Last week at Indy we saw a typical Indianapolis race where passing was limited and so was the on track action, apart from restarts. However strategy was prevalent and Bubba Wallace was on the right strategy as he outlasted 2 overtimes to win. Next up we head to a track where the Cup Series has only visited once and it left fans a little disappointed as well, Iowa. Down below you will find different statistics for active drivers and Next Gen races of the NASCAR Cup series here at Iowa ranging from Most Wins to Best Average Finishes by starting position in the Next Gen era. So read and enjoy these fun fact track stats!
In this post you will only find active and Next Gen stats, if you are looking for all-time stats check out my previous article All-Time Cup Track Stats: Iowa.
| Finish | Start | Driver | Laps | Led | S1 Fin | S2 Fin | Driver Rating |
| 1 | 2 | Ryan Blaney | 350 | 201 | 1st | 4th | 146.0 |
| 2 | 4 | William Byron | 350 | 0 | 4th | 11th | 120.0 |
| 3 | 9 | Chase Elliott | 350 | 1 | 9th | 3rd | 116.6 |
| 4 | 10 | Christopher Bell | 350 | 7 | 17th | 18th | 97.3 |
| 5 | 35 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 350 | 4 | 22nd | 13th | 79.6 |
| 6 | 11 | Joey Logano | 350 | 0 | 6th | 17th | 100.4 |
| 7 | 3 | Josh Berry | 350 | 32 | 5th | 2nd | 110.2 |
| 8 | 33 | Alex Bowman | 350 | 0 | 11th | 16th | 91.6 |
| 9 | 13 | Daniel Suarez | 350 | 4 | 3rd | 14th | 90.1 |
| 10 | 5 | Brad Keselowski | 350 | 5 | 8th | 9th | 86.6 |
| 11 | 17 | Ross Chastain | 350 | 0 | 12th | 19th | 94.4 |
| 12 | 14 | Todd Gilliland | 350 | 0 | 30th | 8th | 69.8 |
| 13 | 19 | Justin Haley | 350 | 0 | 28th | 10th | 75.0 |
| 14 | 20 | Carson Hocevar | 350 | 0 | 26th | 15th | 63.0 |
| 15 | 31 | Martin Truex Jr. | 349 | 0 | 21st | 30th | 65.4 |
| 16 | 23 | Noah Gragson | 349 | 0 | 13th | 26th | 58.2 |
| 17 | 16 | Bubba Wallace | 349 | 0 | 18th | 5th | 68.0 |
| 18 | 15 | Chris Buescher | 349 | 16 | 29th | 7th | 57.5 |
| 19 | 36 | Austin Dillon | 349 | 0 | 27th | 28th | 49.0 |
| 20 | 25 | Harrison Burton | 349 | 0 | 14th | 21st | 50.3 |
| 21 | 24 | Corey LaJoie | 349 | 0 | 7th | 23rd | 53.4 |
| 22 | 8 | Tyler Reddick | 349 | 0 | 15th | 25th | 71.6 |
| 23 | 22 | Michael McDowell | 349 | 0 | 20th | 24th | 67.8 |
| 24 | 12 | Denny Hamlin | 348 | 0 | 34th | 6th | 42.1 |
| 25 | 27 | Ty Gibbs | 348 | 0 | 19th | 31st | 61.5 |
| 26 | 34 | John Hunter Nemechek | 348 | 0 | 25th | 27th | 40.5 |
| 27 | 29 | Ryan Preece | 348 | 0 | 24th | 20th | 46.0 |
| 28 | 6 | Chase Briscoe | 348 | 0 | 16th | 29th | 64.8 |
| 29 | 30 | Daniel Hemric | 348 | 0 | 35th | 32nd | 29.5 |
| 30 | 21 | Austin Cindric | 347 | 0 | 23rd | 22nd | 38.6 |
| 31 | 26 | Zane Smith | 347 | 0 | 32nd | 33rd | 30.2 |
| 32 | 32 | Erik Jones | 347 | 0 | 31st | 35th | 30.8 |
| 33 | 28 | Kaz Grala | 345 | 0 | 33rd | 34th | 26.7 |
| 34 | 1 | Kyle Larson | 314 | 80 | 2nd | 1st | 88.6 |
| 35 | 7 | Kyle Busch | 272 | 0 | 10th | 12th | 80.3 |
| 36 | 18 | A.J. Allmendinger | 54 | 0 | 36th | 36th | 27.8 |
– Ricky Stenhouse Jr. started 35th at Iowa last year and finished 5th. This is the best finish by any driver starting 35th since Landon Cassill finished 4th in the 2022 Fall Daytona race.
