CUP: Last-place McLeod separated from winner Buescher by just five laps as full Cup field finishes under power for first time since 2018

PHOTO: @teamlivefast

by Brock Beard

LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief

B.J. McLeod picked up the 12th last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career in Sunday’s Cook Out 400 at the Richmond Raceway when his #78 Freedomworkshere.com Chevrolet finished under power, five laps down, completing 395 of 400 laps.

The finish, which came in McLeod’s 129th series start, was his third of the season and first since Atlanta in March, 17 races ago. In the Cup Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 33rd for the #78, the 40th finishing under power, and the 845th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 49th for the #78, the 53rd while running, and the 1,905th for Chevrolet.

Since he was last featured here, B.J. McLeod and his Live Fast Motorsports team have entered rides for both a returning Josh Bilicki and Anthony Alfredo. Alfredo ran the spring race at Richmond – his first since parting ways with Front Row Motorsports at the end of 2021 – and finished 33rd, followed by a 35th in Martinsville. Bilicki drove the #78 in the All-Star Open at North Wilkesboro plus five points-paying races, most recently a 23rd on the Chicago Street Course. This stretch also saw McLeod earn the team’s best finish of the season at Talladega, taking 18th, though he nearly earned an even better run this month in Atlanta before settling in 20th. Most impressively for such a small team, the #78 has only failed to finish once since March – a steering issue by McLeod at Darlington.

At Richmond, McLeod debuted new sponsorship from Freedomworkshere.com, an initiative promoting employment in South Dakota. With this car, McLeod was the weekend’s biggest surprise in qualifying, rebounding from 36th and last in opening practice to secure 21st on the grid with a lap of 112.881mph (23.919 seconds). It was a new career-best for the driver, whose previous mark of 22nd came earlier this year at Dover. 

Starting 36th and last was A.J. Allmendinger, who didn’t practice nor qualify his #16 Action Industries Chevrolet while he competed in Saturday’s XFINITY Series race at Road America, where he finished 9th after brake trouble. Derek Kraus, who has also driven for Kaulig, turned his first laps in a Cup car, but turned in the second-slowest lap to McLeod’s in practice and the slowest in qualifying. Allmendinger returned on Sunday and would incur a redundant tail-end penalty for the driver change.

McLeod is first to be lapped by Reddick (far left)
SCREENSHOT: NASCAR Drive

Allmendinger took the green flag to the outside of J.J. Yeley in Rick Ware Racing’s #15 Patriot Mobile / Sound of Freedom Ford, then made quick work of him in Turn 1. Yeley crossed the stripe in last, 4.209 seconds back of the lead and 0.137 behind Allmendinger’s Chevrolet. By Lap 2, Yeley had passed his teammate Ryan Newman in the #51 Parts Plus / Biohaven Ford, and Newman reported his car was “a little free off.” By Lap 9, McLeod had slipped down the rankings into Newman’s clutches, and on the 10th lap was now in 36th, 11.382 seconds back of the lead. Just ahead, Ty Dillon now ran outside Newman in the #77 Gainbridge Chevrolet, trying to gain speed by running the high lane. Concerned that doing so would wear his own tires out, McLeod stayed to the low line. By Lap 21, McLeod reported he was “really tight center, no drive off,” and five laps later had dropped 2.062 seconds back of Newman. By Lap 30, Newman had passed Corey LaJoie, whose #7 FOE Chevrolet now held 35th. Entering Turn 1 on Lap 38, race leader Tyler Reddick put McLeod the first car one lap down. On Lap 71, McLeod finished Stage 1 two laps down, and discussed adjustments to the left-front.

After adjustments, McLeod took the Lap 79 restart still in 36th, but now one lap down, and kept in touch with the tail end of the field. By Lap 112, he requested “the same change, just more of it,” and watched as Ty Dillon continued to run the high line, now to the outside of Noah Gragson, whose 30th-place #42 Sunseeker Resort Chevrolet was the last car on the lead lap. Green-flag stops unfolded, which changed the running order. On Lap 125, the spot fell to Justin Haley, who showed three laps down in the #31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet. Three laps later, Harrison Burton took the spot after pitting his #21 Dex Imaging Ford. J.J. Yeley took it the next time by, his #15 showing two laps down. Then on Lap 131, after making a wedge adjustment, McLeod reassumed 36th place, still showing 2 laps down. By the 153rd circuit, McLeod reported he was “free in, tight center, free off,” and on Lap 157 passed both Spire Motorsports cars as both Ty Dillon and Corey LaJoie pitted on consecutive laps. McLeod himself pitted on Lap 174, when he retook last once more, now four laps down. He remained four laps down on Lap 231, when only the second caution of the race fell to end Stage 2.

McLeod had a fast stop under this caution, dropping Ty Dillon to last on Lap 237, and allowing McLeod to navigate traffic on the Lap 240 restart to begin the final stage. In this traffic, Dillon caught McLeod and dropped him back to last the next time by. McLeod stopped again on Lap 285, dropping him a fifth lap down when he returned to the track. Ty Dillon stopped again on Lap 295, putting the #77 back to last before McLeod once again took last two laps later. With 48 to go, McLeod was shown between six and seven laps down, and with 11 to go radioed that he had “no grip at all.” 

Then with 8 to go, the only caution fell for an on-track incident. Daniel Suarez, who was trapped two laps down after a one-stop strategy in Stage 1 backfired, spun his #99 Jockey Chevrolet after contact from Noah Gragson in Turn 4. Suarez continued with little damage, but fell to four laps down by the restart, placing him 33rd on the same lap as Yeley and Ty Dillon. By now, McLeod was shown five laps down, but still in last place. Had Suarez wrecked out after the contact from Gragson, he could have taken last from McLeod within the 400-lap distance. Instead, the order didn’t change in the sprint to the finish, and McLeod finished the race under power. LaJoie completed the Bottom Five, one lap ahead of Suarez, Dillon, and Yeley.

Ryan Preece earns much-needed Top Five

Finishing an impressive 5th was Ryan Preece, who during a challenging year for Stewart-Haas Racing overcame both a post-race argument with Corey LaJoie after his late-race spin in last week’s race at Pocono and early struggles in the Richmond race itself to earn his first top-five finish since August 28, 2021 at Daytona. This stands as Preece’s best-ever finish at Richmond, a track where his best in six previous starts was 18th this past spring.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This was the first Cup Series points-paying race where all the starters finished under power since November 18, 2018 at Homestead, where Regan Smith finished 27 laps down after missing the start. The last time this happened at Richmond was on April 24, 2016, when Reed Sorenson finished 10 laps down after a cut tire. 

*By finishing five laps down, McLeod completed five laps more than Sorenson, second-most among Richmond last-place finishers behind only Erik Jones’ DNQ from 4th place after turning all 400 laps on September 21, 2019.

*This marked the first last-place finish for the #78 in a Cup race at Richmond since September 8, 2007, when Joe Nemechek’s #78 Furniture Row Chevrolet crashed after 130 laps of the Chevy Rock ‘n Roll 400.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

36) #78-B.J. McLeod / 395 laps / running

35) #15-J.J. Yeley / 396 laps / running 

34) #77-Ty Dillon / 396 laps / running

33) #99-Daniel Suarez / 396 laps / running

32) #7-Corey LaJoie / 397 laps / running

2023 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Spire Motorsports (4)

2nd) Live Fast Motorsports, Penske Racing (3)

3rd) Joe Gibbs Racing, Legacy Motor Club, Richard Childress Racing, Rick Ware Racing (2)

4th) Hendrick Motorsports, Kaulig Racing, Trackhouse Racing (1)

2023 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet (14)

2nd) Ford (5)

3rd) Toyota (2)

2023 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

TRUCKS: Josh Reaume clears “Crash Clock” in final laps as all starters complete Richmond Truck race for a second-straight year

PHOTO: Reaume Brothers Racing

by Brock Beard

LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief

Josh Reaume picked up the 6th last-place finish of his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career in Saturday’s Worldwide Express 250 at the Richmond Raceway when his #34 Motorsports Safety Group Ford finished under power, 11 laps down, completing 239 of 250 laps.

