Sam Mayer slammed the wall after being hooked into turn one
On Saturday, the NASCAR O’Reilly Series drivers took the green flag in San Diego, California. The Naval Base Coronado is hosting the race on a temporary built 3.4-mile course.
NASCAR racecar strikes manhole cover in San Diego (Video)
On a restart in stage three, Sam Mayer turned into turn one. However, he misjudged it, clipped the inside wall.
With Anthony Alfredo on his outside, Mayer bounced off the wall, into the side of Alfredo. Mayer was hooked at a high rate of speed.
Watch the crash video below.
The No. 41 went nose first into the concrete barrier. The crash was violent as the radiator was ripped completely out of the car.
Mayer was awake after the crash and communicating with the crew. He was able to climb out of the car on his own and take a walk to the nearby ambulance.
The impact was enough to push the concrete barriers at least six feet. Those barriers weigh roughly 4,000 lbs.
23 cars were collected in the crash.
Car involved: Alex Labbe; Sheldon Creed; Jesse Love; Justin Allgaier; Sammy Smith; William Sawalich; Brent Crews; Brandon Jones; Austin Hill; Harrison Burton; Dean Thompson; Jeb Burton; Blaine Perkins; Andrew Patterson; Ryan Sieg; Sam Mayer; Brennan Poole; Preston Pardus; Jeremy Clements; Brad Perez; Austin Green; Leland Honeyman; Anthony Alfredo
NASCAR has thrown the red flag on the race. They will make repairs to the safety barrier before the race resumes.
Anthony Alfredo comments
“That was by far the biggest hit in my entire life by a mile,” Anthony Alfredo told the CW.
“And, I’ve hit pretty hard a few times. Knocked the wind out of me and I banged both my legs up a little bit.”
“I had a little trouble getting out of the race car. I haven’t even a replay it’s a little spotty for me.”
“Sam apologized in there. So, I guess it was his fault. I mean, that’s a mess.”
Related: NASCAR fan climbs fence onto NASCAR track during race (Video)
Sam Mayer comments
“First off, I just want to say sorry to everybody in the field,” Sam Mayer told CW Sports.
“I’m looking at the people who were involved in the crash and it’s literally everybody. Sorry to all the people that have to put work in now because of my mistake.”
“What am I doing? I gotta be better. You gotta stay locked in no matter what happens to you.”
“The visuals are hard here with not having an inside catchfence. Just not putting my car in the right place unfortunately.”
“I’m going to have to go around the whole garage and apologize. That’s never a fun feeling.”
The race is currently ongoing.
Update: The race has since concluded.
San Diego Race Results: June 20, 2026 (NASCAR O’Reilly Series)
