The Iowa Speedway American Ethanol 250 is set to go off at 1:30 pm E.T. on Fox Sports 1. The fourteenth race in the NASCAR Xfinity Series will have Sunday to itself as the big boys of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series are on their Father’s Day break. Ryan Blaney absolutely dominated this event the last time the Xfinity Series raced here by leading 252 of the 259 laps turned. Daniel Suarez from Joe Gibbs Racing will look to go back to back after posting very fast times in the first two practices.
The fastest practice times are littered with contestants that finished out last year’s race in the top ten at Iowa Speedway. Obviously, the teams are still familiar with their 2015 set-ups and will look to capitalize on what they learned from the two races they ran here last year. Richard Childress Racing, JR Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing will be fielding drivers that all have a great chance to bring home the glory.
Ben Kennedy and his #2 Rudd sponsored Chevrolet posted the fastest times in both of the practices held at Iowa Speedway. Kennedy will be making his NASCAR Xfinity Series driving debut for the American Ethanol 250 at Iowa Speedway. The young driver is in good hands as he will be driving for Richard Childress Racing who placed three cars in the top five in last years fall competition. Racing is in the 24 year old’s bloodline as he is the great grand son of NASCAR founder Bill France Sr.
Richard Childress’s grand son Ty Dillon will be driving the #3 American Ethanol/Kum and Go Chevrolet for Team Childress. The speedster currently sits third in the Xfinity Series point standings, 36 behind points leader Daniel Suarez. Dillon would really like to drive on to victory for his father Mike Dillon, who is vice president of competition at RCR Racing.
“My dad is one of my biggest supporters,” Dillon said. “Without him, I probably wouldn’t be racing right now. He’s taught me so much from the time I decided to go racing when I was 13 years old. He had a good racing career and understands some of the things that I go through on a weekly basis – he’s extremely smart when it comes to how to race and what to look for when driving the car. He’s a big part of our family business and I wouldn’t want to have it any other way.”
Another Richard Childress Racing stand-out is Brendan Gaughan. The full-time NASCAR Sprint Cup driver showed that he two had plenty of speed in the bank for the first two practice rounds by posting top five times around the .875 mile oval at Iowa Speedway. Gaughan sits seventh in the Xfinity Series point standings and looks to better his top five performance here last fall.
Elliott Sadler will field his JR Motorsports #1 ONEMAIN Chevrolet for Sunday’s race at Iowa speedway. Sadler sits second in the Xfinity Series point standings and will look to keep the momentum going from his recent success he has acquired at the last few races. The veteran posted top ten practice times and looks to take full advantage of a track that he likes to race around.
“Iowa Speedway is a fun, slick, multi-groove track that has really come into its own. The track really has a ton of character and it’s pretty bumpy over the tunnel. It’s fast to be a short track, too. I can’t wait to see all the fans this weekend and hopefully get us another win.”
Last week’s victor Daniel Suarez and teammate Erik Jones will be looking to put Joe Gibbs Racing in the winners circle yet again. Suarez, after capturing his first Xfinity Series victory last week in Michigan will hope to build on his points lead over Elliott Sadler. Last year he drove his way to a solid sixth place result and hopes his momentum from last week can vault him to victory.
Teammate Erik Jones finished right behind Daniel Suarez in the fall race at Iowa Speedway last year. Jones has found success throughout the 2016 winning two of the $100,000 dollar Dash 4 Cash prize awards. His #20 Freightliner Toyota Camry has been solid in the practices and should be running up front for the entirety of the contest. Jones sits fourth in the Xfinity Series points, only 19 behind Ty Dillon.
