Race Results

NASCAR Xfinity Series

Contender Boats 300

Homestead Miami Speedway

October 21st, 2023

Race #31 of the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series Season

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Laps Scheduled: 200
Miles Raced : 300.0
Time of Race : 02 Hours 34 minutes 29 seconds
Average Speed: 116.517 mph
Margin of Victory : 00.227 seconds
Cautions: 6
Caution Laps: 33
Lead Changes: 13
Cars in Race : 38
Finished On Lead Lap: 12 (32%)

Sam Mayer takes the checkered flag to win — Homestead, Florida - October 21st, 2023: Sam Mayer, driver of the #1 Accelerate Pros Talent Chevrolet, takes the checkered flag to win the NASCAR Xfinity Series Contender Boats 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Photo by James Gilbert | Getty Images

FIN	ST	Car #	Driver	Make	TOT PTS	F PTS	B PTS	PO PTS	Laps	Led	x Led	S1	S2	STUS
1	13	1	Sam Mayer	Chevrolet	56	40	16	5	200	46	3	2	4	Running
2	7	98	Riley Herbst	Ford	42	35	7	0	200	0	0	7	8	Running
3	2	20	John Hunter Nemechek	Toyota	51	34	17	0	200	7	2	3	2	Running
4	4	21	Austin Hill	Chevrolet	38	33	5	0	200	0	0	8	9	Running
5	23	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr	Chevrolet	32	32	0	0	200	0	0	0	0	Running
6	15	10	Daniel Hemric	Chevrolet	33	31	2	0	200	0	0	10	10	Running
7	10	48	Parker Kligerman	Chevrolet	35	30	5	0	200	0	0	0	6	Running
8	17	9	Brandon Jones	Chevrolet	29	29	0	0	200	0	0	0	0	Running
9	5	18	Sammy Smith	Toyota	28	28	0	0	200	0	0	0	0	Running
10	11	19	Joe Graf Jr	Toyota	27	27	0	0	200	0	0	0	0	Running
11	20	11	Derek Kraus	Chevrolet	36	26	10	1	200	21	2	0	1	Running
12	16	31	Parker Retzlaff	Chevrolet	25	25	0	0	200	0	0	0	0	Running
13	1	0	Cole Custer	Ford	42	24	18	1	199	114	5	1	3	Running
14	14	39	Ryan Sieg	Ford	23	23	0	0	199	0	0	0	0	Running
15	3	7	Justin Allgaier	Chevrolet	33	22	11	0	199	8	1	6	5	Running
16	18	91	Kyle Weatherman	Chevrolet	21	21	0	0	199	0	0	0	0	Running
17	26	92	Josh Williams	Chevrolet	20	20	0	0	199	0	0	0	0	Running
18	33	44	Jeffrey Earnhardt	Chevrolet	19	19	0	0	199	0	0	0	0	Running
19	29	6	Brennan Poole	Chevrolet	18	18	0	0	199	0	0	0	0	Running
20	28	27	Jeb Burton	Chevrolet	17	17	0	0	199	0	0	0	0	Running
21	22	51	Jeremy Clements	Chevrolet	16	16	0	0	199	0	0	0	0	Running
22	25	38	Kyle Sieg	Ford	19	15	4	0	199	0	0	0	7	Running
23	27	45	Leland Honeyman Jr	Chevrolet	14	14	0	0	199	0	0	0	0	Running
24	37	43	Ryan Ellis	Chevrolet	13	13	0	0	199	0	0	0	0	Running
25	36	35	Patrick Emerling	Chevrolet	12	12	0	0	198	0	0	0	0	Running
26	9	2	Sheldon Creed	Chevrolet	18	11	7	0	198	4	1	4	0	Running
27	35	8	Mason Massey	Ford	10	10	0	0	198	0	0	0	0	Running
28	31	78	Anthony Alfredo	Chevrolet	9	9	0	0	197	0	0	0	0	Running
29	34	2	Blaine Perkins	Chevrolet	8	8	0	0	196	0	0	0	0	Running
30	19	26	Kaz Grala	Toyota	9	7	2	0	194	0	0	9	0	Running
31	21	24	Connor Mosack	Toyota	6	6	0	0	190	0	0	0	0	Electrical
32	8	8	Josh Berry	Chevrolet	5	5	0	0	171	0	0	0	0	Accident
33	30	29	Mason Maggio	Ford	0	0	0	0	153	0	0	0	0	Electrical
34	12	16	Chandler Smith	Chevrolet	3	3	0	0	138	0	0	0	0	Engine
35	6	25	Brett Moffitt	Ford	8	2	6	0	97	0	0	5	0	Accident
36	32	74	Dawson Cram	Chevrolet	1	1	0	0	65	0	0	0	0	Accident
37	38	28	CJ McLaughlin	Ford	1	1	0	0	37	0	0	0	0	Carburetor
38	24	66	Ryan Newman	Ford	1	1	0	0	27	0	0	0	0	Rear Gear

