It was a hot day at Iowa Speedway for the American Ethanol E15 250, but one driver was hotter than the track. Justin Allgaier driving his No.7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet didn’t feel anything but elation as he wheeled into victory lane.
Allgaier swept all three stages of the race claiming his second NASCAR Xfinity Series victory of the year. Today’s win also marked his seventh career victory. He dominated today’s race leading 182 of 250 laps.
In Victory Lane Allgaier commented, “We had a great car today, these guys did a fantastic job I can’t thank everyone at JR Motorsports enough. We’re in the middle of a cornfield, how can you not enjoy this? Man is it cool to win one especially at Iowa.”
In Stage 1 Austin Cindric, starting from the pole position, appeared to be the car to beat. There was only one caution for Garrett Smithley who had a tire go down. It seemed like Cindric would lead every lap of this stage. However, with two laps remaining, Allgaier made his move and took the stage win.
Stage 2 would run caution free with Allgaier in the lead. Although others were jockeying for positions Allgaier proved dominant leading every lap and winning the stage.
The final stage would bring the best battles of the day. There were two minor cautions, one for Chad Finchum tagging the wall and the other for the spinning car of Brandon Hightower. The battle for the lead would get intense, even going three wide at points. Christopher Bell, in his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, did everything he could to get the lead from Allgaier. On the last lap, Bell would try one final time but would come up short taking second place.
After the race, Bell commented,” We had a very good Rheem Camry, just not good enough to get him (Allgaier).”
Coming home in third place was Daniel Hemric in his No.21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. Cole Custer and Brandon Jones would round out the top five. Riley Herbst finished sixth in his first ever NASCAR Xfinity Series start. Ty Majeski, Tyler Reddick, Matt Tifft, and Kaz Grala finished seventh through 10th, respectively.
Elliott Sadler leads the Xfinity Series standing with 504 points over Cole Custer who has 500 points. Hemric is in third with 497 points, Reddick is in fourth with 473 points and Bell with 471 points rounds out the top five.
The Xfinity Series is off next week but will be heading to Chicagoland Speedway on Saturday, June 30.
