Samuel Adam Mayer (born June 26, 2003) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series, driving the No. 41 Chevrolet Camaro SS for Haas Factory Team. His father is the founder of QPS Employment Group and a former IndyCar Series driver, Scott Mayer.
Mayer is the 2019 and 2020 East Series champion. He drove for GMS Racing (the other Drivers Edge Development team) both of those years in their No. 21 car and also won the inaugural championship of the ARCA Menards Series Sioux Chief Showdown in 2020. Mayer started his NASCAR career driving for Jefferson Pitts Racing and MDM Motorsports in 2018 before joining GMS, JRM, and Chevrolet as a development driver in 2019.
Racing career
Early career Mayer got off to an early start in racing, competing in go-kart events at the age of four. Although his father, Scott Mayer, was an open-wheel racer, Sam chose in his preteen years to focus on stock car racing. Over the course of the 2017 summer, during which Mayer turned fourteen, he spent the summer in Charlotte to race Legends cars; he won the Young Lions division of the Charlotte Motor Speedway Summer Shootout. He also raced in a Limited Late Model and won at Greenville-Pickens Speedway to become the track's youngest winner. He came back to Wisconsin and won a September Midwest Truck Series race at Dells Raceway Park in his first series start.
In 2017, Mayer came in touch with industry veteran Lorin Ranier, who eventually landed Mayer a late model ride with JR Motorsports in the CARS Tour for 2018. Mayer's late model racing also brought him to the World Series of Asphalt, where he finished second to Stephen Nasse. After the CARS Tour season was over, Mayer was voted the series' Most Popular Driver for 2018. The CARS Tour season included one victory, at Wake County Speedway.
ARCA Menards Series Ranier also led Mayer to MDM Motorsports for a limited slate in the ARCA Racing Series and NASCAR K&N Pro Series East in the back half of 2018, with age restrictions being a factor in which races Mayer could run, as both series only let fifteen year old competitors race on certain tracks. In his first ARCA race, Mayer ran as high as third and finished inside the top-ten.
On December 5, 2018, it was announced that Mayer would run a full NASCAR K&N Pro Series East schedule with GMS Racing as part of a 2019 schedule that would also include seven ARCA races.
Mayer scored his first K&N East win at Bristol on April 6, 2019, leading every lap. He nearly scored his first ARCA Menards Series win at Gateway in June after a late pit gamble, but was moved up the track by Ty Gibbs in the final set of corners and was relegated to third. In October, he won the 2019 K&N East championship to become the youngest NASCAR champion at 16 years, 3 months, and 8 days; the previous record was 16 years and 5 months by Todd Gilliland in 2016. Mayer ended the 2019 season with four wins and top tens in all but one race.
Mayer raced in the ARCA Menards Series and ARCA Menards Series East in 2020. An injury at Road America forced Colin Braun to sub in for Mayer midway through the AMS race at the Daytona International Speedway road course. Mayer later won ARCA's first trip to Lebanon I-44 Speedway. Mayer also won at Bristol. He overcame a pit miscue to claim the checkered flag in the ARCA event. Mayer won the East finale at Five Flags Speedway to capture the series championship with an average finish of 1.2 on the season.
In 2021, Mayer would also drive select races in Bret Holmes Racing's No. 23 car in the ARCA Menards Series and ARCA Menards Series East.
In 2024, Mayer driving for Sigma Performance Services, made a one-off start in the ARCA Menards Series West at Sonoma and would take the lead from William Sawalich in the middle stages of the race, and led the final 37 laps to earn his second career West Series win.
NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Mayer made his NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series debut in 2019 with GMS Racing in four events, the four races came after Mayer turned sixteen. He made his debut at Bristol Motor Speedway, where he was placed in the 21st position, a DNF. That race would be followed by appearances at Martinsville Speedway and ISM Raceway. In 2020, Mayer made six starts, and he won at Bristol after winning the ARCA race hours before.
