As Sam Mayer gets ready for 2023, he looks back at a choppy first full season in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
"2022 was a rollercoaster of a year, to say the least," Mayer says. "I had a lot of fun with it. A lot of good, a lot of bad, a lot of ugly. But I had fun with it but the biggest thing I learned is just to have patience."
TMJ4's Lance Allan asks, "Was it a little bit rough for you? Was it a little disappointing? How did you look at that first half of your year?"
"I mean the first half, I guess first quarter of the year was really rough because we only had like three top 15's or whatever because we got into so many incidents," Mayer says. "But right after that? I say I'm so over all of that. We get eight top fives in a row and it's just, we're on fire and we can't be stopped."
But after making the Xfinity playoffs and the Round of 8, the Franklin native is labeled the top 19-year-old prospect by NASCAR.com.
"It's super cool," Mayer says. "I'm obviously in a really good space to have that opportunity to have people like that behind me and say stuff about me like that. Truthfully, I don't think there was ever really any real pressure like that. But definitely, there's a lot less weight on my shoulders to kind of figure everything out, where I can just go out there and just do my job and go win."
Now he's gearing up for big things in 2023 with a chance at the big show, beyond that.
Lance Allan asks, "As far as 2024, I've heard some things. What's the goal for that?"
"I mean everything's up in the air, truthfully. It can go 100 different ways and you won't know until you get there. We're just taking this year and doing the best I absolutely can," Mayer says. "My dream is to go race in the NASCAR Cup Series and I think I have the capabilities of doing it. I just gotta button up every little thing. Make sure I do the best I can and I'm sure it will come."
Sam won't turn 20 years old until June 26, and clearly with another year of maturity, has a bright future and could be in the Cup series as soon as 2024.
