2017 U.S. Cellular 250

The 2017 U.S. Cellular 250 was the 19th stock car race of the 2017 NASCAR Xfinity Series season and the ninth iteration of the event. The race was held on Saturday, July 29, 2017, in Newton, Iowa, at Iowa Speedway, a 0.875 miles (1.408 km) permanent D-shaped low-banked racetrack. The race was extended from 150 laps to 154 laps, due to a NASCAR overtime finish. Ryan Preece, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, held off Kyle Benjamin in a close finish for his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series win. Preece would beat Benjamin by 0.054 of a second.^[1] To fill out the podium, Brian Scott of Richard Childress Racing would finish third, respectively.

2017 U.S. Cellular 250

Race details
Race 19 of 33 in the 2017 NASCAR Xfinity Series
Date	July 29, 2017
Official name	Ninth Annual U.S. Cellular 250
Location	Newton, Iowa, Iowa Speedway
Course	Permanent racing facility 0.875 mi (1.408 km)
Distance	254 laps, 222.25 mi (357.676 km)
Scheduled Distance	250 laps, 218.75 mi (352.044 km)
Average speed	96.900 miles per hour (155.945 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Ryan Preece	Joe Gibbs Racing
Time	24.072
Most laps led
Driver	Ryan Preece	Joe Gibbs Racing
Laps	141
Winner
No. 20	Ryan Preece	Joe Gibbs Racing
Television in the United States
Network	NBC
Announcers	Dave Burns, Kyle Petty
Radio in the United States
Radio	Motor Racing Network

Background

The race was held at Iowa Speedway, which is a 7/8-mile (1.4 km) paved oval motor racing track in Newton, Iowa, United States, approximately 30 miles (48 km) east of Des Moines. It has over 25,000 permanent seats as well as a unique multi-tiered RV viewing area along the backstretch.

Entry list

• (R) denotes rookie driver.
• (i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.

#	Driver	Team	Make	Sponsor
00	Cole Custer (R)	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	Haas Automation
0	Garrett Smithley	JD Motorsports	Chevrolet	Flex Shot
01	Harrison Rhodes	JD Motorsports	Chevrolet	Flex Tape
1	Elliott Sadler	JR Motorsports	Chevrolet	OneMain Financial
2	Ben Kennedy (R)	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	RTP, Rheem
3	Brian Scott	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	Daniel Defense
4	Ross Chastain	JD Motorsports	Chevrolet	Flex Seal
5	Michael Annett	JR Motorsports	Chevrolet	TMC Transportation
07	Ray Black Jr.	SS-Green Light Racing	Chevrolet	CDA.edu
7	Justin Allgaier	JR Motorsports	Chevrolet	Brandt Professional Agriculture
8	B. J. McLeod	B. J. McLeod Motorsports	Chevrolet	B. J. McLeod Motorsports
9	William Byron (R)	JR Motorsports	Chevrolet	Liberty University
11	Blake Koch	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet	LeafFilter Gutter Protection
13	Bobby Dale Earnhardt	MBM Motorsports	Chevrolet	Crystal Clear Home Improvement
14	J. J. Yeley	TriStar Motorsports	Toyota	TriStar Motorsports
15	Reed Sorenson (i)	JD Motorsports	Chevrolet	Flex Liquid
16	Ryan Reed	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	Lilly Diabetes
18	Kyle Benjamin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	Reser's Fine Foods
19	Matt Tifft (R)	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	Fanatics
20	Ryan Preece	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	Mohawk Northeast
21	Daniel Hemric (R)	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff
22	Sam Hornish Jr.	Team Penske	Ford	Discount Tire
23	Spencer Gallagher (R)	GMS Racing	Chevrolet	Allegiant Air
24	Dylan Lupton	JGL Racing	Toyota	Nut Up
28	Dakoda Armstrong	JGL Racing	Toyota	WinField United
33	Brandon Jones	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	Jeld-Wen, Menards
39	Ryan Sieg	RSS Racing	Chevrolet	Ritchie
40	Stan Mullis	MBM Motorsports	Chevrolet	Casablanca Express
42	Tyler Reddick	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	Broken Bow Records, Jason Aldean
48	Brennan Poole	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	DC Solar
51	Jeremy Clements	Jeremy Clements Racing	Chevrolet	RepairableVehicles.com
52	Joey Gase	Jimmy Means Racing	Chevrolet	Jerry K. Ask Investments, Iowa Donor Network
60	Ty Majeski	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	Bit-O-Honey
62	Brendan Gaughan	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	U.S. Cellular
74	Mike Harmon	Mike Harmon Racing	Dodge	Forj'd Leather
78	Tommy Joe Martins	B. J. McLeod Motorsports	Chevrolet	Circle Track Warehouse
89	Morgan Shepherd	Shepherd Racing Ventures	Chevrolet	Shepherd Racing Ventures
90	Brandon Brown	Brandonbilt Motorsports	Chevrolet	Coastal Carolina University
93	Jeff Green	RSS Racing	Chevrolet	RSS Racing
96	Brett Moffitt (i)	GMS Racing	Chevrolet	Northland Foundations
99	David Starr	BJMM with SS-Green Light Racing	Chevrolet	Honest Wrenches Automotive Repair
Official entry list

