5 hours agoAs has been the case many times this season, Kyle Larson is the favorite to win at Iowa Speedway on Sunday night. The Hendrick Motorsports driver won the pole for this weekend's Iowa Corn 350 Presented by Ethanol and the No. 5 Chevrolet had some of the best long-run speed in practice on Friday as well. Even though he is the highest-priced driver on the DraftKings slate this weekend at $11,000, it is definitely recommended that you have plenty of Kyle Larson exposure. If anyone is going to dominate the early portion of this race (and potentially the entire thing), it's going to be Larson. He has the best average finish on this track type since the start of last season.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: ifantasyrace
6 hours agoBe sure to have plenty of Tyler Reddick exposure with your DFS lineups for the Iowa race on Sunday night. Reddick was in Group A during qualifying, so he will roll off the starting grid from eighth for this weekend's Iowa Corn 350, but the No. 45 Toyota should have better race speed than that. Reddick had the best 10- and 15-lap averages during practice on Friday and has been one of the fastest on the shorter, flat tracks this season. Priced at a modest $8,800 on DraftKings this weekend, Reddick has a little bit of Place Differential and dominator potential for this race, and he doesn't need a massive performance on Sunday night to hit value on the DFS site.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: ifantasyrace
6 hours agoDFS players are looking at a great opportunity this weekend, as Martin Truex Jr qualified back in 31st for this weekend's Iowa Corn 350 Presented by Ethanol. Truex is one of the best short, flat track racers in the series, so it is highly unlikely that he stays mired back in traffic all day. Another positive for DFS players is that DraftKings under-priced Truex this weekend, as he is priced at a very palatable $9,500 on the slate. The Place Differential potential is massive with Truex this weekend and it is recommended that you have plenty of MTJ exposure on Sunday night even though the No. 19 Toyota didn't look extremely fast in practice on Friday.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Jayski
7 hours agoIt has been a while since we've thought of Chase Elliott as a legitimate race-winning contender. Even his victory at Texas earlier this season was a surprise for many. However, don't be surprised if Chase challenges for the Iowa Corn 350 Presented by Ethanol win at Iowa Speedway on Sunday night. The No. 9 Chevrolet showed good long-run speed during practice at Iowa on Friday and Chase went out and made the final round of qualifying on Saturday. He will start from ninth when the race goes green on Sunday. Looking back at Richmond earlier this season (another shorter, flatter track) Chase ended up with a fifth-place finish, so don't be surprised if he contends again at Iowa. At $8,700 on DraftKings, Chase is an intriguing DFS play.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Jayski
7 hours agoThere are a lot of unknowns heading into the Iowa Corn 350 on Sunday night, as this is the first-ever NASCAR Cup Series race at Iowa Speedway and the drivers will have to deal with a newly repaved (partially, anyway) race track. There is also concern that we will see a bunch of tire issues during the race. Christopher Bell, in particular, is another question mark, as the Joe Gibbs Racing driver crashed hard during practice on Friday and had to go to a backup car. Bell still qualified 10th for Sunday night's race, but he will have to drop to the rear at the start of the Iowa Corn 350 race. This limit's Bell's dominator potential, but that doesn't mean he can't still have a good race. The short, flat tracks are where the No. 20 Toyota has been at its best this season, and Bell was seventh-fastest in 10-lap average during practice this weekend.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: ifantasyrace
7 hours agoDon't sleep on Chase Briscoe this weekend at Iowa Speedway. Even though Stewart-Haas Racing is closing up shop at the end of the season, they're not shutting the racing operations down yet. This weekend at Iowa, Briscoe was one of the strongest cars in practice on Friday, as the No. 14 Ford ranked sixth-fastest in terms of 10-lap average during practice. Sixth is also right where Briscoe qualified for the race, which is one that we could definitely see track position come into play. As far as similar tracks go this season, Briscoe finished ninth at Phoenix, 18th at Richmond, and 17th at Gateway. Don't be surprised if he contends for a top-10 finish on Sunday night, although with his sixth-place starting spot, Briscoe likely isn't worth taking a chance on in DFS contests.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: ifantasyrace
7 hours agoDenny Hamlin should prominently be on your DFS radar for the Iowa Corn 350 on Sunday night. Hamlin qualified back in 12th for this weekend's race, which gives him a decent amount of room for Place Differential points. Additionally, Denny should be a contender for the win, as the No. 11 Toyota has been one of the best at the short, flat tracks this season, plus Denny is a master at tire management, which could definitely come into play on Sunday night. Hamlin ranked fifth-fastest on the 10-lap average chart during practice on Friday, and at his $10,300 salary on DraftKings, he is one of the premiere fantasy options for Sunday night's race.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: ifantasyrace
