NASCAR: Winners, Losers from Iowa Corn 350, from William Byron and Brad Keselowski to Kyle Larson
Let's dive into Sunday's winners and losers from the NASACR Cup Series race at Iowa Speedway, starting with race winner William Byron.
Winner: William Byron
For the first time since the Daytona 500, William Byron has a win. He had been on the brink of reaching victory lane multiple times in recent months, only to run out of fuel. The No. 24 team rolled the dice on Sunday, and thanks to a myriad of cautions in the final stage, the strategy worked. Byron's fuel-saving driving did just enough for him to cross the finish line first, snapping his winless streak just as the No. 24 car ran out of gas. If momentum is real, another win could be coming very soon.
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Loser: Chris Buescher
It was simply a poor showing for Chris Buescher and the No. 17 team on Sunday. Clinging to the final playoff spot on points, with a fairly sizable lead over Ryan Preece, Buescher finished 22nd. Meanwhile, even after a pit-stop issue, Preece worked his way back up the field and placed fifth. Buescher's lead was cut in half and he's now only up by 23 points and in very real danger of missing the playoffs entirely.
Winner: Brad Keselowski
Brad Keselowski came to Iowa in must-win territory to make the playoffs. Immediately, he showcased that he had one of the two fastest cars on Sunday. Keselowski rode that to his first stage win of the season and then the No. 6 team's strategy worked out to earn them a Stage 2 win. Keep in mind, Keselowski did all of this with his pit crew costing him four spots on the first two pit stops. Fortunately, the final pit-stop call worked out nicely, thanks to multiple cautions and he earned a top-3 finish. Unfortunately, he's still in a must-win spot with three races to go.
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Loser: Tyler Reddick
Tyler Reddick's day started rough, as he immediately reported to the team that the No. 45 car was having issues. Fortunately, Reddick caught a break midway through Stage 2, with a Shane van Gisbergen caution playing into the No. 45 car's strategy. Unfortunately, misfortune struck again. On Lap 253, Chase Briscoe got a bit loose coming out of the turn and tagged Reddick, spinning him around and dropping him to 30th. Reddick's point total still gives him a very high likelihood of making the playoffs, but he's not well-positioned for a deep run this year.
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Winner: Chase Briscoe
After earning his sixth pole position of the season, Chase Briscoe turned that into another strong performance. While he didn't snag any stage points, his speed, fuel saving, and final-stage strategy all worked out for him. Briscoe held off Keselowski, earning his third second-place finish in the last four races.
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Loser: Denny Hamlin
With the cars ping-ponging off one another, Hamlin got caught up in a four-wide situation. The No. 11 car then got loose in the corner and had no way to save it, so all he could do was navigate the car to avoid also taking out Allmendinger. It was a rough result for Hamlin, especially since he didn't earn any stage points either. Hamlin's chances of winning the regular-season title took a pretty big hit in Iowa following his 24th-place finish.
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Winner: Austin Cindric
While Austin Cindric entered the Iowa Corn 350 with a playoff spot already locked up, he needed some positive momentum. He had a 25.2 average finishing position in the last five races and never scored more than 22 points in any of those races. In the first two stages alone, he racked up 17 points and stayed inside the top five. It was just a great rebound performance for Cindric and Team Penske. At the end of it all, Cindric finished 10th and snagged the fourth-most points (42) at Iowa.
Loser: Kyle Larson
Kyle Larson was none too pleased with the way some of his peers, including teammates, were driving him on Sunday. It might be fair to say fellow drivers have felt that same way when driving alongside Larson. The No. 5 car performed well in the stages, but his car got banged around on the final stage and it wasn't the same after that. Larson finished the day 28th, quite the step back after consecutive top-five finishes seemed to suggest he was out of his summer funk.
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