The
Texas Motor Speedway
, one of the most traditional motorsport ovals in the
United States
, experienced a day this Saturday that will go down in
Nascar
history .
Sam Mayer
staged a thrilling pass on the final lap and held on to victory by a matter of centimeters from
Ryan Sieg
, in one of the closest finishes of all time.
Mayer, in his black Chevrolet, was pressed against the outside wall after both cars collided side by side on the way to the checkered flag. The final difference was
0.002 seconds
, equaling the second closest final in the history of the series.
The closest finish in Nascar history occurred in 2018, when in Daytona Tyler Reddick's car won by
0.0004 seconds
over that of his teammate, Elliott Sadler. The previous victory by 0.002 seconds came 25 years ago, at Talladega, with Terry Labonte celebrating against Joe Nemechek.
Behind them,
Justin Allgaier
finished in third place after leading 117 of the 200 laps of the race.
Sieg had been having a great race: he went from tenth place to first in a period of four laps, just before the last yellow flag of the race. After the restart, with 11 laps to go, the native of Tucker, Georgia, remained in front until the last lap, when Mayer managed to place his car that bears the number 1, from JR Motorsports, close to his side, on the back straight.
A PHOTO FINISH at @TXMotorSpeedway!! 📸 pic.twitter.com/l8QTyrzcM6
— NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) April 13, 2024
Upon entering the last corner, Sieg returned with his Ford to the inside of Mayer but was left behind and after observing the "photo finish" he saw his dream of achieving his first victory in 342 races with the RSS Racing team, owned by his family.
“The first emotion is definitely disappointment…we had it,” Sieg said of the race. "We took the lead but we were too tight. I did everything I could. I changed lines, I tried the brakes, I did everything. I was very close, I saw him coming. I did everything I could. In the end I was just trying to hit him against the wall to win the race. We were so close..." he lamented.
It was the fifth victory in Mayer's career, and the first of this season, and perhaps the one in which he did the least credit to take the first step of the podium: he led on just four different occasions, for a total of only five laps.
"It's unreal. I mean, at one point I was like a second and a half behind. So to make up that much time in such a short amount of time is unreal," Mayer said. And he added: "We have led the most important lap... We are not dominant by any means, but we gave our all to get to that point and win like that."
Elsewhere,
AJ Allmendinger
was fourth, followed by
Cole Custer
,
Austin Hill
,
Ryan Truex
,
Sammy Smith
,
Jesse Love
and
Anthony Alfredo
.
Although Allgaier dominated the race without achieving victory, he finished in the top ten for the 266th time in his career, tying the record that belonged to Kyle Busch. The 37-year-old veteran driver completed his 446th race and won 23 times.