Iowa Corn 350 Fantasy NASCAR Top Tier Elite Picks

Ryan Blaney
Iowa Fantasy Outlook – Ryan Blaney, the 2024 Iowa winner is a super-elite shorter-flat track performer and on Sunday, put him on your short list of favorites. At Iowa, Blaney was the class of the field in 2024 and over the combined races, he ranks 2nd across the board in terms of average finish (2.5), Speed and Driver Rating. At shorter-flat tracks since 2025, Blaney has the best average finish (6.6), best Driver Rating and ranks #1 for Speed (3.5 average Speed Ranking). Also on this track type, Blaney’s won 3 of the last 4 races and minus Phoenix #1 2025 where his engine blew up his average finish is 3.6. Heading into the weekend, look for Blaney to be a top five contender who’ll be a factor to win.
Iowa Track History – Ryan Blaney has been stout at Iowa, being 2 for 2 at finishing in the top 4 with an impressive 2.5 average finish. Last year, Blaney ran well throughout and was a factor. In the race, Blaney started 6th, finished 4th in Stage #1, finished 2nd in Stage #2, had the 2nd best average running position (5.2), earned the 4th best Driver Rating and then finished 4th overall. In terms of Total Speed Rankings, Blaney ranked 3rd. In 2024, Blaney smoked the field, easily racing his way to victory lane. In the race, Blaney won Stage #1, finished 4th in Stage #2, had a race best 2.6 average running position, led the most laps (201) and earned the best Driver Rating by a wide margin. In terms of speed analytics, Blaney had the best Total Speed Ranking and ranked 4th for Speed Late In A Run.

Chase Briscoe
Iowa Fantasy Outlook – Look for Chase Briscoe to be a contender at Iowa. Briscoe finished runner-up last summer, he’s fresh off a 3rd at North Wilkesboro which is the most recent shorter-flat track visited, and you have to love how well the #19 team is performing, having finished in the top 4 in 4 of the last 5 races.  At shorter-flat tracks since 2025, Briscoe ranks 7th for Speed and in terms of the results column minus Phoenix which has been a recent trouble spot his average finish is 6th. Heading into the weekend, I would view him as a top five contender who might just be a factor to win.
Iowa Track History – At Iowa, Chase Briscoe has had two very different races. Briscoe was a contender last year but an outright dud in 2024. Last year, Briscoe started on the pole, led 81 laps, earned the 3rd best Driver Rating, had the 4th best Total Speed Ranking, had the 5th best average running position (7.1) and then finished 2nd. In 2024 in his old ride, Briscoe’s afternoon went downhill as the race went along. In the race, Briscoe started 6th, finished about 17th in Stage #1, finished about 29th in Stage #2 and then finished 28th when the checkered flag waved. In terms of Total Speed Rankings, Briscoe ranked 17th with his speed over the segments being 8th, 15th, 26th and then 24th.

Denny Hamlin
Iowa Fantasy Outlook – Denny Hamlin is a super-elite performer at shorter-flat tracks and at Iowa, I would look for Hamlin to be a contender. Iowa has not been kind to Hamlin with him being 2 for 2 at finishing 24th but as they say, third times a charm and I expect 2026’s race to play out differently. At shorter-flat tracks since 2025, Hamlin ranks 2nd for average finish (7.8) and 3rd for Speed. At the two visited this year, Hamlin just recently finished 2nd at North Wilkesboro and then finished 5th at Phoenix. In terms of Total Speed Rankings in the 2026 races, he’s 2 for 2 at ranking 2nd. In other 2026 track type analytics, Hamlin ranks 1st for average running position and 2nd for Driver Rating. Heading into the weekend, I would look for Hamlin to be a top five contender who’ll be a factor to win.
Iowa Track History – Iowa hasn’t been pretty for Denny Hamlin. He’s 2 for 2 at finishing 24th and in other analytics he ranks 21st for Driver Rating and 23rd for Speed. Last year, Hamlin didn’t seem to really like his car, said it was on the edge, and it was chattering tires like crazy. In the race, Hamlin started 11th, finished Stage #1 in about 11th, finished Stage #2 in about 17th and then early in the last Stage on lap 221 while running in 18th, he was spun which brought out the caution. I’ll note, the last Stage was full of cautions, and it had Hamlin up to 8th on lap 286 but from that point on, he basically slowly dropped back in the running order to his 24th. Perhaps he was saving fuel to explain it, since some were. Additionally in the race, Hamlin had a 13.3 average running position and ranked 17th for Total Speed Rankings. In 2024, Hamlin started 12th but when the green flag waved, he dropped back like a rock. By lap 24, he was already back to 28th and then come lap 35, he was lapped. The #11 team did seem to regroup, and he finished 6th in Stage #2. Then early in the last Stage while running in the top ten, Suarez and Larson had contact which shot the #5 up to the wall and then he nailed Hamlin, ending the #11’s competitive afternoon, leading to his 24th. In terms of Total Speed Rankings, Hamlin ranked 32nd. If it wasn’t for the crash, I think Hamlin could’ve come home with a top ten.

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