Kevin Harvick picks JGR’s veteran as favorite to win the inaugural NASCAR Cup race at Iowa

As the NASCAR Cup Series heads to Iowa Speedway for the first time, Kevin Harvick shared his insights and predicted the winner for the upcoming race. Harvick went with the Joe Gibbs Racing veteran to pick up the first win of the inaugural Iowa Corn 350 Powered by Ethanol at Iowa Speedway.

On his eponymous “Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour” podcast, the former NASCAR champion-turned-commentator explored a detailed analysis of the driver he believes will be a strong contender to win at the Iowa Cup race on Sunday (June 16).

According to Kevin Harvick, NASCAR veteran Denny Hamlin is going to win the Iowa Corn 350 this weekend. Harvick backed Hamlin, believing that the 0.875-mile short track’s characteristics would favor Hamlin. Predicting the inaugural Iowa Corn 350 winner on his podcast, Harvick said:

“I think we're back in the wheelhouse of the Gibbs cars, and I think Denny Hamlin gets back on track.

“Clint was arguing with me in the booth over the Gibbs car, or the #11 car in general, just that he was off track, that he needed to get the wheels back on track. So I pulled the sheet out, and I'm like, yep, third, fifth, second, yeah, he's terrible, four or five top fives in a row. And I think with the engine failure and the type of racetrack that we're going to, I think it's Denny Hamlin who's winning.”

Harvick’s co-host, Kaitlyn Vincie, picked Ricky Stenhouse Jr., considering his Xfinity success at this track. Stenhouse Jr., however, has been winless since winning the season opener at Daytona in 2023.

“I'm going with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. He's won at Iowa three times in the Xfinity Series,” Vincie said.

While co-host Mamba Smith picked Bubba Wallace to win this week, Smith said:

“I'm going to go with Bubba Wallace, going with the Toyota. This place, I feel like he's one of the guys that's probably raced here more recently.”

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How has Kevin Harvick’s top pick performed in recent Cup races?

Through 16 races, Denny Hamlin has been going through superb form this season. Despite an early engine failure at last week’s Sonoma race, Hamlin has achieved strong finishes in the last five races. He has scored five consecutive top-five finishes, along with a win at the Dover Motor Speedway.

With three wins, seven top-5s, and eight top-10 finishes, Hamlin is third in the Cup Series points table with 535 points.

Catch Kevin Harvick’s top pick in action at the Iowa Corn 350 at Iowa Speedway on Sunday (June 16) at 7 pm ET.