For his first-ever short-track win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Sam Mayer gets it done in a tire battle at Iowa Speedway. Today looked like it was going to be all about Joe Gibbs Racing, but the JR Motorsports driver had other ideas.
Late in the race it was down to Riley Herbst and Sam Mayer on the front row. An overtime restart to finally decide the winner at Iowa Speedway. Herbst tried his best, but the No. 1 car was too good.
After the finish, Herbst gave Mayer a flat to his left rear. A little drama between the two drivers for sure.
Joe Gibbs Racing makes early statement
Just like in the Cup Series, the Xfinity Series has plenty of Joe Gibbs Racing drivers all capable of running up front. JGR opened today’s race at Iowa with a strong showing inside of the top-10.
Chandler Smith was up in the front and away from the field. Sheldon Creed, John Hunter Nemechek, and Sammy Smith were all toward the front as well. The Stage 1 win would go to Chandler and he wouldn’t let up there.
Of course, tires were major in this race. Drivers were blowing right fronts all afternoon long and set up a number of restarts at Iowa.
Chandler Smith sweeps the stages again
As I said, Smith did not let up after Stage 1. Like we have seen throughout the season in 2024, Chandler was strong to start and kept it going through the second stage. But he’s also run into trouble late in races where a dominant performance goes away late.
At one point, Smith had a four-second lead on the rest of the field. It would soon start to tighten up as tires wore out and drivers who conserved rubber began to pass those who didn’t.
Smith was more than fine running in the lead while the field chased him. The Joe Gibbs cars were so strong, as was Sam Mayer. Mayer and Ross Chastain stayed around and waited for the right moments to make their moves late.
Chandler Smith swept the stages on the way to the final stage.
Sam Mayer outduels Riley Herbst late at Iowa
With how strong Joe Gibbs Racing was early on, they weren’t really a factor late in this race. It was Sam Mayer and Riley Herbst late in the race and those two almost got into it with each other. Mayer doored Herbst a bit before the final restart and both drivers were aggressive.
The tires took out a couple of handfuls of drivers throughout the afternoon. Once you put 30 laps on the tires, they began to wear away and even blow apart. Front runners, middle of the pack, rear of the field – it didn’t matter, wrecks were happening all over the place.
Sam Mayer put the moves on Riley Herbst on the final restart. The second win of the season for Mayer who picked up a victory at Texas earlier this season. Mayer is a championship threat now that he’s gotten it done on the short track.
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