JR Motorsports Race Report: Nashville Superspeedway
Saturday, June 24, 2023
Race 15 of 33: Tennessee Lottery 250 at Nashville Superspeedway Track Specs: 1.33-mile tri-oval/ 188 laps Race Winner: AJ Allmendinger Mayer’s finish: 3rd Point’s position: 8th (-156)
After issues in Saturday morning’s qualifying session sent Sam Mayer, driver of the No. 1 Huck’s Market Chevrolet to the back of the pack for the start, Mayer raced through the field at Nashville Superspeedway to earn a strong third-place finish following a caution-filled afternoon. Today’s performance bumped Mayer up to 8th in the NXS point standings, 156 points behind the top spot.
Race Rundown
Mayer had issues in Saturday morning’s qualifying event that led him to start the Tennessee Lottery 250 in the 34th position. After Stage One got off to a slow start, Mayer reported his No. 1 Chevrolet was getting a little loose in the right rear. By lap 21, the young driver had cruised through the field and had settled in the ninth position.
In the closing laps of the stage, Mayer started to feel a bit snug but felt he could use that to his advantage and did not want many changes. The driver of the No. 1 Chevrolet held on in the top 10 and finished eighth in Stage One. Crew chief Mardy Lindley called Mayer down pit road under the stage break for four tires, fuel and a slight track bar adjustment.
Mayer restarted Stage Two in the sixth position and quickly rose to second as a yellow flag fell shortly after the restart. Cautions continued to roll through as the Franklin, Wis. native held steady in the top five. Mayer reported to the team “the car is too free all over to hold any type of line.” Despite not handling to his liking, Mayer remained inside the top five, taking the green-and-white checkered flag to end Stage Two in fourth and earn a solid seven stage points. Lindley (Mardy, crew chief) called the driver down pit road under the stage-ending caution for four tires, some Sunoco fuel and an air pressure adjustment.
After an issue exiting pit road for the No. 1 Chevrolet, Mayer fell back to restart the Final Stage in 12th. Gaining spots quickly, Mayer made his way to the top 10 within the first two laps of the stage. A lap-104 caution came out and Mayer restarted 10th in line. The laps started to wind down and the team made a pit stop under green with 36 laps to go and only took right side tires and fuel in the process.
With 23 laps to go, Mayer held the fifth position and battled to stay in the top five. The last few laps were flooded with cautions as the young driver fought hard to pull the No. 1 Huck’s Market Chevrolet to a third-place finish at Nashville.
Sam Mayer, driver No. 1 Huck’s Market Chevrolet team “Such a great day here at Nashville with the No. 1 Huck’s Market Chevrolet. Even though we started in the back of the pack, we knew we would have a super good chance to race through the field to a good finish and we did just that. Extremely proud of this No. 1 JR Motorsports team and all the work they put into this rocket ship every week. We will continue this top 10 streak and head to Chicago with our heads held high.”
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