Sam Mayer is ultra-talented and he is making a case that perhaps he is one of the brightest stars on NASCAR’s horizon. The 17-year old captured his first-career NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series in Thursday’s UNOH 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
The win comes in Mayer’s seventh career NGROTS start. Mayer seemed surprised by his quick trip to victory lane.
“What? Oh my gosh, Bristol, dude,” Mayer said in his post-race interview. “I love this place. This is win No. three for me here and man, I don’t know what to say. I can’t thank the guys at the shop enough.”
According to TobyChristie.com’s statistician Joseph Srigley, Mayer, who was born June 23rd, 2003 becomes just the fourth driver born after 2000 to win a race in the NASCAR National Series and he’s the third to do so in the Truck Series.
.@sam_mayer_ becomes the 4th driver born after 01/01/2000 to win a race in NASCAR's National Series, and the 3rd to do so in the NASCAR Truck Series.
Mayer's DOB (June 26th, 2003) is the latest of any STARTER in NASCAR's National Series.#NASCAR | @NASCAR_Trucks | #UNOH200 pic.twitter.com/NJGmUU8X6U
— Joseph Srigley (@joe_srigley) September 18, 2020
At Gateway, Mayer led 24 laps and looked to be possibly heading for victory lane before making a mistake on a late restart. A few weeks later, Mayer sealed the deal as he passed his GMS Racing teammate Brett Moffitt with 31-laps remaining in the race.
Mayer will go on to run the ARCA Menards Series event at Bristol later in the evening on Thursday.
Moffitt, who is still searching for his first win of the 2020 season, finished second. Moffitt won Stage 1 and led 117 laps in the race. While it had to be a bummer to not nab the win, Moffitt was the lone Playoff contender inside the top-five of the final running order.
Tanner Gray tied his career-best finish with a third-place effort in DGR Crosley’s No. 15 truck, while Parker Kligerman and Trevor Bayne came home fourth and fifth.
Unfortunately, Bayne’s truck failed post-race heights and he was disqualified as a result.
This means Chandler Smith finished fifth.
Grant Enfinger, Tyler Ankrum (Stage 2 winner), Ross Chastain, Johnny Sauter and Matt Crafton rounded out the top-10 finishers in the event.
Zane Smith (17th) and Austin Hill (26th) were the only Playoff drivers to finish outside the top-15 on Thursday.
Every lap of the 200-lap event was led by a GMS Racing truck.
Here is the updated 2020 NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series Playoff Grid:
- Brett Moffitt, +36 points
- Sheldon Creed, +28
- Zane Smith, +25
- Grant Enfinger, +24
- Tyler Ankrum, +19
- Matt Crafton, +13
- Ben Rhodes, +6
- Austin Hill, +2
— Cut Off —
9. Christian Eckes, -2
10. Todd Gilliland, -8
Post-Race Stat Pack:
