Xfinity’s Big 3 plan to shuck the competition at Iowa Speedway

All three of the formidable “Big 3” in the NASCAR Xfinity Series – Richard Childress Racing’s Tyler Reddick, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cole Custer – have been impressive this season; winning 13 of the first 19 races of the year – an astounding combined winning percentage of 68.4%.

What’s even more remarkable is Christopher Bell and Cole Custer have now become just the second duo of drivers in series history to win five or more races each in the first 19 events of a season – a feat the series hasn’t seen in 35 years; when Jack Ingram and Sam Ard both won seven races each in the first 19 races of the season in 1984. If either Bell or Custer wins this weekend their Xfinity Series legend status will just grow as only six drivers in series history have won six or more races in the first 20 races of the season – Tommy Ellis (six wins, 1983), Sam Ard (seven wins, 1984), Jack Ingram (eight wins, 1984), Larry Pearson (six wins, 1987), Chad Little (six wins, 1995) and Kyle Busch (six wins, 2009; eight wins, 2010; six wins, 2011; eight wins, 2013; seven wins, 2016).

Iowa Speedway is another facility on the Xfinity Series schedule the Big 3 have found success; particularly Christopher Bell, who is going for his third consecutive win at track this weekend – a feat only accomplished by one other driver, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (2011 sweep, 2012). Below is a statistical look at the Big 3 at Iowa Speedway heading into this weekend’s U.S. Cellular 250 this Saturday at 5 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. 

 

IOWA SPEEDWAY
Traditional Stats
Drivers	Starts	Poles	Wins	Top Fives	Top 10s	DNFs
Christopher Bell	4	1	2	3	3	0
Cole Custer	5	1	0	3	4	0
Tyler Reddick	5	0	0	1	2	0
Loop Data Stats
Drivers	Driver Rating	Avg. Start	Avg Running Pos.	Avg. Finish	Laps Led	Laps in Top 15 (%)
Christopher Bell	134.5	11.25	2.98	5.00	434 (43.1%)	977 (97.0%)
Cole Custer	111.9	7.40	5.98	8.80	169 (13.4%)	1,146 (90.9%)
Tyler Reddick	81.4	9.40	18.51	16.80	0 (0.0%)	637 (50.5%)

Earlier this season at Iowa Speedway, Bell won, Custer finished second and Reddick finished 15th.

Iowa natives Michael Annett & Joey Gase are coming home this weekend

JR Motorsports driver Michael Annett and MBM Motorsports driver Joey Gase are the two Iowan drivers in the field for this weekend’s U.S. Cellular 250 (5 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). 

Annett, from Des Moines, heads to his home state eighth in the NASCAR Xfinity Series driver standings but is locked into the Playoffs this season by virtue of his season-opening win at Daytona. In 18 starts this season Annett has posted a pole, one win (Daytona-1), five top fives and 12 top 10s; including a ninth-place finish at Iowa Speedway earlier this season. Annett has been respectable at his home track posting one top five, four top 10s and an average finish of 13.7 in 13 starts at the 0.875-mile oval.

Gase, from Cedar Rapids, prepares for his home track this weekend sitting in 27^th in the series driver standings. In 17 series starts this season Gase has posted one top 20 and six top-25 finishes. The 26-year-old, Gase, has made 16 series starts at Iowa Speedway posting an average finish of 25.8.

Landon Cassill, also from Cedar Rapids, competes in the NASCAR Xfinity Series on a part-time schedule this season with car owner Morgan Shepherd, but he is not entered in the race at Iowa Speedway this weekend. Instead he is competing in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway for StarCom Racing.  

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell is looking to set some individual records

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell can set some NASCAR Xfinity Series records with a win at Iowa Speedway this weekend.

For starters, Bell has tied NASCAR Hall of Famer Darrell Waltrip for the most wins (13) by a NASCAR Xfinity Series driver in their first 59 starts. It took Waltrip 53 Xfinity Series starts to reach 13 wins; it took Bell 59. No other drivers have reached so many wins in so few starts in the series. If Bell were to win this weekend, he would become the first driver to win 14 races in their first 60 starts in the series. Sam Ard currently holds the series record of 14 wins in his first 66 starts.  