7 hours agoAfter Friday's practice session at Iowa Speedway, many people were looking at Ross Chastain as one of the strongest cars on the track, as the No. 1 Chevrolet ended up with the sixth-fastest lap and ranked second-best on the 10-lap average chart. However, as he's done many times this season, Chastain disappointed in qualifying on Saturday and will start from back in 17th for Sunday night's Iowa Corn 350 Presented by Ethanol. While this isn't a full dagger to Chastain's chances of winning, it definitely puts him at a disadvantage to start the race, as it is widely believed that track position is going to be huge at Iowa on Sunday night. Although Chastain had great speed in practice this weekend, he'll likely have his typical performance, which is have a top-10 car with potential for a top-five result if the cards fall correctly.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Jayski
7 hours agoTodd Gilliland has been one of the best dark horse options in the NASCAR Cup Series recently, and it looks like that trend could continue at Iowa Speedway on Sunday night. Gilliland qualified 14th for Sunday night's Iowa Corn 350 Presented by Ethanol, and the No. 38 Ford looked strong in practice on Friday, ending up 16th-best on the 10-lap average chart. Gilliland is fresh off of a top-10 finish at Sonoma last weekend and has ended up between eighth and 17th in six of the last seven races overall. Although it's hard to trust a lower tier driver like Todd Gilliland, it will be fun to keep an eye on him on Sunday night, as the Front Row Motorsports driver could surprise once again and potentially challenge for a top-10 finish.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: ifantasyrace
7 hours agoWe're on to the 17th race of NASCAR Cup Series season and, yet again, the Legacy Motor Club Toyotas are slow. In practice on Friday, Erik Jones was the slowest car on the race track (23.864), which was over a full second slower than Noah Gragson, who posted the fastest lap (22.828 seconds). Jones ended up picking up the pace a little bit it in qualifying and will roll off the grid from the 32nd-place starting spot for Sunday night's Iowa Corn 350 Presented by Ethanol. As far as fantasy upside goes, Jones will likely be able to improve throughout the race through attrition, so he's a viable low-dollar DFS option at $6,400 on DraftKings. Still, it's nowhere near guaranteed that the No. 43 Toyota has any legitimate speed in it.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Jayski
8 hours agoZane Smith and his Spire Motorsports car seem to lack the acceleration coming out of turns at Iowa. It showed in his qualifying lap especially. Smith and the No. 71 car lost more than a second to the top cars on Saturday. Practice was a little faster as Smith only dropped 0.707 seconds off the pace. He has fared well on tracks that appear to run like Iowa. Then again, those repaved segments are causing their fair share of havoc. Place differential is moderate for Smith because he starts 26th and no one is truly sure on the attrition rates for Sunday evening.
--Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com
8 hours agoJohn Hunter Nemechek and the Legacy Motor Club car kept losing tenths of a second at every repaved turn on Saturday. It was not a surprise he qualified 34th for Sunday's Iowa Corn 350. Nemechek's No. 42 car was 1.544 seconds off from Kyle Larson in qualifying. Nemechek was a hair faster in practice as he broke the 134 mph barrier. However, he was 32nd in practice. Worse, his teammate Erik Jones was dead last in the 50-minute session. Both cars seem to be having several handling issues not related to the tires. Since Kansas, Nemechek has finished outside the Top 20 in four straight races.
--Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com
8 hours agoDaniel Hemric had some issues with his Kaulig Racing Chevy on Saturday. The No. 31 car qualified 30th for the Iowa Corn 350 on Sunday evening. Furthermore, Hemric has qualified 24th or worse in five consecutive races now. Even place differential potential may be questionable at this point. After all, with some of the well documented Goodyear issues, it remains to be seen what kind of field attrition will occur. Hemric was 1.248 seconds off the Kyle Larson qualifying time. Worse, he was 34th in practice turning in laps over 24 seconds. That is an ominous sign for Sunday evening.
--Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com
8 hours agoKaz Grala was assumed to be in the back at Iowa. However, the Rick Ware Racing driver will start 28th for the Iowa Corn 350. The Iowa track has not been raced on in five years by anyone from NASCAR and that was at the Xfinity level. Anyway, Grala did move up six spots at Dover. Dover and even Phoenix have some similarities to the Iowa track (0.875 miles). The repaved sections make guessing place differential more dicey for the Ford car and Grala, however. He may slide back on Sunday later in the race as track conditions cool.
--Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com
9 hours agoA.J. Allmendinger qualified 18th on Sunday for the Iowa Corn 350. With tires a bit of an issue, Allmendinger and his Kaulig Racing Chevy could be a bit of a factor. The No. 16 car was not the fastest (23.5 to 23.6 seconds in practice) but as this race goes on, Allmendinger has a chance to make an impact. Watching for tire wear and blowouts will be critical in Iowa. Due to a number of incidents, it only takes one tire blowout to derail an evening. Cooler track conditions should benefit Allmendinger as well as he again starts from the middle of the pack.
--Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com
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