Fast Fight to Seventh For Harvey at Iowa Speedway

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Fast Fight to Seventh For Harvey at Iowa Speedway

Newton, IA. (17 July 2020) – Meyer Shank Racing driver Jack Harvey finally reaped the rewards of the strong pace he has shown all year long as he brought the No. 60 AutoNation / SiriusXM Honda home seventh in Race 1 of the Iowa 250s on Friday night.

A 90-minute practice, new qualifying format and INDYCAR debut race at Iowa Speedway for Harvey was yet another battle to get up to speed quickly as he and Meyer Shank Racing continue their first full-season INDYCAR Series campaign.  

A new two-lap qualifying format would determine the starting spots for Race 1 on Friday and Race 2 on Sunday. Harvey continued his strong qualifying performance to secure P9 and P6 for Race 1 and Race 2 respectively. The qualifying effort was the fifth time Harvey qualified in the top 10 so far in 2020, which includes his back-to-back front row starts at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course and at Road America. 

On the short, fast, and aggressive 0.875-mile ‘bull ring,’ tire strategy would be the most important factor with a new set of Firestone Racing tires giving drivers a two-second advantage. 

Harvey drove a strong first two stints before a lap 116 full course caution. The yellow flag finally worked in Harvey’s favor, allowing him to receive a pass around, come into the pits and stay on the lead lap. A lengthy 26 lap full course caution restructured the field’s pit stop strategy as Harvey restarted from ninth in the order.  

A smart pit stop strategy brought Harvey up to a high of fourth, as he fought to make it back to the INDYCAR podium for nearly 20 laps. Following 250 laps of wheel-to-wheel racing, Harvey crossed the finish line seventh. 

“Today was a really solid day,” said Harvey. “Getting to drive this track in an Indy Car is much different from the Indy Lights car, but the competition and intensity are still the same. As anticipated, the race was non-stop and I definitely learned a ton that I can take with me into tomorrow. This type of finish is what we needed and finally we were able to get a result that was reflective of our pace. I’m hoping that we can improve for tomorrow.”

Saturday will feature a final practice round at 3:30pm ET with the second round of Iowa Speedway action set for 8:30pm ET on NBCSN. IndyCar Radio coverage will also be featured on SiriusXM Ch. 205.