Young 16 Year Old Wins General Tire 125 at Dover International Speedway

Sam Mayer wins the General Tire 125 wheeling the #21 Chevy Accessories Chevrolet and takes the Series Title along the same way. 

Dean Patton Photo

Dover, DE - RIS -  Not an overly large field of competitors, and probably the smallest fan attendance on the year for the General Tire 125 and season ending event for the K&N Series. What does stand out is the young driver who totally dominated the event. at just 16 years, 3 months, and all of 8 days old Sam Mayer tamed the Monster Mile. 

Prior to the 2019 season Sam had only had six starts in the series, he was not on top of the list to contend at all this season, did he prove every pundit in motorsports wrong, you bet. Front the time he took the green at New Smyrna and finished fourth he took two months to build what is described as a rocket ship that took the Checkered at Bristol and lead the entire 150 laps.

From Bristol to South Boston where he was leading, but another good driver; Tanner Grey, moved the rookie out of the way to take the Checkered. Sam Mayer would take the second and keep moving.

Hailing from Franklin, Wisconsin only experienced one event where he finished just outside the top ten. The race in Memphis he lead the event for 17 laps and would finish fourth. From there to Iowa Speedway he found Victory Lane again after leading 142 of the 150 laps. After this win he would retake the points lead and would fight every event following to make sure he stayed there.

At Thunder Valley the kid would battle the entire event with Spencer Davis, but would prevail and take home the trophy. Coming in to Dover and after a season long battle with Chase Cabre all Sam would have to do is finish 27th or better. Well with only 14 cars scheduled for the even the conclusion was not in doubt as to who would win the series title….. Sam Mayer.

NASCAR and ARCA have announced that since ARCA has acquisitions the K&N Pro Series East and West the series will be rebranded as ARCA Menards Series East and West accordingly. All of this started as  Busch North Series which was founded in 1987 and the older Pacific Coast Late Model Series which was founded back in 1954. There will be four Championships for the 2020 series. The series will feature six to eight races for each series and will have champions in four separate regions.

Look for this as a breakout of and exciting new breath of fresh air for race fans across the country.

See you at the track.

Dean Patton

I have been a Photojournalist for RIS-news for the past ten years more or less. I was a shooter for a Minority Publication here in Reading, PA. Unfortunately the publisher passed away ending the publication. Mike took me onboard the following February while covering Daytona freelance. I also shoot Football, Professional Boxing, and Pennsylvania Dirt Track Racing. Hailing from Reading, Pennsylvania what else would I do. In my real life I am also a sitting Magisterial District Judge... sports coverage is my escape!

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Volume 2019, Issue 9, Posted 12:50 PM, 10.05.2019