Menu
The second race of this triple-header weekend in the Lonestar State is in the books! On this Saturday afternoon, the NASCAR Xfinity Series took to the Texas Motor Speedway to put on a show! One of the storylines heading into the race was the struggles that JR Motorsports has had thus far in the 2024 Xfinity Series season. Shockingly, last week’s race at Martinsville was the first time anyone from the team got a top-5 finish all year.
With that in mind, the dominator of the race early on was Justin Allgaier. The driver of the Brandt No. 7 for JRM won both the opening and second stages and also started the third and final stages from the point. He continued his lead until a cycle of green flag pit stops which saw Sheldon Creed take the lead. The 7 team and many of his JRM teammates chose to short pit while Creed’s strategy was to split the final stage right down the middle. The strategy did not work out, however, as the No. 18 team was penalized, handing the lead back over to Allgaier.
When the pack restarted with 28 laps to go, Allgaier suffered a terrible restart after a slow pit stop. He fell down to the 10th position but was able to work his way back up to 5th before the 7th caution of the race came out. He was able to work his way back up to a 3rd-place finish but was never able to recapture the lead.
This race came down to literally the final lap. After a couple of cautions which found the driver of the No. 39 Ford, Ryan Sieg, upfront, it came down to a showdown between the blue-collar racer and Sam Mayer. While it did look initially that Sieg was cruising the victory, the Sam Mayer and his No. 1 JRM Chevy rallied late. He was able to get beside the No. 39 of Seig coming out of the final corner and the two drag raced to the line.
Sam Mayer won the Xfinity Race at Texas over Ryan Seig at a margin of 0.002 seconds, the closest finish in Xfinity Series history. Congratulations to Sam Mayer and JRM who were able to capture their first win of the 2024 season. But our hats go off to Ryan Sieg who came up just short of his first-ever win.
This is Sam Mayer’s as well as JRM’s first win of the 2024 season. With this victory, Same Mayer is locked into the 2024 Xfinity Series playoffs. This also marks Mayer’s 5th win in the series. Congratulations to him and his No. 1 JRM crew.
We also have to tip our hats to Ryan Sieg and his family-owned team. The team has been a part of this sport for 12 years, not getting a win until last summer at Fontana with veteran driver Aric Almirola. This is the closest Sieg has ever come to winning a race and he drove a heck of a race. That No. 39 team has really been improving as of late. In the video above, you can see Sieg go from 10th to the lead in just a handful of laps. Astonishing.
I cannot leave this Main Characters section without first talking about Justin Allgaier. The driver of the Brandt No. 7 was the dominator for over half of this race. But it was mistakes on pit road plus a bad restart that lost it for him in the end. Still, he won both of the previous stages and leaves Texas with a pretty nice points cushion.
The reaction to Mayer winning the race was decidedly mixed. I don’t think it really had anything to do with Mayer as much as it did with the general universal heartbreak for Ryan Sieg.
Duncun commented on Sieg’s “choke” on the final lap.
Kyle Funderburk says that if Sieg never wins a race, it makes this race so much more heartbreaking.
Stephen Kennedy loved what he saw today. Of course, he’s bummed for Sieg but still, it was a great race! In concur! The NASCAR Xfinity Series has been largely the best NASCAR racing series this season! It’s not even close!
Rob Peeters also shares in the heartbreak for Ryan Sieg. He’ll get back on that horse again, man. I know it.
Wow! That was a thriller! What did you think about this race, NASCAR fans? Are you heartbroken that Ryan Sieg didn’t get the win? If so, do you take anything away from Sam Mayer’s victory? I did hear some boos in the live crowd in Texas. But what about that finish? Are you happy with it? Do you agree that the NASCAR Xfinity Series has put on some of the best racing consistently in the sport? Let us know your thoughts on all our social media outlets! And be sure to tune back in right here at DailyDownforce.com for our coverage of the Cup race in the Lonestar State!
