LONG POND, Penn. – Sam Mayer led 14 laps, restarted on the front row for the final restart of Saturday’s (June 13) MillerTech Battery 250 at Pocono Raceway and looked to have the best car at the end of the race.
He was looking for his first win of the 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season and to build on his gap to The Chase cutline. However, he wasn’t expecting his Haas Factory Team teammate Sheldon Creed to make a bold move on that final restart.
Shortly after taking the green, Creed ducked low under Mayer to try and put himself in a spot to battle eventual winner Justin Allgaier for the victory. Heading into turn 1, Creed had cleared Mayer and was alongside Allgaier, but he lost the nose on the inside while Allgaier surged, putting the No. 7 car out front for good.
Without momentum, Creed slid up the track, right in front of Mayer who was stuck in the middle lane, trying to keep himself inside the top five. Coming out of turn 1, the two teammates found themselves fifth and sixth, far out of contention for the win after staying in the mix all throughout the event.
Both drivers managed to get around Rajah Caruth again before they saw the checkered flag and Mayer came home fourth with Creed right behind him in fifth.
“It’s both sides of it … for me, it would’ve been beneficial to be up,” Mayer said post race. “For him, he’s fighting 36 guys behind him, you have to do what you have to do at the end of the day … it’s hard to be on the same page when you need different things.”
Mayer also said that it was hard to be fully upset about it because if the roles were reversed, there was a chance he would do the same thing.
“I feel like the No. 19 got to me right at the line and the No. 41 was holding the No. 7 up and I was hoping he was going to hang a left and I didn’t want to get put three-middle so I decided to turn left,” Creed explained post race. “As soon as I landed I just got super loose and slid up the race track.”
On the bright side for Mayer, he earned 46 points today to put him 30 points above the cut line and move him up to ninth in the driver standings.
Creed remains fourth in the driver standings as the series heads to the San Diego street course for the next race on the schedule.
Michael Bellifemini joined Frontstretch in February 2026 as a contributor. Bellifemini was born and raised in New Jersey and graduated from Seton Hall University. He called Seton Hall men's and women's basketball games for their college radio station, 89.5 FM WSOU, and continues to broadcast in the area. Outside of covering NASCAR, Bellifemini is also an avid baseball, football, basketball, and hockey fan and enjoys watching different sports leagues on a daily basis.
Thanks for choosing to comment on this article. A name and email address are required to post a comment. The email address is not publicly visible or shared. Please keep in mind that comments are moderated according to our comment policy.