Sam Mayer clinches spot in NASCAR Xfinity Series Final 4
Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images
HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Sam Mayer claimed his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series oval-race victory in the second half of a NASCAR double-header at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Saturday in the Contender Boats 300 after holding off last week’s race winner Riley Herbst by a mere .227-second.
It marks the JR Motorsports driver Mayer’s fourth series victory of the season – and his career – most important for Mayer – who joked he didn’t breath the final four laps – it is his ticket into the Championship 4 finale that will decide the series title at Phoenix Raceway in two weeks.
The 20-year old Wisconsin native’s No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet led 46 laps on the day – including the final 30 – but brushed the wall exiting Turn 3 as he pushed forward on the last lap to keep a fast-closing Herbst behind him. Mayer’s fellow NASCAR Xfinity Series championship contender John Hunter Nemechek finished third in the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota; leading seven laps despite feeling under the weather.
Regular-season champion Austin Hill was fourth in the No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet and NASCAR Hall of Famer and crowd favorite, Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished fifth in his second and final race start of the season. He’s also the owner of Mayer’s Chevy.
“It’s unreal, we won on an oval,’’ a grinning Mayer screamed into the front grandstands. “This Chevrolet Camaro was so good.
“It’s all about putting a full race together,’’ he continued, “and I’m so proud of these guys. They kicked tail on pit road and we made it happen with these HMS (Hendrick Motorsports) engines.
“It’s just really cool to be able to beat an amazing organization like that (Herbst’s Stewart-Haas Racing team). We’ve got to turn it on a little harder going into Phoenix.’’
Herbst’s Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Cole Custer won Stage 1 and led a dominating 114 of the race’s 200 laps only to suffer a tire problem with 50 laps remaining and drop a lap down. He rallied back but still finished 13th after such an impressive early race. Custer and Hill are now tied three points above the cutoff line heading into next week’s regular season finale at the half-mile Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. Nemechek holds a healthy 44 point edge above them.
Another title favorite, Mayer’s JRM teammate Justin Allgaier – who came into the race ranked second in the championship standings, also had a tire issue after a pit stop and dropped back midway through the race. He rallied back to finish 15th, but dropped to fifth place in the standing, three points behind Hill for the automatic transfer position for the Championship 4.
Nemechek’s JGR teammate Sammy Smith, who finished ninth, is now 49 points back in sixth place. And it was a more dramatic day for the other championship contenders with Richard Childress Racing’s Sheldon Creed finishing 26th after exiting onto pit road with smoke trailing out of his Chevy with only two laps remaining in the race.
Kaulig Racing’s Chandler Smith rounds out the Playoff 8 – but finished a frustrating 34th place after being collected in an early race accident. They are now 54 (Smith) and 65 (Creed) points below the fourth place transfer line and will need to win the race at Martinsville next week to meet their Playoff goals.
Kaulig’s Daniel Hemric, Big Machine Racing’s Parker Kligerman, JRM’s Brandon Jones, and the Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Sammy Smith, and Joe Graf Jr. rounded out the top 10 Saturday.
Earnhardt’s participation was certainly a crowd pleaser and his fifth-place effort in the JR Motorsports Chevy was his fifth top-five showing since he retired from fulltime competition in the NASCAR Cup Series after the 2017 season. He methodically worked his way forward from a 23rd place starting position and survived a close call in the closing laps, ironically with Josh Berry, who drives for Earnhardt.
“Luckily it didn’t hurt our car and we were able to finish really good, so I’m happy about that,’’ Earnhardt said, noting he felt badly having an incident with one of his own team cars.
The series moves to the half-mile Martinsville (Va.) Raceway for next Saturday’s Dead On Tools 250 (3:30 p.m. ET, USA Network, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) which will formally decide which three drivers will join Mayer in championship eligibility at the Phoenix season-ender.
“Getting that first oval win [today] was big. … we finally won on an oval and my confidence is feeling good,’’ Mayer said with a huge grin.
