Dale Earnhardt Jr. breaks silence on Sam Mayer taking out Ty Gibbs at Glen Xfinity win, says his driver was ‘madder than hell’

It has been days since the Watkins Glen Xfinity race, and it is still the talk of the town. This is mainly because of the JR Motorsports driver Sam Mayer and Joe Gibbs Racing driver Ty Gibbs. Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. opened up on the incident between the duo. Following a late restart at Watkins Glen, Mayer spun Gibbs and won his second Xfinity race. The JGR driver dominated the race by leading 70 of the 86 laps, but a late restart allowed Mayer to win. 

At one point during the race, Ty Gibbs defended his lead aggressively and closed the door on Sam Mayer in a battle for position. This affected Mayer, and he was given instructions over the radio to go after him. Dale Earnhardt Jr. opened up about this in his podcast Dale Jr Download. The JR Motorsports team boss explained that his driver, Sam Mayer was angry that Ty Gibbs tried to wreck him.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. stated, “I thought the conversation over the radio was interesting when Sam’s mad. Sam’s embarrassed that that happened to him. So in Sam’s tone, he comes on the radio and he goes, dude just ran me into the wall up through the esses in front of the field tried to wreck me, And he’s embarrassed that it happened. He’s mad that it happened.”

Related: Denny Hamlin blames Chase Elliott for the Watkins Glen fuel drama, slams the critics of Alan Gustafson

Dale Earnhardt Jr claims Sam Mayer was filled with emotions during the race

Earnhardt Jr. added, “And he wants it. He wants to send the 54 off the track, like all in that moment.  He’s got all those emotions going on. He wants to wreck the 54. He’s madder than hell. He’s had enough yeah. And the spotter comes up the radio and says, you know we have done the same thing. Kevin Hamlin comes out of the radio and tries to walk him back. And he’s like, man we had done the same thing. It’s fine. Regroup, go back after him, and get it. And Sam, I think heard, ‘Hey man do whatever you got to do man.’ Take him out.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his co-host Mike Davis discussed that Sam Mayer might have misinterpreted the radio message. Davis said, “He totally did because he goes ten f****** four. We are like, wait a second, did he hear him right?” It is no secret that there has been bad blood between Mayer and Gibbs. It looks like it reached its boiling point on Saturday as the former wrecked Gibbs. 

Though Sam Mayer stated it was an unfortunate accident after the race, there were plenty of questions for him and Gibbs. This is mainly due to their rivalry, which includes a physical altercation. Gibbs punched Mayer at the 2022 Xfinity race at Martinsville Speedway. It remains to be seen if they can put their rivalry behind them and race clean. 

In case you missed it:

• Dale Jarrett indirectly warns Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick against having their sons start racing too early and burning them out
• Willaim Byron promises to help Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman to secure the win at Daytona

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