| Rank | Driver | Avg. Fin. | Best | Worst | Starts |
| 1 | Ryan Blaney | 1.0 | 1st | 1st | 1 |
| 2 | William Byron | 2.0 | 2nd | 2nd | 1 |
| 3 | Chase Elliott | 3.0 | 3rd | 3rd | 1 |
| 4 | Christopher Bell | 4.0 | 4th | 4th | 1 |
| 5 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 5.0 | 5th | 5th | 1 |
| 6 | Joey Logano | 6.0 | 6th | 6th | 1 |
| 7 | Josh Berry | 7.0 | 7th | 7th | 1 |
| 8 | Alex Bowman | 8.0 | 8th | 8th | 1 |
| 9 | Daniel Suarez | 9.0 | 9th | 9th | 1 |
| 10 | Brad Keselowski | 10.0 | 10th | 10th | 1 |
| 11 | Ross Chastain | 11.0 | 11th | 11th | 1 |
| 12 | Todd Gilliland | 12.0 | 12th | 12th | 1 |
| 13 | Justin Haley | 13.0 | 13th | 13th | 1 |
| 14 | Carson Hocevar | 14.0 | 14th | 14th | 1 |
| 15 | Martin Truex Jr. | 15.0 | 15th | 15th | 1 |
| 16 | Noah Gragson | 16.0 | 16th | 16th | 1 |
| 17 | Bubba Wallace | 17.0 | 17th | 17th | 1 |
| 18 | Chris Buescher | 18.0 | 18th | 18th | 1 |
| 19 | Austin Dillon | 19.0 | 19th | 19th | 1 |
| 20 | Corey LaJoie | 21.0 | 21st | 21st | 1 |
| 21 | Tyler Reddick | 22.0 | 22nd | 22nd | 1 |
| 22 | Michael McDowell | 23.0 | 23rd | 23rd | 1 |
| 23 | Denny Hamlin | 24.0 | 24th | 24th | 1 |
| 24 | Ty Gibbs | 25.0 | 25th | 25th | 1 |
| 25 | John Hunter Nemechek | 26.0 | 26th | 26th | 1 |
| 26 | Ryan Preece | 27.0 | 27th | 27th | 1 |
| 27 | Chase Briscoe | 28.0 | 28th | 28th | 1 |
| 28 | Austin Cindric | 30.0 | 30th | 30th | 1 |
| 29 | Zane Smith | 31.0 | 31st | 31st | 1 |
| 30 | Erik Jones | 32.0 | 32nd | 32nd | 1 |
| 31 | Kyle Larson | 34.0 | 34th | 34th | 1 |
| 32 | Kyle Busch | 35.0 | 35th | 35th | 1 |
| 33 | A.J. Allmendinger | 36.0 | 36th | 36th | 1 |
– Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott are two drivers to watch out for this weekend at Iowa as they are the only drivers to rank top 3 in the table above and both tables below.
