It’s been more than a year since the last time Sam Mayer sat on the pole for a NASCAR Xfinity Series event, but on Saturday, the Franklin, Wisconsin-native will be at the head of the field for the start of the Pennzoil 250 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Mayer, who drives the No. 41 Audibel Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Haas Factory Team, clicked off the fastest lap of the afternoon late in the single-vehicle qualifying session, posting a 54.014-second lap (which equates to 166.623mph average speed) to secure the pole position.
It’s the third pole in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for Mayer, whose two previous first-place starts have come while at JR Motorsports – once at Charlotte in 2022 and the other time at Portland International Raceway in 2024.
“I knew that we were going to be really good, I was really confident, this team did a really good job last year. Just super proud of these guys, the Audibel Ford Mustang was really good. Yeah, just super cool to get Ford another pole this year, and we’re doing our job right, so let’s go finish the job.”
STARTING LINEUP: 2025 NXS Pennzoil 250 at Indianapolis
Mayer was only 0.046 seconds quicker than Rookie of the Year (ROTY) contender Nick Sanchez, who put together another fantastic qualifying effort for Big Machine Racing, and will start on the front row for Saturday’s 250-mile contest.
Sheldon Creed, Mayer’s teammate at Haas Factory Team, will start from third. Last season, both of the team’s entries (although under the Stewart-Haas Racing branding) had incredible speed around the 2.5-mile speedway and were involved in the battle for the victory.
Jesse Love will roll from fourth place with Brandon Jones rounding out the top five. Aric Almirola, who was also involved in last season’s battle for the win at Indianapolis, will roll from sixth place. Connor Zilisch was seventh, with Justin Allgaier, William Sawalich, and Carson Kvapil inside the top-10.
Other notables starting the race outside the top-10 include Sammy Smith in 11th, Austin Hill in 13th, Taylor Gray in 14th, Christian Eckes in 15th, Kyle Larson in 19th, Harrison Burton in 20th, and Jeb Burton in 23rd.
Katherine Legge, the only driver other than Kyle Larson running double-duty in the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series events at Indianapolis, will roll from 24th in the No. 32 Desnuda Tequila Chevrolet for Jordan Anderson Racing.
The Pennzoil 250 will get underway at 4:30 pm ET on The CW, IMS Radio Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
