Sam Mayer Earns Eighth Top-Five Finish of Season, Sheldon Creed Continues Championship Chase at Martinsville.

RIDGEWAY, VA (October 31, 2026) – Sam Mayer and Sheldon Creed delivered strong runs at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday afternoon, with both Haas Factory Team Chevrolets finishing inside the top six. Mayer secured a fifth-place finish and led 36 laps for his eighth top-five result of the season, while Creed crossed the line sixth and earned 12 stage points as he continued his O’Reilly Series championship push.

00 Sheldon Creed:

Entering the penultimate race of the season 50 points behind the championship leader, Creed looked to build on his fifth-place finish last weekend at Talladega. Starting seventh, Creed quickly moved the No. 00 Ollie’s Chevrolet into the top five during the opening laps of Stage One. Staying out through cautions on laps 30 and 36, he advanced to third as the field shuffled through pit strategy, eventually moving into second before a caution inside 10 laps to go brought the stage to an early end.

After making handling adjustments for late-corner drive in his No. 00 Ollie’s Chevrolet, Creed returned to the track in 18th for Stage Two and maintained his position through the opening green-flag run. Pitting under caution on lap 96, he found momentum on the restart, gaining seven positions to break into the top 10. Creed crossed the line eighth, earning three additional stage points.

Creed restarted seventh to begin Stage Three and held his position through a series of cautions. A lengthy red flag for track cleanup provided an opportunity to pit, sending the No. 00 Ollie’s Chevrolet back onto the track in 14th. He steadily worked his way forward, climbing to 11th before the next caution and breaking into the top 10 with fewer than 50 laps remaining. Running eighth with 20 laps to go, Creed continued his charge through the closing laps, gaining two more positions to finish sixth.

41 Sam Mayer:

Starting 14th in his 11th NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series start, Sam Mayer looked to chip away at his 96-point deficit to the championship leader in the second-to-last race of the 2026 season. The No. 41 Starkey Chevrolet gained five positions early, breaking into the top 10 as the field battled for track position. Mayer brought the car to pit road under the first caution on Lap 30 for adjustments aimed at improving corner exit. He made the most of the ensuing restarts, advancing into the top 10 before a caution brought Stage One to an early close.

Mayer stayed out at the stage break and led the field back to green, maintaining the top spot through a late-stage caution on lap 96. The No. 41 Starkey Chevrolet pitted under yellow, but Mayer was caught in the shuffle on the restart as cars fanned out four-wide beneath him. He gathered the car, however, and settled into 13th, where he finished Stage Two.

An early caution reset the field for Stage Three, and Mayer made a strong move on the restart, advancing from eighth to fifth in the opening corner. He later pitted for adjustments to free up the car as the track cooled, rejoining the field in 25th. A brief green-flag run was interrupted by a red flag for debris cleanup. Mayer’s team made minor adjustments during the stoppage, and he won the race off pit road, gaining 16 positions. Following a pair of cautions, Mayer climbed to third on a restart as the field passed the 200-lap mark. The day’s 12th caution moved him up to fourth for the restart, and he held his position through the closing run to finish fifth and earn his 16th top-10 finish of the season.

Up Next:

The NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series heads to Homestead-Miami Speedway for the final race of the Chase next Saturday, November 7th, with race coverage on the CW set for 5 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.