{"id":45529,"date":"2024-04-13T16:36:31","date_gmt":"2024-04-13T21:36:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=45529"},"modified":"2024-04-13T16:37:30","modified_gmt":"2024-04-13T21:37:30","slug":"sam-mayer-beats-ryan-sieg-in-xfinity-series-photo-finish-at-texas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/13\/sam-mayer-beats-ryan-sieg-in-xfinity-series-photo-finish-at-texas\/","title":{"rendered":"Sam Mayer beats Ryan Sieg in Xfinity Series photo finish at Texas"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

Sam Mayer, driver of the #1 Carolina Carports Chevrolet, crosses the finish line ahead of Ryan Sieg, driver of the #39 Sci Aps Ford, to win the NASCAR Xfinity Series Andy’s Frozen Custard 300 at Texas Motor Speedway on April 13, 2024 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

By Holly Cain<\/em><\/p>\n

NASCAR Wire Service<\/em><\/p>\n

In a race decided by less than the length of a Texas hot chili pepper, JR Motorsports driver Sam Mayer pulled off a last lap pass of veteran Ryan Sieg to claim his first victory of the season Saturday in the Andy\u2019s Frozen Custard 300 at Texas Motor Speedway.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Sam Mayer, driver of the #1 Carolina Carports Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series Andy’s Frozen Custard 300 at Texas Motor Speedway on April 13, 2024 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Chris Graythen\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Officially, the margin of victory was .002-second as Mayer\u2019s No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet and Sieg\u2019s No. 39 Ryan Sieg Racing Ford crossed the finish line door-to-door, bumper-to-bumper – the cars so close officials took a brief extra look to formally declare Mayer the winner. It was Mayer\u2019s first win of the year and fifth of his career.<\/p>\n

It would have been Sieg\u2019s first win in 342 career starts in the series.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s absolutely unreal,” the 20-year old Mayer said, shaking his head after climbing out of his car. \u201cThis team, the amount of adversity we\u2019ve had to fight this entire year so far and to come to a mile-and-a-half that I want to say I\u2019m good at, but it took a lot.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt took every ounce of me for me to do that today.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

Sam Mayer, driver of the #1 Carolina Carports Chevrolet, and crew celebrate after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series Andy’s Frozen Custard 300 at Texas Motor Speedway on April 13, 2024 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Chris Graythen\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Sieg led 17 of the final 18 laps and raced off to the front on a pair of late race restarts in the closing 20 laps of the 200-lap race on the 1.5-mile Texas high banks. With nine laps remaining Sieg held a 1.2-second advantage over Mayer. But Mayer cut into that margin with each lap, trailing by only .25-second with two laps remaining and then catching Sieg\u2019s car on the back stretch on the final lap. They exchanged the lead briefly, racing door-to-door and then Sieg pulled alongside as they took the checkered flag in a photo finish \u2013 the closest ever for an Xfinity Series race at Texas.<\/p>\n

\u201cAwe, it sucks,” said an obviously disappointed Sieg, who has two other career runner-up finishes. \u201cWe had a really good car. I just got tight, so tried to change my lines, do everything. I saw him coming and I did all I could do and at the end I was just trying to run him up into the wall to try to win the race. We were so close. This sucks.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Jesse Love, driver of the #2 Whelen Chevrolet, drives during the NASCAR Xfinity Series Andy’s Frozen Custard 300 at Texas Motor Speedway on April 13, 2024 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been second before. Too many times. But this is a good thing, means we\u2019re running where we need to be in the top-five.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust got to keep fighting, we\u2019re right there, just got to keep it up,” he added. \u201cWe\u2019ll have it in Victory Lane here shortly.\u201d<\/p>\n

All the late race drama came at the expense of veteran Justin Allgaier, who led a race best 117 laps and swept both stage victories, but ultimately finished third in the No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet. It was disappointing DeJa\u2019Vu for Allgaier, who a year ago led a dominating 133 of the 200 laps only to finish fifth.<\/p>\n

