Ross Chastain had an eventful practice on Friday, ahead of the Iowa Corn 350 Powered by Ethanol on Sunday.
The No. 1 Chevrolet was actually carried off the track by two trucks working together on a dolly, as NASCAR looked to avoid further damage to Chastain’s car, after he dealt with some issues during practice. Check out the video below, it’s certainly something we’ve never seen before in NASCAR.
Evidently, it’s NASCAR’s new system, as they look to prevent damaging cars further while bringing them to the garage. It worked for Chastain, as he was able to return to practice, and put down some fast laps, even faster than before his car was carried off.
Still, Chastain is befuddled by the way his car was behaving on the track at Iowa Speedway, and he relayed his confusion while speaking with FOX’s Bob Pockrass after practice.
“It’s neither,” Chastain responded, asked whether he’s concerned about the conditions for Sunday’s race. “I mean, it’s — there’s no telling what happened. So we went back out and made more laps on a new set. So I went out, and I ran my fastest lap like, five laps later. … I don’t know. A lot happened quick there.”
Alas, Ross Chastain still doesn’t have a win on the season, and Iowa Speedway would be the perfect place for one. We’ll see if the No. 1 can overcome their problems during practice, and get a win on Sunday evening.
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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