NEWTON, Iowa — This time, there was no unpleasant surprise waiting for Ryan Blaney near the finish line of a Cup Series race.

Grabbing the lead on crew chief Jonathan Hassler’s two-tire call under the final caution of Sunday night’s Iowa Corn 350, Blaney led the final 88 laps of the inaugural Cup race at 0.875-mile Iowa Speedway.

In front of a large contingent of family and friends, the reigning series champion crossed the finish line 0.716 seconds ahead of runner-up William Byron, who was racing on four new tires after a pit stop under caution for Chris Buescher’s accident on Lap 260.

The victory was Blaney’s first of the season and the 11th of his career. Blaney now has won at Iowa Speedway in all three NASCAR national series, having triumphed in the Truck Series in 2012 and the Xfinity Series in 2015.

All told, the race winner led four times for 201 of 350 laps on a track that was repaved in the bottom two lanes in the corners.

“What a cool way to win here. This place means a lot to me and means a lot to my mom (Lisa, from Chariton, Iowa),” said Blaney, who was leading June 2 at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway outside St. Louis before running out of fuel on the white-flag lap.

“We had a lot of people here tonight cheering us on, so they willed us to that one. Overall, I really appreciate the whole (No. 12 team). I mean, our car was really fast all night and we got a little bit better through the night, and two tires was a good call there.

“I didn’t know how well I was going to hold on. I started to struggle a little bit at the end but had enough to hang on. I’m super proud of the effort.”

Byron wasn’t surprised Blaney won the race on two fresh tires, given the quality of the Team Penske driver’s No. 12 Ford.

“No, he had a really good car, so he was up front and contending a lot, and him and the 5 (pole winner Kyle Larson) were really good,” Byron said. “So, we were just a step off of that, you know?

“I feel like I just needed to turn the center just a hair better and still kind of maintain the long run. Proud of the effort. It was a really good night, and I feel like we can learn from this and build from it to be a little bit better.”

In a race that featured eight cautions for 49 laps, Chase Elliott finished third, followed by Christopher Bell, who started from the rear of the field in a backup car after blowing a right front tire and crashing in Friday’s practice.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. came home fifth, with Joey Logano, Josh Berry, Alex Bowman, Daniel Suarez and Brad Keselowski completing the top 10. The restart after the second stage break changed the entire dynamic of the race. Larson had just taken the green/checkered flag to claim his eighth stage victory of the season. But on lap 220, one circuit after the final stage went green for the first time, contact from Suarez’s Chevrolet sent Larson’s Camaro spinning into the outside wall on the frontstretch, pinching Denny Hamlin’s Toyota into the barrier in the process.

Larson’s crew eventually repaired the wounded machine, but not until the 2021 champion had lost 31 laps in the garage. Larson finished 34th, 36 laps down and lost the series lead to Elliott, his Hendrick Motorsports teammate.

Larson, who led 80 laps on Sunday before the accident that waylaid him, trails Elliott by eight points with nine races left in the regular season. Next up for the Cup Series is Sunday’s USA Today 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (2:30 p.m. ET on USA, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

In a race that featured eight cautions for 49 laps, Chase Elliott finished third, followed by Christopher Bell, who started from the rear of the field in a backup car after blowing a right front tire and crashing in Friday’s practice.

• Saturday’s HYVEE PERKS 250, Iowa Speedway

NEWTON, Iowa — In a race of tire management and hurt feelings, Sam Mayer held o_ Riley Herbst in overtime to win Saturday’s Hy-Vee Perks 250 in the X…nity Series’ return to Iowa Speedway a‡er a four-year hiatus.

Mayer’s No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet crossed the …nish line 0.146 seconds ahead of the No. 98 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford of Herbst, who felt Mayer had abused him earlier in the race.

The victory was Mayer’s second of the season and the sixth of his career, all coming within the last 29 races in the series.

“We struggled (Friday in practice), and the team went to work,” said Mayer, who started …‡h when qualifying was canceled because of rain earlier on Saturday. “Obviously, we did pretty good overnight, making di_erent changes on this race car.

“I feel really good. I could do another 100 laps — with a race car like this, it would be a lot of fun.”

Mayer held the lead when John Hunter Nemechek slammed the outside wall in Turn 4 with his le‡ front tire down, the result of close quarters racing with Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Sheldon Creed.

That accident on Lap 245 caused the ninth caution of the a‡ernoon and sent the race three laps beyond its scheduled distance.

In the overtime, Mayer and Herbst took the green œag side-by-side and remained in that posture into Turn 1, but Mayer cleared the race runner-up o_ Turn 2 and held the top spot the rest of the way.

