CONCORD, N.C. --  Team SWN Story By Tom Baker / Photos By Chris Murdock -- Sam Mayer needed to win in order to advance to the round of 8 in this year's NASCAR Xfinity Series playoffs, and the rapidly maturing JR Motorsports driver stepped up big and scored the victory in this afternoon's Drive For The Cure 250 on The Roval at Charlotte Motor Speedway.  

The win was his third of the season, and maybe the most important of his career as it kept his championship hopes alive.   

Mayer and JR Motorsports teammate Justin Allgaier led the field to the green flag for the 67 lap event on a sunny Saturday afternoon.  Teammate Josh Berry started right behind them in third, with Daniel Hemric setting his Kaulig Racing No.10 in the fourth position and Sheldon Creed fifth for RCR, making it an all Chevy top five to start.  

Allgaier drag-raced Mayer through the first three corners before grabbing the early lead.  Mayer's strategy promised to be aggressive, because he entered the race 11th in series points. 

It took four laps but Sam finally picked up his pace and took over the top spot, with Allgaier, Berry, Creed and Hemric following.  

Behind the top five, Parker Kligerman, also trying to get back the north side of the playoff cut line, was running sixth followed by Cole Custer, Austin Hill, Riley Herbst and Alex Labbe.  

Brett Moffitt exited the race early with mechanical issues on his AM Racing No. 25 Ford, and was credited with a 38th place finish.  It was announced this week that Hailey Deegan would step into that ride in 2024.  No word on Moffitt's plans as of this time. 

Mayer had a half-second advantage on Allgaier on lap 10, and his team was doing their best to keep him reigned in just a bit to manage his car.  The Sam Hunt Racing cars of Kaz Grala and Connor Mosack were both running just outside the top 10, and both road course aces looked smooth early on.  

Custer began to charge around lap 12, moving to sixth place and shuffling Kligerman and Hill back a spot each.  Custer was "using the bumps" quite a bit to his advantage as he tried to get by Creed for fifth. 

Pit stops got underway a couple of laps before the end of stage one as both Berry and Creed came down for service on lap 18 along with John Hunter Nemechek.  

Mayer pitted on lap 19 while teammate Allgaier, already through to the next round of the playoffs, stayed out and assumed the lead and the stage one win. 

Hemric finished second followed by Creed, Kligerman, Hill, Chandler Smith, Sammy Smith, Mayer, Jeb Burton and Josh Bilicki in the SS Greenlight Racing No. 07 in the top ten.  

STAGE TWO

Mayer, Berry Custer, Herbst and Labbe held the top five spots to start the second stage, followed by Brandon Jones, Grala, Mosack, Nemechek and Taylor in the Kaulig Racing No. 11.  Through the first 26 laps of the race, the only caution had been for the stage break. 

Berry spun his High Rock Vodka out of second place and grazed a barrier on lap 32 but was able to restart without a yellow flag - falling out of the top ten.  Mayer, Custer, Herbst, Nemechek, Jones, Allgaier, Hemric, Creed, Kligerman and Grala filled the top ten on lap 35.  

With this race being a cutoff race to narrow the playoff field to eight, those "on the bubble" included Chandler Smith, Sammy Smith, Kligerman, Creed and Mayer.  

Custer, Berry and Mayer all pitted three laps from the end of the second stage, anticipating that they could run the race in two stops.  Kligerman and Nemechek remained out on the track.  

The first on-track caution took place on lap 38 as Connor Daly had a left rear tire go down and made contact with the outside wall.  This brought the second stage to an end with Nemechek, Hemric, Kligerman, Creed and Labbe finishing in the top five followed by Sammy Smith, Mayer, Chandler Smith, Bilicki, and Stefan Parsons.  

FINAL STAGE

Mayer again led the field into the final stage, but Custer, Allgaier, Herbst and Grala were all hot on his trail.  Sixth through tenth were were now Hill, Berry, Mosack, Ryan Sieg and Trevor Bayne.

Stefan Parsons' day was interrupted by a spin into the wall on lap 51, but he was able to restart and the race stayed green.  Mayer's lead was over a second at that point over Custer, Allgaier, Herbst and Grala.   Creed, Hemric and Kligerman were all separated by two points as they raced for the round of 8.  

Allgaier pitted with 12 laps to go for tires, hoping for a caution that gives him a chance to win, and no sooner had he pitted and the yellow came out for debris! Allgaier had fresh tires and returned to the track in 21st position.  

Mayer and Kligerman both took advantage of the opportunity to pit as well, leaving Allgaier and Jeb Burton up front for the restart. 

When the green flag dropped, Burton got sideways and spun, taking the unwitting Allgaier into the wall with him!  This brought out another yellow and cashed in Burton's last hope of making the playoff cut to the round of 8.  Allgaier has a win already in this round so he will advance based on that. 

Now it would be Custer, Mayer and Berry back up front for the final six laps of action, with Herbst, Hill, Grala, Kligerman, Hemric, Nemechek, and Kyle Weatherman behind them.

Berry, incidentally, was running without power steering, getting his upper body workout for the weekend.

On the restart, Custer led through turn two but Mayer cranked up the pressure through the infield. Mayer and Berry needed to win to advance, and Mayer gave the Custer bumper a shot and took the lead coming back toward the chicane.  By the time they got to the flag stand, Mayer had a two-tenth of a second lead! 

 Meanwhile, Hemric and Kligerman were slugging it out for sixth place and teammates Creed and Hill were dueling for eighth as the energy and excitement ratcheted up with the laps winding down. Creed was two points up on Hemric in the playoff bubble at this point.  

Once Mayer got the lead, the young Wisconsin racer opened up over a second advantage, and only needed to keep it going in the right direction to win his second race of the season and, more importantly, advance to the round of 8.  

At the stripe it was Mayer with the statement victory, with Custer, Berry, and Herbst following.  The battle behind those four finished in a three-wide dash to the line with Kligerman, Grala and Hemric finishing in that order a razor's edge apart!

As hard as both Kligerman and Hemric tried, at the end they found themselves just below the cutoff line as Sheldon Creed secured the eighth and final transfer spot.

The top ten finishers were Mayer, Custer (third top ten in three Roval starts), Berry, Herbst, Kligerman, Grala, Hemric, Nemechek and Hill.   Sammy Smith was the highest finishing rookie, finishing 11th on the day.  

In the playoff standings, Nemechek (+35), Allgaier, Custer, Mayer, Hill, Chandler Smith, Sammy Smith, and Creed advanced to the next round.  Hemric, Kligerman, Berry and Burton were officially eliminated.  

After the race, Mayer called it the biggest win of his career-to-date.  "We could accomplish great things because of this win," he said.  "God works in mysterious ways.  He brought me down, but then he taught me a lesson and brought us back up.  This team is just amazing. I'm so thankful right now!"