Two Races, Two Types Of Pavement: What To Know About INDYCAR’s Iowa Doubleheader

Two types of pavement. That’s different.

Two races, two days. That’s different.

To say the Iowa Speedway race weekend is unique for the INDYCAR circuit this year would be an accurate statement. It’s not much different from a year ago, but it is different when looking at it with respect to the other 2025 race weekends.

Here’s info to get you in tune with what will happen this weekend.

Two races in two days?

Yup. The drivers will compete in 275-lap races, the first at 5 p.m. ET Saturday and then a quick turnaround for 1 p.m. ET Sunday. Both races will air on FOX.

How do they set the lineup?

During qualifying on Saturday, each driver will do two consecutive laps. The first lap will be their qualifying speed to set the lineup for the first race. The second lap will be their qualifying speed to set the lineup for the second race.

Why two races?

It goes back to 2011 and racing at Texas Motor Speedway, which wanted to do something different from its 342-mile race. So it started doing a pair of 171-mile races on the 1.5-mile track. Conducting two races in one weekend is not unique in other forms of racing, especially ones where they want to limit travel costs or can’t land deals with racing venues.

As the series schedule evolved, Texas eventually went back to one race there but continued doubleheader weekends elsewhere to help fill out the schedule, especially now on ovals.

While there were doubleheader weekends at both Iowa and Milwaukee last year, an oval was added in February 2024 when the season finale at the Nashville street course was moved to the Nashville Superspeedway oval. Milwaukee went back to a one-race weekend for 2025.

Why two sets of pavement?

Iowa Speedway is a 0.875-mile oval owned by NASCAR. When the decision was made in the spring of 2024 to repave, given the timing of the project amid worries about potholes developing for the inaugural Cup race at the track, NASCAR paved only the lower lanes (Lanes 1 and 2) in the turns. The lower lanes are where drivers would potentially generate the most loads and heat that could potentially crack the surface.

After the NASCAR debut last year, NASCAR opted to leave the track with new and old pavement.

What does that mean? It means two very different racing grooves, making it difficult for INDYCAR to find the right tire and aero combination because the new pavement has so much grip that the INDYCAR cars go so much faster in that lane.

Having some parts of the track with pavement from when it was built in 2006 also makes it susceptible to weepers after it rains. Weepers refers to water coming up through pores of the track as the surface begins to heat.

What is INDYCAR’s answer to aerodynamic challenges?

INDYCAR, in hopes of having multiple racing grooves, had a test at the track a couple of weeks ago where it had adjusted where the cars generate the most downforce. At the test, the cars still tended to hug the inside lane.

Christian Rasmussen had a right front tire blow without warning because of the loads on the right front, so Firestone and INDYCAR opted for a different tire for this weekend. It’s a tire that Firestone said has a slightly revised construction to be able to handle the extreme loads.

“Obviously it was needed,” Rasmussen said. “I guess it was good that we found out that the tire needed to be changed. Not so good that it had to be me that had to find out.

“It was pretty out of nowhere [when it blew]. … Once they figured out what happened, it was the right decision to change it. Otherwise, it was going to be a tough weekend to get through.”

What do drivers expect?

They don’t know what to expect, other than likely a very physically demanding weekend, thanks to the high loads and high speeds.

Will Power, who won one of the two races last year, said he wouldn’t be surprised if drivers were pushed to the limit of being able to handle the cars physically.

“I did a half-stint at the end of the day and that was difficult. My car started to get loose so it was probably harder for me,” Power said. “It was like, ‘Man, there are going to be some guys that aren’t going to be able to hold on to this.’

“It’s going to be tough. Your arms are going to be falling off.”

For the most part, drivers view this as an unknown because of the changes, despite having had a test just a couple of weeks ago.

“I think it’s an unknown,” said Kyle Kirkwood, who was among those who tested. “We have our guesses. The downforce level that we’re going to is one that we’re familiar with. It is a good option for racing, general balance, what the car needs to be to race around this track.

“We know Firestone is going to come with a great tire. We just have got to tune around the balance of what that new tire is going to give us.”

Does Kirkwood — or anyone — still have a shot at the title?

Kirkwood thinks he does, as he enters second in the standings, 113 points behind Alex Palou. 

“It’s kind of cat-and-mouse with him right now,” Kirkwood said. “We claw back at him, he pulls away from us. We claw back.”

Kirkwood knows he will have to cut into that lead at Iowa. After the Iowa doubleheader, just five races remain: Toronto, Laguna Seca, Portland, Milwaukee and Nashville. A driver can earn a maximum 54 points a race.

“If we can get to inside 85 points [with five to go], I think we’ll still have a shot,” Kirkwood said. “That’s a legitimate number that we know we’ve got some good races coming up. We need to get within a realm that it is still obtainable, which we’re not at the moment.”

Wasn’t Kirkwood involved in an accident last year?

Yes, he was as part of the aftermath of a scary incident where Sting Ray Robb ran into the back of a slowing Alexander Rossi on the final lap of the second race.

Robb’s car launched high in the air and he skidded on his roof. He only suffered a blister to a finger and he suffered that after the accident when he grabbed the halo that was still hot from the skid on the pavement.

Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.