Race Infractions

Contender Boats 300 at Homestead Miami Speedway

Driver	Infraction	Penalty	Lap	Lap Assessed	Flag
Ryan Ellis	Pre-Race to the Rear Unapproved Adjustments	Tail End	0	0	White
Patrick Emerling	Pre-Race to the Rear Unapproved Adjustments	Tail End	0	0	White
Ryan Newman	Speeding on pit road Garage	Pass Thru	27	0	Green
Brandon Jones	Crewmember(s) over the wall too soon	Tail End	48	52	Yellow
Josh Williams	Unspecified Vehicle Interference	Tail End	48	52	Yellow
Sheldon Creed	Pitting before pit road is open	Tail End	51	52	Yellow
Dawson Cram	Unspecified Loss of wheel - 2 Laps - Garage	Other - See Notes	67	0	Green/Yellow
Ryan Ellis	Unspecified Equipment over the wall too soon	Tail End	70	72	Yellow
Sheldon Creed	Crewmember(s) over the wall too soon	Tail End	70	72	Yellow
Josh Berry	Speeding on pit road	Tail End	93	96	Yellow
Brett Moffitt	Pitting before pit road is open Garage	Tail End	97	0	Yellow
Chandler Smith	Pitting before pit road is open	Tail End	97	103	Yellow
Kyle Sieg	Unspecified Equipment over the wall too soon	Pass Thru	133	139	Green
Kaz Grala	Tire violation	Pass Thru	140	149	Green
Chandler Smith	Speeding on pit road Garage	Pass Thru	140	0	Green
Kyle Weatherman	Speeding on pit road	Pass Thru	141	143	Green
Cole Custer	Too many crewmember(s) in contact with pit service area	Pass Thru	152	155	Green
Mason Maggio	Speeding on pit road	Pass Thru	155	157	Green
Mason Maggio	Pitting before pit road is open Garage	Tail End	164	0	Yellow
Josh Berry	Pitting before pit road is open Garage	Tail End	171	0	Yellow
Connor Mosack	Pitting before pit road is open	Tail End	174	177	Yellow
Patrick Emerling	Crewmember(s) over the wall too soon	Tail End	175	177	Yellow

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Race Fast Facts

Homestead-Miami Speedway
Contender Boats 300
Race Winner: Sam Mayer
Age: 20
Team : No. 1 - Accelerate Pros Talent Chevrolet
Owner: JR Motorsports
Crew Chief: Mardy Lindley
Sam Mayer won the Contender Boats 300, his fourth victory in 82 Xfinity Series races.
This is his fourth victory and 18th top-10 finish in 2023.
This is his first victory and second top-10 finish in two races at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Riley Herbst (second) posted his fourth top-10 finish in five races at Homestead-Miami Speedway. It is his 15th top-10 finish in 2023.
John Hunter Nemechek (third) posted his third top-10 finish in three races at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Sammy Smith (ninth) was the highest finishing rookie.
Sam Mayer clinches a spot in the Championship 4.

