Sam Mayer Earns Championship 4 Spot, Wins at Homestead

Sam Mayer may seem like primo uno when it comes to the championship after winning at Homestead. (Photo: Erik Smith | The Podium Finish)

HOMESTEAD, Fla. – As the NASCAR XFINITY Series season winds down, Sam Mayer has picked up his performances in grand fashion.

The 20-year-old Franklin, Wisconsin native has been lights out at the road courses since his riveting Road America win in the summer. Now, he has found his winning ways at last on an oval.

Last Saturday’s Contender Boats 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway was Mayer’s finest race on an oval layout. Despite starting 13th for the 200-lap race, the driver of the No. 1 Accelerate Pro Talents/Huck’s Chevrolet Camaro was a constant presence toward the front of the field.

Nevertheless, the JR Motorsprots racer had his work cut out for him as he had to battle with the likes of Cole Custer of Stewart-Haas Racing, Derek Kraus of Kaulig Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing’s John Hunter Nemechek. While the competition was fierce for Mayer and his Mardy Lindley-led team, the No. 1 team kept in the fight all race long.

In the early going, Custer made his presence known by winning Stage 1 in his No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang. Not long after, Kraus captured the Stage 2 victory in Kaulig’s “trophy hunting” ride.

Mayer placed second and fourth in Stages 1 and 2, netting 16 valuable stage points as he set his sights on making the Championship 4. Ironically, this was the margin he trailed by to at least tie the fourth and final cutoff spot for the championship field at Phoenix.

Once Stage 3 was underway, it appeared to be Custer’s race as he led 114 laps. However, a gorgeous afternoon for Custer went sour with 50 laps to go when he drove too close to the wall in Turns 3 and 4, cutting a right front tire.

Cole Custer seemed about the class of the field while Sam Mayer was not too far behind him at Homestead. (Photo: Erik Smith | The Podium Finish)

Custer went from a potential victory to placing 13th, a disappointing result considering the promising possibility with his fast No. 00 Ford.

This opened the door for Mayer to capitalize at Homestead as he captured the lead on Lap 152. Other than Sheldon Creed’s brief, four lap stint at the front of the field from Laps 166 to 169, Mayer assumed command of the race.

In the final laps of the 300-miler, Mayer saw his mirror become more full with Riley Herbst’ hard charging No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang on the prowl. Like the Las Vegas duel between Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell, Mayer had to do some defensive driving while being on the offensive against Herbst at Homestead.

On the final lap of the race, Mayer brushed the Turn 4 wall, damaging his car but it was not enough to impede his path to victory. By just 0.227 seconds, Mayer punched his ticket to the Championship 4 with his fourth win of the season.

Capturing his first ever NASCAR XFINITY Series oval win, Mayer’s excitement was quite apparent on the frontstretch.

“That’s unreal. We won on an oval!” Mayer said in excitement to NASCAR on NBC’s Kim Coon. “I can’t believe it. These guys… the Accelerate/Huck’s Camaro was just so good.

“Obviously, the No. 00 was as fast as XFINITY 10G, but so were we. It’s all about putting a full race together. And I’m so proud of these guys. And they kicked tail on pit road. We made it happen with this HMS (Hendrick Motorsports) engine.”

Herbst was close to capturing his second career XFINITY Series win in as many weeks. Regardless, it was a fine podium for the Las Vegas native as he looks to parlay momentum into 2024 with a strong finish to close out this year.

“I don’t know. Thats a lot of hypotheticals,” Herbst said to NASCAR on NBC’s Marty Snider. “I felt like we had a really fast Monster Energy car, for sure. It wasn’t that great in practice. It wasn’t that great in Stages 1 and 2. But Davin and the boys kept wrenching on it and told me to keep my head on it, continue to race and continue to fight.

“That’s what we did. I’m really bummed out for Cole. He was definitely the class of the field like we were (at Las Vegas). So, hopefully, we can continue this SHR dominance and head on to Martinsville and Phoenix for a couple of more checkered flags.”

John Hunter Nemechek may have only led seven laps last Saturday afternoon. Then again, it was a strong podium performance and finish for the championship contender as he liked his chances heading into Saturday’s Dead On Tools 250 at Martinsville Speedway.

“Overall, solid day,” Nemechek said. “Proud of this whole No. 20 Pye-Barker Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing team. Thanks Toyota, TRD. We are still in a really good points spot going into Martinsville. Just have to go execute – solid points day today, and that’s all you can ask for. Doesn’t matter how you get to Phoenix, just that you get there.”

It may be safe to say that Sam Mayer celebrated like it was 1997 and 2003 for a certain baseball team in nearby Miami. (Photo: Erik Smith | The Podium Finish)

Meanwhile, Mayer showed what he had at Homestead by capitalizing in fine fashion for JR Motorsports. It was not lost upon him that his hardy team defeated a surging Stewart-Haas Racing organization that has found speed and performance in these closing races of the season.

“Stewart-Haas had it, that’s for sure,” Mayer said. “It’s just really cool to beat an amazing organization like that. So, Riley’s definitely turned it on. And we got it turned on a little hotter going into Phoenix.”

Stage 1 Top 10 Finishers

1. Cole Custer
2. Sam Mayer
3. John Hunter Nemechek
4. Sheldon Creed
5. Brett Moffitt
6. Justin Allgaier
7. Riley Herbst
8. Austin Hill
9. Kaz Grala
10. Daniel Hemric

Stage 2 Top 10 Finishers

1. Derek Kraus
2. John Hunter Nemechek
3. Cole Custer
4. Sam Mayer
5. Justin Allgaier
6. Parker Kligerman
7. Kyle Sieg
8. Riley Herbst
9. Austin Hill
10. Daniel Hemric

Contender Boats 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway Race Results

NASCAR XFINITY Series Round of 8 Playoffs Standings