| Best Active Iowa Avg. Driver Rating |
Best Active Iowa Avg. Top 15% |
||||||
| Rank | Driver | Driv. Rate | Starts | Rank | Driver | Top 15% | Starts |
| 1 | Ryan Blaney | 146.0 | 1 | 1 | Daniel Suarez | 100 | 1 |
| 2 | William Byron | 120.0 | 1 | T2 | Chase Elliott | 98.86 | 1 |
| 3 | Chase Elliott | 116.6 | 1 | T2 | Ryan Blaney | 98.86 | 1 |
| 4 | Josh Berry | 110.2 | 1 | 4 | Josh Berry | 96.57 | 1 |
| 5 | Joey Logano | 100.4 | 1 | 5 | William Byron | 96.29 | 1 |
| 6 | Christopher Bell | 97.3 | 1 | 6 | Joey Logano | 89.43 | 1 |
| 7 | Ross Chastain | 94.4 | 1 | 7 | Brad Keselowski | 86.86 | 1 |
| 8 | Alex Bowman | 91.6 | 1 | 8 | Ross Chastain | 76.86 | 1 |
| 9 | Daniel Suarez | 90.1 | 1 | 9 | Alex Bowman | 71.71 | 1 |
| 10 | Kyle Larson | 88.6 | 1 | 10 | Justin Haley | 68.86 | 1 |
| Best Active Laps Led% | Best Active Laps Completed% | ||||||
| Rank | Driver | Laps Led% | Starts | Rank | Driver | Laps Comp% | Starts |
| 1 | Ryan Blaney | 57.43 | 1 | T1 | 14 drivers tied | 100 | 1 |
| 2 | Kyle Larson | 22.86 | 1 | ||||
| 3 | Josh Berry | 9.14 | 1 | ||||
| 4 | Chris Buescher | 4.57 | 1 | ||||
| 5 | Christopher Bell | 2.00 | 1 | ||||
| 6 | Brad Keselowski | 1.43 | 1 | ||||
| T7 | Daniel Suarez | 1.14 | 1 | ||||
| T7 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 1.14 | 1 | ||||
| 9 | Chase Elliott | 0.29 | 1 | ||||
– All 9 drivers who led a lap in last years race are racing this weekend.
| Most Active Iowa Starts | Most Active Iowa Poles | ||||
| Rank | Driver | Starts | Rank | Driver | Poles |
| T1 | 33 drivers tied | 1 | 1 | Kyle Larson | 1 |
– Of the 36 drivers that started in last years Iowa race 33 have made a Cup Series start this year, and 31 of them are full-time drivers.
| Rank | Driver | Wins | Win% |
| 1 | Ryan Blaney | 1 | 100 |
| Most Active Iowa Top 3’s | Best Active Iowa Top 3% | |||||
| Rank | Driver | Top 3’s | Rank | Driver | Top3% | Top3’s |
| T1 | Chase Elliott | 1 | T1 | Chase Elliott | 100 | 1 |
| T1 | Ryan Blaney | 1 | T1 | Ryan Blaney | 100 | 1 |
| T1 | William Byron | 1 | T1 | William Byron | 100 | 1 |
No Toyota driver finished in the Top 3 of last years Iowa race, however Christopher Bell was close as he finished 4th. Photo by Jonathan Bachman — Getty Images
| Most Active Iowa Top 5’s | Best Active Iowa Top 5% | |||||
| Rank | Driver | Top 5’s | Rank | Driver | Top5% | Top5’s |
| T1 | Chase Elliott | 1 | T1 | Chase Elliott | 100 | 1 |
| T1 | Christopher Bell | 1 | T1 | Christopher Bell | 100 | 1 |
| T1 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 1 | T1 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 100 | 1 |
| T1 | Ryan Blaney | 1 | T1 | Ryan Blaney | 100 | 1 |
| T1 | William Byron | 1 | T1 | William Byron | 100 | 1 |
– The only organization to place 2 drivers in the Top 5 last year at Iowa was Hendrick Motorsports, and they were also the only one to place 3 drivers in the Top 10 (table below).
