JR Motorsports has signed Sam Mayer to return to its No. 1 Chevrolet for the 2027 NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series season, with hearing-technology company Starkey confirmed as primary partner for the full campaign.
The agreement restores a driver-team relationship that ran in the national series from 2021 to mid-2024 and had earlier included JR Motorsports' Late Model programme. Mayer has spent the 2025 and 2026 seasons with Haas Factory Team.
Driver and sponsor move together
The team announcement combines two commitments: Mayer's full-season race seat and Starkey's primary sponsorship of the No. 1 car for every 2027 round. Starkey currently supports Mayer, so the deal carries the driver's commercial partner into the returning team relationship rather than confirming the seat without its funding package.
JR Motorsports has not disclosed the value or length of either agreement beyond the 2027 season. It also has not announced the crew chief, wider crew structure or additional partners for the car. The team says further details about the No. 1 programme will follow.
Mayer won seven national-series races with JR Motorsports during his previous spell and reached the championship finale in 2023. Those results provide the sporting basis for the reunion, while the full-season Starkey agreement gives the entry a named primary partner from the start of planning.
Defined inventory for the full season
A season-long primary sponsorship gives Starkey consistent inventory across the car, team channels and trackside programme rather than a partial schedule of individual races. JR Motorsports fields four full-time cars in the series, so the No. 1 agreement also fills a significant part of the team's 2027 commercial plan.
The company says it intends to use the motorsport platform to promote hearing health and conservation, linking its technology business to a sport with high sound exposure. That positioning comes from Starkey and JR Motorsports; neither party has published activation targets, media-value projections, audience measures or a detailed programme beyond the primary partnership.
No feature image has been used because reusable first-party permission was not established. The article is attached to the exact JR Motorsports directory profile and does not infer a separate MRI listing for Starkey.
The confirmed scope is one full-season driver seat, the No. 1 Chevrolet and a full-season primary partner for 2027. Contract options, financial terms, staffing and the final supporting-partner roster remain undisclosed.