The reigning NASCAR Cup Sequence champion Ryan Blaney made Iowa Speedway his “Discipline of Desires” for the day after he muscled by means of to a dominant win within the inaugural Iowa Corn 350 on Sunday, June 16.
The 30-year-old Blaney from Excessive Level, North Carolina, led 4 instances for a career-high 201 of 350-scheduled laps in an occasion the place he began on the entrance row alongside pole-sitter Kyle Larson and led for the primary time on the second lap following an early lap skirmish with Larson.
With combined methods and tire put on ensuing all through the occasion, Blaney, who spent nearly all of the occasion operating in direction of the entrance and gained the primary stage interval, cycled again into the lead following a two-tire pit cease name throughout a late warning interval with 92 laps remaining. As soon as he muscled away from the sphere in the course of the occasion’s ultimate restart interval with 84 laps remaining, he proceeded to weave his method by means of lapped visitors and fend off a late cost from William Byron and his 4 recent tires to triumph for the primary time within the 2024 Cup Sequence season and place each himself and his No. 12 Crew Penske Ford crew into Playoff competition.
With on-track qualifying that decided the beginning lineup occurring on Saturday, June 15, Kyle Larson notched his fourth Cup pole place of the 2024 season and the twentieth of his profession after posting a pole-winning lap at 136.458 mph in 23.084 seconds. Becoming a member of him on the entrance row was Ryan Blaney, who clocked within the second-fastest qualifying lap at 136.311 mph in 23.109 seconds.
Previous to the occasion, Christopher Bell and Austin Cindric dropped to the rear of the sphere in backup automobiles after each wrecked their main automobiles throughout Friday’s observe session.
When the inexperienced flag waved and the occasion commenced, the sphere fanned out by means of the frontstretch as Kyle Larson and Ryan Blaney dueled for the lead by means of the primary two turns and the backstretch. As they continued to duel for the lead by means of Turns 3 and 4, Larson managed to edge Blaney to guide the primary lap. Blaney, nonetheless, would assume the lead from Larson throughout the next lap amid contact with Larson by means of Turns 3 and 4 and proceeded to guide in the course of the subsequent two laps whereas the sphere behind continued to fan out and jostle for early spots.
On the third lap, the occasion’s first warning interval flew after rookie Carson Hocevar received into the rear of teammate/rookie Zane Smith, which received Smith unfastened and resulted in him entering into teammate Corey LaJoie as LaJoie and his No. 7 Gainbridge/Iowa Hawkeyes Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry spun into the surface wall by means of Turns 1 and a couple of. Through the occasion’s first warning interval, some drivers, together with LaJoie, Erik Jones, Michael McDowell and Kaz Grala pitted whereas the remaining, led by Blaney, remained on the monitor.
When the occasion restarted beneath inexperienced on the ninth lap, Larson managed to muscle forward of Blaney and reassume the lead. With Larson forward of the sphere with the lead by the Lap 10 mark, Chase Briscoe overtook Blaney for the runner-up spot as teammate Josh Berry and Tyler Reddick battled within the high 5 forward of Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, William Byron and Daniel Suarez.
By means of the primary 20 scheduled laps, Larson prolonged his benefit, main by greater than a second over Blaney, whereas Briscoe, Reddick and Kyle Busch trailed within the high 5. Behind, Josh Berry occupied sixth place forward of Joey Logano, Daniel Suarez, William Byron and Justin Haley whereas Chase Elliott, Ross Chastain, Brad Keselowski, Bubba Wallace and Harrison Burton have been racing within the high 15 forward of AJ Allmendinger, Ryan Preece, Ty Gibbs, Chris Buescher and Alex Bowman. In the meantime, Noah Gragson was mired in twenty first forward of Denny Hamlin, Austin Cindric, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Corey LaJoie whereas Todd Gilliland, Martin Truex Jr., Carson Hocevar, Zane Smith and Christopher Bell have been within the high 30 on the monitor.
