Will the High Lane be Feasible During Iowa Doubleheader?

By David Morgan, Associate Editor

NEWTON, Iowa – Will the high line come out to play during the NTT IndyCar Series doubleheader Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon at Iowa Speedway?

Depends on who you ask.

The Frankenstein paving job that has been in place at the 0.894-mile oval since last summer, in which the low lane of Turn 1-2 and Turn 3-4 were repaved with fresh asphalt and the old, aging pavement left in place for the rest of the track, has wreaked havoc with the IndyCar product since then making it tough to have a dual lane race.

To start the day on Saturday, IndyCar Series officials instituted a high-lane practice session in an effort to rubber in the high lane with Firestone rubber to try and aid the process of making that second groove feasible.

But results are still out on whether we’ll see it used this weekend.

“I thought the high line in (Turn) 3 and 4 was tough,” said Graham Rahal. “I thought the high line of (Turn) 1 and 2 was great. Like, I thought there was a lot of grip there. So, you know, I would, I hope that people utilize it and I think if they do, there’s no doubt it’ll stay good, really good.

“But you know how drivers are, there’s this inherent fear in your head and belief of getting conservative and just running the bottom because it’s the safe thing to do. (Turn) 3 and 4 is harder because you see the thickness of all the patches, the seams that they put, see how thick that glue is. The car, when it touches that dark patch, the car constantly moves.

“So, it’s difficult for everybody to be confident to run high in (Turn) 3 and 4. But, it’s possible, for sure.”

Pato O’Ward said much of the same, noting the increased speed from the newer asphalt is just hard to overcome.

“It’s just so fast on that low lane. Man, it’s so fast,” O’Ward said. “We’re just breathing, you know, we’re, we used to be (off throttle) now we’re just (full throttle) so, yeah. I really hope I’m in the wrong. I really would like the second lane to come in to come and play.”

Asked whether he would take the gamble and be one of the first to experiment with the high lane, O’Ward explained that he’ll let others take the leap first, but would gladly follow them if it works out.

“No, I’m gonna let other people,” O’Ward said with a laugh. “I think starts and restart so you can bank on it a little bit more. But once everybody’s up to speed, uh, I’ll gladly be a spectator on that. And then maybe I’ll start trying it out.

“It just depends where you’re at, you know? If you’re in the back, you definitely start risking a little bit earlier. But, I tried it a little bit in practice and I had an okay moment. Nolan (Siegel) had a huge, almost huge shunt, so it’s just tough. It’s tough to know when it’s gonna give it to you or not.

“I think everybody wants to make it work. The problem is sometimes you go up there, you’re definitely risking like, is the car gonna stick or not? You know, it sticks when everyone’s running it, but not when you’re the only one.”

Six-time IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon was pleasantly surprised by how well the high lane worked during the Indy NXT race prior to qualifying, but cautioned on whether that would translate over to the IndyCar Series on Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon.

“I hope so,” Dixon said of the feasibility of the high line. “You know, it seemed like it was semi usable and especially if you watch like kind of the lights practice too, it seemed like they were able to use it, especially on starts, restarts and kind of for a little bit there.

So, you know, we’ll see how that plays out. But yeah, you won’t really know. The problem is if you get a long green kind of run and it’s not clean up there, then that’s gonna be the issue.”

Will Power, who won the second race of the Iowa doubleheader a year ago, echoed the same risk-reward comments of his fellow competitors.

“I mean, it’s good,” Power said of the high lane. “Man, it’s just everyone lays that rubber on the first lane. It’s so difficult to venture up there and take the risk, you know? Let’s just hope people run the outside a bit and have a good race here.”

If there’s anyone that will gladly be the Pied Piper to lead the charge to the high lane this weekend, it’s Santino Ferrucci, who was not shy about predicting when he would venture up there.

“Lap one,” Ferrucci said with confidence.

Ferrucci’s AJ Foyt Racing teammate David Malukas noted that he would be following his teammate’s lead should he be one of the first to lead the charge to the top lane.

“High line practice felt strong, but then at the end of practice, we tried going up there and it was ice again. So, I don’t know how this is gonna play out. I think Santino’s normally one of the first to go up there, my teammate.

“So, I’ll go on the radio, if he is up there, we’ll try it and we’ll give it a go. If we can use that high line, it’s gonna be a good race. If not, it seems to be a bit of a fuel save.”