Fans who arrived at Myrtle Beach Speedway on Saturday evening were treated to another eventful Myrtle Beach 400 that featured tight, competitive racing for the lead and throughout the field, as well as classic short-track tempers that erupted between Late Model veterans Lee Pulliam and Jake Crum. The evening’s festivities concluded with JR Motorsports driver Josh Berry passing Timothy Peters with only 10 laps remaining, which allowed him to cruise to his first career Myrtle Beach 400 victory.
While drivers such as Berry, Crum, and David Roberts took turns exchanging the lead throughout the 225-lap Late Model feature, several other drivers quietly worked their way up from the rear of the field and secured solid finishes. One of the drivers that had to overcome adversity to begin the race was Franklin, Wisconsin native Sam Mayer, who brought his #41 Menards Late Model home in the fifth position after starting the feature in the 31st position.
“During the first half of the race, we definitely saved up our tires just enough,” Mayer said. “During the second half, we had some good tight racing with guys like Josh Berry and Lee Pulliam, and everyone else that was up at the front. It was a really fun race.”
The 14-year-old Late Model rookie was one of several drivers who participated in the Limited Late Model feature of the Myrtle Beach 250 during the previous weekend. Mayer put together a solid weekend for his team, as he managed to qualify on the outside pole alongside Devin Dodson, and proceeded to lead several laps early on, before ultimately settling for a fourth place finish in the main event.
Mayer returned to Myrtle Beach Speedway on November 16th with the hope of carrying over his strong run from the Limited Late Model feature into his first Myrtle Beach 400. However, Mayer struggled to find speed to begin the weekend, as he posted the 23rd quickest practice time on Friday afternoon, but dropped to 47th in qualifying, forcing Mayer to rely on a Top 10 finish in his heat race in order to transfer into the main event.
The poor qualifying run by Mayer relegated him to the 16th starting spot in the first heat race of the evening, which featured several talented Late Model drivers such as Travis Swaim, Dexter Canipe Jr., and Thad Moffitt, who started on pole. Two early cautions helped Mayer climb spots early on, and he began to race more aggressively as the laps wound down, which included taking Swaim and Justin Hicks three-wide for seventh place at one point. Mayer was able to survive the late-race intensity and transferred into the Late Model feature with an eighth place finish.
When the green-flag dropped for the 25th Myrtle Beach 400, Mayer initially struggled to move his up from the rear, as the rest of the field raced each other side-by-side several rows deep during the opening laps. The leaders eventually began to separate themselves from each other, allowing Mayer to gain progress on the track. By the halfway break, Mayer had gained over twenty positions, and found himself just outside the Top 10 in 12th place.
The second half of the Myrtle Beach 400 saw Mayer battle with Brenden Queen, Justin Milliken and former Myrtle Beach 400 winner Myatt Snider for a position in the Top 10. Several late race cautions eliminated several competitive drivers from the event, including Jake Crum, Lee Pulliam and David Roberts, which allowed Mayer to gain more spots in the closing stages. Mayer took the checkered flag in 26th spot, becoming one of the biggest movers in the Myrtle Beach 400 by improving upon his starting position by 26 spots.
The 2017 Myrtle Beach 400 was one of the largest and most talented fields that Mayer had competed against during his brief auto-racing career. Mayer stated that he learned many valuable lessons during his time at Myrtle Beach Speedway, and that competing in both races helped improve himself as a driver.
“The veterans definitely drive more aggressively, and they know more about what to do to have you burn your tires up,” Mayer said. “The experience from last weekend, and fighting off the Limited people definitely helped me a little bit to save my tires more and to not drive other people’s races, but to drive my race.”
Mayer added that competing in Myrtle Beach Speedway taught him how to properly conserve tires and stay patient, and plans to apply that knowledge to future races. Mayer is looking forward to returning to Late Model competition in 2018, and will announce his plans for the upcoming season once he concludes his 2017 schedule.
