‘Learned My Lesson’ – Sam Mayer Points To Homestead Experience for Cautious Texas Finish

Sam Mayer was agonizingly close to his first win of the season in Saturday’s NXS race at Texas, until Kyle Larson stormed in late to take the checkered flag. While Larson registered his 17th win of his Xfinity career, Mayer finished fifth.

While disappointed with the result, the Haas Factory Team driver walked away with a mature outlook, crediting a hard- learned lesson from Homestead-Miami for his decision to play it safe rather than go all in and risk it all.

‘I Did Everything Right’ – Sam Mayer Reflects on His Focused Texas Run
The 1.5-mile quad oval intermediate track at Fort Worth isn’t the toughest test for 21-year-old Sam Mayer, after all, it’s where he captured his first win of the 2024 season. Naturally, fans were excited to see the young gun back at Texas Motor Speedway in his bright sky blue and red Andy’s Frozen Custard-powered Mustang.

Although he lost the race to Larson in the final minutes, Mayer delivered a strong performance, approaching the race with a more calculated and methodical mindset. In contrast to his aggressive tactics that had previously led to several tense encounters, Mayer raced the pack with the poise of a seasoned driver, clearly applying lessons from his missteps at Homestead-Miami.

Following the race, the racer, when asked about his day, remarked, “I did everything right. I learned my lessons from Homestead, how to restart and do the job right. I did it better than I feel like anyone on the front row. But it didn’t just come our way, and that’s just part of racing.”

Earlier this season, Mayer had issued an apology to Larson for their Homestead-Miami row. Despite leading 132 laps, that day, Larson’s hopes were squashed by the 22-year-old in the restart after his No. 41 came in contact with Larson’s Chevrolet. While JRM ace Justin Allgaier seized the moment and clinched the win, the late slip from Mayer cost Larson a win and, more importantly, spoiled his bid for a dramatic three-peat.

Read More: Sam Mayer Owns Up To Blowing Kyle Larson’s Homestead Victory After Leading 132 Laps

However, this time around, the Hass Factory Team driver, learning from his mistakes, remained composed during the restart and timed it to perfection. Meanwhile, Larson, who was in for the injured Connor Zilisch, secured his second Xfinity win of the season.

Currently, Mayer is comfortably perched third in the standings with 391 points from six top 10 and five top 5 finishes.

While the driver is not fully satisfied with the P5 finish, saying that everything was against him, he came back from an early setback to finish inside the top 5. And that speaks volumes about his capabilities.