Advance to Victory Lane: Kyle Larson to rake in an Iowa win

On Sunday, the Cup Series is set to debut at Iowa Speedway for the Iowa Corn 350 powered by Ethanol (7 p.m. ET, USA, MRN Radio, Sirius XM NASCAR Radio), with Kyle Larson projected to cruise through the field en route to his fourth victory this year.

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Despite missing the Coca-Cola 600, Larson reclaimed the points lead after his Sonoma win last Sunday and is 14 points up on Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott.

It’s hard to find a track on the calendar that isn’t in Larson’s wheelhouse, but at Iowa Speedway, there wasn’t much data to prove it before this weekend when he captured the Busch Light Pole Award. Previously, Larson made four Xfinity starts at the 0.875-mile oval, netting two top-five finishes and two top 10s.

Larson was at the Goodyear tire test in May at Iowa, which is a slight feather in his cap heading into the weekend. At short tracks overall, Larson has finished sixth or better in nine of the last 10 contests, including two wins last year at Martinsville and Richmond. As a bonus, Larson is also the most recent Father’s Day winner (Nashville, 2021).

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin, Elliott, 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick (up from eighth) and RFK Racing’s Brad Keselowski follow Larson in the projections. William Byron, Joey Logano, Christoper Bell (down from third), Ryan Blaney and Ross Chastain complete the projected top 10. Blaney and Chastain moved into the top 10 after practice and qualifying while Bubba Wallace and Martin Truex Jr. dropped out.

Sunday night’s race is set to be a thriller, with everyone in the Cup garage getting their first bite of Iowa Speedway in the Next Gen car.