ARCA WEST: Hillis becomes twelfth last-place finisher in as many races; Keller takes title

ALL PHOTOS: Brock Beard

by Ben Schneider

LASTCAR.info Staff Writer

Bobby Hillis, Jr. finished last for the 11th time in his ARCA Menards Series West career in Friday’s Desert Diamond Casino West Valley 100 at Phoenix Raceway when his No. 27 First Impression Press / Camping World / LT&T Chevrolet fell out with mechanical issues after completing 5 of 100 laps.

The finish came in Hillis’ 96th career West Series start.

A longtime stock car racing veteran with a self-described budget of “less than zero,” Hillis’ first NASCAR starts came in the Craftsman Truck Series in 2000, qualifying for two races with a best finish of 31st at Portland. The majority of his career has been spent what is now known as the ARCA Menards Series West, debuting in the series at Phoenix in 2001 with a 19th-place finish. Hillis took his team full-time the following season and finished eleventh in the 2002 standings, which remained a career-best until the pandemic-impacted 2020 season when he persevered to finish eighth in the championship. It was during that season that Hillis also picked up his career-best race finish, an eighth-place run at the Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

After scaling back his full-time effort earlier this season, Hillis made the trip to Phoenix, where he'd bring back his bright yellow neon Chevrolet. The car, which hadn't been run in nearly two years, carried an orange door number on the passenger side and a blue one on the driver's side. The car also ran deep blue wheels, making it stand out even more.

Hillis' flat tire after his early pit stop.

In total, 30 cars originally appeared on the Phoenix entry list, but due to the withdrawals of R.J. Smotherman and Jake Finch, only 28 started the race. Smotherman’s team withdrew without taking a lap after being unable to find a replacement for an expired fuel cell, while Finch’s Phoenix Racing entry appeared on both the practice and qualifying timing sheets but was unable to take the green flag. After withdrawing his No. 01 entry and not setting a qualifying time, Robbie Kennealy anchored the field on the starting grid in his renumbered No. 11 car, while Hillis slotted in 27th with a time of 31.232 seconds just behind Ryan Roulette in 26th. David Smith and Takuma Koga rounded out the Bottom Five starting spots.

Coming off Turn 2 on the first lap, Kennealy climbed to 25th ahead of Ryan Roulette in Fast Track Racing's No. 12 VFW-Bellator Recruiting Academy Ford, which had open track over 26th-place Hillis and new last-place runner David Smith in the No. 05 Shockwave Marine Suspension Seating Toyota. On Lap 2, the three lost more ground to the field with Roulette opening up a bigger advantage over Hillis and Smith. On Lap 3, Hillis pulled away from last-place Smith and set after Roulette. With the field strung out on Lap 4, the gap between Hills and Smith remained the same while Roulette was about four seconds back of the next car in line. Then on Lap 5, Hillis slowed coming off Turn 2 with a flat right-front tire, allowing Smith to slip past at corner exit. By now, the leaders were already reeling them in, about to put both a lap down. Hillis managed to stay out of the wall, but limped around the track before coming down pit road on Lap 6. By then, every car had lapped Hillis except the now 27th-place Smith.

Hillis after pulling into the garage during the race.

Smith's was one of the first pit stalls near the entrance of Turn 3, where the crew spent a long time working on the right-front after removing the flat tire. On Lap 14, the car's engine was shut off, and the crew talked to the driver through the window. Hillis then re-fired the engine on Lap 16, and with the window net dropped drove into the XFINITY Series garage and pulled up to his team's hauler. He re-fired the engine in the garage on Lap 19, but by Lap 22, the engine was off once more. The crew lifted the hood and pulled on a orange body panel behind the right-front wheel, which the crew said was pushing in on the tire. The crew demonstrated the issue by turning the wheel hard to the left and standing on the front splitter. Not wanting to damage the car, Hillis decided not to return to the race. He did indicate he was planning on returning to full-time competition in 2024.

"We've got a tire rub over there on the right side and it cut the tire down," said Hillis. "And I could hear it when I was going through the corner and then let loose. And we thought about going back out, but I'm like 'no, something's rubbing,' and so we pulled back here and sure enough, it's a big piece of metal on that side rubbing against the tire when it goes down when it's under load in the corner."

With Hillis being the first to pull behind the wall, the West Series season finished with twelve different last-place finishers in the series’ twelve races. Kyle Keller’s total of four Bottom Five finishes was enough to clinch the 2023 LASTCAR ARCA Menards Series West Drivers’ Championship.

A closer look at the fender that was pushed in on the right-front tire.

After Hillis fell out of the race, Nick Joanides and Todd Souza were involved in a Lap 67 accident that brought out the caution and ended both drivers’ races. Next up the running order was Joey Iest, who nursed a damaged car home 18 laps down in 25th position. Rounding out the Bottom Five was Roulette, who went one lap farther than Iest to improve two spots on his starting position.

Up front, 2023 ARCA Menards Series East champion William Sawalich took a commanding victory from pole position, leading 93 laps to score the win, his seventh across all ARCA competition this season. Truck Series regular Dean Thompson followed closely behind in second, while Sean Hingorani placed third, well ahead of the 25th-place finish he required to clinch the 2023 ARCA Menards Series West championship.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

28) #27-Bobby Hillis, Jr. / 5 laps / mechanical

27) #71-Nick Joanides / 64 laps / crash

26) #3-Todd Souza / 64 laps / crash

25) #88-Joey Iest / 82 laps / running

24) #12-Ryan Roulette / 83 laps / running

2023 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES WEST MANUFACTURERS CHAMPIONSHIP - FINAL

1st) Ford (6)

2nd) Toyota (4) 

3rd) Chevrolet (2)

2023 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES WEST OWNERS CHAMPIONSHIP - FINAL

1st) Lowden-Jackson Motorsports, Performance P-1 Motorsports (2)

2nd) Fast Track Racing, Central Coast Racing, High Point Racing, Jerry Pitts Racing, Bill McAnally Racing, Nascimento Motorsports, Sigma Performance Services, Fierce Creature Racing (1)

AUTHOR’S NOTE: Click HERE to view the full standings for both the main ARCA Menards Series and the ARCA Menards Series East and West divisions. You can also find the full manufacturers’ and owners’ standings HERE.

