“What has happened here in Iowa is an absolute tragedy and my heart goes out to all the victims of the horrific tornados and floods,” said Dixon, “Donating to this cause is the least that we could do and I hope that the race will provide at least a short respite from their struggles.”

“When you see the devastation there you can't help but feel for all those victims,” Wheldon agreed, “We as athletes are lucky enough to be in a position to do things like this and I encourage others to do the same."

Similarly, Andretti Green Racing has teamed up with The Michael Andretti Foundation to gather support for the people of the state and, with the help of AGR's four drivers - Tony Kanaan, Danica Patrick, Marco Andretti and rookie Hideki Mutoh - staged an online auction for its sponsors which raised $10,000, which will be donated to the American Red Cross. Each driver donated one signed item and sponsors were allowed to submit bids for two days.

The four AGR IndyCar and two Indy Lights teams will wear different caps as part of their regular race weekend uniforms, replacing their respective sponsor caps with those from Aplington-Parkersburg High School and Dike-New Hartford High School to honour victims of the tornado that ravaged northeast Iowa on 25 May.