BRISTOL, Tenn. – Sam Mayer won everything there was to win in NASCAR K&N Pro Series East action on Friday at Bristol Motor Speedway.
The 15-year-old from Franklin, Wis., swept both practice sessions at the .533-mile concrete bullring, then went out under the lights and roared to a track-record speed during qualifying to earn the E3 Spark Plugs Pole Award.
Mayer’s lap of 14.978 seconds (128.107 mph) with the No. 21 Chevrolet Accessories Chevrolet shattered the old mark of 126.578 mph, set by Noah Gragson last April, by nearly two tenths of a second.
After climbing from his car, Mayer flashed his trademark ear-to-ear grin, then shook his head in disbelief as he began celebrating his first-career K&N East pole in just his eighth series start.
“I can’t even describe what this feels like right now; it’s pretty nuts, if you want to know the truth,” Mayer told SPEED SPORT. “Getting our first pole like this is insane. Today was truly a perfect day. Everything went right and I can’t thank all the guys at GMS Racing enough for giving me such a fast car.”
Even on a day where nothing appeared to go wrong, Mayer still said he could have been a little better.
“If I’m being completely honest, I felt like I messed up a little bit on my fast lap, but I just kept my foot in it and hoped that it was good enough,” Mayer explained. “Obviously that strategy paid off. I have to thank God for blessing me with this opportunity and it sets us up huge for tomorrow. Clean air is huge in these cars and at a fast track like this, so we want to take full advantage of that going forward.”
“Man, you dream of days like today, but hopefully we can cap the weekend off with a win tomorrow.”
Past NHRA Pro Stock champion Tanner Gray will join Mayer on the front row for Saturday’s race, after he posted a time of 15.028 seconds (127.681 mph) with his No. 15 Durst/Valvoline Toyota Camry.
“I think we would have had a really good lap, but on my third lap I just got free going into (turn) one,” Gray noted. “If that hadn’t happened, I think we would have been in the 14s. Whether we would have been faster than Sam or not, I don’t know, but we definitely would have been down in there.
“I’m really happy with the starting spot and I think we’ll have a good car for tomorrow.”
Riley Herbst survived a near-spin in turn three to qualify third, followed by Rev Racing teammates Chase Cabre and Ruben Garcia Jr. in fourth and fifth, respectively.
Spencer Davis, Natalie Decker, Anthony Sergi, Drew Dollar and Derek Kraus completed the top 10.
Hailie Deegan’s engine expired in the waning moments of final practice, leaving her unable to post a qualifying lap on Friday night. She’ll start from the tail of the 19-car field in Saturday’s 150-lap race.
“It just let go on us; what can you do?” Deegan said. “Just one of those things. We’ll put on a show tomorrow and see how far forward we can get coming from the rear.”
To view complete qualifying results, advance to the next page.