This Week in Motorsports: July 28 – August 3, 2025

· NCS/NXS/ARCA: Iowa Speedway – Aug. 1-3

PLANO, Texas (July 30, 2025) – NASCAR remains in the Midwest this weekend, returning to Iowa Speedway with the Cup and Xfinity Series, along with a combined event for ARCA’s national and East series, in three days of action in America’s heartland.

NASCAR National Series – NCS/NXS

Wallace coming off monumental triumph … Last weekend’s Brickyard 400 victory was the first in three years for Bubba Wallace, who now locks himself into the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. The 23XI Racing driver will have a shot at the championship for the second time in his career after also making the sport’s postseason in 2023. The Crown Jewel win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway was the third victory of Wallace’s career, joining his triumphs at Talladega Superspeedway in 2021 and Kansas Speedway in 2022.

Nemechek makes 100th career start … Sunday afternoon’s race at Iowa Speedway will mark the 100th in the Cup Series career of John Hunter Nemechek. The LEGACY MOTOR CLUB driver has had his best season to-date in 2025, with a top-five in the Daytona 500 and six top-10 finishes through 22 races. Nemechek returns to Iowa this weekend where he’s been victorious in NASCAR before, winning the Truck Series race in 2017.

Bell eager to continue Iowa prowess … Christopher Bell has shown a knack for Iowa Speedway over the course of his NASCAR career. The Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) driver finished fourth in the Cup Series debut around the 0.875-mile short oval last season and owns two Xfinity Series victories at the track, in 2018 and 2019. In his Trucks starts at Iowa, Bell captured three top-10s including two finishes in the top-five. Sunday offers the next chance for Bell to add another solid result, and potentially another win, in Iowa.

Sawalich continuing strong runs … With a sixth-place finish last Saturday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, William Sawalich now has three consecutive top-10 finishes, the best stretch to-date of his young Xfinity Series career. The JGR driver has six top-10 results and one top-five (Sonoma) through 21 races this season. Sawalich will make his Xfinity Series debut at Iowa Speedway this weekend, having two starts there in ARCA competition, finishing both in the runner-up spot.

Bonsignore returns to the No. 19 … For the first time since Pocono Raceway, and for the seventh time in his career, Justin Bonsignore will pilot the No. 19 Toyota GR Supra for JGR in Saturday’s Xfinity Series race at Iowa Speedway. Bonsignore has made five starts so far this season with JGR and makes his debut on the 0.875-mile short oval in Newton, Iowa, this weekend.

NASCAR Regional Series – ARCA Menards Series National/East

Crews comes to Iowa seeking another win … Toyota Development Driver Brent Crews is once again behind the wheel of the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota Camry this weekend, taking on Iowa Speedway on Friday. The JGR driver is coming off his third victory in ARCA competition this season after winning at Indianapolis Raceway Park last Friday night. Crews makes his first Iowa start this weekend and looks to add another trophy to his résumé, despite having fewer than 20 career starts in ARCA competition.

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for nearly 70 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our more than 1,800 dealerships.

Toyota directly employs nearly 64,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of nearly 49 million cars and trucks at our 14 manufacturing plants. In spring 2025, Toyota’s plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles. With more electrified vehicles on the road than any other automaker, Toyota currently offers 32 electrified options.

For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.

IOWA

Saturday, August 2 – NASCAR XFINITY Series, 4:30 p.m. ET (CW)
Sunday, August 3 – NASCAR Cup Series, 3:30 p.m. ET (USA)

This weekend will mark the second straight year that Iowa Speedway is hosting a doubleheader with the NASCAR Cup and NASCAR Xfinity Series. Two current Ford drivers are the defending winners of each race as Sam Mayer and Ryan Blaney look to make it two in a row in their respective events.

BLANEY GOING FOR IOWA REPEAT

Ryan Blaney dominated the inaugural NASCAR Cup Series race at Iowa Speedway last year, leading 201-of-350 laps as he completed a sweep by winning in all three of NASCAR’s top series at the ⅞-mile short track. In addition, it was the second time Blaney won an inaugural Cup race, following his triumph on the Charlotte Roval in 2018. Ultimately, Blaney and Penske teammate Joey Logano faced on a restart with 84 laps to go. As both drivers filled the front row, they battled door to door before Blaney eventually got clear and set sail to the checkered flag as the race went without a caution down the stretch.

