NASCAR News: Sam Mayer wins Iowa Xfinity race

Sam Mayer took control of Saturday’s Hy-Vee Perks 250 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Iowa Speedway after a Lap 221 restart and maintained it the rest of the way to record the first victory for the Haas Factory team and the first in the series for Ford this season.

Mayer won at Iowa for the second straight year, having triumphed in a JR Motorsports Chevrolet last season. The eighth victory of his career ended Sunoco rookie Connor Zilisch’s three-race winning streak.

Driving the No. 41 Haas Factory Team Ford, Mayer edged ahead of pole winner and runner-up Jesse Love on Lap 223 before Brandon Jones spun in oil from Matt DiBenedetto’s Chevrolet to cause the eighth caution of the afternoon.

On the subsequent restart on Lap 234, Mayer streaked away and left Love and other pursuers in his wake. After taking the white flag, Mayer was cruising to the victory when Garrett Smithley’s spin caused the ninth and final caution and froze the field, with Mayer in the winning position.

“This one’s everything right here,” Mayer said. “First win for Haas Factory Team — that’s awesome. This car was fast all day long. I tried to botch it on pit road, but we didn’t.

“I can’t believe it. This is one of the most special wins I have. These guys (Mayer’s team), they love me to death, I love them to death, and we’re just some good ol’ boys trying to go racing.”

After finishing fourth in the first stage, Mayer overshot his No.1 pit stall, which sits at a difficult angle around a curve near the exit from pit road. Mayer restarted 16th on Lap 71 but worked his way back through the field and regained the fourth spot by the end of Stage 2.

“I missed my pit box, but the car was so good it didn’t even matter,” Mayer said. “We ran up through there—no problem. It was great.”

Ross Chastain finished third behind Mayer and Love, with Zilisch running fourth and Harrison Burton fifth.

For practical purposes, Zilisch’s bid for a fourth straight Xfinity Series ran into immediate trouble during the first stage break. After winning Stage 1, Zilisch brought his No. 88 Chevrolet to pit road for service, but the front tire changer failed to get all lugs tight on the left front wheel.

Zilisch restarted 25th on Lap 71 and initially made rapid progress through the field. As the second stage progressed, Zilisch stalled out in traffic, with his Camaro getting increasingly loose behind other cars.

The 19-year-old phenom finished the stage in 17th-place and restarted the final stage in the same position on Lap 130. He climbed as high as third in the running order but couldn’t find a way to prevail during a succession of late restarts.

In fact, Zilisch’s car broke loose in a three-wide scenario with teammates Chastain and reigning series champion Justin Allgaier on Lap 214. Contact from Zilisch’s car knocked Chastain sideways into Allgaier’s Chevrolet.

With Allgaier finishing 16th, he and Zilisch’s are now tied for the series lead with four races left in the regular season.

Burton took a major step toward the Playoffs with his second top-five finish of the season. He’s now 11th on the current Playoff grid, 17 points ahead of 12th-place Ryan Sieg and 19 points ahead of cousin Jeb Burton, the first driver below the elimination line.

Jeb Burton finished 29th Saturday after dealing with a cracked track bar and suffering through the afternoon with an ill-handling car.

Driving the No. 11 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet after the abrupt release of Josh Williams from the ride, Carson Hocevar finished sixth, followed by Sheldon Creed, Ryan Sieg, Carson Kvapil and Christian Eckes.

NASCAR Xfinity Series Race – Hy-Vee Perks 250 Results

1. (5)  Sam Mayer, Ford, 250.
2. (1)  Jesse Love, Chevrolet, 250.
3. (11)  Ross Chastain(i), Chevrolet, 250.
4. (4)  Connor Zilisch #, Chevrolet, 250.
5. (17)  Harrison Burton, Ford, 250.
6. (3)  Carson Hocevar(i), Chevrolet, 250.
7. (14)  Sheldon Creed, Ford, 250.
8. (7)  Ryan Sieg, Ford, 250.
9. (8)  Carson Kvapil #, Chevrolet, 250.
10. (25)  Christian Eckes #, Chevrolet, 250.
11. (2)  William Sawalich #, Toyota, 250.
12. (16)  Justin Bonsignore, Toyota, 250.
13. (28)  Parker Retzlaff, Chevrolet, 250.
14. (6)  Austin Dillon(i), Chevrolet, 250.
15. (9)  Sammy Smith, Chevrolet, 250.
16. (15)  Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 250.
17. (36)  Taylor Gray #, Toyota, 250.
18. (24)  Kyle Sieg, Ford, 250.
19. (26)  Nick Sanchez #, Chevrolet, 250.
20. (22)  Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, 250.
21. (29)  Josh Bilicki, Chevrolet, 250.
22. (27)  Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 250.
23. (12)  Brandon Jones, Toyota, 250.
24. (18)  Corey Day, Chevrolet, 249.
25. (34)  Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, 249.
26. (19)  Anthony Alfredo, Chevrolet, 249.
27. (33)  Joey Gase, Chevrolet, 249.
28. (21)  Blaine Perkins, Chevrolet, 249.
29. (32)  Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, 249.
30. (35)  Patrick Emerling(i), Chevrolet, 249.
31. (20)  Dean Thompson #, Toyota, 248.
32. (23)  Thomas Annunziata, Chevrolet, 248.
33. (30)  Garrett Smithley, Chevrolet, 247.
34. (37)  Tyler Tomassi, Ford, 240.
35. (13)  Matt DiBenedetto, Chevrolet, Accident, 221.
36. (10)  Daniel Dye #, Chevrolet, Accident, 200.
37. (31)  Mason Massey, Chevrolet, Suspension, 172.
38. (38)  Dawson Cram, Chevrolet, Vibration, 93.

Average Speed of Race Winner:  87.832 mph.

Time of Race:  2 Hrs, 29 Mins, 26 Secs. Margin of Victory:  Under Caution Seconds.

Caution Flags:  9 for 61 laps.

Lead Changes:  13 among 8 drivers.

Lap Leaders:   J. Love 1;C. Zilisch # 2-7;J. Love 8;C. Zilisch # 9-64;J. Love 65-83;R. Chastain(i) 84-124;T. Gray # 125;S. Smith 126-128;R. Chastain(i) 129-207;T. Gray # 208;B. Jones 209-211;J. Allgaier 212;J. Love 213-222;S. Mayer 223-250.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  Ross Chastain(i) 2 times for 120 laps; Connor Zilisch # 2 times for 62 laps; Jesse Love 4 times for 31 laps; Sam Mayer 1 time for 28 laps; Brandon Jones 1 time for 3 laps; Sammy Smith 1 time for 3 laps; Taylor Gray # 2 times for 2 laps; Justin Allgaier 1 time for 1 lap.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 88,2,9,41,18,1,11,10,25,7

Stage #2 Top Ten: 9,20,54,41,18,00,2,25,1,39

By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service