Ten laps later, Larson stretched his benefit, main by greater than three seconds over Blaney whereas third-place Briscoe trailed by 9 seconds. As Reddick and Berry occupied the top-five spots on the monitor, Suarez, Byron, Busch, Haley and Logano trailed within the high 10 whereas Truex, Wallace and Hamlin drifted again to twenty fifth, twenty seventh and thirty third, respectively. As well as, Keselowski, who began within the high 5, was mired in 14th behind Ty Gibbs whereas Cindric and Bell, have been as much as twenty third and twenty fourth, respectively, after beginning on the rear of the sphere in backup automobiles,
One other 10 laps later, Larson stabilized his benefit to a few seconds over Blaney whereas Briscoe, Berry and Byron trailed within the high 5 by 10 seconds. By then, Hamlin, who was mired in thirty fourth place, was lapped by the leaders whereas Chris Buescher, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Truex, Michael McDowell, Cindric, Allmendinger, Wallace and Austin Dillon have been mired exterior the highest 20 on the monitor.
On the Lap 50 mark, Larson was mired in lapped visitors and had his benefit shrink to one-and-a-half seconds over runner-up Blaney whereas third-place Berry and fourth-place Byron trailed by 9 seconds. With Briscoe trailing by 10 seconds in fifth place, LaJoie, who was concerned in an early spin, was as much as Nineteenth place on 4 recent tires whereas Austin Dillon, John Hunter Nemechek and Stenhouse, all of whom have been operating inside the high 30, have been lapped by Larson.
A lap later, the occasion’s second warning interval flew when AJ Allmendinger, who was racing within the mid-pack area, ran his No. 16 Motion Industries Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry straight into the surface wall in between Turns 1 and a couple of after he blew a right-front tire. It marked his second wreck of the weekend at Iowa Speedway after he wrecked out of Saturday’s Xfinity Sequence occasion resulting from a blown right-front tire.
Through the occasion’s second warning interval, almost the entire lead lap subject led by Larson pitted for recent tires and gas whereas Daniel Suarez and Brad Keselowski remained on the monitor. Following the pit stops, Larson exited pit highway first and was adopted by Blaney, Byron, Berry, LaJoie, Elliott, Kyle Busch, Chastain, Wallace and Logano, respectively. Amid the pit stops, Justin Haley was penalized for tools interference.
The beginning of the subsequent restart interval on Lap 58 featured Larson navigating his well past each Suarez and Keselowski for almost a lap as he led the continuing lap. With Larson persevering with to guide by the Lap 60 mark, Blaney assumed the runner-up spot whereas Suarez was attempting to fend off Berry, Byron, LaJoie, Keselowski, Logano, Busch and a bevy of opponents for third place. Blaney would then assume the lead from Larson on Lap 61 whereas Suarez retained third place forward of Berry, Byron and LaJoie. Regardless of Ty Gibbs scraping the surface wall getting into the backstretch, the occasion remained beneath inexperienced flag situations.
When the primary stage interval concluded on Lap 70, Blaney, who was battling a possible cool swimsuit problem amid the nice and cozy temperatures, fended off a late problem from Larson to seize his second Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Suarez settled in third place whereas Byron, Berry, Logano, LaJoie, Keselowski, Elliott and Busch have been scored within the high 10.
Beneath the stage break, a majority of the sphere led by Suarez and together with Keselowski and LaJoie, pitted whereas the remaining led by Blaney remained on the monitor. Amid the pit stops, Daniel Hemric was penalized for rushing on pit highway.
The second stage interval began on Lap 77 as Blaney and Larson occupied the entrance row. At first, the sphere fanned out as Larson rocketed forward of Blaney to reassume the lead. With Larson main, teammates Byron and Elliott battled for third place together with Logano whereas Busch was in sixth place forward of Bowman, Chastain, Briscoe and McDowell. In the meantime, Bell was as much as eleventh place whereas Berry was again in twelfth.
Then on Lap 80, the warning returned after John Hunter Nemechek and Noah Gragson, each of whom have been combating exterior the highest 20 on the monitor, made contact getting into Flip 4. Nemechek despatched Gragson spinning sideways however Gragson managed to rapidly straighten his No. 10 Bass Professional Retailers Winchester Ford Mustang Darkish Horse entry with out hitting the wall and proceed. Through the warning interval, Larson, who radioed tire issues, surrendered the result in pit for recent tires for his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry as Blaney returned atop the leaderboard.
With the occasion restarting beneath inexperienced on Lap 86, Blaney and Byron dueled for the lead by means of the primary two turns till Blaney managed to clear Byron and muscle forward by means of the backstretch. As Elliott received sideways getting into the backstretch, Logano charged to the runner-up spot and started to intimidate teammate Blaney for the lead whereas Byron, Busch, Chastain and Bowman trailed within the high six. With a mess of opponents jostling for spots inside the mid-pack area, Blaney retained the lead by two-tenths of a second over teammate Logano simply previous the Lap 90 mark whereas Byron and Busch tried to shut in.
