A late surge lifts Sam Mayer to a repeat NASCAR Xfinity Collection victory at Iowa Speedway on Saturday afternoon within the HyVee Perks 250.
NEWTON, Iowa — Sam Mayer took management of Saturday’s Hy-Vee Perks 250 NASCAR Xfinity Collection race at Iowa Speedway after a lap 221 restart and maintained it the remainder of the best way to report the primary victory for the Haas Manufacturing unit group and the primary within the collection for Ford this season.
Sam Mayer’s Repeat Victory
Mayer received at Iowa for the second straight 12 months, having triumphed in a JR Motorsports Chevrolet final season. The eighth victory of his profession ended Sunoco rookie Connor Zilisch’s three-race successful streak.
Driving the No. 41 Haas Manufacturing unit Group Ford, Mayer edged forward of pole winner and runner-up Jesse Love on lap 223 earlier than Brandon Jones spun in oil from Matt DiBenedetto’s Chevrolet to trigger the eighth warning of the afternoon.
On the next restart on lap 234, Mayer streaked away and left Love and different pursuers in his wake. After taking the white flag, Mayer was cruising to the victory when Garrett Smithley’s spin induced the ninth and closing warning and froze the sphere, with Mayer within the successful place.
“This one’s all the things proper right here,” Mayer stated. “First win for Haas Manufacturing unit Group — that’s superior. This automobile was quick all day lengthy. I attempted to botch it on pit street, however we didn’t.
“I can’t imagine it. This is likely one of the most particular wins I’ve. These guys (Mayer’s group), they love me to demise, I really like them to demise, and we’re just a few good ol’ boys attempting to go racing.”
After ending fourth within the first stage, Mayer overshot his No. 1 pit stall, which sits at a tough angle round a curve close to the exit from pit street. Mayer restarted sixteenth on lap 71 however labored his means again by means of the sphere and regained the fourth spot by the top of Stage 2.
“I missed my pit field, however the automobile was so good it didn’t even matter,” Mayer stated. “We ran up by means of there—no downside. It was nice.”
Ross Chastain completed third behind Mayer and Love, with Zilisch operating fourth and Harrison Burton fifth.
That is What Occurred to Connor Zilisch
For sensible functions, Zilisch’s bid for a fourth straight Xfinity Collection bumped into quick hassle through the first stage break. After successful Stage 1, Zilisch introduced his No. 88 Chevrolet to pit street for service, however the entrance tire changer did not get all lugs tight on the left entrance wheel.
Zilisch restarted twenty fifth on lap 71 and initially made speedy progress by means of the sphere. Because the second stage progressed, Zilisch stalled out in site visitors, along with his Camaro getting more and more free behind different automobiles.
The 19-year-old phenom completed the stage in seventeenth place and restarted the ultimate stage in the identical place on lap 130. He climbed as excessive as third within the operating order however couldn’t discover a option to prevail throughout a succession of late restarts.
Zilisch’s automobile broke free in a three-wide situation with teammates Chastain and reigning collection champion Justin Allgaier on lap 214. Contact from Zilisch’s automobile knocked Chastain sideways into Allgaier’s Chevrolet.
Allgaier completed sixteenth, making a tie with Connor Zilisch for the collection lead. Simply 4 races are remaining within the common season.
Burton took a serious step towards the Playoffs along with his second top-five end of the season. Now eleventh on the Playoff grid, he’s 17 factors forward of the cutline. Ryan Sieg sits on the cutline contained in the playoffs. Harrison Burton is nineteen factors forward of his cousin Jeb Burton, who now sits beneath the cutline.
Jeb Burton completed twenty ninth on Saturday after coping with a cracked monitor bar. He was struggling by means of the afternoon with an ill-handling automobile.
Subsequent Up
The NASCAR Xfinity Collection heads to Watkins Glen Worldwide for its subsequent race on Saturday, August ninth. The Mission 200 at The Glen begins at 3 pm ET on CW, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. The 2024 winner was Connor Zilisch.