2023 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES WEST DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP - FINAL

CUP: Brake failure ends Christopher Bell’s championship run

PHOTO: Brock Beard

by Brock Beard

LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief

Christopher Bell picked up the 5th last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at the Phoenix Raceway when his #20 Rheem / DeWalt Toyota crashed after 108 of 312 laps.

The finish, which came in Bell’s 144th series start, was his second of the season and first since Kansas, 24 races ago. In the Cup Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 35th for the #20, the 187th for Toyota, and the 661st from a crash. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 60th for the #20, the 402nd for Toyota, and the 1,361st from a crash.

Bell successfully defended his spot in the Championship Four, a journey that began with his victory in the Bristol Dirt Race and continued through a season where he’s earned six poles. The first three occurred in the Round of 16, where he bounced back from a 23rd in Darlington to take 8th in Kansas and 3rd in Bristol. He remained in the Top 15 though the Round of 12. But, much like last year, it was in the Round of 8 that he made his boldest push to the championship race. He nearly caught race winner Kyle Larson in the final laps at Las Vegas, then prevailed in a tight battle at Homestead, punching his ticket with the checkered flag. With a 7th last week in Martinsville, Bell looked ahead to claiming his first Cup championship.

Bell began the Phoenix weekend with the 4th-fastest lap in practice – second-best among the Playoff contenders behind Ryan Blaney. He then qualified 13th with a lap of 132.338mph (27.203 seconds), which ranked him third among his group, this time ahead of Blaney.

Securing the 36th and final spot in the field was B.J. McLeod, whose Live Fast Motorsports team co-owned by Matt Tifft would enter its final race as a Chartered team before their medallion transfers to Spire Motorsports in 2024. McLeod carried returning sponsorship from Pala Casino on his pastel Chevrolet, which struggled to a 29.248-second lap, more than 1.2 seconds off the next-slowest car of Justin Haley. The lone pre-race penalty was handed to Brad Keselowski, who with wife Paige welcomed their third child and first son. Hours before clinching the XFINITY championship, Cole Custer qualified Keselowski’s car 31st, and Keselowski would return for Sunday.

When the green flag dropped, McLeod and Keselowski remained locked side-by-side through the first lap. By Lap 2, Keselowski had pulled ahead, in the low lane of a three-wide battle between Justin Haley’s #31 Campers Inn RV Chevrolet to his outside and J.J. Yeley’s #15 Total Point / Patriot Mobile Ford outside of Haley. By Lap 3, Keselowski had passed Haley, but not Yeley, and McLeod remained within striking distance of each. By Lap 6, McLeod had caught and passed Ryan Newman, putting his #51 Serial 1 E-Bikes Ford in last place.

but McLeod remained less than a carlength behind. The gap remained the same on Lap 3, when Keselowski had dropped Justin Haley to 35th in the #31 Campers Inn RV Chevrolet. By Lap 12, both McLeod and Newman started to trail the rest of the field, each about two carlengths apart from one another. Newman lost ground to McLeod, then started to get it back on Lap 22 as the leaders were about to catch them both. On Lap 25, then-leader William Byron was the same gap behind last-place Newman as Newman was to McLeod. The next time by, Newman was the frst to be lapped, followed shortly after by McLeod.

McLeod first held the inside line as the leaders caught him, but on Lap 31 pulled up high as the field pulled by down low. This allowed Newman to close the gap on McLeod until Lap 37, when the #51 was held up behind a group of two-wide lead-lap traffic down the backstretch. Newman was again closing the gap on Lap 39, but McLeod pulled away again on Lap 45. Just before the end of Stage 1, Newman lost a second lap, and remain in last place when the stage caution fell on Lap 61. Under the yellow, McLeod retook last place following a pit road speeding penalty. Also caught were both Yeley – who had just earned the Lucky Dog – and Kyle Busch in the #8 3CHI Chevrolet. 

Back under green in Stage 2, McLeod asked the team, “is there any way for it to quit making me hotter?” which appeared to refer to heat in the cockpit on what was a warm afternoon. Regardless of the issue, McLeod continued, and by Lap 105 both he and Newman had fallen a third lap down.

Three laps later, the last-place battle took a sudden and dramatic turn. Christopher Bell had yet to lead a lap, but climbed into the Top 10 on Lap 33 and on Lap 96 passed Kyle Larson for 5th. But heading into Turn 3 on Lap 107, Bell’s right-front brake rotor failed, putting his car into the outside wall. Bell slowed under caution and came to pit road, where the crew set to work on the right side. Bell radioed he didn’t have any brakes, and the crew discussed what to do next. “We’re done,” came the message on Lap 110. The team took particular care to not trail fluid through the adjoining pit stall belonging to Harrison Burton. Bell then pulled into Garage Stall 2 before he was brought to the infield care center by cart, where he was checked and released. On Lap 119, NASCAR declared Bell out due to the accident.