Practice

First practice

The first practice session was held on Friday, July 28, at 4:00 PM CST. The session would last for 55 minutes.^[2] Sam Hornish Jr. of Team Penske would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 24.721 and an average speed of 127.422 mph (205.066 km/h).^[3]

Pos.	#	Driver	Team	Make	Time	Speed
1	22	Sam Hornish Jr.	Team Penske	Ford	24.721	127.422
2	7	Justin Allgaier	JR Motorsports	Chevrolet	24.773	127.155
3	20	Ryan Preece	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	24.802	127.006
Full first practice results

Final practice

The final practice session was held on Friday, July 28, at 5:30 PM CST. The session would last for 55 minutes.^[2] Ben Kennedy of Richard Childress Racing would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 24.244 and an average speed of 129.929 mph (209.100 km/h).^[4]

Pos.	#	Driver	Team	Make	Time	Speed
1	2	Ben Kennedy (R)	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	24.244	129.929
2	20	Ryan Preece	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	24.423	128.977
3	22	Sam Hornish Jr.	Team Penske	Ford	24.442	128.877
Full final practice results

Qualifying

Qualifying was held on Saturday, July 29, at 11:00 AM CST.^[2] Since Iowa Speedway is under 2 miles (3.2 km) in length, the qualifying system was a multi-car system that included three rounds. The first round was 15 minutes, where every driver would be able to set a lap within the 15 minutes. Then, the second round would consist of the fastest 24 cars in Round 1, and drivers would have 10 minutes to set a lap. Round 3 consisted of the fastest 12 drivers from Round 2, and the drivers would have 5 minutes to set a time. Whoever was fastest in Round 3 would win the pole.^[5]

Ryan Preece of Joe Gibbs Racing would win the pole after advancing from both preliminary rounds and setting the fastest lap in Round 3, with a time of 24.072 and an average speed of 130.857 miles per hour (210.594 km/h).^[6]

Bobby Dale Earnhardt would fail to qualify.

