, performed the same duties for Carpenter in the July 12 ABC Supply Wisconsin 250 at The Milwaukee Mile.
A race car driver helping a driver on the track. Rice, who has competed on both ovals, sees benefits of such an arrangement.
"I can see what's coming and what's going on because I've been there and I know what they're feeling," Rice said. "When the driver is getting excited in the seat, I can tell them if everybody else is having the same problem or what (racing) line seems to work better or what people are falling off nearing the pit window. I can give them information that I know I would like to hear at the moment to help them out.
"A lot of people knew I was at Indy to help out Hildebrand," Rice added, "but they didn't know it was me on the radio because, when I drive, my voice is totally different, which is really mellow. Same way when I'm spotting, which is how you have to be."
Chilton Dedicates Indy Lights Win to Friend Bianchi
Thoughts of Formula One teammate Jules Bianchi drowned out voices on Max Chilton's radio over the final five laps as he drove to victory in the Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires race at Iowa Speedway.
Chilton competed against, learned from and quickly became friends with Bianchi during two years with the Marussia F1 team. Chilton dedicated his first victory in Indy Lights and his first since 2012 in Singapore in the GP2 Series, to Bianchi, who died July 17. He was 25. Bianchi was in a coma for nine months after a crash in an F1 race in Japan.
"I knew if he was here, he would be going for that race win so I wanted to do that for him," said Chilton, who won the 100-lap race from the pole in the No. 14 Carlin entry. "I've learned a lot from him. He was a driver destined to be a world champion. ... It's been difficult and I could never imagine this was going to happen. I dedicate this one to him."
Verizon IndyCar Series rookie Stefano Coletti, also a friend of Bianchi, placed a decal on the front of the No. 4 KV Racing Technology Chevrolet that read, "Godspeed Jules Bianchi RIP."
Of Note
Weiron Tan (Andretti Autosport) led wire-to-wire to win his fourth Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires race of the season. ... Austin Cindric, 16-year-old son of Team Penske president Tim Cindric, started and finished fourth in his ARCA Racing Series stock car debut late July 17 at Iowa Speedway. Cindric, who led 30 of the 150 laps, drove car No. 99 in honor of the late Greg Moore, a five-time Indy car race winner who died in a 1999 crash at Auto Club Speedway.
