Sam Mayer Tag

By David Morgan, Associate Editor FORT WORTH, Texas – They say everything’s bigger in Texas and Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Texas Motor Speedway lived up to the hype, coming down to a photo finish to determine the victor. In the end, Sam Mayer and JR Motorsports would inch their way past Ryan Sieg and the little team that could, RSS Racing, by just .002 seconds at the finish line to bank the win in the Andy’s Frozen Custard 300 – the second closest finish in Xfinity Series history. SiegRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service MARTINSVILLE, Va. — With a dramatic victory Saturday night at Martinsville Speedway, Aric Almirola removed an asterisk from his career record and collected a $100,000 Dash 4 Cash bonus in the process. With considerable help—perhaps unintentional—from Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Sheldon Creed after an overtime restart, Almirola grabbed the lead from Sam Mayer and won the DUDE Wipes 250 under caution when Riley Herbst, pole winner Brandon Jones and Ryan Ellis wrecked in Turn 2 on the final lap. The victory was Almirola’s firstRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service Kyle Larson was ultimately both patient and smart taking the lead on the final overtime lap to win an aggressive Featured Health 250 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Circuit of The Americas (COTA), the first road course test for the series this year that earned an “A” for high-drama and close competition. New Zealander Shane van Gisbergen and Austin Hill were duking it out for the lead – and pushing each other high off the race line as the field approached the checkered flag.Read More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor AVONDALE, Ariz. – Day two at Phoenix Raceway will be highlighted by NASCAR’s second highest division, as the NASCAR Xfinity Series wraps up its 2023 campaign by crowning its newest champion – all of which would be a first-time champion. Twelve championship hopefuls started the six-week march to the Valley of the Sun, with only four drivers left standing to duel it out in the Arizona desert on Saturday night. It all comes down to a battle between the JR Motorsports duo of Justin Allgaier andRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service HOMESTEAD, Fla. – Sam Mayer claimed his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series oval-race victory in the second half of a NASCAR double-header at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Saturday in the Contender Boats 300 after holding off last week’s race winner Riley Herbst by a mere .227-second. It marks the JR Motorsports driver Mayer’s fourth series victory of the season – and his career – most important for Mayer – who joked he didn’t breath the final four laps – it is his ticket into the Championship 4 finale that will decideRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service LAS VEGAS — It was a fitting venue, a perfect scenario for Riley Herbst to earn his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series race – a dominating 14.9-second victory in the Alsco Uniforms 302 at his home track, Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Herbst’s No. 98 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford led 103 of the 201 laps of the Playoff race leaving no room for error in this career-making day for the 24-year old Las Vegas native. It was the largest margin of victory in the series thisRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service CONCORD, N.C. – The NASCAR Xfinity Series has a new road course ace. “We may be Allmendinger 2.0,” Sam Mayer quipped after winning Saturday’s Drive for the Cure 250 presented by BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course and clinching a spot in the Round of 8 in the series Playoffs. The reference was to AJ Allmendinger, winner of the previous four Xfinity races at the 2.32-mile, 17-turn circuit. With Allmendinger ineligible for the race as a full-time NASCARRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – JR Motorsports driver Sam Mayer survived a full-contact afternoon at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International – contributing his own bump and run on the final restart to take the lead in overtime and hold off the field for his second career NASCAR Xfinity Series win Saturday in the Shriners Children’s 200 at The Glen. Mayer’s No. 1 JRM Chevrolet tagged the back of the day’s most dominant driver and then-race leader Ty Gibbs, spinning Gibbs’ No. 19 Toyota which then collectedRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service INDIANAPOLIS — In Saturday’s Pennzoil 150 presented by Advance Auto Parts NASCAR Xfinity Series race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, the fastest car met superior strategy.  In this case, the fastest car—Ty Gibbs’ No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota won the battle—decisively—over the craftiness of AJ Allmendinger, as the two full-time NASCAR Cup Series drivers stole the show and potential Playoff points from the Xfinity regulars.  Allmendinger, the pole winner, parlayed pit strategy into a pair of stage wins, but Gibbs chargedRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service BROOKLYN, Mich. – Overcoming an early wreck, a late caution and an angry teammate, John Hunter Nemechek claimed a milestone victory in Saturday’s Cabo Wabo 250 at Michigan International Speedway.  The NASCAR Xfinity win was the 200th in the series for Joe Gibbs Racing. For Nemechek, it was the fifth victory of the season and the seventh of his career—all at different tracks.  After Patrick Emerling pounded the Turn 3 wall to cause the seventh and final caution of the race on Lap 112, NemechekRead More