NEWTON, Iowa – Driving the No. 70 Chevy for Warsaw-based ML Motorsports, Johanna Long finished 22nd in Sunday’s NASAR Nationwide Series race at Iowa Speedway. Long, making her first Nationwide Series apperance at the .875-mile track, qualified 20th for the Pioneer Hi-Bred 250. The 19-year-old Long has competed in seven Nationwide Series races this season, with an average starting position of 20th and an average finish of 24th. Long and the ML Motorsports team will be in action again Friday – Long’s birthday – at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., the defending series champion, won Sunday’s race, followed in the top five by Elliott Sadler, Michael McDowell, Austin Dilon and Kurt Busch. Danica Patrick was involved in an accident and finished 30th. Stenhouse didn’t need a fortuitous push from a teammate to win at Iowa Speedway this time around. Stenhouse’s No. 6 car was strong enough to keep the drama and the rest of the field out of reach. He led 209 of 250 laps en route to his third straight win on Iowa’s short oval. Stenhouse, who won both races in Iowa in 2011 and took first last August after blowing an engine and being pushed across by Carl Edwards, picked up his third victory of the season. He also extended his lead in the points chase to 28 over Sadler. ‘‘It feels good to win three in a row, and it was a lot of fun leading that many laps,’’ Stenhouse said. For Stenhouse, Sunday’s race was a lot less exciting but a lot more efficient than his last trip to Iowa. Stenhouse’s 209 laps led tied the track record set by Kyle Busch in 2010. He also became the first Nationwide driver to win three in a row at the same track since Kyle Busch won three at Texas in 2009-10. ‘‘This is the way you want to win. You want to go out here and dominate,’’ Stenhouse said. ‘‘We want to go out there and lead laps, stay up front and get the job done.’’ The Sprint Cup event in Charlotte on Saturday kept all Cup regulars except for Kurt Busch out of the field, giving the Nationwide series a rare Sunday in the spotlight. Busch still showcased his skills as a driver though, briefly taking the lead after starting in the back and saving a top-five finish after being bumped by McDowell on the last lap. ‘‘Stenhouse man, he did a good job (Sunday). The kid is getting really good,’’ Busch said. ‘‘It’s great to sniff the lead, be close to it and just missing a couple little components.’’
