XFINITY: Costly disqualification bumps Mayer below Playoff cut line heading into Charlotte elimination race
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
PHOTO: JR Motorsports, @JRMotorsports
Sam Mayer picked up the 4th last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career in Saturday’s United Rentals 250 at the Talladega Superspeedway when his #1 First Bank of Alabama Chevrolet finished 16th, but was disqualified after completing all 98 laps.
The finish, which came in Mayer’s 112th series start, was his second of the season and first since Las Vegas in March, 25 races ago. In the XFINITY Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 18th from disqualification, the 21st for the #1, and the 650th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 57th by disqualification, the 77th for the #1, and the 1,961st for Chevrolet.
With the finish, Mayer now takes the lead in the 2024 LASTCAR XFINITY Series standings with just five races to go. Mayer leads Dawson Cram by a margin of two bottom-five finishes.
Nick Leitz picked up the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career in Saturday’s United Rentals 250 at the Talladega Superspeedway when his #92 Precision Measurements, Inc. Chevrolet was involved in a multi-car accident after 41 of 98 laps.
The finish occurred in Leitz’ sixth series start. In the XFINITY Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 24th for the #92, the 401st from a crash, and the 650th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top series, it was the 31st for the #92, the 1,396th from a crash, and the 1,961st for Chevrolet.
Back in April, during the closing laps of the Andy’s Frozen Custard 300 at Texas, Mayer had struggled through a rough start to the 2024 season. In four of the season’s first seven races, he’d finished 30th or worse – three due to crashes, including the last-place run in Vegas. But things quickly turned around at the finish, when he caught leader Ryan Sieg, then locked bumpers and inched ahead by just two-thousandths of a second. Another win at Iowa assured him not only a spot in the Playoffs, but a higher ranking. After the postseason opener in Kansas, where he finished 13th, he arrived in Talladega as the fourth seed, just 28 points out of the lead. He then qualified 12th with a lap of 53.215 seconds (179.949mph).
The preliminary entry list showed 39 drivers for 38 spots, but Mike Harmon Racing withdrew after Joey Gase Motorsports’ #53 entry moved back ahead of Harmon’s #74 in Owner Points by acquiring the points earned by JD Motorsports’ shuttered #6 entry. Carson Ware, this week’s driver of Gase’s #53 TWR Wheel Repair Ford, qualified 37th on the grid just ahead of Alpha Prime Racing’s #45. Caesar Bacarella attempted to qualify the #45 Prime Bites Brownie Chevrolet, but his ECR engine failed coming to the green, forcing him to pull in early. Bacarella then reported he felt dizzy during the lap and wasn’t comfortable driving the car. So as the team swapped engines, the team’s co-owners swapped roles as Tommy Joe Martins took Bacarella’s place. This put Martins into his first XFINITY Series race as a driver since September 24, 2022 at Texas, where he finished 14th.
Martins’ driver swap and engine change made him one of four drivers to drop to the rear for pre-race penalties. Unapproved adjustments ensnared both 21st-place C.J. McLaughlin – who also missed driver introductions – in the #07 Main Street Auto Chevrolet and 29th-place Joey Gase in the #35 Donate Life Alabama / NFPA Chevrolet while Aric Almirola qualified 9th, but on Friday failed pre-qualifying inspection due to an issue with the windshield on his #20 He Gets Us Toyota, handing him both a tail-end penalty and a pass-through to be served on Lap 1.
When the race started, both Martins and Gase lined up side-by-side in 36th and 37th, 3.359 and 3.356 seconds behind the leader, respectively, with new last-place runner Almirola trailing Gase on the inside line by about a carlength. Almirola served his penalty at the leaders came down to complete Lap 1, then returned to the track 21.640 seconds back of the lead, nearly 17 seconds back of Gase. By Lap 6, the stranded Almirola was now 36.45 seconds back of the lead and 30 second back of Gase, who had himself lost touch with the lead pack and formed a two-car draft with teammate Carson Ware. It only took until Lap 12 for the leaders to catch Almirola, then on Lap 14 pull to the outside as he dropped back on the inside line through Turns 3 and 4. Still, Almirola’s team was confident no other drivers would be lapped by the end of Stage 1 on Lap 25. This turned out to be true, and Almirola soon earned his lap back.
