Haas Factory Team News
Mayer Wins Stage Two at COTA; Creed Finishes 11th in O’ Reilly Series. Custer Earns Three Stage Points in Cup Race on Sunday.
AUSTIN, TX (March 1, 2026) – Building on recent momentum at EchoPark last weekend, Sheldon Creed battled back from mid-race adversity to secure an 11th-place finish while Sam Mayer captured a stage win and led laps en route to a hard-fought top 15 result in O’Reilly Series action. Cole Custer tallied three crucial stage points on Sunday despite a 29th-place finish.O’ Reilly Series 00 Sheldon Creed
February 27, 2026: NASCAR races at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. (HHP/Chris Owens)
Coming off his first career O’Reilly Series win in Atlanta, Sheldon Creed started ninth but dropped to 11th on the opening lap after getting stuck on the inside of turn 1. He settled into that position for the remainder of Stage One and made a pit stop with three laps remaining for tires and fuel, hoping to flip track position, and finished the stage 24th.In Stage Two, Creed restarted fourth, briefly running in the top five, but a bold three-wide move on lap 30 resulted in a spin in turn 16 that dropped him back to 15th. He fought back to 13th before a caution on lap 35 and opted for a longer pit stop to check on a possible power steering issue. Despite the setback, he completed the stage 32nd and the Road Ranger Chevrolet in contention for the final segment.Creed restarted 19th in the final stage after staying out under caution and quickly gained four positions, moving into the top 15 with 10 laps remaining. A caution with nine laps to go brought him to pit road, and he maintained his position on the restart. As incidents unfolded ahead in the closing laps, Creed moved up and crossed the finish line 11th, a strong end to the day for the No. 00.“Firing off I wanted to be patient and keep the tires under me, but when we had contact late in Stage Two, I lost power steering the car,” Creed said. “I kind of had to muscle it to the finish there at the end, but I’ll take 11th in my Road Ranger Chevrolet.”41 Sam Mayer
February 27, 2026: NASCAR races at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. (HHP/Chris Owens)Fresh off his fifth career pole last weekend, Sam Mayer delivered another solid performance Saturday at Circuit of the Americas. Starting eighth in the No. 41 Char-Broil Chevrolet, Mayer wasted no time moving forward, climbing into the top five by lap 6 and battling door-to-door with Justin Allgaier throughout Stage One. A last-lap pass in the final corner secured a second-place stage finish and nine points.After winning the race off pit road, he restarted 13th and immediately gained six positions on the opening lap. Mayer continued his climb, passing Connor Zilisch, teammate Sheldon Creed, Brent Crews, and Sammy Smith to reach second by lap 33. A late caution shuffled the field, but Mayer made a three-wide move into turn 1 and powered off turn 15 to claim the lead. He captured the stage win, marking his third career road-course stage victory and gave him a crucial 19 stage points on the afternoon.Mayer restarted on point for the final stage but slipped to fourth just two laps in after Shane van Gisbergen took the lead. As tire wear began to affect the handling of his car, he fell to sixth with 14 laps remaining. A caution with nine laps to go brought him to pit road, where he gained three positions, but lined up in the third row behind two cars who stayed out. With five laps remaining, Mayer showed race-winning speed but overshot turn 6 with four laps to go and ultimately finished 15th.“Overall, a really solid day and winning a stage early in the season like this helps us recover from the last two weeks,” Mayer said. “I’m super happy to have a good run with Char-Broil on the hood, and we’ll look to keep this momentum going out west for the next two.”Cup Series 41 Cole Custer
March 1, 2026: at Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas (HHP / Jim Fluharty)
Cole Custer and the No. 41 Haas / Bonanza Chevrolet team leaned on strategy to battle through a challenging 95-lap event at COTA. After starting 18th, Custer managed early handling issues during a green-flag opening stage and short-pitted on lap 17 for tires and fuel. The move positioned the team for later gains but resulted in a 33rd-place Stage One finish as others stayed out for points.The early stop paid off to start Stage Two, with Custer restarting 11th and quickly charging into the top 10. As grip faded on older tires, he slipped outside the top 15, but a disciplined strategy call to run long delivered results. Custer finished eighth in the stage, earning three valuable points before pitting for fresh tires and fuel.Restarting 30th for the final segment, Custer fought a tight-handling condition and made an aggressive green-flag stop on lap 64. Fresh tires helped him climb inside the top 25 before a late caution shuffled the field. The No. 41 was able to jump as high as 18th on the restart after chaos in turn one, but a long run to end the race forced him to settle for a 29th-place finish.“We had some good short run speed but didn’t have the long run speed we needed to put this Bonanza Chevrolet up front,” Custer said. “Our car had some really good speed in it, so that’s promising, but just need to find the balance between the two.”Up NextPhoenix Raceway hosts the fourth race on the NASCAR Cup/O’ Reilly Series schedule next weekend. Race coverage for the O’ Reilly series is set for 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday on the CW, and Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET on FS1 for the Cup Series.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.
