The series was scheduled to kick off its doubleheader weekend at Iowa Speedway with practice sessions on Friday, but Mother Nature had other plans.
The first of the two sessions was set to begin at 2:35 p.m. (CT), and was specifically designed for drivers to run solely on the high line of the 0.894-mile oval. The goal was to lay down rubber and improve the quality of racing during the weekend’s two events.
However, just minutes before the scheduled green flag, IndyCar announced that “the start of IndyCar practice at Iowa Speedway is on hold due to weather.”
After waiting nearly an hour and a half, the series confirmed that there would be no on-track activity on Friday and released a revised schedule for Saturday.
The day will begin with a practice session at 9:00 a.m. CT, while the qualifying session — which will set the grid for both races of the weekend — has been moved from 11:05 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The Synk 275 powered by Sukup, covering 275 laps for a total of 245 miles, is scheduled to start at 4:00 p.m.
As tornado sirens echoed around the track, personnel from both the IndyCar and Indy NXT paddocks took shelter inside the Newton Club suites and the infield media center — the most substantial permanent buildings at Iowa Speedway, according to the Indy Star.
The National Weather Service issued a tornado warning at 2:28 p.m., prompting immediate safety precautions that expired at 3:15 p.m. However, a tornado watch remains in effect until 8:00 p.m.
The IndyCar weekend at Iowa Speedway features races 11 and 12 of the 2025 season, which has been dominated by Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou, who leads with six wins and 430 points. He is followed by Kyle Kirkwood of Andretti Global, with 317 points and three wins.
At the previous event in Mid-Ohio, Scott Dixon became the third different winner of the season by capitalizing on a rare mistake from his teammate Palou, who was comfortably leading before Dixon took first place in the No. 9 car.
There are high expectations for the Iowa Speedway weekend to see if IndyCar will maintain its current dominance in 2025 — with Honda having won every race so far — or if a Chevrolet-powered car can return to Victory Lane at a track where Chevy has won all of the past nine races.
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