After many years of desire and anticipation, the NASCAR Cup Series is finally making its long-awaited first visit to Iowa Speedway this weekend for the running of the inaugural Iowa Corn 350, an event long envisioned for what has become a racers' field of dreams. First opened in 2006 and designed by NASCAR Hall of Famer Rusty Wallace, Iowa was created with the ideals of racers in mind and quickly became a competitor favorite racetrack thanks to its progressive banking and multiple lanes allowing drivers to spread out and find grip across every inch of asphalt.
In turn, Iowa became a fan favorite as well, with many clamoring for a Cup race at the facility thanks in large part to all the action it provided as part of the NASCAR Xfinity and Craftsman Truck Series schedules from 2009 through 2019, plus as part of the ARCA Menards Series and other regional touring series schedules. Ahead of the track's first Cup race, here is a look at some of the best moments in NASCAR races held at Iowa so far, featuring many of today's Cup Series stars on their way up the racing ladder.
2007 -- Logano leads off
The very first NASCAR race held at Iowa was a combination event for the Camping World East and West Series, bringing the two regional series together for one of the biggest races on both series' calendars. 53 cars attempted to make the 42-car field, which made for a loaded inaugural race headlined by Cup Series star and former West Series champion Kevin Harvick.
The race would turn into a major showcase for teenage phenom Joey Logano, who spent the final 50 laps swapping the lead with Harvick before taking the top spot for good on the final restart with seven laps to go. Logano, four days shy of his 17th birthday, took his second of five wins on the year en route to the East Series championship.
Other drivers in the field who would go on to compete in Cup included Jeffrey Earnhardt and Trevor Bayne, with Bayne actually being among the drivers who failed to qualify.
2011 -- Wild finish between Stenhouse and Edwards
Iowa Speedway was pivotal to launching Ricky Stenhouse Jr. to NASCAR stardom, as he would earn his first career Xfinity Series win there in 2011 and then won three in a row at the track during his run of back-to-back series championships. His second win in that span is by far his most memorable -- and one of the most spectacular finishes seen anywhere.
In August 2011, Stenhouse was coming off Turn 4 to drive to the checkered flag when his engine blew, slowing him down dramatically as smoke and oil billowed from his car. That should have opened the door for Roush Fenway teammate Carl Edwards to drive past him for the win, but Edwards was blinded by the smoke and oil from Stenhouse's engine. Edwards would wind up driving straight into the back of Stenhouse, pushing him across the finish line as they slid and crashed together.
Stenhouse's season sweep of Iowa accounted for both of his victories during his first championship season. He would go on to win the Xfinity Series title by 45 points over Elliott Sadler.
First wins for today's stars
As a staple stand-alone race on the Xfinity and Craftsman Truck Series calendars, the general reduced presence of interloping Cup drivers made Iowa a prime opportunity for up-and-coming racers to get their first NASCAR wins. Austin Dillon would lead things off with his first career Truck Series win in 2010, and multiple other current Cup drivers would follow with their own maiden wins.
Drivers who earned their first Xfinity Series wins at Iowa included Stenhouse, William Byron and Ryan Preece (more on that in a moment), while Ryan Blaney would take his first Truck Series win at Iowa in 2012. At the regional level, Chase Elliott would earn his very first K&N Pro East Series win at Iowa in 2012, putting his name among a group of current Cup drivers to have won at Iowa that also includes Alex Bowman, Chase Briscoe, Ty Gibbs, Corey LaJoie and Todd Gilliland.
2016 -- Super sub Sam Hornish
After an enormously successful IndyCar career, 2006 Indy 500 champion Sam Hornish Jr. made the switch to stock cars in the late 2010s and became a winning Xfinity Series driver, earning five career victories at that level. Two of those came at Iowa, with his most remarkable performance coming in spot duty in 2016.
After losing his Cup ride following the 2015 season, Hornish began 2016 out of racing and was working as a substitute teacher in his native Ohio when he was summoned by Joe Gibbs Racing as the substitute driver for Matt Tifft, who was sidelined for Iowa weekend due to a back issue. On only a few days' notice, Hornish proceeded to dominate the Xfinity Series' May trip to Iowa, leading 183 of 250 laps on his way to winning.
2017 -- Preece bets on himself
The 2017 season served as a major inflection point in the career of Ryan Preece. After running the full 2016 Xfinity Series season in lesser equipment, Preece opted to take what sponsorship he had to Joe Gibbs Racing for what amounted to a two-race tryout to show what he could do in winning equipment. After finishing second to Kyle Busch in his first race at New Hampshire, Preece would show up at Iowa a few weeks later and win the pole, lead 141 laps, and take the win in overtime by just a car-length over fellow upstart Kyle Benjamin.
The win would launch Preece's career at the national level, as he would earn two more starts in 2017 and a 15-race schedule in 2019 before earning a full-time Cup ride with JTG Daugherty Racing in 2019. He has now run four full-time Cup seasons and also added another Xfinity win at Bristol in 2018 plus two Truck Series wins at Nashville.
2019 -- DQ, something different
After many years of hesitating to take away wins from drivers for technical infractions, NASCAR adopted a much firmer policy starting in 2019, pledging to disqualify cars -- including winners -- for failing post-race technical inspection. Iowa would become the first place where NASCAR's new policy would bear its fangs, much to the detriment of Ross Chastain and his Craftsman Truck Series team.
Chastain led 141 of 200 laps on his way to taking what was his second win of the Truck Series season in June 2019, but officials in post-race determined the front of Chastain's truck was too low, violating right height restrictions. Chastain was disqualified, giving the win to second-place finisher and Iowa native Brett Moffitt. The ruling would be upheld following an appeal by Niece Motorsports, which claimed that the ride height issue was due to damage sustained during the race.
It marked the first time in 24 years that NASCAR had stripped a driver of a win for failing post-race inspection, as the sanctioning body had not done so since taking a Busch Series win at Michigan away from Dale Jarrett in 1995 due to an illegal intake manifold. Chastain's disqualification set a new precedent for NASCAR, which they held to in 2022 when Denny Hamlin became the first driver to be stripped of a Cup Series win for failing post-race inspection since 1960.
