What to Watch: Iowa sets stage for final momentum gains before Chase

Track: Iowa Speedway
Location: Newton, Iowa
Track length: 0.875 miles
When: 3:30 p.m. ET
Where to tune in: USA Network, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Race purse: $11,233,037
Race distance: 350 laps | 306.25 miles
Stages: 70 | 210 | 350
Sunday’s starting lineup | Pit-stall assignments

Chase seeding a big emphasis in final four regular-season races

NEWTON, Iowa. — For those that qualify for The Chase in September, any position inside the top 10 will mathematically put a driver in position to compete for the championship from the jump. However, each seed gained comes with a plus-five gain to the points leader in The Chase format and a battle royale is taking shape from positions fifth to tenth.

From Carson Hocevar (fifth) to Christopher Bell (10th), there is just a 29-point gap, meaning the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing driver could leap all the way to fifth with a strong result Sunday. And Bell very well could as one of the Cup Series’ hottest drivers off of the bye week.

MORE: Weekend schedule | At-track photos

“It’s a huge deal, man,” Bell said of Chase seeding. “Wherever we end up, all of us are in a dogfight right now. Super important to get everything that we can and it’s going to come down to the bitter end for sure. I’m optimistic. We have a great chunk of races coming up between here, the next couple short tracks. Daytona. Who knows? But I’m excited about the change there.”

Another driver carrying a huge chunk of momentum into the final month of the regular season is three-time champ Joey Logano.

The No. 22 Team Penske driver dominated North Wilkesboro for his first win of the season, followed up by a third-place run in the Brickyard 400 to balloon his position from as low as 20th in points to 13th.

Iowa continues as a good string of tracks for Logano, who is currently riding a seven-race, short-track top-10 stretch.

MORE: Goodyear tire notes: Iowa

“I look at these next few races where there’s a lot of opportunities to score a ton of points for us if we can capitalize on the opportunities there,” Logano said. “I mean we’re out the windshield right now. Just got to keep the attitude that way. But yeah, I feel like we can get ourselves into position to set ourselves up to go win The Chase. Like we have a chance to do it and be the comeback story of all-time. But I think we can do it.”

On the downturn, though, is Bubba Wallace, who after placing 11th in practice on single-lap speed and top 10 in consecutive lap average, missed it in his qualifying setup and will roll off the grid 26th on Sunday.

Wallace entered the media center after qualifying dripping in sweat and frustrated as his 60-point cushion to the cutline is far from safe.

“I don’t know. I’m so [expletive] pissed off from qualifying, Wallace said. “I think we’re okay. I mean, look at what we did last year. I’m guilty of it. You know, ‘oh we’ve got a bad qualifying draw from last weekend or from last race,’ and that’s just a poor excuse. We got to just be better and I needed to give better feedback to get the car better. I thought we were pretty good in practice. Just missed a little bit.”

The Toyota camp as a whole has some questions Sunday as the Nos. 11, 19 and 35 had brake rotor issues during practice. Points leader Denny Hamlin, who is slated to start 29th on Sunday, has little idea how the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota will react into Turn 1 on the opening lap.

“I just have to give it some educated guesses and go off laps that I did get to run and go from there,” Hamlin said. “Truthfully, we’re gonna have to put a thumb in the air and make a few guesses.”

In the details …

What if the 2026 Cup Series stats sheet showed you that a part-time driver would have just as many victories as the entire Hendrick Motorsports camp in August? You’d probably think it’s straight out of a video game, but that’s the reality for Hendrick as the organization has struggled in all major categories compared to where they were last year.

Chase Elliott is the only driver to reach Victory Lane for the team this season (Martinsville, Texas), but has just a single top 10 since, while Alex Bowman, William Byron and Kyle Larson remain winless just a month out from the start of The Chase. Here is how this year’s stats compare to last year’s after 22 races:

Speed reads

Race-day essentials:

– Iowa hub: Key information, pit stalls, additional results | Read more
– Sunday Setup: See what crew chiefs have in mind in the Hawkeye State | Read more
– Rules update: Details on new stage-break procedure if a caution comes out late | Read more
– Paint Scheme Preview: Fresh looks ready for the Iowa cornfields | View gallery
– Hauler Talk: NASCAR wants to tighten caution periods | Listen now
– NASCAR Classics: Dig into the video vault for full-race replays from Iowa | Watch now
– Power Rankings: Will Logano continue fresh momentum after off weekend? | This week’s ranks