The finish, which came in Reaume’s 74th series start, was his second of the season and first since Las Vegas, 14 races ago. In the Truck Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 8th from a driver still running, the 10th for the #34, and the 121st for Ford. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 52nd while running, the 56th for the #34, and the 1,015th for Ford.

The Reaume Brothers Racing team continues to try and make ends meet after a series of setbacks. Following a costly shop fire over the offseason, co-driver Keith McGee made the unexpected decision to return home to his family in Alaska, opening the team’s second entry, the #34. While this opened the door for developing racers like Mason Maggio, Stephen Mallozzi, and Caleb Costner, the team’s flagship #33 has failed to qualify for four races with the #34 missing another three. But the #33 has only failed to finish just one of the races it has started this year, yielding a season-best 11th in Texas with Mason Massey driving.

For Richmond, Josh Reaume himself would run the #34, which was last entered in Nashville. This opened the #33 for newcomer Derek Lemke, a late model racer who also performs public relations and marketing for fellow racer Natalie Decker. While Reaume’s 35th-best lap in practice out-ranked Lemke, Lemke out-qualified Reaume in time trials, taking 31st while Reaume took 36th and last with a lap of 112.341mph (24.034 seconds).  

Reaume and Lemke were among the 38 drivers entered for 36 starting spots. Failing to qualify were both Trey Hutchens, whose #14 Quality Roof Seamers Chevrolet failed to qualify for the second of its three attempts this season, its first DNQ since Nashville, along with Memphis Villareal in G2G Racing’ #46 Zoe Freedom / Eco Pile Toyota, sponsors soon joined by Michael Waltrip’s brewery. The #46 was originally entered with Jerry Bohlman, whose marine construction firm was advertised on the lower quarter-panels. It was Bohlman who in his only previous attempt failed to qualify at the Bristol Dirt Race due to a pressure plate failure that kept him from starting Heat Race #3. In practice, Bohlman hit the wall, incurring minor damage, so crew member Memphis Villareal was called on to try and qualify the truck. Villareal missed the cut with the slowest lap of the session, 2.139 seconds off the pole and seven-tenths off Hutchens’ lap.

Reaume was also one of three sent to the rear for unapproved adjustments, including 17th-place Carson Hocevar in the #42 Worldwide Express Chevrolet and 34th-place starter Justin S. Carroll in the #90 Carroll’s Automotive / Duratrain Toyota. A lengthy delay due to a lightning hold meant two other trucks needed a push off pit road: 29th-place Will Rodgers in the #02 Chevrolet and 35th-place Christian Rose in the #22 Secure Testing Services Ford. Rodgers’ crew got a push to his pit stall while the team called for a replacement battery, and would become the fourth to drop to the tail end.

When the race started, Reaume resumed his spot in 36th place, but on Lap 5 dropped Justin S. Carroll to last. Carroll then set back after Reaume, the crew telling him, “You and him right now” on Lap 10. By Lap 18, Carroll had caught both Reaume and Lemke, then cut low in a daring three-wide pass on them both. He completed the move, climbing to 34th with Lemke now just behind Reaume in last place. Lemke was first to lose a lap on the 22nd circuit, then lost a second by the 39th. On Lap 50, the spot fell to Spencer Boyd in the #12 Latitude Aero Chevrolet. From there, Boyd’s spotter advised him to diamond the corners for faster lap times, but the truck was pushing badly in the center of the corner, and it was believed the right-front was worn down to the cords. When the Stage 1 caution fell on Lap 71, Boyd relayed that he locked his left-front at the start, then had to use more and more wheel until the front of his truck began to bounce.

Mason Massey (center-left) behind the wall.
PHOTO: @jackf_twt

On Lap 77, Lemke took over last place, followed by Reaume on Lap 78. Reaume’s team was now having radio issues and had to switch to Channel 2. Reaume remained last until Lap 113, when apparent contact from Hailie Deegan sent Dean Thompson spinning out of the Top 10 in his #5 Thompson Pipe Group Toyota. Thompson continued without damage, but the delay in turning around and subsequent pit stop dropped him three laps down. The next time by, Thompson climbed to 34th ahead of Boyd and Reaume, who had just pitted. Boyd was instructed by NASCAR to stop and let his field roll past, putting him back to last, four laps down. When the Lap 141 caution fell to end Stage 2, Boyd was still last, now five laps down.

On Lap 144, Boyd was told he would finish the race on 12-lap scuffed tires from practice. At the same time, Mason Massey pulled behind the wall in his #20 Brunt Chevrolet, stopping just behind the entrance. The issue appeared to be either the brakes or a stuck throttle as the crew had him mash the pedals, then shut off the engine and re-fire. On Lap 147, just moments after returning to pit road, Massey took last from Boyd. By the time Massey was back up to speed, he was seven laps down, two behind 35th-place Reaume and three behind 34th-place Boyd. Once again, all 36 starters were still running.

With 77 to go, Reaume bounced off the wall in Turn 1 and slowed, but didn’t draw the caution as he came to pit road with sparks dragging beneath his Ford. He retook last from Massey two laps later, and five laps after that returned to the track a full 10 laps down. One lap after this, with 71 to go, Reaume cleared the “Crash Clock” by reaching minimum speed. With 29 to go, he beat Nick Leitz’ track record of a year earlier by turning his 210th lap as the Richmond race’s last-place finisher. While multiple drivers incurred pit road penalties in the final green-flag run, including several who NASCAR threatened to stop scoring for not serving them, no other driver contested Reaume for last place. He took the checkered flag 11 laps down, one lap behind Boyd, two behind Massey, three behind Lemke, and four behind Christian Rose.

Mills follows through in KBM effort

The win went to Carson Hocevar, who along with Reaume was sent to the tail end of the field before the start. Finishing a strong 5th in his first start for Kyle Busch Motorsports was XFINITY Series underdog Matt Mills, who had never finished better than 15th in 20 previous Truck Series starts, and has only once finished in the Top Ten in 121 XFINITY races.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This marked the first last-place finish for the #34 in a Truck Series race at Richmond, and the second in a row where the entire field finished under power.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

36) #34-Josh Reaume / 239 laps / running

35) #12-Spencer Boyd / 240 laps / running

34) #20-Mason Massey / 242 laps / running

33) #33-Derek Lemke / 243 laps / running

32) #22-Christian Rose / 244 laps / running

2023 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Reaume Brothers Racing (4)

2nd) G2G Racing (3)

2nd) AM Racing, Niece Motorsports, TRICON Garage, Young’s Motorsports (2)

3rd) CR7 Motorsports, GK Racing, Roper Racing (1)

2023 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Ford (6)

2nd) Chevrolet, Toyota (5)

2023 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

XFINITY: Katherine Legge's mechanical issue leaves her last in NASCAR return

ALL PHOTOS: Jared Haas, @RealJaredHaas

by Brock Beard

LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief

Katherine Legge picked up the 1st last-place finish of her NASCAR XFINITY Series career in Saturday’s Road America 180 at Road America when her #07 Blast Equality Collab Chevrolet fell out with fuel pump issues after 9 of 49 laps.

The finish came in her fifth series start. In the XFINITY Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 8th from a fuel pump issue, the 15th for the #07, and the 625th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 26th for the #07, the 36th for the fuel pump, and the 1,904th for Chevrolet.

Saturday marked Legge’s first NASCAR start since 2018, when she ran her first four XFINITY Series races with JD Motorsports, then running the #15 Chevrolet with sponsorship from Airtec. Her best of these four came at this very track in Road America, where she finished on the lead lap in 14th. One week after her oval debut in Richmond, where she took 28th, her most recent start came on the Charlotte “Roval,” where she finished 33rd. In the years since, the British-born Legge has been a regular in the Weathertech SportsCar Championship, where she finished runner-up in the GTD standings in 2018, and this year made her first Indianapolis 500 in a decade. Unfortunately, damage sustained on pit road left her in last place.

Legge has been no stranger to Road America, where she made two starts in CART, seven in the Weathertech sports cars, and one in the American Le Mans Series, where she ranked 3rd in the famous DeltaWing LM12, and two in CART open-wheel competition. She’s also no stranger to the track’s dangers, most significantly her frightening wreck in CART in 2006 that sent her car airborne at Turn 11. For Saturday’s race, Legge would this time drive for Bobby Dotter in SS-Green Light Racing’s #07. Both Legge and teammate Alex Labbe in the #08 carried sponsorship from the ref-ology + Blast Equity Collab, a non-profit regarding sports officiating. 

