Sam Mayer Wins Xfinity Race at Iowa, Riley Herbst Retaliates After Checkers
"He’s going to call me this week and apologize and show me his Superman photo or whatever the hell he does on top of his car."
Sam Mayer won his second race of the 2024 season during a green-white-checker finish at Iowas Speedway. The driver that was the least pleased? Riley Herbst.
On multiple restarts, Mayer and Herbst ended up next to each other, and Mayer's restarts were aggressive. Before the final restart, Herbst's spotter reminded him how he's been raced.
With the particle repave at Iowa, the high line on the restart is extremely favorable. The car that finds itself in the top line while exiting turn two, is gifted extra grip, allowing them to dive down and secure a lead.
Mayer crowded Herbst down in turn one and secured the lead exiting turn two on the penultimate lap.
After Mayer secured the victory, Herbst bumped into him, taking down his left rear; Mayer would lose the rest of the tire in his post-victory burnout.
"It was just frustrating," Herbst told NASCAR on NBC, "It was an up and down day for sure. I felt like we were okay yesterday, and we got it better; we worked all night. We worked our way back up through the field and got some track position. The guy that won absolutely ruins us in 1 and 2; that was frustrating."
The No. 98 team's frustrations are multiplied as they deal with the continued fallout of Stewart Haas Racing, which announced that it will be leaving the sport at the end of the season.
Herbst was asked if he felt that he "owed" one to Mayer after the race; he said no, knowing that he would receive an apology later that week, but he did not skip the chance to be a little shady about it.
"I don’t know if I owe him one. He’s going to call me this week and apologize and show me his Superman photo or whatever the hell he does on top of his car."
This was Mayer's first short-track win of the season. Truck Series regular Corey Heim, in his seventh Xfinity start of the season, earned his best finish of third.