Blaney Takes Inaugural Iowa Speedway Cup Event

Ryan Blaney bounced back from disappointment last week to dominate at Iowa Speedway

(NEWTON, IOWA – JUNE 16, 2024 – RIS) Ryan Blaney led 201 of the 350 laps, winning the Iowa Corn 350 in front of a large crowd of relatives and a sellout crowd of fans. The tire problems feared after the Xfinity race woes did not occur, save for some blown right-side tires that had little effect on the track action. Multi-lane racing throughout the field, sometimes three-wide, added to the attraction of the event.

The inaugural NASCAR Cup Series race at Iowa Speedway started with teams hoping that overnight changes made to their setups would let tires last longer than the 20-25 laps seen in the practice session and Saturday’s Xfinity race. Front row starters Kyle Larson and Ryan Blaney raced side by side for two laps until Blaney moved ahead of Larson. Corey LaJoie’s spin on the third lap when Zane Smith got tapped by Carson Hocevar, sending him into just enough contact with LaJoie’s car to send it spinning. Curiously, the three cars involved are all out of the Spire Motorsports operation.

Larson jumped into the lead at the restart, with Chase Briscoe into second ahead of early leader Blaney. Blaney regained second, but Larson was consistently the fastest car on the track.

AJ Allmendinger had a tire lose air, sending the No. 16 into the wall and sending all the lead lap cars to the pits for fresh tires. Larson headed the field off of pit road, followed by Blaney and William Byron, who had dropped back a few positions earlier in the race and then drove back to third when the caution flew. “The warning signs were there,” admitted Allmendinger. “I told my team the lap prior, two laps prior, that I thought we were going to blow a right-front. The angle was a lot better, so I got it slowed down enough that I didn’t feel anything inside the car.

“I think these tires give you at least a warning sign. I could feel it getting really tight. Yesterday, there was no warning sign to it, so it was a shock. Today, I kind of felt it coming when it blew. It kind of turned off into the corner, so I could definitely check up enough. The angle was just way better.”

Daniel Suarez led briefly but Larson and Blaney zoomed around into the lead, with Blaney taking advantage of some adjustments made in the pits to jump into the lead. Blaney’s lead shrank by the end of the first stage, with Larson closing to challenge for the stage win but unable to make the pass, giving Blaney his second stage win of the season. Corey LaJoie, after his early spin, used the fresher tires to score a top ten finish in the stage in seventh place.

Noah Gragson got tapped by John Hunter Nemechek and got into a slide but avoided hitting the wall and continued. Kyle Larson pitted in the caution, after earlier in the stage, he and Blaney had made contact, changing tires to prevent possible damage from causing trouble later.

Blaney and William Byron started on the front row, with Blaney immediately taking the lead and Joey Logano getting around Byron into second place.

Michael McDowell pitted after his right-front tire went down, sending the No. 34 Ford into a light brush with the wall. 

Zane Smith pitted with a flat right-front tire, then about 25 laps later, green flag pit stops for fuel and tires started, with Ross Chastain stopping with a flat right front tire. WIth about a dozen cars remaining to make their pit stops, Daniel Hemric hit the wall to bring out another caution. Keselowski, Wallace, Hocevar, Gilliland and Stenhouse were the top five runners and had not made their stops yet. Stenhouse stayed on the track instead of stopping, leading briefly. William Byron got loose inside of Stenhouse, almost spinning both of them, with Larson moving intot eh lead, followed by Josh Berry and Bubba Wallace.

Larson went on to take his eighth stage points after 210 laps, taking the second stage in the race, followed by Josh Berry, Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney and Bubba Wallace.

Chris Buescher led at the restart, then Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin got together in a three-wide after Daniel Suarez got loose inside of Larson and tapped the No. 5 car, sending him into Hamlin’s car and the wall to bring out the seventh caution of the race.

