RACE REPORT: Farm to Finish 275
Race Notes
- After yesterday’s packed day at Iowa Speedway that culminated in the Synk 275, the NTT INDYCAR SERIES finished up the doubleheader Sukup INDYCAR Race Weekend today with the second of two 275-lap races, the Farm to Finish 275, on the .875-mile tri-oval.
- Today’s Farm to Finish 275’s starting positions were set by each driver’s second flying lap in yesterday’s qualifying session, with Marcus Ericsson leading the Andretti trio in 14th, followed by Colton Herta in 19th and Kyle Kirkwood in 21st.
- Today’s race was one to forget for the team, with Kirkwood being the only Andretti driver to make it to the checkered flag as both Herta and Ericsson saw their races cut short due to race-ending contact.
- Today’s race saw five caution periods lasting a total of 58 laps.
- INDYCAR will now shift its focus to street course racing for the third consecutive race weekend in July as the series heads north to the Streets of Toronto.
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Race Results
Colton Herta
No. 26 Gainbridge Honda
P20
| Started | P19 |
| Standings | 9th (244 points) |
- Making his 11th start today at Iowa Speedway, Colton Herta strategically moved the Gainbridge Honda through the field in the opening stages of the race, breaking into the top 10 by Lap 68.
- Herta held his spot inside the top 10 until Lap 145 when the Gainbridge Honda was pushed up the track by the No. 20 into the wall, dropping the No. 26 down to 11th. Despite reporting a vibration and slight tire damage after the incident, Herta stayed out on track for 40 more laps before pitting under yellow for fresh tires and fuel on Lap 185.
- Back in the mix, Herta remained focused on regaining his lost positions until the No. 14 made contact with Herta’s left front tire about twenty laps after pitting, pushing the Gainbridge Honda up the high line and back to 13th.
- Although he remained tenacious throughout the multiple on-track incidents, Herta was unable to overcome a right-front tire failure with just 21 laps to go in the race, ultimately sending the Gainbridge Honda into the wall in the short chute between Turns 1 and 2, ending the Californian’s race early.
“It’s been a pretty terrible year so far, and that just kind of sums it up for us. We had a right front tire failure. It’s not been fun this season to keep going out like this, but all we can do is go to the next one.”
Kyle Kirkwood
No. 27 Sukup Honda
P18
| Started | P21 |
| Standings | 4th (335 points) |
- After race-ending contact in Race 1 yesterday, Kyle Kirkwood took the green flag this afternoon in 21st with hopes of moving through the field for a strong result in the second race of the doubleheader weekend.
- Starting in the tenth row this afternoon, Kirkwood ran near the back of the field for the first half of the race. Finally moving his way up to P15 by Lap 151, the No. 27 Sukup Honda held onto this position, and was eventually the only car on track to not pit during the caution period that took place Laps 176-189, sending him to the front of the field.
- Although he led the field to green at this restart, Kirkwood quickly fell back through the field, as he was running on used tires until pitting on Lap 226. Making his final pit stop of the race on Lap 261, he rejoined the field for the final 14 laps of the race and took the checkered in 18th.
“I was actually quite happy with how today was going, but I got caught out by a yellow there towards the end, and there was just no recovering from that. I had a much better car than yesterday, and we seemed to be making some progress, but it’s safe to say that it was not enough. This was a weekend to forget, but the positive is that we have Toronto coming up next week, and that was our best weekend of the season last year. We’re going to look forward to that.”
Marcus Ericsson
No. 28 Delaware Life Honda
P22
| Started | P14 |
| Standings | 20th (164 points) |
- Starting from the eighth row, Marcus Ericsson quickly began working his way up the field.
- After making seven on-track passes, the Swede broke into the top 12 by Lap 33. Following his first pit stop, Ericsson began experiencing understeer and a lack of grip but continued pushing forward despite losing some track positions.
- By Lap 130, a right-front tire failure sent the No. 28 into the SAFER Barrier in Turn 4, ending Ericsson’s race prematurely.
“It was the right front tire that gave out, just like what happened to the No. 27 yesterday. It’s unfortunate. The problem is that you don’t really feel anything in the car, you’re just driving like normal, and then it happens. So all you can do is race and hope that the impact isn’t too bad. Luckily, I got around a little bit through the corner, so it wasn’t too bad. I just skipped along. A DNF is not what we need right now, so it’s very frustrating.”
Rob Edwards
Chief Operating Officer
“It was a tough day for the team. This is not the outcome we were aiming for. However, we’ll take what we learned from this weekend and shift our focus to Toronto.”