At Road America, Legge ranked 28th in opening practice, where she at one point drove through the grass. She then qualified 14th in Qualifying Round 1B, securing 24th on the grid with her fourth and best lap of 107.411mph (135.673 seconds).

With 38 drivers entered for as many spots, no teams would be sent home, but several would struggle on the track’s newly repaved surface. Rolling off 38th and last was Kyle Weatherman, who ran second-slowest in practice after he drove through a gravel trap during the session. Weatherman was one of seven drivers to not turn a lap in qualifying as he was also one of ten to incur a tail-end penalty for Saturday’s race. 

The seven including Weatherman who didn’t take time ranked 32nd through 38th: Daniel Hemric for an engine change on the #11 Cirkul Chevrolet; Brandon Jones who backed into the wall during his warm-up lap in the #9 Menards / Pennington Grass Seed Chevrolet sending him to a backup car; Ryan Sieg after right-front damage to his #39 CMRRoofing.com Ford; Joe Graf, Jr. for unapproved adjustments on the #38 GTECHNIQ Ford; Ryan Ellis for unapproved adjustments on the #43 1-844-TOM-KEEN Chevrolet; and 37th-place Alex Labbe, Legge’s teammate, who along with Stefan Parsons practiced the #08 Compass Team Schuler Ford, a car which caught fire on pit road at the end of practice, necessitating an engine change.

The other three who incurred pre-race penalties were 10th-place Sammy Smith who hit the wall during his qualifying lap in the #18 Allstate Peterbilt Toyota, 13th-place Josh Berry in the #8 Bass Pro Shops / Tracker Boats Chevrolet for unapproved adjustments, and 31st-place Jeremy Clements in the #51 Whitetail Smokeless Chevrolet, who was sent to a backup car after an incident that forced the team to expedite decals to place on their Chicago Street Course car. Clements’ team worked right up to the garage area’s closing on Friday, and continued into Saturday morning.

After all the penalties were incurred, Saturday’s race began with Alex Labbe’s #08 in the final row alongside Dexter Stacey, who surrendered 30th on the grid in Motorsports Business Management’s #66 ReCap Recovery Drink Toyota. Stacey crossed the stripe 5.555 seconds behind the leader with Labbe a half-second ahead in 37th, Smithley now up to 35th from 38th on the grid ahead of Kyle Sieg, who surrendered 27th on the grid in his #28 Ford. Kyle Sieg arrived in Road America without a sponsor, then picked up backing on Saturday from Lynch Truck Center.

At the end of Lap 1, Stacey remained in last place, 20.598 seconds back of the lead and 0.157 back of new 37th-place runner Patrick Emerling, running an unsponsored black #53 Chevrolet for Emerling-Gase Motorsports. Both were a full 1.489 seconds back of Kyle Sieg, who remained in 36th. On Lap 2, Stanton Barrett, making his first XFINITY start since 2019, slid off track in his #35 Stanton Barrett Family Wines Toyota and rejoined the track just in front of the trailing Emerling and Stacey, the trio now a full 4.231 seconds back of Kyle Sieg. Stacey locked-up his tires as the three battled for position, and was asked by his crew if he had a vibration. 

Kyle Sieg in the garage early with a brake line issue.

On Lap 4, the trailing three cars had taken one second off their deficit to 35th-place Sieg, who made an unscheduled stop for smoke in the car. The team soon pulled the #28 behind the wall, saying they lost a brake hose as they took over last place on Lap 5. The crew didn’t extinguish the fire behind the right-rear wheel of his car, but did bring it under control and began to refill the brake fluid. When the driver’s foot still went to the floor, the team called for a replacement caliper. NASCAR reminded the team that, if they returned, they would have to serve a pass-through penalty for speeding through Sections 1-5 when he came down pit road. 

Sieg’s crew was still hard at work on Lap 10 when Legge’s #07 slowed on the track, then stopped short of the uphill rise near Turn 6. “It’s not doing it,” she said. “I’ve got nothing.” Drawing the caution on the exact lap when NASCAR planned to throw a competition caution due to the new track surface, emergency crews arrived at the scene. With a push, Legge finally arrived on pit road at Lap 11, during which time she was unable to refire the engine. The crew wanted to go behind the wall, but NASCAR told Legge to stay in her pit stall as the leaders were about to come in and pit. At the time, the crew noticed a water leak from the #07, and noted water in the pan, which seemed to indicate a water pump failure. On Lap 12, as Kyle Sieg’s crew finished replacing the right-rear caliper, Legge’s crew prepared to push her backwards to the entrance of the garage. Sieg then returned to the track seven laps down, and Legge’s crew said the car had pushed out all its water. The team tried to put in more water, but had already told Legge she could unbuckle her belts as she went to the garage. On Lap 17, NASCAR declared Legge out with a fuel pump issue – not the water pump – and Sieg passed her for 37th on Lap 19. After the race, a scoring error resulted in Legge being left off the unofficial results, erroneously putting Chandler Smith last in a 37-car field.

Kyle Sieg managed to earn back at least three of his eight lost laps and climbed out of the Bottom Five, finishing 32nd. The first car he passed was Chandler Smith, who on Lap 21 suffered a catastrophic left-front brake failure entering Turn 1. Acting quickly, Smith pulled his car to the left and slammed the unprotected concrete barriers, slowing his car enough to stop at the edge of the gravel trap. As Smith climbed from his car uninjured, Brett Moffitt pulled his #25 AM Technical Solutions Ford behind the wall on Lap 24, citing a leaking axle seal that became a hub issue. Ryan Ellis suffered rear end damage after a Turn 3 tangle with Riley Herbst, then ended up 35th with the resulting damage. Rounding out the group was John Hunter Nemechek, whose #20 Mobil 1 Toyota twice ran off-course during the race. The second instant off Turn 13 caused the splitter to dig into a rut in the grass, tearing away the splitter and rupturing the radiator, ending his day.

Wisconsin natives Mayer and Bilicki among many surprises

As Sam Mayer took the checkered flag at his home track, scoring his first XFINITY Series victory in his 71st series start, several others also turned heads. Among those in the frantic late-race battle was runner-up Parker Kligerman in the #48 Big Machine Spiked Light Coolers Chevrolet, a new career-best after a pair of 3rd-place finishes. 

In the final overtime finish, both Mayer and Kligerman slipped past Sage Karam, whose #24 Carousel Online Toyota clawed its way into the lead before Kligerman made his move. Karam still finished a career-best 4th, besting his 2022 run at Daytona for Matins Motorsports, and was joined by his Sam Hunt Racing teammate Kaz Grala in the Top Ten, his #26 Fire Department Coffee Toyota in 7th. 

One spot further back came Josh Bilicki, another Wisconsin native, who earned his own career-best 8th-place run in DGM Racing’s #91 TRIM-TEX Drywall Solutions Chevrolet. Bilicki, making his 85th series start, had just one top-ten run when he ran 9th in the Daytona opener in 2022, and had never run better than 12th at Road America. 

Also earning a career-best finish was Brad Perez, who for the first time raced the Alpha Prime Racing #44 on which he served as a crew member for the last few years. Making just his sixth career start, and running the same Bonesteel Aerospace paint scheme from the shortened race on the Chicago Street Course, Perez took home 19th, improving his mark of 20th from his 2022 debut at Watkins Glen. In all six of his XFINITY starts, Perez has finished under power and on the lead lap. Perez' run coincided with an end to the team's streak of three consecutive last-place finishes.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This marked the first last-place finish for the #07 in a XFINITY Series race at Road America.

