Sam Mayer chased Ryan Sieg over the final laps, took the lead on the last lap, then lost it briefly before edging Sieg by .002 seconds to win Saturday’s Xfinity Series race at Texas Motor Speedway.
It ties for the second closest finish in series history, trailing only Tyler Reddick’s victory over Elliott Sadler by .0004 seconds at Daytona in February 2018.
Saturday’s finish tied the margin of victory for Buckshot Jones’ win over Mike McLaughlin at Milwaukee in July 1996.
MORE: Xfinity race results
MORE: Xfinity points after Texas
Sieg, making his 342nd career Xfinity start, sought his first career series win. He took the lead on Lap 183 of the 200-lap race. Sieg led Mayer by 1.23 seconds with seven laps to go, but Mayer reeled him in to take the lead on the backstretch on the final lap.
Mayer drifted high in Turn 3, allowing Sieg to get underneath him. They ran side-by-side through Turn 4 and made contact coming to the checkered flag. They ran side-by-side across the finish line, Mayer nipping Sieg to score his first victory of the season and fifth of his Xfinity career.
“I was doing all that I could do,” Sieg said. “I wish we were on the other side of that .002.”
Said Mayer: “Racing Ryan there at the end was a blast. That’s what Xfinity racing is all about.”
Mayer also won the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash bonus. Sieg scored his third career runner-up finish in the Xfinity Series.
Justin Allgaier finished third after winning both stages and leading a race-high 117 laps. AJ Allmendinger finished fourth. Cole Custer completed the top five.
Mayer, Sieg, Allgaier and Allmendinger will race for the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash bonus next weekend at Talladega Superspeedway.
One of the greatest NASCAR Xfinity Series finishes EVER!
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) April 13, 2024
Sam Mayer beats Ryan Sieg in a photo finish!
🎥 : @NASCAR_Xfinity pic.twitter.com/QWbkCNgTJP
Stage 1 winner: Justin Allgaier
Stage 2 winner: Justin Allgaier
Who had a good race: JR Motorsports scored its first victory of the season with Sam Mayer winning and also had Justin Allgaier finish third. ... Allgaier’s finish gives him 266 career top 10s in the Xfinity Series, tying him with Kyle Busch for the series record. ... Reigning champion Cole Custer’s fifth-place finish is his sixth top 10 in a row, the longest active streak in the series.
Who had a bad race: Chandler Smith finished 15th, his first result this year outside the top 10, after contact early in the race damaged a fender. ... Riley Herbst, who ran toward the front much of the race, finished 27th after contact with Brandon Jones with less than 10 laps left forced Herbst to pit for a tire rub.
Next: The series races April 20 at Talladega Superspeedway (4 p.m. ET on Fox)