NASCAR at Charlotte: Sam Mayer needs perfection, and nearly has it, in Xfinity Series win

With three crashes in his past three races, Sam Mayer knew he had to be perfect at the Charlotte Roval to advance in the NASCAR Xfinity Series playoffs.

He was close to it.

None of the drivers also vying for spots in the Round of 8 were able to chase down Mayer, who led for 50 of 67 laps and pulled off his third — and most important — victory of the season.

“Having six points in three races is more embarrassing than anything else,” Mayer told reporters in his post-race press conference. “We went into this weekend knowing we had to win and get in. There was really no other way.”

Mayer, a 20-year-old from outside Milwaukee, finished 37th, 35th and 38th in those past three races, respectively, and entered Saturday sitting 12th in the Round of 12 standings.

His previous two wins this year had come at road courses, at Road America in Wisconsin and Watkins Glen. Mayer has a background racing go-karts and felt particularly confident racing his No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, so he and his team were diligent about fine-tuning details for the unique road course on Charlotte Motor Speedway’s infield.

“I have to go out there and I have to be perfect if I want to be a Cup driver one day,” Mayer said. “I made two mistakes today. Neither of them jeopardized my day, but they could have. I need to make sure I’m mentally focused at all times and don’t get lazy on myself. And that’s what Cup drivers are best at: Being laser-focused 24/7.”

Cole Custer, who gained his points to advance during the race, crossed the finish line roughly a second after Mayer, driving about a car length behind the winner for most of the final lap. Josh Berry placed third, Riley Herbst fourth and Kaz Grala fifth.

Daniel Hemric, Parker Kligerman, Berry and Jeb Burton were eliminated from the Xfinity Series playoffs.

“I really, really am disappointed — not just because of the chance to go race for a championship — but I absolutely loved the experience of being in these playoffs,” Kligerman said afterward. “But we’re gonna bring that same energy. We can still finish fifth in points. And that would be a huge achievement.”

Tyler Reddick wins pole for Sunday’s Cup race

Tyler Reddick will lead the field to green in Sunday’s Cup Series playoff race at the Charlotte Roval.

With a fastest lap of 102.839 mph during qualifying, Reddick won the pole over defending champion Christopher Bell (102.695 mph). Daniel Suarez will start third, Bubba Wallace fourth and Kyle Busch fifth.

“We put a lot of effort in — as all the playoff teams do — into this race,” Reddick, who won the sixth pole of his career and second of the season, said in a press conference. “This is as good as outcome for the 45 car as possible.”

In a phone interview with The Charlotte Observer on Friday, Reddick spoke about the impact that Michael Jordan has had on his 23XI Racing team. Having previously driven for Richard Childress Racing, he noticed how competitive the team co-owned by Jordan and Denny Hamlin is from an outside perspective.

“Everyone’s happy with the progress, but that certainly doesn’t mean that we’re settled by any means,” Reddick said. “We’re competitors, even if the chances are slim to none, we’re gonna do everything we can to get the job done. Thankfully for us in this situation — yeah, we’re not above the cut line — we’re two (points) down.

“And I think that will be changed by the time qualifying is over if we do our job.”

Ernie Elliott honored with Smokey Yunick Award

A few weeks ago, Chase Elliott was with his uncle, Ernie, who had a Winston Million-era (1985-1997) engine and another engine from an old Daytona 500 out on display. Chase had never seen engines like these in-person, and he said he thought his uncle had gotten them from a museum somewhere.

On Saturday morning, Ernie Elliott, a longtime crew chief and engine builder, was named this year’s recipient of the Smokey Yunick Award, which recognizes an individual from humble beginnings who has made a significant impact in motorsports.

“He’s always just a good person to talk to post-race,” Chase Elliott said when he received the award on his uncle’s behalf. “He pays a lot of attention — he doesn’t like to admit that he pays a lot of attention, but he does. ... Just the innovation that he brought at the time period that he did, he was so far ahead of the curve in so many different ways.”

As a crew chief, Ernie led his brother, Bill, to more than 30 wins at the Cup Series level, along with winning 40 total Cup races as an engine builder.

Alex Bowman on how Next Gen cars handle on road courses

Unlike most NASCAR races, drivers will be making both left- and right-hand turns at the Charlotte Motor Speedway’s road course.

Alex Bowman told reporters on Saturday that NASCAR’s Next Gen cars drive much easier on these road courses. He said the older cars were much worse with wheel hop, when tires lose contact with the ground while driving on bumpy roads.

“You watch guys like SVG (Shane van Gisbergen) come in and watch how he applied the brake pedal and used the clutch so much at Chicago,” Bowman said. “It’s a whole area that 36 of us here and weren’t even close to touching that.”

Van Gisbergen, the New Zealand-born driver, stunned the NASCAR world by winning the inaugural Chicago Street Race in his Cup Series debut in July. Bowman spun out and prompted a caution roughly midway through that race, and in the end, the unprecedented race on the streets of downtown Chicago ended with a newcomer holding the checkered flag.

Kyle Larson hits wall, to drive backup car and start 36th

Kyle Larson slammed into the wall on Turn 8 during practice on Saturday morning.

Larson, the 2021 champion who has been among the top drivers this year, said he tried to overcorrect after his car got loose. He will drive a backup car on Sunday as he starts the race 36th (out of 37 drivers).

“I think it’ll be really hard to pass, so we’ll not be able to get stage points,” Larson said. “At least we’ll hopefully inch our way forward and be toward the front come Stage 3 to get a good points day that way.”

Austin Cindric confirms return to Team Penske

Austin Cindric, the 2022 Daytona 500 winner, will be back driving Team Penske’s No. 2 Ford in 2024, his third season at the Cup level.

Currently ranking 23rd in points, Cindric’s fifth-place finish last weekend at Talladega was his best of the season. Cindric, 25, won the Xfinity Series championship in 2020.

This story was originally published October 7, 2023 at 7:25 PM.