Custer and Mayer Caught Up in Late-Lap Incidents at AMS
HAMPTON, GA (Feb. 23, 2025) – Despite a final-lap crash, Sheldon Creed muscled his way to the line for a 14th-place finish in the Xfinity race at Atlanta Motor Speedway to lead Haas Factory Team. Both Sam Mayer and Cole Custer finished 36th in the Xfinity and Cup races, respectively.
Cup Series
Custer fired off 23rd, but lost the draft from the pack early in the run and drifted back to the 33rd position. A caution-free first stage saw the No. 41 car cross the line in 34th place, before a quick stop gained him five spots on pit road to begin the second stage.
The 41 team continued to excel on pit road, as he worked his way all the way up to 26th following an efficient fuel-only stop. Custer’s 3D Systems Ford Mustang held on for a 29th-place finish at the end of stage two, before a hard wreck on lap 184 ended his day prematurely.
“Everybody did a great job on our interior stuff, so happy that we’re all okay, but I’m just disappointed,” Custer said. “I hate it for 3D Systems and everybody at the shop. We struggled a little bit, but to get caught up in a wreck just stinks.”
Xfinity Series
Both drivers earned points in the opening stage, as Mayer started fifth and battled for the lead with Austin Hill before a quick caution was thrown just six laps in. He remained up front across the first 45 laps, and finished in third after briefly making a play for the lead at the end. Meanwhile, Creed steadily moved up from 17th to 10th, which is the last position that grants points at the stage end.
The Haas Factory Team Ford Mustangs each took four tires, and restarted inside the top-six at the beginning of the second stage.
A caution-free second stage saw Mayer and Creed ride bumper-to-bumper around the now Superspeedway until lap 83. They manuvered their way up to the front with seven laps to go in the stage, as Mayer once again battled with Hill for the top spot. However, he was forced to settle for a second-place finish with Creed following suit in third.
The final run of the afternoon began with both Fords restarting inside the first four rows and just 65 laps to go in the race.
However, an unfortunate end to the race saw Mayer involved in an incident with 21 laps remaining that knocked him out of the race, and Creed caught up in a last-lap spin on the backstretch. The No. 00 Car crossed the line in 14th place, while Mayer finished 36th.
Creed now sits second in the Xfinity points standings with 83 total points on the season, while Mayer is in eighth place with 53 points heading into COTA next Saturday.
Up Next
COTA plays host to the third race on the NASCAR Cup Series/Xfinity schedule next weekend. Race coverage Saturday is set for 2:30 p.m. ET on the CW for the Xfinity series, and Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX 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.
About 3D Systems
Riding along with Custer and his No. 41 Ford Mustang Dark Horse is 3D Systems, the leading additive manufacturing solutions partner that brings innovation, performance, and reliability to every interaction – empowering its customers to create products and business models never before possible. Thanks to its unique offering of hardware, software, materials, and services, each application-specific solution is powered by the expertise of 3D Systems’ application engineers who collaborate with customers to transform how they deliver their products and services. The company’s solutions address a variety of advanced applications in healthcare and industrial markets such as medical and dental, aerospace and defense, automotive, and durable goods. More information on the company is available at www.3dsystems.com.
