AUSTIN, TX. -- Sam Mayer dealt with numerous changes over the offseason as he switched teams, manufacturers, and crew chiefs. Yet he continued to show that he will be a threat to win with his performance at Circuit of the Americas on Saturday.
While Mayer didn't win the Xfinity Series race, he ended the day with a podium finish behind Connor Zilisch and William Byron. In his eyes, this was a major step for himself and Haas Factory Team.
"We're starting off on an awesome first right foot, and we're executing everything exactly how we need to," Mayer told AltDriver on pit road after the race. "We definitely didn't have a winning car today, unfortunately.
"We're gonna come back and make it a winning car. But we fought, we out-executed everybody to get a couple spots and finish on the podium."
Contending for wins on a road course was a common occurrence when Mayer drove for JR Motorsports. He won at Road America, Watkins Glen, and the Charlotte Roval in 2023. He added another win at the Roval last season.
Mayer raced door-to-door with Cup drivers regularly while driving for one of the sport's powerhouses.
Haas Factory Team won a championship in 2023 while racing under the Stewart-Haas banner, but the team underwent a transformation after Tony Stewart exited the sport. The team still has speed, but Mayer explained that it remains a work in progress three races into the 2025 season.
"Years past, I always had a really, really good car coming to (road courses)," Mayer said. "So I didn't really have to work that hard.
"But going into this year, we had to put a lot of work into it, and this organization is brand new. It's smaller. There's a lot of tweaks and bugs to work out."
Part of this process involves considerable effort during practice and qualifying sessions. Mayer said the team had a 15th-place car on Friday evening. The No. 41 team made adjustments and got it up to about a 10th-place team.
Saturday, the team continued to make adjustments while Mayer tried to avoid chaos on the track. He was mostly successful -- he counted only two incidents involving him -- and he delivered his second top-three finish in the first three races.
"We were probably in every single position except for first at one point, I think," Mayer said. "So hats off to these guys for as hard as they worked. And it paid off."