Sam Mayer talking to the media after the Tennessee Lottery 250. (Photo: Yasser Khan | The Podium Finish)
LEBANON, Tenn. — Sam Mayer, driver of the No. 41 Haas Factory Team Ford Mustang, finished right where he started in the third position, running a clean and points-effective Xfinity Series race during the Tennessee Lottery 250 at Nashville Superspeedway.
The 22-year-old driver started in third place for the Tennessee Lottery 250 and he never lost his grip on the front the field. The race started well for Mayer, as he ran in the top five for the opening 35 laps until a caution was thrown out for an incident between Parker Retzlaff and Kyle Sieg.
Mayer, along with most of the lead-lap cars, came down pit road for service while drivers like Brandon Jones and Jermey Clements stayed out to make an attempt at stealing a stage win from the rest of the field.
Mayer restarted from the 11th position, falling back to 12th at the green, the lowest the No. 41 team would run all night long.
Mayer rebounded to finish seventh at the end of the Stage 1, and he would not leave the top ten for the rest of the evening. The No. 41 Ford Mustang ran, for the most part, around the top five for the remainder of the event, adding on to an already impressive season from the young driver and new Haas Factory team.
The driver out of Franklin, Wisconsin placed in at third when all was set and done, as no one was a match for defending Xfinity Series champion Justin Allgaier by the end of the show. However, Mayer did not come out of Nashville empty handed. The No. 41 team collected 44 points in total, putting them firmly ahead of the playoff cutline at 130 points to the good.
Sam Mayer runs in the middle of the lead pack during the beginning of the Tennessee Lottery 250. (Photo: Yasser Khan | The Podium Finish)
Back in his days with JR Motorsports, the young driver was not the model of consistency that he is right now. Last season, in his waning days in the No. 8 Chevrolet, Mayer had an average finish of 18th place. Not to say that he lacked speed last year, when he racked up three wins and led 224 laps. The main problem he had last year was execution when it came down to big moments on the track.
Mayer finished last season with eight DNF’s and only eight top five finishes. In his 2025 campaign, Mayer already has seven top fives and an average finish of around 10th place, and the season is only 14 of the 33 races in.
The Haas Factory Team driver looks forward to Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City next weekend, a track that might favor Mayer’s driving style, who has won previously on road courses such as the Roval at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Watkins Glen International and Road America.
