DALE EARNHARDT JR SURPRISES HIS YOUNG DRIVER WITH MAJOR MONETARY BOOST ON HIS 21ST BIRTHDAY

In the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Sam Mayer has been in fine form. The young protege of Dale Earnhardt Jr made his debut with JR Motorsports in 2021. Thus, he has been in for four years and constantly improving. The Texas and Iowa race winner celebrated his 21st birthday on June 26th. On the occasion, Dale Jr saw fit to send him a special birthday present. The 49-year-old owner of High Rock Vodka sent his driver a care package through his brand. To start things off, he received a small foam sleeve for drinks, colloquially known as a koozie, with Dale Jr and his wife's signatures. Furthermore, since he was officially of legal age to drink, Dale Jr gifted him a bottle of vodka. Also included were glasses, shot glasses, and a tumbler, to help him enjoy his drinks. Furthermore, he received High Rock Vodka branded sunglasses and a cap. Safe to say, he was pretty thrilled with his birthday presents. However, the team then dropped a small teaser and asked him to investigate further, and so he did, only to get a pleasing jaw-dropper.

What birthday present did Dale Earnhardt Jr give his protege?

As the now 21-year-old dug further into his care package, his next bounty left him pretty stunned. As it turned out, he also got a High Rock Vodka branded fire suit. That was when it finally clicked for him, that he would be running a JR Motorsports Chevrolet with High Rock Vodka as his primary sponsor. The final gift in the care package was a picture of his High Rock Vodka Chevy. Mayer will finally get his hands on the real car on September 7th at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. Admittedly, there is still a fair number of races between now and Atlanta, but it does give him something to look forward to. His reaction, pleasantly surprised by the gift, was evident when he said, "Dude! That's amazing! I love it! Huge thanks to High Rock for this 21st birthday present and opportunity to run the High Rock car at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Sips up, y'all!" Sufficient to say, this was a great reward for Sam Mayer for all his efforts in 2024, including his two wins at Texas and Iowa. Aside from that, he enjoyed five top 5 finishes and a ninth-place finish at the Circuit of the Americas. Last year, he enjoyed a late surge in performance winning four races and ending the campaign in 3rd.

Sam Mayer performed very well at the Iowa Speedway

During that weekend, it was a race of attrition, as the Xfinity race was plagued by tire issues. Several drivers were forced to look after their tires to avoid their tires exploding. Mayer fended off Stewart-Haas Racing driver, Riley Herbst, in overtime to snatch his sixth career Xfinity win.

The primary culprit appeared to be repaved corners of the track. Furthermore, this problem was not endemic to the Xfinity Series, as the Cup Series drivers suffered a similar fate. At least in their case, the problems cropped up during practice. This practically gave NASCAR plenty of time to try and rectify the issue during the race.

Unfortunately, fortune did not smile on Mayer at the following race in New Hampshire. While Christopher Bell romped to his first of two victories that weekend, Mayer could only muster a P19. Heading to the Nashville Superspeedway, Sam Mayer and Dale Earnhardt Jr will be hoping to regain some momentum.

2024-06-28T00:29:35Z dg43tfdfdgfd