There’s little doubt that Sam Mayer will think fondly of Wisconsin’s Road America moving forward, as the 20-year-old will leave the 4.048-mile road course as a first-time NASCAR Xfinity Series winner.
But there’s also no question that his JR Motorsports teammate, Justin Allgaier, may foster some frustration following Saturday afternoon’s 49-lap race.
With the exception of the five laps led by Kaulig Racing’s A.J. Allmendinger, who started from pole position, JR Motorsports essentially kept tight control of the Road America 180 from start to finish.
Allgaier was the clear favorite, winning the opening two stages and leading 42 circuits of the chaotic race in the No. 7 Chevrolet until the penultimate lap, when his tussle for the lead with Sam Hunt Racing’s Sage Karam resulted in the No. 7 spinning in turn eight.
The incident allowed Karam, Parker Kligerman and Mayer to get by.
In the final few turns on the road course, Mayer capitalized on mistakes from Karam and Kligerman, sneaking by to steal his first Xfinity Series win. The victory was also the 75th win for JR Motorsports.
Kligerman enjoyed a career-best finish of second. Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Hill claimed third at the finish line. Karam and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Riley Herbst completed the top five.
“I hope this leads to some more opportunities down the road. I’ve made the decision that I want to be here full-time. This is what I’ve been trying to do, and I’ve been chasing the stock car dream now,” noted Karam, who made his seventh start of the season and 20th career Xfinity Series start on Saturday.
“It’s really fun when you can battle up front with those guys. Those guys are really good here in the Xfinity Series — they are the best out there — and when you can be doing aggressive restarts like that with Justin (Allgaier) and Sam (Mayer) and have a shot at it, it’s a really good feeling,” Karam concluded.
Josh Berry, Kaz Grala, Josh Bilicki, Allmendinger and Brandon Jones finished in the top 10.