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Sam Mayer takes advantage of late restart, wins Hy-Vee Perks 250 at Iowa Speedway

JHby: Jonathan Howard08/02/25Jondean25
Sam Mayer Iowa win
Mandatory Credit: Stan Szeto-Imagn Images

For the first time this season, Sam Mayer wins in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. He gets it done in the Hy-Vee Perks 250 at Iowa. This is the second year in a row that Mayer has won the Iowa Xfinity race. It is his first time winning with Haas Factory Team.

A late race restart set Sam Mayer up to take the lead. Connor Zilisch dominated the first stage. Then it was all Ross Chastain. In the last stage, it looked like it was going to go green. But then the cautions started to come out.

This is a big win for Mayer and Haas. They were going to go playoff racing regardless, but now the organization has a win, playoff points, and momentum.

Sam Mayer took the white flag, and then Garrett Smithley spun out to bring out the last caution. It was amazing that they knew where the flag was to begin with.

Jesse Love ultimately finishes second, Ross Chastain and Connor Zilisch right behind. Big time finish for Harrison Burton in P5. Carson Hocevar was P6. We were hoping to see Austin Dillon get involved for the win today, but early damage kept him from contending as he replaced Austin Hill.

Late in this race, Matt DiBenedetto ran into Corey Day on a restart. That caused Matty D to dump oil and fluid all over the track. NASCAR refused to throw the caution until Brandon Jones came around and spun out in the fluids. Multiple drivers were close to wrecking in the mess as well.

Sam Mayer ends Connor Zilisch’s win streak

After three wins in a row, Connor Zilisch’s win streak comes to an end. He dominated the first stage and looked like he had what it took to come back and win this race. However, late restarts did not work in his favor.

Other drivers knew that Zilisch was strong. So, they boxed him in and pushed him up the track. Jesse Love got Zilisch so far up the track that it took him almost an entire lap to recover. It was too late for the 88 at that point to race for the win.

Sam Mayer wasn’t the best driver today. He only led 28 laps. But he was there in the background all day long and made the most of the opportunities he was given. Today’s win also marks the first time a Ford has won in the Xfinity Series since Riley Herbst at Phoenix at the end of last season.