Creed Earns Second Straight Road Course Top 10 at Sonoma; Mayer 17th
Custer Finishes 22nd in Cup Series on Sunday
Xfinity Series
Following a strong showing last weekend in Chicago by both Haas Factory Team (HFT) Fords, the momentum continued at Sonoma on Friday as Sam Mayer delivered a third-place qualifying effort. It marked his sixth consecutive top-10 start, a streak that dates back to Nashville Superspeedway in May. His teammate Sheldon Creed also started inside the top 10, rolling off ninth in his No. 00 Pit Boss Ford.
“As a team I felt we were really consistent today and had good speed in our Pit Boss Ford”, Creed said. “We fought there until the end and were able to get a top-10 finish out of it, so overall a really solid day and I’m looking forward to Dover.”
Mayer got off to a quick start in his No. 41 Audibel Ford, settling into third behind polesitter Shane van Gisbergen and Connor Zilisch in the early going. He consistently posted some of the fastest lap times in the field while maintaining pressure on the leaders. His pace paid off late in the opening stage as he inherited the lead when the front two cars pitted just before the stage break. Mayer went on to win Stage One, collecting a valuable playoff point—his second of the season.
Further back, Creed ran a clean and methodical first segment. He worked his way up from ninth, cracking the top six by lap 10. His steady progress culminated in a fifth-place finish in Stage One, netting him five stage points. Both HFT entries hit pit road for four tires and fuel at the stage break, setting them up to fight their way forward once again.
Stage Two saw HFT continue its strong form, combining speed and strategy to stay in contention. A quick caution just two laps into the segment bunched the field, and both Mayer and Creed took advantage, surging into the top five by lap 35. The No. 41 team opted to short pit the stage in favor of long-run position, sacrificing stage points but gaining strategic track position. Meanwhile, Creed stayed out and earned seven more stage points with a fourth-place finish, reinforcing his consistency.
The final stage featured an extended green flag run that put a premium on tire management and composure. As grip levels dropped and the field stretched out, both HFT drivers stayed competitive. Mayer remained in the top five through much of the final stint, however, contact with Anthony Alfredo in the closing moments sent him off course and shuffled him back to 17th on the final lap—a frustrating end to an otherwise impressive day.
“Overall, we had speed in the car and I’m really proud of our team getting that stage win and consistently running up front”, Mayer said. “Disappointing how it ended, but we’ll look forward to next weekend at Dover.”
Creed, however, maintained his composure and secured a solid top-10 finish, capping off another productive outing for the No. 00 team. He now looks ahead to Dover Motor Speedway next weekend, where he has a 7.7 average finish across three starts.
Mayer sits eighth in the Xfinity points standings with 627 total points on the season, behind the seven winners, while Creed is in 10th place with 518 points.
Cup Series
Cole Custer battled a loose-handling race car throughout the afternoon to secure a 22nd-place finish in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Sonoma Raceway. After qualifying 27th on Saturday, the No. 41 Haas/Autodesk Ford team came into race day prepared to make steady progress.
A challenging restart at the drop of the green flag shuffled Custer back to 34th place within the opening laps of the race. Undeterred by the early setback, he steadily began working his way through the field. By mid-stage, he had clawed his way back into the top 30. A strategic call by the No. 41 team to stay out for the duration of Stage One paid off, allowing Custer to gain valuable track position and cross the line just outside the top 10, finishing 11th in the opening stage.
However, during the stage break, a speeding penalty on pit road forced Custer to restart from the rear of the field at the beginning of Stage Two. Still, he remained focused and determined, charging forward to 25th by lap 47. The team then opted to split the stage in half, bringing Custer to pit road for fresh tires and fuel. While the decision meant he would finish Stage Two in 29th, it positioned the team well for a strong run in the final segment.
Custer stayed out during the stage break and restarted 18th as the final stage got underway. He continued to show speed and consistency, advancing as high as 14th before a caution flew on lap 95. The No. 41 crew capitalized with a flawless pit stop, helping Custer maintain crucial track position during a string of late-race cautions. Despite the chaotic final laps, Custer held firm and brought the car home with a hard-fought 22nd-place finish.
“Definitely a hard-fought day. I felt like we had speed in the car, but we just had a few things go wrong for us and it didn’t work out,” Custer said. “I feel like we’re moving in the right direction of having cars that can go out there and compete, it’s just a matter of doing all the little things right.”
Up Next
NASCAR heads to Dover Motor Speedway next weekend, with race coverage for the Xfinity series set for 4:30 p.m. ET on Saturday on the CW, and Sunday at 2 p.m. ET on TNT for the Cup Series.
About Haas Factory Team
The Haas Factory Team is a NASCAR Cup and Xfinity program owned by Gene Haas, founder of Haas Automation. Beginning in 2025, the team will feature Cole Custer driving the No. 41 Ford Mustang Dark Horse in the NASCAR Cup Series, while Sheldon Creed and Sam Mayer take on the Xfinity Series in the No. 00 and No. 41 Ford Mustangs, respectively. Based in Kannapolis, North Carolina, the Haas Factory Team reflects a commitment to performance and engineering excellence, carrying forward Gene Haas’s commitment to motorsports.
