Sam Mayer looks over data during practice and qualifying for the Mission 200 at Watkins Glen International. (Photo: Holden Barnes | The Podium Finish)
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — With four races left to go before the NASCAR XFINITY Series playoffs began, Sam Mayer and his Haas Factory Team were locked on one goal: be consistent and win the championship in the end.
If there one thing to point out in the small Ford camp in the XFINITY field, the No. 41 car has been a model of consistency throughout the whole season.
During the entire 2024 campaign, when Sam Mayer was with the No. 1 group at JR Motorsports, he was the definition of a “checkers or wreckers” type of driver. He won a total of three races but racked up eight DNF’s and only eight top five finishes.
After yesterday’s Mission 200 at Watkins Glen International, Mayer secured his third straight top two finish (2nd at Indianapolis, 1st at Iowa). On top of that, Mayer holds 11 top five finishes and an average finishing position of 9th to 10th on a weekly basis.
The weekend started on a high note for the veteran XFINITY racer, as he qualified his No. 41 in the top five at a track that has treated him well in the past, with a win at the Glen in the XFINITY Series during the 2023 season. Throughout the open stages of the race later in the day, Mayer held his ground in the top five, at some points battling for the lead on the restarts with Connor Zilisch and Shane van Gisbergen.
When the chaos ensued at the final stage of the show, the No. 41 avoided the carnage all over the track. Mayer kept the body of his No. 41 Audibel Ford Mustang Dark Horse in good cosmetic shape even with the big one that occurred in the straightaway between Turns 5 and 6 when Michael McDowell was spun out by Austin Hill, creating a scary and violent accident for 16 cars on the racecourse.
When the field resumed after a long and frustrating red flag, Mayer clearly didn’t have the speed to keep up with eventual race winner. Zilisch, but he was able to fend off the likes of Sammy Smith and Austin Hill for a 2nd place effort through the twists and turns of upstate New York.
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Sam Mayer’s turned his all out approach to a deliberate, consistent one as seen in Saturday’s Mission 200 at Watkins Glen. (Photo: Holden Barnes | The Podium Finish)
Really proud of everyone here at Haas Factory. We brought a really good car. We were right there in the picture pretty much the whole time and we made the most of today,” the driver out of Franklin, Wisconsin said in his post-race comments. “Obviously winning would’ve been awesome. We were just a little but short. We need one more caution and we would’ve been in a really good spot.”
As the regular season winds down for the XFINITY Series, Mayer has now closed in on the JR Motorsports cars who currently head the top of the standings, that being Zilisch and Justin Allgaier.
With the broken collarbone that Zilisch suffered in his victory lane celebration yesterday, his playoff future is uncertain at moment. If he’s removed from the playoff field, Mayer would move second in the standings and 17 points behind Allgaier for the title. As of now, the No. 41 sits 24 points behind from Zilisch and third in the standings.
Mayer and his Haas Factory team will hit the track again in two weeks, when the XFINITY Series heads to Daytona International Speedway for the Wawa 250.
