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.