The NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series, and ARCA Menards Series will travel to Newton, Iowa, this weekend for races at the Iowa Speedway. Called “The Fastest Short Track on the Planet,” the 7/8-mile tri-oval track will kick things off with the ARCA Menards Series Atlas Roofing 150 at 6 p.m. on Friday. At 3:30 p.m. Saturday, the NASCAR Xfinity Series takes center stage with the Hy-Vee Perks 250. The weekend closes out with the NASCAR Cup Series Iowa Corn 350 at 2:30 p.m. Check out previews and predictions for all three races below.
It is crowded at the top of the ARCA Menards Series point standings at the moment. Brenden Queen leads Lawless Alan by just 26 points and Lavar Scott by only 37 points. Last week in Indianapolis, Queen took his third pole in his last four races, but it was Brent Crews (14th in points) who took the race. Alan finished second, and Queen took third. Queen has now finished second, fourth, first, and third in his last four races and will most likely enter Friday heavily favored. Don’t count out Scott, who finished ninth at Iowa last year.
Justin Allgaier has a narrow points lead in the NASCAR Xfinity Series standings, sitting just 21 points ahead of Connor Zilisch and 48 points ahead of Sam Mayer. Allgaier is coming off a terrible 36th-place finish at Indianapolis last week. Conversely, Zilisch is on fire, having won his last three races. Zilisch won the ARCA race at Iowa last year, as well. Mayer, though, won the Xfinity race in Iowa last year. He finished second to Zilisch last week in a thrilling finish that saw both cars pass leader Taylor Gray on the second-to-last lap. Allgaier will have to shake off last week’s disaster if he wants to leave Newton still atop the standings.
After a pre-race concert by country artist Corey Kent, the NASCAR Cup Series will wrap up the weekend. Chase Elliott tops a tight leaderboard that has three drivers–William Byron, Kyle Larson, and Denny Hamlin–within 20 points of first. Bubba Wallace (12th in points) won the Brickyard 400 last week, surprising many. Larson was second, and Hamlin took third. Hamlin won two weeks ago in Dover, and Larson was fourth. Both hope that the last two weeks’ momentum carries over to Iowa because neither fared well there last year. Hamlin finished 24th, and Larson was 34th.
Ryan Blaney, currently 7th in points, won at Iowa last year, with Byron and Elliott finishing 2nd and third, respectively. Expect all of them to be a factor on Sunday. One more racer to watch is 22-year-old Ty Gibbs (16th in points), Joe Gibbs’ grandson. Ty won back-to-back ARCA races there in Iowa in 2020 and 2021, leading all but one lap in the latter race. He finished fifth two weekends ago in Dover.
Crews, Alan, and Scott will all do well in the ARCA race, but I am going with Queen to win. He has been on fire, and I don’t see anyone stopping him this week. Look for Isabella Robusto to get her third straight Top Five finish on Friday.
While it seems crazy for Zilisch to win four in a row, I will not be the one to pick against him in the Xfinity race, especially since he has history at Iowa. Look for Allgaier to rebound from last week’s debacle and join Mayer in the Top Five. Also, keep an eye on 18-year-old William Sawalich in this race. He finished second in the Atlas Roofing 150 last year. The youngster has had an up-and-down year after moving up from ARCA, but he has found himself of late. Sawalich has started and finished in the Top Ten three weeks in a row and is now steadily climbing in the standings.
The Cup Series race is a tough one to pick. The standings are so clustered at the top, and so many drivers have had up-and-down years this year. Despite Larson’s terrible finish at Iowa last year, I think he edges out Hamlin in a nail-biter for his fourth win of the season. Elliott should finish in the Top Five. Expect Gibbs, Blaney, Joey Logano, and Christopher Bell to post Top Ten finishes. Early forecasts for the weekend look good, with partly cloudy skies and temperatures in the upper 70s and low 80s. This should be a fun one to watch.
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