Haas Factor Team driver Sam Mayer triggered a pile-up on Lap 35 of the United Rentals Driven to Serve 250 when he clipped the inside wall at Turn 1 with his #41 Chevrolet Camaro.
Mayer’s car veered sharply left and into the path of Anthony Alfredo in the #96 Viking Motorsports Camaro, sending the pair hard into the outside wall.
Many more cars were involved in the wreck with varying degrees of damage. According to broadcast CW Sports, a total of 19 cars were caught up.
Mayer came on the radio almost immediately to take the blame.
“I have to be one of the worst race car drivers to have ever touched this sport,” he said.
“So sorry. Just embarrassing.”
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The outside wall shot back several metres at Turn 1, forcing the race to be stopped as repairs were conducted.
It took the best part of an hour for the damaged walls to be replaced.
BIG crash after the restart with @sam_mayer_ hitting the wall hard. pic.twitter.com/JL9k9XpJmM
— The CW Sports (@TheCW_Sports) June 20, 2026
Mayer was taken to the care centre and later released without injury.
Speaking about the crash, the 22-year-old apologised profusely for the carnage.
“First off, I just want to say sorry to everybody in the field,” said Mayer.
“I’m looking at all the people who were involved in the crash and it’s literally everybody. Just sorry to all the people who have to put work in now because of my mistake. Just brutal.
“Definitely hate that for everybody … I mean, what am I doing? I got to be better. I’m gonna learn from this, I’m gonna be better. You gotta stay locked in, no matter what happens to you.
“The visuals are hard here, with not having an inside catch-fence and it’s hard to see the inside wall when you’re following people.
“Just not putting my car in the right place, unfortunately.
“I was conservative all day with that, and I knew it was getting down to crunch time and I had to be a little bit more aggressive on restarts.
“I felt like I was going to have a pretty decent run, and I just got a little too aggressive.”
More angles of the crash. https://t.co/KMsZWge1wz pic.twitter.com/WvQKR7124C
— The CW Sports (@TheCW_Sports) June 20, 2026
Alfredo, a veteran of more than 150 races in the series across six years, labelled the crash the “biggest hit of my entire life” after being released from the care centre.
“Just knocked the wind out of me, and I banged both my legs up a little bit, but my left’s pretty sore,” said Alfredo.
“The infield care centre did a great job helping me out there.
“I just had a little trouble getting out of the race car, but I haven’t even seen a replay.
“This is the first time, it’s a little spotty for me. Sam apologised to me in there, so I guess it was his fault, but that’s a mess.”
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