Chris Buescher and Josh Berry led the pack at the restart, with Kyle Busch and Todd Gilliland behind them. Berry passed for the lead after about four laps, with William Byron up to fourth place after dropping back earlier. He got around Brad Keselowski for third place and just a few laps later, got around Buescher for second place while Ryan Blaney worked his way through the field into a chase for second. 

Chris Buescher’s blown right front and slide into the wall with just over 90 laps left in the race opened the opportunity for teams to top up with fuel now and run to the finish without needing another fuel top-up. Blaney and Logano, along with Stenhouse, only took on two new tires, with Stenhouse gaining ten positions on the track from the shorter time in the pits.

Kyle Busch pitted in just a few laps with a suspect flat tire that proved to be damage to the left-rear suspension that sent the No. 8 Chevy to the garage, “Next Gen parts & pieces broke” said Busch after the car got repaired, sent back out and then parked, adding that the final straw was the power steering belt coming off the car.

Chase Elliott moved into third place, with Blaney just under a second ahead of Byron, who headed Elliott by under a half second. Byron closed the gap in the final five laps, 

“What a cool way to win,” exulted Blaney. He admitted that he was starting to ‘struggle a little bit” late in the final run to the checkered flag.

“We were pretty even” said Byron after the race. “My tires were getting hot and then I started sliding,” he added.

Pos, Driver, Car, Gap, Laps, Last Lap, Best Time, Best Speed, Best Lap
1) Ryan Blaney, No. 12, --, 350, 24.159 sec, 23.512 sec, 133.974 mph, 69
2) William Byron, No. 24, 0.716 sec, 350, 24.086, 23.598, 133.486, 277
3) Chase Elliott, No. 9, 2.147, 350, 23.944, 23.544, 133.792, 195
4) Christopher Bell, No. 20, 4.881, 350, 24.441, 23.729, 132.749, 129
5) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47, 11.586, 350, 24.430, 23.797, 132.370, 273
6) Joey Logano, No. 22, 12.264, 350, 24.390, 23.535, 133.843, 178
7) Josh Berry #, No. 4, 12.876, 350, 24.406, 23.701, 132.906, 179
8) Alex Bowman, No. 48, 13.121, 350, 24.132, 23.362, 134.834, 177
9) Daniel Suarez, No. 99, 15.669, 350, 24.643, 23.833, 132.170, 117
10) Brad Keselowski, No. 6, 15.780, 350, 24.617, 23.866, 131.987, 201
11) Ross Chastain, No. 1, 17.395, 350, 24.679, 23.559, 133.707, 169
12) Todd Gilliland, No. 38, 17.471, 350, 24.687, 23.831, 132.181, 202
13) Justin Haley, No. 51, 22.560, 350, 24.800, 23.899, 131.805, 129
14) Carson Hocevar #, No. 77, 23.918, 350, 24.612, 23.928, 131.645, 275
15) Martin Truex Jr., No. 19, -1 lap, 349, 24.174, 23.438, 134.397, 171
16) Noah Gragson, No. 10, -1, 349, 24.102, 23.749, 132.637, 178
17) Bubba Wallace, No. 23, -1, 349, 24.882, 23.796, 132.375, 195
18) Chris Buescher, No. 17, -1, 349, 24.534, 23.736, 132.710, 198
19) Austin Dillon, No. 3, -1, 349, 24.761, 23.432, 134.432, 178
20) Harrison Burton, No. 21, -1, 349, 24.826, 23.687, 132.984, 159
21) Corey LaJoie, No. 7, -1, 349, 24.742, 23.717, 132.816, 168
22) Tyler Reddick, No. 45, -1, 349, 24.181, 23.677, 133.041, 337
23) Michael McDowell, No. 34, -1, 349, 24.150, 23.720, 132.799, 335
24) Denny Hamlin, No. 11, -2, 348, 24.888, 23.763, 132.559, 196
25) Ty Gibbs, No. 54, -2, 348, 24.118, 23.585, 133.559, 177
26) John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42, -2, 348, 24.233, 23.646, 133.215, 179
27) Ryan Preece, No. 41, -2, 348, 24.127, 23.740, 132.687, 155
28) Chase Briscoe, No. 14, -2, 348, 24.812, 23.605, 133.446, 172
29) Daniel Hemric, No. 31, -2, 348, 24.791, 24.138, 130.500, 127
30) Austin Cindric, No. 2, -3, 347, 24.272, 23.733, 132.727, 339
31) Zane Smith #, No. 71, -3, 347, 24.959, 23.905, 131.772, 137
32) Erik Jones, No. 43, -3, 347, 24.652, 23.693, 132.951, 176
33) Kaz Grala #, No. 15, -5, 345, 24.883, 24.031, 131.081, 202
34) Kyle Larson, No. 5, -36, 314, 24.817, 23.510, 133.986, 179
35) Kyle Busch, No. 8, -78, 272, 268.058, 23.638, 133.260, 144
36) AJ Allmendinger(i), No. 16, -296, 54, 40.184, 24.199, 130.171, 48
(i) ineligible for driver points, (#) Rookie

