NEWTON, Iowa – Felix Serralles took advantage of lapped traffic late in the race to take his second Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires win of the season at Iowa Speedway.
Starting fifth after qualifying was washed out and the field set by points, Serralles wasted no time moving to the front in the No. 4 SS Tire Dallara IL-15 for Carlin Racing. He moved into third place on the first of 100 laps and passed Andretti Autosport’s Dean Stoneman for second on Lap 28.
From there, Serralles set his sights on teammate and pole sitter Ed Jones in the No. 11 Jebel Ali Resorts and Hotels entry. Using lapped cars to his advantage, Serralles passed Jones for first on Lap 57 and began to pull away. He could not rest comfortably, though, as Zach Veach was charging hard in the No. 5 Belardi Auto Racing entry.
Veach passed Jones for second on Lap 66 and tracked down Serralles, also in traffic, eventually taking the lead on Lap 80 as Serralles got loose in Turns 1 and 2 while navigating past the lapped car of Dalton Kellett.
All was looking good for Veach until lapped traffic came back into play once more. Serralles closed back in and, when Veach was held up by the lapped car of Neil Alberico, Serralles pounced and retook the lead on the white flag lap. He crossed the finish line a lap later 0.6681 of a second ahead of Veach.
“It feels great to finally be on the podium and win another race this year,” said Serralles who last won at the season opener in St. Petersburg. “I was really comfortable with the lines and everything, so to be able to come from fifth and win the race, it feels good.
“Once I backed out and Veach got by me, I didn’t think I was going to catch him again but he caught traffic. Some of the drivers out there were kind enough to let us by quickly and others just didn’t care that the leaders were lapping them.”
Veach was unhappy with Alberico’s move that ultimately cost him the win.
“I’ve heard from some people Neil was trying to get out of my way, but necessarily him doing that put him right in my line,” said Veach. “If he would have just stayed doing what he was doing, I think I would have walked away with the win. But it is what it is.”
With his third-place finish, Jones stretched his lead in the championship to 23 points over Stoneman. Santiago Urrutia held onto third place in the standings after finishing fifth in the No. 55 Mazda Dallara IL-15. Serralles moved into Serralles and Veach to fifth in the standings.