The NASCAR Cup Series heads to the Midwest this weekend. The track in the cornfields of Iowa is a short track with a touch of intermediate-track style. Here are the best bets for the NASCAR Cup Series Iowa Corn 350 Powered by Ethanol at Iowa.
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Driver Props Matchups — Iowa Corn 350
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. vs Josh Berry — Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (+180)
The Iowa notebooks were empty last season. The pages remain relatively blank. The 2024 inaugural Cup Series race in the cornfield was a battle of equalized stock cars with standardized setup notes. Stenhouse had some notes. Iowa was not new to him. His decade-long absence from Iowa did not matter. In the four Xfinity Series races at Iowa from 2011 to 2012, Stenhouse won three and earned a top-five finish in the other.
Before the 2024 race, it was hard to trust Xfinity Series track history. It was ancient history. The Gen-7 car is completely different. The track had just been repaved before the 2024 race. None of these variables mattered. Track history mattered. Across the board, the successful drivers in the 2024 Cup Series race at Iowa had all experienced success at Iowa in the lower racing series. Stenhouse started 35th. He cracked the top 20 by lap 50. He stayed out during a late Stage 2 caution. The leaders regained the lead before the end of the stage. Stenhouse slid back on old tires, but the strategy netted him seven positions. All things were equal entering Stage 3. Stenhouse started 13th and moved into the top five by taking two tires during the final caution. He held the position on older tires for the final 83 laps and earned a top-five finish.
Race Winner — Iowa Corn 350
Christopher Bell +500
Stenhouse’s notes were ancient. Iowa wasn’t a distant memory for Bell. From 2018 to 2019, Bell won two of the four Xfinity Series races at Iowa. He was the runner-up in the two races he didn’t win. In his first Xfinity Series race at Iowa in 2017, he finished 17th for JGR but led 152 laps. He also earned a top-five finish and led 99 laps in the 2017 Iowa Truck Series race.
Similar to Stenhouse, Bell started the 2024 Iowa Cup Series race in the rear and cracked the top 20 by lap 50. Unlike Stenhouse, Bell passed his way forward without relying on strategy. With about 50 laps remaining in Stage 2, Bell was running inside the top five. A caution on lap 182 trapped Bell a lap down after he had just pitted under green. He took the wave-around and drove forward again, climbing to fourth by the race’s end. Had it not been for the untimely caution, Bell likely would have won the race. If Bell starts the 2025 race inside the top 20, he’ll be hard to beat.