Despite a couple minor incidents, Bell was the race’s only DNF. Taking 35th was Austin Cindric, whose #2 Discount Tire Ford slapped the wall around Lap 130 but didn’t bring out the caution. This resulted in 11 lost laps for an extended pit stop to repair the right-side suspension. On Lap 144, Cindric returned to the track with less than two minutes on the “Crash Clock,” then reached minimum speed on Lap 147. With no additional attrition, he remained in 35th behind Newman and McLeod. Rounding out the group was A.J. Allmendinger, whose #16 Action Industries Chevrolet spun in practice after contact with Kyle Busch.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This marked the first last-place finish for the #20 in a Cup race at Phoenix.

*Bell is the first driver from the Championship Four in any Cup, XFINITY, or Truck Series race to finish last in the season finale.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

36) #20-Christopher Bell / 108 laps / crash

35) #2-Austin Cindric / 301 laps / running

34) #51-Ryan Newman / 305 laps / running

33) #78-B.J. McLeod / 306 laps / running

32) #16-A.J. Allmendinger / 308 laps / running

2023 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP - FINAL

1st) Joe Gibbs Racing, Live Fast Motorsports (5)

2nd) Richard Childress Racing, Rick Ware Racing, Spire Motorsports (4)

3rd) Legacy Motor Club, Penske Racing (3)

4th) Stewart-Haas Racing (2)

5th) Front Row Motorsports, Hendrick Motorsports, Kaulig Racing, Trackhouse Racing, Wood Brothers Racing (1)

2023 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP - FINAL

1st) Chevrolet (19)

2nd) Ford (11)

3rd) Toyota (5)

2023 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP - FINAL

XFINITY: Kyle Sieg secures LASTCAR championship by scoring first career last-place runs in the season’s final two races

ALL PHOTOS: Brock Beard

by Brock Beard

LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief

Kyle Sieg picked up the 2nd last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career in Saturday’s NASCAR XFINITY Series Championship Race at the Phoenix Raceway when his #38 JW Sports Cards Ford fell out due to a vibration after he completed 14 of 202 laps.

The finish, which came in Sieg’s 50th series start, was his second of the season and second in a row. In the XFINITY Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 21st for the #38, the 141st from a vibration, and the 167th for Ford. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 57th for the #38, the 215th from a vibration, and the 1,027th for Ford.

With the last-place finish, Sieg also claimed the 2023 LASTCAR XFINITY Series Championship, taking it from Parker Kligerman (who finished 16th) in the final race. In his post-race interview, the fact surprised Sieg, and for good reason – it was only his second last-place finish of the year, and the only time he’d led the standings all season.

Following his last-place finish last week in Martinsville, Sieg was one of 13 drivers in contention to take the title from Kligerman by taking the 38th spot. This time around, he’d drive the #38 for his family’s RSS Racing team, moving Joe Graf, Jr. to the #28 in place of C.J. McLaughlin. While McLaughlin wasn’t entered after his 13th-place run last Saturday, he was at the track helping the team. Sieg carried sponsorship from JW Sports Cards, plus a logo for Arizona’s The Taco Spot, which also happened to be the associate sponsor for Chris Hacker’s last-place Truck Series entry on Friday.

In practice, Kyle ranked 31st of the 40 entrants, then improved in qualifying, securing the 22nd starting spot with a lap of 130.383mph (27.611 seconds). The two teams that missed the show each experienced different struggles. 

Brad Perez picked up the open seat at CHK Racing to drive the #74 Lerner & Rowe Injury Lawyers Chevrolet. Multiple repairs and adjustments led to Perez taking just nine laps in practice – his first ever on the track – yet still managed to outpace three drivers. In three separate runs, his car bottomed out hard across a drain cover in the garage, trailing sparks and at one point causing debris to come off the splitter. A herculean effort by both Harmon’s team, Josh Williams, and his DGM Racing crew followed, allowing the team to replace the splitter. But in qualifying, the car broke loose in Turn 2 and slapped the outside wall, leaving him with no posted time. 

The other DNQ was Alpha Prime Racing’s #44 team, which had several qualifying issues over the summer. Daniel Dye was expected to make his third series start in the Champion Container Chevrolet, completing a double-duty effort with the Truck Series. But he was not cleared to race following a hard Turn 1 crash with Bayley Currey and Stefan Parsons. Fellow Alpha Prime driver Leland Honeyman got the call at two in the morning, but his first lap on the Phoenix track wasn’t enough to make the show.

Securing the 38th and final starting spot was LASTCAR title contender Anthony Alfredo, whose #78 RTIC Chevrolet didn’t take a lap in qualifying due to an engine change. Alfredo’s car sat at the exit of the XFINITY garage for several minutes before joining the rest of the field on the grid. An even later arrival was Blaine Perkins’ #02 Gratis Chevrolet – another LASTCAR challenger – which was pushed to its 32nd spot on the grid as the Championship Four were being introduced to the crowd. Like Alfredo, Perkins would incur a tail-end penalty – his for unapproved adjustments. 

The field addressed the starter’s stand with Alfredo still in the final row on the outside of Graf. Down the backstretch on Lap 1, Alfredo cleared Graf, putting the #28 back in last place. On Lap 2, Timmy Hill slipped to 37th in the #66 Angry Crab Shack Ford, and further ahead, Stefan Parsons had damage to the upper nose of his #4 Jupiter Rings Buffalo Sauce Chevrolet. Moments later, Playoff contender Justin Allgaier spun his #7 BRANDT Chevrolet from 5th while banging doors with John Hunter Nemechek. Allgaier promptly took last, avoiding serious damage as he continued some distance back of the field. He then pitted along with Graf, Hill, the damaged Parsons, and Brennan Poole’s #6 KST CPA Chevrolet. During the stops, Graf’s crew struggled with the left-rear wheel, Parsons’ crew added tape to the right side of the hood, and Hill was caught speeding in Section 16. The last spot fell to Parsons on Lap 6 after he made a second stop, which now made him the frontrunner for the LASTCAR title.

