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Kyle Larson’s Iowa Corn 350 unraveled on a restart when a four-wide squeeze involving John Hunter Nemechek sent Larson and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman into the outside wall, leaving both cars heavily damaged and adding to a rough day for the team. Bowman’s No. 48 was too damaged to continue, and he radioed that the cars were “destroyed.”

Larson’s No. 5 Chevrolet suffered a broken right-rear toe link and front-end damage. He returned to the track several laps down, with reports putting him 16 to 18 laps behind race winner Ty Gibbs, and finished 33rd as a DNF. Larson said he was angry on the radio after being told Nemechek had claimed Larson was on the downshift, then later blamed Nemechek for shoving him up the track in the incident.

The result left Larson winless since May 2025 and dropped him to 10th in the NASCAR Cup Series standings. It also continued his difficult record at Iowa Speedway, where his three Cup finishes are 34th, 28th and 33rd. Bowman finished 34th, and Hendrick Motorsports had a tough overall race even as William Byron ran sixth and Chase Elliott was 30th.

Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Martinsville Speedway announced key parts of their 2027 NASCAR schedules, laying out race weekends that will anchor the season at two of the sport’s prominent tracks. Las Vegas scheduled its spring weekend for March 19-21 and its fall weekend for October 8-10, while Martinsville set its spring dates for April 16-18 and its fall dates for November 5-7.

At Las Vegas, the spring weekend will feature the Pennzoil 400 NASCAR Cup Series race and a LiUNA NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series event. The fall weekend will include the South Point 400 Cup Series race and another O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race. Speedway officials said the South Point 400 is expected to remain a key stop in NASCAR’s championship chase and part of the playoff schedule, and general manager Patrick Lindsey said the track looks forward to hosting fans for two race weekends again. Ticket, broadcast, camping, schedule and fan-experience details will be announced later.

Martinsville said all of its 2027 races will be part of its 80th anniversary season. The spring weekend will include the Whelen Modified Tour on Friday, the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series on Saturday and the Cup Series on Sunday. The fall weekend will again be the penultimate weekend in The Chase for all three national series, with the Truck Series on Friday, the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series on Saturday and the Cup Series on Sunday. Martinsville said its full 2027 schedule, including start times and broadcast information, will be released later.

Black’s Tire Service will return as the primary sponsor on AJ Allmendinger’s No. 16 Chevrolet for Kaulig Racing in Saturday night’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway, marking a fourth straight year of the partnership. Black’s Tire will also serve as the presenting sponsor of Friday’s Black’s Tire 250 Presented by BTS Rewards NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race, while Down East Heating & Air will join as a partner on Allmendinger’s car. Ty Dillon’s No. 10 Chevrolet also carried BSF sponsorship for a second straight weekend.

Black’s Tire president Ricky Benton II said the Richmond weekend will be a major event for the company’s employees and customers. Allmendinger said he was excited to have Black’s Tire back on the car and hoped to deliver a strong result at Richmond. He reached 500 Cup starts in June and has three Cup Series victories and 18 Xfinity Series wins.

Allmendinger heads to Richmond after finishing eighth at Iowa, his fourth top-10 finish of the season. He said Richmond has not always been one of his better tracks, but Kaulig Racing’s short-track progress, strong pit work and improved preparation could help the team contend. The Cup race is set for 7 p.m. ET on USA, with MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio carrying the radio coverage.