But by the time Stage 1 ended, one car was already behind the wall. Kyle Weatherman looked in position to score his third last-place finish of the season when he came down pit road due to an electrical fire. He took last from Almirola on Lap 14 as both Weatherman and team owner Mario Gosselin were among the many workers trying to diagnose the issue. The team managed to complete repairs around Lap 28, at which point Weatherman rejoined the race a full 13 laps down. He was still on track when the second caution fell on Lap 42. When third-place running A.J. Allmendinger broke loose in Turn 3, the outside line behind started to check-up and bump into one another to avoid his #16 Morris-Shea Bridge Company, Inc. Chevrolet. The stack-up ensnared Nick Leitz, his #92 Precision Measurements, Inc. Chevrolet the eighth car back on the outside line. Leitz wasn’t lined up directly behind Dean Thompson’s #26 Thompson Pipe Group Toyota, but was just to his right. Thus, Leitz struck Thompson with his left-front, sending him into a spin that collected the cars of Parker Kligerman, Jeb Burton, and Josh Williams. The nose-to-nose impact between Leitz and Burton left Leitz with the worst damage of all involved, sending him behind the wall and out of the race. Weatherman, one of Leitz’ teammates, earned his first of four straight “Lucky Dogs” under this and the next three cautions, moving Weatherman to 31st by the finish. In between, he dropped Leitz to last on Lap 56, who was apparently on his way to his first XFINITY last-place finish.
Mayer wasn’t a significant factor for the win, finishing 8th and 17th in the two stages before he took the checkered flag in 16th, 0.555 second back of one of his JR Motorsports teammates Sammy Smith. This left Mayer eighth in the Playoff rankings with a slim 10-point advantage over Allmendinger. But that soon changed as NASCAR deemed his car too low in the rear, resulting in a disqualification that also invalidated his points earned in Stage 1. This dropped him to 11th in the standings, now 13 points below the bubble spot now held by Allmendinger. In the LASTCAR standings, it bumped Jordan Anderson out of the Bottom Five and Brandon Jones out of the Bottom Ten.
Finishing behind the now 37th-place Leitz was Jeremy Clements, who suffered brake issues on his #51 One Stop / All South Electric Chevrolet. Taking 35th was Shane Van Gisbergen, who was squirreled out of the inside line in the tri-oval on Lap 76, only to see his #97 WeatherTech Chevrolet collected in a multi-car pileup that also finished off the already damaged #11 Alloy Employer Services Chevrolet of Josh Williams.
Alpha Prime has a banner day at Talladega
After taking over driving duties at the last minute, Tommy Joe Martins finished an impressive 13th, which is tied for the third-best finish of his entire XFINITY Series career, and his best since an 11th-place showing at Talladega in the spring of 2021. Martins’ showing was part of an overall fantastic day for the Alpha Prime Racing team, whose teammates Ryan Ellis took 15th in the #43 Classic Collision Chevrolet while Brennan Poole – nearly the race winner in the spring – took 9th in the #44 Macc Door Systems Chevrolet.
Jeb Burton, who suffered left-front damage in the Leitz accident that required multiple pit stops, managed to recover to finish 7th in his #27 Golden Corral Chevrolet. This was only his second top-ten finish of the season and first since he ran 9th in the spring race here.
Also impressive was the ageless David Starr, who took home an 8th-place finish in SS-Green Light Racing’s #14 Holt St. Chevrolet. This was Starr’s first top-ten finish since July 1, 2017 at Daytona, where he ran a career-best 5th for B.J. McLeod. It also stands as the third-best finish of Starr’s 267 career starts in the series.
Leland Honeyman, Jr. was also in contention for a top-five finish in the Randy Young #42 Mezrano Injury Lawyers Chevrolet, but lost drafting help on the final lap and slipped to 14th place. This was still Honeyman’s best finish since his 16th at Watkins Glen three races ago.
LASTCAR STATISTICS
*The only other time the #1 finished last in a XFINITY Series race at Talladega was also because of disqualification – October 3, 2020, when Michael Annett’s turn in the #1 Pilot / Flying J Chevrolet finished 2nd and also failed post-race heights in inspection.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
38) #1-Sam Mayer / 98 laps / disqualified
37) #92-Nick Leitz / 41 laps / crash
36) #51-Jeremy Clements / 60 laps / brakes
35) #97-Shane Van Gisbergen / 75 laps / crash
34) #11-Josh Williams / 75 laps / crash
2024 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Joey Gase Motorsports, JR Motorsports (4)
2nd) DGM Racing, Jordan Anderson Racing (3)
3rd) AM Racing, Joe Gibbs Racing, Mike Harmon Racing, SS-Green Light Racing, Stewart-Haas Racing (2)
4th) Alpha Prime Racing, Kaulig Racing, Motorsports Business Management, RSS Racing (1)
2024 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (18)
2nd) Ford (6)
3rd) Toyota (4)
2024 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
