PREVIEW: Iowa’s Cup debut and XFINITY return see oval drivers return to action
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
PHOTO: Kaulig Racing, @KauligRacing
Saturday, June 15, 2024 (3:30 P.M. ET, USA)
XFINITY Race 15 of 33
Hy Vee Perks 250 at Iowa
2019 Last-Place Finisher: J.J. Yeley
ENTRY LIST
There are 38 drivers entered for as many spots, meaning all will qualify.
DRIVER CHANGE: #4-JD Motorsports
DRIVER SWAP: #6-JD Motorsports
After back-to-back road course races, Dawson Cram returns to the XFINITY garage for the first time since his season-best 22nd-place showing in Charlotte. He takes the place of 27th-place Sonoma finisher Garrett Smithley, who slides over to Johnny Davis’ #6 in place of Thomas Annunziata, whose transmission issues cut short his NASCAR debut at 63 laps.
RETURNING: #10-Kaulig Racing
Daniel Dye pays tribute to Rusty Wallace, whose vision formed the basis of the Iowa Speedway itself, as he runs Rusty’s 1991-1995 paint scheme on his #10 Race To Stop Suicide Chevrolet. This will be Dye’s sixth series start and first since Dover, when he finished a season-best 20th.
DRIVER CHANGE: #14-SS-Green Light Racing
David Starr originally planned to run double-duty this weekend in Iowa, but those plans changed after Motorsports Business Management withdrew their Cup entry (see below). Instead, Starr will make his 5th start of the season and first since Darlington, where he ran 24th. Starr takes the place of Brad Perez, who claimed a 24th-place finish in Sonoma.
MISSING: #17-Hendrick Motorsports
Not among this week’s entrants is Hendrick’s XFINITY Series entry, which had a wild weekend with veteran “road ringer” Boris Said in Sonoma. Following a hard practice crash in Turn 1, Said qualified for the race in a JR Motorsports backup and, despite heavy damage, brought it home on the lead lap in 28th.
DRIVER CHANGE: #19-Joe Gibbs Racing
Taking the place of Ty Gibbs, whose multi-car pileup in Turn 3 left him a disappointing 35th in Sonoma, is a returning Brett Moffitt. With returning sponsorship from Destiny Homes, Moffitt has twice raced at his home track in XFINITY, finishing 9th in 2012 with RAB Racing, then 11th in 2017 for GMS Racing. He this time takes the wheel of the fast JGR “all-star” entry.
DRIVER CHANGE: #26-Sam Hunt Racing
Following a successful two weeks for road racer Ed Jones, who finished a career-best 5th at Portland, then took 15th in Sonoma, Truck Series standout Corey Heim will carry Yahoo! as a sponsor on the flagship Sam Hunt entry. This will be only the 11th series start for Heim, who has already amassed nine wins in the Truck Series. He finished 35th after engine trouble in his most recent series start at Dover.
MISSING: #32-Jordan Anderson Racing / Peterson Racing
Also not making the trip this week is the third Jordan Anderson Racing entry, the joint effort with Peterson Racing’s TA2 effort. Austin Green himself enjoyed a career high in the back-to-back road course races, taking 15th in Portland, then in a side-by-side battle with Sam Mayer took a career-best 4th in Sonoma. Moving forward, Green plans to make both road course and oval starts later this season in a bid for a full-time ride while Anderson himself is also expected to return in the #32.
DRIVER CHANGE: #35-Joey Gase Motorsports
RETURNING: #53-Joey Gase Motorsports
Another native Iowa driver has much to race for this week as Joey Gase, locked-in thanks to the small entry list, will end a brutal stretch of three consecutive DNQs, each with a different driver. Gase is perhaps the most experienced driver at the Iowa track in the field, credited with 17 starts there with a best finish of 17th in 2018. He also enters his second team, the #53, for the first time since Martinsville, where Gase himself drove it to a 28th-place finish. This week, the #53 was listed without a driver on the preliminary entry list. UPDATE: Last-minute entry Glen Reen, a veteran from the NASCAR Modifieds, will make his NASCAR national series debut in the #53.
MISSING: #50-Pardus Racing
As of this writing, Preston Pardus and team are rebuilding their #50 entry which suffered brake issues, then was damaged during the action last week in Sonoma, taking 25th. The team expects to return next month on the Chicago Street Course, where Pardus qualified 13th and finished 12th when the race was called.
DRIVER CHANGE: #92-DGM Racing
The lone Cup regular in Saturday’s race is Ross Chastain. Chastain takes over for Josh Bilicki, who recovered from a freak truck arm failure in practice to drive his rebuilt #92 to a 16th-place finish. Rich Mar Florist, which backed Sage Karam on the Gase team last week, moves over to sponsor Chastain this week.
DRIVER CHANGE: #07-SS-Green Light Racing
Patrick Emerling returns for his 11th start of the season and first since Charlotte, where he took home 30th. He carries new sponsorship from Hoker Trucking, LLC as he takes the wheel for Alex Labbe, who took home 19th in Sonoma.
CUP INVADERS: #92-Ross Chastain
Sunday, June 16, 2024 (7:00 P.M. ET, USA)
CUP Race 17 of 36
Iowa Corn 350 powered by Ethanol at Iowa
2023 Last-Place Finisher: Inaugural Event
ENTRY LIST
There are 36 drivers entered for 40 spots, meaning all will qualify. This will mark the 15th short field in 17 races this season and the third in a row.
MISSING: #33-Richard Childress Racing
MISSING: #60-RFK Racing (“Stage 60”)
Both teams driven by Australian racers Will Brown and Cam Waters are not entered this week. Brown ran an impressive 3rd-fastest in practice, but issues in qualifying and electrical gremlins in the race left him 31st. Waters struggled for speed, then found himself in the middle of a Turn 11 pileup before eventually dropping out with crash damage. So far, the “Stage 60” team has announced its next planned race with Joey Hand at the Chicago Street Course. Plans for the #33, which this year has been shared with XFINITY Series standout Austin Hill, are still to be announced.
WITHDREW: #66-Motorsports Business Management
Due to lack of sponsorship, David Starr’s entry in Sunday’s Cup race was withdrawn, though Starr will still run for Bobby Dotter in Saturday’s XFINITY Series race. The team plans to return in two weeks at Nashville for what should be the MBM team’s first start since the Coca-Cola 600.
Friday, June 28, 2024
TRUCKS Race 13 of 23
Rackley Roofing 200 at Nashville
2023 Last-Place Finisher: Lawless Alan
The Truck Series returns at the end of this month on the concrete banks of Nashville.
TODAY IN LASTCAR HISTORY (June 14, 1987): Rusty Wallace picked up the 2nd last-place finish of his NASCAR Winston Cup Series career in the Miller high Life 500 at Pocono when his #27 Kodiak Pontiac lost the engine after 14 laps. This was Wallace’s first of three last-place runs in the Raymond Beadle-owned #27.
