Sam Mayer has racked up wins like a music artist scoring No. 1 hits. (Photo: Cody Porter | The Podium Finish)
Sam Mayer has earned his stripes as a proven, determined winner in the NASCAR XFINITY Series. At age 20, Mayer continues to add to the rich legacy of competitive, successful Badger State natives.
Before the Franklin, Wisconsin native found his groove in the No. 1 Accelerate Professional Talents Camaro, racing was already embedded in his DNA. His father, Scott, raced in INDYCAR before making his way to sports car competition.
At the age of four, Mayer cut his teeth racing in go-karts. Instead of following his father’s path, he chose to work his way into stock car competition. When Mayer turned 14 years old, he raced in Legends cars at Charlotte Motor Speedway and Limited Late Models at Greenville-Pickens Speedway.
Along the way, he got in touch with racing veteran Lorin Ranier who assisted him with a JR Motorsports ride in the CARS Tour in 2018. It was evident that the young racer had the chops to succeed with his raw, tenacious approach.
Winning the 2019 and 2020 ARCA Menards Series East championship with GMS Racing, Mayer won a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Bristol in 2020. A year later, Mayer made his NASCAR XFINITY Series debut at Pocono with JR Motorsports’ No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro, placing 18th. Although it was a bit of a rough introduction, Mayer kept his head up, tallying a fourth at Martinsville and six top 10 finishes.
Last year, Mayer emerged as a rising young star with 11 top fives and 19 top 10s, good enough to place seventh in the championship standings. By this point, Mayer showcased how he could his own at the tougher tracks of the stock car circuit.
This year has been a delight for Mayer after 23 races. Ranked fifth in the championship standings, Mayer willed his way to a home state victory at Road America before duplicating his winning ways at Watkins Glen last Saturday.
By all means, Mayer continues to sharpen his race craft while emerging as a rising star for Chevrolet and JR Motorsports. More importantly, he has persevered through challenging times, balancing his aggression with patience and poise.
It takes a village for anyone to succeed as Mayer attests. After all, he has a great support system in crew chief Mardy Lindley, the JR Motorsports organization and his family and friends.
Prior to Friday night’s Wawa 250 at Daytona International Speedway, Mayer talked about his journey to stock car’s second most premier division. Along the way, he considers the importance of mental health awareness, working with a familiar leader in Lindley and lessons learned from Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kelley Earnhardt-Miller.
Now, let us catch up with the two-time NASCAR XFINITY Series winner as Sam Mayer is back “In the Hot Seat” here on The Podium Finish!
Rob Tiongson : Welcome back to another edition of “In the Hot Seat” here on The Podium Finish and The Podium Finish Live! Rob Tiongson here with Sam Mayer, driver of the No. 1 Accelerate Pro Talent Chevrolet Camaro and the most recent winner in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. In fact, he has been on a hot streak, if you will, because he earned his two most recent career victories at Road America and Watkins Glen. So we sure know how to get these drivers “In the Hot Seat,” if you will.
So, Sam, before we get started, how are you doing?
Mayer is riding on a streak of five top five finishes. (Photo: Stephen Conley | The Podium Finish)
Sam Mayer : Oh, I’m doing really good right now. Obviously, coming off of a win here this last weekend feels really, really good. But like you said, the hot streak that we are on the last couple of months has been really fun. It has been a really fun journey.
I’m really looking forward to what we can do the rest of the season going into the Playoffs because we have so much momentum right now. It feels like we’re indestructible right now. It feels really good.
Tiongson : And there’s nothing like confidence and having a bit of momentum on your side. Good people also and good cars. But when you have a bit of those those unseen intangibles, man, life is good. So I’m sure you’re like, “Let’s pinch myself. Just make sure that life is really happening as it is.”
I would say it’s been a sparkling year for you so far. You got those wins at Road America and Watkins Glen. What has it been like for you to realize and experience these jubilant moments in your career so far?
Mayer: Yeah, it’s been it’s been a tough journey, a lot of learning, a lot of heartbreak, a lot of disappointment (that) has led up to this just joy that I’m feeling now to have the success and have the streak that we were on last year. We had a lot of success with top fives, top tens and close finishes and all that, but we never closed the deal out.
It wasn’t a lack of speed and effort. It was just the fact that we were just so close and couldn’t do it. This year, (we’re) finally opening up the floodgates, getting that first win.
It feels like I’m unstoppable right now. We already got our second win of the year and we have so much momentum going into the Playoffs that I’m really looking forward to getting it going because I know that we’re a little bit behind in the bonus point part. But I think that we have such a good amount of momentum going into the Playoffs that I think we’re going to gain those points really quickly.
Tiongson: Certainly. And I’m am sure you’re looking forward to those. The round of 12 coming up, knowing those are good tracks for you. Of course, the Charlotte ROVAL is around the corner, so you’re probably licking your chops when we get to the road courses. But anywhere right now, my friend, you are super fast and so competitive.
It’s your second full time season with this renowned organization. How would you perceive your evolution as a driver in your second full time season?
