Iowa Corn 350 Fantasy NASCAR Mid Pack Predictions / The Low Tier

Todd Gilliland
Iowa Fantasy Outlook – On a weekly basis, you can typically pencil in Todd Gilliland for a high-teens to low 20’s finish and at Iowa, you can probably pencil him in for another, but he might very well prove to have upside. Gilliland recently finished 8th at North Wilkesboro and over the two combined shorter-flat track races this year, his average finish is 10.0, his average Speed Ranking is 13.0 and his average running position is the 11th best (14.7)
Iowa Track History – At Iowa, Gilliland has results at polar opposite ends of the spectrum and in the Next Gen he ranks 24th for Driver Rating, 25th for Speed and his average finish is 23.0. Last year, Gilliland had his bad Iowa result and finished 34th. It was an ugly race, and it also wasn’t incident free. On lap 281, Gilliland brought out the last caution of the race for debris while running around 30th when he lost his right-side window. In the race, Gilliland had a 30.7 average running position and ranked 32nd for Total Speed Rankings. In 2024, Gilliland had a solid afternoon  and finished 12th. Additionally, Gilliland earned the 16th best driver rating and had a 17.7 average running position. In terms of Total Speed Rankings, Gilliland ranked 19th with his speed over the segments being 30th, 23rd, 10th and 13th, so as you can see, he was clearly at his best in the second half of the race.

Riley Herbst
Iowa Fantasy Outlook – At Iowa, I would expect about a mid-pack performance from Riley Herbst. This year at shorter-flat tracks, he’s 2 for 2 at finishing 18th and has a 24.5 average Speed Ranking. Going back a little further and over the last four races on this sub-track type his average finish is 20.25. Since the #35 is running a lot better than they did in 2025, I think there’s some hope for upside over last year’s race.
Iowa Track History – Last year at Iowa in his only Cup start here, Riley Herbst had an ugly afternoon and finished 30th. Additionally, Herbst had a 28.4 average running position and ranked 29th in terms of Total Speed Rankings.

Michael McDowell
Iowa Fantasy Outlook – Michael McDowell might have a little dark horse upside, but I also think it’s best to just be braced for a 20’s finish. McDowell’s 2 for 2 at finishing in the 20’s here with a 25.0 average finish and at North Wilkesboro he just recently finished 24th. McDowell’s dark horse upside I’m alluding to is that in the three shorter-flat track races prior to North Wilkesboro, he had results of 9th, 8th and 8th.
Iowa Track History – At Iowa in the Next Gen, Michael McDowell ranks 19th for Speed, 19th for Driver Rating but has a 25.0 average finish. Last year, McDowell started 13th, had an 18.3 average running position, ranked 23rd for Total Speed Rankings and then finished 27th overall. In 2024, McDowell was a top ten contender but finished a misleading 23rd. In the race, McDowell started 22nd, was in 8th on lap 115 but then he had a flat tire and made an unexpected pit stop which dropped him two laps down, back to 35th. McDowell bounced back but then near the end on lap 328 while running in 13th, he had another flat tire, leading to his 23rd. In terms of Total Speed Rankings, McDowell ranked 15th with his speed over the segments being 22nd, 8th, 31st and then 5th.

Make sure you read the full spectrum of our Iowa Fantasy NASCAR Rankings

Top Tier Elite > Front Runners Rankings > Mid Pack Predictions & The Low Tier