Hammett Masters the Iowa Oval: Strategy and Speed Secure Round 2 Victory

Newton, IA — The second round of the YesterYear Racing IROC Championship took place at Iowa Speedway, bringing 15 drivers together in equally prepared Cadillac Touring Sedans for a 150-lap battle. Known for being a challenging car-to-track combination, the race required drivers to manage a tight chassis setup and avoid burning up their right front tires to maintain turning capability on the short track.

With the grid based on an inversion of the previous round’s results, Andrew Kotska and Chris Worrell led the field to the green flag. Worrell quickly asserted himself, taking the lead from Kotska early on. Behind them, the field settled into a single-file rhythm as drivers looked to preserve their equipment. Matt Watkins and Greg McDaniel were among the early movers, with Watkins aggressively picking up positions while McDaniel utilized the bottom lane to move into the top five. Defending champion J R Shepherd began a methodical climb through the field from 12th, utilizing a slide job to clear Jerry Isaacs on lap 32.

The race was defined by a long green-flag run, forcing teams to make critical strategy calls regarding their one extra set of tires. Around lap 70, the pit cycle began. Chris Worrell, who had dominated the first half by leading 61 laps, saw his chances vanish when he was hit with a speeding penalty on pit road. This shifted the lead to Chris Hammett, who executed a successful overcut strategy by remaining on track longer than his rivals. Hammett emerged from his pit stop on lap 75 with a commanding lead, eventually building an eight-second gap over the field while James Lowe experimented with an alternate pit strategy.

In the final third of the race, J R Shepherd moved into second place after passing McDaniel but found himself facing a massive deficit to the leader. Shepherd, racing with a broken finger, admitted post-race that he had misread the strategy, losing too much time on track before his stop to mount a serious challenge. The anticipated caution flags never flew, leaving the leaders to navigate lap traffic.

Chris Hammett took the checkered flag to secure the Round 2 victory, leading a total of 62 laps. In victory lane, Hammett expressed surprise at his success, noting he didn’t expect his road-course skills to translate so well to the Iowa oval. J R Shepherd finished second, while Greg McDaniel rounded out the podium in third, noting that he pushed his fuel window to the limit. Andrew Kotska and Roger Hurley completed the top five. The series now looks ahead to Round 3, which will take the drivers to Japan for an oval event.