Sam Mayer Bangs his Way to the Xfinity Race at the Glen

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WATKINS GLWN, NY – RIS – Sam Mayer won the NASCAR Xfinity ace at Watkins Glen International on Saturday in what amounted to a wreck fest in the final laps.  Ty Gibbs dominated the race, but in overtime, it was Mayer exercising a little payback on Gibbs.  Mayer spun race leader and archrival Ty Gibbs following a late restart in the Xfinity Series race at Watkins Glen International on Saturday and went on to win for the second time in four weeks.

Gibbs, a Cup Series regular and a rising star at Joe Gibbs Racing, dominated the road-course race in upstate New York. He led 70 of 86 laps, but a late caution bunched up the field and gave Mayer a shot. Mayer took advantage by nudging Gibbs out of the way as they entered the first turn. Mayer said the contact was accidental.

“I wheel-hopped it,” said Mayer, whose first Xfinity victory came last month at Road America. “I feel bad for doing that, obviously. You don’t want to take out a Gibbs car like that or any car like that. But just trying to get another win in the Xfinity Series. I got a lot of catching up to do. I was in there. I put my nose in there. That’s part of it. Fenders are fenders. It’s an accident, but I think everyone can agree that it’s OK for a Xfinity Series regular to win this race.”

Sheldon Creed finished second, with Parker Kligerman, Ross Chastain and Connor Mosack rounding out the top five. John Hunter Nemechek was sixth and took over the points lead from Austin Hill, who spun late and faded to 14th. Gibbs collected his car after the spin and came home a disappointing 17th.

Gibbs brushed off any notion of chatting with Mayer about the ending and then took a clear shot at his rival. The two have had altercations before, and Gibbs even threw punches at Mayer last year at Martinsville.

“I don’t really know how much of a conversation you can have with him in that situation,” Gibbs said. “We grew up racing each other. I think he has more starts than I do, and this his second win. Congratulations to him on his second win. Definitely wish I could have gotten my 13th there.”

Gibbs had the field covered all afternoon on the 2.45-mile, multi-elevational track. He blew past Hill on one restart and then skated by Mayer and Justin Allgaier on another with four laps to go.

Riley Herbst entered Saturday with a 34-point lead over Parker Kligerman, but Herbst broke a track bar mount late in the second stage and ended the race earlier than expected. Herbst finished 35th, allowing Kligerman to close the gap to three points with three regular-season events remaining.

“As far as the points situation, it’s just frustrating,” Herbst said. “I don’t think we should be in this position. Luckily, next week isn’t the cutoff line for the Xfinity Series and we still have some track for us, for Stewart-Haas Racing. It’s just frustrating that things like this, out of our control, keep happening. It’ll turn around one day, and when it does, we’ll be happy.”

Next for the Xfinity Series is a date at Daytona International Speedway for a race that is normally part of the Independence Day celebration, but not anymore.  It’s speedway racing at high speeds, quite a difference from this weekend.

