Sam Mayer wins at Texas by 0.002 seconds over Ryan Sieg in thrilling Xfinity Series finish

What. A. Finish! The second closest finish in NASCAR Xfinity Series history, Sam Mayer edges out Ryan Sieg for the win at Texas. Heartbreaking loss for Ryan Sieg who was searching for his first win ever with his family-owned team.

Both Ryan Sieg and Sam Mayer came on late in this one. Then it all came down to a 10-lap shootout for the win. A lot of green flag runs, but of course, it had to have a late caution to make it interesting in the end.

Mayer didn’t just win the race, he also won the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash prize. Unbelievable finish.

WHAT A FINISH. BY INCHES! Repost to congratulate Sam Mayer on his NASCAR Xfinity Series WIN at Texas! Wow. pic.twitter.com/Y3HK7FORAB

— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) April 13, 2024

I hope we see Ryan Sieg back in the lead sometime soon. Those small, family-owned teams are what makes NASCAR great. For today, Sam Mayer comes out on top of one of the closest finishes you will ever see in motorsports.

Justin Allgaier carrying JR Motorsports

Now, all four JR Motorsports cars were strong in this race. They are almost always great on the 1.5-mile tracks. Early on in this race, it was Justin Allgaier carrying the team early on in this race. He wasn’t the pole winner but he caught the leaders quickly.

With him were Brandon Jones and Sammy Smith with Sam Mayer poking his head in there every now and then. We’ve seen this from Allgaier before, a dominant first two stages and then falling short in the end.

This race had a lot of green flag runs, but the first stage had a couple of incidents. The Texas track is so slick and the warm weather only makes it even more treacherous. Allgaier won Stage 1 and was firing off on the restarts all afternoon.

Allgaier wins Stage 2 just as easily

The second stage was much like the first. There were moments when drivers got themselves in trouble. However, the one constant was Justin Allgaier at the front of the field. I think this stage was strong for Stewart-Haas Racing with Cole Custer and Riley Herbst chasing the leader for most of the stage.

Those JR Motorsports cars were strong as a whole once again. All four raced in the top-10 and looked like either of them could come on late and have winning speed. AJ Allmendinger made up a ton of ground that he lost in the first stage, and we saw drivers like Parker Kligerman manage their cars after early trouble.

No one could do anything to stop Allgaier, though. The 7 car just fired off too fast on the restarts. Well, for the most part. We’ll get into that in the final stage. A strong weekend for Allgaier, but just falling short again.

Sam Mayer came on strong at the end of this stage and kept it going into the final stretch.

Sam Mayer breaks Ryan Sieg’s heart at the line

On the second to last restart, Ryan Sieg came out of nowhere. He had been in the top-10 and top-5 at times throughout the race, but it didn’t feel like he had winning speed until late. A huge run as this race was getting closer to the end propelled him past the leaders.

It was amazing. It felt like we were going to see the Cinderella moment Sieg and his entire family had been hoping for for so many years. Then the final restart came. 10 laps to go. Sieg once again jumped out to the lead and it looked like he had it in the bag.

That’s when Sam Mayer began to catch on. After battling with Riley Herbst for second place, Mayer marched towards Sieg. It didn’t feel like he had enough time to catch him and make a pass. Well, he did. Mayer passed on the final lap, then Sieg crossed him over taking the low side of the track.

The two hit doors, they bounced off one another and BOOM! Crossed the finish line shoulder to shoulder, door to door. It was impossible to tell who won without going to the replay. When it was said and done, Sam Mayer came out as the winner. A historic, photo finish for the Xfinity Series. After three DNFs on the year, this was a much-needed win.