DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.: Sam Mayer walked away uninjured after flipping his car on the last lap of Saturday afternoon’s Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. 300 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway.
On the last lap in NASCAR overtime, Mayer went for the lead in Turn 2 to the outside of JR Motorsports Justin Allgaier but as the cars screamed on the backstretch Mayer dipped to the middle lane in an attempted block of Austin Hill – but the two cars connected sending Mayer’s No. 1 Chevrolet Camaro hard into the outside wall where it flipped and slid along the backstretch before eventually landing on all four wheels.
The incident collected several front runners including Parker Kligerman and Anthony Alfredo.
Mayer thankfully climbed from his car uninjured and was quickly evaluated and released from the infield care center.
“Unfortunate way to the end the night, because I feel like we were one of the best,” said Mayer. “Obviously the No. 21 (Hill) every time they show up to a speedway they are always really good and I feel like we were really, really competitive with them and I think the No. 7 (Allgaier) was too.
“it sucks we didn’t get the finish to show for it. They are the top-two and I think I could have at least been third. I didn’t really see how the block really turned out. Obviously, I turned upside down, but I feel like it was a clean block, I think it was just a little offset unfortunately.”
Mayer understood that when the white flag flew he was going to do whatever he had to do to earn his first career Xfinity Series win no matter the consequences.
“I’m racing for the win at that point so I kinda gotta do what I gotta do,” Mayer explained. “It (the block) was a little late, I saw it at the last second I was clear, (but) I was a little late I guess.”
Mayer refused to point fingers at anyone for triggering the last lap crash and soaked it up to the dramatic elements that superspeedway produces, especially on the last lap.
“That was the hardest lick I’ve taken,” Mayer added. “It’s Daytona and that’s the entertainment piece everyone is looking for, hard blocks and pushing.
“We’re racing to the checkered flag, so you gotta do what you gotta do. It’s not always going to turn out 100 percent. It’s just part of the speedway racing.”
Hill who scored his second consecutive Daytona Xfinity said he meant to crowd the space of the JR Motorsports duo but did not mean to make contact with Mayer.
He also admitted on the last lap of the race, he wasn’t going to lift off the gas pedal.
“When I saw the 1 and the 7 get together, I just went to go squeeze them, and the 1 came down, he started getting loose, and then you can’t lift. It’s last lap,” Hill explained.
“I hope Sam is okay, man. That was a heck of a flip there.”
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01 or email: [email protected]