MUSTANG CONTINUES WINNING TRADITION

The victory by Blaney last year at Iowa Speedway marked the 19th different track in which Mustang has won a NASCAR Cup Series race since hitting the circuit in 2019. Since then, the iconic muscle car took checkered flags at Nashville Superspeedway and Watkins Glen, meaning there are only four tracks on this year’s schedule where Mustang hasn’t gone to Victory Lane. Those four are Circuit of The Americas, Homestead-Miami Speedway, Sonoma Raceway and the streets of Chicago. Overall, Mustang has 69 Cup points wins, along with victories in the inaugural Clash at the Coliseum and All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway.

(For more on how many Mustangs are racing globally this week, please see the bottom of this week’s advance.)

GILLILAND’S BIG DAY

Todd Gilliland matched his best-career finish on an oval in the NASCAR Cup Series at the Brickyard 400 when he survived the late-race delays and fuel mileage calculations to come home in sixth place. It was Gilliand’s second consecutive sixth-place finish at the Indianapolis oval after securing the same finishing position on the 2.5-mile oval in 2024. Gilliland’s best career finish also came at Indianapolis. However, that came on Indy’s road course when he finished fourth in 2022.

RYAN BLANEY: “Hopefully Iowa goes well. I’ve been really proud of our speed this year and I think we’ve had some great pace. We haven’t really finished many races as I would have liked, but I just try to always look for where our speed is at. Our team is working together properly and they’re doing a great job. Some bad finishes we can’t control, but I think our group is really firing on all cylinders right now. I think we got the pace and the teamwork to do it and our pit crews in a great spot.”

JOSH BERRY: “I’m excited to get back to Iowa. We really had a good race there last year, led laps, and we found ourselves in contention. So hopefully we can go back and do the same thing. I think it should be a good opportunity for us, and we’ve proven when we get to execute and get the car like we need to, we can get to the front.”

AUSTIN CINDRIC: “Fortunately we were able to get there for the tire test, and the track has changed a ton. It’s hard to go in and feel like we have a leg up on the field after winning as a team last year, everybody had a chance to really learn the big chunks from last year. I’m sure there’s some confidence in the shop but it’s a pretty unique track as well with the partial repave and the challenge you have.”

200TH SERIES VICTORY

Two years after his historic win in the Daytona 500, Trevor Bayne provided another milestone for Ford when he notched its 200th all-time victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at Iowa Speedway on June 9, 2013. Bayne, who got married earlier in the week, took the lead from Austin Dillon with 12 laps to go and held on to register his second series victory. Ford currently has 286 all-time Xfinity series wins with Mark Martin holding down the top spot for most victories with 47. Carl Edwards is second with 38.

LEADER OF THE PACK

The NASCAR Xfinity Series has had 21 races at Iowa Speedway and Ford leads all manufacturers with nine victories, followed by Toyota (7) and Chevrolet (5). Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Brad Keselowski are tied for the most wins among drivers with three each while Ryan Blaney, Chase Briscoe and Chris Buescher also have a victory at the short track.

MAYER GOING FOR TWO STRAIGHT

Sam Mayer has consistently been at the front this season as he and Sheldon Creed continue along in their first season with the Haas Factory Team. A year ago, Mayer outdueled Riley Herbst in overtime to capture the HyVee Perks 250 for his sixth career series triumph. The Wisconsin native went on to win once more on the Charlotte Roval before finishing the 2024 season third in the point standings.

MAYER TAKES FIRST POLE OF 2025

Sam Mayer earned his first NASCAR Xfinity Series pole of 2025 on the oval at Indianapolis Motor Speedway when he secured the top spot on the grid for the Pennzoil 250. It was his first pole since Portland in 2024, which started a run of four top-five qualifying performances in the next seven races, including a fifth-place start at Iowa a couple weeks later.