On the Lap 100 mark, Blaney was main by a tenth of a second over teammate Logano adopted by Byron, Berry and Elliott as Busch, Chastain, McDowell, Bowman and Suarez occupied the highest 10. Behind, Briscoe was in eleventh forward of a hard-charging Larson whereas Wallace, Reddick and Ty Gibbs have been battling within the high 15 forward of Bell, LaJoie, Keselowski, Cindric and Hocevar. In the meantime, Gragson was trapped in twenty third place behind Preece and Austin Dillon whereas Truex, Stenhouse, Haley, Gilliland, Nemechek, Hamlin and Buescher have been mired within the high 30.
Fifteen laps later, Blaney stretched his benefit to guide by a second over teammate Logano whereas Byron, Elliott and Berry trailed by inside two seconds within the high 5. By then, Larson, who was aggressively weaving and carving his method by means of the sphere, had returned to the top-10 mark as he was operating in eighth place forward of teammate Bowman and Suarez whereas Busch and Chastain occupied sixth and seventh, respectively. In the meantime, Bell, Wallace, Briscoe, Gibbs and Keselowski trailed within the high 15 whereas McDowell, who was operating within the high 10, was pinned two laps down in thirty fifth place after he pitted his No. 34 Love’s Journey Stops Ford Mustang Darkish Horse to interchange a flat right-front tire.
One other 10 laps later, Blaney stabilized his benefit to greater than a second over teammate Logano simply earlier than Byron overtook Logano for the runner-up spot, with Elliott and Chastain trailing by inside three seconds within the high 5 on the monitor. Blaney led by one-and-a-half seconds over Byron simply previous the Lap 130 mark and by a second on the Lap 140 mark. By then, Busch, who was operating within the high 10, had pitted his No. 8 zone/Kwik Journey Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry beneath inexperienced on Lap 135.
By Lap 150, Blaney continued to guide by greater than a second over Elliott as Byron, Logano and Larson adopted swimsuit within the high 5. By then, Hamlin was mired a lap down for a second time in twenty seventh place whereas Bell was as much as sixth place as he had Berry, Chastain, Bowman and Wallace following swimsuit.
Ten laps later, LaJoie and Austin Dillon made contact whereas battling inside the top-20 mark that despatched Dillon up the monitor in direction of Turns 3 and 4 however he saved his No. 3 Get Bioethanol Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry operating straight as he then bumped into the rear of LaJoie to precise his displeasure over the contact. Amid the contact, Blaney retained the lead by seven-tenths of a second over Elliott whereas Byron, Larson and Bell trailed within the high 5 by almost 5 seconds.
Then as Byron pitted his No. 24 Liberty College Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry beneath inexperienced from third place on Lap 165, hassle struck for Chastain as he went up the monitor by means of Turns 1 and a couple of with a flat right-front tire to his No. 1 Busch Gentle For the Farmers Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry. Chastain, although, managed to limp his automobile to his pit stall with out drawing a warning as LaJoie, Briscoe, Truex and Berry additionally pitted in the course of the continuing laps. Not lengthy after, Truex was penalized for rushing on pit highway.
By Lap 172 and with extra inexperienced flag pit stops ensuing amid tire put on issues inside the subject, Blaney surrendered the result in pit his No. 12 Advance Auto Components Ford Mustang Darkish Horse entry beneath inexperienced. Elliott, who led the continuing lap, pitted his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry throughout the next lap together with teammate Bowman, Gibbs, Grala and Austin Dillon earlier than Larson pitted as Erik Jones limped his No. 43 Household Greenback Toyota Camry XSE entry to pit highway with a flat tire.
Because the occasion surpassed its midway mark on Lap 175, extra names together with Logano, Gragson, Nemechek and Reddick would pit whereas Bell, who final pitted on Lap 54, cycled into the lead. Bell would then pit his No. 20 Rheem Toyota Camry XSE entry on Lap 180 earlier than Suarez and Haley pitted in the course of the subsequent scheduled lap. This moved Keselowski into the lead.
Then on Lap 181, the warning flew after Hemric made contact with the surface wall in Flip 2. Through the warning interval, choose names led by Keselowski and together with Wallace, Hocevar, Gilliland, Buescher, Hamlin, Suarez, Haley and Hemric pitted whereas the remaining led by Stenhouse, who pinned many opponents a lap down by remaining on the monitor in the course of the earlier inexperienced flag run, remained on the monitor.
