Sam Mayer has endured a tough start to the year but hopes Saturday night’s DUDE Wipes 250 at Martinsville gives him some momentum. (Photo: Daniel Rankin | The Podium Finish)
RIDGEWAY, Va. — At some point, Sam Mayer will shake out of his funky start surrounding his 2024 NASCAR XFINTY Series season efforts.
Heading into Saturday night’s DUDE Wipes 250 at Martinsville Speedway, the 20-year-old Franklin, Wisconsin, native ranks 20th in the championship standings. However, the driver of the No. 1 10X Health Chevrolet Camaro, prepared by JR Motorsports, has shown speed throughout the first six races of the year.
Last Saturday at Richmond Raceway, Mayer looked like one of the drivers to beat. Starting 11th in the ToyotaCare 250, Mayer finished fifth in Stage 1 and second in Stage 2, logging 15 valuable stage points.
Then, during a pit stop during the stage break caution ahead of the first green flag laps of Stage 3, Taylor Gray collided into Mayer’s left front door, right behind his left front tire. This led to a fender rub that forced the hard luck driver to pit for tires and repairs.
Placing 30th at Richmond, Mayer turns his sights on the 0.526-mile Martinsville Speedway, a track that has been feast or famine for the Wisconsinite. One one hand, Mayer rolled off three straight top 10 results from 2021 to 2022. Then again, he has crashed in his two most recent starts, winding up in 31st and 25th.
With an average finish of 14.2, Mayer hopes Saturday night’s race plays out more like his first three visits versus his two most recent trips to the paperclip. At the very least, he qualified ninth, his second top 10 qualifying effort at the charter stock car track.
Before taking on the beloved short track, Mayer expressed some optimistic thoughts about his weekend efforts.
“We had an absolute rocket ship of a car in Richmond,” Mayer said in a team press release. “Although it is a shame we didn’t have the finish to show for it, I am pumped to bring that same short-track speed to Martinsville this weekend.
“This No. 1 JR Motorsports team puts so much hard work and effort into giving me the best car each and every week and I am confident that we can get the finish that we deserve at Martinsville. It is great to have 10X Health back on the car and I look forward to hopefully sending them to Victory Lane!”
Given the tough times surrounding Mayer and his Mardy Lindley-led No. 1 team, it would seem easy to see how this solid unit would be demoralized. Instead of being frustrated, the 2023 third place points finisher has looked at his year with a mature outlook.
Sam Mayer takes to the paperclip known as Martinsville Speedway during a Friday on track session. (Photo: Wayne Riegle | The Podium Finish)
“You can always put a little bit of blame on yourself for being in the situation,” he said. “Obviously, having all the DNFs and not having the great finishes is frustrating. But our car has always had speed each and every week.
“This entire year has been crazy. Each and every week has been really, really fast. So I can’t complain about that. I mean, it’s great having so many partners on board, being able to kind of take this journey with me because there’s nowhere to go but up now.”
Along the way, Mayer has solid teammates to help him and his No. 1 team with emerging from their roller coaster like start to the year. He tipped his cap to a veteran teammate and the organization’s newest driver.
“Justin [Allgaier]’s really a good dude,” he observed. “He’s been at JRM for a while now and he’s kind of always he’s that seasoned veteran that knows how the gig works. And you can always lean on him.
“But having Sammy [Smith] on board he’s meshed with the team really well. It’s been fun having him on board and a little bit different energy. He has a lot of knowledge from years past. So hopefully when we go to these more technical racetracks, that can help us out.”
Likewise, Mayer can turn to some voices of reason and experience with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kelley Earnhardt-Miller, co-owners of JR Motorsports.
At some point, Sam Mayer hopes to parlay his strong performances with a finish indicative of his race and championship contending efforts. (Photo: Daniel Rankin | The Podium Finish)
“Dale loves being in on the competition side. And Kelly’s really good on being involved on the business side,” he said. “So we get a little bit of everything from the Earnhardt family, and it works out really well for JR Motorsports as a whole. So each and every information I get, a bit of information I get is is valuable, and I can always take it on to the next place.
If Mayer can tally a strong finish or win on Saturday night, he might feel like “The Incredible Hulk” with his winner’s circle roar. To say the least, his personality may be the kind that resonates with new race fans who may learn about NASCAR thanks to Netflix’s NASCAR: Full Speed docuseries.
“It’s huge. Nothing that is involving growth hurts and especially for our community drivers,” Mayer said. “Any time you can get on TV and help celebrate your sponsor or if you have 10 of them, like me, celebrate all of them and be able to give back to them because they do so much for this organization.
“So having that opportunity to get more in front of other viewers is really cool, especially for the Cup side. So, I love it. I think what NASCAR is doing right now is a really good they’re doing a really good job.
