Sam Mayer & Cole Custer Lead HFT with Top-10 Finishes at Chicagoland.

JOLIET, IL (July 4, 2026) – After a nearly five-hour rain delay, the O’Reilly Series returned to Chicagoland Speedway on Saturday night under the lights of Fourth of July weekend. Sam Mayer delivered a strong points night and top-10 finish that solidified his position above The Chase cutline, while Cole Custer closed out his final O’Reilly Series start of the season with a ninth-place effort. Sheldon Creed rebounded from an early flat tire in the final stage to recover and bring home a 16th-place finish after a hard-fought night.

41 Sam Mayer

Fresh off a top-10 finish at Sonoma, Sam Mayer started ninth after a rainout in qualifying set the field by the metric. The No. 41 Audibel Chevrolet wasted little time moving forward, with Mayer climbing to seventh in the opening laps of Stage One. Working over the long green-flag run to clear Carson Kvapil and Brent Crews on the widening track, Mayer held seventh through the end of the stage to earn four valuable stage points.

Mayer up to sixth for the Stage Two restart after gaining a spot on pit road, and adjustments made during the stage break immediately paid off. Mayer charged to fourth on the opening restart and remained among the leaders across the 45-lap stage before finishing fifth in Stage Two, collecting six more stage points to strengthen the No. 41 team’s position above The Chase cutline.

After another strong stop under the stage caution, Mayer restarted inside the top five before the No. 41 Audibel Chevrolet tightened up on the long run. Two late cautions allowed the team to make additional adjustments, and Mayer continued to battle inside the top 10 through a chaotic closing stretch. Despite fighting a tight race car over the final laps, Mayer crossed the line eighth, securing his fourth top-10 finish in the last five races.

0 Cole Custer

Cole Custer, the defending O’Reilly Series winner at Chicagoland after his 2019 victory, took the green from 21st and quickly went to work in the No. 0 Sysco Chevrolet. Patiently working his way through the field while managing his tire wear, Custer climbed into the top 15 before a late push in the opening stage carried him as high as 12th, making him one of the biggest movers in Stage One.

Restarting 13th for Stage Two, Custer continued his steady march through the field in his No. 0 Sysco Chevrolet, breaking into the top 10 on lap 63. He remained one of the fastest cars on track throughout the 45-lap stage before taking the green-and-white checkered flag in 11th, putting him in good position for the final 110-lap run.

After restarting 12th for the final stage, Custer again charged through the field, making his way as high as sixth prior to a caution on lap 133. A pit stop under yellow shuffled the No. 0 Sysco Chevrolet back outside the top 10, but Custer again showcased his short-run speed before another caution halted his momentum. Despite three more late-race yellows, Custer continued to battle inside the top 10 and brought the No. 0 home with a ninth-place finish in his final O’Reilly race of the season.

00 Sheldon Creed

After a lengthy rain delay, Sheldon Creed took the green flag from eighth in the No. 00 Road Ranger Chevrolet. Working in tandem with teammate Sam Mayer, the duo quickly moved forward, joining the fight with leaders Chase Elliott and Carson Kvapil early in the run. Creed helped power both cars into the top six after clearing Kvapil and Brent Crews using strong exits off the corner. He held onto fifth at the end of Stage One to earn six stage points in a strong start for the No. 00 team.

As the pit cycle played out under caution, Creed restarted fifth for the start of the second stage. After moving into fourth place in the opening laps, a mid-stage slide saw Creed fall to ninth place before fighting his way back past Crews for eighth. Creed made a move on the final lap to pass Corey Day to finish Stage Two in seventh place, scoring another four points.

An effective pit stop moved Creed up to fourth to begin the final stage, but an early flat tire under green forced an unscheduled stop that put him a lap down. However, a timely caution gave the No. 00 team the free pass to get back on the lead lap, despite restarting at the tail end of the field. From there, Creed never lost focus and steadily worked his way forward, breaking into the top 20 before another caution gave him an opportunity to put on fresh tires with 42 laps to go. Despite several yellows in the closing laps, Creed battled his way back to finish 16th after overcoming the tire issue early in the final stage.

Up Next: The NASCAR O’Reilly Series heads to EchoPark Speedway next Saturday, July 11th, with race coverage on the CW set for 7 p.m. ET.

About Haas Factory Team: Haas Factory Team is a NASCAR Cup and O'Reilly Auto Parts Series program owned by Gene Haas, founder of Haas Automation. New in 2026, Haas Factory will align with Chevrolet. As part of the manufacturer switch, HFT will have a technical alliance with Hendrick Motorsports, which will include using Hendrick-built engines across both series. The team will feature Cole Custer driving the No. 41 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in the NASCAR Cup Series, while Sheldon Creed and Sam Mayer take on the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series in the No. 00 and No. 41 Chevrolet Camaros, respectively. Based in Kannapolis, North Carolina, the Haas Factory Team reflects a commitment to performance and engineering excellence, carrying forward Gene Haas’s commitment to motorsports.