The 2026 season has been rather happening for Sam Mayer. Only a few weeks ago, he was involved in a heated altercation with Ty Gibbs at Martinsville. The two came to blows on the pit road owing to an on-track scuffle during the race. This weekend, he was facing a similar situation with Jeb Burton. While Mayer has gone up against Burton in the past, he smartly avoided another fight with his rival at Bristol.

Sam Mayer avoids another fight with Jeb Burton

When interviewers asked him about his meeting with Jeb Burton post-race, it seems like Mayer and Burton were able to manage their differences quite easily. “Just maybe frustrated, and he, of course, being the guy right there. We are good; everything’s fine.

“It was more of an explain-what-happened kind of conversation. Me listening, understanding, and me explaining my side of it, obviously frustrated, so yeah, we are good. We are just ready to move on to the next one for sure.”

It was wildly different from their meetup back in 2025 at Martinsville, which led to Mayer’s suspension. At the time, Mayer found himself on the receiving end, with NASCAR penalizing him heavily for spinning out Jeb Burton on purpose on the cooldown lap.

 

Burton was furious at Mayer due to on-track clashes. “Go ahead and tell the 41 that he’s done,” radioed Burton. He’s done when I get to him. F*** him and his championship.” As retaliation for Burton’s actions and constant contact, Mayer wrecked his car post-race. Their relationship suffered badly for the rest of the season after that.

While he was apologetic to Jordan Anderson, he did not hold back in rallying against Burton. The suspension was a wake-up call for him to come back to his senses and actually measure his actions before he ruined things for himself and others. The consequences of 2025 helped him avoid a similar outcome on Saturday, and he did not have to find himself in another fight.

While Mayer is an aggressive driver on and off-track, he did have the speed to prove his mettle. While he was unable to perfect his race restart and claim the victory, he knew that his car was good enough for the race. In fact, in his eyes the car was performing right at the front even at its worst.

So how does he feel about his new team? In his second season with the Haas Factory Team, it seems like Mayer has already found his mojo.

Sam Mayer doesn’t find any difference after switching manufacturers

After driving three seasons for a championship-winning team, which gave him regular victories and good positions, it was obvious that Mayer would find it difficult to adjust to the Haas Factory Team and the Toyotas.

Although it took him slightly long to achieve his first victory with them last season, Mayer believes that the team is already at the point of setting good benchmarks for the rest of the field, and their pace is no slower than the JR Motorsports‘ Chevys.

“We have been fast everywhere, and the speed is usually the part of the growing pains. And we have lacked speed everywhere except for really one or two spots, so it’s just literally keeping all four tires in the same direction that you need to go, and half of the people just do not run into them at this point. So, one of these days we will turn it around.”

Mayer finished the last season 10th in the driver standings. It is not as bad compared to his results in the previous seasons. Even though he only won one, he was able to bring forth multiple top 5 finishes for the team. This shows that Mayer is nearly at the top of the NASCAR O’Reilly grid.

Within a few race weekends, it is possible that he starts to look like a serious contender for the championship.

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