Late surge lifts Sam Mayer to repeat NASCAR Xfinity victory at Iowa
Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images
NEWTON, Ia.—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 Number 22
Race Results for the HyVee Perks 250 - Saturday, August 2, 2025
Iowa Speedway - Newton, IA - 0.875 - Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 250 Laps - 218.75 Miles
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Saturday, 8/2/2025 @ 07:36 PM Eastern
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Stage 2 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 5 41 Sam Mayer Audibel Ford 250 4 4 54 Running 1 28 5
2 1 2 Jesse Love Whelen Chevrolet 250 2 7 48 Running 4 31
3 11 9 Ross Chastain(i) Acceptance Insurance Chevrolet 250 3 1 0 Running 2 120
4 4 88 Connor Zilisch # KOA Chevrolet 250 1 43 Running 2 62 1
5 17 25 Harrison Burton Morton Buildings Ford 250 9 8 37 Running
6 3 11 Carson Hocevar(i) Benesch Law Chevrolet 250 7 0 Running
7 14 00 Sheldon Creed Road Ranger/Bucked Up Ford 250 6 35 Running
8 7 39 Ryan Sieg Sci Aps Ford 250 10 30 Running
9 8 1 Carson Kvapil # Roto-Rooter Chevrolet 250 6 9 35 Running
10 25 16 Christian Eckes # Celsius Chevrolet 250 27 Running
11 2 18 William Sawalich # Starkey Toyota 250 5 5 38 Running
12 16 19 Justin Bonsignore USNE Power Toyota 250 25 Running
13 28 4 Parker Retzlaff Ziploc Chevrolet 250 24 Running
14 6 21 Austin Dillon(i) Bennett Transportation Chevrolet 250 0 Running
15 9 8 Sammy Smith TMC Transportation Chevrolet 250 22 Running 1 3
16 15 7 Justin Allgaier BRANDT/Precision Build Chevrolet 250 10 22 Running 1 1
17 36 54 Taylor Gray # Operation 300 Toyota 250 3 28 Running 2 2
18 24 28 Kyle Sieg D2 Transport Ford 250 19 Running
19 26 48 Nick Sanchez # Big Machine Vodka Spiked Coolers Chevrolet 250 18 Running
20 22 44 Brennan Poole Midas Chevrolet 250 17 Running
21 29 91 Josh Bilicki Sukup Chevrolet 250 16 Running
22 27 51 Jeremy Clements Alliance Driveway Solutions Chevrolet 250 15 Running
23 12 20 Brandon Jones Menards/Criterion Toyota 250 2 23 Running 1 3
24 18 17 Corey Day HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 249 13 Running
25 34 71 Ryan Ellis Sweetwater Construction Chevrolet 249 12 Running
26 19 42 Anthony Alfredo Wilde Protein Chips Chevrolet 249 11 Running
27 33 53 Joey Gase King of the Hill on Hulu Chevrolet 249 10 Running
28 21 31 Blaine Perkins FVP Verified Proven Chevrolet 249 9 Running
29 32 27 Jeb Burton Krush 250 Chevrolet 249 8 Running
30 35 07 Patrick Emerling(i) Motoplex of Nebraska Chevrolet 249 0 Running
31 20 26 Dean Thompson # Thompson Pipe Group Toyota 248 6 Running
32 23 70 Thomas Annunziata Bayshore Mortgage Chevrolet 248 5 Running
33 30 14 Garrett Smithley Camp Barnes Chevrolet 247 4 Running
34 37 35 Tyler Tomassi NOS Custom Diecast/K1 Speed Ford 240 3 Running
35 13 99 Matt DiBenedetto Viking Motorsports Chevrolet 221 2 Accident
36 10 10 Daniel Dye # Champion Container Chevrolet 200 8 4 Accident
37 31 45 Mason Massey Mongoose Power Solutions Chevrolet 172 1 Suspension
38 38 74 Dawson Cram Mike Harmon Racing Chevrolet 93 1 Vibration
Fastest Lap Bonus: #9 lap 150 / 24.409
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 29 Mins, 26 Secs. Average Speed: 87.832 MPH Margin of Victory: Under Caution
Stage 1 Top 10: 88, 2, 9, 41, 18, 1, 11, 10, 25, 7
Stage 2 Top 10: 9, 20, 54, 41, 18, 00, 2, 25, 1, 39
Race Comments: Sam Mayer has won the Hy-Vee Perks 250 at Iowa Speedway, his eighth victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Prior to the start of the race, the following vehicle(s) dropped to the rear of the field under penalty: Nos. 07, 8, 27, 35, 54, 71, 74 (Unapproved Adjustments).
Failed to Qualify: None.
Caution Flags: 9 for 61 laps; Laps: 3-8 (#21, 39 Incident Turn 2 [None]); 62-70 (Stage 1 Conclusion [71]); 91-96 (#42, 71 Incident Turn 4 [21]); 122-129 (Stage 2
Conclusion [71]); 140-144 (#17, 26 Incident Turn 4 [28]); 203-212 (#10 Incident Turn 4 [26]); 215-220 (#7 Spin Turn 2 [21]); 224-233 (#20 Incident Turn 2 [51]); 250-250 (#14 Spin Turn 2 [None]).
Lead Changes: 13 among 8 drivers; 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.
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Next Race: August 9, 2025 - Watkins Glen International
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