Sam Mayer collected one checkered flag earlier in the night after winning the NASCAR Gander Outdoors & RV Truck Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway but he was looking for more. He strapped into the ARCA Menards Series car for double duty, though the GMS Racing driver had to work for his ARCA victory.
At one point, the Wisconsin native followed Ty Gibbs to pit road to pit for new adjustments. During the second segment Mayer picked up debris to his left-front which could have potentially caused handling issues but he escaped without further damage and won for the second consecutive time of the night.
Practice was canceled due to the remnants of Hurricane Sally that brought heavy rains to the North Carolina and Bristol areas. However, they were able to get the track dried in time for the ARCA Menards Series race. With practice canceled, the qualifying order was set by team owner points and that meant the No. 18 of Ty Gibbs sat on the pole with Mayer in the second position.
There were three segments taking place at Laps 75, 150 and 200.
Segment 1: Lap 1 – Lap 73 (Segment ended early due to late caution)
The first segment was a busy one for the ARCA drivers as six cautions flooded the segment with the first one coming as early as Lap 3 with the No. 53E of Max Gutierrez. The last caution of the segment took place on Lap 73 when debris came off Chandler Smith’s No. 20 due to the sway bar coming apart.
With the late segment yellow, ARCA officials decided to call the segment early and allow teams to change tires and add fuel to their cars. Gibbs, Mayer, Max McLaughlin, Michael Self, Drew Dollar, Mason Diaz, Parker Retzlaff, Hailie Deegan and Derek Griffith were the top 10 finishers for segment 1.
Segment 2: Lap 76 – Lap 150
As it has been happening all season long, Gibbs and Mayer found themselves battling for the lead off the restart. Though, Gibbs broke away this time, and checked out with the race lead and Mayer following in pursuit. The two actually would make contact at the halfway mark, when Mayer slightly touched the No. 18 of Gibbs left-rear. Gibbs and Mayer continued to soilder on despite the contact.
Four laps later, the first yellow of segment two flew on Lap 104 after the No. 11 of Owen Smith had oil leaking underneath his car. Meanwhile, two others cars ended up spinning in the process, those being the No. 97 of Justin S. Carroll and the No. 6 of Nick Sanchez.
During the caution flag, Gibbs made a pit stop for a left-rear flat, as did Mayer who pitted for adjustments on his No. 21 Chevy.
A few more incidents were seen throughout the rest of the segment. On Lap 124, Michael Self was sideways off Turn 4 while leading the race and hit the outside wall, which allowed the No. 1 of Max McLaughlin to assume the lead.
The final yellow would fly on Lap 132 after Parker Retzlaff went spinning on the fronstretch, as the No. 15 of Drew Dollar retaliated against Retzlaff from an earlier incident during the course of the summer.
Despite these incidents, Mayer found his way back into the lead, just before the second segment break on Lap 150. Following Mayer was McLaughlin, Gibbs, Diaz, Gray, Holmes, Griffith, Deegan, Dollar, and Dean the Top 10.
During the segment break, Bret Holmes played a different pit strategy and stayed out, taking the lead.
Segment 3: Lap 154 – Lap 200
When the green flag flew for the final segment, Holmes struggled to maintain the lead and Mayer took the lead back on Lap 156. Even though one more caution flew on Lap 160 for a Gus Dean spin, Mayer held on for the final 45 laps of the Toyota 200 to claim his fifth overall ARCA Menards Series victory of 2020 excluding his lone victory in the East Series at Dover.
There were 10 cautions for 61 laps and nine lead changes among five different leaders.
Mayer led four times for 116 laps en route to victory at Bristol.
Official Results following the Toyota 200 ARCA Menards at Bristol Motor Speedway.
- Sam Mayer, led 116 laps
- Ty Gibbs, led 53 laps
- Max McLaughlin, led 19 laps
- Mason Diaz
- Michael Self, led nine laps
- Hailie Deegan
- Taylor Gray
- Bret Holmes, led three laps
- Derek Griffith
- Justin S. Carroll, 2 laps down
- Nick Sanchez, 2 laps down
- Gus Dean, 5 laps down
- Jason Kitzmiller, 8 laps down
- Max Gutierrez, 11 laps down
- Kris Wright, 17 laps down
- Con Nicolopoulos, 18 laps down
- Kyle Sieg, 20 laps down
- Drew Dollar, 46 laps down
- Parker Retzlaff, OUT, Crash
- Dave Mader III, OUT, Overheating
- Chase Cabre, OUT, Crash
- Owen Smith, OUT, Engine
- Chandler Smith, OUT, Sway Bar
- Mike Basham, OUT, Brakes
- Brad Smith, OUT, Electrical
- Wayne Peterson, OUT, Electrical
Up Next: The ARCA Menards Series will continue their 2020 run to the championship by visiting Winchester Speedway Saturday September 19 live on NBC Sports Trackpass at 3 p.m./ET with a delayed telecast on MAVTV beginning at 6 p.m./ET.