FORD NASCAR CUP SERIES WINNERS

AT IOWA

2024 – Ryan Blaney

FORD NASCAR XFINITY SERIES WINNERS

AT IOWA

2011 – Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (Sweep)

2012 – Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (1)

2013 – Trevor Bayne (1) and Brad Keselowski (2)

2014 – Brad Keselowski (2)

2015 – Chris Buescher (1) and Ryan Blaney (2)

2019 – Chase Briscoe (2)

The Ford Mustang, celebrating its 61st anniversary in 2025, is the world’s best selling sports car. It is also one of the planet’s most popular race cars. With Mustang-based race cars competing in international sports car competition (GT3 and GT4), NASCAR, NHRA, Formula Drift, in Australian Supercars, at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb and in its own bespoke one-make series – Mustang Cup and Mustang Challenge – the platform has an unprecedented global reach. This weekend, 44 Mustang race cars are scheduled to race across all disciplines. Learn more at FordPerformance.com.

LEGACY MOTOR CLUB: IOWA SPEEDWAY PRE-RACE ADVANCE
EVENT: Iowa Corn 350
DATE: August 3, 2025
RACE: NASCAR Cup Series 23 of 36
TRACK: Iowa Speedway | .875-mile oval

CLUB MINUTES:

GOLFING WITH CLUB WYNDHAM: Prior to heading to Sunday’s Iowa Corn 350 at Iowa Speedway, LEGACY MOTOR CLUB drivers John Hunter Nemechek and Erik Jones joined their team owner Jimmie Johnson and team sponsor Club Wyndham for the 2025 Wyndham Championship Pro Am in Greensboro, N.C. on Wednesday. All three members of the LEGACY MC trio played a round of golf with some PGA professionals to help kick off the PGA Tour event weekend.

PAWSITIVELY INDIANAPOLIS: LEGACY MC has a busy weekend in Indianapolis that not only showed a ton of speed in practice and qualifying but also brought a little extra joy to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway infield through puppies. After attending a training session on Friday at Ultimate Canine in Westfield, Ind., Jones announced the launch of his latest initiative – the Oscar Plush collectible – with the help of some puppies from Ultimate Canine.

The LEGACY MC team then followed this announcement up by posting the two fastest overall lap averages. Nemechek had the fastest 10-lap average in the entire field, while Jones earned his best qualifying effort of third to start Sunday’s Brickyard 400.

JJ’S SHORT TRACK SUCCESS: LEGACY MC co-owner and seven-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion Jimmie Johnson knows how to find victory lane at tracks less than a mile in length. In 113 total short-track starts, Johnson won 14 times and earned 63 top-10 finishes while leading 4,307 laps in his career. In total he earned three wins at Richmond Raceway, nine at Martinsville (Va.) Raceway, and two at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. He has an average finish of 12.7 on short tracks in his career.

JJ BEST AT IOWA IN INDYCAR: Johnson achieved his career-best finish of fifth place in the Hy-Vee Salute to Farmers 300 after leading 19 laps on the day on July 24, 2022. His performance at Iowa included 57 on-track passes, making him one of the most active drivers in that race. Johnson also has an 11th place finish at Iowa in INDYCAR which came in the same weekend. Despite a strong season, Johnson later announced his decision to step back from a full-time INDYCAR schedule for 2023.

KENSETH – A SHORT TRACK WINNER: LEGACY MC competition advisor Matt Kenseth has had his own share of success at short tracks in the NASCAR Cup Series. In 115 starts, Kenseth won six races and earned 53 top-10s. He won four races at Bristol Motor Speedway and two at Richmond Raceway.

THE SHORT TRACK KING: LEGACY MC ambassador and seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Richard Petty was “The King” when it came to winning on short tracks. Of his 200 total wins in the Cup Series, 107 of them came at short tracks. In 448 starts, he also earned 259 top-fives and led 30,984 laps on the smaller tracks. He has an average finish of 8.4 on short tracks in his legendary career.

NEVER SETTLE: Join ESPN’s Marty Smith and LEGACY MOTOR CLUB’s co-owner Jimmie Johnson for their weekly podcast, “Never Settle”. The podcast airs live on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Ch. 90 at 2 p.m. ET every Wednesday and can be downloaded wherever fans source their podcasts. This week’s guest is Mark Pantoni, the General Manager, Player Personnel at Ohio State University.

JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK
NO. 42 DOLLAR TREE TOYOTA CAMRY XSE
JHN AT IOWA: Last year’s race at Iowa Speedway was John Hunter Nemechek’s first time at the track in the NASCAR Cup Series, where he finished 26th. In the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Nemechek has made five starts earning two top-fives and four top-10s, with a highest finish of third in July 2019. In the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, Nemechek five starts at Iowa. During those five starts, he earned a pole in June 2016 and won in June 2017 with a 1.652 margin of victory over Johnny Sauter.