2016 Xfinity Point Standings Heading into the American Ethanol 250 at Iowa Speedway:
1. Daniel Suarez 7 452 0 0 13 1 1 5 11 0 1 0
2. Elliott Sadler 6 434 -18 -18 13 0 1 5 11 0 2 0
3. Ty Dillon 3 416 -36 -18 13 1 0 4 8 0 3 0
4. Erik Jones # 14 397 -55 -19 13 3 2 8 8 2 5 1
5. Justin Allgaier 2 388 -64 -9 13 0 0 5 10 2 7 2
6. Brandon Jones # 2 388 -64 0 13 0 0 0 7 0 6 0
7. Brendan Gaughan 3 386 -66 -2 13 0 0 1 6 0 4 -3
8. Brennan Poole # 2 373 -79 -13 13 0 0 1 5 0 8 0
9. Darrell Wallace Jr 2 340 -112 -33 13 0 0 2 4 1 9 0
10. Ryan Reed 1 301 -151 -39 13 0 0 0 0 1 10 0
11. Blake Koch 1 294 -158 -7 13 0 0 0 2 1 11 0
12. Ryan Sieg 0 292 -160 -2 13 0 0 0 1 0 12 0
13. Ross Chastain 1 276 -176 -16 13 0 0 0 0 0 14 1
14. Jeb Burton 1 260 -192 -16 11 0 0 0 1 1 13 -1
15. Jeremy Clements 1 256 -196 -4 13 0 0 1 1 2 15 0
16. Dakoda Armstrong 0 248 -204 -8 13 0 0 0 0 1 16 0
17. Jj Yeley 1 229 -223 -19 12 0 0 0 0 2 17 0
18. Ryan Preece # 1 226 -226 -3 13 0 0 0 0 2 18 0
19. Garrett Smithley # 0 223 -229 -3 12 0 0 0 0 0 19 0
20. Ray Black Jr # 1 188 -264 -35 13 0 0 0 0 2 20 0
21. Bj McLeod # 0 173 -279 -15 13 0 0 0 0 3 21 0
22. Joey Gase 0 151 -301 -22 13 0 0 0 0 3 22 0
23. Mario Gosselin 0 119 -333 -32 9 0 0 0 0 1 23 0
24. David Starr 0 112 -340 -7 7 0 0 0 0 2 24 0
25. Justin Marks 0 111 -341 -1 6 0 0 0 0 2 25 0
26. Alex Bowman 2 105 -347 -6 3 1 0 1 3 0 29 3
27. Harrison Rhodes 0 93 -359 -12 8 0 0 0 0 3 26 -1
28. Mike Harmon 0 89 -363 -4 11 0 0 0 0 2 27 -1
29. Derrike Cope 0 85 -367 -4 10 0 0 0 0 1 28 -1
30. Corey Lajoie 0 63 -389 -22 3 0 0 0 0 0 30 0
31. Ryan Ellis 0 61 -391 -2 6 0 0 0 0 1 31 0
32. Jeff Green 2 58 -394 -3 11 0 0 0 0 10 33 1
33. Todd Peck 0 55 -397 -3 7 0 0 0 0 2 35 2
34. Drew Herring 0 50 -402 -5 2 0 0 0 0 0 32 -2
35. Martin Roy 0 48 -404 -2 4 0 0 0 0 1 37 2
36. Carl Long 0 46 -406 -2 8 0 0 0 0 6 34 -2
37. Brandon Gdovic 0 38 -414 -8 2 0 0 0 0 0 36 -1
38. Chris Cockrum 0 38 -414 0 4 0 0 0 0 2 41 3
39. Tj Bell 0 37 -415 -1 3 0 0 0 0 0 44 5
40. Cody Ware 0 34 -418 -3 5 0 0 0 0 3 38 -2
41. Morgan Shepherd 1 34 -418 0 9 0 0 0 0 9 42 1
42. Benny Gordon 0 33 -419 -1 2 0 0 0 0 1 39 -3
43. Alex Guenette 0 31 -421 -2 2 0 0 0 0 0 40 -3
44. Dylan Lupton 0 27 -425 -4 2 0 0 0 0 1 43 -1
45. Brandon McReynolds 0 18 -434 -9 1 0 0 0 0 0 45 0
46. Anthony Kumpen 0 15 -437 -3 1 0 0 0 0 0 46 0
47. Josh Reaume 0 14 -438 -1 3 0 0 0 0 3 47 0
48. John Jackson 0 13 -439 -1 2 0 0 0 0 1 52 4
49. Scott Lagasse Jr. 0 12 -440 -1 1 0 0 0 0 0 48 -1
