Sam Mayer, driver of the No. 1 NASCAR Chevy Camaro in the Xfinity Series, scored his first career victory at Road America on July 29th, 2023, overcoming a double Overtime finish to take his hard-earned trophy home.
The top four cars didn’t let up in the closing laps, fighting hard for the top spot through the restarts. Mayer was able to throw the No. 1 Camaro in front of the rest, beating the No. 48 Camaro of Parker Kligerman across the line by just .369 seconds on his way to check off the box as a first-time Xfinity Series winner.
“It was just about getting track position,” Mayer said, referencing second Overtime start. “We got it there at the end, I lost it for a second and then all hell broke loose there at the end and we ended up on top,” Mayer continued. “This team, it’s so special to get that first win, that monkey off your back. It feels so good. I felt it all day. I felt like if I can do this one, I can do anything and we came here today and did that. It’s so cool to get it done.”
Understandably, Kligerman had a different point of view after exiting the No. 48 NASCAR Chevy. Kligerman is in danger of being eliminated from the postseason Playoffs, and is right on the cutoff line with only a few races left before the field is set for the championship contenders.
“Second’s not fun,” he said. “When I got the lead, I just played it a little safer than I should have, I didn’t think the 1 [Chevy of Mayer] would get to me like that. Then I tried to get to him and just couldn’t get to him.”
| Finish | Start | Car Number | Driver | Team | Laps Run | Laps Led | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | 1 | Sam Mayer | Accelerate Pros Talent Chevrolet | 49 | 2 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 2 | 17 | 48 | Parker Kligerman | Spiked Light Coolers Chevrolet | 49 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 3 | 14 | 21 | Austin Hill | Bennett Transportation Chevrolet | 49 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 4 | 6 | 24 | Sage Karam | Carousel Online Toyota | 49 | 0 | Toyota TRD Supra |
| 5 | 4 | 98 | Riley Herbst | Monster Energy Ford | 49 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 6 | 13 | 8 | Josh Berry | Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Boats Chevrolet | 49 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 7 | 9 | 26 | Kaz Grala | Fire Department Coffee Toyota | 49 | 0 | Toyota TRD Supra |
| 8 | 11 | 91 | Josh Bilicki | TRIM-TEX Drywall Solutions Chevrolet | 49 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 9 | 1 | 10 | AJ Allmendinger(i) | LeafHome Water Solutions Chevrolet | 49 | 5 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 10 | 33 | 9 | Brandon Jones | Menards/Pennington Grass Seed Chevrolet | 49 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 11 | 32 | 11 | Daniel Hemric | Cirkul Chevrolet | 49 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 12 | 19 | 27 | Jeb Burton | Puryear Tank Lines Chevrolet | 49 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 13 | 34 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | CMRroofing.com Ford | 49 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 14 | 20 | 31 | Parker Retzlaff # | FUNKAWAY Chevrolet | 49 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 15 | 26 | 6 | Brennan Poole | Chevrolet | 49 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 16 | 23 | 78 | Anthony Alfredo | DUDE WIPES Chevrolet | 49 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 17 | 25 | 02 | Blaine Perkins # | Gratis Chevrolet | 49 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 18 | 3 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | BRANDT Chevrolet | 49 | 42 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 19 | 21 | 44 | Brad Perez | Bonesteel Aerospace Chevrolet | 49 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 20 | 38 | 4 | Kyle Weatherman | KSDT CPA Chevrolet | 49 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 21 | 18 | 92 | Josh Williams | Alloy Employer Services Chevrolet | 49 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 22 | 29 | 53 | Patrick Emerling | Chevrolet | 49 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 23 | 35 | 38 | Joe Graf Jr. | GTECHNIQ Ford | 49 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 24 | 28 | 35 | Stanton Barrett | Stanton Barrett Family Wines Toyota | 49 | 0 | Toyota TRD Supra |
| 25 | 30 | 66 | Dexter Stacey | ReCap Recovery Drink Toyota | 49 | 0 | Toyota TRD Supra |
| 26 | 12 | 2 | Sheldon Creed | Whelen Chevrolet | 49 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 27 | 31 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | Whitetail Smokeless Chevrolet | 49 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 28 | 22 | 45 | Leland Honeyman | Klean Freak Body Wipes Chevrolet | 45 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 29 | 7 | 19 | Connor Mosack | Porter Pipe and Supply Toyota | 44 | 0 | Toyota TRD Supra |
| 30 | 2 | 00 | Cole Custer | HAAS Automation Ford | 41 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 31 | 10 | 18 | Sammy Smith # | Allstate Peterbilt Toyota | 41 | 0 | Toyota TRD Supra |
| 32 | 27 | 28 | Kyle Sieg | RSS Racing Ford | 39 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 33 | 37 | 8 | Alex Labbe | Compass Team Schuler Ford | 38 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 34 | 8 | 20 | John Hunter Nemechek | Mobil 1 Toyota | 31 | 0 | Toyota TRD Supra |
| 35 | 36 | 43 | Ryan Ellis | 1-844-TOM-KEEN Chevrolet | 25 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 36 | 15 | 25 | Brett Moffitt | AM Technical Solutions Ford | 23 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 37 | 16 | 16 | Chandler Smith # | Quick Tie Products Inc. Chevrolet | 20 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 38 | 29 | 44 | Sage Karam | CRC Brakleen Chevrolet | 7 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
# – Rookie
i – Points ineligible
* – Part-time driver
Subscribe to GM Authority for more Chevy news, NASCAR news, GM motorsports news and around-the-clock GM news coverage.
Comment
Congratulations to Sam! Parker is a great driver too but unfortunately only one can win. I think they ran each other fairly clean. I actually feel the Xfinity series is better than the Cup Series on most weekends. I still remember Carl Edwards beating Marcus Ambrose I believe at that track in the first race there. The cars are certainly better and none of that single lugnut garbage!