Iowa Speedway Tag

By David Morgan, Associate Editor A year after locking up NASCAR Xfinity Series Rookie of the Year honors, Stewart-Haas Racing announced Monday that Chase Briscoe is back with the team for the 2020 campaign. The Mitchell, Indiana native piloted his No. 98 Ford to a fifth place points finish in 2019, scoring one win (Iowa), 13 top-five finishes, 26 top-10 finishes, and two poles along the way. His totals from 2019 are in addition to his first career win that was claimed at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval while runningRead More

By Robert Gray, NASCAR Wire Service NEWTON, Iowa — Chase Briscoe’s been chasing wins all season in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. They proved bitterly elusive — until Saturday’s U.S. Cellular 250 at Iowa Speedway. The driver of the No. 98 Ford Performance Ford shrugged off frustration and instead churned up smoke with a jubilant, long-awaited series of burnouts that preceded his first trip to Victory Lane this season. Briscoe’s sweeping slide job past longtime race leader Christopher Bell — who paced the field for a dominant 235 laps — ensuredRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Correspondent Six race was all it took for H2 Motorsports to earn its’ first top-10 finish with Shane Lee behind the wheel in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Strategy calls by crew chief Pete Rondeau kept the No. 28 Circuit City Toyota Supra in the top-10 in the closing laps at Iowa Speedway. Lee battled Justin Allgaier, Noah Gragson, and Tyler Reddick for a top-five. As the battles inside the top-five heated up, the Matt Hurley-owned car slipped backward. Lee held off charges from Justin Haley andRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Correspondent Less than one week after crew chief Nick Harrison unexpectedly passed away, Justin Haley and Kaulig Racing will be back in action at Iowa Speedway. Haley and Harrison were in their first year working together on the No. 11 Leaf Filter Gutter Protection Chevrolet Camaro SS. The duo earned two top-five and 13 top-10 finishes after 18 races in the 2019 NASCAR Xfinity Series season. Haley and Harrison were one part of Kaulig Racing’s first one-two finish at Daytona International Speedway. Harrison passed away unexpectedlyRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer It was a long and agonizing night for both Sage Karam and Takuma Sato, who neither saw the finish in the marathon that was the Iowa 300 at Iowa Speedway. The race went past midnight due to a long weather delay and later a Lap 56 red flag due to the Mother Nature uncooperative ways, as both had polar opposite performances. For Karam, he was struggling finding speed in his No. 31 Carlin Chevrolet and was involved in his first accident on Lap 16 after goingRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer NEWTON, Iowa — After a frustrating loss at Iowa in 2018 to James Hinchcliffe, Josef Newgarden put everything together to win the Iowa 300 at Iowa Speedway. The 2017 NTT IndyCar Series champion put together a complete 300 laps for his fourth win of the 2019 IndyCar season, leading 245 laps and extending his championship lead to 29 points over sixth place finisher Alexander Rossi. Scott Dixon finished second in a race that could have been much worse for the five-time series champion. After falling aRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer Nailing the proper car setup has helped Ed Carpenter Racing become one of the teams to challenge for the win at Iowa Speedway over the last few NTT IndyCar Series visits to the Newton, Iowa track. A win and a pair of seconds give the team a great backdrop ahead of Saturday’s 300 lap race and Spencer Pigot is aiming to better last year’s second place result for the team in 2019. The Floridian will start the Iowa 300 from 19th place out of a 22Read More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer NEWTON, Iowa — Simon Pagenaud’s pole position at Iowa Speedway is the fruit of what he believes is a better working relationship with his team than when he won the NTT IndyCar Series championship in 2016. The Frenchman won the pole for Saturday’s Iowa 300 at Iowa Speedway with a two-lap average speed of 180.073 mph around the .875 mile oval ahead of teammates Will Power and Josef Newgarden in a Team Penske 1-2-3 sweep of qualifying. “Definitely happy to be ahead of my teammates,” saidRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer It all made sense for NASCAR NEXT Class of 2018-19 member Ryan Vargas to make his Xfinity Series debut at Iowa Speedway. JD Motorsports with Gary Keller announced Wednesday that the 18-year-old Californian will make his national touring debut in the U.S. Cellular 250 July 27, piloting the No. 15 Cranio Care Bears Chevrolet Camaro. Last year in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series combo race, Vargas, who ran for the East championship, finished seventh in Max Siegel’s Rev Racing team. Vargas commented it was his bestRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer Conor Daly and Sage Karam will wheel Carlin’s two NTT IndyCar Series entries when the series visits Iowa Speedway on Saturday for the Iowa 300. Karam will be behind the wheel of the No. 31 SmartShop Self Storage Chevrolet while Daly will be behind the wheel of the No. 59 Gallagher Chevrolet. Both drivers have a lot of experience at Iowa. Karam and Daly have won at the track in Road to Indy competition while Karam finished third in the 2015 Iowa 300 racing for ChipRead More