T-MACK IOWA STATS: Sunday’s race will be crew chief Travis Mack’s second NASCAR Cup Series race at Iowa. His first outing was in the inaugural June 2024 NASCAR Cup Series race at the track with AJ Allmendinger, who earned a 36th-place finish after an early-race wreck. In the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Mack has two starts with Michael Annett in both the 2019 races, where he finished ninth and 10th, respectively.

SPEED IN INDY: The No. 42 Toyota Camry XSE showed lots of speed last weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. In Saturday’s practice session, the No. 42 had the fastest overall lap average, fastest five-lap average, fastest 10-lap average, and the fastest 15-lap average. Nemechek was second overall in practice. During Sunday’s Brickyard 400, Nemechek drove from the rear up to 12th place, ultimately gaining 24 positions.

100 CUP SERIES STARTS FOR NEMECHEK: This weekend’s race at Iowa Speedway is a career milestone for Nemechek. The Iowa Corn 350 will mark his 100th NASCAR Cup Series start. He made his first start in NASCAR’s premier series in November 2019 at Texas Motor Speedway where he started 29th and finished 21st.

JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK QUOTE:
“Iowa has been a really good place for me in the Truck and Xfinity Series. We’ve had some really strong runs there. We had a decent car last year in the Cup race, so I look forward to getting back there. The new tire is going to be pretty interesting for us. Another year on the new asphalt that they laid down in the corners is going to be interesting as well. Hopefully, we can take the momentum and speed we had at Indy and roll it over into Iowa.”

TRAVIS MACK QUOTE:
“We’ve been putting a lot of effort into improving our short track program to match the strength of our intermediate package, so we’re trying some different stuff this weekend. The No. 43 tested at Gateway a couple of weeks ago, and we tried some different packages there to help with short tracks, so I feel good about this weekend. We’re excited to continue our momentum going forward.”

ERIK JONES
NO. 43 TRI-STATE MASSEY MOTOR FREIGHT TOYOTA CAMRY XSE
JONES IOWA STATS: Sunday’s Iowa Corn 350 will mark Erik Jones’ second NASCAR Cup Series start at Iowa Speedway. He participated in last year’s inaugural event where he started 32nd and finished in the same position. He has four total NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at the track where he won in July 2016, four in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series where he never finished outside the top-10 with two victories in July 2014 and June 2015, and an additional start in the ARCA Menards Series in July 2012 where he finished 11th after starting sixth.

WINNER AT IOWA IN XFINITY: Jones visited Iowa like many of his competitors before the inaugural NASCAR Cup Series race last season in the Xfinity Series and Truck Series. Not only did he race there though, he’s also a winner at Iowa in Xfinity. In four NASCAR Xfinity Series starts, he earned two poles in May 2015 and June 2016, three top-10 finishes, and one win. In his final Xfinity Series start at the track in July 2016, Jones qualified second for the race. He led the opening 42 laps of the race, and another three times throughout the race for a total of 154 laps led. Jones bested his full-time competitor Ty Dillon with a 3.533 margin of victory.

JONES’ GOES BACK-TO-BACK AT IOWA: In the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, Jones went back-to-back on his wins early in his career. Jones has never finished outside the top-10 at Iowa in his Truck Series career. His first victory came in July 2014 when he was only running a part-time schedule in the Truck Series. Jones started second and led 131 laps on the way to a .629 of a second margin of victory over Ryan Blaney. He followed that up when the series returned in June 2015 during Jones’ championship season. The Michigan-native started from the pole and led 112 laps to find victory lane with a 5.860 second margin of victory of runner-up Brandon Jones.

BESHORE AT IOWA: Sunday’s race at Iowa will be Crew Chief Ben Beshore’s second in the NASCAR Cup Series at the track. He sat on top of the box last season with John Hunter Nemechek as the No. 42 team finished 26th. Beshore has also been the crew chief for two Xfinity Series races at Iowa. He finished fourth in June 2019 with Harrison Burton and then followed that up with a 13th-place result in July 2019 with Riley Herbst.