*Legge is the third driver to finish last in a XFINITY Series race due to a fuel pump issue, joining Joey Gase in Las Vegas and Dawson Cram in Phoenix. Only five other XFINITY races have seen the last-place finisher fall out for that reason.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

38) #07-Katherine Legge / 9 laps / fuel pump

37) #16-Chandler Smith / 20 laps / crash

36) #25-Brett Moffitt / 23 laps / hub

35) #43-Ryan Ellis / 25 laps / crash

34) #20-John Hunter Nemechek / 31 laps / crash

2023 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) SS-Green Light Racing (4)

2nd) Alpha Prime Racing (3)

2nd) Big Machine Racing, CHK Racing, JD Motorsports (2)

3rd) B.J. McLeod Motorsports, Emerling-Gase Motorsports, Jordan Anderson Racing, Kaulig Racing, Motorsports Business Management, Sam Hunt Racing, Stewart-Haas Racing (1)

2023 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet (16)

2nd) Ford, Toyota (2)

2023 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

PREVIEW: The return of Stanton Barrett, Katherine Legge, and several young stars on tap for Richmond and Road America weekend

PHOTO: @EG_Motorsports

by Brock Beard

LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief

Saturday, July 29, 2023 (3:00 P.M. ET, NBC)

XFINITY Race 20 of 33

Henry 180 at Road America

2022 Last-Place Finisher: Will Rodgers

ENTRY LIST

There are 38 drivers entered for as many spots, meaning all will qualify for this XFINITY stand-alone event.

MISSING: #3-Richard Childress Racing

First of the teams not entered from Pocono is the Richard Childress Racing #3 with which Ty Dillon finished 14th.

DRIVER CHANGE: #4-JD Motorsports

Returning to action in Road America is Kyle Weatherman, who we last saw finishing 27th in Loudon driving for this same JD Motorsports team. Weatherman takes the place of Garrett Smithley, who finished 21st in Pocono.

DRIVER CHANGE: #10-Kaulig Racing

The only Cup driver attempting double-duty between Road America and Richmond is road race ace A.J. Allmendinger, who enters the event on an upswing for the Kaulig team’s Cup program. Allmendinger enters this, his fourth XFINITY start of the season, after winning two of the last three, most recently at Nashville, and finishing runner-up in the other race at Sonoma to Aric Almirola. He takes the place of Daniel Suarez, who was 10th in Pocono.

MISSING: #17-Hendrick Motorsports

Not making the trip is Chase Elliott, who finished 3rd in Pocono, along with Hendrick’s #17 team.

DRIVER SWAP: #24-Sam Hunt Racing

DRIVER CHANGE: #44-Alpha Prime Racing

Brad Perez’ career goes full circle this weekend as he drives for Alpha Prime Racing, the same team he joined as a crew member under the Martins Motorsports banner in 2020. Bringing over his Bonesteel Aerospace sponsorship from his Chicago entry with Emerling-Gase Motorsports, Perez pilots the flagship #44 once driven by Martins by himself, and most recently finished last after Sage Karam had early transmission issues at Pocono. Karam will also run this Saturday, this time in Sam Hunt’s #24 Toyota, where he takes the place of 37th-place Pocono finisher Corey Heim. Heim will stay in Richmond for the Truck Series race, following his last-lap loss to Kyle Busch in Pocono.

DRIVER CHANGE: #35-Emerling-Gase Motorsports

Veteran Hollywood stuntman and race car driver Stanton Barrett rejoins NASCAR for the first time since last summer at Watkins Glen, where he failed to qualify for Mike Harmon Racing, and will secure his first starting spot in the series since the 2019 race at The Glen, where he ran 23rd for Carl Long. This time, Barrett takes the place of 31st-place Pocono finisher Joey Gase in the #35, carrying sponsorship from Barrett’s own winery, Stanton Barrett Family Wines, plus a returning Horseheads Brewing Company. Barrett’s fifth and most recent XFINITY start at Road America came in 2016, when he ran 27th for B.J. McLeod.

DRIVER CHANGE: #45-Alpha Prime Racing

Also coming back is Leland Honeyman, who returns to the XFINITY Series for the first time since his DNQ at Sonoma. Like Brad Perez, his Emerling-Gase Motorsports teammate that weekend, Honeyman makes the jump to Alpha Prime, and takes the wheel of the #45 in place of 19th-place Pocono finisher Jeffrey Earnhardt. Klean Freak Body Wipes, which backed Honeyman in his Phoenix debut, is again the sponsor.

DRIVER CHANGE: #66-Motorsports Business Management

Dexter Stacey will make his first XFINITY start since Talladega in the spring, where he was involved in the vicious accident involving Blaine Perkins on the backstretch, leaving him in 35th. After failing to qualify for the Chicago Street Course, Stacey will again be sponsored by ReCap Recovery Drink, securing MBM its first XFINITY start since Loudon. Stacey takes the place of Timmy Hill, who failed to qualify at Pocono and will this week run the Truck Series race at Richmond.

MISSING: #74-CHK Racing

Dawson Cram is not entered after he, too, failed to qualify at Pocono.

DRIVER CHANGE: #91-DGM Racing

Josh Bilicki will make his 85th career XFINITY Series start this Saturday as he takes the place of 30th-place Pocono finisher Chad Chastain in Mario Gosselin’s #91 Chevrolet. Bilicki carries sponsorship from Trim-Tex Drywall Solutions at his home track, where he’s made every XFINITY race since 2016. Most recently, he finished 13th in the 2022 running, and also quite literally picked up sponsorship from Sargento after hitting an infield billboard. This will also be the sixth consecutive different team for which Bilicki has driven in this race.

DRIVER CHANGE: #07-SS-Green Light Racing

IndyCar and sports car driver Katherine Legge returns to the XFINITY Series for the first time since 2018, when she ran four XFINITY Series races for JD Motorsports. The best of those four races was at Road America, where she took home 14th. Legge this time takes the controls of Bobby Dotter’s #07, replacing Stefan Parsons, who failed to qualify at Pocono.

CUP INVADERS: #16-A.J. Allmendinger

Saturday, July 29, 2023 (7:30 P.M. ET, NBC)

TRUCKS Race 16 of 23

Regular Season Finale

Worldwide Express 250 at Richmond

2022 Last-Place Finisher: Nick Leitz

ENTRY LIST

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

DRIVER CHANGE: #1-TRICON Garage

William Sawalich returns to the Truck Series for his third start of the year and first since he took 27th at Mid-Ohio. He takes the place of Kaz Grala, who finished 31st after a multi-truck accident at Pocono, and carries returning sponsorship from Starkey and Soundgear.

MISSING: #6-Norm Benning Racing

Norm Benning isn’t entered in Richmond after his team missed the cut in Pocono.

MISSING: #7-Spire Motorsports

Also not making the trip is Spire Motorsports’ #7 entry which took home 33rd after Austin Hill wrecked at Pocono. Hill, who won that weekend’s XFINITY race, will instead go for his second-straight series victory.

RETURNING: #14-Trey Hutchens Racing

Trey Hutchens seeks his second Truck Series start of the year and first since Texas, where his #14 Quality Roof Seamers Chevrolet was involved in a multi-truck accident. Hutchens last entered a race in Nashville, where he failed to qualify.

DRIVER CHANGE: #20-Young’s Motorsports

Mason Massey returns to the Truck Series for the first time since Martinsville, and for the first time this season doesn’t drive the Reaume Brothers’ #33 entry, with which he most recently took 33rd. This time, he takes to the #20 at Randy Young’s team, replacing Chad Chastain, who failed to qualify at Pocono. Brunt Workwear follows Massey over as sponsor.

DRIVER CHANGE: #22-AM Racing

Taking the place of Stephen Mallozzi, who missed Pocono’s big wreck en route to a 24th-place finish, Christian Rose seeks his Truck Series debut. Rose currently stands 4th in the ARCA Menards Series, 87 points back of leader Jesse Love. He most recently finished 9th in his most recent race for Kevin Cywinski at Pocono. Secure Testing Services is the listed sponsor.

MISSING: #28-FDNY Racing

Jim Rosenblum’s team is not entered after Bryan Dauzat failed to qualify at Pocono.

RETURNING: #30-On Point Motorsports

On Point’s team returns with Ryan Vargas driving the team’s Toyota sponsored by Williamsburg Contracting. This would be Vargas’ sixth career Truck Series start, his first since his 23rd-place finish at Mid-Ohio.

DRIVER CHANGE: #33-Reaume Brothers Racing

RETURNING / DRIVER SWAP: #34-Reaume Brothers Racing

Minnesota late model racer Derek Lemke, who has also performed public relations and marketing with Natalie Decker, will this week seek his NASCAR national series debut in Josh Reaume’s #33. This moves Reaume to the returning #34 entry, back in action for the first time since Nashville, and one week after Reaume finished 26th in Pocono.