“I like racing Sam, but Stage 1 or 2 he just absolutely brooms me,” Herbst said. “We were racing clean for fourth, and he takes us back to 10th and then doors me down the back straightaway before the green-white-checker.

“It’s just frustrating the way he wants to do that, but all in all, it was fun. I’m happy to be back on ovals. The speed is back in the 98.”

Corey Heim …nished a career-best third a‡er starting 22nd because of the qualifying rainout. Sammy Smith was fourth, followed by Creed, who survived the dust-up with Nemechek a‡er a restart on Lap 238.

Cole Custer, Matt DiBenedetto, Chandler Smith, Ross Chastain and Daniel Dye completed the top 10.

If any driver had cause for frustration, it was Chandler Smith, who led a race-high 131 laps and swept the …rst two stages. Smith restarted third to begin the …nal stage, but lack of shortrun speed quickly dropped him to 12th, and he never recovered.

Austin Hill likewise had reason to bemoan his result. Overcoming early handling issues, Hill charged into the top …ve in the …nal stage, but a cut le‡ front tire sent him hard into the Turn 1 wall on Lap 218, causing the seventh caution.

Hill …nished 29th and dropped to third in the series standings, 41 points behind Custer, the current leader and defending series champion. Chandler Smith, second in the standings, trails Custer by one point.

FEB. 3, 8 PM, FOX: Busch Light Clash at the (LA) Coliseum ( D. Hamlin) FEB. 15, 7 PM, FS1: Bluegreen Vacations Duel 1 at DAYTONA ( T. Reddick) FEB. 15, 9 PM, FS1: Bluegreen Vacations Duel 2 at DAYTONA ( C. Bell) FEB. 19, 4 PM, FOX: DAYTONA 500 ( W. Byron) FEB. 25, 3 PM FOX: Ambetter Health 400 at ATLANTA ( D. Suarez) MARCH 3, 3:30 PM, FOX: Pennzoil 400 at LAS VEGAS ( K. Larson) MARCH 10, 3:30 PM, FOX: Shriners Children’s 500 at PHOENIX ( C. Bell) MARCH 17, 3:30 PM, FOX: Food City 500 at BRISTOL ( D. Hamlin) MARCH 24, 3:30 PM, FOX: EchoPark at CIRCUIT OF THE AMERICAS ( W. Byron) MARCH 31, 7 PM, FOX: Toyota Owners 400 at RICHMOND ( D. Hamlin) APRIL 7, 3 PM, FS1: Cook Out 400 at MARTINSVILLE ( W. Byron) APRIL 14, 3:30 PM, FS1: Auto Trader EchoPark 400 at TEXAS ( C. Elliott) APRIL 21, 3 PM, FOX: GEICO 500 at TALLADEGA ( T. Reddick) APRIL 28, 2 PM, FS1: WURTH 400 at DOVER ( D. Hamlin) MAY 5, 3 PM, FS1: AdventHealth 400 at KANSAS ( K. Larson) MAY 12, 3 PM, FS1: Goodyear 400 at DARLINGTON ( B. Keselowski) MAY 19, 8 PM, FS1: NASCAR All-Star Race at N. Wilkesboro, NC ( J. Logano) MAY 26, 6 PM, FOX: Coca-Cola 600 at CHARLOTTE ( C.Bell) JUNE 2, 3:30 PM, FS1: Enjoy Illinois 300 at WORLD WIDE TECH ( A. Cindric)

JUNE 9, 3:30 PM, FOX: Toyota/Save Mart 350 at SONOMA ( K. Larson) JUNE 16, 7 PM, USA: Iowa Corn 350 at IOWA ( R. Blaney) JUNE 23, 2:30 PM, USA: USA Today 301 at NEW HAMPSHIRE (M. Truex)

JUNE 30, 3:30 PM, NBC: Ally 400 at NASHVILLE (R. Chastain)

JULY 7, 4:30 PM, NBC: Grant Park 165 Chicago Street Race (S. van Gisbergen)

JULY 14, 2:30 PM, USA: Highpoint.com 400 at POCONO (D. Hamlin)

JULY 21, 2:30 PM, NBC: Brickyard 400 at INDIANAPOLIS (M. McDowell)

AUG. 11, 6 PM, USA: Cook Out 400 at RICHMOND (C. Buescher)

AUG. 18, 2:30 PM, USA: FireKeepers Casino 400 at MICHIGAN (C. Buescher)

AUG. 24, 7:30 PM, NBC: Coke Zero Sugar 400 at DAYTONA (C. Buescher)

