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The truly remarkable way in which Sam Mayer won in Texas goes to show that the NASCAR Xfinity Series is a gift that keeps on giving. This is because the JR Motorsports driver crossed the finish line ahead of Ryan Sieg by 0.002 seconds.
Now this is the second closest finish in the Xfinity Series history. But it's also worth mentioning that this is the second photo finish of the 2024 season after the Atlanta Cup race which was won by Daniel Suarez by a margin of 0.003 seconds.
But coming back to the recent race in Texas that Mayer won, the final few laps were just as exciting as the finish. Sieg somehow found his way to the lead with 10 laps to go as Mayer powered through the field and challenged for the lead. As the race neared its end, Mayer finally caught Sieg and passed him, only for Sieg to once again challenge for the lead.
What happened next was contact between the two racecar drivers, door to door, driving side by side, and crossing the line with what looked like to the naked eye, a tie. Yet as it turned out, it was a close finish in which the winning driver was ahead of the driver in 2nd place by 0.002 seconds.
Texas win cost Sam Mayer a lot but also earned him a lot
Having already suffered three DNFs this season, Sam Mayer winning in Texas naturally meant a lot for him and his team. This was his first win of the season and his first win at Texas. His previous best result back on this racetrack was an 8th place finish back in 2022.
Naturally, Mayer was pumped with the win. However, he also admitted that it took a lot from him to earn this.
"That's absolutely unreal. This team, the amount of adversity we've had to fight this entire year so far and it's come to a mile-and-a-half that I want to say I'm good at, but it took a lot. It took every ounce in me to do that today," Mayer said after the race.
Of course, this win cost the JR Motorsports driver a lot as he was visibly exhausted during his post-race interview on the front stretch. But winning at Texas also meant that Sam Mayer would go home as the winner of the Dash for Cash, which earned him a prize money of $100,000.
Winning at Texas also means Mayer has now followed his 2nd place finish at Martinsville last weekend with a trip to the victory lane. Perhaps this was the momentum shift he needed and going forward, he could be a real contender to win every Saturday just as he was last year.
