MOORESVILLE, N.C. (Aug. 4, 2026) – Ahead of last year’s Iowa Corn 350 at Iowa Speedway in Newton, all Cody Ware had to go on was his work in the simulator. The NASCAR Cup Series driver had never made a start at Iowa in any series. In 2026, Ware returns to the .875-mile oval with firsthand experience, allowing the 30-year-old racer to juxtapose his sim sessions with the reality of what he felt a year ago in the Hawkeye State. “I learned the track is very abrasive,” said Ware when asked about the difference between racing Iowa in simulation and turning actual laps on its asphalt. “They’ve done some asphalt work, but it’s disconnected as far as where the new patches of pavement are compared to the old, and so that created a lack of forward drive. It definitely was one of the tougher races we had last year. But it was also tangible experience, too. We didn’t have that before.” Simulation is incredibly valuable. The immersive, full-motion platform technology allows drivers and their teams to optimize their setups for individual track configurations, and for drivers to log practice laps ahead of an upcoming race weekend. It is as close to the real thing as drivers and teams can get, with a massive wrap-around, high-definition video screen that mimics the track from a driver’s perspective, complete with all the markers needed to note brake points and acceleration zones. “For any race weekend, the sim is crucial,” Ware said. “It gives the team a chance to get the car dialed in, get us right for qualifying and, hopefully, get us a decent starting position. Without the sim, it would take me all of practice and qualifying to even have a semblance of what I need in the car.” In this brave