William Byron has already been a winner at Iowa Speedway in the Truck Series, but the young driver added more to his legacy as he won the NASCAR XFINITY SERIES E15 250 Presented by Enogen Saturday at Iowa Speedway.
Byron started 6th and was at or near the front a good portion of the race, leading five times for a total of 78 laps. The win was his first in the XFINITY Series in just his 14th carreer start. Byron is also the youngest series winner at Iowa speedway at the age of 19 years, 6 months and 26 days. (The previous record was Erik Jones after his win last year at 20 years, 2 months and 0 days.) Following the win, Byron took a phone call from owner Rick Hendrick while in Victory Lane.
Ryan Sieg finished second, his first top 10 finish in 2017. Sieg started 22nd and a strange combination of the leaders pitting under green late in the race coupled with a caution in the middle of the pit sequence put Sieg in position for a top five finish.
Tyler Reddick moved from a 15th place start to a career best 3rd place finish and first top 10 finish at Iowa Speedway.
Ross Chastain put himself in position for a good finish when his team worked the strategy to give him a career best 4th place finish.
Click to hear interview with Ross Chastain
Dakota Armstrong flirted with the lead cars the entire race and was also one of the cars that did not pit under green, which helped him to a 5th place finish.
Click to hear interview with Dakota Armstrong
Pole sitter Christopher Bell led 3 times for a race leading 152 laps and was the leader when many of the other top cars pitted under green. Bell was caught up in a wreck with Ryan Reed and Brennan Poole. Bell was part of the caution that he was looking for. He would finish 16th.
Midwest Late Model star Ty Majeski made his first carreer NASCAR XFINITY SERIES start in the number 60 iRacing.com Ford. Majeski started 10th, but by making some bold moves on the outside, he quickly moved up to fifth. Near the end of the first stage of the race, Majeski slowly began to fade as his tires went away. On lap 114, while running in the middle of the pack, Majeski tangled with the already spinning car of Kyle Benjamin. The pair collided hard in turn four and Majeski suffered considerable damage. After making several pit stops for repairs, he was able to continue. Then on lap 146, Majeski pounded the wall in turn one to bring out the 6th of 9 cautions on the night. Majeski limped his car back to his pit with heavy damage including a fire on the right front tire, thus ending his night with a disappointing 34th place finish. Due to the impact of the crash, he we examined and released from the infield care center with no injuries.
NASCAR XFINITY SERIES E15 250 Presented by Enogen
Fin Str Driver Laps Status
1. 9 William Byron 250 Running
2. 22 Ryan Sieg 250 Running
3. 15 Tyler Reddick 250 Running
4. 14 Ross Chastain 250 Running
5. 7 Dakota Armstrong 250 Running
6. 20 Michael Annett 250 Running
7. 18 Jeremy Clements 250 Running
8. 4 Elliott Sadler 250 Running
9. 5 Justin Allgaier 250 Running
10. 31 Garrett Smithley 250 Running
11. 30 Tommy Joe Martins 250 Running
12. 27 Quin Houff 250 Running
13. 25 JJ Yeley 250 Running
14. 32 David Starr 250 Running
15. 28 Dylan Lupton 250 Running
16. 1 Christopher Bell 250 Running
17. 26 BJ McLeod 250 Running
18. 37 Joey Gase 250 Running
19. 17 Ryan Reed 250 Running
20. 21 Ben Kennedy 249 Running
21. 11 Daniel Hemric 249 Running
22. 9 Matt Tifft 249 Running
23. 23 Brandon Jones 249 Running
24. 24 Cole Custer 249 Running
25. 13 Blake Koch 249 Running
26. 16 Brendan Gaughan 249 Running
27. 8 Brennan Poole 249 Running
28. 38 Timmy Hill 247 Running
29. 34 Ray Black Jr. 246 Running
30. 19 Spencer Gallagher 244 Running
31. 2 Kyle Benjamin 241 Running
32. 12 Scott Lagasse Jr. 236 Running
33. 33 Dexter Bean 161 Accident
34. 10 Ty Majeski 143 Accident
35. 40 Mike Harmon 121 Engine
36. 29 Harrison Rhodes 118 Engine
37. 3 Sam Hornish Jr. 78 Accident
38. 39 Carl Long 18 Brakes
39. 36 Morgan Shepherd 16 Vibration
40. 35 Jeff Green 6 Electrical
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 32 Min, 52 sec.
Cautions: 9 for 65 laps
Lead Changes: 11 among 6 drivers
Lap Leaders: Bell 1-64; Black Jr 65; Byron 66-86; Allgaier 87-91; Byron 92-103; Bell 104-114; Gaughan 115-123; Byron 124-142; Bell 143-219; Byron 220-224; Lupton 225-229; Byron 230-250