Tony Kanaan was the big mover in the opening IZOD IndyCar Series heat races at Iowa Speedway, going from fourth place to win heat two.
Kanaan (KV Racing Technology) passed Dale Coyne's Justin Wilson for third on the first lap, and then waited for the lead battle between polesitter Rubens Barrichello (KV) and Alex Tagliani (Bryan Herta Autosport) to be decided in the Canadian's favor ahead of him before making his next move. His chance came when Barrichello lost speed immediately after being passed by Tagliani, and while the Formula 1 veteran was unable to prevent Kanaan from passing him, he was able to hold on to finish third.
Earlier, the opening 30-lapper was dominated by Ganassi's Graham Rahal, who finished 6.2 seconds clear of Josef Newgarden (Sarah Fisher Hartman). The cars ran almost the entire race in their starting order before Panther's JR Hildebrand passed EJ Viso (KV) for third with three laps remaining, moving himself one row further up the grid in reward.
The first two heat races determined the grid order from the fifth row back for Saturday's race, but both Kanaan and Rahal are facing 10-place grid penalties for unauthorised engine changes. Viso will also be penalised.
Pole will be decided shortly in a third heat race for the eight fastest cars from the second practice session.