The race restarted on Lap 8, but Parsons had barely reached the stripe when trouble broke out in front of him. Kyle Sieg restarted 20th, but exiting Turn 1 was bumped by Kaz Grala’s #26 Ruedebusch Toyota. Sieg’s Ford slid sideways, then struck the outside wall with the right-rear corner of his car, drawing the race’s second caution. Sieg took last the next time by as he drove down pit road. The crew set to work on the pushed-in right-rear and applied tape to the buckled decklid which was pointed upward at the base of the rear windscreen. Kyle peeled out of his stall with a piece of the right-rear bodywork still dangling, then made a second stop on Lap 10. He twice stabbed the throttle three times before returning to the track, still with the debris hanging loose. NASCAR then called him back for a third stop to have the piece removed, which was done. He returned to the track on Lap 16, and despite a right-rear tire rub still cleared minimum speed on Lap 20. 

With the clock cleared, Sieg returned to pit road on Lap 23 for additional repairs. Three laps later, he backed up, then nearly entered the Cup garage before he was stopped by the official at the garage’s half-closed gate. He then backed up pit road and used the previous entrance to enter the XFINITY garage. By Lap 35, the team’s work had slowed, and NASCAR officials were there to retrieve their equipment. A member of the crew exclaimed his frustration with Kaz Grala’s contact, blaming series director Wayne Auton for allowing in drivers who race without respect. NASCAR didn’t declare Sieg out of the race until Lap 60, citing a vibration as his reason out.

Sieg stopped short at the closed entrance to the Cup garage.

Finishing 37th was Derek Kraus, whose #11 Western States Flooring Chevrolet crashed against the outside wall through Turns 3 and 4 just moments before the end of Stage 2. Taking 36th was J.J. Yeley, whose unique fan sponsorship from Fan Controlled put him behind the wheel of the #08 Fan Controlled / Safelite Ford. Decals for four contest winners were printed twice as large as they should have been, so they were arranged around the hood logo instead of in a row near the nose. Unfortunately, Yeley’s car was bumped into a spin by Friday’s last-place finisher Chris Hacker, putting him into the inside backstretch wall and out of the race. Hacker didn’t run much further before smoke in the cockpit forced multiple unscheduled stops, then a hard left turn into the garage area. Connor Mosack rounded out the Bottom Five after his #24 Toyota Outfitters Toyota struck the Turn 3 wall with 18 laps to go in regulation.

While the official results indicate these were the only retirees, 33rd-place Stefan Parsons continued to struggle after his early nose damage. While running laps down, he made a late-race pit stop and stalled the car. The crew gave him a push, but when it didn’t work, they pushed him back to his stall. A second attempt was made, but the result was the same. By the third attempt, the race was nearly over. His car was still stalled at the entrance to the XFINITY garage when the checkered flag fell, the engine again struggling to fire. The crew ended up pushing him in the rest of the way moments before the rest of the field followed him.

Rajah Caruth runs 14th in first start for Hendrick Motorsports

A few weeks ago, news broke that Hendrick Motorsports would enter a pair of drivers for one-off starts in their #17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet – a car that had previously been exclusively for Hendrick Motorsports’ Cup Series drivers. While Boris Said’s attempt at one more NASCAR start fell short due to mechanical issues in qualifying at the Charlotte “Roval,” there was still anticipation for Rajah Caruth’s one-off in the Phoenix finale. After closing out GMS Racing’s final season the previous night with teammates Grant Enfinger and Daniel Dye, Caruth would close a double-duty weekend in the #17 following 18 previous XFINITY starts for Tommy Joe Martins at Alpha Prime Racing. He ran 17th in practice and qualified 13th – more than enough to make the field.

Amidst a large crowd of fans and well-wishers, including Rick Hendrick who took photos with him on the grid, I was able to talk to Caruth before the start of the race. “The car’s really good,” he said. “I just feel a lot of gratitude for this opportunity and I'll just do my best to make the most of it.” 

I also asked Caruth about the photo that was tweeted of him buying Hendrick merchandise at a track’s souvenir hauler shortly after the announcement. “I got a bunch of hats. I like flat bill hats. And - well actually, that's all I got that time. And well actually, that's all I got that time. But I’ve got a lot of diecast at home, so I didn't get more.”

As to his expectations, he said, “I just want to be at the end. I know the car is good. And if I use my head, I'll be there at the end. To be respectful of the Championship Four guys, right? Because when I'm in that spot one day, I want to receive that same respect. Just execute the day and be there at the end.” 

While Caruth came up just short of his first career top-ten finish, his 14th-place showing stands as the second-best of his career, trailing only his 12th-place finishes for Alpha Prime in the last two fall races at Martinsville.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This marked the first last-place finish for the #38 in a XFINITY Series race at Phoenix. It’s also the first for the number in any XFINITY Series race since November 2, 2019 – just over four years ago – when J.J. Yeley’s unsponsored #38 RSS Racing Chevrolet had electrical issues after 3 laps of the O'Reilly Auto Parts 300 at Texas.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

38) #38-Kyle Sieg / 14 laps / vibration

37) #11-Derek Kraus / 84 laps / crash

36) #08-J.J. Yeley / 101 laps / crash

35) #53-Chris Hacker / 178 laps / suspension

34) #24-Connor Mosack / 180 laps / crash

2023 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP - FINAL

1st) SS-Green Light Racing (4)

2nd) Alpha Prime Racing, Emerling-Gase Motorsports, Motorsports Business Management (3)

