Good news, bad news for NASCAR Cup drivers ahead of weekend at Iowa Speedway
Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin and Ryan Blaney have combined to win 11 of the last 14 short track races. Larson and Hamlin have four wins each during that stretch and Blaney has three, including last year's race at Iowa.
Here is a look at the good news and bad news for Cup teams heading into Sunday's 3:30 p.m. ET race on USA Network.
23XI Racing — Good news: Bubba Wallace snapped his 100-race winless streak with his victory last weekend at Indianapolis. … Wallace's win was the first for 23XI Racing this season. … All four of Wallace's top-five finishes on short tracks in Cup have come in the last seven races. … Riley Herbst, who is making his first Cup start at Iowa, finished second in last year's Xfinity race there. Bad news: Tyler Reddick failed to finish last weekend at Indianapolis, the first time he's not finished a race this year. … Reddick has three top-10 finishes in the last 23 short track races.
Dustin Long,
Front Row Motorsports — Good news: Todd Gilliland placed sixth at Indianapolis last week, snapping an eight-race streak of finishes outside the top 20. … That finish was Gilliland's best since he scored a sixth-place result at Indy the year before. Bad news: Ryan Bergenty, crew chief for Zane Smith, noted on social media this week that in the final laps at Sonoma, Dover and Indianapolis — the last three races — Smith has lost a total of 51 positions (due to incidents on track). … Noah Gragson has finished 30th or worse in four consecutive races.
Haas Factory Team — Good news: Cole Custer's 20th-place finish last weekend at Indy is his best result in the last four races. Bad News: Custer has started 20th or worse in 10 of the last 12 races, including the last four.
Hendrick Motorsports — Good news: Hendrick Motorsports has had at least one car finish in the top 10 in the last 30 races. … Hendrick cars have led 39.5% of the 5,511 laps run this year. … The organization has the top three drivers in the points (Chase Elliott, William Byron and Kyle Larson). … Larson has finished in the top 10 in the last five short track races, tied for his longest streak on short tracks. … Larson's 14 top-10 finishes this season are the most in the series. … While Byron has only one win in his last 50 Cup races, he has six runner-up finishes and six third-place finishes, during that time — meaning he has placed in the top three in 26% of the last 50 races. … Alex Bowman has five top 10s in the last seven races. Bad news: Byron ran out of fuel on the last lap at Indy, the second time since Michigan in June he has run out of fuel before the checkered flag and cost him a top-five finish. … After leading at least a lap in 13 of the first 16 races this season, Byron has not led a lap in the last six races.
Hyak Motorsports — Good news: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. finished fifth at Iowa last season. Bad news: Stenhouse has one top-10 finish in the last 11 races.
Joe Gibbs Racing — Good news: Denny Hamlin posted the fastest lap last weekend at Indy, the sixth time in 22 races this season he's done that. … Hamlin scored the most points in the four races of July at 155. … Chase Briscoe scored 147 points in the four races of July to rank second in the series for the month. … Hamlin has finished in the top five in the last five short track races. … Briscoe ranks third in speed rating in the last nine races after ranking 19th in the first 13 races of the year. … Briscoe's 10 top-10 finishes this season tie for his most ever in a year. … Ty Gibbs won the $1 million In-Season Challenge last weekend at Indy. … Christopher Bell finished fourth at Iowa last year after starting in the rear in a backup car after a crash in practice. Bad news: Bell has finished 16th or worse in five of the last eight races.
Kaulig Racing — Good news: The organization has had a car finish in the top 20 in eight of the last 10 races. Bad news: Ty Dillon's 28th-place finish snapped his streak of four consecutive top-20 finishes. … Dillon has never finished better than 13th in 38 Cup short track races. … AJ Allmendinger has one top-20 finish in his last 11 short track starts.
Legacy Motor Club — Good news: John Hunter Nemechek will make his 100th career Cup start this weekend at Iowa. … Five drivers have won in their 100th career Cup start, the most recent is Nemechek's teammate, Erik Jones, who did it in the 2019 Southern 500. … Both Nemechek (eighth) and Jones (ninth) rank in the top 10 in laps completed this season at more than 97%. Bad news: After qualifying third at Indy, Jones saw his race end with a crash after the right front tire wasn't tightened on a pit stop. … Jones' 36th-place finish at Indy marked his fourth race in a row he's placed outside the top 25. … Nemechek has placed outside the top 20 in the last eight Cup short track races.
Richard Childress Racing — Good news: Kyle Busch was one of three drivers to take part in a Goodyear tire test at Iowa in June, joining Austin Cindric and Chase Briscoe. … Austin Dillon has three top 10s, including a win at Richmond, in the last five short track races. Bad news: While Kyle Busch has 16 Cup short track wins, his last victory at such a track came in 2019.
Rick Ware Racing — Good news: Cody Ware makes his first start in any series at Iowa this weekend. Bad news: Ware finished a season-worst 37th last weekend at Indianapolis. … Ware's seven DNFs ties Ryan Blaney for the most this season.
RFK Racing — Good news: Brad Keselowski has six top-10 finishes in the last 10 races after not scoring a top-10 result in the first 12 races of the season. … Ryan Preece is coming off a fourth-place finish last weekend at Indy. … Chris Buescher continues to lead the series this season in average starting position at 10.4. Bad news: Buescher, who is on the playoff cutline, has finished outside the top 10 in the last seven short track races.
Spire Motorsports — Good news: Carson Hocevar's 10th-place finish at Indy last weekend ended a streak of three consecutive finishes of 30th or worse. … Justin Haley's 11th-place finish was his best result since Homestead in March. … Haley's result at Indy gives him three consecutive top-20 finishes, the first time he's done that this season. Bad news: Michael McDowell has four finishes of 30th or worse in the last eight races.
Team Penske — Good news: Ryan Blaney led a race-high 201 laps in winning last year's race at Iowa. … Blaney seeks to become the first driver since 2001-02 to win the first two races at a track (Jeff Gordon won the first two races at Kansas and Kevin Harvick won the first two races at Chicagoland Speedway). … Blaney has five top-10 finishes, including two wins, in his last seven short track races. … Austin Cindric was one of three drivers to take part in a Goodyear tire test at Iowa, joining Chase Briscoe and Kyle Busch. … Cindric has led a career-high 291 laps this season. Bad news: Joey Logano has not finished better than ninth in the last eight races.
Trackhouse Racing — Good news: Ross Chastain has finished in the top 10 in each of the last five short track races. … Shane van Gisbergen qualified 11th at Indy, his best qualifying result on an oval in his Cup career. Bad news: Chastain has failed to finish three of the last five races, all due to accidents. … Daniel Suarez has finished 26th or worse in four of the last five races.
Wood Brothers Racing — Good news: Josh Berry ranks 11th in the series in laps led with a career-high 169. … Berry started third and finished seventh at Iowa last year. Bad news: Berry has only one top-10 result since his victory at Las Vegas in March.
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