Located in Newton, Iowa just outside Des Moines, sits the .875-mile short track known as Iowa Speedway. The track will play host to the NASCAR Cup Series for the first time in its existence with this weekend’s Iowa Corn 350 Powered by Ethanol on Sunday, June 16 at 7 p.m. ET on the USA Network, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Iowa Speedway will become the 176th different track to host a NASCAR Cup Series points-paying race since the inception of the series in 1949.
Iowa Speedway was built between 2005-2006, by then owner Paul Schlaak of the U.S. Motorsports Entertainment Corporation. International Speedway Corporation purchased the property in 2013, and it is now owned by NASCAR.
The first race held at Iowa Speedway was an ARCA Menards Series event on October 15, 2006, and the race was won by Steven Wallace driving a Dodge for Rusty Wallace Inc., a team owned by his father NASCAR Hall of Famer Rusty Wallace.
The speedway is measured at 0.875 mile (1.4 km), with 10 degrees of banking in the frontstretch, four degrees in the backstretch, and a progressive banking system utilized from 12 to 14 degrees in the turns.
All the on-track NASCAR Cup Series action at Iowa Speedway will begin with a 50-minute practice at 5:35 p.m. ET on Friday June 14, and followed by Busch Light Pole Qualifying at 1:05 p.m. ET on Saturday, June 15. Both events will be broadcast on USA Network, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Iowa Speedway winners
Although this weekend’s race at Iowa Speedway will be a first for the NASCAR Cup Series, there are some drivers entered in the Iowa Corn 350 Powered by Ethanol who have conquered the .875-mile track in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
| Brad Keselowski | 2009, 2013, 2014 |
| Kyle Busch | 2010 |
| Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 2011 sweep, 2012 |
| Chris Buescher | 2015 |
| Ryan Blaney | 2015 |
| Erik Jones | 2016 |
| William Byron | 2017 |
| Ryan Preece | 2017 |
| Christopher Bell | 2018, 2019 |
| Chase Briscoe | 2019 |
Race to the Playoffs: Four of last season’s Playoff drivers are outside the points cutoff
Through the first 16 races of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season, nine different winners have secured their spot in the Playoffs by virtue of their victory. At the other end of postseason outlook, 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace holds the 16th and final transfer spot into the Playoffs by a slim eight-point lead over Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch as the series heads to Iowa Speedway for the Iowa Corn 350 Powered by Ethanol this Sunday, June 16 (7:00 p.m. ET on USA, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
The nine drivers that have earned a spot in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs by virtue of wins this season are Denny Hamlin, William Byron, Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell, Chase Elliott, Tyler Reddick, Brad Keselowski, Daniel Suárez, and Austin Cindric. Seven spots are still up for grabs in the hunt for the championship.
The seven drivers currently occupying the remaining postseason spots on points are Martin Truex Jr. (+128 points ahead of the Playoff cutoff), Ty Gibbs (+86 points ahead of the cutoff), Ross Chastain (+73), Alex Bowman (+65), Ryan Blaney (+64), Chris Buescher (+32) and Bubba Wallace (+8).
2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Outlook – Drivers Without Wins This Season
| Rank | Driver | Points | Race Wins | Stage Wins | Playoff Pts | +/- Cutoff |
| 10 | Martin Truex Jr. | 508 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 128 |
| 11 | Ty Gibbs | 466 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 86 |
| 12 | Ross Chastain | 453 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 73 |
| 13 | Alex Bowman | 445 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 65 |
| 14 | Ryan Blaney | 444 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 64 |
| 15 | Chris Buescher | 412 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 32 |
| 16 | Bubba Wallace | 388 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 17 | Kyle Busch | 380 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -8 |
| 18 | Joey Logano | 372 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -16 |
| 19 | Chase Briscoe | 361 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -27 |
| 20 | Michael McDowell | 295 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -93 |
| 21 | Todd Gilliland | 289 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -99 |
| 22 | Carson Hocevar # | 279 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -109 |
| 23 | Josh Berry # | 269 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -119 |
| 24 | Noah Gragson | 266 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -122 |
| 25 | Erik Jones | 250 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -138 |
| 26 | Ryan Preece | 239 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -149 |
| 27 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 236 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -152 |
| 28 | John Hunter Nemechek | 236 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -152 |
| 29 | Daniel Hemric | 226 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -162 |
| 30 | Corey LaJoie | 222 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -166 |
| 31 | Austin Dillon | 211 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -177 |
| 32 | Justin Haley | 209 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -179 |
| 33 | Harrison Burton | 168 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -220 |
| 34 | Zane Smith # | 152 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -236 |
Currently four drivers that made the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs last season are below the cutline this year – Kyle Busch (17th, -8 points), Joey Logano (18th, -16 points), Michael McDowell (20th, -93 points), and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (27th, -152 points).
NASCAR PR
