Blaney wins Iowa, earns Playoff berth/ Larson holds P1 in rankings despite 34th place finish
16 June 2024
By Bob Francis, Managing Editor
Go Full Throttle Racing News
NEWTON, IOWA — Sunday’s inaugural Iowa Corn 350 at Iowa Speedway was exactly what the defending NASCAR Cup Champion Ryan Blaney needed to earn his ticket into the Playoffs. Blaney qualified P2 and held track position in the top 5 most of the day. It was the call by crew chief Jonathan Hassler‘s for a two-tire stop at the final caution that set Blaney up to led the final 88 laps and hold off Willaim Byron for the win.
The victory was Blaney‘s first of the season and the 11th of his career.
Streak Established:
Blaney now has won at Iowa Speedway in all three NASCAR national series, having triumphed in the Craftsman Truck Series in 2012 and the Xfinity Series in 2015.
Blaney led four times for 201 of 350 laps on a track that was repaved in the bottom two lanes in the corners.
“What a cool way to win here. This place means a lot to me and means a lot to my mom (Lisa, from Chariton, Iowa),” said Blaney, who was leading June 2 at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway outside St. Louis before running out of fuel on the white-flag lap.
“We had a lot of people here tonight cheering us on, so they willed us to that one. Overall, I really appreciate the whole (№12 team). I mean, our car was really fast all night and we got a little bit better through the night, and two tires was a good call there.
“I didn‘t know how well I was going to hold on. I started to struggle a little bit at the end but had enough to hang on. I‘m super proud of the effort.”
LARSON HOLDS LEAD GFT RANKINGS
Go Full Throttle NASCAR Box Scores after Iowa
After 17 Races …
Manufactures Box Score:
Chevrolet = 8
Toyota = 6
Ford = 3
Team Box Score:
Hendrick Motorsports = 7
Driver Box Score:
Kyle Larson, William Byron, and Denny Hamlin are tied with 3 wins each
PLAYOFF PICTURE
GFT AI NASCAR FANTASY LIVE RACE PREDICTION MODELS
The GFT AI prediction models continue tuning and machine learning updates for the 2nd half of the season. The “asset allocation” algorithm helped our prediction pick Blaney this week and we finished with 191 points and remain in the top 15% of all players (4,636).
UP NEXT:
NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
USA TODAY 301
SUNDAY, JUN. 23–2:30 PM ET