Ohioan Sam Hornish Jr. wins XFinity Mid-Ohio race

LEXINGTON, Ohio – Sam Hornish Jr. dominated in his home state to win the XFinity Mid-Ohio Challenge on Saturday.

Hornish, from Defiance, Ohio, took the lead from rookie Daniel Hemric on lap 62 of 75 after the seventh caution at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Hornish beat Hemric by 1.335 seconds for his fifth victory in 117 XFinity races.

Rookie Matt Tifft, a Hinckley, Ohio, native was third, 2.373 seconds back of Hornish. James Davison and Andy Lally completed the top five.

Series points leader Elliott Sadler overcame an early collision to finish sixth. Playoff points leader William Byron, who leads the series with three wins this year, was 25th.

Hornish led for 61 laps and avoided a 10-car pileup on lap 69 that resulted in the second red flag. There were also nine cautions.

Blake Koch of Kaulig Racing from Akron, Ohio, won the first stage ahead of Brennan Poole. Hornish, who won the pole, easily took the second 20-lap stage by 4.645 seconds over Hemric.

After Hornish lost the lead on a pit stop, he regained it on lap 46 when he went side-by-side with Hemric through turns 5 through 9 before taking the inside position and pulling away.

The race got off to an auspicious start when it went to caution after the first lap when Cole Custer’s car dropped fluid on the track and Sheldon Creed went to the garage with mechanical problems.

On lap 15, Matt Bell went lost control and crashed into the tire barrier off turn 1, drawing another caution and the red flag came out a lap later and lasted nearly 14 minutes so the wall could be repaired.

There are five races left in the regular season before the playoffs, beginning at the Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee, on Friday.