Unofficial Results: Shriners Children's 200, August 19, 2023, Watkins Glen International
Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 5, Sam Mayer, No. 1 Accelerate Pros Talent Chevrolet, 86, 3, 6, 2, 8, 5, 53, Running
2) 13, Sheldon Creed, No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet, 86, 7, 9, , , , 41, Running
3) 14, Parker Kligerman, No. 48 Spiked Light Coolers Chevrolet, 86, 10, 10, , , , 36, Running
4) 17, Ross Chastain(i), No. 91 Protect Your Melon #BUCKLEUPNY Chevrolet, 86, , , , , , 0, Running
5) 19, Connor Mosack, No. 24 Toyota Genuine Parts Toyota, 86, , , , , , 32, Running
6) 12, John Hunter Nemechek, No. 20 Mobil 1 Toyota, 86, 6, 8, , , , 39, Running
7) 4, Cole Custer, No. 00 HighPoint Ford, 86, 9, 5, 1, 1, , 38, Running
8) 18, Chandler Smith #, No. 16 Quick Tie Products Inc. Chevrolet, 86, , , , , , 29, Running
9) 2, Alex Bowman(i), No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, 86, , 2, 1, 4, , 0, Running
10) 25, Jeb Burton, No. 27 Honoring All First Responders Chevrolet, 86, , , , , , 27, Running
11) 24, Brandon Jones, No. 9 Menards/MagickWoods Chevrolet, 86, , , , , , 26, Running
12) 32, Brennan Poole, No. 6 TeamJDMotorsports.com Chevrolet, 86, , , , , , 25, Running
13) 33, Kyle Weatherman, No. 4 TeamJDMotorsports.com Chevrolet, 86, , , 1, 2, , 24, Running
14) 11, Austin Hill, No. 21 Bennett Transportation Chevrolet, 86, 5, 3, , , , 37, Running
15) 21, Sage Karam, No. 45 Rich Mar/Lakewood Vineyards Chevrolet, 86, , , , , , 22, Running
16) 3, Justin Allgaier, No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet, 86, 2, 4, 1, 1, , 37, Running
17) 1, Ty Gibbs(i), No. 19 He Gets Us Toyota, 86, 1, 1, 4, 70, , 0, Running
18) 9, Sammy Smith #, No. 18 Pilot Flying J Toyota, 86, , , , , , 19, Running
19) 37, Kyle Sieg, No. 28 SFWW/LOTZE Ford, 86, , , , , , 18, Running
20) 7, Josh Berry, No. 8 Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Boats Chevrolet, 86, 4, 7, , , , 28, Running
21) 26, Ryan Sieg, No. 39 Ford, 86, , , , , , 16, Running
22) 36, Joe Graf Jr., No. 38 G-coin Ford, 85, , , , , , 15, Running
23) 6, Daniel Hemric, No. 11 Cirkul Chevrolet, 84, , , , , , 14, Running
24) 22, Alex Labbe, No. 08 Refology Chevrolet, 83, , , , , , 13, Running
25) 28, Josh Bilicki, No. 07 Burdicks All Season Roofing Ford, 83, , , , , , 12, Running
26) 29, Parker Retzlaff #, No. 31 Funkaway Chevrolet, 82, , , , , , 11, Running
27) 8, Kyle Busch(i), No. 10 LA Golf Chevrolet, 78, , , , , , 0, Transmission
28) 15, Kaz Grala, No. 26 Island Coastal Lager Toyota, 78, , , , , , 9, Accident
29) 20, Brett Moffitt, No. 25 AM Technical Solutions Ford, 66, , , , , , 8, Suspension
30) 35, Ryan Ellis, No. 43 Costa Oil Chevrolet, 65, , , , , , 7, Running
31) 27, Anthony Alfredo, No. 78 BOTTICELLI Chevrolet, 61, , , , , , 6, Axle
32) 38, Stanton Barrett, No. 35 Horeseheads Brewing Toyota, 56, , , , , , 5, Suspension
33) 23, Stefan Parsons, No. 44 AAN Adjusters/Gilreath Farms Chevrolet, 45, , , , , , 4, Brakes
34) 31, Max McLaughlin, No. 96 Randco Chevrolet, 43, , , , , , 0, Accident
35) 10, Riley Herbst, No. 98 Monster Energy Ford, 37, 8, , , , , 5, Suspension
36) 34, Josh Williams, No. 92 Nordic Logistics/Alloy Chevrolet, 23, , , , , , 1, Accident
37) 16, Jeremy Clements, No. 51 All South Electric/One Stop Chevrolet, 21, , , , , , 1, Suspension
38) 30, Blaine Perkins #, No. 02 Gratis Chevrolet, 11, , , , , , 1, Transmission
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie

Total Race Length: 86 Laps - 210.7 Miles
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 25 Mins, 33 Secs.
Average Speed: 86.857 MPH
Margin of Victory: .909 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 19, 7, 1, 8, 21, 20, 2, 98, 00, 48
Stage 2 Top 10: 19, 17, 21, 7, 00, 1, 8, 20, 2, 48

Comments: Sam Mayer won the 28th running of the Shriners Children's 200 at the Glen at Watkins Glen International, his second victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

Prior to the start, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reasons indicated: Nos. 00, 17, 25, 31 (unapproved adjustments).

Failed to Qualify: (2) 53 Patrick Emerling, 74 Casey Carden(i).

Cautions: 5 for 18 laps
Laps: 22-26 (No. 43 Stalled on Track [28]);
32-33: (Debris in the Inner Loop [24]);
47-50: (No. 96 Incident Turn 7 [16]);
77-78: (No. 31 Stuck in the Gravel [11]);
80-84: (No. 26, 7, 9, 17, 4, 10, 25 Incident Turn 5 [4]).

Lead Changes: 9 among 6 drivers;
T. Gibbs(i) 1-21;
J. Allgaier 22;
A. Bowman(i) 23-26;
T. Gibbs(i) 27-47;
C. Custer 48;
K. Weatherman 49-50;
T. Gibbs(i) 51-72;
S. Mayer 73-78;
T. Gibbs(i) 79-84;
S. Mayer 85-86.