Iowa Victory Lane Welcomes Newcomers
In its six-year history hosting the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, Iowa Speedway has seen one repeat winner, Timothy Peters. With only three past winners including Peters, Ryan Blaney and Matt Crafton, expected to run Friday’s race, a new face in Victory Lane would be no surprise. Among those without wins are two drivers with the highest active driver ratings with multiple starts at the track, including Erik Jones at 107.4 and Johnny Sauter at 107.0.
By now most have heard of Jones, who’s exceling as Kyle Busch’s understudy in the No. 51 Toyota. This NASCAR Next driver from Byron, Michigan boasts an impressive average finish of 5.5 after two starts at Iowa Speedway. A win at Iowa would give Jones his second victory in the truck series and place his name in the history books as the youngest race winner at the track. His first win was in November 2013 at Phoenix when he became the youngest winner in series history at 17 years, five months and eight days old.
On the other hand, there is nine-time series race winner Sauter. Sauter claims six top-five finishes in seven starts at Iowa Speedway, and at 36 years old he has nearly twice as much experience as Jones. Sauter owns the best average finish of 4.9 at the track and is the series points leader.
Ryan Blaney Leads Youth Movement
With Darrell Wallace Jr.’s win at Gateway Motorsports Park on June 14, the second-year driver helped his manufacturer, Toyota, set a new record for wins in the series. Dating back to last year when fellow Kyle Busch Motorsports driver Erik Jones won at Phoenix, a Toyota Tundra has visited Victory Lane nine consecutive times.
The win ended a three-way tie in the Camping World Truck Series for most consecutive wins. The previous record was eight, originally set by Chevrolet in 1995 and matched by Dodge in 2001.
With its hot start to the 2014 season, Toyota also has the early lead in the race for the manufacturer’s title. Toyota won the title last season, and added an owner title with Kyle Busch Motorsports and the driver title with Matt Crafton. Toyota has won the manufacturers title six out of the past eight seasons.
Toyota is also second in the record books for most wins in the series with 119. Chevrolet holds the record with 197.
Red Horse Racing Tames Iowa Speedway
Red Horse Racing teammates Timothy Peters and German Quiroga know their way around Iowa Speedway. Quiroga earned his first career Keystone Light Pole Award in his first start at the track in July 2013. It was Peters, however, who ended the race in the top spot, making his second trip to Victory Lane.
The only two-time winner at the “fastest short track on the planet,” Peters has won the last two July races and looks to continue his streak this Friday, making it three-for-three in a true show of mastery. Peters is third in the series points standings, 11 points behind leader Johnny Sauter.
But this go-around could also be Quiroga’s turn to ride Red Horse Racing into Victory Lane. With six top-ten finishes this season, including a career-best finish of second at Gateway Motorsports Park in June 2014, Quiroga has had a breakout season. With this duo at the helm, Red Horse Racing looks to defend its team wins in the Hawkeye State.