In addition, if he were to win this weekend, he would become just the second driver in series history to win three consecutive races at Iowa speedway joining Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (2011 sweep, 2012).

Bell has made four series starts at Iowa, posting one pole, two wins, three top fives and an average finish of 5.0. Plus, the 24-year old from Oklahoma has led 434 laps at Iowa Speedway, second-most among active drivers this weekend.

Breaking Through: Allgaier & Cindric are close

JR Motorsports’ Justin Allgaier and Team Penske’s Austin Cindric sit fourth and fifth respectively in the NASCAR Xfinity Series driver standings just behind the ‘Big 3’, and both look poised to redirect the winning spotlight on to themselves this Saturday at Iowa Speedway in the U.S. Cellular 250 (5 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Allgaier, 33-years old from Riverton, Illinois, is coming off a career season last year that saw him visit Victory Lane five times with his No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet team. But since his win last year at Indianapolis in September, Allgaier has been on a winless streak that has reached 26 races. But, the JRM veteran can snap right back into his winning ways this weekend at Iowa Speedway, a track that been quite fortuitous to him in the past; including a victory last season (June race). In 15 series starts on the 7/8-mile he has produced one win (2018) and leads all active drivers in top fives (four) and top 10s (11). On top of that, he has an average finish inside the top-10 (9.467) and finished third at Iowa earlier this season.  

Cindric, 20-years old from Mooresville, North Carolina, has his best shot at championship this season running fulltime for Team Penske. Heading into Iowa this weekend, Cindric is just 17 points behind Allgaier in series driver standings having posted six top fives and 13 top 10s this season. Cindric will be making his 53^rd series start this weekend and is still looking for his first victory. Iowa Speedway has been the home to three drivers getting their first Xfinity Series win – Ryan Preece (July 2017), William Byron (June 2017) and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (May 2011). Cindric shouldn’t fret about going winless just yet though, the series record for the most starts before a driver’s first career win is held by Jeremy Clements; who went 255 series starts before winning at Road America in 2017. Cindric has made three series starts at Iowa Speedway, posting one pole, one top 10 and an average finish of 13.0.

Newton Cares Classic is in full swing

NASCAR, Iowa Speedway Cares, City of Newton and United Way of Jasper County have joined forces to tee off the inaugural Newton Cares Classic presented by Gregg Young Auto Center of Newton celebrity golf tournament on Thursday, July 25.

To be held at Westwood Golf Course in Newton, Iowa, the event will feature world-class athletes with Iowa ties and several stars of the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Golf tournaments are typically about skill and beating the competition, but this one will bring about a new purpose with giving to non-profit organizations in Jasper County and central Iowa.

“It will be great to see the support we receive for our golf outing in Newton on July 25,” said Iowa Speedway President David Hyatt. “We hope people will see the tournament as not only an opportunity to golf with some of the hottest racing talent in the country and other great athletes and celebrities but a way to have a great time and give back to the community.”

NASCAR Xfinity Series golfers include:

• Tyler Reddick (Richard Childress Racing)
• Noah Gragson (JR Motorsports)
• Cole Custer (Stewart-Haas Racing)
• Michael Annett (JR Motorsports)
• Wayne Auton – Managing Director, NASCAR Xfinity Series

Celebrity golfers slated to be part of the event include former Iowa University and National Football League (NFL) star Tim Dwight, former Hawkeye and National Basketball Association (NBA) star Bobby Hansen, “Iowa Nice Guy” Scott Siepker, former Iowa State University football player RJ Sumrall, former NFL players Merv Krakau, Ernst Brun Jr. and Kahlil Carter, 2018 Knoxville Raceway champion Austin McCarl, WHO-TV Meteorologist Ed Wilson, Iowa Barnstormers’ Jeremy Gloston, former Major League Baseball (MLB) player and Des Moines Buccaneers President Nate Teut and Des Moines Buccaneers Coach and former National Hockey League (NHL) player Pete Mannino.