Contenders and Pretenders - The Inaugural Race At Iowa

Hello everyone! One of your three proud leaders of Nascar Amino, Tanor Campos, here and welcome to the 17th installment of Contenders and Pretenders! Kyle Larson was freed from any potential worries about his playoff waiver being accepted or not, but once the pressure was laid off, his shoulders that allowed the 2021 champion to unleash his fury on the competition during the most recent NCS race at Sonoma Raceway! Tonight's race will be the debut of Iowa Speedway that returns back onto the schedule for the first time since 2019 while hosting its first ever Nascar Cup Series event, and this race could potentially bring more drama to the 2024 Nascar Cup Series playoff picture so anyways without further ado let's get started with the newest installment of Contenders and Pretenders!

Major Pretender

71 Zane Smith - Back-To-Back Top 20 Finishes

31 Daniel Hemric - First Non-Top 20 Finish Since SC

15 Kaz Grala - First Top 25 Finish Since Darlington

21 Harrison Burton - First Top 25 Finish Since SC

43 Erik Jones - 3 Top 20 Finishes In The Last 4

3 Austin Dillon - 27th or Worse In 3 Of The Last 4

Slight Pretender

51 Justin Haley - First Non-Top 30 Finish Since Dega

77 Carson Hocevar - Leader Of The ROTY Standings

16 Aj Allmendinger - First Top 10 Finish Since COTA

42 JHN - 4 Consecutive Finishes Of 27th or Worse

7 Corey Lajoie - First Top 20 Finish Since Darlington

41 Ryan Preece - First Top 20 Finish Since Darlington

47 RSJ - 4 Top 25 Finishes In The Last 5 Races

4 Josh Berry - Back-To-Back Finishes Outside Top 30

38 Todd Gilliland - First Top 10 Finish Since Dega

10 Noah Gragson - 26th or Worse In 2 Of The Last 3

Possible Contender

34 Michael McDowell - Scored 1st Top 5 In 2024

19 Martin Truex Jr - +128/Retiring After 2024 Season

17 Chris Buescher - 32 Points Above The Cutoff

2 Austin Cindric - Locked Into The Playoffs

6 Brad Keselowski - Locked Into The Playoffs

8 Kyle Busch - 2 Top 15 Finishes In The Last 3

54 Ty Gibbs - 86 Points Above The Cutoff

14 Chase Briscoe - Scored His Worst Finish In 2024

22 Joey Logano - First Non-Top 20 Finish Since SC

20 Christopher Bell - Locked Into The Playoffs

Major Contender

99 Daniel Suarez - Locked Into The Playoffs

24 William Byron - Locked Into The Playoffs

23 Bubba Wallace - 8 Points Above The Cutoff

5 Kyle Larson - Locked Into The Playoffs

12 Ryan Blaney - 64 Points Above The Cutoff

48 Alex Bowman - 65 Points Above The Cutoff

11 Denny Hamlin - Locked Into The Playoffs

9 Chase Elliott - Locked Into The Playoffs

1 Ross Chastain - 73 Points Above The Cutoff

Race Winner

Tyler Reddick

#CandP