King of the Corn: Byron Wins Iowa

William Byron celebrates his win in the 2025 Iowa Corn 350 from Iowa Speedway. (Photo: Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)

Iowa Corn 350:

William Byron picked up his second win of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season by taking the checkered flag Sunday afternoon at the Iowa Speedway in the Iowa Corn 350. The win is Byron's 15th of his career, and he becomes the first driver to win in all three national touring series at Iowa Speedway. With the win, Byron regains the point lead over teammate Chase Elliott - a vital step to claiming an extra 15 playoff points if he can hold on and win the regular season title.

The race was very average throughout. It showed the worst of this car on what should be one of the better tracks on the schedule. Moreover, even with a Goodyear tire test, the Goodyear tire hardly had any wear. Meaning guys like winner William Byron and a smattering of others, could stay out and maintain track position over guys with much fresher tires. Accompany that with a car that's so aero-dependent and can aero-block on short tracks, you leave little room for guys to have a chance at passing. Now, the last run we did see a few guys drive through the field. But I almost exclusively attribute that to several guys stretching their fuel and driving easy to make it to the checkered flag. With all that, I do not want to downplay what Byron and the 24 car did Sunday. Byron was strong at Iowa in 2024 and proved that was no fluke in 2025. He was fast all weekend, they ran up front all day, they nailed the strategy, and played their cards right with the car, rules, tires, and track we were at on Sunday and in 2025. Furthermore, the 24 car has been bad fast for most of the year, but they have had next to no luck all year. Sunday they capitalized on that speed and a little bit luck to go with their perfectly executed race day. And sure, we can crap on the car, tires, rule package, and NASCAR's decision making. That won't change anything for Sunday or likely the rest of the year (and I am skeptical about enough or even the right changes for 2026 and beyond). One of the few highlights on Sunday was the fact we did have a plethora of cautions and restarts. Those added the excitement of restarts and the complexity of pit strategy into Sunday's race. Without those chaotic cautions and rambunctious restarts, we likely have a full on snoozer instead of an "okay" race that left just a little bit to be desired. Either way, Byron and the 24 car capitalized on Sunday. They nailed the day and deserve a huge congrats on their performance.

Next up we head to the Finger Lakes region of New York to go road racing at the famous Watkins Glen International race circuit. We have all three national touring series in action at The Glen with weekend with the Craftsman Truck Series leading off the weekend with the Mission 176 at The Glen on Friday afternoon at 5 p.m. EST on FS1. The Xfinity Series follows the Truck Series on Saturday afternoon with the Mission 200 at the Glen at 3 p.m. EST on The CW. And of course the Cup Series caps off the weekend on Sunday at 2 p.m. EST with the Go Bowling at The Glen on USA.

Watkins Glen Picks: Trucks = Connor Zilisch

Xfinity = Connor Zilisch

Cup = SVG