Crucial late safety CHANGE made for IndyCar Iowa visit

A significant change has been ordered ahead IndyCar's double-header at Iowa Speedway this weekend to mitigate against potential safety issues.

The series speeds into Newton for rounds 10 and 11 of the 2024 season, with Alex Palou leading the standings, 48 ahead of Will Power.

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The Iowa Speedway oval was recently partly repaved ahead of the debut of the NASCAR Cup Series at the track, which caused some issues for racing.

Now, as IndyCar pays visit to the circuit, teams have been told of a change to the right-side Firestone tires which are to be run over the weekend, according to RACER.

Why are the tires being changed for the Iowa weekend?

A recent test at the Iowa Speedway flagged 'extremely high temperatures' in right-side tire carcasses, including a heat-related failure for Power.

"The combination of Iowa’s newly-paved, high-grip corners, higher weight — up 105 lbs — with the new energy recovery systems installed, and harder tires created by Firestone to manage the spike in forces created by the grip and weight, led to those right-side tires generating and retaining more heat than was sustainable," RACER say they understand.

The new tires are a new, softer compound, designed to wear faster to "allow the tires to release more heat and run at cooler temperatures."

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To aid teams and the series to understand the changes, there is a new Friday afternoon session for teams to apply rubber at "slightly reduced speeds."

The 30-minute session is scheduled from to begin 45 minutes before the 3:30-5pm (CT) official practice window.

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