Race 2 of 33: Production Alliance 300 at Auto Club Speedway
Track Specs: 2-mile D-shaped oval / 165 laps
Race Winner: Cole Custer
Mayer’s finish: 6th
Points position: 12th (-39)
Sam Mayer and the No. 1 Accelerate Professional Talent Solutions team brought home a sixth-place finish after driving a focused and calculated race in Saturday’s Production Alliance 300 at Auto Club Speedway. Mayer was a constant inside the top 10 for most of the day and cracked the top five when it mattered most, the final stage. The young driver had to endure a trio of green-white-checkered restarts in the closing laps, but came through unscathed to score the No. 1 team’s first top 10 of the season. Mayer was also one of four JRM Chevrolets to claim a spot in the top eight.
Race Rundown
Firing off in the 13th spot, Mayer commented early that the balance of the car was “free overall,” but reported being happy with it.
Mayer improved four positions to ninth by the race’s first caution on lap 8, and ultimately ended Stage One in 10th.
The team was still pleased with the handling of theAccelerate Professional Talent Solutions Chevrolet during Stage Two. Mayer made solid gains throughout and finished out the second stage in eighth.
Restarting seventh for the final stage, Mayer drifted to 11th early on. But following a late-race pit stop, the Wisconsin native reported the car was “the best it’s been all day”. Making quick work of several competitors, Mayer found fifth place by lap 113.
Solid pit stops all day by the Accelerate Professional Talent Solutions crew gave Mayer strong track position. Several cautions slowed the field in the closing laps, but Mayer held serve over the final green-white-checkered restarts to earn the sixth-place effort.
Additionally, Mayer’s strong finish improved his championship points standings by 11 positions. He is now ranked 12th, 39 markers out of the top spot.
Sam Mayer, driver No. 1 Accelerate Professional Talent Solutions Chevrolet team
“We came into this weekend with a clear focus on the big picture. Today was a long one, but it feels great to come out of here with a sixth-place finish for my first time here with our Accelerate Professional Talent Solutions Chevy. It was definitely a team effort. Brandon (McReynolds, spotter) did a fantastic job spotting, Taylor (Moyer, crew chief) made good calls on pit road and our crew guys had fast stops all day. So hats off to everyone. This is one we can definitely build on.”