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NASCAR

Josh Berry, AJ Allmendinger Among Drivers Who Capitalized at Iowa Speedway

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Christopher Bell and Ty Gibbs battling for the win at Iowa Speedway may have become the biggest story, but multiple other drivers used the track to deliver some much-needed solid performances.

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Five, in particular, capitalized by running inside of the top 15 and avoiding mistakes on the partially repaved racing surface. This group includes Josh Berry, AJ Allmendinger, Austin Dillon, Connor Zilisch, and Noah Gragson.

None of these drivers are truly in contention for a spot in The Chase with only three races remaining in the regular season, but this is a point in the season where they all aim to show some progress. This is exactly what they did at the 0.875-mile track.

Josh Berry

Berry had the biggest day of the group. He showed the Team Penske speed as he qualified 13th and then continued to overcome slower pit stops.

The No. 21 didn't handle exactly as Berry wanted, but he ultimately worked his way to fourth place finish. This marked his best finish of the season and his second consecutive top-10.

"I feel like everybody on the 21 car did a really good job all weekend," Berry said after the race. "We just unloaded good. I felt like we left a little bit out there for qualifying, and definitely had great long run pace throughout the race.

"Just needed it to run long enough to show it, and we were finally able to do that and overcome a lot of things. Didn't have a great day on pit road, struggled a little bit firing off.

"But once we got going, I felt like we were really good and definitely a good day. I love coming here. It makes it easy when your cars drive like they did this weekend, and we've just got to keep pushing."

Austin Dillon

Dillon, for comparison, showed that August is yet again going to be the month where he performs. After all, he has won the last two races at Richmond Raceway, the next track on the schedule.

This week at Iowa Speedway, he qualified seventh before running inside the top five throughout the opening stage. He locked up six crucial stage points and then crossed the finish line in 10th place. This marked his third top-10 finish of the season and provided some momentum heading to Richmond.

"We ran inside the top-five almost all of stage 1, and were a consistent force up front all race," Dillon said. "We built loose, but the team was making the needed adjustments to improve that.

"We finished the day 10th, and probably could have finished a couple spots higher if we wouldn't have made a mistake mid-race."

AJ Allmendinger

Another week, another example of the No. 16 team punching above its weight. This is a group that has no support from Chevrolet, no time in the simulator, and no help from other teams in the Bowtie family.

Yet despite these shortcomings, Kaulig Racing continues to turn in some strong runs. Allmendinger, in particular, has an average finish of 20.5 through 23 races. This is better than last season (21.5) when Kaulig Racing had an alliance with Richard Childress Racing.

Sunday at Iowa Speedway, Allmendinger started 25th but worked his way into the top 10 at multiple points in the final stage. He didn't have the same speed and handling as drivers from the big-name teams, but he had enough to do what he needed. He also avoided a multi-car crash that sent both Alex Bowman and Kyle Larson to the garage.

Allmendinger ultimately crossed the line in eighth place and scored his fourth top-10 finish of the season. According to the team, this is his best oval finish since the 2025 Southern 500 when he finished fifth.

"We weren't very good in practice, so Trent (Owens, crew chief) and the team made really good adjustments," Allmendinger said. "Our pit crew did a really good job, especially on that last pit stop to get me near the front.

"I felt like we made our car better throughout the race. We were pretty decent on the long runs. I would fade a little bit, but overall, we had good speed. I felt like we executed as good as we could and got everything we could out of it."

Noah Gragson

Gragson didn't quite get the finish that he hoped at Iowa Speedway, but that came from the strategy. He and the No. 4 team ran very long during the final stage in hope of getting a caution.

The race remained green until the checkered flag, so they had to settle for a 17th-place finish. Though Gragson posted this finish after cracking the top 10 multiple times and running inside the top 20 throughout the day.

Gragson had the clean, quiet day that he and Front Row Motorsports needed at Iowa Speedway.

Connor Zilisch

Of the drivers on this list, none needed the Iowa performance more than the rookie, Zilisch. He has gone through it during his first full season, to the point that he has finished 30th or worse in 11 of 23 races. This includes three times in the four races leading into Iowa Speedway.

Yet, Zilisch turned in his most complete performance on an oval track. He posted his best oval qualifying effort at eighth, and then he scored points in both stages. He narrowly missed out on a top-10 finish, but he crossed the line in 11th place.

The Trackhouse Racing driver remains buried in the points at 34th, but he and his team showed it could deliver at a more traditional short track.

"It definitely feels good to come back from the off weekend and have a solid day with this No. 88 Roto-Rooter Chevrolet team," Zilisch said.

"We got points in both stages and just missed a top-10 with an 11th-place finish. I'm proud of this entire team for keeping their heads down."

 

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