This June, NASCAR will take the Cup Series to Iowa Speedway for the first time ever. Ryan Blaney, and others, are unsure of the new repave. A photo of the racing surface raised quite a few eyebrows this week.
Repaving a race track can be a two-sided sword. On one hand, many tracks need a fresh coat of asphalt every now and then. Rough surfaces create great racing but there is such a thing as too rough at a certain point.
Then again, a repave can make a great track awful. There are some tracks that have been repaved and the racing has never been the same as it was prior to the repave. So, it’s a delicate situation.
Ryan Blaney is not so sure about what’s going on at Iowa Speedway. Mostly because it looks like they are only paving the bottom two grooves in the turns. That could create a mono-groove track and ultimately a boring race.
But at least it gave us this hilarious reaction from Blaney.
Now, there can be many reasons for the repave and the way it was done. IndyCar races at the track and it could have been done for that series and race. IndyCar is more likely to keep coming back than the Cup Series, if you ask me.
We don’t know what this might do to the racing yet. NASCAR ran a tire test at the track to make sure that everything was going to hold up. No one wanted a surprise like Bristol, I guess.
The Iowa track is just under a mile long and I believe that the short track package is going to be used. With the way Iowa races like an intermediate, I’d like to see NASCAR put that package on the track like at Bristol.
Ryan Blaney could use a good run at Gateway
Before we get to Iowa Speedway, Ryan Blaney and the NASCAR Cup Series are heading to Gateway for the Enjoy Illinois 300. The race last year was dominated by Kyle Busch who won the pole, both stages, and ultimately the race itself.
The last top-five finish for Blaney came back at Martinsville. Since then he has three finishes of P33 or worse and only a single top-ten finish. Things have not been going well for the defending NASCAR champion.
Good news, Blaney likes this Gateway track. Between one start in the Truck Series in 2014 and the last two Cup Series races, Blaney has never finished outside of the top-ten at the track. In fact, P7 in the trucks is the worst performance he has had at Gateway.
Joey Logano won the 2022 race, the inaugural Cup race at the track. Last season he was P3. Meanwhile, Ryan Blaney finished P4 and P6 in the last two seasons at Gateway.
It is clear that Team Penske has something good going for them at this track. I expect both Logano and Blaney to have solid performances this Sunday.
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