Kevin Harvick predicts winner of Iowa NASCAR race

Iowa Speedway will take center stage for the NASCAR Cup Series this weekend. Ahead of all of the action, Kevin Harvick is locking in his prediction for Sunday afternoon.

Last season, Ryan Blaney won the inaugural Cup Series race at the track. Kyle Larson had speed, but an accident took him out of the running. His Hendrick teammates in William Byron and Chase Elliott made up the rest of the podium in his stead, but they couldn’t catch Blaney.

Evidently, Harvick believes the Team Penske wheelman can get it done again, as he picked Blaney to win this weekend. It would be his second win of 2025, coming off a solid P7 finish in the Brickyard 400. 

Elsewhere, Harvick’s fellow members of the Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour podcast made some picks, as well. Kaitlyn Vincie is riding with Christopher Bell of Joe Gibbs Racing to end a bit of a slide and end up winning in Iowa.

Last weekend, Bell was able to secure a top ten in the Brickyard 400, finishing P8. It was a solid run for the JGR wheelman, although he’d rather end up in Victory Lane when the checkered flag waves.

As for Iowa, Bell had a solid showing in 2024. He started tenth, but he drove his way up to P4 when the final lap came around. We’ll see if he can get his fourth win of the season this weekend and prove Vincie right in the end.

Finally, Mamba Smith went a bit against the grain with his pick. He chose Ryan Preece of RFK Racing to shock the world and win his first-ever Cup Series race, locking himself in the playoffs with a victory.

Ironically, Preece does have a win at the track in the past, albeit coming in the Xfinity Series. He drove the No. 20 for JGR to Victory Lane back in 2017 at the track. This is a whole different animal, but there’s some precedent for success for the No. 60 Ford wheelman.

Additionally, a win for Preece would mark another driver who’s able to notch their first win of the season to lock themselves into the playoffs. Bubba Wallace was able to accomplish that feat in Indiana, and for Preece, it’d be even more special, serving as win No. 1 in his Cup Series tenure.

All predictions will get thrown out the window when the race begins, but it’s interesting to see where the Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour crew is leaning at the moment. Whether it’s Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell, Ryan Preece, or someone else, a victory in Iowa will be a hard-fought one for whichever driver gets the dub.