The outlier in that set of wins, Mayer’s maiden NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series win at Bristol in mid-September, was a triumph that the teenager actually believed opened the floodgates even further for his success.
“Obviously you want to go out (and win) anytime you make a start with GMS Racing; they are expecting you to be in victory lane by the end of the day,” Mayer noted. “We’d run last year with them at Bristol, Martinsville and Phoenix, and we were (running) top five at Bristol in my first ever truck race, which they were stoked about. We just didn’t have the finish to show for it (due to a crash).
“It just got better and better from there, and seven starts in to turn that into a win … it made me better and even more confident on the ARCA side, too,” he continued. “I expect to win every time I hit the racetrack, but I didn’t expect to win like that. That’s for sure. It was a huge confidence boost.”
When he takes the green flag on Sunday, Mayer will become the seventh driver in East Series history to win consecutive titles and the first to do so since Ryan Truex in 2009 and 2010.
That list also includes four-time champion Andy Santerre, Brad Leighton, the late Mike Stefanik, Dick McCabe and Jamie Aube. It’s something that struck Mayer speechless, but only for a moment.
“Not even 10 drivers have done it over the last 30-something years, and to be on that list, it’s something special,” Mayer noted. “To even get one championship in the ARCA East series was huge in itself, but to get two in a row or two in general, it’s just massive. I can’t thank everyone at GMS enough for the opportunity I’ve had these last two years to go and do that. That’s just a really big deal, because that’s going to be on my resume forever … and that’s a big thing to have up at the top of the list.”
Getting a second championship was something that Mayer said was “absolutely the goal” coming into the season, but with that box checked come Sunday – aside from a handful of Truck races and the ARCA West finale at Phoenix Raceway in November – the focus will shift to the future for the rising star.
Mayer will drive a half season for JR Motorsports in 2021, once he turns 18 at the end of June. It’s a move that comes with a bittersweet tinge, as he and GMS Racing have developed a familial bond over their two seasons together.
That relationship is something that Mayer admitted he’ll miss greatly as he “returns home” to JRM, where he started his stock-car career in 2018 driving late models, but it’s a bond that he added “will never go away” even as he moves up the racing ladder.
“That’s a sensitive topic for sure, because the amount of success and the amount of fun we’ve had over these last two years is something that I’ve never really had before in my racing career,” Mayer said. “It’s different in the Legends car days when we were just having a good time goofing around and getting wins, but at GMS we’ve been here to work and it’s still become fun to us.
“It’s one of those things where we’ve just had that chemistry the whole time to where it’s just worked, man,” Mayer admitted. “Leaving them and putting them in the hands of someone else is definitely something that I didn’t think about when I was moving up to the next level, because I never thought I would have that kind of relationship with a team. But it’s really hard to think about.
“It’s just really special to do this with these guys; I appreciate all of them on so many different levels and it’s definitely going to suck leaving them next year, but we’ll always be friends no matter where I go.”
First comes a party to celebrate back to back titles, something that Mayer is eagerly looking forward to.
“It’s going to be big. We’re going to enjoy it, and I’m super excited to celebrate the accomplishments we’ve had over the last two years. I’m looking forward to what’s to come, but living in the moment too.”