The Cup Series travels to Iowa Speedway for the first time this weekend. NASCAR has raced the Truck Series and the Xfinity Series in Iowa, but this will be the first time we will see the Cup Series at the track. Iowa Speedway was designed by Rusty Wallace. He wanted the track to be the best short track in the U.S. It probably would have put on a great show in the old cars, but I am not sure the Gen-7 car will be “Must See TV.” It is a new track, so I will not knock it before we try it. The Iowa Corn 350 can be seen Sunday at 7 p.m. ET on USA (Yes, the races switch to NBC this week, so the race is on USA Network and not FOX).
STRATEGY FOR IOWA
The schedule for the race at Iowa is going to be the same as what we had at Sonoma last week. The teams had a 50-minute practice session Friday before they line up the cars for qualifying Saturday afternoon. Once again, we get to see practice before out lineups lock Saturday. I wanted to wait until after practice to see which drivers had speed, since we did not have any data to work with this week.
Tires were a big issue in practice. Many of the teams ran the tires below the recommended tire pressure or had too much camber to help the car turn. This caused the tires to blow out after 20-laps. The teams need to make the tires last 100 laps for a fuel run Sunday night. This race has a good chance to be a disaster. I am take some chances with the crew chiefs who are usually good with strategy during the race.
FANTASY STATS FOR IOWA
Iowa is a 7/8- mile, short, flat track. It is similar in size and shape to Richmond. We can also use the data from the races at Phoenix and North Wilksboro to help handicap this race. The drivers who were fast in those races, should be fast this weekend.
DRIVER GROUP GAME PICKS FOR IOWA
GROUP A DRIVERS
DENNY HAMLIN (6): Hamlin has been a beast on the tracks under 1.5-miles in length this year. He won at Bristol, Richmond and Dover and Hamlin finished second at Gateway. The No. 11 car had a lot of speed in Friday’s practice. Hamlin is a smart driver and Chris Gabehardt is a smart crew chief. They have the speed to run up front and I think they learned from their teammates mistakes in practice (Ty Gibbs, Christopher Bell and Tyler Reddick all blew tires in practice). Hamlin could do Sunday night, what he did at Bristol earlier this season.
CHASE ELLIOTT (8): There is a good chance the race Sunday will end up being a crew chief race. The teams that do not run below the recommended tire pressures and too much camber will blow out the Goodyear tires. I doubt Alan Gustafson will gamble. The No. 9 car had enough speed Friday to run well Sunday night. This pick is more of a gut feeling than anything else.
* Christopher Bell had the fastest car in the race but he crashed it. Now Bell will start from the back. I still think Bell will be fast, but there is too much risk in starting him in “the land of idiots.” I will play it safe and pivot from Bell.
GROUP B DRIVERS
JOEY LOGANO (6): Logano has been a beast on the shorter tracks ever since the No. 22 team tested at North Wilksboro in April. I am not sure what they found, but it is working. NASCAR is using the same tire that they used at North Wilksboro for this race. Logano finished second at Richmond, totally destroyed the field at North Wilksboro (Logano led every lap except one) and he finished fifth at Gateway last month. I am not worried about his speed in practice. The No. 22 team was “taking it easy” because they did not want to end up on the list of teams who have to fix their cars. Logano has a good chance to win at Iowa.
BRAD KESELOWSKI (4): Keselowski tested at Iowa Speedway two weeks ago. He probably did not need to because Keselowski knows this track well. He finished 4th, 3th, 1st, 1st and 3rd in his five Xfinity Series races at Iowa. Keselowski has been good on the smaller tracks this year. He finished fourth at Phoenix, third at Bristol, eighth at Richmond and third at Gateway. Keselowski is a smart driver who will not allow his team to run ridiculous tire pressures and jeopardize his race. I am not worried about his practice speed.
ALEX BOWMAN (7): Bowman often gets overshadowed by his Hendrick Motorsports teammates, but he is having a decent season. He has finished six of his last nine races in the top-10. He doesn’t have much experience at Iowa, but the No. 48 car look good in practice. Bowman posted the second-fastest speed on the 10-lap and 15-lap average speed chart. His car was the fastest after 20-laps. Bowman has been running pretty well this season. I will take a chance with the No. 48 car this weekend.
TYLER REDDICK (3): Reddick has a lot of experience at Iowa Speedway. He has competed in six Xfinity Series races and three Truck Series races at the track. Reddick has never won, but he has been good. He has been good, but not great on the smaller tracks this year. Reddick has the fastest car until everyone made qualifying runs in practice. He did not make a qualifying run because a tire was going down. I plan to use Reddick for qualifying points Saturday.
GROUP C DRIVERS
CHASE BRISCOE (4): Briscoe is at his best on the short, flat tracks. He has a win at Phoenix in the Cup Series on his resume and he has a win at Iowa in the Xfinity Series on his resume. Briscoe posted the 10th-fastest speed in practice. He should be one of the best pick in Group C Sunday night.
NOAH GRAGSON (6): Gragson has some experience at Iowa Speedway. He finished fourth and sixth in his two Xfinity Series racesand he finished second and sixth in his two Truck Series races at the track. Gragson finished 12th at Phoenix and 12th at Richmond this year. Gragson had the fastest car in practice. There is a rumor that Johnny Morris from Bass Pro wants Gragson to replace Martin Truex Jr. in the No. 20 car next year. This could be an audition for Gragson, so I expect him to run well Sunday night.
* Be sure to check back Sunday morning for my starting lineup.
XFINITY SERIES PICKS
Good Luck This Weekend!
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