Sam Mayer was disqualified from a 16th-place finish in Saturday’s (Oct. 5) United Rentals 250 at Talladega Superspeedway. The DQ came after it was found that the rear height of the No. 1 car was too low in post-race inspection.
Mayer originally finished 16th and gained three stage points for a total of 24 points on the day. Mayer will instead be credited with a 38th-place finish and one point following the DQ.
After initially leaving the race 10 points above the cut line, the DQ will instead drop Mayer to 13 points below the cut line for next week’s elimination race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL.
Mayer won the last year’s race at the ROVAL in a must-win situation, and the win ultimately propelled him to a Championship 4 berth.
Justin Allgaier enters the ROVAL as the first driver below the cut, seven points behind AJ Allmendinger. Shane van Gisbergen now has a 10-point deficit to the cut while Parker Kligerman, the final of the 12 playoff drivers, is now 16 points behind.
Chandler Smith (+64), Austin Hill (+37), Cole Custer (+37), Sheldon Creed (+32) Jesse Love (+22), Riley Herbst (+20) and Allmendinger (+7) are the seven drivers above the cut line heading into next week.
Wyatt Watson has followed motorsports closely since 2007. He joined Frontstretch as a journalist in February 2023 after serving in the United States Navy for five years as an Electronic Technician Navigation working on submarines. Wyatt is one of Frontstretch's primary IndyCar correspondents, providing exclusive video content on site. He hosts Frontstretch's Through the Gears podcast and occasionally The Pit Straight.You can find Wyatt's written work in columns such as Friday Faceoff and 2-Headed Monsteras well as exclusive IndyCar features. Wyatt also contributes to Frontstretch's social media team, posting unique and engaging content for Frontstretch.
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