3rd) Big Machine Racing, CHK Racing, DGM Racing, JD Motorsports, RSS Racing (2)

4th) AM Racing, B.J. McLeod Motorsports, Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, Jordan Anderson Racing, JR Motorsports, Kaulig Racing, Our Motorsports, Sam Hunt Racing, Stewart-Haas Racing (1)

2023 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP - FINAL

1st) Chevrolet (23)

2nd) Ford (6)

3rd) Toyota (4)

2023 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP – FINAL

TRUCKS: Recently reinstated Chris Hacker gives #30 first-ever Truck Series last-place finish; Josh Reaume secures title

PHOTO: Brock Beard

by Brock Beard

LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief

Chris Hacker picked up the 2nd last-place finish of his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career in Friday’s Craftsman 150 at the Phoenix Raceway when his #30 Morgan & Morgan / The Taco Spot Toyota was involved in a multi-truck accident after 53 of 179 laps.

The finish, which occurred in Hacker’s 15th series start, was his first of the season and first in a Truck Series race since September 24, 2021 at Las Vegas, 49 races ago. In the Truck Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 1st for the #30, the 189th from a crash, and the 53rd for Toyota. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 27th for the #30, the 402nd for Toyota, and the 1,360th from a crash.

Just last week at Martinsville, Hacker was reinstated by NASCAR following a suspension in August following his arrest for driving while intoxicated near Huntersville, North Carolina. Having been sober for more than two months and completed NASCAR’s “Road To Recovery” program, Hacker was cleared to run last week, where he steered Emerling-Gase Motorsports’ #35 XFINITY car to a 30th-place finish. It was his first series start since Loudon, where he finished 30th after a 14th-place debut in Richmond for RSS Racing.

For Phoenix, Hacker was one of several drivers to run double-duty in the season finale. On top of his run for Emerling-Gase in XFINITY – this time in the #53 – his Morgan & Morgan sponsorship would also be on a plain white Toyota fielded by On Point Motorsports. It was with this team that Hacker made his most recent Truck start at IRP, taking 29th. The Taco Spot also joined as backer, putting their logos on the quarter-panels. In between a 25th-place speed in XFINITY practice, Hacker ran 32nd in Thursday’s opening Truck practice, then qualified 30th with a lap of 132.558mph (27.158 seconds). He was second-slowest of those locked in on speed. Interestingly, the truck didn’t carry the driver’s “Hackerman” moniker as it had back in 2021. It instead showed Hacker’s name with a character from the film “Finding Nemo” saying “LFG.”

Not on the entry list for Phoenix were LASTCAR Truck Series title contenders Greg Van Alst and Stephen Mallozzi. After the remaining 38 entrants attempted the final 36-truck field of 2023, the list was shortened further. Sent home were the #12 King of the Hammers Chevrolet of Spencer Boyd – the defending LASTCAR Truck Series Champion who was eliminated from title contention after Zane Smith’s disqualification in the last round at Homestead – and the #33 More Core Ford of Keith McGee, who entered the race as the only driver who didn’t need to finish last in order to take the title from team owner Josh Reaume, who wasn’t entered.

With that, only four drivers were in position to take the LASTCAR Truck Series Championship from Reaume: 4th-place Zane Smith in the #38 Speedco / Delo Ford, 15th-place starter Dean Thompson in the #5 Thompson Pipe Group Toyota, 26th-place Colby Howard in the #9 Grant County Mulch Chevrolet, 31st-place Lawless Alan in the #45 AUTOParkit Chevrolet. All these drivers could only claim the title if they finished last – otherwise, it would stay with Reaume.

Securing the 36th and final starting spot was Tyler Hill in the #56 Consolidation Coach / UNITS Toyota – a truck which had no sponsorship on the rear TV panel. He’d be joined in the back by Stefan Parsons, who landed the best ride of his Truck Series career in a one-off for Rackley W.A.R. But late in Thursday practice, where he’d just put up the 13th-fastest lap, a cut right-front tire sent him into the wall, forcing the team to roll out the backup. During the final pace lap, Parsons dropped to the rear down the backstretch, slotting in line behind Hill’s #56.

When the green flag dropped, Parsons quickly gained a few spots, and Hill followed him past Nick Leitz, whose #20 Precision Measurements Chevrolet stayed locked onto Hill’s bumper. On Lap 3, Hill was now racing Marco Andretti in Spire Motorsports’ #7 Gainbridge Chevrolet. Leitz lost more ground until the next time by, when the first caution fell for Stewart Friesen’s Turn 2 spin in the #52 Halmar International Toyota. Friesen continued with only a small tire mark to the left-rear corner of his rear bumper, taking 35th ahead of the still last-place Leitz. Still under yellow on Lap 8, the spot fell to Hailie Deegan, who had stopped her #13 Pit Boss Ford to avoid the spinning Friesen. 

Deegan restarted in last place and now battled Hill to his outside. On Lap 14, she pulled ahead, but Hill caught her the next time by and on Lap 16 crossed her nose going into Turn 3 to drop her back to last place. On Lap 18, both Hill and Deegan passed another struggling truck in Spencer Davis, returning to the #04 Fly Alliance / CarQuest Ford. Davis started to lose ground to both Hill and Deegan, and for the first time was about to be caught by the leaders. On Lap 21, Deegan was up to 33rd and working over Christian Rose in the #22 Disability Opportunity Fund Ford. Behind her, Leitz now held 34th, leading a trailing line of Hill and Davis. Davis began to catch Hill just before the leaders caught them, and on Lap 27, then-leader Ty Majeski put Davis the first truck one lap down.

