Sam Mayer is fighting for a spot in the Chase, and the NASCAR O’Reilly Series race in San Diego didn’t help his odds. Mayer had a strong run going before hitting a wall on the restart, destroying his No. 41 car and causing a massive wreck. The Haas Factory Team competitor finished in 34th place.
Following the wreck, Mayer talked about his incident in San Diego, and he was very somber. It is understandable after he made a mistake that wrecked many cars.
“First off, I just need to apologize for everybody in the field and everybody in the garage,” Mayer said. “I cannot be making mistakes like this, and I’m just heartbroken right now. I mean, I can’t be doing that. That’s just irresponsible, it’s embarrassing. I’ve got to be better.”
“We were up front, thought we could win to be honest with you, and we were looking really good, and I just didn’t want to get used up on those restarts there towards the end, and I thought if I upped my aggression level from what it was, I could be in a really good spot, and I just overstepped my bounds. This one hurts a lot because San Diego is so freaking cool. This race track is so much fun. These guys work so hard. I’m literally going to have to go walk around the entire garage and apologize, because there’s what, 20-some people involved? Like, that’s just embarrassing. I can’t be doing that, and I hate it for everyone who’s involved because they literally had no choice but to just drive in it, and it’s on me.”
Mayer hasn’t been delivering consistent results during the 2026 NASCAR season, and it has only put him 34 points ahead of the Chase bubble in 11th place. Mayer hopes to find the speed and consistency to make a run for the championship, but he has to make the Chase first.
This article originally appeared on Motorsports Wire: Sam Mayer addresses big NASCAR O’Reilly wreck at San Diego in 2026
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