Following the NASCAR Xfinity Series Race at Pocono Raceway, driver Sam Mayer found himself at the center of an altercation following an on-track incident.
As the laps dwindled, Mayer misjudged a critical bit of driving, inadvertently causing Shane van Gisbergen to spin out. Mayer admitted fault over his team radio, attributing the mishap to a fading brake pedal, yet managed to secure a 10th place finish. He commented, as quoted by Road And Track:
“Huge apologies to the No. 97 guys. I just messed up; I drove in a little too hard, and the brake pedal started fading a little bit, and I didn’t account for that. Chandler [Smith], I don’t know, not my problem.”
“He was saying that I put it on his door multiple times. If you watch racing you know that that happens every lap. I’m not really sure why he’s mad about that. It’s definitely frustrating to see him come to my window like that and not give me a chance to talk back.”
Van Gisbergen’s race, however, concluded less favorably, as he ended as the last car on the lead lap, placing 31st. The New Zealander voiced his frustration, remarking:
“We just got run over by Sam [Mayer]. I’m sure he didn’t mean it, but it’s gutting, and then at the end, some wobble just took me out again.”
But it was Chandler Smith’s post-race confrontation that left observers and Mayer himself stunned. Approaching Mayer’s car aggressively on pit row, Smith accused Mayer of overly aggressive racing tactics, which Mayer dismissed as a normal part of the sport. Mayer stated:
“He can’t handle being raced hard. That’s the last person I expected to be upset with me today.”
Smith could be seen approaching Mayer’s car after the race before the pair got into a heated discussion. Fox NASCAR shared to social media:
NASCAR Xfinity 2024 Explore The Pocono Mountains 225 Results
- #00 – Cole Custer
- #7 – Justin Allgaier
- #17 – William Byron
- #18 – Sheldon Creed
- #19 – Taylor Gray
- #16 – AJ Allmendinger
- #21 – Austin Hill
- #48 – Parker Kligerman
- #8 – Sammy Smith
- #1 – Sam Mayer
- #98 – Riley Herbst
- #39 – Ryan Sieg
- #9 – Brandon Jones
- #5 – Anthony Alfredo
- #81 – Chandler Smith
- #26 – Corey Heim
- #10 – Daniel Dye
- #11 – Josh Williams
- #20 – Ryan Truex
- #28 – Kyle Sieg
- #27 – Jeb Burton
- #2 – Jesse Love
- #91 – Kyle Weatherman
- #38 – Matt DiBenedetto
- #42 – Leland Honeyman
- #44 – Brennan Poole
- #15 – Josh Berry
- #4 – Thomas Annunziata
- #14 – Mason Massey
- #51 – Jeremy Clements
- #97 – Shane Van Gisbergen
- #31 – Parker Retzlaff
- #07 – Patrick Emerling
- #29 – Blaine Perkins
- #35 – Stephen Mallozzi
- #43 – Ryan Ellis
- #92 – Josh Bilicki
- #74 – Dawson Cram
The next NASCAR Xfinity race is due to take place on Saturday, July 20 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the 20th race of the season.
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