Ryan Preece claimed victory in his second Xfinity race of the year and the 38th of his career.
He is the third Xfinity driver to earn his first-career win at Iowa Speedway. He is the ninth driver in series history to get his first-career pole and first-career win in the same race.
Here’s what the other top finishers had to say about the U.S. Cellular 250.
KYLE BENJAMIN- Finished second
Benjamin earned his first top five and top-10 finishes of his career in his fourth start of the year. His previous best was 16th at Pocono.
“I just needed more laps,” Benjamin told NBC. “I think our car was better on the long run there. I didn’t want to see the caution. … I was real surprised at the fire-off speed we had. able to get beside (Ryan Preece) there at the end. But most importantly I learned a lot today. ... There’s a lot I can carry throughout the year.”
BRIAN SCOTT - Finished third
Brian Scott retired from full-time NASCAR competition after the 2016 season and made his first start of the year for Richard Childress Racing. It was his first Xfinity start since the 2015 finale.
“We weren’t very good in the first segment,” Scott told NBC. “We weren’t very good in the second segment but we made a big adjustment at the end of Segment 2. From then on I knew if we could battle back from the loss of track position and it came down to a long run that we had a shot. The restarts at the end (were) not what I wanted to see I thought but it ended up working to our advantage. It was fun. It was fun to be back out there. Congrats to Ryan Preece.’'
BRENNAN POOLE - Finished fourth
Poole earned his first top five of the season. His previous best finish was seventh twice (Daytona II, Indianapolis).
“I felt like we had a shot at the win there at the end,” Poole told NBC. “I spun the tires a little bit on that last restart and I couldn’t quite roll up to (Ryan Preece) enough to try to make a move to make anything happen. I was just behind a little it.”
COLE CUSTER - Finished fifth
Custer earned his fourth top five and his second in as many races.
“We definitely made huge gains on it since the last time we were here,” Custer told NBC. “Our short-track program definitely hasn’t been our strong suit, but we brought something completely different and it paid off. I was really proud of that.