SEPT. 1, 6 PM, USA: Cookout Southern 500 at DARLINGTON (K. Larson)

PLAYOFFS”ROUND OF 16 SEPT. 8, 3 PM, USA: Quaker State 400 at ATLANTA (W. Byron)

SEPT. 15, 3 PM, USA: Go Bowling at the Glen at WATKINS GLEN (W. Byron)

SEPT. 21, 7:30 PM, USA: Bass Pro Shops Night Race at BRISTOL (D. Hamlin)

PLAYOFFS ROUND OF 12 SEPT. 29, 3 PM, USA: Hollywood Casino 400 at KANSAS (T. Reddick)

OCT. 6, 2 PM, NBC: YellaWood 500 at TALLADEGA (R. Blaney)

OCT. 13, 2 PM, NBC: BofA ROVAL 400 at CHARLOTTE (AJ Allmendinger)

PLAYOFFS ROUND OF 8 OCT. 20, 2:30 PM, NBC: South Point 400 at LAS VEGAS (K. Larson)

OCT. 27, 2:30 PM, NBC: Cup Race at HOMESTEAD-MIAMI (C. Bell)

NOV. 3, 2 PM, NBC: Xfinity 500 at MARTINSVILLE (R. Blaney)

PLAYOFFS CHAMPIONSHIP 4 NOV. 10, 3 PM, NBC: Championship at PHO. (R. Blaney title; R. Chastain race)

2023 winners in parenthesis; 2024 winners in bold as the schedule unfolds; times ET

“We had a lot of people here tonight cheering us on, so they willed us to that one. Overall, I really appreciate the whole (No. 12 team). I mean, our car was really fast all night and we got a little bit better through the night, and two tires was a good call there.”

– Ryan Blaney, who outlasted William Byron to grab the win at Iowa Speedway Sunday

RUIDOSO DOWNS — Entries have been taken and processed for trials next weekend for the $1-million Rainbow Futurity at Ruidoso Downs Race Track.

“We are proceeding with making plans as scheduled,” General Manager Rick Baugh said. “We will make a final decision about when these trial races are held primarily based on the lifting of evacuation orders for the community, but we are hopeful that is next weekend.”

A total of 327 2-year-old quarter horses entered for the Rainbow Futurity trials, which was a slight increase from last year, when 311 quarter horses were entered. The trials will be at 400 yards over two days with the top-five fastest advancing to the final, which is scheduled to be run on Saturday, July 14.

There will be 17 races next Friday and Saturday, with first post scheduled for 11 a.m.

“We appreciate our horse racing media partners like Track Magazine, Speedhorse and Stallionesearch helping us communicate with horsemen that the trials are still scheduled and that we were taking entries,” Baugh said.

Despite severe damage to the west side of the Village of Ruidoso, mainly in the Upper Canyon, Alpine Village and Cedar Creek areas, the race track and barn areas were not impacted by the South Fork and Salt Fires.

“The track is blessed to have not been impacted, but some of our employees lost their homes and we are working to help find them some temporary housing,” Baugh said. “We are very appreciative of the firefighters and first responders including everyone that has kept much of the community protected. Hopefully we will be able to race in the near future to keep our commitment to our horsemen and employees.”

Race track officials and horse trainers at Ruidoso Downs have been working since the emergency began on Monday to ensure the safety of the animals. The horse population on the grounds is about 1,000 — about half of the average. Many trainers have been at the race track non-stop.

“We made arrangements for a complete evacuation of horses Monday night with other race tracks and nearby ranches and were ready just in case that was necessary,” Baugh said. “Some trainers made the decision to evacuate on their own to move their horses and we did our best to accommodate them. We are currently feeding all horsemen and emergency personel in our restaurant cantina daily and doing what we can to assist them while they care for their horses everyday.”

The race track had over 12,000 gallons of water in trucks standing by in case fire was eminent but that was not ever used. Baugh said the only issues that the race track has had to overcome has been some misinformation that was posted on social media about damage to the track and the search for horse trailers that was not necessary.

“The rumors that can develop on social media can make getting truthful information out to people difficult at times,” Baugh said. “We’re working to keep everyone safe including the horses and we hope to continue our horse racing meet as quickly as possible.’

Bulldog Bowl has been undergoing a few upgrades in preparation for the 2024 season. At left, crews work to replace the stadium’s light fixtures with new-and-improved (and brighter!) lights that will also offer up a few surprises for fans when the ‘Dogs score that first TD of the new season. Below, the east parking lot is also coming up in preparation for a much-needed re-pave.