DRIVER CHANGE: #41-Niece Motorsports

In his four previous Truck Series starts this season, Bayley Currey has finished no worse than 17th and secured a career-best 4th in Atlanta. His last series start in Nashville nearly produced even better results, starting outside-pole, taking the lead under green, and finishing in 5th. He now rejoins the Al Niece team in place of Ross Chastain, who finished 30th after the wreck in Pocono.

MISSING: #44-Niece Motorsports

Not entered is Al Niece’s #44 entry, which Kayden Honeycutt qualified at Pocono and finished in 20th.

RETURNING: #46-G2G Racing

We last saw Jerry Bohlman at the Bristol Dirt Race, where a pressure plate failure prevented him from turning a lap in Heat Race #3, costing him a possible spot in the main event. He now returns on the pavement to attempt G2G’s first start since Dale Quarterley finished 35th in Mid-Ohio. Zoe Freedom and Eco Pile will sponsor Bohlman’s Toyota.

DRIVER CHANGE: #51-Kyle Busch Motorsports

Matt Mills lands the best ride he’s ever earned in his brief NASCAR career, taking the controls of Kyle Busch Motorsports’ #51 just one week after Busch scored the team’s 100th win. Carrying his longtime sponsor J.F. Electric, Mills has a real shot at scoring his first Truck Series win in his 21st series start – a series where he’s never finished better than 15th.

DRIVER CHANGE: #56-Hill Motorsports

Timmy Hill swaps in for brother Tyler Hill, who took 21st in Pocono. With returning sponsorship from UNITS Storage, Timmy races for the first time since his 21st-place showing in Mid-Ohio. Timmy has three previous Truck starts at Richmond, including a track-best 9th in 2020.

MISSING: #61-Hattori Racing Enterprises

The Hattori team has not entered their second team with which Cup regular Christopher Bell, who finished 4th in Pocono.

RETURNING: #66-ThorSport Racing

Conner Jones returns for his fifth career Truck Series start, his first since a 28th-place showing in Mid-Ohio. Jones looks to turn around a difficult stretch where he’s failed to finish his last three consecutive starts.

MISSING: #75-Henderson Motorsports

With Parker Kligerman running his full-time XFINITY entry with Big Machine Racing in Road America, neither he nor the Charlie Henderson team are entered this week after Kligerman’s 22nd-place finish in Pocono.

RETURNING: #90-Terry Carroll Motorsports

Justin S. Carroll is back on the entry list for the first time since he withdrew from Nashville, and seeks his third start of the year and first since his 34th-place run in Charlotte. 

DRIVER CHANGE: #02-Young’s Motorsports

Will Rodgers aims for his 5th career Truck Series start and first since a rough afternoon in Mid-Ohio, where he finished 34th after multiple accidents. Rodgers takes the place of Stefan Parsons, who recovered from a Turn 1 wreck in Pocono to finish in 28th.

MISSING: #04-Roper Racing

Cory Roper is not entered after he finished 23rd in Pocono.

CUP INVADERS: None

Sunday, July 30, 2023 (3:00 P.M. ET, USA)

CUP Race 22 of 36

Cook Out 400 at Richmond

2022 Last-Place Finisher: Ty Gibbs

ENTRY LIST

Only the 36 Chartered drivers are entered once more, marking the 21st straight short field since the Daytona 500.

DRIVER CHANGE: #51-Rick Ware Racing

The only driver swap on the Cup side this week is a returning Ryan Newman, the 2003 winner, back in action for the first time since Loudon, taking the place of 25th-place Pocono finisher Cole Custer. Newman carries his Loudon sponsorship from Parts Plus along with Biohaven.

TODAY IN LASTCAR HISTORY (July 28, 1974): Dan Daughtry scored the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR Winston Cup Series career in the Dixie 500 at Atlanta when his #35 DM Construction 1972 Ford lost the engine after 10 laps. This was Daughtry’s fifth of ten career Cup Series starts. His best finish came that fall at Charlotte, where he ran 10th. It was the only Cup race he finished under power.

INDYCAR: Rollercoaster season continues for Graham Rahal at Iowa

PHOTO: Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing

by William Soquet

LASTCAR.info Staff Writer

Graham Rahal finished last for the 10th time in his NTT IndyCar Series career in Saturday's Hy-Vee Homefront 250 at the Iowa Speedway when his #15 Blue Compass RV Honda crashed out after completing 149 of the race’s 250 laps.

The finish came in Rahal’s 255th series start and was his first since Belle Isle last year, 21 races ago. Across IndyCar Series history, it was the 206th due to crash damage, the 220th for Honda and the 15th for the #15.

Immediately after his Detroit last-place finish in 2022, Rahal found good form in the second half of the year. He finished eighth at Road America and also found top-ten results at Toronto, Iowa, the Indianapolis GP, Gateway, and Portland. After falling to 15th in points with his Detroit exit, he steadily climbed to 11th in points by the end of the season.

Then 2023 rolled around. The season started with promise at St. Petersburg, where Rahal finished sixth and teammate Christian Lundgaard took ninth. The next race at Texas, ended in a crash, and the results started to slip from there, placing 12th at Long Beach and 17th at Barber. He ran tenth at the May Indianapolis GP, a track that RLL has always run well. Then it all came crashing down when Rahal failed to qualify for the Indianapolis 500. He was later tapped as Stefan Wilson’s sub after the Wilson was injured, but even that led to a finish five laps down after his car failed to start. Detroit led to an early exit, just like last year, with Rahal mired in one of the worst slumps of his career. However, in the last three races, just like in 2022, Rahal has started to drag himself out of the hole. An 11th at Road America was followed by a front row start and 7th-place finish at Mid-Ohio. Toronto seemed to be a turning point, with Lundgaard claiming his first career win and Rahal finishing ninth.

For Iowa, Ed Carpenter returned to the entry list, continuing his slate of ovals in a third car for his team. The larger entry list change once again came from Meyer Shank Racing. Simon Pagenaud was still not cleared to race, and Conor Daly was once again tapped as the sub. The move made sense on a number of fronts – Daly is a renowned oval racer and the team needs to solidify itself in the entrant standings to be in position for Leaders Circle money at the end of the season.

With the usual second practice session reallocated as a morning warmup for the second race of the weekend doubleheader, teams only had one long practice session to set up their cars for the weekend. Josef Newgarden, who went on to dominate the weekend, set the fast lap with a time of 18.24 seconds. Benjamin Pedersen was the only driver who ran over a second slower than Newgarden, clocking a fast lap of 19.31 seconds.

Due to his car failing pre-qualifying technical inspection, Pedersen was not allowed to take a qualifying lap for either race and was given the final starting position. Jack Harvey was assessed a nine-place grid penalty but still secured the 17th-fastest time, slotting him in 26th place at the start.

On the opening lap, Pedersen hung a few car lengths back from the field as the rest of the record 28-car field sorted itself out. He was 5.8 seconds back of polesitter Will Power after one lap, a gap that grew to around 8 seconds the following lap. He steadily fell back during the first run, driving 10 seconds in arrears after Lap 3, 15 seconds back after Lap 7, 20 seconds back after Lap 12 and was lapped on the 17th go-round.

After a brief battle with Agustin Canapino, Rahal settled into 19th during the opening dozen or so laps, down half a dozen spots from his 13th spot in qualifying. He was passed by Felix Rosenqvist on Lap 15 but remained in 20th until Lap 31, when he and Rosenqvist began swapping the spot back and forth. Rahal wound up losing the battle as the leaders approached and was lapped on lap 39.

On the following lap, Colton Herta made his way down on pit road. Herta started sixth and held that spot for the opening 24 laps, but steadily slid back from there to 12th over the course of the opening run. His team decided to open the first round of green flag pit stops, but disaster struck. The left-front wheel nut remained stuck on the wheel, delaying the stop. Compounding that, Herta stalled the car, adding and the clock continued to tick. When everything was said and done, the #26 team spent 43 seconds servicing the car in the pit box, compared to a usual 7 to 10 second stop. Herta went from a lead lap car to three laps down, putting him in last. Although Pedersen had lost a second lap by that point in time, Herta was still behind him.

