This article is part of our NASCAR Barometers series.
The NASCAR Cup Series celebrated its series debut at Iowa Speedway on Sunday night. The new, partially repaved track provided a new challenge for the teams and produced good side-by-side racing despite the higher speeds generated by the new pavement. However, up front was Ryan Blaney. The Team Penske driver seemed to have the measure of the competition from the start of the weekend’s track activity. He qualified on the front row and never wavered from the lead throughout the 350 laps of the race. He led 201 of those laps in total and captured the regular season victory that had eluded him until that point.
Blaney’s victory leaves six playoff spots open for another first-time winner this season. Bubba Wallace is still in 16th and last place with a gap of just six points with Joey Logano in 17th place. There are only nine races left for drivers to win their way into the championship battle and several big names remain in that category. The stress continues to mount as the series returns east to New Hampshire this week.
IMPROVEMENT
Ryan Blaney – Blaney was primed for a strong race at Iowa after qualifying on the front row, and he made good on that promise just weeks after victory slipped through his fingers at Gateway. He battled for the lead in the opening laps on Sunday afternoon and took the win on the first stage. He finished fourth in the second stage and then used a two-tire stop to get back into the lead over the final 88 laps and win by nearly a second. It was his first win since Martinsville last season, and this particular victory means he has now won in all three of NASCAR’s top series at Iowa’s short oval. With a playoff berth assured, he and the team can focus on generating momentum to defend the title over the next nine races. First is New Hampshire, where Blaney has four top-10 finishes in 11 attempts and finished 22nd last season.
Christopher Bell – Bell was an early favorite at Iowa after participating in pre-race tire testing last week. However, a tire failure in practice and being forced to switch to a backup car and start from the back of the field made that status moot. Despite the problems at the beginning of the weekend, Bell came out well with a steady advance through the order. The team’s methodical and consistent approach to the race paid off as Bell cracked the top 10 in the second stage and ultimately finished fourth when all was said and done. It was his fifth top 5 and his 10th top 10 of the season. Because of his win at Phoenix, Bell remains one of the drivers to watch in the playoffs, and efforts like Sunday’s show the No. 20’s championship caliber overall. They should be competitive again this week in New Hampshire, where Bell won in 2022 and started on the pole last season.
Chase Elliott – Elliott’s positive momentum continued over the weekend at Iowa. The former champion posted his second consecutive top-five and third top-10 in the last four races with his third-place finish on Sunday. He started the afternoon inside the top 10 and remained at the front of the field throughout the entire distance of Sunday’s race. The effort earned him stage points in both segments and added another first place finish to his season’s list of accomplishments. Elliott sits atop the points total with an eight-point lead over teammate Larson. Although the number 9 team is having a good streak of results, victories are still their goal. Elliott has only one so far this season and is waiting for his chance to get another one. At New Hampshire, he has three top 10s in 10 starts. He was runner-up there in 2022 and finished 12th last season.
jose berry – Berry’s seventh-place finish on Sunday was his second top 10 in the last four races. He needs to get results that will attract the attention of those in the garage after Stewart-Haas Racing announced it would cease operations after the current season. That effectively means Berry has the rest of the season to showcase his skills and earn a place on the grid in 2025 with a different team. This weekend’s race in Iowa should help that cause. Berry was fast in qualifying and started third. He then racked up stage points in both segments before consolidating the top 10. Berry sits 21st in points and is 100 points clear of the playoff spots, which effectively means he needs a win to be part of the picture. of the playoffs. However, consistently finishing in the top 10 like Sunday’s will go a long way toward helping him extend his time in the series.
LOWERmy
kyle busch – Busch recorded his fifth consecutive finish outside the top 10 on Sunday at Iowa when a mechanical issue occurred that took him out of the race with a series of issues. It was the second consecutive race in which the former champion was in position to finish in the top 10, but fell short due to problems and, as a result, fell out of the playoff positions in the standings. Busch and the team have work to do to improve their season, and they can’t afford to win one race to have playoff security. With nine races remaining in the regular season, change should come sooner rather than later. Next week’s stop in New Hampshire could also be a good barometer of his progress. Busch has won three times at the track, but has crashed in three of the last four.
Kyle Larson – Larson had one of the fastest cars but couldn’t get the result Sunday in Iowa. The Hendrick Motorsports driver qualified on the pole and spent a good number of laps in the lead in the first few miles. He finished second in the first stage and continued his quest for another victory by taking the checkered flag in the second segment. Shortly after the start of the final stage, Larson was in the middle and contact between him and two other cars prematurely ended his night. The team attempted to return the car to the track, but the lost time meant their night was effectively over and it was their second finish outside the top 30 in the last four races. Larson has never won at New Hampshire, but has posted seven top-10 finishes in 13 series starts at the track. He finished third in last year’s race with six laps led after starting 15th.
Danny Hamlin – Hamlin was one of the cars that suffered as a result of the incident with Kyle Larson. The number 11 was on the outside and pressed hard against the wall when Larson and Daniel Suárez made contact with him. The damage to the No. 11 was not enough to end his day, but he lost two laps to the leaders and finished 24th with the damaged machine. It was an especially disappointing weekend for the No. 11 team considering how strong they have been on short tracks this season. Iowa, with its similarity to Richmond, should have been a place where Hamlin expected a breakout result. Instead, the race ended with their second consecutive finish outside the top 20. However, with their playoff spot booked, the next nine races are just one to build momentum for the knockout rounds.
Joey Logano – Last week’s trip to Iowa was another good trip for Logano. His sixth-place finish there was his second top-10 finish in the last three races and kept him within striking distance of the playoff spots. After his teammate Blaney reached Victory Lane, Logano is the only Team Penske driver yet to win this season. There is a six-point margin separating him from Bubba Wallace in the last of the 16 playoff positions with nine races remaining in the regular season. However, a strong start to Iowa plus a return to New Hampshire could help him close that gap. Logano has won twice at the northeast oval and was runner-up last year. He also finished in the top five in three of the last four races there and in the top 10 in six of the last seven. Logano will work hard to ensure this is the last week he falls out of the playoff spots.
Martin Truex Jr. – Iowa race weekend seemed to have been another missed opportunity for Truex. He began the race weekend with the announcement that the current season would be his last as a full-time driver in the series. Despite ending his great career, Truex was still expected to be a top-10 contender in Sunday’s race. However, a 31st place qualifying effort made that a challenge. A speeding penalty when entering the pits in the second stage made it even more difficult. However, the veteran soldiered on and earned a 15th place finish on an otherwise frustrating day. Truex remains in a good position in points, but with nine races left before the playoffs begin, a victory would be very good for him. He won the New Hampshire race last year and led more than 100 laps in the last two races at the track.
BIGGEST SURPRISEmy
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – Stenhouse’s fifth-place finish Sunday at Iowa was his second top-five finish of the season and his first top-10 finish not at a superspeedway this season. The weekend initially looked like it would be more of the same struggle for the No. 47 as they qualified 35th, but Stenhouse moved through the field to be inside the top 15 by the end of the second leg. As the track gained more grip, Stenhouse moved his car toward the track, allowing him to move the most at the end, moving up 30 positions to finish fifth. Iowa is a track he knows well from the beginning of his career and he took advantage of that knowledge to achieve one of his best results of the season. Looking ahead, Stenhouse has two previous top-10 finishes at New Hampshire and finished 18th last season with a three-lap lead.
Keynote USA
For the Latest Sports News, Follow Keynote USA Sports on Twitter.