Information By: ASHLYN SISKE / STEWART-HAAS RACING – NEWTON, IA
STEWART-HAAS RACING
Hy-Vee Perks 250
Date: June 15, 2024
Event: Hy-Vee Perks 250 (Round 15 of 33)
Series: NASCAR Xfinity Series
Location: Iowa Speedway in Newton (.875-mile oval)
Format: 250 laps, broken into three stages (75 laps/75 laps/100 laps)
Note: Race extended three laps past its scheduled 250-lap distance due to a green-white-checkered finish.
Race Winner: Sam Mayer of JR Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 1 Winner: Chandler Smith of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stage 2 Winner: Chandler Smith of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
SHR Race Finish:
● Riley Herbst (Started 12th / Finished 2nd, Running, completed 253 of 253 laps)
● Cole Custer (Started 7th / Finished 6th, Running, completed 253 of 253 laps)
SHR Points:
● Cole Custer (1st with 547 points)
● Riley Herbst (7th with 441 points, 106 out of first)
SHR Notes:
● Herbst earned his third top-five of the season and his second top-10 in three career NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Iowa.
● Herbst has never finished worse than 13th at Iowa.
● This was Herbst’s second top-10 in the past three races. He finished 10th June 1 at Portland (Ore.) International Raceway.
● Herbst’s second-place finish bettered his previous best finish at Iowa– sixth, earned in his Xfinity Series debut at the track in June 2018.
● Herbst finished eighth in Stage 2 to earn three bonus points.
● Herbst led two times for seven laps – his first laps led at Iowa.
● Custer earned his 12th top-10 of the season and his fifth top-10 in seven career NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Iowa.
● Custer has only finished outside the top-10 twice at Iowa in seven starts.
● This was Custer’s third straight top-10. He finished sixth June 1 at Portland (Ore.) International Raceway and ninth last Saturday at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway.
● Custer finished sixth in Stage 1 to earn five bonus points and ninth in Stage 2 to earn two more bonus points.
Race Notes:
● Sam Mayer won the Hy-Vee Perks 250 to score his sixth career NASCAR Xfinity Series victory, his second of the season and his first at Iowa. His margin over second-place Herbst was .146 of a second.
● There were nine caution periods for a total of 71 laps.
● Only 17 of the 38 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.
● Custer remains the championship leader after Iowa with a one-point lead over Chandler Smith.
Sound Bites:
“I have mixed frustrations, for sure. I’m happy to be back on an oval. I mean, the last two weeks on a road course was utterly embarrassing. It was an unacceptable performance from my end and everybody on the No. 98, so I’m happy to be back on an oval. I felt like we had an up and down day. I mean, it was a clean restart. It was fun. I like racing Sam (Mayer, driver) but Stage 1 or 2 he just absolutely brooms me. We were racing clean for fourth and takes us back to 10th and then doors me down the back straightaway before the green-white-checker. It’s just frustrating the way he wants to do that, but all in all, it was fun. I’m happy to be back on ovals. The speed is back in the No. 98.” –Riley Herbst, driver of the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang Dark Horse
“I just needed some short run speed. I felt like our car was pretty solid all day. I was able to run right around the top-five all day, just went back and forth on the balance trying to find out what our problems were, but at the end we just struggled with short run speed on those short runs. I’m still proud of our team for building that consistency, but we just need that little bit more.” –Cole Custer, driver of the No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang Dark Horse
Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the Sci Aps 200 on Saturday, June 22 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon. The race begins at 3:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by USA and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.