NASCAR
Reigning Cup Series Champion Ryan Blaney Wins Iowa Corn 350
NEWTON, Iowa – The NASCAR Cup Series’ first trip to Iowa Speedway gave us a new winner in 2024. Defending Cup champion Ryan Blaney erased a winless drought that dated back to October. Blaney was the class of the field for most of the night, leading over 200 laps. The Penske driver is the 10th man to lock up a Playoff berth, with the regular season winding down.
Although Kyle Larson looked dominant early from the pole, Stage 1 would go to Ryan Blaney. The No. 12 passed the 5 after a late restart and held off every charge for the Playoff point.
Larson would pit early in Stage 2 with a tire problem, forcing him to restart 33rd. Even with losing all of his track position, Larson was still fast enough to carve through the field and win Stage 2.
Larson’s race saw great adversity not long after this, getting wrecked early in Stage 3. While Larson was making a tight three-wide middle move, Daniel Suarez got loose and clipped the No. 5. Denny Hamlin also suffered damage in this crash.
The final Stage would largely be dominated by Blaney. Driver 12 led a career-high 201 laps, including the final circuits. The reigning Cup Series champion returns to victory lane for the first time this year in Iowa Speedway’s inaugural event.
“This one definitely meant a little more,” Blaney said after winning in front of nearly 100 friends and family members. “What a cool way to win here. This place means a lot to me, means a lot to my mom, and we had a lot of people here tonight cheering us on. They willed us to that one.”
“Overall I really appreciate the whole 12 boys. Our car was really fast all night, and got a little bit better through the night. Two tires was a good call there, I wasn’t sure though how well it’d hold on. I kind of started to struggle a little bit at the end, but had enough to hang on. Super proud of the effort. Appreciate Advance Auto Parts, Ford, Ford Performance, Menards, Discount Tire, Würth, Snap On, Dex Imaging, and Wabash for everything they do. This makes up a little bit for (Gateway) a couple weeks ago.”
“I’m looking forward to seeing (family). It’s always good to have family with you. I’ve been super lucky to have family that supports me through my career, and it’s great that they still support me just as much as day one. I also want to appreciate the sold out crowd here, you guys are awesome. Cool weekend, cool to win the first Cup race here and I hope we come back for many more years.”
“It’s cool to have won in a Truck here, an Xfinity car, and now a Cup car. Gosh I’m worn out, it was a long race, driving hard. I figured I deserved a burnout, so hopefully Dale Inman isn’t too mad at me.”
One of Blaney’s family members in attendance was his father Dave Blaney. Behind the 12 were two Hendrick cars of William Byron and Chase Elliott. Christopher Bell and Ricky Stenhouse Jr rounded out the top-five. Joey Logano, Josh Berry, Alex Bowman, Daniel Suarez, and Brad Keselowski were the top-10.
Blaney is the 10th different winner this season, with only nine races remaining until the Playoffs. Take a look at the current postseason standings below.
The NASCAR Cup Series returns to action at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The USA Today 301 goes green Sunday at 2:30 p.m. ET on USA Network, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo Credit to Johnathan Bachman/Getty Images
