NEWTON, Iowa (AP) 鈥� William Byron said there can be a good feeling when he returns to a track where he has won recently.
Whether that changes his fortunes of this season remains to be seen.
Byron is back at Iowa Speedway, where he won last year鈥檚 NASCAR Cup Series race. He has only won once since then, and doesn鈥檛 have a win this season.
鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 say that you come in here like, 鈥極h man, this is going to go so great because of last year,鈥欌�� Byron said. 鈥淏ut yeah, maybe you just drive in feeling a little better about the place.鈥�
Byron, who will start 19th in Sunday’s 350-lap race, comes in ranked 12th in the season standings with 568 points. He has four top-five finishes and nine top-10s.
Byron鈥檚 win last season came after he opened the year by winning the Daytona 500, then he didn鈥檛 win again until Iowa, a span of 21 races. He is now in a stretch of 22 races without a victory, dating to his win at Martinsville in the next-to-last race of last season..
Byron paused when asked to describe this season.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know,鈥� Byron said. 鈥淚 mean, it鈥檚 just kind of under how we would want to perform. But I think the new car has been a learning curve, and we鈥檙e just trying to get a hold of it. We鈥檙e just trying to get it all figured out and get better.鈥�
Byron won last season鈥檚 race with fuel strategy, stretching his final tank of gas to lead the final 74 laps.
鈥淚t just worked out for us that it was fuel mileage and we had a pretty good car,鈥� Byron said.
Byron has three wins overall at Iowa Speedway 鈥� he won an O鈥橰eilly Auto Parts Series race in 2017 and a Truck Series race in 2016. He finished second in the inaugural Cup Series race in Iowa in 2024.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know, but it sure seems like it鈥檚 been a good track for us over the years,鈥� Byron said.
Hamlin’s struggles
Points leader Denny Hamlin hasn’t had the best of luck at Iowa Speedway 鈥� he has finished 24th in each of the first two races.
Those struggles continued during Saturday’s practice and qualifying, when he dealt with brake issues. Hamlin ran just 24 practice laps, then was 29th in afternoon qualifying.
Hamlin and Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Chase Briscoe both had brake issues.
鈥淭he first five laps, I went out and everything was checking out,鈥� Hamlin said. 鈥淓verything was okay. I thought the car had decent speed and had a good balance to it. Certainly better than what we鈥檝e been here in the past, and but unfortunately just didn鈥檛 get more practice in that.鈥�
A repave is coming
Iowa Speedway will undergo a complete repaving before next season鈥檚 race, and it鈥檚 something that drivers think is long overdue.
鈥淧art of you as a racer is like, man, why would you repave somewhere?鈥� Ryan Preece said. 鈥淏ut you can see the separation in some of the lanes, and it definitely is going to need it.鈥�
The project at the .875-mile track is scheduled to begin next week and the plan is for it to be finished by late fall. Next season鈥檚 race is scheduled for July 4.
Parts of the track were repaved before the inaugural race in 2024, with the new surface in the bottom groove of the turns.
鈥淚 just hope they really bank up the third and fourth lane because then I think it鈥檚 going to be a heck of a race track where it鈥檚 not locked on the bottom with new pavements,鈥� said Ryan Blaney, who won the 2024 race. 鈥淪o time will tell.鈥�
New stage break rules
A new stage break procedure will begin with Sunday鈥檚 race.
If a caution flag is waved with 10 or fewer laps remaining in the stage, the stage will be considered complete, and the caution period will be the scheduled stage break. The leader of the race will receive the green-and-white checkered flag, along with the yellow flag, when the field returns to the start/finish line. The move is to cut the time drivers are under a yellow flag at the end of the stage.
鈥淚f a caution does come out four or five laps before the stage is over, and you know you鈥檙e not going to restart it right around there for double the time, that鈥檚 no fun for anybody,鈥� Blaney said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 no fun for anybody watching. It鈥檚 not fun for us either, sitting around there cruising around for extra laps and taking time up.鈥�
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