After the mid-season break, NASCAR returns to Iowa Speedway for an action-packed weekend after the off week following the last race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. 

While all eyes will be on the Cup cars, there are three races scheduled for the first weekend of August as the regular season comes to its end with just 4 races to go before the Chase kicks in. 

The weekend kicks off with the ARCA Menards series taking to the track at 3:30 PM ET for their practice and qualifying before the 150-lap race at 7 PM ET, which will be broadcast on FS1. 

As seen on NASCAR.com, Saturday’s action gets underway at 11:30 AM ET with the practice and qualifying sessions for the O’Reilly’s Auto Parts Series. Cup practice and qualifying follow from 2:05 PM ET, live on TruTV. 

The NOAPS race begins at 5 PM ET. This will also be the first weekend that the NOAPS race will be broadcast on the ESPN App alongside the CW App and channel. The 250-lap race will be split into two 60-lap stages followed by a 130-lap final stage.

The 350-lap Cup race will be conducted over a short 70-lap first stage followed by two longer 140-lap stages, beginning at 3:30 PM ET on Sunday. The race will be live on USA and HBO Max. 

Last year’s winner William Byron is yet to win a race this season. Will Iowa be the track where the Hendrick Motorsports driver shows what he’s really about?

What to watch out for at Iowa?

All eyes will be on  Denny Hamlin to see if he can get his fifth win of the season at a track where he is yet to win a race. 

Toyotas have been the most dominant OEM this season with a total of 13 wins in 22 races. Chevrolet has six wins, with HMS’ Chase Elliott and Trackhouse Racing’s Shane Van Gisbergen winning two each. 

Ford has just three wins, but crucially Joey Logano has just found his form in the No. 22 Team Penske Ford, having picked up the win at North Wilkesboro and a total of 188 points in the last five races.

Logano, who was languishing below the Chase line for the majority of the early parts of the season, is currently 13th on the leaderboard, as seen on NASCAR.com. The three-time Cup Series winner is looking to get even higher up with just four races remaining in the regular season. 

Only Denny Hamlin, Tyler Reddick, Ryan Blaney and Ty Gibbs have officially sealed their spot in the Chase.  

Spire’s Carson Hocevar, HMS’ Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson will all be hoping to seal their spots in Iowa. 

Despite a resounding show of form on ovals, SVG is still reeling under pressure, currently 15th in points, just 57 points off RFK Racing’s Ryan Preece in 17th. Preece, who was hit with a 25-point penalty earlier in the season, may yet be a contender for a spot in the Chase. 

While these are the drivers we have our eyes on, there is a lot that could happen at Iowa with multiple drivers looking to fight it out for the last 12 Chase spots.

Written by

Debrup Chaudhuri

Edited by

Suyashdeep Sason