Iowa was full of excitement and “Hell Yeah” moments. Ryan Blaney may have won the race, but it was Kyle Larson who looked dominant at the Iowa CORN 350.
After securing pole position at 140 mph, Larson edged Ryan Blaney by just 0.025 seconds. Although the Team Penske rider lost his lead in Stage 1, Larson bounced back in Stage 2.
But fortunately, Larson’s stellar luck quickly fell apart, with huge consequences for his teammate and rival. What happened?
How did Kyle Larson’s bad day at Iowa help Chase Elliott?
The Hendrick Motorsports No. 5 car was securely in the top spot around the 200th lap.
But then a few cars surged past him; Chris Buescher took the lead, while Josh Berry, Todd G Illeland, Brad Keselowski passed Kyle Larson to move up to fifth place.
However, this drop-in place was his last place in the race because of a serious accident.
Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suarez clipped Larson’s left side.
The impact caused Kyle Larson’s car to spin, roll over and crash into the outside wall. He also took the No. 11 car of Denny Hamlin with him.
The No. 5 Chevrolet and No. 11 Toyota both had burned tires together, sustained significant damage and were smoking.
Larson and Hamlin both reported issues with their right-front tie rods. Meanwhile, Chase Elliott took over the spotlight from Hendrick in Kyle Larson’s absence.
Elliott took the points lead as Larson dropped to 35th. Journalist Matt Weaver reported on the situation and how it helped the No. 9 driver. “From a regular season championship standpoint, Chase Elliott should be the big beneficiary of that. And while he’s only won one race so far this year, 15 points in the playoffs means three more wins.”
So Kyle Larson was out of the race. Crew chief Cliff Daniels said over the radio, “We’re going to the garage to work on the car,” and NASCAR also gave Larson’s pit crew a two-lap penalty for having too many people over the wall.
A dramatic drop in the standings for the race leader.
So Kyle Larson lost an advantage to his teammate Chase Elliott, while putting his opponent Denny Hamlin in a dire situation.
At the end of the race, Elliott won. He ended up at the top of the drivers’ standings.
Chase Elliott reveals his personal strategy: “The trick is…”
After Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson were gone, Ryan Blaney emerged as the winner in Iowa.
Hendrick drivers William Byron and Chase Elliott followed close behind.
This year has been very good for the No. 9 driver, compared to last year, which was plagued by injuries.
Not only did Elliott stop a 42-game losing streak at Texas in April, but he also earned his third podium in Iowa.
Currently, Elliott sits atop the drivers’ standings, and that’s thanks to Larson’s accident.
Chase Elliott has a personal trick for getting through 2024, which he shared in a post-race conversation with NASCAR.com.
“With the playoff situation right now, you want to do well in the top 10 and you really want to do well in the top five.
The trick is to do well enough to like the top eight in your mind,” he added. It’s not great yet, but I’m trying to be really great in the last three or four weeks.
So it’s really important to have a solid base to break through there and then try to hit a home run in the last few, hopefully. “
This trick seems to work pretty well for Elliott, who has 591 points. We can’t wait to see the returning Hendrick drivers in Victory Lane again.