On January 14, 2021, defending ARCA champion Bret Holmes announced he would begin fielding a part-time Truck Series team, the No. 32, for himself and Mayer for the upcoming season. Three days later on January 17, it was also announced that Mayer would run seven races in the No. 75 for Henderson Motorsports in the Truck Series, beginning at the Daytona Road Course, which would end up being his only start with Henderson.
NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series On September 15, 2020, Mayer and JR Motorsports announced an agreement to have him drive one of the organization's NASCAR Xfinity Series cars part-time in the latter portion of 2021 and full-time in the 2022 season.
On January 4, 2022, it was confirmed that Sam Mayer would drive the JR Motorsports No. 1 in 2022, replacing Michael Annett. At the Martinsville spring race on April 8, Mayer finished fifth after doing a bump and run on Ty Gibbs on the final lap. After the race, Gibbs attempted to spin Mayer out during the cool-down laps before both drivers engaged in a fistfight on pit road. Mayer would go on to finish seventh in the final points standings with a best result of second at Talladega.
On August 9, 2022, it was announced that Mayer would return for the 2023 season. He started the 2023 season with a 27th-place finish at Daytona, where he flipped down the backstretch on the final lap. Mayer scored his first career win at Road America. He followed it up with his second win at Watkins Glen. During the playoffs, Mayer won at the Charlotte Roval and at Homestead to make the Championship 4. Mayer finished fifth at Phoenix and third in the points standings.
Mayer started the 2024 season with a 36th-place DNF at Daytona. At Texas, he scored a narrow victory over Ryan Sieg at Texas by 0.002 seconds, making it part of a three-way tie for the second closest finish in Xfinity Series history. Mayer scored his second win of the season at Iowa. During the playoffs, he was disqualified at Talladega after his car failed the post-race ride height requirement. A week later, Mayer won at the Charlotte Roval.
On August 17, 2024, Mayer signed with Haas Factory Team to drive the No. 41 Ford in 2025. Mayer started the season with a second-place finish at Daytona. After staying consistent throughout the year, he won at Iowa, earning Haas's first win in their career and the first win for Ford that year.
On October 28, 2025, NASCAR imposed a one-race suspension on Mayer for intentionally wrecking Jeb Burton during the post-race cooldown lap at Martinsville, with Ryan Sieg replacing him for the season finale at Phoenix.
Mayer started his 2026 season with a 31st place DNF at Daytona. He won the pole at both Atlanta races and spring Las Vegas race.
On September 22, 2026, Mayer signed with JRM to return to the No. 1 Chevy in 2027.
Other racing In 2020, Mayer made a TA2 Trans-Am start at Road America and suffered a hairline fracture in his wrist during a race-ending crash.
Personal life Mayer's father Scott Mayer, also a race driver, is the founder of QPS Employment Group and Accelerate Professional Talent Solutions, Mayer's primary sponsor in the Xfinity Series. As of 2023, the company has 57 branches across eight states and employs thousands of associate employees, making it one of the largest employment firms in the Midwest.
Motorsports career results
Racing career summary SeasonSeriesTeamRacesWinsTop 5Top 10PointsPosition2018CARS Late Model Stock Car TourJR Motorsports121392975thNASCAR K&N Pro Series WestJefferson Pitts Racing10002752ndNASCAR K&N Pro Series East200020018thMDM Motorsports4023ARCA Racing Series200240052nd2019NASCAR K&N Pro Series WestGMS Racing10114237thNASCAR K&N Pro Series East12411115111stARCA Menards Series8077165014thNASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series30005450th2020ARCA Menards Series WestGMS Racing211112216thARCA Menards Series East65663821stARCA Menards Series13512125537thNASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series612217927th2021ARCA Menards Series EastBret Holmes Racing20115729thARCA Menards Series502214927thNASCAR Camping World Truck Series40030NC†Henderson Motorsports1000NASCAR Xfinity SeriesJR Motorsports1701633825thB. J. McLeod Motorsports10002022NASCAR Xfinity SeriesJR Motorsports330111922317th2023NASCAR Xfinity SeriesJR Motorsports334131940323rd2024ARCA Menards Series WestSigma Performance Services11114836thNASCAR Xfinity SeriesJR Motorsports33381322059th2025NASCAR Xfinity SeriesHaas Factory Team3211317220410th2026NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts SeriesHaas Factory TeamTBDTBD2027NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts SeriesJR MotorsportsTBDTBD † As Mayer was a guest driver, he was ineligible for championship points.