Eight laps later, Pedersen made his first pit stop of the day, dropping him another two laps to the leader. It also allowed Herta to pass him in the running order, relegating the #55 to last place again. While Pedersen held at four laps down during most of the second run, the pace began to drop near the end, and after a third pit stop on Lap 115, Pedersen was eight laps down. By then, his was the only car running on the same lap, eliminating any chance of gaining positions on-track.

Rahal's was the fifth car to pit during the opening green flag cycle, giving up the 19th position to do so on Lap 48. He exited the pits in 24th but cycled up to ninth, gaining his lap back that he lost during the opening run. After letting Alex Palou by during the early portion of the stint, Rahal spent about ten laps in 10th before losing a handful of positions and getting lapped on Lap 81, presumably due to a bobble on track. He settled into 16th for the duration of the second run and pitted more towards the middle of the field during the ensuing round of pit stops, cycling back out in 14th. Then the tumble began, with David Malukas, Rosenqvist, Jack Harvey, Callum Ilott and Helio Castroneves passing Rahal in the span of a dozen laps.

On Lap 151, Rahal got high into the marbles in Turns 3 and 4 and shot up the track, making contact with the outside wall at the exit of Turn 4. The contact broke the steering on the right front, and Rahal narrowly missed Kyle Kirkwood as he helplessly slid back down the frontstretch. His car came to rest in the grass, done for the day. Rahal's was the only car that retired. Pedersen languished to the finish, 15 laps down. Rounding out the Bottom Five were Santino Ferrucci, Sting Ray Robb, and Ed Carpenter.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*The finish moved Rahal into sole possession of fourth place on IndyCar’s (1997-present) last place finisher list. He trails Sato (16), Marco Andretti (14) and Carpenter (11)
*Rahal’s 149 laps completed are the second-most by a last-place finisher at Iowa. Sage Karam completed 193 of 300 laps before crashing Carlin’s #31 car in 2019.
*While Rahal’s first three IndyCar last-place finishes all came on ovals, this is his first last-place finish on an oval since Phoenix in 2017.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
28) #15-Graham Rahal / 149 laps / crash
27) #55-Benjamin Pedersen / 235 laps / running
26) #14-Santino Ferrucci / 241 laps / running
25) #51-Sting Ray Robb / 242 laps / running
24) #33-Ed Carpenter / 243 laps / running

2023 LASTCAR NTT INDYCAR SERIES MANUFACTURERS CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Honda (8)
2nd) Chevrolet (3)

2023 LASTCAR NTT INDYCAR SERIES OWNERS CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chip Ganassi Racing, Dale Coyne Racing (3)
2nd) A.J. Foyt Racing, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (2)
3rd) Juncos Hollinger Racing (1)

2023 LASTCAR NTT INDYCAR SERIES DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP

INDYCAR: Loose wheel leads to Sting Ray Robb getting parked at Iowa

PHOTO: Dale Coyne Racing

by William Soquet

LASTCAR.info Staff Writer

Sting Ray Robb finished last for the 3rd time in his NTT IndyCar Series career in Saturday's Hy-Vee One Step 250 at the Iowa Speedway when his #51 Biohaven Honda was disqualified after completing 152 of the race’s 200 laps.

The finish came in Robb’s 11th series start and was his first since May's Indianapolis Grand Prix, seven races ago. Across IndyCar Series history, it was the first time someone was listed as disqualified, the 221st for Honda and the fifth for the #51.

Following consecutive last-place finishes early in the season, Sting Ray Robb has continued to try and improve. An early tangle with Graham Rahal left him in the Bottom Five at the Indianapolis 500. Three straight 22nd-place finishes followed, and although he broke into the teens again at Toronto (19th), he was still four laps down at the finish. The first Iowa race was a long affair for the Dale Coyne Racing team, with the car finishing eight laps down at the finish.

Benjamin Pedersen was assessed a penalty for failing technical inspection that prohibited him from participating in qualifying for both races of the Iowa doubleheader. His A.J. Foyt Racing teammate Santino Ferrucci did not fare much better, coming in as the slowest car to take a time. Robb wasn’t too much farther ahead, earning the 26th starting spot.

While the Foyt cars were nearly side-by-side to start the race, Ferrucci quickly cleared Pedersen and passed Robb on the inside in the opening set of turns. Pedersen, in turn, set up Robb on the backstretch and also passed the young Idahoan by the end of the opening lap. He then slid to 12 seconds back after five laps, and was 18 seconds in arrears after 11 circuits. While some thought that Will Power set a blistering pace by lapping Pedersen within the opening 20 laps on Saturday, he didn’t even wait until Lap 15 on Sunday to put Robb a lap down.

Despite the early lap lost, a lead change and a slower race pace due to constant lapped traffic meant that the end of the field did not so quickly lose another lap. Ferrucci ran most of the opening segment in 25th, but lost three positions in four laps between Laps 37 and 41. He ducked down pit road not long after, falling three laps down. HE briefly cycled ahead of teammate Pedersen until new tires allowed the rookie to pass his veteran teammate again. Robb pitted on Lap 53 and was last at the end of the pit cycle, two laps down. This lasted until Lap 80 before Josef Newgarden put another lap on Robb, admirable for a driver who lost his first lap in only 13 laps of green flag action.

Soon after, Pedersen tried a large undercut to kick off the second round of pit stops. Just as he was exiting the pit lane, however, Agustin Canapino brushed the wall on the outside of Turn 2, drawing a caution. He did not lose any laps as a result of the incident.

While all lapped cars were able to take advantage of the wave-around during the caution, that still left Pedersen on his own lap for the Lap 106 restart, three laps down. After pitting and restarting 17th, Canapino dropped through the remainder of the lead lap cars in quick succession and brought his car to pit road on Lap 113. Mechanical damage the team missed with a quick once-over caused the #78 to spend ten laps on pit road. He returned to the track in the middle of the run in last place. After Pedersen once again made a massive undercut stop at Lap 128, he was six laps down, still four ahead of Canapino.

Takuma Sato brushed the wall on Lap 142 and promptly pitted right before the window in the next round of stop. He wound up spending 11 laps on pit road fixing his issues, similar to Canapino, and dropped to last.

Robb cycled as high up as 21st before he hit pit road on Lap 153. His left rear tire changer did not get the wheel nut on the new tire that went on the car before Robb was released and immediately held his hand up at the end of the stop to signify that something was not right. Robb tried to limp his car around the track to get it back to pit road, but the wheel lurched off the car in Turn 3. The wheel narrowly missed race leader Newgarden, Conor Daly, Alexander Rossi and others as it climbed the banking. This conjured up images of this year’s Indianapolis 500, when Kyle Kirkwood’s wheel sheared off and flew outside the retaining fence. This time, the tire arrived back on pit road on the back of a safety truck.

Despite the loss of his wheel, Robb was able to get his car back to his pit stall and the team immediately bolted on a replacement, ready to send him back out. However, the car was held in the box by an IndyCar official on pit road, and the car was eventually let off the jack stand. By the time the green flag flew at the end of the caution period, race control made their call: the 51 car was ineligible to compete in the rest of the race due to “causing a dangerous situation.” The official results classified this as a disqualification.

Pedersen also failed to finish the race due to disqualification. He was parked by race control on Lap 205, citing a failure “to participate at a competitive speed.” Pedersen had not lost any laps on pace in a while before the call, and was eight laps down at the time. While they were both forced out for different reasons, both Robb and Pedersen were out as "disqualified."