As traffic continued to thread their way through the back of the field, Davis reeled in the now 35th-place Rose, who had fallen behind Deegan, Leitz, and now Hill. Davis caught and dropped Rose to last on Lap 30, then fell behind Davis by open ground. The gap grew from about one second on Lap 35 to three seconds on Lap 41, counting down the laps to the end of Stage 1. After running the low lane down the backstretch for several laps, he pulled high on Lap 44 to let Matt Crafton work his way past. Rose remained last when Stage 1 ended on Lap 46. Under the yellow, Rose’s crew discussed shock and air pressure adjustments, then settled on track bar changes. This was done on Lap 50, when he pitted with the other lapped trucks.

Under this same yellow, Sean Hingorani made at least three stops for a persistent issue on his #75 Fidelity Capital Chevrolet. This dropped him to last on Lap 52. Two laps later, as Hingorani left his stall from his third stop, the leaders had already taken the restart and were working their way through Turns 1 and 2. This put Hingorani about five seconds back of the 35th-place runner, a gap which was soon erased when the last-place battle came to a sudden end.

Per a report by David PeQueen, Hacker had finished 32nd in Stage 1, complaining of his truck running “tight in the center, plowing, not able to cut to the bottom like he wants. He says the back wants to jump out on throttle, a result of having so much wheel in it.” On Lap 56, Hacker had slipped to 32nd when he tangled with the now 34th-place runner Marco Andretti. The collision put Hacker hard into the outside wall, crumpling both ends of his #30, which was left stranded on track. Andretti made it past the stripe and onto pit road, where the team saw they had too much damage. “Thank you, guys, what a bummer,” said Andretti on the radio, reporting that he was hit by “several trucks” before he crashed. The medical staff picked him up and transported him to the infield care center, where Hacker was soon treated and released. An AMR official accompanied Andretti’s wife Marta to the medical center, and he too was soon released. After both were interviewed, Andretti watched replays of the accident.

With the last-place finish, Josh Reaume locked-up the 2023 LASTCAR Truck Series Championship.

More accidents soon filled the Bottom Five. Taking 34th and 33rd were Conner Jones in the #66 Lung Cancer Awareness Ford and Jake Drew in the #61 Cyclum Truck Stops Toyota, whose battle for 15th led to Drew sliding into the wall and a trapped Jones following him into the fence. Competing the group was Daniel Dye, whose “throwback” scheme to Sheldon Creed’s 2020 title run ended with a stack-up in Turn 3 which destroyed the front of his #43 GMS Racing Chevrolet. Dye was checked and released, but not cleared to run his own double-dury effort with Alpha Prime's XFINITY team. His #44 for Saturday went to Leland Honeyman.

Multiple overtimes yield a few surprising performances

After all the chaos of a race that went 29 laps past the scheduled distance, some drivers came out with fantastic runs. In only his third career start, Jesse Love took home 4th despite a bumper bar sticking from the nose of his #1 HomeSmiles Toyota. On the eve of his full-time XFINITY ride with Richard Childress Racing in 2024, Love has now made three Truck starts, completed all of his attempted laps, and finished no worse than 13th. Dean Thompson – one of the LASTCAR title contenders – finished 7th, his second-best run of the entire season. Kaden Honeycutt, running another unsponsored Young’s Motorsports entry, finished 8th in the #02, improving on his career-best 9th in this same race last year, which he’d matched earlier this year in the Bristol Dirt Race. And after running last at the end of Stage 1, Christian Rose recovered to finish on the lead lap in 16th – a significant improvement over his 32nd-place debut earlier this year at Richmond.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*Hacker completed the third-most laps of any Truck Series last-place finisher at Phoenix. The record remains with Travis Kvapil, who turned 99 laps before a crash on February 25, 2011.

*This marked the first last-place finish for the #30 in a Truck Series race. Coming into Friday, the #30 was the lowest available truck number to have yet to finish last in a points-paying race in this series. Friday marked its 363rd start in the series’ history, dating back to Joe Bessey’s 4th-place run in the 1995 inaugural at this same Phoenix track.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

36) #30-Chris Hacker / 53 laps / crash

35) #7-Marco Andretti / 54 laps / crash

34) #66-Conner Jones / 100 laps / crash

33) #61-Jake Drew / 100 laps / crash

32) #43-Daniel Dye / 128 laps / crash 

2023 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP - FINAL

1st) Reaume Brothers Racing, Young’s Motorsports (4)

2nd) G2G Racing (3)

3rd) AM Racing, Niece Motorsports, Roper Racing, TRICON Garage (2)

4th) CR7 Motorsports, FDNY Racing, Front Row Motorsports, GK Racing, Kyle Busch Motorsports, On Point Motorsports (1)

2023 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP - FINAL

1st) Chevrolet (9)

2nd) Ford (8)

3rd) Toyota (6)

2023 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP - FINAL

PREVIEW: Two tight LASTCAR championship battles and several double-duty drivers on hand for Phoenix finales

PHOTO: Emerling-Gase Motorsports, @EG_Motorsports

by Brock Beard

LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief

LASTCAR TRACKSIDE COVERAGE

I'll be closing out my 2023 trackside coverage with this weekend's action from Friday through Sunday - including the close LASTCAR championships in both Trucks and XFINITY. Be sure to follow me on Twitter / X at @LASTCARonBROCK for more updates!

