After one week off, the NASCAR Cup Series is set to begin a stretch of 14 races in 14 weeks to conclude the 2026 season with Sunday afternoon's Iowa Corn 350 at Iowa Speedway.
Championship leader Denny Hamlin, who owns an 84-point lead over 23XI Racing's Tyler Reddick, only qualified 29th for Sunday's 350-lap race around the four-turn, 0.894-mile (1.439-kilometer) Newton, Iowa oval, and now he won't even start there after his Joe Gibbs Racing team changed the cooling system inside his No. 11 Toyota on Sunday.
Hamlin is set to drop to the back row and take the green flag as the last driver on the inside lane in 35th. Hamlin did win from the rear at Michigan International Speedway after initially taking pole in June, just one week after taking pole and dropping to the back at Nashville Superspeedway due to an in-race penalty for jumping the start.
Hamlin is set to join two others in dropping to the back of the back before the green flag today, but both of those two knew coming into Sunday that they'd be required to drop to the tail end after crashing on Saturday.
Hendrick Motorsports' Chase Elliott qualified 32nd after his crash in practice, so he is set to join Hamlin on the back row as the final driver on the outside lane in 36th.
RFK Racing's Brad Keselowski would have started fourth had he settled for only one qualifying lap, but his crash means that he is set to drop to the back as well, placing him 34th. The No. 6 Ford is set to start ahead only the No. 9 Chevrolet on the outside lane.
Here's a look at the updated starting lineup for Sunday's Iowa Corn 350 at Iowa Speedway.
NASCAR Cup Series lineup at Iowa Speedway
Order | Driver |
|---|---|
1 | Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford |
2 | Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
3 | Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford |
4 | Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
5 | Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota |
6 | Connor Zilisch, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
7 | Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet |
8 | Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota |
9 | Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
10 | Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford |
11 | Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
12 | Zane Smith, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
13 | Josh Berry, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford |
14 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet |
15 | Noah Gragson, No. 4 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
16 | Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
17 | Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
18 | Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
19 | William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
20 | Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
21 | John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota |
22 | Austin Hill, No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet |
23 | Shane van Gisbergen, No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
24 | Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota |
25 | A.J. Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet |
26 | Riley Herbst, No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota |
27 | Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford |
28 | Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
29 | Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet |
30 | Cody Ware, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet |
31 | Daniel Suarez, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
32 | Cole Custer, No. 41 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet |
33 | Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford |
34 | Brad Keselowski, No. 6 RFK Racing Ford |
35 | Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
36 | Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
Tune in to USA Network at 3:30 p.m. ET for the live broadcast of the Iowa Corn 350 from Iowa Speedway. All of USA Sports' NASCAR Cup Series action, whether on USA or NBC, from now until the end of the season, can be seen on FuboTV, so begin a free trial now and don't miss it!
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