NASCAR America: Keys to victory for Sam Hornish Jr. in Iowa

Sam Hornish Jr. returned to action after being away from the track for seven months and was victorious in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Iowa Speedway.

Results from Sunday’s American Ethanol E15 250 Xfinity race at Iowa

Sam Hornish Jr. took a one-off race opportunity and made the absolute best of it, dominating en route to a win in Sunday’s American Ethanol E15 250 Xfinity Series race at Iowa Speedway.

It was Hornish’s first win since May 2014, which ironically enough also came at the .875-mile track in Newton, Iowa.

Here’s the results of Sunday’s race:

Suarez still No. 1 in Xfinity Series standings after Sunday’s race at Iowa

Daniel Suarez maintained his lead in the NASCAR Xfinity Seres standings after finishing fourth in Sunday’s American Ethanol E15 250 at Iowa Speedway.

Suarez leads second-ranked Elliott Sadler by 21 points, followed by Ty Dillon (-35), Justin Allgaier climbed one spot to fourth (-68) andBrandon Jones climbed one spot to fifth (-73).

Erik Jones, who won the pole for Sunday’s race but had a disappointing finish due to fuel issues, dropped three places in the rankings, from fourth to seventh (-79).

Here’s an interesting twist: race winner Sam Hornish Jr., who has not raced since last November’s Sprint Cup Series season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, jumped 86 places to rank 37th after Sunday’s race.

Here’s how the Xfinity Series standings look after Iowa:

NASCAR: No plans for Sprint Cup at Iowa Speedway; Xfinity-truck weekend ‘delivered’

NASCAR declared the first Camping World-Xfinity series doubleheader at Iowa Speedway as a resounding success, but the short track still isn’t necessarily in line for a Sprint Cup race.

“We’re happy with the status right now at Iowa,” NASCAR chief racing development officer Steve O’Donnell said Monday during his weekly interview on SiriusXM Satellite Radio. “We’ve signed multiple-year sanctions with the tracks. Could (a Sprint Cup race at Iowa) happen via the realignment process? Perhaps. But I see our schedule pretty tied up in terms of the Sprint Cup Series and for the foreseeable future.”

The 0.875-mile track had played host to 12 previous Xfinity races and nine prior truck events, but they all had been held separately prior to last weekend.

With NASCAR trending away from standalone Xfinity-truck doubleheader events – there are only five standalone Xfinity races this season, and Iowa has the only Xfinity-Truck weekend – O’Donnell said the oval in Newton, Iowa, occupies an important and unique place on the schedule.

“We believe that’s a unique part of each series,” he said. “Iowa certainly delivered for us. This is new with the combination Camping World-Xfinity package this weekend, which we thought was a success.”

Iowa Speedway held its first Xfinity and truck races in 2009. The track was bought by NASCAR in December 2013.

WHAT RUST? HORNISH STOMPS FIELD EN ROUTE TO IOWA WIN

NEWTON, Iowa -- Sam Hornish Jr., who hadn’t been in a car in 210 days, gave himself the perfect Father’s Day present on Sunday -- a dominant victory in the sixth annual NASCAR XFINITY Series American Ethanol E15 250 presented by Enogen at Iowa Speedway.

Hornish, who last competed in a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race last November at Homestead-Miami Speedway, received a call Monday from Joe Gibbs Racing to substitute for injured driver Matt Tifft. He made the most of the opportunity, picking up his fourth career XFINITY Series win and second at Iowa. Overall, it was JGR’s ninth triumph in 14 races this season.

“I don’t know, it doesn’t get much better than that,” said an emotional Hornish in Victory Lane. “Just gotta thank Toyota, everyone from Joe Gibbs Racing for getting me out here and giving me this opportunity. Got my wife and kids here, it’s the first time the kids got to be here for one of dad’s wins.

“I can’t tell you what this means to me. I worked so hard to try to get a win when I had my kids here. Gotta thank God. He makes things happen. I was so nervous on Friday getting into the car thinking I’m going to make a mistake, and man, to go out there and win the way that we did. Just can’t say anything more about it."

