The FOX portion of the 2024 NASCAR season ended with a great road course race at Sonoma. Kyle Larson charged through the field in the closing laps to secure a victory after a chaotic opening two stages. Now NBC takes over broadcasting as NASCAR heads to Newton for the 2024 Iowa Corn 350 Powered by Ethanol. While Iowa hosted Xfinity and Trucks action in the past, the highest level of competition never found it’s way to the Hawkeye State making this the first time the Cup cars run at the track.
With a lack of history, the track possesses a bit of intrigue as we don’t really know who will perform well at the 0.875-mile oval. I look forward to seeing how the cars handle the short track on their first trip to Iowa. Let’s dive into the field.
2024 Iowa Corn 350 Entry List
Unsurprisingly, unlike last week the entry list features no Supercar exports over from Oz. However, AJ Allmendinger steps behind the wheel of the #16 once again for Kaulig Racing. Other than that, we don’t have any lineup changes to discuss for the weekend. The standard cast of characters makes up the field of 36.
GOOD MORNING IOWA!!! pic.twitter.com/PGJVlx4FGh
— Iowa Speedway (@iowaspeedway) June 14, 2024
As Iowa Speedway qualifies as a short track, I expect the struggles with passing to represent a barrier to quality racing once again. Per off-season rumors – this race was originally planned to be at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal. However, those plans fell through and NASCAR returns to Newton for the first time since 2019 and as mentioned above, for the first time with the Cup cars. The biggest piece of news this week, however, was the announcement that Martin Truex Jr. will retire after the 2024 season. This means the #19 car at JGR will feature a new driver in 2025.
2024 Iowa Corn 350 Race Odds and Predictions
Kyle Larson +550 and a JGR car sit atop the odds standings once again as the Cup Series heads to Iowa Speedway. This time, Christopher Bell in the #20 ranks as the favorite at +400. Denny Hamlin rounds at the top three at +700 in his #11 though he suffered an early engine failure at Sonoma.
The Penske Racing Fords come in next on the odds with Joey Logano at +850 and Ryan Blaney at +1000. The short-track success of Penske this year leads me to believe the value here is good. I’m actually going to take Joey Logano in the #22 to win on Sunday as my official pick and with the #22 in need of a win it couldn’t come at a better time.
You never know what might happen at @iowaspeedway. pic.twitter.com/sprhnD2m5u
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) June 12, 2024
For some huge value in the top ten as a bit of a long-shot pick, I might consider Ricky Stenhouse Jr. While the #47 hasn’t done much to impress in 2024, Stenhouse has a history of success at this track in the Xfinity Series. Obviously, it’s been a long time since Stenhouse has been to Newton, but I think his past success might serve him well here. And with his odds to finish top ten at +900, I don’t hate taking a flier on the #47.
Be sure to check out the schedule below so you don’t miss any on-track action.
Friday 06/14
Atlas 150 (ARCA Menards Series) – 7:00 p.m. CT on FS1
Saturday 06/15
NASCAR Xfinity Series Qualifying – 11:05 a.m. CT on USA
NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying – 12:05 p.m. CT on USA
Hy-Vee Perks 250 (NASCAR Xfinity Series) – 2:30 p.m. CT on USA
Sunday 06/16
Iowa Corn 350 Powered by Ethanol (NASCAR Cup Series) – 6:00 p.m. CT on USA
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