IndyCar points leader Alex Palou says Iowa's single-groove races were “the most boring thing I've ever done” after he limited damage to his advantage following his retirement from Saturday’s event.
The Chip Ganassi Racing driver hit out after finishing second in Sunday’s second element of a double-header weekend at the 7/8-mile oval, which had its corners repaved since last year’s race.
The partial repave was done to suit NASCAR’s maiden Cup Series weekend at the track last month, an event that produced some great side-by-side racing and was hailed as a triumph in terms of its show.
But for IndyCar, passing opportunities were at a premium around the 185mph oval, as efforts to rubber-in a second lane didn’t help much. Passes were mainly restricted to restarts and the couple of laps that followed, before tyre marbles started to form on the high line and dissuaded any further passing efforts.
This was proved by the stats for overtakes for position. There were 319 passes in 2023’s Race 1, down to 100 in 2024. In Race 2, there were 379 passes last year and only 95 on Sunday.
Although there were lead changes in both races this weekend, they each occurred during pitstop cycles and didn’t happen on track. Arrow Mclaren’s Pato O’Ward declared the race “a snoozefest”, and Palou concurred.
“Bit of a shame that we couldn't really do anything to pass or to do anything,” said the two-time champion. “Bit of a boring race for everybody: drivers, media.
“It's the most boring thing I've ever done. It was yesterday, as well.
“It's a shame that we couldn't really put a better show. I think everybody will agree that it was a very boring race to drive.”
Palou had experience of leading as well as running in the pack, after he stalled in a pitstop during Saturday night’s race and fell to the bottom of the top 20. He later crashed out.
“Even when leading or being in the middle of the pack, the package of IndyCar’s tyre, aero, engine, whatever we had on track this weekend, it was impossible to make it run,” the Spaniard rued. “It was never an issue before.
“It was a repave for our cars. But, having that said, we've seen other series here run well. I mean, we cannot compare.
“It's like putting a MotoGP on dirt. It's a cool track, but you cannot expect a very nice race.
“It was a shame because it used to be a really cool race I think for the fans, with tonnes of overtaking and tonnes of tyre deg and things to do.
“I don't know. I don't have the answers.”
Saturday’s race winner Scott McLaughlin agreed that further solutions were required to alleviate IndyCar’s passing problem at Iowa.
“The outside lane can work in the first 5-10 [laps],” he said. “We need to somehow work a way to get the second lane to work – that's after 30-40 laps.
“Whether that's a compound that goes on the racetrack or something that acts with our tyre and allows us to continue running that second lane.”
McLaughlin thanked the efforts that were made to rubber-in the top lane, which included a special practice session on Friday, as well as track cleaning in the corners during cautions.
“That thing worked – I passed three cars today on the outside of the restart,” he added. “I think it will work through the race if you can just eliminate some of the excess rubber that goes on there.
“I think the package could help. I think IndyCar could go to work with downforce levels, working with Firestone on a few other things.
“But you just can't blame the track because at the end of the day they have to repave this at some time. That's just how it is.
“If we can somehow get our cars working when a repave happens and know what we need to do to make it work, we won't run into these issues.
“I feel like we go into it and not do the right amount of study or whatnot to get it done and to get it to work. That's not a shot at the sport, not a shot at anything.
“It's working together with the amazing people and the geniuses we have up and down pit lane. It's just a matter of making it work.”
