“I’m going to blame him”: Sheldon Creed frustrated by teammate John Hunter Nemechek after blowing the chance to win Iowa Xfinity race

Joe Gibbs Racing driver Sheldon Creed expressed his frustrations with teammate John Hunter Nemechek, suggesting that the latter's actions cost both drivers their chances of winning the Xfinity race at Iowa Speedway.

During NASCAR's return to the 0.875-mile oval, Creed in the #18 Toyota and Nemechek in the #20 Toyota were battling for second position with 12 laps left remaining. Creed made the move into Turn 3, which resulted in both cars sliding up the track and making slight contact, causing them to lose positions.

Sheldon Creed finished fifth and reflected on the late-race incident that cost him a chance at victory. He believes Nemechek should have yielded the position exiting the corner. Creed also argued that the Cup Series regular should have given him the position, considering he doesn't compete for points in the Xfinity Series.

Speaking to Bob Pockrass after the race, Creed blamed Nemechek for the lost victory and expected the same from the Legacy Motor Club driver.

"Got a really good side draft and went to go slide him into (Turn) 3. Yeah, I just gave him the option, what we call it, and he knew I was going to throttle up either way. I just figured he would cross me, or… he doesn’t run for points so maybe give it to me. But yeah he throttled up outside of me kind of cost both of us there, I don’t know. I’m going to blame him, he’s going to blame me, right?" Creed said.

While Sheldon Creed secured a top-five result, his teammate John Hunter Nemechek experienced a tire failure and crashed into the barriers. The #20 Toyota driver was classified as P27.

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Sheldon Creed insists he could have won his maiden Xfinity race at Iowa

As the two Joe Gibbs Racing drivers took out one another from victory contention, Sam Mayer clinched his second win of the season ahead of Riley Herbst.

Sheldon Creed reckoned that if he hadn't collided with his JGR teammate, he could have overtaken Nemechek and Herbst and kept Mayer at bay to win his maiden Xfinity race. The only issue holding him back was his tires not firing off on the restart.

"If I clear him, I was better than the 98 after five laps. So, I think I run em down. I think I could have kept the 1 [Sam Mayer] behind me. It just took me too long to get going. Just way too loose for 10 or so laps. I think you seen a lot of us like that but it just made it really hard to fire off for me," Creed told Pockrass.

After 15 rounds in the regular season, Sheldon Creed sits sixth in the Drivers' Standings, 105 points behind leader Cole Custer. Sam Mayer occupies the 10th position with two victories.