Eighteen days ago Stewart-Haas Racing driver Chase Briscoe paid a visit to central Iowa to rehabilitate a home with the Greater Des Moines Habitat for Humanity. Today, Briscoe made a stop in Casey’s General Store Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series U.S. Cellular 250 at Iowa Speedway.
Briscoe took the lead away from Christopher Bell on Lap 244 and led the final seven laps to take the checkered flag.
“It’s nice, for sure, to kind of silence everybody,” said Briscoe. “We definitely still aren’t near where we need to be but I feel like we’ve been way closer, especially these last couple of weeks.
“We still have to get better if we’re going to beat the Big 3 (Tyler Reddick, Bell and Cole Custer), but I feel like we’re slowly getting into the conversation to be that fourth guy.”
Bell was looking to make history this weekend. With a victory tonight, Bell would have joined elite company as one of only six drivers in NASCAR Xfinity Series history to have won six or more races in the first 20 races of the season – Tommy Ellis (six wins, 1983), Sam Ard (seven wins, 1984), Jack Ingram (eight wins, 1984), Larry Pearson (six wins, 1987), Chad Little (six wins, 1995) and Kyle Busch (six wins, 2009; eight wins, 2010; six wins, 2011; eight wins, 2013; seven wins, 2016).
“It’s kind of damned if you do, damned if you don’t,” said Bell, who was seeking his sixth win of the season in Saturday’s race. “I tried to chase him (Briscoe) into the corner. Maybe I could have opened my entry and tried to turn down, looking back at it. He did a good job; he won the race and we had a great race car.”
Bell had two consecutive wins and finished second two other times in his last four starts at Iowa Speedway.
Next up for the NASCAR Xfinity Series is Watkins Glen International on Saturday, August 3 (2:00 p.m. CT, NBC).
While saying goodbye to the 2019 racing season is tough to do, we’re excited about next year! Iowa Speedway is fortunate to host a variety of motorsport disciplines every year, and 2020 won’t be any different.
Next year will mark 15 years of racing at Iowa Speedway. For the fifth consecutive year, Wide Opening Weekend will feature both the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series and the NASCAR Xfinity Series on June 13-14, 2020.
The ARCA Menards Series Iowa 150 will take the green flag on Friday, July 17. The NTT IndyCar Series will again hit the Fastest Short Track on the Planet for the Iowa 300 on Saturday, July 18, giving race fans a full complement of stock car and open wheel racing during INDYCAR weekend.
New for 2020 … For the first time ever, the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will race at Iowa Speedway in 2020. The 36th season of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will feature a mix of historic short tracks on the eastern seaboard before visiting central Iowa. This marks the first time in history that the unified Whelen Modified Tour will journey this far west.
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will be in action during NASCAR Xfinity Series U.S. Cellular 250 weekend at Iowa Speedway July 31-August 1.
NASCAR PR
