Iowa
What do Fox Sports analysts think will happen during the IndyCar races in Iowa?
NEWTON — This weekend’s IndyCar racing at Iowa Speedway will likely be better than last year’s processional races, but passing could still be hard, according to members of Fox Sports’ broadcasting team.
In 2024 a partial repave of all four corners resulted in processional racing where passing was almost impossible. Heading into the Saturday and Sunday races (July 12-13), drivers are uncertain whether the racing will be better, with some saying it will be and others saying it could still be hard to pass.
Fox Sports analyst James Hinchcliffe won at Iowa Speedway in 2018. Hinchcliffe thinks the racing will be better than in 2024.
“I do think we’re going to see it much better than what we saw last year,” Hinchcliffe said.
Skyscraper-sized cumulus clouds loomed over Iowa Speedway on Friday, July 11. Sunny skies are forecast on Saturday and Sunday, but a practice scheduled for Friday afternoon was critical to giving drivers confidence to drive in the second lane, Hinchcliffe said.
“The reality is,” Hinchcliffe said, “and we’ve learned this doing this at a few different tracks. When you’re driving around in practice on your own, there’s not a whole lot of reason to go up into the high lane. When you get into the race you don’t want to go up there for the very first time when an incident is going to take you out of the race. So forcing the guys to get comfortable up there, for me I think it’s a placebo effect as much as anything. What I think it does more than anything is it gives drivers some experience up there, comfortable. Up there so early in the race that starts exploring and that just keeps that high line clean all night long and allows it to be useable.”
Will Buxton’s impressions of Iowa
Fox play-by-play announcer Will Buxton gained worldwide fame in the Netflix series “Formula 1: Drive to Survive,” serving as an expert on the series. He is in his first season as IndyCar’s play-by-play announcer for Fox. Buxton also had a cameo in the Brad Pitt movie “F1.”
When Buxton, who lives in England, arrived at the track July 11 he wandered through the corn maze behind the backstretch, and he still had muddy boots to prove it.
“I didn’t realize. Have you been close up to those things, they’re freaky!” Buxton told Hinchcliffe and Fox pit reporter Jack Harvey of his first encounter with field corn. “The roots aren’t underground. They’re above ground, and it holds itself up. It’s like a tripod!”
About a quarter of the winners at Iowa have started from outside the top 10 and the track is known for producing great racing, Buxton said. Last year Will Power won the second race after starting 22nd.
“This is renowned as being one of the best short-course oval tracks in the world,” Buxton said. “I think you come in expecting the unexpected. So even with the repave there’s still the opportunity for people to have astonishing races from wherever they started in the field.”
How did the repave impact IndyCar racing at Iowa Speedway?
The repave added a high amount of grip to the bottom lane. Think of winter roads. The old asphalt is like untreated ice where drivers slip and slide. It’s technically challenging to drive, but entertaining.
Think of the new asphalt as plowed concrete. It’s easy to drive on, but mundane. In highly aerodynamic IndyCars with faster speeds than stock cars the old surface created unpredictable IndyCar racing.
What is IndyCar doing to make the racing better?
In 2025 IndyCar lengthened both races at Iowa Speedway from 250 laps to 275 laps. Before the repave tire degradation was so high that teams never knew how long a full fuel stint could last, Hinchcliffe said.
“More often than not you were pitting for tires more than you were for fuel,” Hinchcliffe said.
With the new pavement on repaved portions, tires lasted a lot longer and teams ran cars out of fuel. So teams realized they could stop for fuel one less time than what had traditionally been done there, Hinchcliffe said.
“By adding the extra laps they’ve made that window harder to achieve,” Hinchcliffe said. “Which takes the incentive to drive around to a fuel number out of the equation and hopefully means that drivers can push flat out for the entire race.”
Essentially IndyCar also “repositioned downforce on the car” to make the racing better, Harvey said. The amount of downforce allowed on cars is essentially what it was in 2024, but is in different places, Hinchcliffe said.
“I give IndyCar a lot of credit,” Hinchcliffe said. “They’re doing a lot to try to combat this issue that wasn’t of their making.”
Race needs to move to Saturday night
Saturday night racing on short-track ovals in IndyCar are as synonymous as church on Sundays. For years IndyCar scheduled its Iowa race on Saturday nights where the track gained a reputation for its unpredictable chess matches. Television schedules set times for races, but Hinchcliffe and Harvey said the racing and crowds could be better by holding the race at night.
“It’s hot in Iowa in July,” Harvey said. “Let the temperature come down a bit. Let it cool off. I feel like that’s an easy win.”
“From a visual standpoint, open-wheel cars around the lights, sparks flying, it just looks cool,” Hinchcliffe said. “It’s almost always the case that the conditions in a night race are advantageous for racing.”
Philip Joens covers retail, real estate and motorsports for the Des Moines Register. He can be reached at 515-284-8184 or pjoens@registermedia.com.