| Most Active Iowa Top 10’s | Best Active Iowa Top 10% | |||||
| Rank | Driver | Top 10’s | Rank | Driver | Top 10% | Top 10’s |
| T1 | Alex Bowman | 1 | T1 | Alex Bowman | 100 | 1 |
| T1 | Brad Keselowski | 1 | T1 | Brad Keselowski | 100 | 1 |
| T1 | Chase Elliott | 1 | T1 | Chase Elliott | 100 | 1 |
| T1 | Christopher Bell | 1 | T1 | Christopher Bell | 100 | 1 |
| T1 | Daniel Suarez | 1 | T1 | Daniel Suarez | 100 | 1 |
| T1 | Joey Logano | 1 | T1 | Joey Logano | 100 | 1 |
| T1 | Josh Berry | 1 | T1 | Josh Berry | 100 | 1 |
| T1 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 1 | T1 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 100 | 1 |
| T1 | Ryan Blaney | 1 | T1 | Ryan Blaney | 100 | 1 |
| T1 | William Byron | 1 | T1 | William Byron | 100 | 1 |
| Rank | Driver | Stage Wins | Stage Win% | Rank | Driver | Stage Wins | Stage Win% |
| T1 | Kyle Larson | 1 | 50.00 | T1 | Ryan Blaney | 1 | 50.00 |
The two drivers that started on the front row at Iowa last year are the only ones to pick up a Stage Win here as well. Photo by Jonathan Bachman — Getty Images
| Most Active Iowa Stage T10’s | Best Active Iowa Stage T10% | |||||
| Rank | Driver | Stage T10’s | Rank | Driver | Stage T10% | Stage T10’s |
| T1 | Brad Keselowski | 2 | T1 | Brad Keselowski | 100 | 2 |
| T1 | Chase Elliott | 2 | T1 | Chase Elliott | 100 | 2 |
| T1 | Josh Berry | 2 | T1 | Josh Berry | 100 | 2 |
| T1 | Kyle Larson | 2 | T1 | Kyle Larson | 100 | 2 |
| T1 | Ryan Blaney | 2 | T1 | Ryan Blaney | 100 | 2 |
| T6 | 10 drivers tied | 1 | T6 | 10 drivers tied | 50.00 | 1 |
– There are 5 drivers racing this weekend looking to keep their perfect Iowa Stage T10% alive.
| Most Active Iowa Starts without Win | Most Active Iowa Starts without Pole | ||||
| Rank | Driver | Starts | Rank | Driver | Starts |
| T1 | 32 drivers tied | 1 | T1 | 32 drivers tied | 1 |
| Most Active Iowa Starts without Top 3 | Most Active Iowa Starts without Top 5 | ||||
| Rank | Driver | Starts | Rank | Driver | Starts |
| T1 | 30 drivers tied | 1 | T1 | 28 drivers tied | 1 |
| Rank | Driver | Starts |
| T1 | 23 drivers tied | 1 |
– There are a lot of active drivers racing at Iowa this weekend that are looking for their first Win, Pole, Top 3, Top 5, Top 10, Stage Win or Stage T10 here.
| Most Active Iowa Stages without Stage Win | Most Active Iowa Stages without Stage T10 | ||||
| Rank | Driver | Stages | Rank | Driver | Stages |
| T1 | 31 drivers tied | 2 | T1 | 18 drivers tied | 2 |
| Driver | Streak | Category | Driver | Streak | Category |
| Brad Keselowski | 2 | Stage T10’s | Kyle Larson | 2 | Stage T10’s |
| Chase Elliott | 2 | Stage T10’s | Ryan Blaney | 2 | Stage T10’s |
| Josh Berry | 2 | Stage T10’s |
– We’ll see how many of these streaks are still alive at the end of the race this weekend, and how many get added to it with good finishes.
| Rank | Race | Laps Led% | Driver | Fin. | Rank | Race | Laps Led% | Driver | Fin. |
| 1 | 2024-17 | 57.43 | Ryan Blaney | 1st | 6 | 2024-17 | 1.43 | Brad Keselowski | 10th |
| 2 | 2024-17 | 22.86 | Kyle Larson | 34th | T7 | 2024-17 | 1.14 | Daniel Suarez | 5th |
| 3 | 2024-17 | 9.14 | Josh Berry | 7th | T7 | 2024-17 | 1.14 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 9th |
| 4 | 2024-17 | 4.57 | Chris Buescher | 18th | 9 | 2024-17 | 0.29 | Chase Elliott | 3rd |
| 5 | 2024-17 | 2.00 | Christopher Bell | 4th |
– 4 of the 9 drivers that led a lap in last years Iowa race went on to finish in the Top 5, so leading laps could very well lead to a good finish this weekend.
