DOVER, Del. — On the final restart of Saturday’s (May 16) NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Dover Motor Speedway with 34 laps to go, Sam Mayer looked like he had a shot at the win.
He was restarting in third, behind Justin Allgaier and William Sawalich, who he had outran for a lot of the day. But then he got damage, and the handling of his No. 41 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet went ahead.
Instead of celebrating his first win of the 2026 season and first since Iowa Speedway last August, Mayer had to settle for third.
“Yeah, I thought we were gonna be in a really good spot there at the restart, and I just kind of fell off more than those guys did,” Mayer told Frontstretch. “And I think most of that is the damage, so the guys did a great job.
“We just gotta work on the driver a little bit, not get damage to the car. But yeah, just a really solid day, really proud of everyone. Looking forward to next week, too.”
Mayer cleared eventual race winner Corey Day on the last restart for third before passing Sawalich a few laps later. But that’s when Mayer went from being on the offense to defense, as Day passed him back on lap 176.
Still, the result matches Mayer’s best finish of the year. It also bumps him from The Chase cut line in 12th in points up to ninth.
“Just really solid,” Mayer said. “We had a really fast car. The Audibel Chevy was really good. Everyone at the Haas Factory Team did a really good job executing today and bringing me a car capable of being up front.
“We got a little bit of damage there at the end, which obviously hurt our chances of winning, but still coming out with a huge points today is really good for this organization.”
NASCAR announced after the race the No. 41 team would be fined $5,000 and lose pit selection for next week’s race at Charlotte Motor Speedway for having one lug nut not secure.
Michael Massie joined Frontstretch in 2017 and has served as the Content Director since 2020.
Massie, a Richmond, Va., native, has covered NASCAR, IndyCar, SRX and the CARS Tour. Outside of motorsports, the Virginia Tech grad and Green Bay Packers minority owner can be seen cheering on his beloved Hokies and Packers.