Penn State landed Iowa State’s pair of quarterbacks earlier Sunday, including starter Rocco Becht, in a splash move. Now, the Cyclones’ leading receiver is coming with them.
Wide receiver Brett Eskildsen committed to Penn State via the transfer portal, becoming the seventh Cyclone to join the Nittany Lions this weekend. He announced the move on social media.
Eskildsen recorded 30 receptions, 526 yards and five touchdowns as a sophomore in 2025. He also appeared in all 13 games as a freshman but made just two catches for 17 yards.
The 6-1, 200-pound wideout is from Frisco, Texas, and is a three-star in the 247Sports transfer rankings (No. 118 overall, No. 30 WR). He was a three-star out of high school as well, where he had more than 1,5000 career receiving yards.
Becht’s top man from 2026 is now in place. He’ll also be able to throw to standout Penn State freshman Koby Howard and quick youngster Tyseer Denmark, who have confirmed their returns thus far.
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Iowa State football has picked up a commitment from Arkansas State quarterback Jaylen Raynor, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported on Jan. 3.
Raynor has one season of eligibility remaining. The 6-foot, 202-pounder from Kernersville, North Carolina, passed for 3,361 yards and 19 touchdowns this season. He was intercepted 11 times.
Raynor also rushed for 423 yards and seven touchdowns.
He passed for 8,694 yards and 52 touchdowns in three seasons at Arkansas State.
“The (Iowa State) coaching staff is known for winning,” Raynor told Thamel. “The head coach is a known winner and done it on multiple levels.”
Raynor will join Arkansas State offensive coordinator Keith Heckendorf in Ames. Heckendorf was named Cyclones quarterbacks coach this week.
Raynor completed 19 of 33 passes for 222 yards in a 24-16 loss to Iowa State on Sept. 13, 2025.
The first month of the Iowa high school wrestling season has been filled with scintillating individual performances. Here’s a look at seven standouts who have been racking up bonus points in December.
Drew Anderson (Riverside)
The Class 1A state runner-up last year at 132 is up to 144 this season and he’s 14-0 with 11 technical falls, a pair of pins and a forfeit win. Anderson, a junior in his second season at the school, already owns the Riverside school record for technical falls with 28. Anderson is on pace to more than double the previous Riverside tech record of 23.
Urijah Courter (West Marshall)
Courter won the 2A title last season at 113 after placing third as a freshman at 106. He’s up to 120 this season. Courter is 14-0 this season with 10 pins and two technical falls. His ledger also includes a 6-5 win against Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont’s Simon Bettis in a rematch of last season’s state title bout.
Cooper Hinz (Jesup)
Entering the holiday break, Michigan commit and two-time state medalist Cooper Hinz is 22-0 with 21 wins via pin, technical fall or forfeit. His other victory was a 4-1 overtime decision against returning state placewinner Cain Rodgers of North Fayette Valley. More impressively, all of Hinz’s pins and technical falls have all come in the first period.
Lincoln Jipp (Bettendorf)
Jipp placed fifth at 138, third at 165 and second at 175 in Class 3A during his first three seasons. Now he’s up to 215 — 77 pounds more than where he started his career as a freshman. The North Carolina recruit pinned his way through the prestigious Dan Gable Donnybrook. He’s 16-0 with 10 pins, four technical falls and a forfeit.
Mason Koehler (Glenwood)
The returning 2A champ at 215 is 20-0 with 18 pins and a major decision. His only two matches that went the distance came at the Council Bluffs Classic, where he defeated Nebraska standout Ryan Boehle of Grand Island 14-4 and Minnesota hammer Joe Kruse of Totino-Grace 9-2. The rest of Koehler’s matches this season ended in first-period pins. He has already registered a six-second pin and another in nine seconds this season.
Jaxon Miller (Carlisle)
Miller is a three-time state medalist, a two-time finalist and returning state champ in Class 3A. He placed fourth as a freshman at 145 before making trips to the finals at 157 and 165. He’s 16-0 this season with 13 first-period pins, two technical falls and a forfeit.
Keaton Moeller (Starmont)
Moeller placed third in 1A as a freshman at 145 before winning a state title at 150 as a sophomore. He missed all of last season after suffering a torn ACL in football. Now he’s back as a senior at 190 and Moeller hasn’t missed a beat. He’s 13-0 with five pins, six technical falls and a pair of forfeits. He has yet to wrestle a full period this season.
Iowa High School Premium Rankings
Check out the Iowa High School Wrestling Premium Rankings, which are generated by using an athlete’s complete match history to predict a wrestler’s performance against others in their weight class by considering factors such as win-loss records, the quality of their victories (pins, technical falls, major decisions), the strength of their opponents and overall historical performance patterns. The data is updated every Monday, sourced from the Trackwrestling season results. Since each team is responsible for maintaining their season results, any data discrepancies for a wrestler should be addressed by contacting their coach to manage the information within the season. This includes the weight class assigned. Wrestlers are eligible to be ranked after competing in five matches at a single weight.
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