| Rank | Race | Driver |
Driv. Rate |
Fin. | Rank | Race | Driver |
Driv. Rate |
Fin. |
| 1 | 2024-17 | Ryan Blaney | 146.0 | 1st | 6 | 2024-17 | Christopher Bell | 97.3 | 4th |
| 2 | 2024-17 | William Byron | 120.0 | 2nd | 7 | 2024-17 | Ross Chastain | 94.4 | 11th |
| 3 | 2024-17 | Chase Elliott | 116.6 | 3rd | 8 | 2024-17 | Alex Bowman | 91.6 | 8th |
| 4 | 2024-17 | Josh Berry | 110.2 | 7th | 9 | 2024-17 | Daniel Suarez | 90.1 | 9th |
| 5 | 2024-17 | Joey Logano | 100.4 | 6th | 10 | 2024-17 | Kyle Larson | 88.6 | 34th |
Ryan Blaney hopes to have another great run this weekend and hold the top 2 spots in the table above. Photo by Jonathan Bachman — Getty Images
| Rank | Race | Driver |
Top 15% | Fin. | Rank | Race | Driver |
Top 15% | Fin. |
| 1 | 2024-17 | Daniel Suarez | 100 | 9th | 6 | 2024-17 | Joey Logano | 89.43 | 6th |
| T2 | 2024-17 | Chase Elliott | 98.86 | 1st | 7 | 2024-17 | Brad Keselowski | 86.86 | 10th |
| T2 | 2024-17 | Ryan Blaney | 98.86 | 3rd | 8 | 2024-17 | Ross Chastain | 76.86 | 11th |
| 4 | 2024-17 | Josh Berry | 96.57 | 7th | 9 | 2024-17 | Alex Bowman | 71.71 | 8th |
| 5 | 2024-17 | William Byron | 96.29 | 2nd | 10 | 2024-17 | Justin Haley | 68.86 | 13th |
– Each driver that ran over 89% of the 2024 Iowa race in the Top 15 finished the race in the Top 10.
| Best Next Gen Avg. Fin. by Starting Position (1-36) |
Worst Next Gen Avg. Fin. by Starting Position (1-36) |
||||
| Rank | Start Pos. | Avg. Fin | Rank | Start Pos. | Avg. Fin |
| 1 | 2nd | 1.0 | 1 | 18th | 36.0 |
| 2 | 4th | 2.0 | 2 | 7th | 35.0 |
| 3 | 9th | 3.0 | 3 | 1st | 34.0 |
| 4 | 10th | 4.0 | 4 | 28th | 33.0 |
| 5 | 35th | 5.0 | 5 | 32nd | 32.0 |
| 6 | 11th | 6.0 | 6 | 26th | 31.0 |
| 7 | 3rd | 7.0 | 7 | 21st | 30.0 |
| 8 | 33rd | 8.0 | 8 | 30th | 29.0 |
| 9 | 13th | 9.0 | 9 | 6th | 28.0 |
| 10 | 5th | 10.0 | 10 | 29th | 27.0 |
– The only thing to take away from the two tables above is that qualifying good didn’t matter last year, we’ll see if that holds true for this weekend as well.