Friday, November 3, 2023 (10:00 P.M. ET, FS1)

TRUCKS Race 23 of 23

Championship Race

Craftsman 150 at Phoenix

2022 Last-Place Finisher: Armani Williams

CHAMPIONSHIP FOUR

#11-Corey Heim

#23-Grant Enfinger

#42-Carson Hocevar

#99-Ben Rhodes

LASTCAR CHAMPIONSHIP SCENARIOS

The current leader in the LASTCAR Truck Series Championship is Josh Reaume, who leads by just one bottom-ten finish over his teammate Keith McGee. McGee is entered while Reaume is not, giving McGee a prime opportunity to clinch the title in the season’s final race. McGee clinches with a last-place finish, no matter where everyone else finishes.

McGee can also win with a Bottom Five if none of the four title contenders below finish in last. If McGee finishes in the Bottom Ten, but not the Bottom Five, and none of the other four title contenders finish last, Reaume takes the title on a bottom-fifteen tiebreaker, 9-4.

These are the four drivers who can win the title by finishing last at Phoenix, no matter where McGee finishes. Greg Van Alst was also on this list, but remains out of the field as he recovers from his Talladega injury. Stephen Mallozzi also had a mathematical shot at the title, but was not entered. Thus, McGee joins these four contenders:

ENTRY LIST

There are 38 drivers entered for 36 spots, meaning two will fail to qualify.

RETURNING: #1-TRICON Garage

Earlier this season at Gateway, Jesse Love made his Truck Series debut in Corey Heim’s truck – a last-minute switch after an illness. Love finished 9th, then returned to his originally scheduled “all-star” #1 entry for Kansas, where he finished 13th. Now with his ARCA Menards Series championship in hand – and Heim competing for the Truck Series title - Love makes his first start since, and on the eve of his graduation to RCR’s XFINITY program. It’s the first run for TRICON’s #1 since team owner David Gilliland’s crash at Talladega left him 35th.

DRIVER CHANGE: #22-AM Racing

Christian Rose seeks to make only his second career start this Friday, his first since a 32nd-place debut with this same AM Racing team in Richmond, where he came home six laps down. Taking the place of Mason Maggio, who finished 27th in Homestead, Rose’s Ford carries sponsorship from the Disability Opportunity Fund.

DRIVER CHANGE: #25-Rackley-W.A.R.

As announced just last month, Stefan Parsons seeks his 11th career Truck Series start and first since a 28th-place run for Young’s Motorsports in Pocono – this time behind the wheel of last year’s Talladega winning Rackley-W.A.R. effort. This will be the best entry Parsons has yet raced in the series where his career-best finish of 17th came in his 2018 series debut at Bristol driving for Jay Robinson, formerly of Premium Motorsports. Parsons takes the place of Trevor Bayne, who steered the #25 to a 14th-place finish in Homestead, and eyes a new career-best. Parsons will also run double-duty with the XFINITY Series (see below).

DRIVER CHANGE: #30-On Point Motorsports

Another driver pulling double-duty with the XFINITY Series will be Chris Hacker who was announced as driver of the On Point #30 effort in place of 26th-place Homestead finisher Jonathan Shafer. This would be Hacker’s 15th career Truck Series start and first since IRP, where he ran 29th with this same team. 

DRIVER CHANGE: #33-Reaume Brothers Racing

While the preliminary entry list showed only “TBA,” it was announced early in the week that Keith McGee will return to race at the track where he crashed out early last year in a tangle with Armani Williams. McGee, who has hinted at soon-to-be-announced plans for 2024, will pilot the flagship #33 entry in place of Memphis Villarreal, who ran 29th in Homestead. More Core is the listed sponsor for McGee, who remains locked in a tight battle with team owner Josh Reaume for the 2023 LASTCAR Truck Series Championship.

MISSING: #46-G2G Racing

The aforementioned Armani Williams, the defending last-place finisher of this race, is not entered this week after a 31st-place finish in Homestead. The G2G team announced that last week’s race would be their last for 2023.

RETURNING: #66-ThorSport Racing

Phoenix will mark the ninth career start for Conner Jones, who we last saw piloting ThorSport’s part-time #66 entry back at Bristol, yielding a career-best 15th-place finish.

RETURNING: #75-Henderson Motorsports

A surprising bit of news came from Charlie Henderson’s team, which has rarely competed on the west coast tracks and particularly without XFINITY regular Parker Kligerman. The #75 will make the trip for Sean Hingorani’s second career Truck Series start and first since a 23rd-place run in Hattori Racing Enterprises’ second entry at Milwaukee. Fidelity Capital, which backed him that day, will again sponsor Hingorani's ride the same day he looks to clinch the ARCA West title.

NEW TEAM: #77-Spire Motorsports

On the eve of their formal acquisition of Kyle Busch Motorsports, the Spire team has for the first time entered two Truck Series entries. Alongside Marco Andretti in the #7 comes a returning Derek Kraus, whose stock has been on the rise after a series of strong runs with Kaulig Racing, most recently an 11th last week in Homestead where he led 21 laps. Kraus seeks his third Truck Series start of the year – his first since an equally impressive 8th in Spire’s #7 at Milwaukee – and carries sponsorship from Western States Flooring.

DRIVER CHANGE: #02-Young’s Motorsports

As I revealed in the lead-up to the ARCA Menards Series race at Roseville, Kaden Honeycutt will indeed reunite with Young’s Motorsports for the Phoenix finale, taking the place of 24th-place Homestead finisher Brad Perez. Honeycutt, who has been on a tear in ARCA West since his win in Roseville, last competed in Trucks at Bristol with a 25th-place finish, and in this race last year scored his first career top-ten finish with a 9th for On Point Motorsports.

