IndyCar has some lessons to learn from its first hybrid oval race that will not cause accident that will not cause accident…
IndyCar’s inaugural hybrid oval race at Iowa Speedway revealed numerous areas needing improvement. While the primary concern was the lack of passing opportunities, race control’s management and officiating also drew significant criticism.
During Saturday’s qualifying, Jack Harvey’s No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda faced issues as race control failed to activate its energy recovery system (ERS), preventing the 60hp electric boost. Despite being granted a make-up run, the ERS was still not functional. It wasn’t until his third qualifying attempt that the ERS was properly engaged. Similarly, Colton Herta’s No. 26 Andretti Global Honda had its ERS inactive during his initial run, but the team opted not to use the second chance to qualify.
In Race 1, Linus Lundqvist and Katherine Legge both received drive-through penalties for being out of line on restarts. Marcus Armstrong was also summoned to the pits late in the race to address the unexpected activation of his car’s rain/caution lights.
Specifically, Lundqvist in the No. 8 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda was penalized on lap 132 for a violation that occurred on the lap 93 restart. This delay of 39 laps—over 10 minutes—was criticized for being excessively long, highlighting the importance of timely penalties to allow drivers the opportunity to recover. This delay was likened to being penalized in the third quarter for a foul committed in the second.
In a field of 27 cars, Katherine Legge, driving the distinctive mauve-pink No. 51 Honda for Dale Coyne Racing, was mistakenly penalized. Despite being the only car of that color, she was given a drive-through penalty that likely belonged to another driver. At the time, Legge was in 16th place but dropped to 21st and lost a lap after pitting on lap 138 of 250. She eventually finished 17th as other cars retired. Linus Lundqvist’s ERS unit failed late in the race, causing him to finish 21st.
Legge’s incorrect penalty took 46 laps—18.7 percent of the race—to be issued, longer than Lundqvist’s delayed penalty. IndyCar reviewed all starts and restarts at Iowa to identify single-file restart violations, which took more time than expected and may lead to changes to speed up the process.
IndyCar has not disclosed the error that led to Legge’s penalty but apologized to the Coyne team after the race, acknowledging that Legge did not violate the single-file restart rule. According to Race 1 results, no other drivers were penalized for restart violations after Legge, leaving the initial mistake unresolved.