Through the ups and downs, Mayer has felt the appreciation and support of JR Motorsports. (Photo: Wayne Riegle | The Podium Finish)
Mayer : Yeah, it’s been a lot of learning. Like I said, there’s been a lot of disappointment downs and ups along the way to get to this point. And the organization, JR Motorsports, is super exciting to be a part of because of the name, obviously. And the people in the building are are just amazing and they’ve been so good to me. They’ve stuck by my side.
Obviously, through all the craziness that’s happened over the last couple of years to to finally get this point and play play almost like the long game with me and and stick with me and give me the opportunity to get here.
It’s super special. And to get the organization two more wins on the year we’re a little bit behind compared to last year because we lacked some speed earlier in the spring, but we have so much speed now that I think we can catch up and and get so many wins here closing off the year.
Tiongson: Absolutely. I mean, I bet you right now you’re sitting here with me. You’re like, man, if I’m in my car at Daytona, I’m pretty sure I’m going to win that race as well. So I can just see the confidence exuding from you. It’s really cool to see and really authentic.
I know that was just when you getting into the seat of the JR Motorsports car (in 2021) because you just turned 18 at that point. How have you managed or responded to any criticisms levied by the fans or media pundits or even internally when it comes to you as a driver?
Mayer : Yeah. With the disappointments over the last couple of years of not getting those wins that we expect, it takes a toll on you. Obviously all the other outside voices that you can hear and see… it takes a toll on you too. And doubt sets in here and there.
But you have good runs here and there and then it all goes away. Obviously, having winning now takes a lot of weight off the shoulders and you feel just super good about yourself and the team. But yeah, just like you got to block all that out now because you know you can do it.
You’ve accomplished already what you wanted as your first goal. The rest of the goals, you got to go out and get them because they’re right there waiting for you to come.
Tiongson : I feel like people out there who may struggle with that and sometimes feel like their backs are against the wall, I think they’re going to take some inspiration from what you said there, Sam. So that’s really good advice and also a healthy attitude for sure. In fact, I might have needed to hear that myself. So I like that. That was good to hear.
Now, let’s talk about the Playoffs, because I know you’re super excited. I’m excited as a journalist to get to that point of the year because that’s when we get to the nitty gritty. And I believe for the another year in a row, we’re going to start it off at Texas Motor Speedway track that you typically run pretty well at.
What are some things that you have learned about from last year’s run that you feel is going to benefit you this time around to have a really good concentrated run at this year’s championship?
From the get-go, Mayer has showcased he is here to stay as a proven stock car competitor. (Photo: Luis Torres | The Podium Finish)
Mayer : Yeah, I think in general, we we have a lot of good race tracks coming up in general for for our team and our organization. We’ve had obviously wins at Darlington, wins at Daytona. We’ve won all of these race tracks coming up. We won at Kansas last year with Noah, like all of these tracks that we have success at and we’ve run really good at, um, the entire playoff grid.
I mean, other than there’s 1 or 2 that I don’t know if I have confidence in, we just got to get there and find out. But other than those, every single racetrack is something that I’m looking forward to going to and I go to with knowing that I can get a big points day, know I can get to the next round, just click off one win and you’re in the championship four if you make it to the round of eight.
So lots of positivity for us. We just got to go out there and do it.
Tiongson : Certainly. Let’s actually talk about one of those aspects that have probably catalyzed your efforts recently. I mean, your to your first year working with crew chief Mardy Lindley, who’s been around in the sport for a very long time. But what is that process been like working with him in terms of gelling with him and how he’s likely elevated your craft as a driver?
Mayer : Working with Mardy back in 2018, 2019 and 2020 in the ARCA and the K&N Series back in the day, I mean, it feels super good to be able to come back with him and have success already. Obviously it’s the first year back with him since we’ve been together years and years ago, but to have success with him already, for him to get in the game and get in the groove really quickly with these XFINITY cars, he’s learning just as much as I am on the weekly.
So to have success, have wins, have good race cars in general just feels really good and it’s great having Mardy back.
Tiongson : When you have a sense of familiarity, of a familiar voice, someone that you can bounce ideas off of. It’s just it’s almost like you can complete each other’s sentences. It’s almost like match game, if you will.
Mayer : Oh, definitely. 100%.
Tiongson : We should do a driver/crew chief interview one of these days just to see if you guys really think of the same word at the same time. That’d be pretty neat.
Now, I understand here, Sam, that you work with a really great organization called End Stigma. So you mean how important is it for you to collaborate with them in terms of mental health awareness and just in general having those difficult conversations about it?
Mayer : Yeah. We haven’t talked too much about it lately, but working with them a lot, especially in the past, especially over COVID, it affected a lot of people and in a lot of different ways, too.
So to be able to to help out organizations like that is super special and to help people in general, because that’s the goal of any organization like that, is to help people and to be a part of that is just really satisfying.
Tiongson : And I think that’s really a great thing that you’re doing just because, yeah, Covid certainly impacted us. I think even post Covid, it’s tough because people probably got used to a routine or developed some kind of defense against being isolated and then being reintegrated with society can be a little tough.
Now, let’s talk a little bit about the team ownership side with Dale and Kelley Earnhardt Miller. What’s the best advice that you received from both of them in terms about handling the rigors of racing?
