NEWTON, Iowa — The race at the top and the bottom of the playoff standings could change dramatically after today’s 350-lap event at Iowa Speedway.
Chase Elliott leads the standings by four points over teammate William Byron. Fellow Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson is 15 points behind Elliott. Denny Hamlin is fourth in the standings, 20 points behind Elliott.
All four drivers start 11th or better at the .875-mile track today (coverage begins at 3 p.m. ET on USA Network). Elliott starts eighth, Byron is second, Larson is third and Hamlin is 11th.
The race for the final playoff spot will intensify among RFK Racing teammates.
Chris Buescher holds the final playoff spot by 42 points on teammate Ryan Preece. But both start deep in the field. Buescher qualified 27th and Preece 33rd.
Ryan Blaney looks to repeat his win in last year’s inaugural Cup race at Iowa.
Teammate Brad Keselowski — who must win to make the playoffs — starts fifth. That’s his best starting spot of the season. Should he win today, Keselowski could knock Buescher out of a playoff spot.
“We’re certainly getting into the groove with the 6 car,” Keselowski said. “We had a slow start. Some of it was self-inflicted. Some of it was just bad circumstances. It’s kind of a mixture of a number of things. I feel like our team has matured in a lot of ways. Different people in different roles have matured, and now we’re able to execute at a much higher level. I think we’re seeing that and it gives us a lot of hope.”
Finishing the job
Chase Briscoe starts on the pole for his series-high sixth time this season, but he’s not won any of the previous races from the No. 1 starting position and managed only one stage victory in those events.
With the playoffs approaching, Briscoe has collected only seven playoff points — tied for seventh among the 13 drivers who have won this year.
Chase Briscoe has won more poles this season than any other Cup driver.
Briscoe said the lack of playoff points is something he and crew chief James Small have “talked a lot about.
“As a race team we feel like we are a championship four contender with the speed we have right now,” Briscoe said. “But with the playoff grid, it’s really top heavy. But the rest of the field only has five or seven points. Even if we can get just a couple of playoff points with a stage win — (or) a race win where you can get five extra points — is a huge deal right now. It’s something that’s definitely on our mind.”
Can Briscoe control the race and score a victory in the opening stage and turn it into a race win?
Family reunion
It was quite the sight after last year’s inaugural Cup race at Iowa. Several friends and family members joined winner Ryan Blaney on the stage after his memorable evening.
Many of them will be back for today’s race. Blaney said about 80 friends and family members are expected, slightly down from last year’s total.
Blaney, who starts second, enters the race having scored back-to-back top-10 finishes for the first time since early May.
Ryan Blaney won last year’s inaugural Cup race at Iowa.
“The last couple of years we’ve been a little bit behind through the first half of the year and then we kind of really been able to figure it out toward end of the regular season, especially the playoffs, but this year, I feel like we’ve had speed all year.
“We’ve had that speed that we’ve been chasing the last couple of years early in the season and it’s just been a little bit rougher over the year for at least my group. A lot more DNFs than I would personally like.”
Blaney will seek to have another family reunion in victory lane today and score his third consecutive top-10 finish — something he hasn’t done this season.
