NEWTON, IA – Ryan Blaney won the inaugural Iowa Corn 350 powered by Ethanol to score his 11th career NASCAR Cup Series victory and his first of the season. His margin of victory over second-place William Byron was 0.716 of a second.
The reigning series champion broke a 17-race winless streak by taking two tires on his No. 12 Ford on the final pit stop while most of the field took four, including runner-up finisher William Byron.
This was Ford’s 731st all-time NASCAR Cup Series victory and its third of the season.
There were eight caution periods for a total of 49 laps. Only 14 of the 36 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.
Chase Elliott leaves Iowa as the new championship leader with an eight-point advantage over second-place Kyle Larson.
Stage 1 Winner: Ryan Blaney of Team Penske (Ford)
Stage 2 Winner: Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stewart-Haas Racing Finish:
- Josh Berry (Started 3rd, Finished 7th / Running, completed 350 of 350 laps)
- Noah Gragson (Started 23rd, Finished 16th / Running, completed 349 of 350 laps)
- Ryan Preece (Started 29th, Finished 27th / Running, completed 348 of 350 laps)
- Chase Briscoe (Started 6th, Finished 28th / Running, completed 348 of 350 laps)
Stewart Haas Racing Points:
- Chase Briscoe (17th with 370 points, 221 out of first)
- Josh Berry (21st with 314 points, 277 out of first)
- Noah Gragson (24th with 287 points, 304 out of first)
- Ryan Preece (27th with 249 points, 342 out of first)
This was Berry’s third top-10 of the season.
Berry finished fifth in Stage 1 to earn six bonus points and second in Stage 2 to earn nine more bonus points. He led twice for 32 laps.
“I thought we had a really good race and a really good car,” said Josh Berry, driver of the No. 4 Overstock.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse. “To score stage points like we did, we had some great restarts in there and just that last restart didn’t really go our way. We lost a little bit of track position and just could never get it back, but, all in all, I’m just really proud of everybody on the 4 team. They did a great job. That was a lot of fun, for sure. We’re going to keep digging to keep getting better. (On whether there was front-end damage after contact just prior to the last restart.) I don’t know. It’s hard to say what that did. Obviously, it probably hurt it a little bit, but I think losing that much track position on the restart was more than anything. All in all, it was still a good day and I’m proud of our guys. We’ll keep digging.”
Berry was the highest-finishing rookie.
“Just a long, hot day. Struggled. Fine-tuned on the car, just kind of loose in, tight center all race, never really got it to where we needed to,” Noah Gragson, driver of the No. 10 Bass Pro Shops/Winchester Ford Mustang Dark Horse. “Got turned by the 42 (John Hunter Nemechek), just really eventful stuff. Rebounded, saved fuel at the end for 16th.”
“Yeah, it was a tough day overall,” said Ryan Preece, driver of the No. 41 Morton Buildings Ford Mustang Dark Horse. “We just didn’t have what we needed there to finish it off. We fired off well but lost the balance and never found our way back from where we started. I’m proud of the team and how hard they fought all day to try and give me the racecar car I needed. I have to thank Morton Buildings for being in the car this weekend. We’ll re-rack and go at it again at New Hampshire.”
“We were really good in the beginning, obviously,” Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 14 Mahindra USA 30 Years Ford Mustang Dark Horse. “The first pit stop lost like ten spots, and it was just downhill from there. Everything that could go wrong kind of went wrong. The pit stops again later in the race and keeps losing spots. The caution comes out at the worst time and traps us. Then we were going to be able to wave around, and the 47 (Ricky Stenhouse Jr.) stayed out, and we were one car behind him. Just kind of anything that could go wrong went wrong. We definitely should’ve run better than 28th, for sure.”
Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the USA Today 301 on Sunday, June 23, at New