February 27, 2026: NASCAR races at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. (HHP/Chris Owens)Coming off his first career O’Reilly Series win in Atlanta, Sheldon Creed started ninth but dropped to 11th on the opening lap after getting stuck on the inside of turn 1. He settled into that position for the remainder of Stage One and made a pit stop with three laps remaining for tires and fuel, hoping to flip track position, and finished the stage 24th.In Stage Two, Creed restarted fourth, briefly running in the top five, but a bold three-wide move on lap 30 resulted in a spin in turn 16 that dropped him back to 15th. He fought back to 13th before a caution on lap 35 and opted for a longer pit stop to check on a possible power steering issue. Despite the setback, he completed the stage 32nd and the Road Ranger Chevrolet in contention for the final segment.Creed restarted 19th in the final stage after staying out under caution and quickly gained four positions, moving into the top 15 with 10 laps remaining. A caution with nine laps to go brought him to pit road, and he maintained his position on the restart. As incidents unfolded ahead in the closing laps, Creed moved up and crossed the finish line 11th, a strong end to the day for the No. 00.“Firing off I wanted to be patient and keep the tires under me, but when we had contact late in Stage Two, I lost power steering the car,” Creed said. “I kind of had to muscle it to the finish there at the end, but I’ll take 11th in my Road Ranger Chevrolet.”41 Sam Mayer
February 27, 2026: NASCAR races at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. (HHP/Chris Owens)Fresh off his fifth career pole last weekend, Sam Mayer delivered another solid performance Saturday at Circuit of the Americas. Starting eighth in the No. 41 Char-Broil Chevrolet, Mayer wasted no time moving forward, climbing into the top five by lap 6 and battling door-to-door with Justin Allgaier throughout Stage One. A last-lap pass in the final corner secured a second-place stage finish and nine points.After winning the race off pit road, he restarted 13th and immediately gained six positions on the opening lap. Mayer continued his climb, passing Connor Zilisch, teammate Sheldon Creed, Brent Crews, and Sammy Smith to reach second by lap 33. A late caution shuffled the field, but Mayer made a three-wide move into turn 1 and powered off turn 15 to claim the lead. He captured the stage win, marking his third career road-course stage victory and gave him a crucial 19 stage points on the afternoon.Mayer restarted on point for the final stage but slipped to fourth just two laps in after Shane van Gisbergen took the lead. As tire wear began to affect the handling of his car, he fell to sixth with 14 laps remaining. A caution with nine laps to go brought him to pit road, where he gained three positions, but lined up in the third row behind two cars who stayed out. With five laps remaining, Mayer showed race-winning speed but overshot turn 6 with four laps to go and ultimately finished 15th.“Overall, a really solid day and winning a stage early in the season like this helps us recover from the last two weeks,” Mayer said. “I’m super happy to have a good run with Char-Broil on the hood, and we’ll look to keep this momentum going out west for the next two.”Cup Series 41 Cole CusterMarch 1, 2026: at Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas (HHP / Jim Fluharty)Cole Custer and the No. 41 Haas / Bonanza Chevrolet team leaned on strategy to battle through a challenging 95-lap event at COTA. After starting 18th, Custer managed early handling issues during a green-flag opening stage and short-pitted on lap 17 for tires and fuel. The move positioned the team for later gains but resulted in a 33rd-place Stage One finish as others stayed out for points.The early stop paid off to start Stage Two, with Custer restarting 11th and quickly charging into the top 10. As grip faded on older tires, he slipped outside the top 15, but a disciplined strategy call to run long delivered results. Custer finished eighth in the stage, earning three valuable points before pitting for fresh tires and fuel.Restarting 30th for the final segment, Custer fought a tight-handling condition and made an aggressive green-flag stop on lap 64. Fresh tires helped him climb inside the top 25 before a late caution shuffled the field. The No. 41 was able to jump as high as 18th on the restart after chaos in turn one, but a long run to end the race forced him to settle for a 29th-place finish.“We had some good short run speed but didn’t have the long run speed we needed to put this Bonanza Chevrolet up front,” Custer said. “Our car had some really good speed in it, so that’s promising, but just need to find the balance between the two.”Up NextPhoenix Raceway hosts the fourth race on the NASCAR Cup/O’ Reilly Series schedule next weekend. Race coverage for the O’ Reilly series is set for 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday on the CW, and Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET on FS1 for the Cup Series.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.