Creed Scores Fourth Straight Top-10 Finish, Mayer Collected in Late Incident After Strong Run

MARTINSVILLE, VA (March 28, 2026) – Sheldon Creed overcame mid-race adversity in a caution-filled event to secure a fourth-place finish, marking his fourth consecutive top-10 finish and fourth top-five result of the season. Sam Mayer showed race-winning speed by leading laps and finishing second in Stage Two, but late-race damage in a multi-car incident dropped him to a 23rd-place result.

00 Sheldon Creed
Sheldon Creed started sixth after Friday’s qualifying session was rained out and wasted little time moving forward, climbing to fourth in the opening laps of Stage One. He remained a fixture inside the top five through multiple cautions and a mid-stage pit cycle, maintaining consistent pace and track position. A late caution shortened the stage, and Creed crossed the line in fifth, collecting six valuable stage points.

Stage Two saw Creed shuffled back to 14th after several teams opted to stay out under the stage break. Mired in traffic for much of the run, he struggled to find clean air and forward momentum despite multiple cautions that reset the field. A pair of pit stops under yellow further impacted track position, and Creed ultimately finished the stage in 17th after a short run to the checkered.

In the final stage, strategy once again played into Creed’s favor, allowing him to restart from 10th. In a race heavily interrupted by cautions, he stayed patient and methodically worked his way back toward the front. A late yellow with under 20 laps to go set up a frantic finish, followed by a red flag for a multi-car incident on the frontstretch. Creed lined up fifth for the ensuing restart and held firm through multiple late cautions, including a final yellow on the last lap, to secure a fourth-place finish. The result marked his fourth consecutive top-10 result, and his fourth top-five finish this season.

“We were top five in Stage One and got buried a little bit there in Stage Two, but our team still felt very good about our race car,” Creed said. “We had to work hard at the beginning of Stage Three to get some track position back, but we had a solid day overall and I appreciate Road Ranger being on board.”

41 Sam Mayer
After rain washed out qualifying, the field was set by the metric, placing Sam Mayer 11th for his 10th start at the half-mile. Mayer was forced to the outside lane early in Stage One and lost ground, slipping back before a lap 33 caution allowed him to regroup. Restarting 19th after pitting, he quickly gained positions, but another late caution cut his charge short, leaving him outside the top 15 at the end of the stage.

Strategy flipped Mayer to the front for Stage Two, as he stayed out under the stage break and restarted on the front row. Settling into second, he used clean air to chase down the leader and capitalized on a restart to take over the top spot, continuing his streak of leading laps in 2026. Mayer remained out front through a late caution and held strong on the inside line, ultimately finishing second in the stage to earn nine stage points—his fourth stage points finish of the season.

After pitting for fresh tires to start the final stage, Mayer cycled toward the back but steadily worked his way forward through multiple cautions and short runs, breaking into the top 15 by lap 154. He was one of the biggest movers during a longer green-flag stretch before another caution reset the field. Mayer appeared poised to contend for a top-10 finish, but his momentum was halted in a multi-car incident on lap 233 that caused significant front-end damage. Following a lengthy red flag for cleanup, Mayer returned to the track on the lead lap but deep in the field. Despite gaining a couple of positions late, he ultimately finished 23rd after another tough-luck outing.

Up Next
The NASCAR O’Reilly Series heads to Rockingham Speedway next Saturday, April 4th, with race coverage on the CW set for 2:30 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.