Ty Dillon attempted to make a charge on Hornish on a Lap 224 restart, but settled for second, finishing ahead of Brad Keselowski.

"I don't know, I guess we just needed to be a little bit better,” Dillon said. “The No. 18 (Hornish) was so dominant on the bottom (groove). I thought, obviously, we were the best car on the top (groove).

"Just needed a little bit more speed. I'm proud of my guys. We were kind of a mid-pack car and did what we needed to do to put ourselves in position -- something we talked about all week -- and we did a great job."

Hornish took the lead from last week’s XFINITY Series winner Daniel Suarez on Lap 24, setting the tone that the Joe Gibbs Racing cars were going to be hard to beat.

The two drivers swapped the lead on pit road on two occasions before several competitors elected to use varying pit strategies following the event’s third caution on Lap 126. Hornish restarted sixth, but only took 13 laps to get back to the race lead, passing Suarez on Lap 139 and never relinquishing.  

Championship contender Erik Jones, who scored his fifth pole of 2016, had to drop to the rear before the race for an unapproved body modification. Jones, however, was never a factor as he battled fuel pressure issues, finishing 27th. 

The NASCAR XFINITY Series takes a week off before returning to Daytona International Speedway on July 1 for the running of the Subway Firecracker 250.

What rust? Hornish looks sterling, dominates Xfinity win at Iowa

Rust? What rust?

Despite not having been in a race car since last November, Sam Hornish Jr. proved Sunday he hasn’t forgotten how to win a race.

Filling in for the injured Matt Tifft (back issue) in a Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry, Hornish responded after a 210-day racing layoff to win Sunday’s American Ethanol E15 250 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Iowa Speedway.

Hornish’s last race in any type of NASCAR race car was in the Sprint Cup season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Nov. 16, 2015. He finished 25th in his final start of a one-year deal for Richard Petty Motorsports.

Hornish dominated Sunday’s event, leading 183 of 250 laps around the .875-mile track in Newton, Iowa. It was his fourth career win in NASCAR’s junior league.

Hornish is no stranger to success at Iowa Speedway. He won there in Spring 2014 and came back for an encore triumph on Sunday. It was Hornish’s eighth Xfinity start at Iowa. His record there now: two wins, six top-fives six and top-10s. His other two finishes were 12th (2012) and 24th (2011).

Ty Dillon finished second, followed by Brad Keselowski, Daniel Suarez and Alex Bowman.

NASCAR on NBC podcast, Episode XXV: Landon Cassill

Shortly after being named NASCAR’s “most stylish driver” by GQ, Landon Cassill joined the NASCAR on NBC podcast to discuss his unconventional approaches to social media and promotion.

Cassill, who recently appeared on YouTube’s Gary Vee Show and sat courtside for Game 3 of the NBA Finals (in an appearance that gained traction on social media), has turned up in some unlikely places for a NASCAR driver, and some of it is by design. While the Cedar Rapids, Iowa, native hasn’t won in NASCAR’s national series, he has become a fixture in the Xfinity and Sprint Cup series over the past five years by grinding out consistent results with mid-tier teams.

The key to keeping a spot, though, is sponsorship, and Cassill believes in ensuring he can gain attention while working to build results. It’s why he has lobbied Front Row to consider hiring a film crew to follow him in the garage, guaranteeing some form of exposure that would help keep pace with teams whose success brings coverage.

“I like getting involved in media outside the traditional space in our sport,” Cassill said. “It’s cool to have the conversation with people who don’t really pay attention to our sport about NASCAR. It’s definitely good for me. It’s good for our sponsors.”

Cassill also discussed:

–His racing roots and what Iowa Speedway has meant to his native state;

–His sometimes irreverent approach to social media;

–How Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000-hour rule might apply to racing;

–Earning compliments from the Sprint Cup establishment and how that could help his career.

You can listen to the podcast by clicking below or download the AudioBoom app and listen there. You also can download and subscribe to it on iTunes by clicking here. The free subscription will provide automatic downloads of new episodes to your smartphone. It also is available on Stitcher

Stayed tuned for time cues to provide easy referencing while listening to the episode.