Coming off his second NASCAR Xfinity Series victory of the 2024 season at Iowa Speedway, Sam Mayer is primed to achieve a milestone start. By competing in this weekend’s Xfinity event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, the driver of the No. 1 Chevrolet Camaro for JR Motorsports. will reach 100 career starts in the Xfinity circuit.
Mayer, a native of Franklin, Wisconsin, and a two-time consecutive ARCA Menards Series East champion made his inaugural start in the Xfinity circuit at Pocono Raceway in June 2021. By then, he had inked a deal to compete with JR Motorsports for the second half of the current Xfinity season before graduating to a full-time driving role with the organization for the 2022 season.
Driving the No. 8 JRM Chevrolet Camaro, Mayer started 20th and finished 18th in his series debut. For the remaining 17 events on the schedule, the Wisconsin native nabbed six top-10s and 10 top-15 results. His best on-track result was a fourth-place finish at Martinsville Speedway in late October. In the end, Mayer contributed to JR Motorsports’ No. 8 entry settling in 12th place in the final owner’s standings.
Piloting the No. 1 JRM Chevrolet Camaro as a full-time Xfinity competitor for the 2022 season, Mayer commenced the season by finishing 30th at Daytona International Speedway. After recording four top-six results during his next eight starts, he then notched five top-five results during his next six starts. During the stretch, he achieved his first Xfinity career pole position at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May and claimed the first Xfinity Dash 4 Cash $100,000 bonus by finishing in third place at Richmond Raceway in April.
For the remaining 11 regular-season events, Mayer earned five additional top-10 results, which were enough for him and the No. 1 JRM team to make the 2022 Xfinity Series Playoffs. He transferred to the Round of 8 after finishing no lower than 11th during the Round of 12 but did not make the Championship 4 round despite achieving three consecutive top-seven results during the Round of 8.
Concluding the season with a 34th-place result during the season-finale event at Phoenix Raceway, Mayer capped off his first full-time campaign in the Xfinity Series with a seventh-place result in the final standings. By then, he had accumulated 11 top-five results, 19 top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 13.8 throughout the 33-race schedule.
Remaining at JRM for the 2023 campaign, Mayer’s season started on a rough note after he was involved in a rollover accident on the final lap at Daytona while contending for the victory. He rallied the following weekend at Auto Club Speedway by finishing second before finishing no lower than 11th during his next four starts.
During the next 13 events, Mayer notched four top-fives and seven top-10 results, including a runner-up finish at Pocono Raceway in late July. Then in his 71st series start, Mayer notched his first career victory at Road America amid a wild overtime shootout as he assumed the lead prior to the final lap and fended off a late charge from Parker Kligerman. Three races later, he achieved his second Xfinity career win at Watkins Glen International amid another wild overtime shootout, where he spun leader Ty Gibbs during the start and overtook Sheldon Creed before the final lap. Despite finishing no higher than 11th during the final three regular-season events, Mayer had already secured his spot in the 2023 Xfinity Series Playoffs.
Then amid back-to-back DNFs during the first two Round of 12 events at Bristol Motor Speedway and at Texas Motor Speedway due to on-track incidents, Mayer capitalized on a “must-win” situation to transfer into the Round of 8 after claiming a dominant victory in the Round of 12 finale at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course, where he led a race-high 50 laps from pole position. Two races later, Mayer raced his way into the Championship 4 round for the first time in his career after scoring a late victory at Homestead-Miami Speedway in October, which marked his fourth career win in the series.
Contending for his first Xfinity title, Mayer ended up in fifth place during the finale at Phoenix and in third place in the final standings. Despite falling short of winning the title, Mayer tied his total number of top-10s collected in a season compared to his previous season at 19. He had also accumulated two extra top-five results to 11, led 177 laps and achieved a new average-finishing result of 13.2.
Mayer commenced the 2024 season by finishing no higher than ninth and being strapped with four results of 30th or worse through the first six scheduled events. Then after finishing in second place at Martinsville in early April, he edged Ryan Sieg by 0.002 seconds to win for the fifth time in his career at Texas, which automatically made him eligible to make the 2024 Xfinity Series Playoffs. Since the Texas victory, Mayer proceeded to finish in the top four during his next four of six starts before he recently won at Iowa Speedway amid an overtime shootout and a late battle against Riley Herbst.
Through 99 previous Xfinity starts, Mayer has achieved six victories, two poles, 32 top-five results, 52 top-10 results, 396 laps led and an average-finishing result of 15.1 as he continues his pursuit for his first Xfinity Series championship.
Sam Mayer is scheduled to make his 100th Xfinity Series career start at New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the Sci Aps 200 this upcoming Saturday, June 22, as the event’s air time will commence at 3:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.