MONDAY IN DETROIT: After flying back to Charlotte on Sunday night from Indianapolis, Jones hopped back on a plane Monday morning to attend a day full of fun in his home state of Michigan. He started the morning at the Detroit Lions training camp practice in Allen Park, MI. Jones was able to go down on the field and meet a few of the players from his favorite NFL team before getting a tour of their stadium. After a few media interviews, the driver of the No. 43 Toyota Camry XSE crossed the street to Comerica Park to get a tour of the field and cheer on his Detroit Tigers for the start of their game against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Click HERE for a full photo recap of his day in Michigan.

THE OSCAR PLUSH: Last weekend at Indianapolis, Jones announced the launch of his latest project – the Oscar Jones collectible plush. Designed after his beloved canine companion, the Oscar plush started to be sold last weekend after a collaboration with Ultimate Canine LLC in Indianapolis. A portion of the sale of the plush will go back to the Erik Jones Foundation to support the funding of grants for its animal welfare pillar. Since its launch in 2021, the Erik Jones Foundation has given away more than $40,000 in grants to organizations promoting animal welfare and supporting the training of working animals. Fans can purchase their own Oscar plush at ErikJonesRacing.com or at the NASCAR Classics trackside merchandise hauler.

ERIK JONES QUOTE
“Iowa was definitely good to me the few times I won there in the Xfinity Series and Truck Series. It’s a fun track though. I like Iowa a lot, and it’s obviously changed a lot from my other races there with the repave in just a couple of lanes and not the whole track. So, I think the race last year was just really different than from what I remember. It’s really a neat track – a short track but also it kind of races like an intermediate. At the end of the day, it’s definitely a short track though. It’ll be interesting to see how those repaved patches have worn over the year. It seems that they look a lot more worn out than they were a year ago, so it’ll be interesting to see how that changes the racing.”

BEN BESHORE QUOTE
“I mean Iowa had that semi-repave where they repaved the corners, but not the whole track. It’s sort of like a Richmond, but the repaving changed it up a bit where parts of the track are a higher grip than these other short tracks that we go through – especially compared to some of the shorter tracks like Loudon, New Hampshire, and Richmond. Honestly, the shorter tracks have been a weaker spot for us in our program, but we’ve been putting a lot of effort into it and have been trying to get an improved package together for Iowa.”

CLUB APPEARANCES:
Jones will be in the fan zone on Saturday, Aug. 2 at the NASCAR Experience Stage for a Q&A session at 8:30 a.m. local time. He will also visit the NASCAR Classics trackside merchandise rig to sign for fans at 8:50 a.m. local time on Saturday.

Nemechek will visit the fan zone on Saturday, Aug. 2 to participate in Family Feud at the NASCAR Experience Stage at 11:00 a.m. local time. He will also be at the NASCAR Classics trackside merchandise rig to sign for fans at 11:30 a.m. local time on Sunday, Aug. 3.

TUNE IN:
Fans can tune in to watch the Iowa Corn 350 at Iowa Speedway in Newton on Sunday, August 3 at 3:30 p.m. ET on USA, MAX, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90).

ABOUT LEGACY MOTOR CLUB: (LEGACY MC) is a premier auto racing organization co-owned by seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and 2024 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee, Jimmie Johnson and Knighthead Capital Management, LLC. Drawing from a rich tradition of success, LEGACY MC is dedicated to pushing the boundaries of motorsport and setting new standards of excellence. The CLUB competes under the Toyota Gazoo Racing banner in the NASCAR Cup Series with the No. 43 Toyota Camry XSE piloted by Erik Jones and the No. 42 Toyota Camry XSE driven by John Hunter Nemechek. Johnson also races on a limited basis in the No. 84 Toyota Camry XSE. With NASCAR legend and Hall of Famer Richard Petty, “The King”, serving as CLUB Ambassador, LEGACY MC blends timeless racing traditions with a new forward-thinking vision. As an inclusive community for motorsport enthusiasts, LEGACY MC honors both its storied past and the promising future of its members, always striving for victory and championship glory at the pinnacle of NASCAR competition.

• In three NASCAR Cup Series starts at Iowa Speedway, Spire Motorsports has logged one top-15 finish. Carson Hocevar earned a team-best 14th-place finish in last season’s inaugural Iowa Corn 350. Spire Motorsports fields the Nos. 7, 71 and 77 Chevrolet ZL1s in the Cup Series for Justin Haley, Michael McDowell and Hocevar, respectively.
• The Iowa Corn 350 Powered by Ethanol will be televised live on USA Sunday, Aug. 3 beginning at 3:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). The 22nd of 36 points-paying races on the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series calendar will be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, Channel 90.

