IRL: Iowa's last two races

With only two previous Iowa Speedway races in the Indy Racing League book, there isn't a lot to go on this week, but fantasy players may find some inspiration in who ran well in these few events.

Dario Franchitti took last year off to make an attempt at NASCAR Sprint Cup racing, but before he left, he won his only race at Iowa after starting third. This short track was patterned after Richmond International Raceway and on that course, he's been nearly perfect with finishes of second (2005), third (2006) and first (2007) in four attempts. That speaks volumes about his odds for this week.

Marco Andretti has run both Iowa races and he's been close to perfect. With a second in 2007 and a third in 2008, he's come close to winning twice. Perhaps there is something in short track racing that is appealing to his somewhat aggressive style of competition. By contrast, his teammates Tony Kanaan (with a 16th in 2007 and an 18th last year) and Danica Patrick (13th and sixth respectively) have not been nearly as strong.

Last year's winner Dan Wheldon proved that fantasy players cannot always rely strictly on past records. After a modest showing of 11th in 2007, he stormed into victory lane last year, so don't be afraid to take drivers with momentum on their side.

Average finish, last two races

Driver	Avg Finish	2008	2007
Dario Franchitti	1.00		1
Hideki Mutoh	2.00	2
Marco Andretti	2.50	3	2
Scott Sharp	3.00		3
Dan Wheldon	6.00	1	11
Ryan Briscoe	7.00	7
Scott Dixon	7.00	4	10
Sarah Fisher	7.00		7
Ryan Hunter-Reay	8.00	8
Anthony Foyt IV	8.50	5	12
Will Power	9.00	9
Danica Patrick	9.50	6	13
Graham Rahal	10.00	10
Helio Castroneves	11.00	14	8
John Andretti	11.00	11
Justin Wilson	12.00	12
Vitor Meira	12.00	15	9
E J Viso	13.00	13
Buddy Rice	13.00	22	4
Darren Manning	13.00	21	5
Sam Hornish Jr	14.00		14
Ed Carpenter	14.50	23	6
Kosuke Matsuura	15.00		15
Oriol Servia	16.00	16
Tony Kanaan	17.00	18	16
Jeff Simmons	17.00		17
Enrique Bernoldi	17.00	17
Mario Moraes	19.00	19
Tomas Scheckter	19.00		19
Jaime Camara	20.00	20
Milka Duno	21.00	24	18
Bruno Junqueira	25.00	25
Marty Roth	26.00	26

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