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Sam Mayer is in the midst of his second full-time season in the Xfinity Series. Would you find it crazy if I said he was only 19 years old? Mayer has found his way up the ladder rather quickly, and here is how he got there.
Sam Mayer was born on June 26, 2003, in Franklin, Wisconsin. He is the son of Scott Mayer a former race car driver himself. Scott raced in three IndyCar races in 2003, and won a NASCAR Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series (Precursor to IMSA) at his home track of Road America in 2013 alongside 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Brendon Hartley.
As for Sam, he got his racing career started early. According to Dave Kallman of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal, Mayer started racing at the age of four. He spent most of his early years in karts, but he eventually made the move up to legends cars and late model stocks.
According to his website, Mayer enjoyed immense success at the age of 17. He became the youngest winner in the history of Greenville-Pickens Speedway, and swept the U.S. Legends Cars Winter Heat Series. From there, he caught the eye of Dale Earnhardt Jr.
In 2018, the year he turned 16 years old, Mayer participated in the CARS Late Model Stock Tour full-time for Earnhardt Jr. Mayer was more than respectable finishing fifth in the standings with nine top-10 finished. He also won one race at Wake County Speedway in Raleigh, North Carolina, over drivers such as Josh Berry, and Ty Gibbs.
During 2018, Mayer also ran part-time in the ARCA Menards East and West Series, then known as the K&N Pro Series. He was again respectable compiling three top-5s and four top-10s in seven starts for Jerry Pitts.
Mayer also ran in two ARCA Racing Series races recording two more top-10 finished Mayer did well enough to earn a promotion to full-time competition in the K&N Pro Series.
In 2019, Mayer focused solely on the K&N Pro Series and the ARCA Menards Series racing for Maury Gallagher of GMS Racing. In the K&N Pro Series East, Mayer ran full-time winning four races, three poles, and finishing outside of the top-five only once. His first career win came at Bristol Motor Speedway where he started on the pole, led every lap, and won the race by 3.6 seconds.
The result was the K&N Pro Series East Championship by 39 points over Chase Cabre. Mayer also participated in the K&N Pro Series West season finale at Phoenix Raceway where he would sit on the pole and finish second to Ty Gibbs. This was the third time that season that Gibbs and Mayer had finished 1-2.
In the ARCA Menards Series, Mayer ran in eight races finishing in the top-5 seven times. His best finish was second at Salem, and he led his first laps at Gateway in June
In 2020, the global pandemic threw Mayer’s racing schedule for a bit of a loop. The K&N Pro Series was rebranded as the ARCA Menards Series East and West, and Mayer ran seven races between the two. He finished in the top-2 in six of seven races with six victories beating out, you guessed it, Ty Gibbs.
Overall, Gibbs and Mayer finished 1-2 five times between these two seasons with Mayer winning three times and Gibbs winning twice. They would also go at it in the ARCA Menards Series as well.
In the ARCA Menards Series, Mayer enjoyed even more success while running in 13 races. He would win five races with his first win coming at Toledo. Again, him and Gibbs finished 1-2 four more times with each driver winning two races. Overall, Mayer won five races and Gibbs won two between both drivers 1-2 finishes.
Mayer’s aspirations were bigger than Just ARCA. Now approaching his 18th birthday, NASCAR was on his mind.
Mayer began running select Craftsman Truck Series races for Gallagher between 2019 and 2021. Mayer ran three races in 2019 recording a best finish of 19th at Phoenix. Mayer ran six more races in 2020, and got his first top-5 at Gateway finishing fourth.
His first win came soon afterwards at Bristol Motor Speedway. Mayer passed the dominant car of the night, Brett Moffitt, with 30 laps to go and pulled away for the win.
From there, a familiar face brought in Mayer, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Mayer spent running 18 Xfinity Series races for JR Motorsports along with five Craftsman Truck Series races. It was an up-and-down season for Mayer, but he finished the season strong with a best Xfinity Series finish of fourth at the penultimate race in Martinsville.
That was enough to give Mayer a full-time shot with JRM in 2022. Mayer would again be solid recording 19 top-10s and 11 top-5s in 33 starts. He won his first career pole at Charlotte, and recorded a best-career finish of second at Talladega while also qualifying for the Playoffs.
The highlight of his season from the fans perspective came from an old rivalry. After the spring race at Martinsville, Gibbs and Mayer got into an altercation on pit road following contact on the race track.
He is still searching for his first career Xfinity Series win, but that win could be right around the corner. He is still very young, and he is well within Playoff contention this season. Who knows what the future holds for him.
