The next restart came with 51 to go, and saw Hornish clear Dillon with a shove from Keselowski, who was close behind as he battled for the runner-up spot. Dillon worked back clear of Keselowski and went to work the next time by on Hornish, but five laps into the run, Hornish was gone by nearly a second as Dillon fought to maintain second from Keselowski. Just as the leaders again settled into a run, though, contact between teammates — the JGL Racing duo of Dakoda Armstrong and Drew Herring — sent Herring around and drew the final caution of the day with 32 laps to go.

Five laps later, the green flag returned for good and Hornish took off, using traffic to his advantage and benefiting from Keselowski’s late challenge of Dillon with 10 to go to drive away uncontested to the emotional win.

Dillon’s second-place effort tied his best finish of the season (Richmond), and maintained his third-place standing in the XFINITY points race.

“We just needed to be a little bit better. That 18 (Hornish) was so dominant on the bottom,” Dillon said. “I felt like we were obviously the best car up top, just needed a little bit more speed. We kinda struggled all week here; we were a mid-pack car and executed what we needed to do to put ourselves into position. Tried to get a good run for American Ethanol in their hometown race, and hopefully we can keep this momentum going for the races to come.”

Keselowski, the only full-time Sprint Cup interloper in the field, finished third for Team Penske. Suarez was fourth after leading 62 laps early and Alex Bowman completed the top five for JR Motorsports.

Brennan Poole (one) and Darrell Wallace Jr. (four), the only drivers other than Hornish and Suarez to lead all afternoon, finished eighth and ninth.

Championship contender Erik Jones had worked his way from the back of the field to eighth in just 25 laps, but lost fuel pressure just before a scheduled competition caution at lap 40 and pitted for service and eventual repairs to the fuel cell. Jones finished seven laps down in 27th after scoring his ninth career pole in qualifying on Saturday.

The NASCAR XFINITY Series returns to action on July 2 with the Subway Firecracker 250 from Daytona Int’l Speedway. The race will mark the first television coverage of the year for NBC Sports Network.

 

RESULTS: NASCAR XFINITY Series; American Ethanol E15 250; Iowa Speedway; June 19, 2016

  1. Sam Hornish Jr.
  2. Ty Dillon
  3. Brad Keselowski
  4. Daniel Suarez
  5. Alex Bowman
  6. Elliott Sadler
  7. Justin Allgaier
  8. Brennan Poole
  9. Darrell Wallace Jr.
  10. Ben Kennedy
  11. Ryan Reed
  12. Brandon Jones
  13. Blake Koch
  14. Ross Chastain
  15. Brendan Gaughan
  16. Jeremy Clements
  17. Dakoda Armstrong
  18. Justin Marks
  19. BJ McLeod
  20. J.J. Yeley
  21. Ryan Sieg
  22. Garrett Smithley
  23. Travis Kvapil
  24. Mario Gosselin
  25. Joey Gase
  26. Harrison Rhodes
  27. Erik Jones
  28. Mike Harmon
  29. Drew Herring
  30. Ray Black Jr.
  31. Paige Decker
  32. Ryan Preece
  33. Jeff Green
  34. Derrike Cope
  35. Timmy Hill
  36. Dexter Bean
  37. Morgan Shepherd
  38. Carl Long
  39. Tyler Young
  40. Josh Reaume

 

About the Writer

jacobseelmanJacob Seelman is the Managing Editor of Race Chaser Online and creator of the Motorsports Madness radio show, airing at 7 p.m. Eastern every Monday on the Performance Motorsports Network.

Seelman grew up in the sport, watching his grandparents co-own the RaDiUs Motorsports NASCAR Cup Series team in the 1990s.

The 22-year-old is currently studying Broadcast Journalism at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C., and is also serving as the full-time tour announcer for the Must See Racing Sprint Car Series.

Email Jacob at: [email protected]

Follow on Twitter: @Speed77Radio or @JacobSeelman77

Email Race Chaser Online: [email protected]

Follow RCO on Twitter: @RaceChaserNews

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Jacob Seelman

Jacob Seelman, 24, is the founder and managing editor of 77 Sports Media and a major contributing writer for SPEED SPORT Magazine. He is studying Broadcast Journalism at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C. and also serves as the full-time tour announcer for the Must See Racing Sprint Car Series.

View all posts by Jacob Seelman
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