'One of these days, it will click': Sam Mayer continuing grind through Xfinity Series
Sam Mayer had high expectations before his Xfinity Series debut. And admittedly, he‘s the kind of driver who wants to set unprecedented goals, some perhaps impossible to achieve. He declared that he aimed to be a “record breaker,” setting unrealistic expectations of winning more than 200 Cup Series races and being the first driver with eight championship trophies.
More than two years into his Xfinity Series stint, Mayer is still looking to capture his first checkered flag.
“Not having any experience on the large tracks hurt me a little bit,” Mayer said last week. “At the same time, I was learning a new race car. Three different things going against me all at once. It got in the way a little bit.”
RELATED: Sam Mayer’s career stats
Having yet to find Victory Lane isn‘t due to a lack of effort. During his 2021 rookie campaign, Mayer scored a top-five finish at Martinsville Speedway after leading 49 laps at Bristol Motor Speedway more than a month prior. In 18 total starts — with 17 as pilot of the No. 8 ride — he had six DNFs.
In 2022, JR Motorsports had lights-out speed, winning 15 of 33 races. Its other three full-time drivers qualified for the Championship 4, while Mayer settled for seventh in the championship standings. And even though he was tied for the fifth-most top fives in the series with 11 — the same amount as teammate Josh Berry — he didn‘t find the Winner‘s Circle.
“It‘s tough because we had the speed to do it every week and something got in our way,” Mayer said of 2022. “Whether it was me as a driver or something crazy on the race track, it was always something. We were close so many times that it was super frustrating. I don‘t let that get in my way; I do my best each and every week, and my guys do the same.
“One of these days, it will click, and once it clicks, it will be hard to stop us.”
From a competition standpoint, Mayer believes the Xfinity Series is about as challenging as he expected. He believes he had instant success in the Craftsman Truck Series — winning in his seventh career start — because he believes that style of racing suits his driving style better.
Of Mayer‘s 68 Xfinity starts, he believes his best shot at a victory was battling AJ Allmendinger in a photo finish last fall at Talladega Superspeedway. His only other runner-up finish came earlier this year at Auto Club Speedway to John Hunter Nemechek.
MORE: JR Motorsports flexes at Auto Club, landing three cars in top five
For the 2023 season, JRM reconnected Mayer with crew chief Mardy Lindley, who made the move from the Truck Series with Kyle Busch Motorsports. The duo won five of the 13 ARCA Menards Series races in 2020 while winning five of the six ARCA East races and picking up another win in the ARCA West division in just two starts.
“When I walked into his office for the first time in November, it‘s like we never left each other,” Mayer said. “It took a lot of learning from both of us to get back in the swing of things, but now that we‘ve got a grip on everything, I think we‘re going to be really good.”
Reflecting back, Lindley believes Mayer needed one full season in the Truck Series before moving to the Xfinity Series to progress his development and gain experience. Having jumped to NASCAR‘s second-tier series the weekend that he turned 18 years old, he was previously only eligible to compete on one mile-and-a-half before making the colossal move.
“I‘m not going to say it‘s a bit rushed because you‘ve got to learn to do everything,” Lindley said, “but I think that‘s why some of the results haven‘t been there and the finishes, because of a lack of experience. He‘s gaining it quickly now. He‘s got a ton of talent.”
Lindley believes it‘s minute details Mayer needs to work on to make the next step. Items such as qualifying better, maximizing time getting to pit road, communicating about his car and breaking even on restarts.
Oftentimes, Mayer gets compared to Ty Gibbs as the two are similar in age and progressed through the NASCAR ranks together. In ARCA, Lindley believes Mayer, who was running for GMS Racing, had the best car in the field. The only car that could compete with him was Gibbs.
“Ty has definitely progressed a lot faster than Sam,” Lindley said. “I don‘t think Ty has any more talent than Sam, I just wish Sam would have stayed a little longer and gained the experience because the Xfinity Series has a way of humbling yourself, especially when there‘s Cup guys in it at some of these races and the guys you have to beat have been in the series multiple years.
“If you come in here with the same talent they have but no experience, it puts you behind the eight-ball, and it‘s hard.”
Despite having three top-five finishes in the last five races, Mayer considers his 2023 season to be “mediocre” thus far. Collectively, JRM has won just one of the opening 17 races in 2023, a far cry from its domination last season. Still, Mayer‘s 13.6 average finish is currently a slight improvement over last year (13.8).
MORE: 2023 Xfinity Series standings | 2023 Xfinity Series schedule
Sitting 46 points above the cutline, Mayer isn‘t worried about qualifying for the postseason because his team is trending upward. As he put it, “We‘re on offense, not defense.”
Not yet having a win, though, requires a resilient mindset. This resilience will look to show itself once again when the Xfinity Series races at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on July 15 (3 p.m. ET, USA, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).
“It takes a toll on you mentally, and the mental part is big for racing,” Mayer said. “Having good people around me helps out a lot, and having good runs like we‘ve had the last couple of weeks helps too. I‘m not that worried about it. It‘s just about making it happen, winning that one race and then the floodgates open.”