NASCAR (key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led. ** – All laps led.)
O'Reilly Auto Parts Series NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 Pts Ref 2021 JR Motorsports 8 Chevy DAY DRC HOM LVS PHO ATL MAR TAL DAR DOV COA CLT MOH TEX NSH POC18 ROA35 ATL9 NHA39 GLN10 IRC27 MCH33 DAY12 DAR39 BRI9 LVS34 TAL38 ROV10 TEX13 KAN8 MAR4 PHO13 25th 338 B. J. McLeod Motorsports 99 Chevy RCH12 2022 JR Motorsports 1 Chevy DAY30 CAL6 LVS25 PHO22 ATL21 COA5 RCH3 MAR5 TAL28 DOV5 DAR5 TEX3 CLT3 PIR38 NSH5 ROA20 ATL34 NHA15 POC6 IRC7 MCH33 GLN6 DAY34 DAR11 KAN9 BRI4 TEX8 TAL2 ROV11 LVS7 HOM5 MAR6 PHO34 7th 2231 2023 DAY27 CAL2 LVS7 PHO11 ATL9 COA7 RCH17 MAR31 TAL29 DOV9 DAR8 CLT35 PIR3 SON10 NSH3 CSC18 ATL5 NHA18 POC2 ROA1 MCH5 IRC2 GLN1 DAY19 DAR11 KAN37 BRI35 TEX38 ROV1* LVS5 HOM1 MAR25 PHO5 3rd 4032 2024 DAY36 ATL11 LVS38 PHO34 COA9 RCH30 MAR2 TEX1 TAL36 DOV3 DAR4 CLT4* PIR28 SON3 IOW1 NHA19 NSH10 CSC19 POC10 IND37 MCH37 DAY13 DAR28 ATL36 GLN20 BRI9 KAN13 TAL38 ROV1 LVS14 HOM9 MAR30 PHO11 9th 2205 2025 Haas Factory Team 41 Ford DAY2 ATL36 COA3 PHO7 LVS5 HOM2 MAR5 DAR14 BRI11 CAR26 TAL14 TEX5 CLT11 NSH3 MXC23 POC7 ATL3 CSC8 SON17 DOV12 IND2 IOW1 GLN2 DAY5 PIR16 GTW35 BRI3 KAN16 ROV19 LVS9 TAL38 MAR7 PHO 10th 2204 2026 Chevy DAY31 ATL7 COA14 PHO5 LVS35 DAR10 MAR23 CAR38 BRI20 KAN9 TAL24 TEX3 GLN13 DOV3 CLT36 NSH4 POC4 COR34 SON8 CHI8 ATL31 IND13 IOW21 DAY25 DAR8 GTW3 BRI7 LVS6 CLT PHO TAL MAR HOM -* -*
Camping World Truck Series NASCAR Camping World Truck Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Pts Ref 2019 GMS Racing 21 Chevy DAY ATL LVS MAR TEX DOV KAN CLT TEX IOW GTW CHI KEN POC ELD MCH BRI21 MSP LVS TAL MAR28 PHO19 HOM 50th 54 2020 24 DAY LVS CLT ATL HOM POC KEN TEX KAN KAN MCH DRC DOV15 GTW4 DAR RCH19 BRI1 LVS TAL KAN TEX MAR18 PHO17 27th 179 2021 Henderson Motorsports 75 Chevy DAY DRC37 LVS ATL BRD 100th 01 Bret Holmes Racing 32 Chevy RCH9 KAN DAR COA6 CLT TEX NSH POC KNX GLN9 GTW DAR BRI22 LVS TAL MAR PHO
Season still in progress Ineligible for series points
ARCA Menards Series (key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)