RICHMOND, Va: Sam Mayer earned a career-best Xfinity Series finish in Saturday afternoon’s ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond (Va.) Raceway and the effort rewarded the sophomore driver as the first winner of the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series Dash 4 Cash $100,000 bonus.
The final stage of Saturday’s race saw the driver of the No. 1 Accelerate Pros Talent Chevrolet Camaro maneuver through the field and found himself on the back bumper of AJ Allmendinger who was running third at the time with 22 laps to go.
Turning some of the fastest lap times in the field, Mayer was easily able to make the pass on his fellow Chevrolet teammate and vault into the podium finish.
And while continuing to be the fastest car on the track over the course of the final 20 miles of the race, Mayer was able unable to make the deficit on track behind first and second place competitors Ty Gibbs and John Hunter Nemechek.
Still, Mayer was able to claim third, 3.733 seconds behind Gibbs to earn his career-best Xfinity Series finish in his 25th career start.
“By the end of it, our Accelerate Chevrolet Camaro was as fast as Xfinity internet,” said Mayer after the race. “That’s a really feel good moment for us. Obviously, my best career best finish and a one hundred grand to go with it is unbelievable. This team definitely deserves it.”
The final run to the finish went caution-free which saw a majority of the field struggle with grip on their tires. For Mayer, however, his pace and continued coaching from crew chief Taylor Moyer allowed the No. 1 JR Motorsports team to use the tire conservation strategy to their advantage which allowed the 18-year-old to methodically inch forward to his third Xfinity top-10 finish of the season.
JR Motorsports also captured their fifth straight Dash 4 Cash triumph after the Mooresville, N.C. organization won all four races in 2021, three with Noah Gragson.
“We got a hundred grand. Ah, that’s an amazing feeling,” added Mayer. “This Accelerate Chevrolet Camaro car was really really fast at the end of the day. This team works really, really hard to get it done and it paid off.
“It paid off big time. It’s a definitely feel good moment. I can’t thank everyone who supports me enough for everything and I’m going to celebrate with the team and we’re going to have a great time.”
Richmond delivered back-to-back top-five finishes for Mayer. Last weekend at Circuit of the Americas, Mayer finished fifth after starting 10th.
This weekend, his second top-five of 2022 also makes him eligible for the next Dash 4 Cash event next Friday night, April 8 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. Mayer will be joined by Ty Gibbs, Allmendinger and Riley Herbst for an additional $100 thousand payout.
Mayer finished fourth at Martinsville last October and will arrive on scene next week sixth in points in search of his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series and a berth into the Playoffs.
“I have to have the confidence going into next week in Martinsville because of the top-five finish from last year,” sounded Mayer. “Obviously, we are racing for Dash 4 Cash again, so that’s a huge incentive for us as well.
“There’s so much incentive to just to run well and prove that my name belongs here because that’s what Xfinity is all about. I feel like it’s definitely coming around. Obviously three top-five fives and two of them coming in the last two weeks now. We’re hitting our stride.
“We want to have that at the end of the year too. So we have to grind really hard to get ourselves out of this points hole that we are in and get to the Playoffs and hopefully the Championship 4 and then the championship.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
