The never-give-up attitude of NASCAR icon Dale Earnhardt Jr. as a team owner took Sam Mayer from no wins in 2022 to 4 dominant ones this year. A team owner, a series co-owner, and an NBC analyst, Junior. is a man of many talents. Needless to say, Mayer is greatly influenced by his boss. For Mayer, despite being the stalwart that Junior is in the arena of NASCAR, the latter is extremely approachable.
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It doesn’t matter if the conversation is hard; Earnhardt Jr. is always there for a chat with his drivers. “His name and everything else aside, he’s one of the best people that you can just go and talk to and talk his ear off,” said Mayer.
“He’ll talk your ear off right back, and you can have a good conversation, good learning conversation,” he added.
Mayer said, at one point, the #1 JR Motorsports team was barely in a place to finish 12th. It’s just by staying in the game that they could fare 3rd in the point standings. “So, we stayed in the game, we did our job and we fought adversity. We learned a lot this year. I mean, I’ve grown as a race car driver exponentially compared to the start of the year compared to two years ago,” Mayer admitted.
According to Mayer, his Xfinity Series team is responsible for him being the driver that he is today. He explained that it is the right people and the right equipment that have helped him unleash his fullest potential as a race car driver.
A strong season for Sam Mayer under Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s leadership
The 2023 season started with Sam Mayer putting up 11 top-10 finishes. However, the Wisconsin native needed that elusive win. Finally at Road America, Mayer flipped the switch. After his first victory at Road America, Mayer went on to win his second win, which was again on a road course, at the Watkins Glen International in August.
Mayer proved his driving prowess on an oval by bagging the victory again at Homestead-Miami Speedway. This one was special as it punched his ticket into the coveted Championship 4 race.
Although there were plenty of uncertainties, Sam Mayer’s first Championship appearance translated into a dominant top 3 spot in the playoff standings.
Going forward, it wouldn’t be a shock if this young speedster posed a major threat next season to all the seasoned drivers in NASCAR’s Xfinity roster.