Justin Haley – Driver, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet ZL1

• Justin Haley will pilot Spire Motorsports’ No. 7 Gainbridge Chevrolet ZL1 in Sunday’s Iowa Corn 350 Powered by Ethanol at Iowa Speedway.
• In last season’s inaugural Cup Series visit to Iowa, Haley started 19th and raced his way to a respectable 13th-place finish.
• Last weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS), the Winamac, Ind., native finished 11th, a venue best. He led 15 laps and survived multiple attempts at NASCAR Overtime to collect the result. He crossed the line behind teammate Carson Hocevar, who secured a team-best 10th-place finish at IMS.
• In the first 16 events of the 2025 Cup Series campaign, Haley tallied an average finishing position of 22.5. The No. 7 team has improved to a 17.83 average finish in the last six races, dating back to Pocono (Pa.) Raceway.
• Founded in 2018, Gainbridge® is an insurtech subsidiary of Group 1001 that empowers consumers to take control of their financial future with solutions that are accessible to everyone, no matter their budget or financial knowledge. Its platform provides access to financial products that are simple, intuitive, and backed by smart technology with no complexity or hidden fees. Gainbridge® is headquartered in Zionsville, Ind. For more information, visit www.gainbridge.com or follow and connect with Gainbridge on X and LinkedIn.
• In three NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Iowa, Haley recorded a venue best eight-place effort in July 2019. He finished 10th in his best of two CRAFTSMAN Truck Series starts at the 0.875-mile facility.
• Haley is one of just 41 drivers to have won races in all three of NASCAR’s National Touring Series. The driver of Spire Motorsports’ No. 7 Chevy has collected one win in the NASCAR Cup Series, four in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and three in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series.
• Haley is a veteran of 166 Cup Series starts and has notched one win, five top fives, 16 top 10s and led 118 laps in NASCAR’s premier division.

Justin Haley Quote
Coming off your best career result at Indianapolis, your home track, what are your thoughts heading into Iowa?
“Iowa was one of my favorites last season and I’ve always enjoyed racing there. I have raced at Iowa in all three NASCAR series and have good seat time there. We’ve had a good stretch lately with the No. 7 team and we’re building momentum each week. I feel like we are in position for a good result this weekend.”

Atop the No. 7 Box – Crew Chief Ryan Sparks

• Ryan Sparks serves in a dual role as both Spire Motorsports Competition Director and crew chief for the No. 7 team. He and driver Justin Haley were first paired up at Kansas Speedway in September 2024.
• Sparks has called one Cup Series race at Iowa Speedway and is credited a top 25 in last season’s Iowa Corn 350 Powered by Ethanol.
• The Winston Salem, N.C., native has called 189 NASCAR Cup Series races where he’s earned three top-five and nine top-10 finishes.

Michael McDowell – Driver, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet ZL1

• Michael McDowell will pilot Spire Motorsports’ No. 71 Delaware Life Chevrolet ZL1 in Sunday’s Iowa Corn 350 Powered by Ethanol at Iowa Speedway.
• In last season’s inaugural NASCAR Cup Series event at “The Fastest Short Track on the Planet,” McDowell started 22nd and finished 23rd.
• The Glendale, Ariz., native tallied eight Xfinity Series starts at the 0.875-mile oval, collecting two top fives and seven top 10s, highlighted by a runner-up finish in August 2014.
• While transitioning from open-wheel racing to stock cars, McDowell made a pair of ARCA Menards Series appearances at Iowa in 2006 and 2007, finishing seventh and second, respectively.
• Bell Salvage will be featured as an associate sponsor for this weekend. The Ames, Iowa company, located just under an hour from Iowa Speedway, will be present on the rear quarter panels of the No. 71 Chevrolet ZL1.
• The No. 71 team earned a $100,000 payday and a trip to Victory Lane after winning the Mechanix Wear Pit Crew Challenge during May’s NASCAR All-Star Weekend at North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway. The crew’s blazing 12.587-second stop topped all entries for both the NASCAR All-Star Open and NASCAR All-Star Race, earning the title of the fastest team on pit road.
• The 40-year-old has claimed three Xfinity Fastest Lap awards this season, clocking the fastest lap in the Daytona 500, Phoenix Raceway and Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. The team is one of three in the series to tally three or more bonus points via the program.
• The No. 71 team secured Spire Motorsports’ first Busch Light Pole Award at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March. The 28.833-second lap marks the fastest lap in NASCAR’s seventh-generation Cup Series car (2022-present) at the 1.5-mile Nevada oval. Three weekends ago, the team also earned the first stage win in team history during the Grant Park 165 on the streets of downtown Chicago.

