Notebook: Herring qualifies on pole but won’t race 3M 250

NEWTON - When the green flag falls on Sunday's 3M 250 at Iowa Speedway, the guy who won the pole during knockout qualifying Saturday will not be starting first.

Instead, Joe Gibbs Racing substitute driver Drew Herring will be watching from the No. 20 team's pitbox, as Erik Jones pilots that car during the race. Jones missed Saturday's on-track action while on standby in Charlotte at the Sprint All-Star race for Kyle Busch, but will return for Sunday's race.

It created a unique and bittersweet situation for Herring, who had not been in a racecar since November 2013.

'I did my part, now it's up to (Jones). I did everything I could,” Herring said after qualifying. 'I'm fortunate. It's a privilege any time you get behind the wheel of a Joe Gibbs Racing car.”

'It's definitely a different situation, and of course I wish I was going to be in the car tomorrow. And you never know, things happen; we'll see. '

With such a long layoff, Herring wasn't exactly sure how Saturday would go, but he re-acclimated to the car in a hurry. He was 11th fastest in the first practice and 13th fastest in final practice before the pole-winning run in qualifying.

He lauded the No. 20 team and its ability to adapt to any driver who sits behind the wheel - that team has now won a pole with Denny Hamlin, Jones and Herring driving. Herring said with the way the car was driving by the end of Saturday, it should be fun to watch Jones drive up through the field.

'It's been a good weekend,” Herring said. 'It's the first time I've been in a car on the racetrack since November 2013, so it's been a while. For us to get out here and get up to speed that quick and be able to go out and get a pole speaks volumes for this team.

'It was a lot of fun. Now the fun is somewhat dissipated and we'll come back tomorrow; essentially hand the keys back to Erik (Jones) and watch him come up through the field. I know he's going to have a lot of fun. The car's really good right now.”

As good as Saturday was and as much fun as he had in the car, it's almost cruel for Herring not to be able to see the weekend through and what he'd be able to do in the race.

But he was far from down about it after qualifying, and hopes the pole run translates into more opportunities.

'I'm a competitor first and foremost, and being as competitive as I am it makes this a lot tougher,” Herring said. 'At the same time, it's an opportunity, and I wanted to make the most of it. And we definitely did that. Any time you get an opportunity to get in a car and run laps … it's something you want to get in and take advantage of to get more chances behind the wheel.

'As cruel as it may me, it's a lot better than sitting at home on the couch, that's for sure.”

WALLACE BACK IN XFINITY, HAS ROUGH SATURDAY

NASCAR veteran Kenny Wallace has the most starts in Xfinity Series history - well past 400 now - but has all but removed NASCAR competition from his yearly schedule.

The St. Louis native runs his dirt Modified more than 70 times per year, when he's not on Fox Sports 1 doing his day job on NASCAR pre- and post-race shows. But he returned to RAB Racing and the No. 29 car for the Xfinity Series race this weekend at Iowa Speedway because of his deal with U.S. Cellular.

Wallace's weekend didn't get started off great. On his first lap of practice, the throttle stuck and he hit the Turn 1 wall with the right side of the car, registering 30 Gs of impact.

'I feel bad for the team, the throttle stuck,” Wallace said. 'That's the second time in my whole racing career.

'It pulled, I think, 30 Gs and thank God for the soft walls. I hit like a pack of marshmallows. I was shocked I pulled that many Gs and was OK. We won't look back, just forward, and do the best we can (with a backup car).”

Wallace will return to Iowa for the Xfinity Series race in August, concluding his NASCAR racing for 2015.

And while he won't bring his Modified to Iowa this season, the dirt racing scene here isn't far from his mind.

'I would love to (race in Iowa), but USMTS doesn't run weekdays anymore,” Wallace said. 'I do TV and simply can't get off and do it (in Iowa). We run the UMP series so it would be a six hour drive just to get to Iowa. I love Iowa, it's one of my favorite states because everyone is so family oriented.

'Everything's on my terms these days and we're just having a good time racing.”

RCR CARS STRONG AT IOWA

Year after year, when the NASCAR Xfinity Series comes to Iowa Speedway, Richard Childress Racing has been one of the strongest teams in the garage.

They backed that up on Saturday, qualifying all three cars inside the top 10. Xfinity Series regular Brian Scott was third, Brandon Jones was fifth - and is making his first series start - and series points leader Ty Dillon was ninth.

Their strength, Dillon said, comes from so much time on the track for the organization with various drivers. And they're not worried about who else has strong cars for the race Sunday, either.

'When they first opened the track, either me or Austin raced every single race they had here. And as a company, we've always had at least two cars in the race and have learned a lot and built a good notebook,” Dillon said. 'The more you come back the better it is. We have a good feel and always have confidence here to start the weekend.

'The Gibbs cars will be fast (Sunday), looked like Chase Elliott had some speed, but honestly we don't care about them. We only care about ourselves and controlling our own destiny.”

GRADUATION DAY FOR RHODES

For the second year in a row, one of the drivers starting the Xfinity Series race at Iowa Speedway will be fresh out of high school.

Last year, Chase Elliott flew from his high school graduation in Georgia to Iowa Speedway for the race. This year, Ben Rhodes will miss his graduation ceremony to race the No. 88 for JR Motorsports. Instead, he'll get his diploma on stage during driver introductions.

'For me, it doesn't seem like that big of a deal because I've already missed so much,” Rhodes said. 'I haven't been to a single dance in high school, a single football game; none of that. I've already missed everything, so why not throw graduation in on that?

'That's probably not the best way to look at it, but I'm being optimistic. This is what I love to do. This is what I want to make a career out of, and this is the first opportunity of what I hope is a long career.”

l Comments: (319) 368-8884; jeremiah.davis@thegazette.com