Saturday, July 9, 2022
Race 17 of 33: Alsco Uniforms 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway
Track Specs: 1.54-mile quad-oval / 163 laps
Race Winner: Austin Hill
Mayer’s finish: 34th
Points position: 8th (-179)
In a race where handling and track position were the order of the day, Sam Mayer had checked both those boxes in waning laps of Saturday’s Alsco Uniforms 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. But his day ended shy of the finish. Running sixth with 56 laps to go, Mayer made contact with a competitor that sent the Accelerate Professional Talent Solutions Chevrolet hard into the wall and ended the No. 1 team’s day early, handing them a 34th-place finish as a result.
Race Rundown
Mayer started the 163-lap event in 10th after rain washed out qualifying and the field was set by the rulebook.
With pack racing that looked more suited for Daytona or Talladega, Mayer jumped up the leaderboard to fourth in the opening laps of Stage One. Then, getting shuffled out of position, the No. 1 dropped to ninth and lost the lead group. Falling in line in the second pack, Mayer took the conclusion of Stage One in 14th.
The team came to pit road for four tires and fuel, lining up in eighth for the start of Stage Two. With more moving and shaking, Mayer got stuck on the outside and forfeited several positions before he could slide in line in 15th. He climbed three more spots and ended Stage Two in 12th.
Mayer reported being “happy with the balance” of the No. 1, so crew chief Taylor Moyer made the call for a two-tire stop. The Accelerate Professional Talent Solutions Chevy took the extra track position and lined up with a top-10 spot for the final stage.
Mayer improved even further once back to green-flag racing, cracking the top five at the 100-lap mark. With the field jockeying for position, Mayer, in sixth, was swapping lanes in an effort to find a preferred push when he slid high into the No. 26 of Jeffrey Earnhardt. The contact shot Mayer into the Turn 3 wall and spun the No. 1 car down into the infield grass. The damage was enough to end the team’s day early.
Sam Mayer Accelerate Professional Talent Solutions Chevrolet team “I just made a mistake, plain and simple. I thought I was going to be clear and the 26 was out there. It was my mistake and it wasn’t even close. It’s unfortunate. I need to calm down and get my act together and get ready for the playoffs. It’s going to come up quickly.”
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