Canapino and Sato, hampered by their brushes with the wall, finished 26th and 25th. Rounding out the Bottom Five was Ryan Hunter-Reay, who hit the wall with ten laps to go and failed to finish the race.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*Robb is the first last-place driver classified as “disqualified”, although one last-place finisher was listed as “parked” – Dave Kudrave in the very first Indy Racing League race at Walt Disney World Speedway on January 27, 1996.
*Honda has clinched the 2023 LASTCAR IndyCar Series Manufacturers Championship, holding a six-race lead over Chevrolet with only five races to go.
*Robb is the first rookie to finish last three times in his debut season since Colton Herta did so in 2019. Herta finished last at Barber, Long Beach and the Indianapolis 500. He has not finished last since then.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
28) #51-Sting Ray Robb / 152 laps / disqualified
27) #55-Benjamin Pedersen / 193 laps / disqualified
26) #78-Agustin Canapino / 236 laps / running
25) #11-Takuma Sato / 237 laps / running
24) #20-Ryan Hunter-Reay / 237 laps / crash

2023 LASTCAR NTT INDYCAR SERIES MANUFACTURERS CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Honda (9)
2nd) Chevrolet (3)

2023 LASTCAR NTT INDYCAR SERIES TEAMS CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Dale Coyne Racing (4)
2nd) Chip Ganassi Racing (3)
3rd) A.J. Foyt Racing, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (2)
4th) Juncos Hollinger Racing (1)

2023 LASTCAR NTT INDYCAR SERIES DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP

ARCA: Crash damage from tire failure leads to last-place for Misuraca

SCREENSHOT: FS1

by Ben Schneider

LASTCAR.info Staff Writer

Logan Misuraca finished last for the 1st time in her ARCA Menards Series career in Saturday’s Sunset Hill Shooting Range 150 at Pocono Raceway when her #63 CELSIUS Chevrolet fell out with crash damage after completing 7 of 60 laps.

The finish came in Misuraca’s 3rd career series start.

Like many drivers in the sport today, Misuraca began her racing career at a very young age, first competing in quarter-midgets at New Smyrna Speedway as early as age four. The Floridian then began racing go-karts throughout her childhood, eventually moving up to legend cars at age 12 and then late models at 18. She also traveled the country as a competitive dancer until 2020, when she decided to go all in on racing. That year, she won New Smyrna’s Pro Late Model track championship and Rookie of the Year, leading her to move up to a limited schedule in ARCA and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series with Lira Motorsports in 2021.

Despite sponsorship conversations through social media with Camping World CEO Marcus Lemonis, Misuraca’s plans fell through. Her ARCA debut would not come until the 2022 ARCA Menards Series East season-opener at New Smyrna. Driving in place of an ill Daniel Escoto, Misuraca finished seventh at her home track for Josh Williams Motorsports in a #60 entry that was fielded in collaboration with Lira. While this would be Misuraca’s only race start of the year, she spent plenty of time behind the wheel as a driver for the NASCAR Racing Experience while continuing the search for sponsorship. In October, Misuraca founded 1inaMillion.Life in an effort to raise mental health awareness in the world of racing.

This season, Misuraca has competed in three races so far for Spraker Racing Enterprises, driving the team’s #63 Chevrolet with sponsorship from CELSIUS Energy. At Daytona, Misuraca qualified an impressive ninth, but faded to the back of pack in the opening laps when her car slowed on the backstretch. She eventually recovered to finish on the lead lap in 18th. In her second start at Talladega, an early multi-car accident collected Misuraca after just 23 laps, leaving her with a 28th-place finish. Unfortunately for Misuraca, her return to ARCA this weekend was even more short-lived as she only completed seven laps before suffering a tire failure, leaving her with a last-place finish.

In total, 25 cars appeared on the entry list at Pocono. While all would take the green flag in the race, Christian Rose did not set a qualifying time, leaving him last on the grid. Tim Monroe and Don Thompson did not take to the track for practice, though both cars were able to set a time in qualifying, slotting in 19th and 23rd respectively. A.J. Moyer anchored the field during practice, while Brad Smith secured the 24th starting spot with a shakedown lap several seconds slower than his best lap in practice.

Following Misuraca up the finishing order in the race was Monroe, who padded his lead in the LASTCAR ARCA Drivers’ Championship with a mechanical retirement after 11 laps. A crash for Bryan Dauzat saw his #75 entry place 23rd, while Thompson suffered mechanical issues of his own that ended his day after 31 laps. Rounding out the Bottom Five was Frankie Muniz, who lost 13 laps in the middle of the race due to power issues that required a battery change.

Up front, Jesse Love led the way in a strong overall day for Venturini Motorsports, extending his championship lead with another win. Connor Mosack placed second while Andres Perez de Lara finished third, taking advantage of Muniz’ misfortunes to move up to second in the championship points standings.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

25) #63-Logan Misuraca / 7 laps / crash

24) #12-Tim Monroe / 11 laps / mechanical

23) #75-Bryan Dauzat / 18 laps / crash

22) #45-Don Thompson / 31 laps / mechanical

21) #30-Frankie Muniz / 47 laps / running

2023 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES MANUFACTURERS CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet (6)

2nd) Ford, Toyota (2)

2023 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES OWNERS CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Fast Track Racing (3)

2nd) Smith Brothers Racing (2)

3rd) Coughlin Brothers Racing, KLAS Motorsports, Our Motorsports, Spraker Racing Enterprises, Tamayo-Cosentino Racing (1)

2023 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP

OPINION: Yes, Kyle Busch should run for a Truck Series championship

PHOTO: @KBMteam

by Ben Schneider

LASTCAR.info Staff Writer

Readers of this site will no doubt know where I - along with my editor-in-chief Brock Beard and my fellow staff writer William Soquet - stand on the issue of the now-perhaps even more aptly named “Buschwacking” debate. I get frustrated and annoyed when an active, full-time Cup driver, Kyle Busch or otherwise, steps into XFINITY or Trucks and steals a win from a series regular.

There’s no need for me to go over the reasons why here in this article. I’ve done that before, in my very first article for this site nonetheless, and Brock also perfectly summarized those points in a piece in February.

However, I did disagree with one small part of Brock’s most recent op-ed on the subject, specifically when he said, “Most irritating is that such ‘start-and-win’ drivers and their hollow victories are feted as actual accomplishments, not dismissed as the most tolerated sham in professional sports.”

This, in my opinion, is a step a bit too far. To be clear, Busch’s Truck Series wins are by no means equal in terms of prestige to his Cup Series victories. But to summarily dismiss Busch’s 64 Truck wins - the most ever - as complete non-accomplishments does a disservice to the talent possessed by those who compete in the series on a weekly basis. Ron Hornaday Jr., second behind Busch on the all-time Truck wins list with 51, is in the NASCAR Hall of Fame, and deservedly so. Series champions Mike Skinner and Jack Sprague - 28 wins each - arguably should have at least been nominated by now, and I’ve personally made the case for three-time series champion Matt Crafton’s consideration. And that doesn’t even touch on the younger talent in the series working to move up the ladder to the Cup Series one day, such as defending champion Zane Smith or Corey Heim, the current points leader despite missing a race, and the driver who Busch passed for the win on the final lap of Saturday’s race.

Beyond just the wins, Busch’s stats in the Truck Series are borderline unfathomable. In his 30 starts from 2018 to 2023, Busch finished outside the top-three just four times: a pair of 21st-place finishes at Atlanta in 2018 and 2020, as well as a pair of seventh-place finishes: Charlotte last season and Kansas this season. Of those 26 top-threes, 15 were wins, and 14, all but Saturday’s win at Pocono, also saw Busch lead the most laps. Over 170 total career starts dating back to his debut in 2001, Busch has finished in the top-five 115 times, meaning he is historically more than twice as likely to score a top-five finish as he is to finish sixth or worse.

These are numbers that would surely be championship-cailber - if held over the course of a single season.

And that is exactly why Busch should, at some point in the future, run for such a championship.

This isn’t just in reaction to Busch’s comments this past weekend about potentially running a full Truck season after retiring from Cup. I also said this after Busch won the Truck Series race earlier this year at Las Vegas. Were Busch to run the series full-time as a dedicated Truck Series driver, he would no longer be a “Buschwacker.” He would be a Johnny Benson, Johnny Sauter, or Todd Bodine, a driver who once raced in Cup now dedicating himself to a full Truck Series championship campaign. I won’t speak for Brock or William, but to me, that is a completely different situation than Busch altering the Truck Series playoff grid by attempting to steal a win (and often succeeding) five times a year as an active Cup driver.

What’s more, the argument pro-Buschwacking fans often use is that Cup regulars running XFINITY and Truck races brings more attention and viewership to those series. While I believe this potential boost is not enough of a benefit to outweigh the drawbacks, I can only imagine such a boost would only be amplified if a driver of Busch’s caliber competed in every race on the Truck Series calendar. His status as a NASCAR superstar would hardly go away just because he’s retired from Cup; just take a look at how much attention Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s XFINITY Series one-offs continue to draw every season.