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AJ Allmendinger, driver of the #16 Celsius Chevrolet, drives during the NASCAR Xfinity Series Andy’s Frozen Custard 300 at Texas Motor Speedway on April 13, 2024 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

A.J. Allmendinger finished fourth in the No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet \u2013 a huge rally for the perennial championship contender after he missed his pit stall during the Stage 1 caution, which put him back in the field and forced him to race through the field \u2013 again.<\/p>\n

Reigning Xfinity Series champion Cole Custer, who started from outside the front row, was a top five car all day and finished fifth in the No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford. Custer now trails championship leader Chandler Smith \u2013 who finished 15th \u2013 by 19 points in the standings.<\/p>\n

Two-race winner, Richard Childress Racing\u2019s Austin Hill finished sixth, followed by Joe Gibbs Racing\u2019s Ryan Truex, JR Motorsports Sammy Smith, polesitter, RCR\u2019s Jesse Love and Anthony Alfredo, who earned his third top-10 of the season in the Our Motorsports No. 5 Chevrolet.<\/p>\n

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Riley Herbst, driver of the #98 Monster Energy Ford, drives during the NASCAR Xfinity Series Andy’s Frozen Custard 300 at Texas Motor Speedway on April 13, 2024 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

With the win Mayer not only course-corrects a rough start to the 2024 season \u2013 he suffered DNFs in three of the first four races \u2013 but he earns the coveted $100,000 prize from Xfinity as the Dash 4 Cash winning driver.<\/p>\n

He\u2019ll compete against Sieg, Allgaier and Allmendinger for the big Dash 4 Cash check again next week at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.<\/p>\n

It was a rally not just for driver but for his JR Motorsports team. The perennial championship favorite has struggled early in the 2024 season \u2013 its four talented drivers not earning a top-five until last week at Martinsville. On Saturday, not only did the team \u2013 co-owned by Kelley Earnhardt Miller and her brother Dale Earnhardt Jr. \u2013 win the race but all four cars finished in the top-13 and three of the four drivers (also Brandon Jones) led laps. <\/p>\n

The NASCAR Xfinity Series heads to Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway where it will race in the Ag-Pro 300 (4 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Jeb Burton is the defending race winner.<\/p>\n

Media Center Interview<\/h3>\n

NXS Race Winner (No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet) –<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