Distance: 350 laps, 306.25 miles
Time of race: 02:58:36
Avg Speed: 101.490 mph
Margin of Victory: 0.716 sec

Leaders:
Car, Times Led, Laps Led
12, 4, 201
9, 1, 1
20, 1, 7
47, 1, 4
4, 2, 32
99, 1, 4
6, 1, 5
17, 2, 16
5, 5, 81

Lead Changes:
Car, Start, End, Total
5, 0, 1, 2
12, 2, 9, 8
5, 10, 54, 45
99, 55, 58, 4
5, 59, 60, 2
12, 61, 77, 17
5, 78, 83, 6
12, 84, 171, 88
9, 172, 172, 1
20, 173, 179, 7
6, 180, 184, 5
47, 185, 188, 4
5, 189, 214, 26
17, 215, 227, 13
4, 228, 228, 1
17, 229, 231, 3
4, 232, 262, 31
12, 263, 350, 88

Cautions:
#, Lap, Beneficiary, Reason
1, 3, , No. 7, 71 Incident Turn 2
2, 51, 77, No. 16 Incident Turn 1
3, 70, , Stage 1 Conclusion
4, 79, , No. 10, 42, 54 Incident Turn 4
5, 181, 8, No. 31 Incident Turn 2
6, 210, 1, Stage 2 Conclusion
7, 219, 34, No. 5, 8, 11, 99 Incident Frontstretch
8, 259, 11, No. 17 Incident Turn 1