Because the occasion restarted beneath inexperienced on Lap 188, Stenhouse and Byron battled for the lead for almost a lap till they almost wrecked getting into Flip 4, which allowed Larson to zip by each and return to the lead. With Larson main, Berry moved his No. 4 Overstock.com Ford Mustang Darkish Horse entry as much as second place adopted by Wallace and Elliott whereas Stenhouse was attempting to fend off fifth place from a mess of opponents. Larson would proceed to guide simply previous the Lap 190 mark whereas he was being intimidated by Berry.
By Lap 200, Larson prolonged his benefit to one-and-a-half seconds over Berry, who had Elliott pressuring him for the runner-up spot, whereas Blaney and Wallace occupied the highest 5. In the meantime, Hamlin, who was lapped twice, was as much as sixth place adopted by Buescher, Gilliland, Keselowski and Stenhouse whereas Byron was again in twelfth place behind Haley. As well as, Busch was in 14th whereas battling Hocevar, Bell was in seventeenth behind Suarez and Bell, Logano was in 18th whereas attempting to overhaul Bell and Chastain, the primary competitor a lap down, was mired in Nineteenth. As well as, Reddick was in twenty fourth and Briscoe was mired in twenty ninth in entrance of Truex.
When the second stage interval concluded on Lap 210, Larson captured his eighth Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Berry fended off Elliott to retain second place forward of Blaney and Wallace whereas Hamlin, Buescher, Gilliland, Keselowski and Haley have been scored within the high 10. By then, 18 of 36 starters have been scored a lap down whereas Nineteenth-place Chastain was the recipient of the free go for being the primary competitor scored a lap down in the course of the warning interval.
Through the stage break, almost the complete subject led by Larson pitted whereas Buescher and Gilliland remained on the monitor. Following the pit stops, Keselowski exited pit highway first after he solely opted for a two-tire pit cease whereas Larson, Berry, Elliott, Suarez, Wallace, Hamlin, Blaney, Byron and Haley adopted swimsuit.
With 132 laps remaining, the ultimate stage commenced as teammates Buescher and Keselowski occupied the entrance row. At first and with the sphere fanning out, Buescher maintained the lead forward of Gilliland and Berry whereas Keselowski slipped to fourth. Then getting into the frontstretch, the warning rapidly returned after Larson, who was pinned in the midst of a three-wide battle with Keselowski and Suarez, received sideways after Suarez hit Larson, which resulted in Larson getting unfastened and coming throughout the trail of Hamlin’s No. 11 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry XSE.
Each wrecked towards the surface wall, with Larson spinning throughout the frontstretch whereas the remainder of the sphere scattered to keep away from hitting Larson. The incident would price Larson a number of laps as his pit crew went to work to restore the harm in his pit stall. With Larson then being assessed a further two-lap penalty for having too many crew members over the pit wall, he would take his No. 5 Chevrolet to the storage for repairs however was granted permission to return to the monitor following his repairs resulting from assembly the minimal velocity beneath the Broken Car Coverage.
With the subsequent restart interval occurring with 123 laps remaining, Buescher and Berry dueled for the lead for a full lap as Berry, who was racing up the surface lane, led the continuing lap earlier than Buescher, who had Berry slide in entrance of him in the course of the earlier lap, slid in entrance of Berry in retaliation to reassume the lead in the course of the subsequent lap. Berry, nonetheless, saved intimidating Buescher for the lead whereas Busch, Gilliland, Keselowski and Byron trailed intently within the high six with 120 laps remaining. Berry would then muscle away from Buescher in the course of the continuing 5 laps whereas Byron carved his method as much as third place as he was being trailed by Keselowski, Elliott, Blaney, Gilliland, Busch, Suarez and others.
All the way down to the ultimate 100 laps of the occasion, Berry was main by two seconds over a side-by-side battle between Blaney and Byron whereas Elliott and Buescher trailed within the high 5 forward of Keselowski, Suarez, Logano, Haley and Busch. In the meantime, Bowman occupied eleventh place forward of Chastain, Gilliland, Stenhouse and Bell whereas Wallace, Hocevar and McDowell occupied the remaining 18 opponents scored on the lead lap as Hamlin, who was in Nineteenth, was lapped for a 3rd time.
