Track Position Beats Fresh Tires at Iowa

The NASCAR Cup Series made history on Sunday (June 16) with the Iowa Corn 350, the series’ inaugural race at Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa. Ryan Blaney dominated in his No. 12 Team Penske Ford, leading a career-high 201 laps to pick up the first win of his championship defense season and the 11th of his Cup Series career.

While Blaney unquestionably had one of the fastest cars on track, pit strategy also played a role in the No. 12 team’s victory. On lap 262, No. 12 crew chief Jonathan Hassler dialed up a two-tire pit stop to get Blaney the lead on the last round of pit stops with 84 laps left. From there, Blaney never relinquished the top spot.

Track Position Is Greater Than Fresh Rubber

That pit call by Hassler was part of a bigger emphasis on track position over fresh tires all evening. While there were a handful of tire failures throughout the race, Goodyear’s softer tire compound did not fall off as much as anticipated. The repaved surface in the turns was a factor in the tires holding up as well.

With this in mind, some teams made two-tire calls or stayed out longer during pit cycles to gain or maintain track position. It started in stage one when on lap 54, Corey LaJoie got two tires on his No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet as everyone else around him took four tires. Restarting fifth with 12 to go in stage one, LaJoie only dropped two spots to finish seventh in the stage and acquire four stage points.

Arguably the biggest pivot point in strategy came in the middle of stage two. A longer run set up a cycle of green flag pit stops. In the midst of that cycle, NASCAR put out a caution on lap 182 for Daniel Hemric brushing the turn 2 wall, trapping drivers who already pitted a lap down. Staying out as long as possible proved to be the right call for several drivers.