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NASCAR holds caution flag after Matt DiBenedetto wreck, forces field to race through oil at Iowa

JHby: Jonathan Howard08/02/25Jondean25
NASCAR caution Iowa Matt DiBenedetto
Screenshot credit: CW Sports via X.com

A mess as this NASCAR Xfinity Series race comes to an end. Matt DiBenedetto wrecked into Corey Day, but no caution was thrown. Race officials held onto the caution despite the 99 car dumping oil all over the track. That is, until Brandon Jones spun out from it.

Matt DiBenedetto got into the back of Corey Day on the restart. Then he went up in smoke as his car dumped fluids all over the track. NASCAR refused to throw the caution.

Eventually, Brandon Jones got into the oil and slid into the wall. What was race control thinking?

NASCAR has been very hit and miss with the caution flags at Iowa today. It is very strange. We have seen this incident above go caution-free, but a spin on the track gets a caution flag. Dean Thompson spun out, but eventually caught his car. That was a caution. Another car hit the wall and appeared to drop debris and there was no caution.

So, it’s just a strange situation. There was clearly oil on the track. Spotters were screaming at drivers about it. But drivers couldn’t pull up and slow down because they would lose positions since the race was green.

Most of all, you have to feel bad for Brandon Jones. There was no reason why he had to suffer from this whatsoever.

NASCAR throws caution on last lap, Sam Mayer wins

Eventually, NASCAR decided that it would start throwing caution flags. So, they did. That gave a few drivers an opportunity to get involved in the fight for the lead. Late race restarts are what settled this race for the eventual winner, Sam Mayer.

Connor Zilisch ends his win streak at three races. He really did have a shot to take this win late, but was washed up the track by his good friend Jesse Love and lost all of his momentum. Still, the 88 team scored its 10th straight top-10 finish. That group looks like they are charging to the championship.

Zilisch did move up in points this week. He is now tied with Justin Allgaier for the regular season championship. However, Zilisch has the tiebreaker over Allgaier. This is with the 19-year-old missing out on the Texas race earlier this season.

Sam Mayer was the big winner today. That is, when NASCAR found its caution flag. A fun race in Iowa once again with the Xfinity Series. The season is starting to get more and more intense.