Full qualifying results

Pos.	#	Driver	Team	Make	Time (R1)	Speed (R1)	Time (R2)	Speed (R2)	Time (R3)	Speed (R3)
1	20	Ryan Preece	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	24.307	129.592	24.151	130.429	24.072	130.857
2	18	Kyle Benjamin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	24.069	130.874	24.156	130.402	24.129	130.548
3	21	Daniel Hemric (R)	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	24.268	129.801	24.261	129.838	24.181	130.268
4	22	Sam Hornish Jr.	Team Penske	Ford	24.349	129.369	24.158	130.392	24.192	130.208
5	00	Cole Custer (R)	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	24.262	129.833	24.104	130.684	24.193	130.203
6	1	Elliott Sadler	JR Motorsports	Chevrolet	24.457	128.797	24.289	129.688	24.200	130.165
7	11	Blake Koch	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet	24.317	129.539	24.217	130.074	24.200	130.165
8	48	Brennan Poole	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	24.264	129.822	24.308	129.587	24.218	130.069
9	60	Ty Majeski	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	24.307	129.592	24.222	130.047	24.249	129.902
10	19	Matt Tifft (R)	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	24.455	128.808	24.150	130.435	24.253	129.881
11	3	Brian Scott	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	24.398	129.109	24.300	129.630	24.352	129.353
12	23	Spencer Gallagher (R)	GMS Racing	Chevrolet	24.448	128.845	24.295	129.656	24.443	128.871
Eliminated in Round 2
13	2	Ben Kennedy (R)	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	24.387	129.167	24.317	129.539	-	-
14	7	Justin Allgaier	JR Motorsports	Chevrolet	24.386	129.172	24.350	129.363	-	-
15	42	Tyler Reddick	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	24.414	129.024	24.353	129.348	-	-
16	62	Brendan Gaughan	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	24.424	128.972	24.364	129.289	-	-
17	9	William Byron (R)	JR Motorsports	Chevrolet	24.395	129.125	24.407	129.061	-	-
18	16	Ryan Reed	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	24.366	129.279	24.420	128.993	-	-
19	33	Brandon Jones	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	24.393	129.135	24.423	128.977	-	-
20	28	Dakoda Armstrong	JGL Racing	Toyota	24.488	128.634	24.474	128.708	-	-
21	96	Brett Moffitt (i)	GMS Racing	Chevrolet	24.514	128.498	24.482	128.666	-	-
22	4	Ross Chastain	JD Motorsports	Chevrolet	24.613	127.981	24.551	128.304	-	-
23	5	Michael Annett	JR Motorsports	Chevrolet	24.610	127.997	24.588	128.111	-	-
24	93	Jeff Green	RSS Racing	Chevrolet	24.505	128.545	-	-	-	-
Eliminated in Round 1
25	39	Ryan Sieg	RSS Racing	Chevrolet	24.626	127.914	-	-	-	-
26	01	Harrison Rhodes	JD Motorsports	Chevrolet	24.641	127.836	-	-	-	-
27	51	Jeremy Clements	Jeremy Clements Racing	Chevrolet	24.683	127.618	-	-	-	-
28	14	J. J. Yeley	TriStar Motorsports	Toyota	24.703	127.515	-	-	-	-
29	15	Reed Sorenson (i)	JD Motorsports	Chevrolet	24.740	127.324	-	-	-	-
30	52	Joey Gase	Jimmy Means Racing	Chevrolet	24.743	127.309	-	-	-	-
31	8	B. J. McLeod	B. J. McLeod Motorsports	Chevrolet	24.769	127.175	-	-	-	-
32	24	Dylan Lupton	JGL Racing	Toyota	24.771	127.165	-	-	-	-
33	89	Morgan Shepherd	Shepherd Racing Ventures	Chevrolet	24.820	126.914	-	-	-	-
Qualified by owner's points
34	0	Garrett Smithley	JD Motorsports	Chevrolet	24.976	126.121	-	-	-	-
35	78	Tommy Joe Martins	B. J. McLeod Motorsports	Chevrolet	25.008	125.960	-	-	-	-
36	99	David Starr	BJMM with SS-Green Light Racing	Chevrolet	25.120	125.398	-	-	-	-
37	07	Ray Black Jr.	SS-Green Light Racing	Chevrolet	25.155	125.224	-	-	-	-
38	90	Brandon Brown	Brandonbilt Motorsports	Chevrolet	25.266	124.673	-	-	-	-
39	40	Stan Mullis	MBM Motorsports	Chevrolet	26.050	120.921	-	-	-	-
Qualified by time
40	74	Mike Harmon	Mike Harmon Racing	Dodge	26.109	120.648	-	-	-	-
Failed to qualify
41	13	Bobby Dale Earnhardt	MBM Motorsports	Chevrolet	26.063	120.861	-	-	-	-
Official qualifying results
Official starting lineup

Race results

Stage 1 Laps: 60

Pos.	#	Driver	Team	Make	Pts
1	20	Ryan Preece	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	10
2	1	Elliott Sadler	JR Motorsports	Chevrolet	9
3	18	Kyle Benjamin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	8
4	48	Brennan Poole	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	7
5	22	Sam Hornish Jr.	Team Penske	Ford	6
6	7	Justin Allgaier	JR Motorsports	Chevrolet	5
7	00	Cole Custer (R)	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	4
8	19	Matt Tifft (R)	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	3
9	2	Ben Kennedy (R)	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	2
10	11	Blake Koch	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet	1

Stage 2 Laps: 60

Pos.	#	Driver	Team	Make	Pts
1	7	Justin Allgaier	JR Motorsports	Chevrolet	10
2	20	Ryan Preece	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	9
3	1	Elliott Sadler	JR Motorsports	Chevrolet	8
4	2	Ben Kennedy (R)	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	7
5	18	Kyle Benjamin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	6
6	48	Brennan Poole	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	5
7	22	Sam Hornish Jr.	Team Penske	Ford	4
8	00	Cole Custer (R)	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	3
9	60	Ty Majeski	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	2
10	19	Matt Tifft (R)	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	1

