There are a couple of different ways to go when sports decide to return to action. Some such as the MLB, choose to go with a shorter season, while others try to cram in as many events as possible in a short space of time. In the world of IndyCar, it is the latter method that has been adopted, with doubleheaders now part of the return to racing. We have another one of those set to go this weekend, when the drivers head to Iowa for the 250s, with races set to go on Friday and Saturday night. Rather than covering trying to break down each of the two races individually, we are going to talk about the favorites for the weekend, as all of the drivers mentioned below will have a shot at winning at least on of the races. Let’s get right to it so you can start planning ahead your bets against their IndyCar odds.
IndyCar Iowa IndyCar 250s
Scott Dixon
The Australian driver has made an incredible start to the season, winning the opening 3 races before finally coming up short with a 12th place finish in the second race in the doubleheader at Road America last weekend. He has already made life tough for the other drivers looking to chase him down at the top of the standing, but if past performances at Iowa are anything to go by, they may have a shot at closing the gap this weekend. Dixon is yet to pick up a win in IndyCar at Iowa, although he did record a career best second there last season, given his early form, still not a bad bet to win one of the races this weekend.
Josef Newgarden
Newgarden saw his season get off to a decent start with a 3rd place finish in the opening race of the year, but he has struggled to repeat that performance in the 3 races since. If he is going to have a breakout weekend, it might just happen in Iowa, as that is a track that he has had a lot of success at over the years. In the last 6 seasons, he has never finished worse than 6th there and has won twice and finished in second twice during that stretch. He looks like a very good bet to win this weekend.
Alexander Rossi
Rossi is entering his 5th season in IndyCar and has some history to live up to. He has finished in the top 3 in the driver standings in each of the last 2 seasons, but a slow start has him well off the pace in the early going. He did make a bit of a breakthrough in his last race, the second led of a doubleheader at Road America, where he finished 3rd. I’m not sure that he can emulate that this weekend, though, as his history at Iowa, while not terrible, is not that great, His best ever finish there is 6th.
Simon Pagenaud
Pagenaud saw his fast start to the season go a little off the rails in the doubleheader at Road America. He had a pair of podium finishes to start the season, but he could not crack the top 10 in either of the 2 races at Road America. He has cracked the top 10 in each of his last 4 races at Iowa, including landing in the top 5 twice. He does not have a win there, though, and given how things have gone of late, he may be hard pushed to get one this weekend.