9 laps later, the warning returned after Buescher, who was operating in fifth, scrubbed his No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang Darkish Horse towards the surface wall by means of Turns 1 and a couple of after he misplaced a tire. Through the warning interval, the lead lap subject led by Berry returned to pit highway for service. Following the pit stops, Blaney exited pit highway first after he opted for a two-tire pit cease together with teammate Logano and Stenhouse whereas Berry, the primary competitor who opted for 4 recent tires, adopted swimsuit in fourth forward of Elliott, Byron, Suarez, Busch, Haley and Bowman.
The beginning of the subsequent restart interval with 84 laps remaining featured Blaney battling and having sufficient momentum to clear teammate Logano to guide the subsequent lap whereas Stenhouse, Byron and Berry adopted swimsuit within the high 5. As the sphere behind jostled for late positions, Busch, who was racing within the high 10, scrubbed the backstretch’s exterior wall and he would pit beneath inexperienced with 80 laps remaining, which dropped him out of the lead lap class. Shortly after, Busch’s possibilities of making the 2024 Cup Sequence Playoffs took one other hit after he took his automobile to the storage and retired resulting from one other mechanical problem to his No. 8 Chevrolet. Amid Busch’s points, Blaney retained the lead whereas Stenhouse and Byron overtook Logano to maneuver into second and third, respectively.
With 60 laps remaining, Blaney continued to guide by eight-tenths of a second over Byron whereas Elliott, Stenhouse and Logano trailed within the high 5. Blaney would stabilize his benefit to seven-tenths of a second over Byron with 50 laps remaining whereas Elliott, Stenhouse and Logano continued to race within the high 5.
With 35 laps remaining, Blaney retained the lead by nine-tenths of a second over Byron whereas third-place Elliott trailed by a second-and-a-half. As Stenhouse and Logano continued to race within the high 5, Bell trailed in sixth place by seven seconds whereas Berry, Suarez, Chastain and Bowman have been within the high 10, with Haley located in eleventh place forward of Keselowski, McDowell, Gilliland and Truex.
All the way down to the ultimate 20 laps of the occasion, Blaney, who almost had his regular benefit extinguished whereas mired in lapped visitors, most notably Ty Gibbs, prolonged his benefit again to nine-tenths of a second over Byron whereas Elliott, Byron’s teammate, trailed by a second as he began to shut in on Byron for the runner-up spot. Behind, Bell moved as much as fourth place forward of Stenhouse and Logano whereas McDowell, who was racing within the high 15, pitted beneath inexperienced just a few laps earlier to handle a flat tire for the second time inside the occasion. Gibbs and John Hunter Nemechek would additionally pit beneath inexperienced as Blaney maintained the lead by a second over Byron’s No. 24 Liberty College Chevrolet with 15 laps remaining.
Beneath the ultimate 10 laps of the occasion, Blaney, who was mired in additional lapped visitors regardless of continuing to lap Wallace and Gragson, maintained his lead by seven-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Byron as Elliott continued to path by a second in third place. Blaney, who would shut in and lap Truex, would then have his benefit shrink to six-tenths of a second as Byron continued to shut in on Blaney with 5 laps remaining.
When the white flag waved and the ultimate lap began, Blaney remained because the chief by seven-tenths of a second over Byron. With Byron unable to shut the deficit even narrower, Blaney was in a position to cycle his No. 12 Advance Auto Components Ford easily across the Iowa circuit for a ultimate time earlier than he returned to the frontstretch and claimed his first elusive checkered flag of the 2024 Cup Sequence season.
With the victory, Blaney, who almost gained at World Large Expertise Raceway till he ran out of gas whereas main on the ultimate lap two races in the past, notched his eleventh Cup Sequence profession win and his first since profitable at Martinsville Speedway in late October 2023. By changing into the tenth competitor general to file a victory by means of the primary 17 occasions of the 2024 Cup season, Blaney has assured himself a spot into the 2024 Playoffs as he’ll begin his pursuit to defend his sequence’ title.
As an added bonus, Blaney, who racked up the second victory of the season for Crew Penske and the third ever for the Ford Mustang Darkish Horse inventory automobile, is the primary competitor to attain a victory throughout NASCAR’s high three nationwide touring sequence. He claimed his first Craftsman Truck Sequence profession win at Iowa in September 2012 and would win an Xfinity occasion on the 7/8-mile brief monitor in August 2015.
