Race Report: Circuit of the Americas
Saturday, March 25, 2023
Race 6 of 33: Pit Boss 250 presented by USA Today
Track Specs: 3.41- mile road course / 46 laps Race Winner: AJ Allmendinger Mayer’s finish: 7th Point’s position: 6th (-62)
Sam Mayer, driver of the No. 1 Accelerate Professional Talent Solutions Chevrolet, had a stunning day at Circuit of the Americas on the first road course of the NASCAR Xfinity Series season, scoring a hard-fought seventh-place finish and a spot as a Dash-4-Cash qualifier next weekend at Richmond Raceway. With today’s top-10 result, Mayer remains sixth in the point standings, just 62 markers behind the leader.
Race Rundown:
After Friday night’s qualifying session, Mayer put the No. 1 Chevrolet 14th on the board to start Saturday’s main event. With a last-minute crew chief change, Mardy Lindley stayed home with an illness and Andrew Overstreet stepped in to call the shots.
Within the first five laps, Mayer gained two spots to until a caution came out early in the race on lap 7. The young driver reported he was feeling free through the carousel but picking up speed through the end. Overstreet called the No.1 down pit road under caution for four tires and fuel to restart in the 17th position.
The No. 1 climbed his way back up to the 12th spot in line with three to go in Stage One and continued to push through the pack, battling the No. 18 of Sammy Smith for ninth on the final lap. The young driver recorded a solid 10th-place Stage One finish.
With no stage break cautions, the No. 1 continued to roll through the road course as the team decided to stay out to start Stage Two. Mayer shuffled up to the top five as another yellow flag fell for a caution on lap 18 and the No. 1 again stayed on track.
The Franklin, Wis. native reported to the team that he was “really lacking rear stability in the high-speed spots”, despite that, Mayer lined up in the seventh for the ensuing restart. The driver of the No. 1 went wide in Turn 1 as he fought for track position against Ty Gibbs.
As more of the green-flag shuffle took place, Mayer fell back to 20th as another caution came out. Overstreet called the No. 1 Chevrolet down pit road for four tires, fuel and a track bar adjustment. Mayer rolled off pit road to restart 20th.
Mayer fought in the shuffle to the stage end and ultimately settled for a 29th-place finish in Stage Two.
The No. 1 Accelerate Professional Talent Solutions Chevrolet came down pit road under green for their last set of Goodyear tires and some Sunoco fuel and rolled of pit road in the 30th position to start the Final Stage.
Mayer was quiet on the radio as he turned focus up full speed. The young driver broke back into the top 15 with 11 laps to go and kept cruising to the front. With just five laps left in the race, the driver of the No. 1 Camaro had gained six more spots and landed a stellar seventh-place finish at the checkered flag.
From Sam:
“I was super excited about our seventh-place finish today in the No.1 Accelerate Professional Talent Solutions Chevrolet. I think we overcame every challenge that was thrown at us today and I can’t say enough for how proud I am of this group. To get a top- 10 finish and qualify for Dash-4-Cash, that’s a good day.”