CUP INVADERS: None

Saturday, November 4, 2023 (7:00 P.M. ET, USA)

XFINITY Race 33 of 33

Championship Race

XFINITY Series Championship at Phoenix

2022 Last-Place Finisher: Dillon Bassett

CHAMPIONSHIP FOUR

#1-Sam Mayer

#7-Justin Allgaier

#20-John Hunter Nemechek

#00-Cole Custer

LASTCAR CHAMPIONSHIP SCENARIOS

Saturday sees the conclusion of an unusually competitive LASTCAR XFINITY Series Championship. Parker Kligerman remains the leader as the only two-time last-place finisher entered in the race, but has so few Bottom Fives (2) and Bottom Tens (2) that 16 one-time last-place finishers could have won the title by finishing last at Phoenix, no matter where Kligerman finishes. Of these, 12 are entered, eliminating Dawson Cram, Gray Gaulding, Patrick Emerling, and Sage Karam:

ENTRY LIST

There are 40 entrants for 38 spots, meaning two will fail to qualify.

DRIVER CHANGE: #4-JD Motorsports

DRIVER SWAP: #08-SS-Green Light Racing

Stefan Parsons completes his double-duty weekend with JD Motorsports – his first start for team owner Johnny Davis since November 2, 2019 at Texas – as he takes the place of 34th-place Martinsville finisher J.J. Yeley in the #4. Jupiter Rings Buffalo Sauce will sponsor the Parsons effort, the 65th of his career. Yeley will also drive, taking the place of 27th-place Martinsville finisher Chad Finchum in SS-Green Light’s #08 Ford with sponsorship from Fan Controlled and Safelite, the result of an online poll that voted him in over challenger Mason Massey.

DRIVER CHANGE: #11-Kaulig Racing

Derek Kraus looks to continue his string of strong runs for Kaulig in the season finale as he takes the place of 11th-place Martinsville finisher Layne Riggs in the #11. This will close a double-duty weekend for Kraus, who is also entered in Spire Motorsports’ second entry for Friday’s Truck Series race.

RETURNING / DRIVER SWAP: #17-Hendrick Motorsports

DRIVER CHANGE: #44-Alpha Prime Racing

As he helps close out GMS Racing’s Truck Series program in a 2020 throwback scheme on Friday, Daniel Dye will also run a third and last XFINITY race for the year in Alpha Prime’s #44, his first since a 21st-place run in Las Vegas. Dye takes the place of one of his GMS teammates in Rajah Caruth, who this weekend gets his chance in elite level equipment as driver of Hendrick Motorsports’ #17 Chevrolet. In anticipation of this opportunity, Caruth has even purchased his own HendrickCars.com merchandise at a track’s souvenir hauler.

DRIVER SWAP: #28-RSS Racing

WITHDREW: #29-RSS Racing

RSS Racing has withdrawn their part-time fourth entry, the #29 which finished last after Kyle Sieg’s blown tire in the early laps at Martinsville. Sieg will move over to the #28 in place of C.J. McLaughlin, who finished an impressive 13th that day.

DRIVER CHANGE: #35-Emerling-Gase Motorsports

DRIVER SWAP: #53-Emerling-Gase Motorsports

Another shuffling of entries comes at the Emerling-Gase program where Joey Gase returns to the #35 with Donate Life Arizona n the car, moving Chris Hacker to the #53 in place of 33rd-place Martinsville finisher Akinori Ogata. Hacker, who closes out a double-duty effort with On Point Motorsports’ Truck Series team on Friday, will carry sponsorship from Morgan & Morgan.

RETURNING / DRIVER CHANGE: #74-CHK Racing

DRIVER SWAP: #07-SS-Green Light Racing

There was originally no driver listed for CHK Racing, which had withdrawn from last week’s action in Martinsville. But that news changed mid-week with word that Brad Perez – who originally thought he’d run his last race of the year – was tabbed to run the #74. Perez seeks his eighth series start and first since his last-place run on the Indianapolis Grand Prix Circuit for Emerling-Gase. Dawson Cram, who last ran for CHK at Homestead where a freak wheel issue resulted in a crash, this time drives SS-Green Light’s #07 with returning sponsorship from Titan Construction. Cram takes the place of Devin Jones, whose first XFINITY start since 2017 resulted in a 37th-place finish. 

DRIVER CHANGE: #91-DGM Racing

Kyle Weatherman will make his 109th series start after he wasn’t entered at Martinsville looking to build on his 16th-place run his last time out at Homestead. Then as now he drives for DGM Racing in the #91, taking the place of 23rd-place Martinsville finisher Josh Bilicki. Fanttik is the listed sponsor for Weatherman’s Chevrolet.

CUP INVADERS: None

Sunday, November 5, 2023 (3:00 P.M. ET, NBC)

CUP Race 36 of 36

Championship Race

Cup Series Championship at Phoenix

2022 Last-Place Finisher: Landon Cassill

CHAMPIONSHIP FOUR

#5-Kyle Larson

#12-Ryan Blaney

#20-Christopher Bell

#24-William Byron

LASTCAR CHAMPIONSHIP SCENARIOS

B.J. McLeod secured his third LASTCAR Cup Series championship with his series-leading fifth last-place finish last Sunday in Martinsville.

ENTRY LIST

The season concludes with the Daytona 500 as the only 40-car starting grid in 2023 as Phoenix marks the 23rd time only the 36 Chartered teams arrive at the track. There are no team or driver changes from last week’s Martinsville race.

TODAY IN LASTCAR HISTORY (November 2, 1997): Ricky Craven picked up the 4th last-place finish of his NASCAR Winston Cup Series career when his #25 Budweiser Chevrolet crashed after 39 laps of the Dura Lube 500 Presented by K-Mart at Phoenix. Craven had started last in the 43-car field, then found trouble in Turn 3. Of his 12 career Cup Series last-place finishes, this was the only one he earned while driving for Hendrick Motorsports.