There’s a ton of excitement surrounding the NASCAR Cup Series this weekend, as they’re headed to Iowa Speedway for their debut at the track.
However, not every driver is off to a good start ahead of the Iowa Corn 350 Powered by Ethanol. There were multiple wrecks during practice on Friday, and now two wheelmen who are already locked into the playoffs in Christopher Bell and Austin Cindric will be moving to a backup car for this weekend.
“Update: Both Bell and Cindric to a backup car,” FOX’s Bob Pockrass posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Cindric had said they were going to try to repair it but they are going to backup. So both will drop to the rear no matter where they qualify (they have to qualify for pit selection & b/c teams carry over qualifying tires as scuffs).”
As Pockrass noted, Bell and Cindric will still attempt to qualify, even though they’ll be moved to the rear of the field regardless. It’s a strategy play, and a smart one at that, as it has more to do with pit selection and other variables for Sunday’s race.
Still, it’s never fun having to go to a backup car, but at least Bell and Cindric know what they’re up against this weekend. This isn’t some last minute decision, and being locked into the playoffs already, they can plan accordingly for Sunday.
Maybe they’ll be able to take some risks that pay off in a big way. Regardless, Christopher Bell and Austin Cindric have a tall task ahead of them, headed to a backup car before the dust could even settle on their first ride at Iowa Speedway.
Elton Sawyer, NASCAR on how Iowa repave will affect weekend
Moreover, heading into the first NASCAR Cup Series race at Iowa Speedway ever, fans and drivers are concerned with the new repave. Only a portion of the track received new pavement and it has been controversial, to say the least.
NASCAR going back to Iowa Speedway is a win for everyone. This is not going to be the largest crowd that has ever been to a race. However, you will have a sellout and enthusiasm unlike many tracks on the schedule today.
Evidently, NASCAR is claiming that there were weather issues that wouldn’t allow them to repave the entire track. They couldn’t do it back in February and March because of the cold weather. Then there wasn’t enough time once it thawed to do an entire repave.
Instead, there is this “Frankenstein” looking patchwork. It’s more than patchwork but short of a full repave.
“The one thing that over time with this facility — obviously the winters are hard in Iowa,” Senior Vice President of Competition Elton Sawyer said, via NASCAR.com. “It took a toll on the surface. Our goal all along, as we announced this race back in October of last year, was to not repave.
“As we started scheduling events, whether it be a tire test and looking at the facility, once we got into the early part of the calendar this year, it was apparent there were some areas we were going to have to take a look at and do some repaving.”
Since being built in 2006, Iowa Speedway had not been repaved. Now it has this strange thing going on. Regardless, NASCAR still hopes to put on a good show at Iowa. We’ll see if they’re able to get the job done.
On3’s Jonathan Howard contributed to this article.
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