Without a doubt, Mayer has two great mentors at JR Motorsports. (Photo: Dylan Nadwodny | The Podium Finish)
Mayer : There’s so many different aspects to racing. There’s the personal side, the business side, the driver side. There’s so many different antics that go along with racing that Kelly and Dale both have so much knowledge with. And I really can’t pinpoint one thing that they helped me with because it just flows into everything else that we can talk about.
But Kelly’s taught me a lot about the business side because she obviously is the boss over there. She knows what’s going on, She gets it. She gets being a driver as well. So and that’s something that
Dale has helped me with too, is a lot of the driver side getting getting used to being in the spotlight and showing what you got. You have to do it right, otherwise you won’t make it. So he knows all about that. He he knows how to make driving driving more fun and less business.
Obviously an organization like JR Motorsports, it’s just tons of fun over there. So having those two as bosses, it feels really good.
Tiongson : It’s a great balance from the sounds of things. Just because, like you said, Kelly’s got that great business background certainly doesn’t help, doesn’t hurt to work with the Earnhardts in general just because they have always been so innovative with business, with merchandising and just, you know, dealing with the press as well. So you’ve got two great subject matter experts with that. So it’s almost like going to college, but better than that, you’re doing it for fun.
Now, most folks may never understand and experience the speed and rush that you feel in that race car every weekend. But what are a few relatable experiences that someone like me probably has done in their life would be similar to what you do in your car?
Mayer : I think the the biggest comparison that I can make for anyone would be to compare Dover or really kind of any mile and a half like that. I think you can kind of throw you can throw Texas into that mix, too.
It is (like) being on a roller coaster that that goes straight down that like feeling that you feel going off into the corner is the exact same that you feel going down on a roller coaster. It’s really it’s hard to explain. But if you feel that feeling in your stomach, you can you can almost directly correlate that to racing. It’s really cool.
Tiongson : Now that you’ve said that, now I’m trying to remember that feeling. So that’s not going to see things the same way anymore. The way you said that. So that’s really cool. I have ridden roller coasters. I’ve actually been in the front of a roller coaster before, which is, uh, yeah, I can’t do that anymore. I’m retired from excitement, but that’s a cool comparison. I think folks are going to understand that.
Now, let’s just say that you have a bunch of money laying around and you’re like, You know what? I want to build a racetrack somewhere. What kind of racetrack would you build and where would it be?
Mayer : I think I would try to I would try to build a mile and a half because there’s a lot of really good mile halfs out there, but there’s also mile half’s that struggle. So I would try to build a type of mile and a half racetrack, intermediate racetrack that has like progressive type banking, almost kind of like Homestead, but shaped differently than Homestead.
But I think having a racetrack like that, that could provide different grooves for racing. Like as a driver, you can kind of design your own racetrack based off of what you like, and that’s something that I like. So I would do something close to that.
Tiongson : And where would this be?
Mayer : Man, I think I would put it. I would put it towards the Northwest. I think having the weather up there and the cool backgrounds I think would be really cool somewhere, somewhere close to the mountains, kind of like Fontana, like the Fontana views that you can see there.
Some of the pictures that you see on those of those race tracks are just beautiful. So I would I would build something close to Fontana, um, in that, in that sense of what you see and kind of like the racing you get to.
Tiongson : Yeah, I’m going to miss the fact that we’re not racing in Fontana for the interim. And I know what you’re talking about with Mount Baldy in the background. We got some amazing shots of that race track from other outlets in mine as well. So yeah, now I’m starting to think about cold weather because you don’t want to hear the weather here in Texas. It’s pretty bad temperature wise.
Mayer : It’s hot all around the Southeast too. It was like 95 today so far. So I’m happily inside doing this interview with you.
Tiongson : Man, same here.
If you got to be a guest DJ for Sirius XM Radio, what music or songs would you be playing in terms of artists?
Qué no pare la fiesta, don’t stop the party. (Photo: Wayne Riegle | The Podium Finish)
Mayer : I would play like my favorite artist right now would be Pitbull. He has a lot of really fun songs, songs that you could really DJ with and I think the vibe that you can get from stuff like that would be a lot of fun. So that would definitely be something I would do.
Tiongson : I like that. It’s a nice little like Friday afternoon feeling, if you will.
Mayer : Exactly. You get it!
Tiongson : I do, because I am a 9 to 5 or East Coast time person. So, yes, I look forward to Fridays after 5:00. Do you have anything you want to say to the fans before we wrap things up?
Mayer : Yeah, just thanks to everyone who supports racing because really we would not be able to do this without the people in the grandstands and people that watch on TV and and participate and watch in these these podcasts.
So it’s super cool to have people that support us as race car drivers, us as a sport because we would not be able to do it without you guys. So thank you.
Editor’s Notes
Special thanks to Sam Mayer for taking time to talk and catch up with The Podium Finish. Also, special thanks to Beth Swanson of JR Motorsports for coordinating this interview with Sam.
Be sure to keep up-to-date with Sam here on The Podium Finish and on his social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram and X! Also, check out Sam’s interview on TPF Live! and YouTube!
