Will Power jumped points leader Alex Palou on the final pit stop under green and hung on to win Sunday at Iowa Speedway as the 250-lap race ended with a massive crash involving Sting Ray Robb, Kyle Kirkwood, Alexander Rossi and Ed Carpenter.
As Rossi’s No. 7 Dallara-Chevrolet slowed on the last lap, Robb’s car made contact with Rossi’s left rear, launching the No. 41 Dallara-Chevrolet into the air.
Robb’s car somersaulted down the backstretch and landed on its aeroscreen. After turning the car over, safety workers were able to extricate the A.J. Foyt Racing driver, who seemed to take a moment and sat on his sidepod after exiting the car. Robb then was placed on a stretcher and loaded into an ambulance while giving two thumbs up to the crowd.
Dr. Julia Vaizer, medical director for IndyCar, told NBC Sports’ Kevin Lee that “Sting Ray is doing well. He’s awake, alert and in good condition. We’re going to send him to the hospital for precautionary measures to get some advanced imaging. He’s going to go by air just because of the location. But he’s in good spirits, and he says hello, too.”
According to A.J. Foyt Racing, Robb was airlifted to Mercy One Medical Center in Des Moines. The team said Robb joked to his mother, Kimmie Serrano, “Well, that was in dramatic fashion to end the race!” when he saw her in the Iowa Speedway infield care center.
The team provided another update Monday night that Robb had been released from the hospital after his CT scans were clear. He will need to be checked and approved by IndyCar’s medical team before racing at Toronto next weekend.
Carpenter, Rossi and Kirkwood were able to walk away seemingly unhurt. Carpenter’s left rear tire had landed on Kirkwood’s aeroscreen, so safety workers helped assist Kirkwood in getting out.
“I know Rossi was running out of fuel and stayed on line, and he was going much, much slower,” Kirkwood told Lee. “My spotter apprised me of the situation, but clearly it was a bit too late for Sting Ray there. Hopefully, he’s OK and everyone who got out is OK. Definitely a very, very scary wreck.”
For Kirkwood, the crash was reminiscent of his horrifying wreck in the 2023 Indy 500 when he was trapped inside his No. 27 Dallara-Honda.
“I hate being stuck inside the car,” Kirkwood told Lee. “There’s no doubt about that. When I was stuck in Indianapolis upside down, the first thing you want is to get out of the car. Obviously, the safety crew came over and got to me within seconds. They calmed me down. They said, ‘You’re good, we’ll help you out. We’re here for you.’ That was very calming for me.
“The initial thought when you crash and (have) a car on top of you and you’re stuck, the last thing you want is to be on fire. Your initial instinct is to get out. Obviously these cars are so safe now to where we don’t have to be too concerned and obviously, the AMR safety crew was there in case anything was wrong.”
“I’m fine, just angry,” Carpenter told NBC Sports’ Georgia Henneberry. “I knew Alex was off pace at the end. My spotter told me a couple laps before. It looked like Sting Ray just misjudged the closing rate somehow even though it was clear (Rossi) was slow.
“I spun just trying to get down, didn’t think it was going to be that bad. I slid into Alex, Kirkwood came from behind, hit me and launched me over the top of Alex. that was the hardest part of the crash. Just a shame, two days in a row. two accidents that really I was just a victim. Just hate it for the team.”
Power won by 0.3915 seconds over Palou, cutting his championship lead to 35 points, as the top two finishers enjoyed major rebounds from mediocre finishes Saturday night at Iowa.
Power, who had entered the race weekend ranked second in the standings (48 points behind Palou) finished five laps down in 18th Saturday.
“I had a really good car, really fast car, so I just sat back and used that pace to save fuel,” Power told Lee after Sunday’s victory. “I knew once all those guys pulled in, I could go hard. Then we caught a yellow, which was sort of the thing we were hoping for was to catch one of those yellows and then able to get better fuel (mileage) behind Palou and go a couple of laps longer than him and jump him.”
It’s the first victory at Iowa for Power, who last won on an oval five years ago (Pocono Raceway in 2019). With his 43rd career victory, Power also became a multiple race winner for the first time since 2020 (
“I’ve been trying to win this race for years. so over the moon and the guys did a really great job,” said Power, who won last month at Road America. “I felt really bad for them yesterday when I accidentally (sped in the pits) and ruined their day. Gotta fight this hard to the end. I thought coming into this year I want to win on an oval this year and I want to win multiple races.”
On Saturday night, Palou crashed on Lap 176 and finished a season-worst 23rd, opening the door to several championship contenders closing the gap on the Chip Ganassi Racing star.
“Yesterday was a terrible day for us,” Palou told NBC Sports’ Georgia Henneberry. “I just made too many mistakes. Rebounded today and almost got the win. It was really tough to pass. Nobody could pass. Solid P2.”
After earning his first oval win Saturday, pole-sitter Scott McLaughlin finished third Sunday, followed by Scott Dixon and Colton Herta. Pato O’Ward was sixth, and Josef Newgarden, Graham Rahal, Rinus VeeKay and Romain Groejean rounded out the top 10.
The race featured seven lead changes after there was only one Saturday night on the 0.894-mile oval that underwent a partial repave before its inaugural NASCAR Cup Series race last month. IndyCar drivers have voiced their discontent with how the overhaul narrowed the surface to one lane of racing.
“Just from the looks of it and sounds of it, it was a snoozefest,” O’Ward told NBC Sports’ Dillon Welch. “Yeah. Palou and Power should go straight to Las Vegas with how lucky they got with that yellow.”
McLaughlin led the first 96 laps before pitting under green and handing first place to Palou. The two-time series champion stayed on track until making his first pit stop on Lap 100. Shortly after Palou entered the pit lane, the caution flew for Agustin Canapino’s stopped car on the backstretch.
Palou cycled into the lead during the yellow after Power (the only driver who had yet to stop) entered the pits. When the race restarted on Lap 114, Palou led Power and McLaughlin, Dixon and Herta.