NXS Race Recap: HyVee Perks 250

A beautiful day was had for the NASCAR Xfinity Series as they raced the HyVee Perks 250 at Iowa Speedway. Jesse Love barely beat out William Sawalich for the pole. Connor Zilisch and Carson Hocevar started on the second row. Austin Dillon, who was filling in for the suspended Austin Hill, joined Sam Mayer on the third row. The stage lengths were 60 laps for the first two stages, and the final stage was 130 laps.

Zilisch Out Front Early

The front row both got good jumps to start the race. Zilisch was able to pass Sawalich on the back stretch. Zilisch got underneath Love in turn three and completed the pass for the lead on the front stretch. On the second lap, Ryan Sieg got loose underneath Dillon in turns one and two. Sieg ran up the turn and into Dillon. They both got turned around. That brought out the first caution of the day.

Love and Zilisch brought the field back to green. Zilisch used the outside line to take the lead out of turn two. He was able to build his lead to over half a second.

Ross Chastain was able to pass his JR Motorsports teammate, Carson Kvapil, to get into the top five.

After catching the back of the field, Zilisch was able to expand his lead. He had no trouble passing lapped cars, while Love could not get around them as easily. The lead of Zilisch ballooned to almost a second and a half. Love got closer but could not get to the bumper of the leader. Zilisch would lead the field to the end and win stage one!

Love won the race off of pit road. Zilisch followed him out, losing a spot. Chastain remained in third after his pit stop.

Zilisch had to pit again after they did not get the left front tire properly secured.

Chastain Up, Zilisch Down

Love and Chastain brought the field back to green. Sawalich pushed Love back to the lead. Chastain slid up in front of Sawalich to hold second. Zilisch was able to pass his way through the field after his pit road troubles. He passed his way into 17th after restarting in 24th.

Chastain began to show his speed. He drove by Love to take the lead and quickly built the gap. Brandon Jones was also able to get by Love to take second. The third caution came out when Ryan Ellis got turned around on the front stretch. Ellis got loose underneath Anthony Alfredo in turn four.

Jones joined Chastain on the front row after the choose cone. Jones chose the outside line behind Chastain, who got a great launch and was able to take the lead out of turn two, and he followed the leader to take second.

Zilisch made contact with Justin Allgaier, battling for position. They were fighting to stay inside the top 15. Sam Mayer used some air to move Love out of the groove and complete the pass. Love then fell to seventh as he struggled to gather it back up.

Taylor Gray had the opposite luck. He was able to pass Sawalich to take fourth.

Chastain would take the field to the green white checkered flag to win stage 2! He built his gap to just under a second. Jones finished the stage in second with Mayer, Gray, and Sawalich rounding out the top five.

After leaving the pits out front, Brandon Jones was sent to the rear of the field for speeding on pit road.

Chastain Aura Farming

Sammy Smith, who stayed out, and Chastain restarted the race out front. Chastain used his fresh tires to reclaim the lead. Gray quickly got by Smith to take second. Mayer made the pass on Kvapil to move into the top five.

With Chastain out front, he could not get away easily. Gray was turning faster laps and catching the leader.

On lap 138, Dean Thompson got turned after contact with Corey Day. Day got loose driving into turn three and slid into Thomson, who ultimately spun out. That brought out the fifth caution of the day.

Love and Chastain restarted the race from the front row. Chastain used the quicker outside line to retake the lead. Gray moved into second after he passed Love. Love got shuffled to the outside and lost three more spots quickly. Sawalich, Mayer, and Smith battled to stay in the top five.

Love regained his bearings and passed Sawalich for fourth. Zilisch, who was recovering from pit road woes, also got by Sawalich and into the top five.

Gray kept Chastain honest out front. He stayed within a half second behind the leader and would not let him get away. They both pulled away from Sammy Smith in third. Chastain and Smith both got through the lapped traffic effectively.

Zilisch caught Smith and easily made the pass for third. He then had a four-second gap to Chastain. Chastain and Gray caught a gaggle of lapped traffic, which slowed them both down a bit.

Mason Massey got into the wall, but was able to dive down onto the apron and get into the pits before a caution could be thrown.

Fifty to Go

With fifty to go in the race, Chastain led by half a second over Gray. Zilisch, in third, cut the lead to just under two seconds. Mayer sat six seconds behind Zilisch.

With 49 to go in the race, Daniel Dye had a right front tire go down in turn four. He got into the wall and immediately lowered his window net.

Jones and Allgaier were the first two off of pit road. Taylor Gray had a slow stop and lost a bunch of positions.

Jones and Allgaier brought the green flag back out. Allgaier cleared Jones for the lead out of turn two. Love snatched the lead on the back stretch, and Mayer used the inside line to get into second. Zilisch got loose in turn two and slid into Chastain. Chastain got pushed up the track and into Allgaier. Allgaier got turned around, which brought out the seventh caution.

Love and Mayer brought the field back to green. Love got a great restart and took the lead out of turn two. Mayer followed Love and settled in second. Matt DiBenedetto ran into the back of Day, who was checking up.

Mayer in Charge

Mayer drove underneath Love to take the lead.

Jones got loose in turn two and turned around. He backed his car into the outside wall. That brought out the eighth caution. NASCAR spent some time cleaning up the oil that was left on the track from DiBenedetto.

Love and Mayer brought the field back to green. Mayer got a much better restart and took the lead into turn one. Zilisch tried to pass Love on the outside but could not make it stick. Harrison Burton drove his way to third and tried to pass Love. He settled into third after being unable to complete the pass.

Burton did not give up. He stayed on the bumper of Love, but did not have enough. Chastain caught the back of Burton.

Mayer scampered out to a lead of over a second and a half. He continued to grow his lead.

Chastain was able to pass Burton after following him for a few laps. Zilisch was also able to pass Burton for fourth.

Mayer flexed his muscles and took the white flag. Garrett Smithley got loose and turned his car around on the back stretch. That brought out the caution and ended the race. Sam Mayer took the yellow and checkered flag to win the HyVee Perks 250 at Iowa Speedway! Jesse Love finished in the runner-up spot. Chastain, Zilisch, and Burton rounded out the top five.

Marvin’s Minute:

Sam Mayer finished second last week and improved on that this week. He has shown speed all season and was finally able to put it all together. He really loves racing in Iowa. I also want to point out the efforts of Taylor Gray. He will win a race before the end of the season. He has that car up front every week and will find his way to victory lane. I will put a pie to the face bet on it. The series continues its schedule next week at Watkins Glen.