Unofficial Points: Iowa Corn 350 Powered by Ethanol - Iowa Speedway
Rank, Driver, Car, Starts, GL, Points, Ldr, Nxt, Race Wins, Stage Wins, Playoff Pts
1) Chase Elliott, 9, 17, 1, 591, 0, 0, 1, 1, 6
2) Kyle Larson, 5, 16, -1, 583, -8, 8, 3, 8, 23
3) Denny Hamlin, 11, 17, 0, 553, -38, 30, 3, 3, 18
4) William Byron, 24, 17, 2, 537, -54, 16, 3, 1, 16
5) Martin Truex Jr, 19, 17, 0, 530, -61, 7, 0, 2, 2
6) Tyler Reddick, 45, 17, -2, 527, -64, 3, 1, 3, 8
7) Ryan Blaney, 12, 17, 5, 501, -90, 26, 1, 2, 7
8) Christopher Bell, 20, 17, 1, 498, -93, 3, 2, 6, 16
9) Brad Keselowski, 6, 17, -2, 498, -93, 0, 1, 0, 5
10) Ross Chastain, 1, 17, 0, 479, -112, 19, 0, 1, 1
11) Ty Gibbs, 54, 17, -3, 478, -113, 1, 0, 2, 2
12) Alex Bowman, 48, 17, -1, 474, -117, 4, 0, 0, 0
13) Chris Buescher, 17, 17, 0, 435, -156, 39, 0, 2, 2
14) Bubba Wallace, 23, 17, 0, 414, -177, 21, 0, 0, 0
15) Joey Logano, 22, 17, 1, 408, -183, 6, 0, 1, 1
16) Kyle Busch, 8, 17, -1, 383, -208, 25, 0, 0, 0
17) Chase Briscoe, 14, 17, 0, 370, -221, 13, 0, 0, 0
18) Daniel Suarez, 99, 17, 1, 352, -239, 18, 1, 0, 5
19) Austin Cindric, 2, 17, -1, 327, -264, 25, 1, 2, 7
20) Todd Gilliland, 38, 17, 1, 317, -274, 10, 0, 0, 0
21) Josh Berry #, 4, 17, 2, 314, -277, 3, 0, 0, 0
22) Michael McDowell, 34, 17, -2, 309, -282, 5, 0, 1, 1
23) Carson Hocevar #, 77, 17, -1, 302, -289, 7, 0, 0, 0
24) Noah Gragson, 10, 17, 0, 287, -304, 15, 0, 0, 0
25) Ricky Stenhouse Jr, 47, 17, 2, 268, -323, 19, 0, 0, 0
26) Erik Jones, 43, 15, -1, 255, -336, 13, 0, 0, 0
27) Ryan Preece, 41, 17, -1, 249, -342, 6, 0, 0, 0
28) John Hunter Nemechek, 42, 17, 0, 247, -344, 2, 0, 0, 0
29) Corey LaJoie, 7, 17, 1, 242, -349, 5, 0, 0, 0
30) Justin Haley, 51, 17, 2, 234, -357, 8, 0, 0, 0
31) Daniel Hemric, 31, 17, -2, 234, -357, 0, 0, 0, 0
32) Austin Dillon, 3, 17, -1, 229, -362, 5, 0, 0, 0
33) Harrison Burton, 21, 17, 0, 185, -406, 44, 0, 0, 0
34) Zane Smith #, 71, 17, 0, 158, -433, 27, 0, 0, 0
35) Kaz Grala #, 15, 14, 0, 140, -451, 18, 0, 0, 0
36) Jimmie Johnson, , 5, 0, 35, -556, 105, 0, 0, 0
37) Derek Kraus, , 5, 0, 32, -559, 3, 0, 0, 0
38) David Ragan, , 1, 0, 17, -574, 15, 0, 0, 0
39) Cody Ware, , 2, 0, 17, -574, 0, 0, 0, 0
40) Kamui Kobayashi, , 1, 0, 8, -583, 9, 0, 0, 0
41) Will Brown, , 1, 0, 6, -585, 2, 0, 0, 0
42) Cam Waters, , 1, 0, 2, -589, 4, 0, 0, 0
43) AJ Allmendinger(i), 16, 6, 0, 0, -591, 2, 0, 0, 0
44) Anthony Alfredo(i), , 2, 0, 0, -591, 0, 0, 0, 0
45) Justin Allgaier(i), , 1, 0, 0, -591, 0, 0, 0, 0
46) Ty Dillon(i), , 3, 0, 0, -591, 0, 0, 0, 0
47) Shane Van Gisbergen(i), , 3, 0, 0, -591, 0, 0, 0, 0
48) Corey Heim(i), , 2, 0, 0, -591, 0, 0, 0, 0
49) Bj Mcleod(i), , 3, 0, 0, -591, 0, 0, 0, 0
50) Riley Herbst(i), , 2, 0, 0, -591, 0, 0, 0, 0
51) Josh Williams(i), , 2, 0, 0, -591, 0, 0, 0, 0
52) Austin Hill(i), , 2, 0, 0, -591, 0, 0, 0, 0
53) Jj Yeley(i), , 2, 0, 0, -591, 0, 0, 0, 0
54) Timmy Hill(i), , 1, 0, 0, -591, 0, 0, 0, 0
55) David Starr(i), , 1, 0, 0, -591, 0, 0, 0, 0
 -Ldr/-Nxt = Points behind Leader/Next higher