XFINITY: First lap, first turn crash may have significant Playoff implications for Sam Mayer

SCREENSHOT: @NASCARONFOX, from USA

by Brock Beard

LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief

Sam Mayer picked up the 2nd last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career in Saturday’s Andy’s Frozen Custard 300 at the Texas Motor Speedway when his #1 Accelerate Pros Talent Chevrolet crashed without completing any of the race’s 200 laps.

The finish, which came in Mayer’s 79th series start, was the second of his career and first since June 4, 2022 at Portland, 47 races ago. In the XFINITY Series’ last-place standings, it was the 19th for the #1, the 386th from a crash, and the 631st for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 74th for the #1, the 1,355th from a crash, and the 1,916th for Chevrolet.

Since he was last featured here, Mayer finally broke through with his first two XFINITY Series victories. Each occurred on the road courses, beginning with his home track at Road America, then three rounds later at Watkins Glen, firmly locking himself into the Playoffs. But in the Round of 12 opener last Friday night in Bristol, Mayer was collected in a multi-car pileup with two of his JR Motorsports teammates, handing him a disappointing 35th-place finish. Still, his two wins kept him within 14 points of moving back above the cut line.

At Texas, Mayer ran 13th in practice, then qualified 6th with a lap of 183.911mph (29.362 seconds), part of a sweep of the top seven positions by Playoff drivers. With 40 drivers entered for 38 spots, the two teams missing the cut were Garrett Smithley in JD Motorsports’ #4 Trophy Tractor Chevrolet and Blaine Perkins, in Our Motorsports’ #02. For Smithley, it was his sixth DNQ of 2023 and first since Darlington in May. For Perkins, it was the first of 2023 for both himself and the #02 team.

Securing the 38th and final starting spot was Layne Riggs, who along with Daniel Dye were Truck Series drivers making their XFINITY Series debuts. Riggs took the wheel of Kaulig Racing’s #11 Infinity Communications Group Chevrolet. In practice, Riggs spun on the backstretch, resulting in damage to the left-rear of his car and requiring minor repairs. He would incur a redundant tail-end penalty as a result, joined by the unapproved adjustment penalties for 9th-place Chandler Smith in the #16 Quick Tie Products Inc. Chevrolet, 22nd-place Brett Moffitt in the #25 AM Technical Solutions Ford, and 35th-place Joe Graf, Jr. in the #38 Tarpon River Brewing / Honey Love Ford.

During Saturday’s pace laps, NASCAR instructed the four penalized drivers to complete both rows with Chandler Smith and Joe Graf, Jr. to the inside while Brett Moffitt and Layne Riggs rounded out the outside. Over the radio, the Kaulig team told Riggs to “go ahead enjoy it,” and to not worry if he lost a lap. As the green flag dropped, the spotter soon cleared him to move into the low lane as trouble broke out in Turn 1. Heading into the corner, Sam Mayer was running the high lane when his car started to push just past the apex, steering him directly into the fence at corner exit. As Mayer slowed down the backstretch, NASCAR held off the caution as spotters cleared the track, allowing Mayer to come down pit road. But moments later, Riley Herbst struck the wall off Turn 4 in his #98 Monster Energy Ford, ultimately drawing the yellow for debris.

On Lap 4, Herbst was the first to go behind the wall, his right-front wheel pushed in beneath the fender. Mayer’s crew planned to go to the garage as well, then called for a wheel spacer, but by Lap 5 also rolled into the garage as the wheel was rubbing the shock. Just like that, both drivers were done for the day. While Herbst managed to complete two laps by the time he came down pit road, Mayer came up just short of reaching the line, crediting him with zero completed circuits. With the wreck, Mayer finds himself 34 points below the cut line - a must-win scenario at the Charlotte “Roval” to avoid a first-round elimination.

The Bottom Five was soon filled as record high temperatures made a treacherous track even more so. Taking 36th was Joe Graf, Jr., whose #38 slid into Patrick Emerling’s #53 Space Beans Chevrolet coming off Turn 4. Both cars bounced off the outside wall, chasing Layne Riggs’ #11 into the grass and tearing the rear bumper from his own car. While Graf’s day was done, Emerling returned to the track 29 laps down at the end of Stage 1, only to pull out of the race soon after, unable to climb out of 35th. Completing the Bottom Five was Brennan Poole, who after contact from Ryan Sieg entering the quad-oval slammed head-on into the pit road wall at Stall 2, where Jeffrey Earnhardt’s crew stayed clear. The impact ended the race for Poole’s #6 GJ Boring RW3 Services Chevrolet.

Cram and CHK Racing battle on the lead lap for most of Texas race

The biggest surprise from Saturday’s race had to be Dawson Cram, who qualified CHK Racing’s #74 5000Chevrolet.com Chevrolet into only its fifth start of the year, their first attempt since Watkins Glen, in a season that’s seen them DNQ 14 times. On top of this, Cram secured 25th on the grid, the team’s best run of the year. In the race itself, Cram stayed on the lead lap for most of the day. He was 23rd on Lap 80, and at the end of Stage 2 finished just a couple carlengths ahead of stage winner Justin Allgaier. On Lap 109, he climbed to 17th, then saved his car in a Turn 4 spin that left him 21st. He didn’t lose a lap until the 147th circuit and came home 21st, two laps down – a season-best finish for the CHK group. He even got some screentime when he completed the cooldown lap on the frontstretch, putting him just behind race winner John Hunter Nemechek as he did his burnouts.

Among the race’s 12 cautions was a yellow during late-stage green-flag pit stops, which brought into the Top 10 such drivers as J.J. Yeley in the #08 MPV Express Ford, Ryan Ellis in the #43 Limetree / Classic Collision Chevrolet, Anthony Alfredo in the #78 Andy’s Frozen Custard Chevrolet, and Kyle Sieg in the #29 Pathway Homes Ford. Yeley ran as high as 4th before he was collected in a wreck with Kaz Grala, leaving him 28th. But Kyle Sieg finished best of this group in 12th with Ellis 13th and Alfredo 14th. Sage Karam also followed up his Michigan performance for Motorsports Business Management by taking home 23rd in the #66 AmeriDream / Coble Enterprises Ford.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This was the first last-place run for the #1 in a XFINITY race at Texas since April 16, 2005, when Johnny Sauter’s #1 Fleet Pride / Yellow Dodge finished 14th, but was disqualified for an oversized carburetor.

*This was the first last-place finish for JR Motorsports in 2023.

*This marked the first time the #1 failed to complete a lap of a XFINITY Series race.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

38) #1-Sam Mayer / 0 laps / crash

37) #98-Riley Herbst / 2 laps / crash

36) #38-Joe Graf, Jr. / 11 laps / dvp

35) #53-Patrick Emerling / 24 laps / suspension

34) #6-Brennan Poole / 55 laps / crash

2023 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) SS-Green Light Racing (4)

2nd) Alpha Prime Racing (3)

3rd) Big Machine Racing, CHK Racing, DGM Racing, Emerling-Gase Motorsports, JD Motorsports, Motorsports Business Management (2)

4th) B.J. McLeod Motorsports, Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, Jordan Anderson Racing, JR Motorsports, Kaulig Racing, Our Motorsports, Sam Hunt Racing, Stewart-Haas Racing (1)

2023 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet (22)

2nd) Toyota (4)

3rd) Ford (2)

2023 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP