TC Daily Pit Stop: Zilisch Collects ARCA Victory at Iowa; Gragson, Heim Pace NASCAR Practices from Iowa; Analyzing Options for JGR No. 19; and More!
TC Daily Pit Stop: Saturday, June 15, 2024
Zilisch Endures Late Race Restarts At Iowa, Wins The Atlas 150
Pinnacle Racing Group returned to Victory Lane at Iowa Speedway, winning Friday’s ARCA Menards Series Atlas 150 with Connor Zilisch behind the wheel of the No. 28 Chevrolet SS.
It was a fierce late-race battle between him and fellow ARCA East title contender William Sawalich, which involved lots of contact in the closing laps and even some wrinkled fenders.
Ultimately, it was Zilisch, a Trackhouse Racing development driver that took the victory, with Sawalich second, Gio Ruggiero in third, Mason Mitchell fourth and Andy Jankowiak all inside the top-five.
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Video: Balcaen Taps Van Alst; Three Car Melee Ensues at Iowa
Greg Van Alst and Amber Balcaen saw their chances at a title in the ARCA Menards Series fade away on Friday at Iowa Speedway, when the second and third-place driver in points crashed hard in Turn 3.
The contact started when Balcaen and Van Alst were in seperate three-wide situation entering the third corner and the No. 22 got into the rear-end of the No. 35, sending them both up the track and collecting Marco Andretti.
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Noah Gragson Paces “Tire”ing NASCAR Cup Series Practice at Iowa
Noah Gragson, the driver of the No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang Dark Horse paced Friday afternoon’s practice session for Sunday’s Iowa Corn 350 at Iowa Speedway.
The 25-year-old driver turned a fast lap of 22.862 sec. (137.783mph), more than two-tenths of a second quicker than any competitor. Ty Gibbs, Alex Bowman, Justin Haley, and Chase Elliott rounded out the top-five fastest drivers in single-lap speed in the session.
However, the main issue in Friday’s 50-minute practice: tires. Christopher Bell, Ty Gibbs, Austin Cindric, Ross Chastain, and Tyler Reddick all had some kind of issue with a flat tire, with Bell and Cindric forced to go to backup cars.
Christopher Bell took the hardest hit in the session, slamming the outside retaining wall at the exit of Turn 4. (VIDEO)
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PRACTICE RESULTS
Corey Heim, Sam Hunt Racing Pace Xfinity Practice from Iowa
Sam Hunt Racing and Corey Heim are likely screaming YAHOO! after Friday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series practice from Iowa Speedway, topping the charts with the No. 26 Toyota GR Supra.
Heim, a regular in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series for TRICON Garage, posted a time of 22.648 seconds (139.085mph) to lead the 50-minute session from the 0.875-mile short track in Newton, Iowa.
“Yeah, certainly it helps when you fire off good,” said Heim. “So, huge props to Sam Hunt Racing, this Yahoo! Toyota Supra is as fast as Xfinity internet and I feel like we made a lot of gains. Super interesting with the repave, it seems like everyone was on the bottom, I felt like I learned a lot, and made some good adjustments. It’s always nice to have some speed.”
Jesse Love, Jeb Burton, Parker Kligerman, and Sammy Smith rounded out the top-five.
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PRACTICE RESULTS
Analysis: Top Candidates to Take Over the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Ride in 2025
With the official announcement Friday that Martin Truex, Jr. will be retiring from full-time NASCAR Cup Series competition following this season, everyone’s mind wanders to who will drive the No. 19 Toyota Camry XSE in 2025?
There are tons of plausible options:
Chase Briscoe is the leading candidate to take over the No. 19 as of now.
Noah Gragson shares a sponsor with the No. 19.
Both Erik Jones and John Hunter Nemechek are in the NASCAR Cup Series with a different Toyota-supported organization.
Corey Heim is one of Toyota’s top prospects, at the moment.
Chandler Smith competes in the Xfinity Series for Joe Gibbs Racing, and has shown to be a championship contender.
But, as things stand, while we may all have our theories the fact of the matter is nobody has been selected just yet by Joe Gibbs Racing.
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Ty Majeski Starts ASA STARS Wisconsin Doubleheader With Madison Victory
NASCAR Truck Series driver Ty Majeski started the ASA STARS Wisconsin doubleheader with a victory at Madison International Speedway on Friday.
Majeski qualified on the pole and led 134 of the race’s 200 laps to score the victory, remaining undefeated in the state of Wisconsin in ASA STARS National Tour competition.
All three of Majeski’s wins during his 2023 ASA STARS National Tour championship run came in his home state, with victories at Madison, the Milwaukee Mile and Wisconsin International Raceway.
“We’re on top of our game right now,” said Majeski in victory lane. “Our race cars are really good wherever we go. I really wanted these guys from the south to come up to see where our stuff was at. They obviously have a lot of good people and a lot of great drivers come up from down there. It’s good to defend our home turf.”
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NASCAR TV Schedule: Saturday, June 15, 2024
The Iowa Speedway repave has undoubtedly caused indigestion amongst crew chiefs in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Cup Series garage. The track, which was semi-repaved, chewed up tires on the NASCAR Cup Series cars in practice and spit them back out.
In all, five cars suffered cut tires in Friday’s NASCAR Cup Series practice. On Saturday, June 15, it’s time for NASCAR Xfinity Series qualifying, Cup Series qualifying, and the Xfinity Series Hyvee Perks 250 race at Iowa Speedway.
12:00 PM ET - NXS Qualifying at Iowa - USA / Peacock
1:00 PM ET - NCS Qualifying at Iowa - USA / Peacock
3:00 PM ET - NXS Pre-Race at Iowa - USA / Peacock
3:30 PM ET - NXS Race: HyVee Perks 250 at Iowa - USA / Peacock
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