Hunter-Reay repeats as Iowa Corn 300 champion

Ryan Hunter-Reay capped a day of IndyCar racing at Iowa Speedway with his second straight Verizon IndyCar Series Iowa Corn 300 victory. Hunter-Reay recorded his first win of the 2015 season Saturday here in Newton, giving Andretti Autosport its sixth consecutive victory at Iowa Speedway.

“I love Iowa Speedway and certainly this team does,” Hunter-Reay said. “Andretti Autosport is 7-of-9 on this track and that’s pretty phenomenal.”

Andretti Autosport had a 1-2 finish in the early Pro Mazda 100 Saturday night. Weiron Tan led wire-to-wire to win his fourth Pro Mazda Championship race presented by Cooper tires. Dalton Kellett finished second and Pato O’Ward of Team Pelfrey was third.

England’s Max Chilton led a 1-2 finish for Carlin Racing in winning the Indy Lights 115 at Iowa Speedway Saturday. Chilton overtook his teammate Ed Jones the win in the Indy Lights race present by Cooper Tires. RC Enerson of Schmidt Peterson Motorsports with Curb-Agaianian made the podium in third place.

Chilton, who raced in Formula One in 2014, dedicated his first Indy Lights victory and pole position to his Marussia teammate Jules Bianchi, who passed away Friday from injuries sustained in a crash in the Japanese Grand Prix in 2014.

In the main event of the weekend at Iowa Speedway, Hunter-Reay made a pit stop for four tires and fuel on Lap 238. He was able to gain the race lead following a caution when Takuma Sato’s car hit the wall in Turn 2 on with 38 laps to go.

Hunter-Reay led the final 36 laps to victory, staving off the challenge by Josef Newgarden of CFH Racing. It was the second year in a row for Newgarden to end up second at Iowa.

American drivers swept the top four spots in the Iowa Corn 300 as Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate Sage Karam had a career-high finish at third. Graham Rahal placed fourth and Carlos Munoz, another Andretti Autosport driver, was fifth.

The last time Americans swept the podium in a Verizon IndyCar Series event was the 2006 Indianapolis 500 Mile Race, when Michael Andretti followed winner Sam Hornish Jr. and Marco Andretti across the finish line in one of the most historic finishes at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Hard luck followed Tony Kanaan at Iowa for the second time in as many races. A year ago, Kanaan led most of the race and was passed by Hunter-Reay and Newgarden at the end for a third-place finish. Saturday, Kanaan was in contention again when mechanical problems put him out of the race after 189 laps.

"The No. 28 DHL Honda was on rails at the end," said Hunter-Reay, who had only one top-five finish this season entering the race. "This one we really had to work for. After a tough season, this one is really nice."

Following a Lap 278 restart, Hunter-Reay held off multiple challenges by Newgarden in the No. 67 Wichita State University/CFH Racing Chevrolet.

"To finish second was bittersweet," said Newgarden, who qualified seventh. "We had a winning car, but it's a credit to the team to finish second."

Juan Pablo Montoya's championship points lead appeared to take a hit when the No. 2 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet made right-side contact with the Turn 2 SAFER Barrier on Lap 10 of the 300-lap race. It was his first DNF of the season and the first in 18 races since the 2014 race at Iowa Speedway.

"We had a good car. It was a little loose the first couple of laps, so I was just really taking it easy, biding my time," said Montoya, who qualified third. "Something broke."

A mechanical issue in the final third of the race plagued the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet of Scott Dixon, who entered the race 54 points behind, and an 11th-place finish by pole sitter Helio Castroneves, allowed Montoya to enter the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio on Aug. 2 relatively unscathed.

Rahal moved to second in the standings — 42 points behind — while Dixon, who finished 18th, is 48 points back and Castroneves is 54 points out of the lead.

“This was race was tough. I wasn’t sure if we had the car to win at the first,” Hunter-Reay said. “After the sun went down, we made the right changes on the front wing on the stop and the car just came to life.”

Hunter-Reay posted wins at Iowa Speedway in 2012, 2014 and 2015, and took second in 2013. He became the winningest IndyCar driver in the nine-year series history at Iowa.

“I’m not telling him (Hunter-Reay) anything except to go fast,” Andretti Autosport owner Michael Andretti said. “This is a great track for us to come to and we hope we come back here many, many more times. Our drivers love this track.”

More on the three IndyCar races will be in Monday’s Newton Daily News.

Iowa Speedway has a two-week turnaround for its final 2015 race weekend. The “Fastest Short Track on the Planet” has the NASCAR K&N Series East/West combination race and the NASCAR Xfinity Series U.S. Cellular 250 presented by New Holland July 31-Aug.1.