Gray enters Iowa Speedway this weekend for his fourth start of the ARCA Menards Series season and third of five straight races with the series.
Last Saturday evening at Berlin (Mich.) Raceway, the young driver started and finished fourth for his second consecutive top-five finish in his two races since returning from injury.
The Shore Lunch 150 will be Gray’s second career start at Iowa Speedway. Last July he qualified second and finished fifth in the 150-lap event.
While crew chief Chad Johnston has never called a race at the 7/8-mile speedway, he has called 52 races in the Cup Series at tracks shorter than one mile in length with one win, 10 top-fives and 20 top-10s.
Thad Moffitt, No. 46 CleanPacs/Aqua ChemPacs Ford Fusion
Moffitt enters his 11th ARCA Menards Series race of the season at Iowa on Saturday night as one of only four drivers to compete in every series event thus far.
The 20-year-old driver suffered his first DNF of the season last weekend at Berlin Raceway after contact with another car in the final stage caused damage to the front suspension.
Moffitt and crew chief Derek Smith have one previous start together at Iowa coming last season where they qualified eighth and finished 10th.
At tracks less than one mile in length, the Trinity, North Carolina native has sixteen career starts with three top-five and eight top-10 finishes.
Iest enters his sixth race of the 2021 ARCA Menards Series East season on Saturday evening at Iowa Speedway in Newton. The race is a combination race between the ARCA Menards Series and the ARCA Menards Series East and will serve as the fifth race of the Sioux Chief Showdown.
The 18-year-old driver last competed on July 3rd at Irwindale (Calif.) Speedway with the ARCA West series behind the wheel of the #54 for Naake-Klauer Motorsports. He qualified second and finished third in the 150-lap event.
Saturday will be the first appearance at the 7/8-mile oval for Iest.
In five ARCA East starts with DGR this season, the Madera, California native has four top-fives and five top-10s with three fifth-place finishes, an eighth and a second.
Iest currently sits third in the ARCA East series standings, 34 points behind first place and eighth in the West series standings, 19 points behind first place.