IZOD INDYCAR SERIES HEADS TO COMPETE ON SHORTEST-TRACK ON SCHEDULE

Race Broadcast - Sunday, June 23 2:30 p.m. (ET)

ABC (Live)

Track - Iowa Speedway (0.875-mile oval) Distance 250 laps/218.75 miles

Radio IMS Radio Network XM 211/Sirius 211

2012 Race Winner Ryan Hunter-Reay2012 Pole Sitter Dario Franchitti

Will competitive IZOD IndyCar Series season add eighth winner in 10 races?

 The 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series season has seen seven winners in the first nine races. The seven winners who won from St. Petersburg to Texas included three first-time winners - James Hinchcliffe, Takuma Sato and Simon Pagenaud. The stretch of seven different race winners from Barber to Texas was the longest stretch of different winners since 2010, when seven different drivers won from St. Petersburg to Iowa. Who will come away with the gas pump trophy at Iowa?

Castroneves hopes to pad points lead

 Helio Castroneves took control of the IZOD IndyCar Series points lead with his victory at Texas Motor Speedway and carries a 16-point advantage into the Iowa Corn Indy 250. The Brazilian leads the Andretti Autosport duo of Ryan Hunter-Reay (16 points back) and Marco Andretti (50 points back), but is searching for his first win at Iowa. Can Castroneves bring Team Penske its first win at the Rusty Wallace designed facility and maintain his points lead?

Heat races to set field for Iowa race

 The field for the Iowa Corn Indy 250 will be set through three 50-lap heat races held on June 22 at Iowa Speedway. Heat Race fields will be by determined single-car, single-lap qualifying. Race 1 will consist of the even-numbered positions, starting with position 8 from single-car qualifying. The results of Race 1 shall determine the even-numbered positions in the starting field, starting with position 12. The top two finishers will transfer to Race 3 and start in positions 8 and 10. Race 2 will consist of the odd-numbered positions, starting with position 7 from single-car qualifying. The results of Race 2 shall determine the odd-numbered positions in the starting field, starting with position 11. The top two finishers will transfer to Race 3 and start in positions 7 and 9. Race 3 will consist of positions 1 through 6 from single-car qualifying plus the first- and second-place finishers from Races 1 and 2 to determine the Verizon P1 Award and the first five rows of the starting grid. The format will reward 12 starters with points - from nine points for the pole winner and descending by one point each position to one point for 11th and 12th.

Hunter-Reay aims for another repeat win

 Reigning IZOD IndyCar Series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay used a three-race win streak that included a victory at Iowa Speedway to propel himself into championship contention in 2012. He returns to the track seeking his second consecutive win on the Newton, Iowa oval. Can Hunter-Reay, who repeated a week ago at Milwaukee, make history repeat itself again at Iowa?

Andretti looks for breakthrough win at Iowa

 Marco Andretti may hail from Pennsylvania, but he is at home at Iowa Speedway. Andretti is aiming for his first win of the season but has four podium finishes in six Iowa Speedway starts. Andretti last won an IZOD IndyCar Series race at Iowa in 2011.

Can Franchitti re-capture Iowa magic?

 Target Chip Ganassi Racing's Dario Franchitti returns to Iowa Speedway hoping

to maintain his stellar record. Franchitti won the inaugural Iowa Corn Indy 250 in 2007 when he drove for Andretti Green Racing and won in his return to the race in 2009 in Target Chip Ganassi Racing's No. 10 car, which won the race in 2008 with the late Dan Wheldon. Can Franchitti, who started from pole in 2012, win another gas pump trophy and give the No. 10 team a third Iowa win?

Kanaan looks to return to Victory Lane in Iowa

Indianapolis 500 winner Tony Kanaan won a gas pump trophy at Iowa Speedway  in 2010. With podium finishes in his last three starts at the short oval, Kanaan is hoping to bring KV Racing Technology back to Victory Lane.

Race Notes:

The Iowa Corn Indy 250 will be the seventh IZOD IndyCar Series event at Iowa Speedway. Past winners entered are Ryan Hunter-Reay (2012), Marco Andretti (2011), Tony Kanaan (2010) and Dario Franchitti (2007 and 2009).

  Andretti Autosport has won four of the six races at Iowa Speedway, including the last three (Kanaan 2010, Andretti 2011 and Hunter-Reay 2012). Target Chip Ganassi Racing has two wins (Dan Wheldon 2008 and Franchitti 2009).

Team Penske has never won at Iowa Speedway, but has won two poles at the track, most recently with Will Power in 2010.

  Scott Dixon has started third or better in four of his six starts at Iowa. Dixon has six top-10 finishes at Iowa, but has never finished better than third.

Tony Kanaan has finished on the podium in the last three races at Iowa Speedway after failing to finish better than 15th in his first three starts.

Marco Andretti has finished on the podium in four of his six starts at Iowa Speedway. Ryan Hunter-Reay and Dario Franchitti are the only drivers to win at Iowa Speedway and win the IZOD IndyCar Series championship in the same season. Hunter-Reay accomplished the feat in 2012 and Franchitti accomplished the feat in 2007 and 2009.

