Sam Mayer Maintains Strong Haas Factory Team Start with Another Top-Five Finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

LAS VEGAS, NEV: Sam Mayer continues to make the most of his new opportunity with the Haas Factory Team and Saturday’s The Liuna! Race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway was no exception.

Never in his previous three full seasons on the NASCAR Xfinity Series tour has the 21-year-old racer started the year with three top fives in the first five races.

Never has he enjoyed a qualifying average of 7.8. And never has Mayer vaulted to third in the Xfinity Series standings.

What’s more, Mayer feels like he’s just getting started.

“Last year, I think I had just 300 laps completed at this point of the season,” Mayer said.

“We are certainly making gains — for myself on my side, in my personal life and on the race track.

“These boys back at the shop are working their tails off to make these race cars fast. Awesome start to the year. We’re going to make the most of this over the next few weeks.”

Mayer scored a second-place finish in the season opener at Daytona International Speedway, a career-best at the track. Although he was swept up in a wreck at Atlanta Motor Speedway, he battled for third at Circuit of the Americas the following week.

At Phoenix, Mayer collected his second top 10 at the one-mile flat track. His fifth-place finish at Las Vegas on Saturday tied his previous best.

“We’re walking out of these race tracks obviously disappointed that we didn’t get the checkered flag,” Mayer said. “But we’re walking out with a ton of points in our pocket—and that’s something I can say I didn’t do last year.

“Huge gain. Huge step in the right direction for us. And I’m really looking forward to see what these guys can do during the Dash 4 Cash races.”

On Friday, Mayer qualified fifth. He finished ninth in the first stage and fifth at the end of the second stage on Lap 90. Despite an epic battle between race winner Justin Allgaier and runner-up Aric Almirola, Mayer remained in the top-five hunt through the final 100 laps.

“We certainly worked really hard today to keep up with the race track,” Mayer said. “The race track was changing all day. That’s something we were really good at—keeping up with the race track. Definitely needed a little more to keep up with the guys at the front.

“Our car was as fast as Xfinity mobile, and that’s what you need to keep up every week to be up in the top five. Really proud of these guys. These Haas Factory boys are really going to work and making in the best that we can.”

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