Race Recap

Sam Mayer Makes Miami Moves; Wins in Homstead and Clinches Spot in Championship 4

October 21st, 2023

By Holly Cain - NASCAR Wire Service

Sam Mayer claimed his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series oval-race victory in the second half of a NASCAR double-header at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Saturday in the Contender Boats 300 after holding off last week’s race winner Riley Herbst by a mere .227-second.

It marks the JR Motorsports driver Mayer’s fourth series victory of the season – and his career – most important for Mayer – who joked he didn’t breath the final four laps – it is his ticket into the Championship 4 finale that will decide the series title at Phoenix Raceway in two weeks.

The 20-year old Wisconsin native’s No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet led 46 laps on the day – including the final 30 – but brushed the wall exiting Turn 3 as he pushed forward on the last lap to keep a fast-closing Herbst behind him. Mayer’s fellow NASCAR Xfinity Series championship contender John Hunter Nemechek finished third in the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota; leading seven laps despite feeling under the weather.

Regular-season champion Austin Hill was fourth in the No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet and NASCAR Hall of Famer and crowd favorite, Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished fifth in his second and final race start of the season. He’s also the owner of Mayer’s Chevy.

“It’s unreal, we won on an oval,’’ a grinning Mayer screamed into the front grandstands. “This Chevrolet Camaro was so good.

“It’s all about putting a full race together,’’ he continued, “and I’m so proud of these guys. They kicked tail on pit road and we made it happen with these HMS (Hendrick Motorsports) engines.

“It’s just really cool to be able to beat an amazing organization like that (Herbst’s Stewart-Haas Racing team). We’ve got to turn it on a little harder going into Phoenix.’’

Herbst’s Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Cole Custer won Stage 1 and led a dominating 114 of the race’s 200 laps only to suffer a tire problem with 50 laps remaining and drop a lap down. He rallied back but still finished 13th after such an impressive early race. Custer and Hill are now tied three points above the cutoff line heading into next week’s regular season finale at the half-mile Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. Nemechek holds a healthy 44 point edge above them.

Another title favorite, Mayer’s JRM teammate Justin Allgaier – who came into the race ranked second in the championship standings, also had a tire issue after a pit stop and dropped back midway through the race. He rallied back to finish 15th, but dropped to fifth place in the standing, three points behind Hill for the automatic transfer position for the Championship 4.

Nemechek’s JGR teammate Sammy Smith, who finished ninth, is now 49 points back in sixth place. And it was a more dramatic day for the other championship contenders with Richard Childress Racing’s Sheldon Creed finishing 26th after exiting onto pit road with smoke trailing out of his Chevy with only two laps remaining in the race.

Kaulig Racing’s Chandler Smith rounds out the Playoff 8 – but finished a frustrating 34th place after being collected in an early race accident. They are now 54 (Smith) and 65 (Creed) points below the fourth place transfer line and will need to win the race at Martinsville next week to meet their Playoff goals.

Kaulig’s Daniel Hemric, Big Machine Racing’s Parker Kligerman, JRM’s Brandon Jones, and the Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Sammy Smith, and Joe Graf Jr. rounded out the top 10 Saturday.

Earnhardt’s participation was certainly a crowd pleaser and his fifth-place effort in the JR Motorsports Chevy was his fifth top-five showing since he retired from fulltime competition in the NASCAR Cup Series after the 2017 season. He methodically worked his way forward from a 23rd place starting position and survived a close call in the closing laps, ironically with Josh Berry, who drives for Earnhardt.

“Luckily it didn’t hurt our car and we were able to finish really good, so I’m happy about that,’’ Earnhardt said, noting he felt badly having an incident with one of his own team cars.

The series moves to the half-mile Martinsville (Va.) Raceway for next Saturday’s Dead On Tools 250 (3:30 p.m. ET, USA Network, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) which will formally decide which three drivers will join Mayer in championship eligibility at the Phoenix season-ender.

“Getting that first oval win [today] was big. … we finally won on an oval and my confidence is feeling good,’’ Mayer said with a huge grin.