BRISTOL, Tenn. — Round No. 2 of the K&N Pro Series East season at Bristol Motor Speedway belonged to Sam Mayer in every sense of the word.
The 15-year-old was quickest in both practice sessions, set the new track record by qualifying on the pole and won the Zombie Auto 150, leading all 150 laps en route to his first career K&N Pro Series victory.
“The race played out completely different than the way I thought,” Mayer said. “I thought it was going to be pretty solid on the top. But the top wasn’t there at all, it was pretty much all on the bottom. It was really good on the bottom, but once you got out of the groove to pass lapped cars you really had to feather the throttle and be easy into the corner.”
K&N Pro Series East regulars Chase Cabre and Brandon McReynolds came home second and third. Cabre finished 3.634 seconds behind Mayer and McReynolds scored his second straight third-place finish.
Drew Dollar and Dawsonville, Georgia’s Spencer Davis rounded out the top five finishers with Colin Garrett, Mason Diaz, Raphael Lessard (in first series start) and Tanner Gray completing the top 10.
On the first lap, multiple drivers were involved in a crash on the frontstretch including Ruben Garcia, Jr., Natalie Decker, Riley Herbst and Gray. Garcia, Herbst and Decker were forced behind the wall and finished 17th, 18th and 19th, respectively.
It was the eighth career start for the 15-year-old Mayer, who hails from Franklin, Wisconsin. He’s collected four top fives, with his previous best finish of fourth coming in the season finale last year at Dover International Speedway and then matched in this year’s opener at Florida’s New Smyrna Speedway.
Mayer leads Kraus by three points and McReynolds by six in the driver standings. The first K&N Pro Series East regular after Mayer is Garrett in fourth, 11 points back.
The next K&N Pro Series East events will take place on Saturday, May 4, at South Boston Speedway with twin 100-lap championship points races.
NASCAR K&N Pro Series East
Bristol Motor Speedway – Bristol, TN
Zombie Auto 150 – April 6, 2019
1. Sam Mayer
2. Chase Cabre
3. Brandon McReynolds
4. Drew Dollar
5. Spencer Davis
6. Derek Kraus
7. Colin Garrett
8. Mason Diaz
9. Raphael Lessard
10. Tanner Gray
11. Brittney Zamora
12. Anthony Sergi
13. Max McLaughlin
14. Brandon Oakley
15. Chuck Buchanan, Jr.
16. Hailie Deegan
17. Ruben Garcia, Jr.
18. Riley Herbst
19. Natalie Decker