NASCAR Xfinity Series Race – Andy’s Frozen Custard 300<\/b><\/p>\n

Texas Motor Speedway<\/b><\/p>\n

Fort Worth, Texas<\/b><\/p>\n

Saturday, April 13, 2024<\/b><\/p>\n

                1. (10)  Sam Mayer, Chevrolet, 200.<\/p>\n

                2. (14)  Ryan Sieg, Ford, 200.<\/p>\n

                3. (6)  Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 200.<\/p>\n

                4. (8)  AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 200.<\/p>\n

                5. (2)  Cole Custer, Ford, 200.<\/p>\n

                6. (13)  Austin Hill, Chevrolet, 200.<\/p>\n

                7. (7)  Ryan Truex, Toyota, 200.<\/p>\n

                8. (9)  Sammy Smith, Chevrolet, 200.<\/p>\n

                9. (1)  Jesse Love #, Chevrolet, 200.<\/p>\n

                10. (12)  Anthony Alfredo, Chevrolet, 200.<\/p>\n

                11. (3)  Taylor Gray(i), Toyota, 200.<\/p>\n

                12. (22)  Josh Williams, Chevrolet, 200.<\/p>\n

                13. (11)  Brandon Jones, Chevrolet, 200.<\/p>\n

                14. (23)  Kyle Sieg, Ford, 200.<\/p>\n

                15. (4)  Chandler Smith, Toyota, 200.<\/p>\n

                16. (18)  Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 200.<\/p>\n

                17. (17)  Corey Heim(i), Toyota, 200.<\/p>\n

                18. (33)  Shane Van Gisbergen #, Chevrolet, 200.<\/p>\n

                19. (15)  Sheldon Creed, Toyota, 200.<\/p>\n

                20. (27)  Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, 200.<\/p>\n

                21. (25)  Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, 200.<\/p>\n

                22. (29)  Parker Retzlaff, Chevrolet, 200.<\/p>\n

                23. (20)  Hailie Deegan #, Ford, 200.<\/p>\n

                24. (24)  Daniel Dye(i), Chevrolet, 200.<\/p>\n

                25. (16)  Parker Kligerman, Chevrolet, 200.<\/p>\n

                26. (36)  Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, 199.<\/p>\n

                27. (5)  Riley Herbst, Ford, 199.<\/p>\n

                28. (38)  David Starr, Ford, 198.<\/p>\n

                29. (28)  Josh Bilicki, Chevrolet, 198.<\/p>\n

                30. (37)  Joey Gase, Chevrolet, 198.<\/p>\n

                31. (31)  Leland Honeyman #, Chevrolet, 198.<\/p>\n

                32. (21)  Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, 197.<\/p>\n

                33. (30)  Patrick Emerling, Chevrolet, 197.<\/p>\n

                34. (32)  Garrett Smithley, Chevrolet, 197.<\/p>\n

                35. (26)  Blaine Perkins, Ford, 197.<\/p>\n

                36. (19)  Kyle Weatherman, Chevrolet, Accident, 191.<\/p>\n

                37. (34)  Dawson Cram #, Chevrolet, 191.<\/p>\n

                38. (35)  Chad Finchum, Ford, Suspension, 127.<\/p>\n

Average Speed of Race Winner:  125.977 mph.<\/p>\n

Time of Race:  2 Hrs, 22 Mins, 53 Secs. Margin of Victory:  0.002 Seconds.<\/p>\n

Caution Flags:  7 for 35 laps.<\/p>\n

Lead Changes:  16 among 10 drivers.<\/p>\n

Lap Leaders:   J. Love # 1;C. Smith 2-27;J. Allgaier 28-48;B. Jones 49;J. Allgaier 50-80;C. Custer 81;J. Allgaier 82-142;S. Mayer 143;S. Creed 144-145;A. Hill 146-170;J. Allgaier 171-174;S. Mayer 175;P. Kligerman 176-179;B. Jones 180;S. Mayer 181-182;R. Sieg 183-199;S. Mayer 200.<\/p>\n

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  Justin Allgaier 4 times for 117 laps; Chandler Smith 1 time for 26 laps; Austin Hill 1 time for 25 laps; Ryan Sieg 1 time for 17 laps; Sam Mayer 4 times for 5 laps; Parker Kligerman 1 time for 4 laps; Sheldon Creed 1 time for 2 laps; Brandon Jones 2 times for 2 laps; Cole Custer 1 time for 1 lap; Jesse Love # 1 time for 1 lap.<\/p>\n

Stage #1 Top Ten: 7,81,98,9,00,20,21,39,16,48<\/p>\n

Stage #2 Top Ten: 7,00,98,9,39,8,21,2,16,1<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  By Holly Cain NASCAR Wire Service In a race decided by less than the length of a Texas hot chili pepper, JR Motorsports driver Sam Mayer pulled off a last lap pass of veteran Ryan Sieg to claim his first victory of the season Saturday in the Andy\u2019s Frozen Custard 300 at Texas Motor […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":676,"featured_media":45517,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11,13],"tags":[16,181,789,21],"class_list":["post-45529","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","category-texas-motor-speedway","tag-nascar","tag-nascar-xfinity-series","tag-sam-mayer","tag-texas-motor-speedway"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/GettyImages-2148538902-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1706&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-bQl","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45529","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/676"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45529"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45529\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45535,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45529\/revisions\/45535"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45529"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45529"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45529"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}