Hunter McElrea wins Indy Lights event at Iowa

In a wild finish to Saturday’s Indy Lights event, Linus Lundqvist took the checkered flag but wasn’t officially declared the winner at Iowa Speedway.

After the crash of the No.12 James Roe, the leaders were bunched up and contact was made between the No.26 Lundqvist and No.83 Brabham as they were battling for the lead, causing heavy damage to the front wing of Brabham’s car and ending his chances of winning the race.

Valiantly, Brabham hung on to finish fourth and Lundqvist took the checkered flag, however six minutes later, it was announced that Lundqvist had been given a three-spot penalty, placing him fourth and moving second through fourth up one spot.

This meant that polesitter Hunter McElrea was declared the winner and goes back-to-back this season in wins. No.28 Christian Rassmusen was moved up to 2nd and No.83 Matthew Brabham was back on the podium.

It was the 250th career win for Andretti and a 1-2-3 sweep of the podium. In the post race briefing, Brabham was not happy calling Lundqvist’s move”Just because your spotter says you’re clear, doesn’t always mean you’re clear”.

With the move to 4th, Lundqvist now has just a 77-point lead in the championship with 4 races to go. Brabham still believes with the right luck, he can win the title, but major things will have to happen.

Can Brabham catch Lundqvist? The next Indy Lights feature is in two weeks at the Nashville street circuit, live on Peacock.