Michael McDowell Quote
What did you learn at Iowa last year and what are you expecting to see this Sunday?
“Iowa was great. It was a fun weekend. I’ve raced there a bunch in Xfinity and ARCA. Even in years when I wasn’t running full-time in Xfinity, I’d still do the standalone races for (Joe) Gibbs (Racing) or whoever.

It was honestly my best track in Xfinity from a results standpoint, but going back there last year—it was so different. The track had aged in some areas, but then there was new asphalt and patches. It was a very different racetrack.

It was still fun. Big crowd, big event. Going back this time, I think everyone is looking forward to having their cars drive a little better, getting over that bump in Turn 1 a little smoother, and not being so caught off guard by how challenging the track is. It’s another big opportunity for us.”

Atop the No. 71 Box – Crew Chief Travis Peterson

• Crew chief Travis Peterson calls the shots for Michael McDowell and the No. 71 team, and will stand atop the “war wagon” for the second time at the Newton-oval.
• During his time as an Xfinity Series race engineer at JR Motorsports, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte engineering graduate collected one top five and three top 10s, highlighted by a fourth-place result with Chase Elliott in May 2014.

Carson Hocevar – Driver, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet ZL1

• Carson Hocevar will pilot the No. 77 MINER Chevrolet ZL1 for Spire Motorsports in Sunday’s Iowa Corn 350 Powered by Ethanol at Iowa Speedway. The event will mark Hocevar’s second NASCAR Cup Series start at the 0.875-mile track following a 14th-place effort in his first outing last year.
• Hocevar has made 11 Cup Series starts on tracks measuring less than one-mile in distance. His lone top-10 finish on short tracks came in August 2024 when he piloted his Spire Chevy to eighth at the 0.75-mile Richmond Raceway, a track that served as 2013 NASCAR Hall of Fame Inductee Rusty Wallace’s inspiration for the layout of Iowa.
• In the ARCA Menards Series, Hocevar started seventh and finished fourth in the 2019 Fans with Benefits 150.
• The Portage, Mich., native earned a 10th-place finish in last Sunday’s Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It was the best finish for both Hocevar and Spire Motorsports at the 2.5-mile oval and marked the driver’s fifth top-10 finish of the 2025 season.
• MINER makes their third primary appearance of the season in Sunday’s race and second within the last three races. Miner Ltd. is the leading self-perform, national service partner for smarter, safer loading docks and a division of OnPoint Group. As the premier expert in loading docks, commercial doors and more, Miner’s team of best-in-class service professionals help large-scale facilities and Fortune 500-class companies mitigate risk and improve efficiency. With over 400 service professionals in more than 40 markets, Miner is the only company of its kind with a coast to coast footprint, offering the largest self-perform network in the country for supporting all doors, loading dock products, vehicle restraints and safety products, HVLS fans, service, aftermarket and more. Miner also supports end users, general contractors, architects, and developers, from ground-up developments to tenant improvement or extensive remodels. Learn more about how Miner delivers speed, consistency and results at https://www.minercorp.com.
• Carson Hocevar Quote
• How do you feel about the Cup Series’ second visit to Iowa Speedway?
• “I feel pretty good about it. We finished well there last year, and for the most part, we’ve been able to improve on those good finishes when we go back places. Iowa is a really fun track and the fans are always so excited when we come to town. It’s a great atmosphere that matches the racing on track.”

Atop the No. 77 Box – Crew Chief Luke Lambert

• Like his driver, crew chief Luke Lambert will call just his second NASCAR Cup Series race at Iowa this weekend.
• The Mount Airy, N.C., native has called 68 short track races over his 13-year career in the Cup Series, resulting in four top-five and 18 top-10 finishes.
• The 44-year-old has been atop the box for two previous NASCAR Xfinity Series races at Iowa, both coming in 2012. On May 20, 2012, Lambert led Elliott Sadler to the pole position and a runner-up finish. When the series returned to Iowa later that August, Sadler started from the pole and led 60 laps en route to the win.