NASCAR Xfinity Series Race – Contender Boats 300
Homestead-Miami Speedway
Homestead, Florida
Saturday, October 21, 2023
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Stage 2 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 13 1 Sam Mayer (P) Accelerate Pros Talent Chevrolet 200 2 4 56 Running 3 46 5
2 7 98 Riley Herbst Monster Energy Ford 200 7 8 42 Running
3 2 20 John Hunter Nemechek (P) Pye Barker Fire & Safety Toyota 200 3 2 51 Running 2 7
4 4 21 Austin Hill (P) United Rentals Chevrolet 200 8 9 38 Running
5 23 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet 200 32 Running
6 15 10 Daniel Hemric (P) Cirkul Chevrolet 200 10 10 33 Running
7 10 48 Parker Kligerman Spiked Light Coolers Chevrolet 200 6 35 Running
8 17 9 Brandon Jones Menards/Pelonis Chevrolet 200 29 Running
9 5 18 Sammy Smith # (P) Pilot Flying J Toyota 200 28 Running
10 11 19 Joe Graf Jr. Wawa Toyota 200 27 Running
11 20 11 Derek Kraus Celsius Chevrolet 200 1 36 Running 2 21 1
12 16 31 Parker Retzlaff # FUNKAWAY Chevrolet 200 25 Running
13 1 00 Cole Custer (P) Haas Automation Ford 199 1 3 42 Running 5 114 1
14 14 39 Ryan Sieg Sci Aps Ford 199 23 Running
15 3 7 Justin Allgaier (P) hellowater Chevrolet 199 6 5 33 Running 1 8
16 18 91 Kyle Weatherman Tweaker Energy Drinks Chevrolet 199 21 Running
17 26 92 Josh Williams StarTron/Alloy Chevrolet 199 20 Running
18 33 44 Jeffrey Earnhardt ForeverLawn Chevrolet 199 19 Running
19 29 6 Brennan Poole KSDT CPA Chevrolet 199 18 Running
20 28 27 Jeb Burton Alsco Uniforms Chevrolet 199 17 Running
21 22 51 Jeremy Clements Fly and Form Structures Chevrolet 199 16 Running
22 25 38 Kyle Sieg Lefcourt Brothers Ford 199 7 19 Running
23 27 45 Leland Honeyman Nuthin Fancy/Realtree Chevrolet 199 14 Running
24 37 43 Ryan Ellis Classic Collision Chevrolet 199 13 Running
25 36 35 Patrick Emerling Sci Aps Chevrolet 198 12 Running
26 9 2 Sheldon Creed (P) Whelen Chevrolet 198 4 18 Running 1 4
27 35 08 Mason Massey Anderson Power Services Ford 198 10 Running
28 31 78 Anthony Alfredo Nuthin Fancy Chevrolet 197 9 Running
29 34 02 Blaine Perkins # AutoParkit.com Chevrolet 196 8 Running
30 19 26 Kaz Grala CRUSH Lemonade Toyota 194 9 9 Running
31 21 24 Connor Mosack Toyota Genuine Parts Toyota 190 6 Electrical
32 8 8 Josh Berry Tire Pros Love The Drive Chevrolet 171 5 Accident
33 30 29 Mason Maggio(i) Flitz Polish Ford 153 0 Electrical
34 12 16 Chandler Smith # (P) Quick Tie Products Inc. Chevrolet 138 3 Engine
35 6 25 Brett Moffitt AM Technical Solutions Ford 97 5 8 Accident
36 32 74 Dawson Cram Lerner & Rowe Injury Lawyers Chevrolet 65 1 Accident
37 38 28 CJ McLaughlin Sci Aps Ford 37 1 Carburetor
38 24 66 Ryan Newman Generx Generators Ford 27 1 Rear Gear
Average Speed of Race Winner: 116.517 mph.
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 34 Mins, 29 Secs. Margin of Victory: .227 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 6 for 33 laps.
Lead Changes: 13 among 6 drivers.
Lap Leaders: C. Custer (P) 1-52;S. Mayer (P) 53;C. Custer (P) 54-71;J. Nemechek (P) 72-77;D. Kraus 78-92;J. Nemechek (P) 93;C. Custer (P) 94-102;J. Allgaier (P) 103-110;C. Custer (P) 111-140;D. Kraus 141-146;C. Custer (P) 147-151;S. Mayer (P) 152-165;S. Creed (P) 166-169;S. Mayer (P) 170-200.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Cole Custer (P) 5 times for 114 laps; Sam Mayer (P) 3 times for 46 laps; Derek Kraus 2 times for 21 laps; Justin Allgaier (P) 1 time for 8 laps; John Hunter Nemechek (P) 2 times for 7 laps; Sheldon Creed (P) 1 time for 4 laps.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 00,1,20,2,25,7,98,21,26,10
Stage #2 Top Ten: 11,20,00,1,7,48,38,98,21,10
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