Ryan Blaney won the inaugural Iowa Corn 350 powered by Ethanol at Iowa Speedway on Sunday marking his first win of the season, 11th of his career, and second inaugural race win after winning the Charlotte Roval in 2018. This win also marked Ford’s 731st NASCAR Cup Series win and Team Penske’s 95th series win with Ford.
“Congratulations to Roger, Tim, Jonathan, Ryan and everyone at Team Penske on the inaugural win at Iowa,” said Doug Yates, President and CEO of Roush Yates Engines. “Jonathan and Ryan started up front, carried speed throughout the race, and capitalized on pit strategy for the race win.”
“What a cool way to win here. This place means a lot to me and means a lot to my mom. We had a lot of people here tonight cheering us on, so they willed us to that one. Overall, I really appreciate the whole 12 boys. I mean, our car was really fast all night and we got a little bit better through the night and two tires was a good call there. I didn’t know how well I was gonna hold on. I started to struggle a little bit at the end, but had enough to hang on. I’m super proud of the effort. I appreciate Advance Auto Parts, Ford, Ford Performance, Menards, Discount Tire, Wurth, Snap On, DEX Imaging, Wabash – everything they do. It makes up a little bit from a couple weeks ago,” commented Blaney.
Sunday’s 350 lap race started with four Ford Performance drivers in the top-10: Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney in P2, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Josh Berry in P3, Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing’s Brad Keselowski in P5, and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Chase Briscoe in P6. A caution on lap 51 allowed Blaney to gain momentum on the outside line and win the first stage over second-place Kyle Larson. Larson and Blaney battled throughout the entire first half of the race until a wreck during the final stage. The Team Penske No. 12 made the call to take two tires on the last pit stop to restart in the front and led the final 88 laps of the race. In total, Blaney led a career-high 201 laps during the race to finish 0.716 seconds over second place William Byron. Blaney has now won at Iowa Speedway in all three NASCAR national series, having won in the Craftsman Truck Series in 2012 and Xfinity Series in 2015.
Four Ford Performance drivers finished in the top 10: Team Penske’s Joey Logano in P6, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Josh Berry in P7, and RFK Racing’s Brad Keselowski in P10.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series also raced at Iowa Speedway on Saturday. Stewart-Haas Racing’s Riley Herbst finished in P2 along with teammate Cole Custer in P6 and RSS Racing’s Matt DiBenedetto in P7.
The NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series both compete this weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire.
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