Top Dog: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
“They’ll watch the game, and it’ll be as if they dipped themselves in magical waters. The memories will be so thick, they’ll have to brush them away from their faces.” – Field of Dreams
By now, you may be overloaded with the references to the iconic movie, but after nearly two decades, Paul Schlaak and Rusty Wallace finally saw their Field of Dreams moment come true.
For the first time, the NASCAR Cup Series raced through the cornfields to Iowa Speedway for the inaugural Iowa Corn 350 (June 16). And in the land where dreams come true, the race did not disappoint.
Among all of the drivers anticipating the first Cup race in The Hawkeye State, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. had to be one of the most elated. The 36-year-old scored three wins in the NASCAR Xfinity Series during his budding career, including a wild “push” to the win by Carl Edwards after Stenhouse’s motor expired just yards from the start/finish line.
Now, in the midst of a frustrating season, Stenhouse’s good memories at Iowa continued following a fifth-place finish.
The challenge started from the green flag, as Stenhouse started 35th. Fifty laps in, he cracked the top 20.
Stenhouse slid to 22nd at the end of stage one with a tight-handling car, falling outside the top 30 following pit stops due to varying strategies throughout the field.
After a nearly 100-lap green flag run during stage two, Stenhouse powered from 34th all the way to eighth, grabbing a couple more spots when the caution flew on the tail end of green flag pit stops.
Crew chief Mike Kelley left Stenhouse out under the yellow to assume the lead, albeit with much older tires. That nearly proved disastrous on the restart, as William Byron slid into Stenhouse in turn 4 and nearly sparked an accident. Yet Stenhouse’s sprint car prowess came in handy, and he survived to finish the second stage in 13th.
Stenhouse ran just outside the top 10 to open the final stint. A couple of cautions shuffled things up, and a caution for Chris Buescher on lap 260 allowed Kelley to crack the strategy whip again. The No. 47 team took two tires, propelling Stenhouse to third for the final restart with 84 laps to go, which featured another close call.
As race winner Ryan Blaney proved, the two tires held up as the track’s temperature cooled, allowing Stenhouse to also maintain his track position. He only slipped two spots, ultimately bringing home his second top five of the season and first on a non-superspeedway in more than a year.
Despite a season that has seen the Olive Branch, Miss. native record 11 finishes outside the top 20, Iowa came at a great time to gear the JTG Daugherty Racing team up for a summer run.
With tracks like Nashville Superspeedway and Daytona International Speedway on the agenda in the regular season, a playoff spot seems far out in left field, but it gives Stenhouse opportunities to turn things around.
Notable Underdog Runs
When it comes to consistency, much has been made of Chase Elliott‘s run of not finishing outside the top 20 this season, and rightfully so. However, in the underdog circle, Todd Gilliland continues to be the poster boy of stability.
Gilliland spent much of the night inside the top 15, and it resulted in a 12th-place finish. Though he spent some time in the front half of the field beforehand, Gilliland really entered the scene during stage two by entering the top 10 to finish the stage in eighth. The team opted to keep him out during the stage break, lining him up on the second row for the restart.
The third-year driver fell from fourth to 13th by the lap 260 caution. Gilliland pitted for four tires and worked his way back through the field to secure a top-12 result. The Sherrills Ford, N.C. native now has stretched his run to six consecutive runs of 17th or better, longer than any stretch his Front Row Motorsports teammate Michael McDowell has had the past two seasons.
Justin Haley continued his impressive campaign this season, racking up a 13th-place finish. The No. 51 flirted with the top 10 for much of the night, despite an equipment infraction penalty in stage one. Haley bounced back to earn a stage point with a 10th-place stage two finish, and when the green flag flew on the final restart with 84 laps remaining, Haley was inside the top 10 before slipping back to 13th by the end.
It is Haley’s third top 15 of the season, and his current 23.5 average finish is easily on pace to be the highest by a Rick Ware Racing driver who has made 10 or more starts in a season with the team.
Right behind Haley was the third of an impressive underdog trio this year, Carson Hocevar. It was a methodical night for the 21-year-old, who improved his finish from a 27th-place opening stage showing to take the checkered flag in 14th. Hocevar used some strategy to get into the top 10 during the final stage, riding off into the night inside the top 15 for the remainder of the race.
Hocevar was the last car on the lead lap, beating out drivers such as Martin Truex Jr., Bubba Wallace and Chris Buescher. He is also building consistency of his own, earning his third consecutive result of 17th or better.
Harrison Burton turned in a solid night by capping it off in 20th. Burton ran inside the top 15 early in the race, recording a 14th-place finish in stage one. It was another quiet night overall for the Wood Brothers Racing driver, but those are what he needs in a trying season. His third top 20 of the season is his first on a non-superspeedway this year.
What They’re Saying
Stenhouse (fifth): We had a little mishap on pit road that set us back again, to kind of that back row. So, we had to battle back from that. Those guys cleaned it up on pit road, and we had great strategy with those two tires to get us back to clean air at the front of the field. Really wanted to go battle Blaney there. We got to second, just got a little too loose, and couldn’t hold those guys off. Really cool to do a Cup race here in Iowa after all our success and to do it in front of a great crowd.”
Daniel Hemric (29th): “Today was quite the battle. We were too free to start and after getting into the wall, we bent a rear toe link on our No. 31 Cirkul Chevrolet. After that, I was just too tight and couldn’t really catch a break. We will regroup and get ready for New Hampshire [Motor Speedway] next week.”
Who’s Really the Top Dog
Stenhouse gets back into a tie with Erik Jones and Hocevar for the most gold medals thus far. Gilliland continues to run away with the silver count, while Haley lands in the bronze position for the first time.
Gold: Jones (3x), Hocevar (3x), Stenhouse (3x), John Hunter Nemechek (2x), AJ Allmendinger (2x), Corey LaJoie, Hemric, Haley, Gilliland
Silver: Gilliland (6x), Haley (2x), Allmendinger (2x), Burton, Hocevar, Smith, Ty Dillon, Anthony Alfredo, Nemechek, Hemric
Bronze: Nemechek (3x), Stenhouse (3x), LaJoie (3x), Gilliland (2x), Jones (2x), Kaz Grala, Shane van Gisbergen, Hocevar, Haley
Small Team Scheme of the Week
While Iowa’s sports history has circled around Field of Dreams, its recent sports history put the state in the national spotlight. The University of Iowa women’s basketball team made a run to the national championship during March Madness, sparked by superstar phenom Caitlin Clark.
While LaJoie didn’t quite have that performance in him with a 21st-place result, he still sported the recognizable Iowa Hawkeyes logo on the hood of his Gainbridge Chevrolet to culminate in a perfect pairing. It was also approved by Clark herself.
Luken Glover joined the Frontstretch team in 2020 as a contributor, furthering a love for racing that traces back to his earliest memories. Glover inherited his passion for racing from his grandfather, who used to help former NASCAR team owner Junie Donlavey in his Richmond, Va. garage. A 2023 graduate from the University of the Cumberlands, Glover is the author of "The Underdog House," contributes to commentary pieces, and does occasional at-track reporting. Additionally, Glover enjoys working in ministry, coaching basketball, playing sports, and karting.
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