The NASCAR Cup Series returns after a week off to go racing at Iowa Speedway. This will be the third race for the Cup Series in the Hawkeye State. Ryan Blaney won in 2024 and William Byron went to Victory Lane in Iowa last year. This will also be the first of three consecutive races on short, flat tracks (Richmond and New Hampshire are the others). The drivers may have taken a vacation last week, but I am sure the teams spent extra hours in the shop preparing their cars for these three tracks. The playoffs start in one month, so time is running out to secure a spot at a run for the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series Championship. The Iowa Corn 350 can be seen Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET on USA Network (yes, the Cup Series switches from TNT to USA for the rest of the season).
Here is the schedule for the on-track activity at Iowa Speedway this weekend…
Saturday (August 8th) 11:30 a.m. ET: O’Reilly Series Practice
Saturday (August 8th) 12:30 p.m. ET: O’Reilly Series Qualifying
Saturday (August 8th) 2 p.m. ET: Cup Series Practice
Saturday (August 8th) 3 p.m. ET: Cup Series Qualifying
Saturday (August 8th) 5 ET: O’Reilly Series Race
Sunday (August 9th) 3:30 p.m. ET: Cup Series Race
FANTASY STATS FOR IOWA
Iowa Speedway is a .875-mile, short track. The track was designed by Rusty Wallace to race like Richmond Raceway. The Cup Series does not travel to Richmond until next weekend, so we will have to use the stats from the last two races in Iowa, the races earlier this season at Phoenix and North Wilksboro and I will sprinkle in some of the stats from the race at Richmond last year. This should give us an idea of which drivers are good on short flat tracks and have a good chance to finish up front.
Here are the stats from the last two races at Iowa Speedway, the race in Richmond last year and the similar tracks in 2026, sorted by Driver Rating…
IOWA RACE REWIND
Chase Briscoe won the pole for the Iowa Corn 350 last year, but he did not stay in the lead for long. William Byron qualified second and he passed Briscoe for the lead on lap one. Byron led the first 67 laps before Brad Keselowski took the lead on laps 68. It was not a pass because of fuel strategy. Keselowski started 5th, quickly raced to the front, led 68 laps, won both poles and finished 3rd. This was by far the best race for Keselowski in 2025.
The No. 1 pit stall was a huge advantage for Chase Briscoe. He came out first nearly every time the teams came to pit road together. This allowed Briscoe to lead 81 laps, score 6 Stage Points and finish 2nd in the race.
The Iowa Corn 350 turned into a battle between William Byron, Chase Briscoe, Brad Keselowski and Ryan Blaney. These drivers led 319 of the 350 laps (Byron led 141 laps, Briscoe led 81 laps, Keselowski led 68 laps and Blaney led 29 laps) and they finished in the top-four positions (1. William Byron, 2. Chase Briscoe, 3. Brad Keselowski and 4. Ryan Blaney). In the end, it was “The William Byron Show” in the Iowa Corn 350.
The best drivers in the race were: William Byron, Chase Briscoe, Brad Keselowski, Ryan Blaney, Austin Cindric, Carson Hocevar and Chase Elliott
You can watch the highlights from the last race at the Iowa Speedway here: 2025 Iowa Corn 350
EARLY WEEK DRIVER RANKINGS
The best way to handicap the Iowa Corn 350 is to simply look at the drivers who are the best on the short, flat tracks. The skills required to run a fast lap at the track in Iowa are different from the skills required at a large intermediate track like Indianapolis. Here are the drivers who have been the best on the short, flat tracks over the last two seasons….
I looked at the stats from the first two races at Iowa Speedway, the races at Phoenix and North Wilksboro this year and the driver’s stats at the recent races in Richmond. I gave a bump to the drivers who rated highly on all of the short, flat tracks combined.
Here is the early week Driver Rankings for the race at Iowa Speedway….
* These rankings will be updated after the qualifying session is completed Saturday.
STRATEGY FOR IOWA
FANTASY LIVE: There are only four races left in the regular season in the Fantasy Live game. One of the races is at Daytona. We really do not need to worry about Daytona, because we can find some drivers who we have plenty of allocations left for the Coke Zero Sugar 400. These next three races are going to be tough because they are all short, flat tracks and the same drivers run well in each of these tracks. I will use my best short, flat track drivers this week in Iowa and then make adjustments for Richmond and New Hampshire based on what we see this weekend. Ideally, you want three allocations left with Ryan Blaney, Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell, Joey Logano, William Byron, Ty Gibbs, Chase Elliott and Brad Keselowski.
SEAON LONG GAMES: The Driver Group Game, FanTrax and Speedway Collective games require a different strategy since we still have 14 races left on the schedule. We need to find some good drivers for the Iowa Corn 350, but we need to use our allocations wisely. Drivers like Denny Hamlin, Tyler Reddick, Kyle Larson and Bubba Wallace have been good on the intermediate tracks. It may be wise to save your allocations with these drivers for the larger tracks.
DFS GAME STRATEGY: The race Sunday is scheduled for 350 laps (300 miles). This is one of the shortest races on the schedule, so track position is very important. Last year William Byron started 2nd and led 141 laps and won the race. Chase Briscoe started 1st, led 81 laps and finished 2nd. Brad Keselowski started 5th, led 68 laps and finished 3rd. Ryan Blaney started 6th, led 29 laps and finished 4th. It may be a good idea to use the drivers who start up front as your dominators Sunday.
EARLY WEEK BEST BETS FOR IOWA
Each week I like to look at the odds when they are released to see if any of the drivers seem to be mispriced compared to the stats. I picked the drivers I like the most right now because their odds will not be as good as they are now if they unload with a lot of speed in practice and they qualified up front.
Here is my early week Best Bets for the Iowa Corn 350…
JOEY LOGANO (+950 FD): Logano just destroyed the field on the short, flat track in North Wilksboro. He will be a serious threat to win Sunday in Iowa if the No. 22 team brings half of the speed they had at North Wilksboro to Corn Country. Logano finished 9th and 6th in his two races at Iowa Speedway. He is a good bet at +950 this week.
CHASE BRISCOE (10-1 FD): Briscoe heated up during the summer last year and he is starting to heat up again this year. Briscoe finished 2nd at Sonoma, won the race in Chicago, finished 3rd at North Wilksboro (he started 30th) and Briscoe finished 4th in the last race at Indianapolis. Briscoe won the pole, led 81 laps and finished 2nd at Iowa last year. I will bet that he can improve by one spot Sunday.
TY GIBBS (14-1 FD): Gibbs ranks No. 1 in the Cup Series on the short tracks this year. He finished 4th at Phoenix, 4th at Martinsville, won the race at Bristol and 4th at North WIlksboro. He has not finished outside the top-four on a short track this year. Gibbs has also qualified in the top-five in his last three short track races. His pit crew ranks No. 1 in the Cup Series, so if he qualifies up front, he will have a great chance to win at one of the tracks where track position is very important.
BRAD KESELOWSKI (20-1 DK & FD): Iowa Speedway is the best track on the schedule for Keselowski. He led the most laps, won both Stages and finished 3rd in this race last year. Keselowski also finished 2nd at Phoenix this year and 7th at North Wilksboro last month. The No. 6 team has their short, flat track package dialed in. Keselowski is a good bet at 20-1 odds this week.
* I will add a driver or two the odds are updated Sunday morning.
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