Super Sam Mayer soars to first NASCAR Xfinity win of 2025 at Iowa

NEWTON, Iowa — Super Sam soared Saturday at Iowa Speedway as Sam Mayer earned his first win of the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series season.

Mayer took the lead from Jesse Love with 28 laps to go and didn’t look back. He used his strength on restarts to pull away in the final 18 green-flag laps and win by 3.289 seconds.

In contrast to a week before, when Mayer was dejected after a close second-place finish at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, he did his best Superman and a little dance on the roof of his car as he celebrated the win.

“This one is everything. For everyone, it’s really cool to get a win. First win for Haas Factory Team, that’s awesome… I tried to botch it on pit road but we didn’t,” Mayer told The CW.

Mayer slid through his pit stall after finishing fourth in the first stage. He fell back in the pack but never got down on himself.

“I simply knew this car could come through the field, no problem,” Mayer said.

Mayer pulled off some stellar restarts, taking drivers two-, three- and four-wide and making up as many as seven spots. Ultimately, he found himself in the top three toward the end to capitalize on Love slipping up in oil put on the track to get the first win for Haas Factory Team.

“This is one of the most special wins I’ve ever had. We’re just some good ol’ boys trying to win. This is awesome,” Mayer said. “Huge shout out to the guys at the shop, the guys on pit road, here they come right now!”

Mayer had plenty to celebrate beyond just the win. After Iowa, he is now 16 points behind Connor Zilisch and Justin Allgaier who are tied for the regular season points lead. Jesse Love is 70 points behind Zilisch and Allgaier.

At the cutline, Harrison Burton is 17 points ahead of Ryan Sieg. Jeb Burton is close, sitting 19 points behind cousin Harrison. Christian Eckes is 69 behind Harrison.

Four races remain until the playoffs start. Next is Watkins Glen, Aug. 9 on The CW at 3 p.m. ET.

IOWA RACE RUNDOWN

The first caution flew on lap three for Ryan Sieg and Austin Dillon spinning in turn one while racing inside of the top five.

STAGE ONE TOP-10 (LAP 60): Connor Zilisch, Jesse Love, Ross Chastain, Sam Mayer, William Sawalich, Carson Kvapil, Carson Hocevar, Daniel Dye, Harrison Burton, Justin Allgaier

During the stage break, Zilisch had to pit again for a loose wheel.

The only caution in stage two was for Anthony Alfredo and Ryan Sieg spinning in turn four. During that caution, Mayer had a strong restart and jumped from ninth to third. In contrast, Zilisch was in 17th — but not for long.

STAGE TWO TOP-10 (LAP 120): Chastain, Brandon Jones, Taylor Gray, Mayer, Sawalich, Sheldon Creed, Love, Burton, Kvapil, Ryan Sieg

Sammy Smith took the lead with two tires and stabilized in third. He pitted on lap 191 before a later caution hurt his strategy.

Zilisch’s team made a good adjustment during the break. He gained some positions before a caution for Dean Thompson spinning on lap 140.

Under that caution, Kaulig Racing teammates Carson Hocevar and Christian Eckes pitted to try and stretch their fuel to the end. The strategy was thwarted when teammate Daniel Dye popped a right-front tire on lap 203.

The caution erased Ross Chastain’s lead and brought Jones and Allgaier back to the front with two tires. Jesse Love took the lead, dropping Allgaier and Jones into the clutches of the cause of the next two cautions — on laps 215 and 224.

Jones’ spin happened after NASCAR didn’t throw a caution for Matt DiBenedetto leaking oil on the track after a crash.

Jones finished 23rd, last car on the lead lap. Here are the full race results: