Heading into this weekend’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Iowa Speedway, Sam Mayer had put together a strong season driving for the newly rebranded Haas Factory Team. The Wisconsin native had scored nine top-five finishes through the first 21 races of the year and ranked third in the regular season points, yet had failed to break through and find victory lane.
That all changed in Saturday’s HyVee Perks 250, as Mayer outdueled Richard Childress Racing’s Jesse Love on a late-race restart and led the remaining 25 laps to score the eighth win of his career. Not only did Mayer’s victory snap a 25-race winless streak, but it also marked back-to-back wins at Iowa for the young driver, having won last year’s event driving for JR Motorsports.
Crossing the line behind Mayer were Love and Ross Chastain, with Connor Zilisch and Harrison Burton rounding out the top 5. Carson Hocevar, Sheldon Creed, Ryan Sieg, Carson Kvapil and Christian Eckes rounded out the top 10.
The Winners
While Mayer may not have dominated on Saturday, he certainly had one of the cars to beat, as he showed great speed in practice and finished in the top five in all three stages. With his strong performance, the 22-year-old now sits just 16 points out of the regular-season points lead.
Love, meanwhile, certainly wishes that the final restart had played out differently, but still enjoyed a successful day driving in his second year at RCR. Love won the pole and led 31 laps en route to his sixth top 5 finish of the season.
Perhaps the fastest car on track was the #9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet of Chastain, as the Cup Series regular paced the field for 120 laps and won the second stage of the event. However, the Florida native used up his equipment on several late-race restarts and settled for 3rd place.
Chastain’s teammate Zilisch also showed great speed, but suffered from his racie not being the cleanest for the 19-year-old rookie. After winning the opening stage, his team had to call him down pit road a second time after leaving lug nuts loose on the left front wheel, costing Zilisch valuable track position.
Zilisch managed to claw his way back up the running order, but on a restart with 37 laps to go, he went up the track in turn one and spun out his JR Motorsports teammate Justin Allgaier. Despite all of these issues, Zilisch managed to keep his now 10-race top-five streak alive with a fourth-place finish.
The award for the biggest overachiever of the weekend goes to Harrison Burton and AM Racing, as the team scored their second top five of the season after running inside the top 10 for the majority of the event. With the strong result, Burton now sits 17 points above the playoff cutline with four races remaining in the regular season.
Cup Series regular Hocevar gave Kaulig Racing’s #11 Chevrolet one of its strongest runs of the season with his sixth-place finish, following the departure of the team’s previous driver, Josh Williams. The result matches William’s best career finish with the organization, which came at Charlotte on May 24.
Lastly, Ryan Sieg, starting seventh, enjoyed a solid comeback after spinning out on lap two of the race and managed to work his way back to the front and score an eighth-place result. Sieg now ranks 13th in the series standings and is the first driver below the playoff cutline.
The Losers
It was a disappointing result for JR Motorsports’ Allgaier, who restarted on the front row with 39 laps to go after making a strategy call and taking two tires during a cuation. Despite losing the lead to Love, Allgaier still seemed poised for a potential top-five finish, but the contact from Zilisch in turn one effectively derailed Allgaier’s play, and he crossed the finish line in 16th.
Perhaps even more disappointing were Joe Gibbs Racing’s Taylor Gray and Brandon Jones’ results, as both had shown strong speed throughout the race and looked like they could potentially contend for the win before separate issues eliminated their hopes. In Gray’s case, it was a slow pit stop with less than 50 laps to go that took the rookie driver from second in the running order to the middle of the pack. Jones, meanwhile, saw his day derailed with 28 laps to go when he hit oil on the track put down by Matt DiBenedetto’s damaged #99 Chevrolet and spun out. Gray finished the race in 17th, while Jones wound up 23rd.
Lastly, it was a rough day for Daniel Dye, as the Kaulig Racing rookie was putting together a solid run before cutting a tire with 49 laps to go, sending him hard into the turn four wall. Dye would be credited with a 36th-place result.
Fuel for Thought
In a season that has been largely dominated by JR Motorsports, it was refreshing to see another team find victory lane Saturday at Iowa. With Mayer’s victory, there are now six organizations that have won at least one race this year: JR Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, Hendrick Motorsports, Richard Childress Racing, Big Machine Racing and Haas Factory Team. The question that arises is which team, if any, will be the next to break through. Looking at each organization’s season-long performance thus far, it would not surprise me to see Ryan Sieg and RSS Racing score a win before the season is through. Sieg currently has nine top-ten finishes this year, with three of those coming in the last three weeks, so if his team can continue to bring fast race cars to the track and position themselves up front in the closing laps, they should have a good opportunity to beat the big dogs and score the first win in the organization’s history.
Paint Scheme of the Week
For all fans of propane and propane accessories, it was Joey Gase’s #53 King of the Hill Chevrolet that stood out the most on track Saturday. Gase would finish the day in 27th, one lap down.
Live on location for race weekend in Newton.
— Jared Larson (looking for work) (@Jar_Lar) August 2, 2025
Joey Gase, a Cedar Rapids native, has a King of the Hill paint scheme for both the Xfinity and the Cup Series. pic.twitter.com/RQbqEt9QsI
Where to Next?
Next Saturday, August 9, the series heads to upstate New York for the Mission 200 At The Glen. Last year’s event was won by Connor Zilisch in his series debut, who managed to outrun road course aces Shane Van Gisbergen and AJ Allmendinger to score the victory. Coverage begins at 2:30 p.m. ET, with television coverage on The CW and radio coverage on the Motor Racing Network.
Jake Altmayer joined the Frontstretch team in 2025, assisting as a news writer and contributing to other weekly columns and articles, such as Friday Faceoff and Xfinity Breakdown. A 2024 graduate of DePaul University, Altmayer has closely followed NASCAR's national series (Cup, Xfinity and Trucks) for nearly a decade and has attended more than a dozen races over the course of that time. In his free time, he enjoys cycling, spending time with his loved ones, and listening to his favorite band, the Beach Boys.