Ryan Blaney Wins Inaugural Cup Series Race at Iowa

Two weeks ago, the defending champion suffered heartbreak at World Wide Technology Raceway (St. Louis), when he ran out of gas coming to the final lap, losing the race to his teammate Austin Cindric. Now? He went to Iowa, where his mother’s family resides, and scored the win for the first time this season, locking him into the playoffs.

Blaney would grab the lead after a two-tire pit stop and would lead the final 88 laps, taking the checkered flag in front of a large group of friends and family. He would beat William Byron to the line, who had pit for four tires after Chris Buescher’s accident on lap 260.

In taking home his 11th career victory, Blaney has now won in a Craftsman Truck Series race (2012), an Xfinity Series race (2015), and a Cup Series race there (2024). He would lead for a total of 201 of the 350 laps on four different occasions, on a track that was repaved in the bottom two lanes in the corners.

“What a cool way to win here. This place means a lot to me and means a lot to my mom (Lisa, from Chariton, Iowa),” said Blaney after the race.

“We had a lot of people here tonight cheering us on, so they willed us to that one. Overall, I really appreciate the whole (No. 12 team). I mean, our car was really fast all night and we got a little bit better through the night, and two tires was a good call there.”

“I didn’t know how well I was going to hold on. I started to struggle a little bit at the end but had enough to hang on. I’m super proud of the effort.”

Byron didn’t feel too surprised that Blaney ended up winning, citing how good of a car the No. 12 team had.

“No, he had a really good car, so he was upfront and contending a lot, and him and the 5 (pole winner Kyle Larson) were really good,” Byron said. “So, we were just a step off of that, you know?”

“I feel like I just needed to turn the center just a hair better and still kind of maintain the long run. Proud of the effort. It was a really good night, and I feel like we can learn from this and build from it to be a little bit better.”

Chase Elliott finished third, Christopher Bell was fourth, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr rounded out the top five. Joey Logano, Josh Berry, Alex Bowman, Daniel Suarez, and Brad Keselowski finished out the top ten.

Kyle Larson, last week’s winner at Sonoma, had a strong car for most of the race, leading for 80 laps. However, at the start of the final stage, Daniel Suarez got loose, getting into Larson, which sent Larson into the wall and collecting Denny Hamlin in the process. Larson would go to the garage but return later, finishing 34th and 36 laps down. Chase Elliott would take the lead in the regular season points standings.

The Cup Series heads next to New Hampshire next Sunday at 2:30 pm EST on USA Network.