Stage 3 Laps: 134

Fin	St	#	Driver	Team	Make	Laps	Led	Status	Pts
1	1	20	Ryan Preece	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	254	141	Running	59
2	2	18	Kyle Benjamin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	254	5	Running	49
3	11	3	Brian Scott	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	254	0	Running	34
4	8	48	Brennan Poole	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	254	0	Running	45
5	5	00	Cole Custer (R)	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	254	0	Running	39
6	28	14	J. J. Yeley	TriStar Motorsports	Toyota	254	0	Running	31
7	3	21	Daniel Hemric (R)	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	254	0	Running	30
8	7	11	Blake Koch	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet	254	0	Running	30
9	17	9	William Byron (R)	JR Motorsports	Chevrolet	254	0	Running	28
10	19	33	Brandon Jones	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	254	0	Running	27
11	21	96	Brett Moffitt (i)	GMS Racing	Chevrolet	254	0	Running	0
12	6	1	Elliott Sadler	JR Motorsports	Chevrolet	254	2	Running	42
13	16	62	Brendan Gaughan	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	254	0	Running	24
14	25	39	Ryan Sieg	RSS Racing	Chevrolet	254	0	Running	23
15	26	01	Harrison Rhodes	JD Motorsports	Chevrolet	254	0	Running	22
16	9	60	Ty Majeski	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	254	0	Running	23
17	20	28	Dakoda Armstrong	JGL Racing	Toyota	254	0	Running	20
18	22	4	Ross Chastain	JD Motorsports	Chevrolet	254	0	Running	19
19	10	19	Matt Tifft (R)	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	253	0	Running	22
20	14	7	Justin Allgaier	JR Motorsports	Chevrolet	252	106	Running	32
21	18	16	Ryan Reed	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	252	0	Running	16
22	31	8	B. J. McLeod	B. J. McLeod Motorsports	Chevrolet	252	0	Running	15
23	13	2	Ben Kennedy (R)	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	251	0	Running	23
24	30	52	Joey Gase	Jimmy Means Racing	Chevrolet	249	0	Running	13
25	32	24	Dylan Lupton	JGL Racing	Toyota	249	0	RUnning	12
26	36	99	David Starr	BJMM with SS-Green Light Racing	Chevrolet	249	0	Running	11
27	35	78	Tommy Joe Martins	B. J. McLeod Motorsports	Chevrolet	249	0	Running	10
28	27	51	Jeremy Clements	Jeremy Clements Racing	Chevrolet	249	0	Running	9
29	38	90	Brandon Brown	Brandonbilt Motorsports	Chevrolet	248	0	Running	8
30	37	07	Ray Black Jr.	SS-Green Light Racing	Chevrolet	247	0	Running	7
31	40	74	Mike Harmon	Mike Harmon Racing	Dodge	243	0	Running	6
32	39	40	Stan Mullis	MBM Motorsports	Chevrolet	241	0	Running	5
33	23	5	Michael Annett	JR Motorsports	Chevrolet	233	0	Running	4
34	4	22	Sam Hornish Jr.	Team Penske	Ford	229	0	Accident	13
35	34	0	Garrett Smithley	JD Motorsports	Chevrolet	218	0	Accident	2
36	15	42	Tyler Reddick	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	218	0	Running	1
37	12	23	Spencer Gallagher (R)	GMS Racing	Chevrolet	170	0	Accident	1
38	33	89	Morgan Shepherd	Shepherd Racing Ventures	Chevrolet	46	0	Handling	1
39	29	15	Reed Sorenson (i)	JD Motorsports	Chevrolet	9	0	Transmission	0
40	24	93	Jeff Green	RSS Racing	Chevrolet	3	0	Vibration	1
Official race results

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Elliott Sadler 707 2 William Byron 653 (-54) 3 Justin Allgaier 564 (–143) 4 Brennan Poole 518 (–189) 5 Daniel Hemric 488 (–219) 6 Cole Custer 474 (-233) 7 Matt Tifft 436 (-271) 8 Ryan Reed 424 (-283) 9 Dakoda Armstrong 388 (-319) 10 Blake Koch 374 (-333) 11 Michael Annett 371 (-336) 12 Brendan Gaughan 353 (-354) Official driver's standings Note: Only the first 12 positions are included for the driver standings.

References

1. "Ryan Preece finds Victory Lane at Iowa in pressure-packed performance". ESPN.com. 2017-07-29. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
2. "2017 NASCAR XFINITY Iowa Race Info". ESPN.com. 2017-07-29. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
3. Bonkowski, Jerry (2017-07-28). "Sam Hornish Jr. is fastest in first Xfinity practice at Iowa Speedway". NASCAR Talk | NBC Sports. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
4. Bonkowski, Jerry (2017-07-28). "Ben Kennedy roars to top of speed chart late in final Xfinity practice at Iowa". NASCAR Talk | NBC Sports. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
5. "NASCAR Qualifying Rules". ESPN.com. 2018-02-07. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
6. Courchesne, Shawn (2017-06-29). "Ryan Preece Wins Pole For Xfinity Series Event At Iowa Speedway". Race Day CT. Retrieved 2022-05-26.

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NASCAR Xfinity Series 2017 season

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