No driver has won the IZOD IndyCar Series race at Iowa Speedway from the pole.

  Four drivers have competed in every IZOD IndyCar Series race at Iowa - Marco Andretti, Helio Castroneves, Scott Dixon and Tony Kanaan.

Season to Date:

James Hinchcliffe won the season-opening Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. It was the first win of his Indy car career. He was the 207th driver to win an Indy car race.

Will Power won his 30th career Indy car pole at St. Petersburg.

  Tristan Vautier started his first career IZOD IndyCar Series race at St. Petersburg.

Ryan Hunter-Reay won his 10th Indy car race in the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park from the pole position. It was the second time he had won a race from pole.

  Takuma Sato won his first Indy car race in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. He was the 208th driver to win an Indy car race and first Japanese driver to win. It was A.J. Foyt's first win as a car owner since 2002.

Dario Franchitti won his 30th career Indy car pole at Long Beach.

  James Hinchcliffe won the Itaipava Sao Paulo Indy 300 with a last-lap, last-turn pass of Takuma Sato. It was his second win of 2013 and the third win in four races for Andretti Autosport.

Ed Carpenter won his first pole position since 2010 at Kentucky when he won the pole for the 97th Indianapolis 500.

  Tony Kanaan won the 97th Indianapolis 500 to record his 16th Indy car victory.

Mike Conway and Simon Pagenaud split the wins in the Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit. It was Conway's second Indy car win and Pagenaud's first Indy car victory.

Will Power won his 31st career Indy car pole at Texas. 

Helio Castroneves won his 28th Indy car race in the Firestone 550 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Marco Andretti won his first pole position of 2013 at Milwaukee. It was his third career pole and second at Milwaukee.

  Ryan Hunter-Reay won Milwaukee IndyFest for the second consecutive year. It was Hunter-Reay's second win of 2013 and the fourth for Andretti Autosport in 2013.

There were a race-record 14 leaders and race-record 68 lead changes at Indianapolis.

Milestones & Records:

Should Dario Franchitti win the 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series championship, he will join A.J. Foyt as the only drivers to win at least five Indy car titles in their career. Franchitti won the title in 2007 and again from 2009-2011. Foyt won seven championships in his career. With their next victory, either Dario Franchitti or Sebastien Bourdais will move into sole possession of seventh place on the all-time wins list. Franchitti and Bourdais are tied with Paul Tracy with 31 wins.

With a victory in 2013, Scott Dixon will extend his streak of consecutive seasons with a win to nine. With his next victory, Scott Dixon will move into sole possession of ninth place on the all-time wins list. Dixon won his 29th race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on Aug. 5, 2012, to tie Rick Mears for 10th place on the all-time wins list.

  Helio Castroneves moved into sole possession of 11th place on the all-time wins list with his win at Texas Motor Speedway on June 8. Castroneves had been tied with Johnny Rutherford for 12th with the victory.

Helio Castroneves needs three earned poles to reach 40 career poles in his Indy car career.

  Will Power recorded the 30th pole of his Indy car career at St. Petersburg and his 31st pole position at Texas.

Dario Franchitti recorded the 30th pole of his Indy car career at Long Beach and his 31st pole position at Detroit 1.

  Scott Dixon needs two earned poles to reach 20 in his Indy car career.

With one pole in 2013, Scott Dixon will extend his IZOD IndyCar Series streak to seven consecutive seasons.

  Scott Dixon's second-place finish at Barber was the 30th of his Indy car career. It tied Helio Castroneves, A.J. Foyt, Al Unser Jr., and Bobby Unser for fifth on the all-time list.

Helio Castroneves recorded his 110th top-five finish at Milwaukee to take sole possession of 10th on the all-time list. Castroneves broke a tie with Tony Kanaan.

   Scott Dixon recorded the 100th top-five finish of his Indy car career at Barber Motorsports Park. With a pair of top-five finishes at Detroit, Dixon tied Paul Tracy for 12th on the all-time list.

  Tony Kanaan will attempt to make his 206th consecutive start. Jimmy Vasser holds the all-time record of 211. Scott Dixon with 147 straight starts (7th all-time) and Marco Andretti with 123 straight starts (15th all-time)  are the only other active drivers with a streak of more than 100 consecutive starts.

Ryan Hunter-Reay needs two starts to mark his 100th consecutive IZOD IndyCar Series starts.

At-Track Schedule (all times local):

Saturday, June 22

 10:45 a.m. - Noon - IZOD IndyCar Series practice

3-3:45 p.m. - IZOD IndyCar Series qualifying (single car/single lap to set heat race fields)

5:45 - 7:15 p.m. - IZOD IndyCar Series qualifying races for Verizon P1 Award. (3 Heats/50 laps), indycar.com and INDYCAR 13 App. (Live Streaming).

Sunday, June 23

10-10:05 a.m. - IZOD IndyCar Series systems check

 1:30 p.m. - Iowa Corn Indy 250 pre-race

2:05 p.m. - Iowa Corn Indy 250 (250 laps/218.75 miles), ABC (Live)