| Best Next Gen Iowa Avg. Driver Rating |
Best Next Gen Iowa Avg. Top 15% |
||||||
| Rank | Driver | Driv. Rate | Starts | Rank | Driver | Top 15% | Starts |
| 1 | Ryan Blaney | 146.0 | 1 | 1 | Daniel Suarez | 100 | 1 |
| 2 | William Byron | 120.0 | 1 | T2 | Chase Elliott | 98.86 | 1 |
| 3 | Chase Elliott | 116.6 | 1 | T2 | Ryan Blaney | 98.86 | 1 |
| 4 | Josh Berry | 110.2 | 1 | 4 | Josh Berry | 96.57 | 1 |
| 5 | Joey Logano | 100.4 | 1 | 5 | William Byron | 96.29 | 1 |
| 6 | Christopher Bell | 97.3 | 1 | 6 | Joey Logano | 89.43 | 1 |
| 7 | Ross Chastain | 94.4 | 1 | 7 | Brad Keselowski | 86.86 | 1 |
| 8 | Alex Bowman | 91.6 | 1 | 8 | Ross Chastain | 76.86 | 1 |
| 9 | Daniel Suarez | 90.1 | 1 | 9 | Alex Bowman | 71.71 | 1 |
| 10 | Kyle Larson | 88.6 | 1 | 10 | Justin Haley | 68.86 | 1 |
Daniel Suarez hopes to keep his status of running every lap in the Top 15 in a Next Gen race at Iowa alive this weekend. Photo by James Gilbert — Getty Images
| Best Next Gen Iowa Avg. Finish | Best Next Gen Iowa Laps Led% | ||||||
| Rank | Driver | Avg. Fin. | Starts | Rank | Driver | Laps Led% | Starts |
| 1 | Ryan Blaney | 1.0 | 1 | 1 | Ryan Blaney | 57.43 | 1 |
| 2 | William Byron | 2.0 | 1 | 2 | Kyle Larson | 22.86 | 1 |
| 3 | Chase Elliott | 3.0 | 1 | 3 | Josh Berry | 9.14 | 1 |
| 4 | Christopher Bell | 4.0 | 1 | 4 | Chris Buescher | 4.57 | 1 |
| 5 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 5.0 | 1 | 5 | Christopher Bell | 2.00 | 1 |
| 6 | Joey Logano | 6.0 | 1 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | 1.43 | 1 |
| 7 | Josh Berry | 7.0 | 1 | T7 | Daniel Suarez | 1.14 | 1 |
| 8 | Alex Bowman | 8.0 | 1 | T7 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 1.14 | 1 |
| 9 | Daniel Suarez | 9.0 | 1 | 9 | Chase Elliott | 0.29 | 1 |
| 10 | Brad Keselowski | 10.0 | 1 | ||||
The only thing Ryan Blaney didn’t do great last year was qualify great, as he’s top of the heap in 3 of the 4 tables above/below, but it’s not like he did bad as he started 2nd. Photo by Jonathan Bachman — Getty Images
| Next Gen Iowa Win List | Next Gen Iowa Pole List | |||||
| Rank | Driver | Wins | Win% | Rank | Driver | Poles |
| 1 | Ryan Blaney | 1 | 100 | 1 | Kyle Larson | 1 |
| Rank | Driver | Top 3’s | Top 3% |
| T1 | Chase Elliott | 1 | 100 |
| T1 | Ryan Blaney | 1 | 100 |
| T1 | William Byron | 1 | 100 |
– The three drivers above hope to keep their 100 in the Top 3% column.
| Most Next Gen Iowa Top 5’s | Most Next Gen Iowa Top 10’s | ||||||
| Rank | Driver | Top 5’s | Top 5% | Rank | Driver | Top 10’s | Top 10% |
| T1 | Chase Elliott | 1 | 100 | T1 | Alex Bowman | 1 | 100 |
| T1 | Brad Keselowski | 1 | 100 | ||||
| T1 | Christopher Bell | 1 | 100 | T1 | Chase Elliott | 1 | 100 |
| T1 | Christopher Bell | 1 | 100 | ||||
| T1 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 1 | 100 | T1 | Daniel Suarez | 1 | 100 |
| T1 | Joey Logano | 1 | 100 | ||||
| T1 | Ryan Blaney | 1 | 100 | T1 | Josh Berry | 1 | 100 |
| T1 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 1 | 100 | ||||
| T1 | William Byron | 1 | 100 | T1 | Ryan Blaney | 1 | 100 |
| T1 | William Byron | 1 | 100 | ||||
– Only Brad Keselowski, Chase Elliott, and Ryan Blaney finished all 3 stages in the Top 10 last year.
| Most Next Gen Iowa Stage Wins | Most Next Gen Iowa Stage T10’s | ||||||
| Rank | Driver | Stage Wins | Stage Win% | Rank | Driver | Stage T10’s | Stage T10% |
| T1 | Kyle Larson | 1 | 50.00 | T1 | Brad Keselowski | 2 | 100 |
| T1 | Chase Elliott | 2 | 100 | ||||
| T1 | Josh Berry | 2 | 100 | ||||
| T1 | Ryan Blaney | 1 | 50.00 | T1 | Kyle Larson | 2 | 100 |
| T1 | Ryan Blaney | 2 | 100 | ||||
| T6 | 10 drivers tied | 1 | 50.00 | ||||