RICHMOND, Va.: Sam Mayer passed a lot of trucks Saturday afternoon at Richmond (Va.) Raceway.
And the reigning ARCA Menards Series East champion was rewarded with a top-10 finish in the ToyotaCare 250, his debut for Bret Holmes Racing – a new NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team in 2021.
Mayer started shotgun on the field with his No. 32 QPS Employment Group Chevrolet Silverado but exercising patience and taking advantage of a well-balanced truck – the Franklin, Wisc. native diligently worked through the field to finish Stage 1 in 21st.
With adjustments from veteran crew chief Shane Huffman, Mayer was able to continue to climb through the field and found himself battling a lot of the series’ regulars at the exit of Stage 2 in 12th.
Even though Stage 3 was flooded with cautions and an array of accidents, Mayer was able to maintain pace and fight his way into the top-10 late in the race.
Hovering at the back half of the top-10 in the closing laps, Mayer was able to take advantage of the beating and banging of fellow drivers Austin Hill and defending series champion Sheldon Creed to bolt past both drivers and take the checkered flag in ninth – his first top-10 in his second start of 2021.
The teenage phenom passed the most trucks in the field and earned his third career top-10 in just 11 starts.
“We had a solid truck,” Mayer told CATCHFENCE.com following his BHR debut. “(It) seemed like we had top-five speed throughout the race but didn’t have the track position.”
Despite having to work hard for the finish – Mayer admitted that he had fun climbing through the field – dodging the chaos along the way.
“Passing 31 trucks was a lot of fun and starting 40th definitely sucks but we did what we could with what we had. Has a ton of fun in my No. 32 QPS Employment Chevrolet with BHR.”
Huffman who joined the family-owned BHR team in 2019 has been instrumental in not only transforming the organization into a winning team – but led owner Bret Holmes to the 2020 ARCA Menards Series championship against some of ARCA’s most funded.
The former race car driver turned crew chief has steadily built the BHR Truck Series team from the ground and is now reaping the rewards – in just the team’s third career NCWTS start.
“I think today was a huge step in the right direction for our BHR team,” Huffman told CATCHFENCE.com. “I knew we were capable of running top-10 by the lap times and speed we had out of the box at Las Vegas.
“We were behind the eight-ball at Atlanta across the board, but my guys didn’t get down. We loaded this truck at midnight Thursday night knowing it was solid when we left the shop.
“Just glad Sam was able to have a great driver and we were nice and clean on our end with our pit stall and starting spot.”
Huffman says he knew that starting last was going to be a tall order to finish top-five or higher, but he believes that his team which plans to run a majority of the remainder of the Truck Series schedule will soon be able to capitalize on Saturday’s performance and hopefully have a shot at Victory Lane soon with both Mayer and Bret Holmes.
“A top-five was a tall order, but we were very capable speed wise of running there,” added Huffman. “It takes days like today to build everyone’s confidence to get us to where we want to end up in Victory Lane with both BHR drivers.”
Holmes is expected to return to the seat in two weeks at Kansas Speedway in two weeks with Mayer slated to return to the No. 32 Chevrolet Silverado for the highly anticipated road course race at the Circuit of the Americas in May.
“Hopefully, when we go to COTA, we can start better and have a shot to win it,” exclaimed Mayer.
Earlier this season – the former Truck Series winner made a one-off appearance for Henderson Motorsports at the Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway Road Course where a late-race crashed
resulted in a 37th place finish.
Following COTA, Mayer is expected to race the No. 32 Chevrolet at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International, Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway and the penultimate race of the year at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway in October.
It will be a busy summer and fall for the five-time ARCA Menards Series winner as he’ll take the reins of the No. 8 Chevrolet for JR Motorsports in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in late June at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
