Teamwork doesn't quite make the dream work for Sam Mayer, Sheldon Creed at Daytona

At Daytona, being lined up with your teammate is about the best spot you can be in late in a race. 

Unfortunately for drivers Sam Mayer and Sheldon Creed — both of whom drive for Haas Factory Team — their teamwork didn't quite work out. 

Mayer and Creed were forced to settle for second and third, respectively, as Jesse Love got in front of them on the race's final restart and held on to earn the win in the season-opening United Rentals 300. 

Creed remains winless in his NASCAR Xfinity Series career. 

"I'm definitely going to go back at it and look and see what I could do better," Mayer told CW Sports. "We kinda just did everything that we wanted to. The car was capable of it. I'm super pumped to see what we can do the rest of the year."

The defeat was more frustrating for Creed, who was runner-up in the 2024 season-opener at Daytona. 

"I tried to go by the No. 2 (race winner Jesse Love) with 15 or 20 (laps) to go," Creed said. "I got by him once and got next to him another time. Just didn't quite have the help out back that I needed. He (Love) could rebound and get back by me. I was going to be aggressive and keep myself up front. I think we did that well." 

Mayer and Creed will attempt to get to victory lane next week at another drafting style track in Atlanta Motor Speedway.