It might be time to worry about Sam Mayer

Racing is an inherently fickle sport. Sam Mayer is finding that out the hard way early in the 2026 NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series season. 

Mayer, who entered 2026 thought of as a title threat in his second year with Haas Factory Team, suffered a mechanical failure in Saturday's race at Rockingham Speedway, which relegated him to a last-place (38th) finish in the North Carolina Education Lottery 250. 

That poor result also dropped Mayer just outside of the provisional 12-driver Chase field through eight races. Mayer is 13th in the NOAPS standings, 30 points behind 12th-place Taylor Gray for the final postseason spot. 

That's not at all where Mayer was expected to be at this point in the season when the haulers rolled into Daytona in February. 

Sam Mayer is struggling early in 2026

Mayer already has four finishes of 23rd or worse this season and only one top five, which came at Phoenix. Without his 37 stage points, he'd be even farther down in the standings. 

Mayer's poor start hasn't entirely been his fault, as evidenced by a crash at Daytona and his mechanical issues at Rockingham on Saturday. But for a driver who was thought of as a championship threat, his rough start, compared with the hot start of his HFT teammate in Sheldon Creed, has been out of the ordinary and worrying. 

A lack of speed and poor results at Bristol on April 11 will only add fuel to the fire as Mayer and the No. 41 team try to turn things around.