About Spire Motorsports …
Spire Motorsports earned its inaugural NASCAR Cup Series victory in its first full season of competition when Justin Haley took the checkered flag in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway on July 7, 2019. Less than three years later, William Byron drove Spire Motorsports’ No. 7 Chevrolet Silverado to its inaugural NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series win on April 7, 2022, at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. The team’s most recent win came on May 30, 2025, when Rajah Caruth took the checkered flag in the Rackley Roofing 200 at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway.

In 2025, Spire Motorsports campaigns the Nos. 7, 71 and 77 Chevrolets in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team also fields the Nos. 07, 7, 71 and 77 Chevrolet Silverados in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series and an ARCA Menards Series Chevrolet in select events.

Iowa Event Info:
Date: Sunday, August 3
Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
Series: NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Location: Newton, Iowa
Format: 350 Laps, 306.25 Miles, Stages: 70-210-350
TV: USA
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90)

Weekend Schedule:
Saturday: 11 a.m. ET, Xfinity Practice (CW App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Saturday: 12:05 p.m. ET, Xfinity Qualifying (CW App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Saturday: 1:30 p.m. ET, Cup Practice (TruTV, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Saturday: 2:40 p.m. ET, Cup Qualifying (TruTV, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Saturday: 4:30 p.m. ET, Xfinity Race (CW, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Sunday: 3:30 p.m. ET, Cup Race (USA, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

Pace Laps:

• Iowa Speedway hosts the NASCAR Cup Series for just the second time in its history this weekend, and the NASCAR Xfinity Series for the 11^th time.
• Sam Mayer (10.3) has the second the best average finish among full-time Xfinity drivers this season, behind only Connor Zilisch (10.2)
  • His 17 finishes inside the top 15 also lead all Xfinity drivers this season.
  • Mayer has also started inside the top 10 in seven of his last eight starts dating back to Nashville Superspeedway in May, including a pole last weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
• Sheldon Creed has recorded top-10 finishes in three of the last four starts dating back to the Chicago Street Course in early July.
• Cole Custer finished 20^th last weekend at Indianapolis, his sixth finish this season inside the top 20 and his highest result since Atlanta (19^th) in June.
  

Cole Custer Team Info:
Crew Chief: Aaron Kramer
Partner: HaasTooling.com

Sheldon Creed Team Info:
Crew Chief: Jonathan Toney
Partner: Road Ranger

Sam Mayer Team Info:
Crew Chief: Jason Trinchere
Partner: Audibel

Custer at Iowa (Cup)
Starts: —
Wins: —
Top-10s: —
Poles: —

• Custer makes his Cup Series debut at Iowa this weekend, coming off a sixth-place finish at the track in last season’s Xfinity race.
• Custer has five top-10 results in seven Xfinity Series starts at Iowa, leading 169 total laps and earning a pole in 2019.

Creed at Iowa (Xfinity)
Starts: 1
Wins: 1 (2024)
Top-10s: 1
Poles: —

• Creed is set to make his second Xfinity start at Iowa on Saturday, where he is fresh off a fifth-place finish in last season’s race after starting third.
• He has also made a Truck start at the 0.875-mile track, finishing sixth in 2019, and won the 2018 ARCA race in 2018 after starting on the pole.

Mayer at Iowa (Xfinity)
Starts: 1
Wins: —
Top-10s: —
Poles: —

• Mayer won the inaugural Xfinity Series race at Iowa last season, leading 47 laps while driving for JRM. He passed Riley Herbst with two laps remaining to claim his sixth career NXS victory.
• He has also made two ARCA starts, most recently finishing second in 2020.

Where They Stand
Cup Points Standings (41: 33^rd): Custer moved to 33^rd in the Cup Series points standings with 280 points after a 20^th-place run last weekend at Indianapolis.

Xfinity Points Standings (41: 8^th, 00: 10^th): Mayer sits eighth in the Xfinity points standings with 702 total points on the season, behind the seven winners, while Creed is in 10^th place with 576 points heading into Iowa.