Story By: HAAS FACTORY TEAM – AVONDALE, AZ – Sam Mayer grabbed his second-straight top-10 finish in the Xfinity race on Saturday, while Cole Custer and Sheldon Creed were unfortunately caught up in early accidents at Phoenix Raceway this past weekend.
Xfinity Series
Mayer led the way for Haas Factory Team in the Xfinity race on Saturday as he secured a seventh-place result at Phoenix, his third top-10 finish in four races this season. His teammate, Creed, was involved in an accident on lap 65 that unfortunately brought an end to his strong weekend at the mile-long track.
Creed started the day on the front row and maintained his track position as he took home a fifth-place finish in the first stage. The No. 00 Pit Boss Ford Mustang earned five crucial stage points while Mayer, who began the race in 13th, drove into the top-10 over the first 45 laps and gathered one point for the No. 41 team.
After a quick caution just 10 laps into the second stage, the No. 00 car was caught up in an incident entering turn three on lap 65, which prematurely ended his day. Despite boasting one of the strongest cars in the field up to that point, Creed was forced to settle for a 36th-place result at Phoenix.
“It was just a simple mistake, we’re all not perfect, and I was just at the wrong place at the wrong time” Creed said. “It caught me off guard, but I’m going to look ahead to next week at Las Vegas and just keep going forward.”
The No. 41 Audibel Ford Mustang was then able to show why he’s been one of the most dominant cars this season as he grabbed a sixth-place finish at the end of stage two. However, a pit-road speeding penalty under yellow sent Mayer to the back of the pack to begin the final stage in the desert.
He was able to manuver his way to the front of the field as he weaved through traffic and entered the top 10 with just under 10 laps remaining. A late-race caution reset the field for a wild overtime finish, and Mayer was able to gain three spots on the final restart to secure his second straight top-10 finish.
Mayer sits in third place in the Xfinity points standings while Creed is in sixth heading into Las Vegas next Saturday.
Cup Series
Custer began the race in 23rd before the 47 car spun on the backstretch and clipped Custer on lap 10. He was able to hit pit road for four tires and fuel, and rebounded to finish stage one in 32nd.
Custer’s team elected to start the second stage on the red “option” tires, and used it to their advantage to climb as high as 22nd place. A caution on lap 94 brought the field back together, and the No. 41 team then chose to put its primary tires back on the Haas/Andy’s Ford Mustang.
However, just two laps into the run, an 11-car pileup involving Custer ended his day early as a part was broken from the contact that by rule couldn’t be replaced. He was forced to settle for a 32nd-place finish as one of seven cars retired from the incident.
Custer is 35th in the NASCAR Cup Series points through four races this season, as he looks forward to Vegas next weekend.
Up Next
NASCAR stays on the West Coast as Las Vegas hosts the fifth race on the NASCAR Cup Series/Xfinity schedule next weekend. Race coverage for the Xfinity series is set for 4:30 p.m. ET on Saturday on the CW, and Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET on FS1 for the Cup Series.