Aside from winning the Daytona 500, there’s hardly anything Busch has yet to accomplish in NASCAR. (For what it’s worth, even Busch himself will point out he was the leader at mile number 500 in this year’s edition of the race.) Busch came into the Cup Series in 2005 and won Rookie of the Year honors, as well as races at California and Phoenix. Since then, he has amassed a total of 63 Cup wins, ninth all-time and, remarkably, his lowest total in the top three divisions. His 102 XFINITY wins are more than twice as many as the next closest driver (Mark Martin with 49). Prior to the 2018 race at the Charlotte Roval, Busch’s 2018 Coca-Cola 600 win meant he could briefly say he’d won at every Cup Series track on which he’d competed. While NASCAR’s recent heavy schedule changes have meant some tracks and layouts have only been run once or just a handful of times, that’s still incredibly impressive.

Above all, however, Busch is a two-time Cup Series champion and also has an XFINITY championship from the 2009 season, before Cup regulars were limited in the series. No driver has ever won championships in all three national touring series of NASCAR. Greg Biffle perhaps came the closest, missing out on the 2005 Cup title by finishing second to Tony Stewart. Austin Dillon could become the first to do so, but with only four Cup wins in a decade’s worth of starts, it would take a late-career bloom similar to Martin Truex Jr. for that to become a likely possibility. Brad Keselowski only needs a Truck championship, but he closed Brad Keselowski Racing several years ago and is now fully committed to ownership on the Cup side with his partners at Roush and the Fenway Sports Group.

Busch, however, still owns his Truck team, Kyle Busch Motorsports. Despite his “small team” post-race comments on Saturday, make no mistake: no team scores 100 series victories without establishing themselves as one of the series’ most formidable programs. It’s an organization that is not just capable of providing Busch the chance to live out his dream scenario of racing with his son Brexton, it is one capable of winning races and championships.

Would Busch’s remarkable, video game-like Truck Series stats prove to be sustainable over the course of a full-time season?

There’s only one way to find out.

CUP: Daniel Suarez and Joey Logano battle for last place after mid-race Pocono wreck

PHOTO: Speedway Collective, @SCfantasyRacing

by Brock Beard

LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief

Daniel Suarez picked up the 3rd last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career in Sunday’s HighPoint.com 400 at the Pocono Raceway when his #99 Jockey Chevrolet was involved in a multi-car accident after 37 of 160 laps.

The finish, which came in Suarez’ 236th series start, was his first of the season and first in a Cup Series race since March 6, 2022 at Las Vegas, 54 races ago. In the Cup Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 19th for the #99, the 654th from a crash, and the 844th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 39th for the #99, the 1,344th from a crash, and the 1,903rd for Chevrolet.

Last year, Suarez impressed with his determination under tremendous pressure. In his second year driving for upstart Trackhouse Racing, he couldn’t win his first race before his new teammate Ross Chastain, who in just his sixth start for the program won a physical race at COTA. Chastain nearly broke through even earlier in the third round at Las Vegas - the very race where Suarez finished last. By the summer, Chastain had another win at Talladega, a developing rivalry with Denny Hamlin, and became a championship favorite. After three straight finishes of 23rd or worse, Suarez arrived at Sonoma, where he finally broke through, winning ahead of a surprising Chris Buescher and Michael McDowell. While Chastain made the Championship Four with his famous “Hail Melon,” Suarez earned a career-best 10th in points.

This season has seen stiffer competition for both Trackhouse drivers. Chastain only won his first race of the year four races ago in Nashville, which two races later was followed by Suarez’ season-best runner-up finish to William Byron when the rain fell in Atlanta. Suarez entered the race on the wrong side of the Playoff cutline, needing a strong performance entering the final month of the regular season.

At Pocono, Suarez ran 18th of the 36 Chartered entries who made up the race’s entry list. He then ran 8th-fastest in Qualifying Round 1B, which secured him 17th on the grid with a lap of 167.948mph (53.588 seconds). 

Securing 36th and last on the grid was Todd Gilliland, whose #38 Speedy Cash Ford spun in the tunnel turn during his qualifying lap. The same thing happened to 37th-place Chase Elliott in the #9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, and both didn’t register a speed. Each required tire changes and minor repairs, incurring a redundant tail-end penalty for unapproved adjustments. Elliott’s repairs included a fix to the undertray. Not penalized was 10th-place qualifier Bubba Wallace, whose #23 Leidos Toyota didn’t log a time in Round 2 after getting into the wall in Turn 1.

When the green flag dropped, Gilliland pulled ahead of Elliott on the inside line, showing a gap from the leader at 2.264 seconds to Elliott’s 2.667. Elliott bumped Ryan Preece’s #41 Mohawk Northeast Ford, then pulled to his outside in Turn 1 while also clearing Ty Dillon’s #77 Gainbridge Chevrolet. But Gilliland’s car broke loose in the high lane, ultimately dropping back to last place at the end of Lap 1, 6.018 back of the lead and 0.355 behind new 35th-place runner B.J. McLeod in the #78 B’laster Chevrolet. McLeod was himself locked in a side-by-side battle with Elliott, the pair of them just eight-thousandths apart. Both Elliott and Gilliland then passed McLeod, who on Lap 3 was now in last place, 8.773 back of the lead and 0.644 behind Gilliland’s Ford. Gilliland now set to work on J.J. Yeley, whose #15 Patriot Mobile Ford was previously battling Ryan Preece’s #41. On Lap 5, Yeley held off Gilliland for 34th while McLeod drew within 0.111 of Gilliland, bringing the three nose-to-tail. But coming off Turn 2, Yeley’s car pushed and Gilliland got into his rear bumper, sending Yeley spinning to the inside. Yeley’s right-front struck the inside barrier, resulting in a spin that left him stalled facing backwards.

Under the resulting caution, Yeley tried to drive away, but he’d flattened both right side tires and was also blocked by an equipment truck that arrived at the scene in front of him. The truck then pushed him back to pit road, during which time he lost two laps to the leaders. Yeley told the crew to look behind the left-front wheel to check for suspension damage from his hit into the wall. On Lap 9, after a tire change, Yeley returned to the track three laps down, then made another stop for the crew to look under the hood. The crew worked quickly, managing to avoid losing a fourth lap, and Yeley caught up with the tail end of the field, putting him behind teammate Cole Custer in the #51 Jacob Companies Ford. Shortly after the Lap 11 restart, Yeley cleared the “Crash Clock” by reaching minimum speed. The goal now was to reach the end of Stage 1 for more adjustments. Yeley radioed that his car felt “real darty,” and that he had to slow the car down to get it to turn. 

In the final laps of Stage 1, several drivers pitted before pit road was closed. First was an unscheduled Lap 14 stop for Corey LaJoie, whose #7 TD Bank Chevrolet scraped the wall off Turn 1 and cut down a tire. The crew changed just right-side tires, sending him back out on the lead lap more than 20 seconds back of 34th-place Cole Custer. LaJoie’s deficit to Custer remained about the same, though the #7 did pass Yeley on Lap 28 as both entered Turn 2. As the leaders began to come in for scheduled stops, the 35th spot soon fell to Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., who lost a lap in his #47 Blue Buffalo Chevrolet. Stenhouse was about to take the Lucky Dog from Yeley, but on Lap 30 – the last lap of the stage – Stenhouse passed then-leader Joey Logano’s #22 Verizon Ford entering Turn 1 to put himself back on the lead lap. The caution fell on Lap 31, and Yeley was now two laps down. Yeley pitted at least once under the caution, during which time the crew made further repairs under the hood without losing another lap.

Logano is towed to pit road after the wreck with Suarez.
PHOTO: No Tires Just Gas on YouTube

The race restarted on Lap 36 with Stage 1 winner Logano now stuck in heavy traffic after pit stops. Heading into Turn 1, Logano was around 13th place in the middle lane when he was bumped from behind by Michael McDowell in the #34 Benebone Ford. Logano then lost control, bouncing between Stenhouse to his inside and Tyler Reddick’s #45 Jordan Brand Toyota to his outside before he was hooked hard to the right. McDowell then cut hard left to clear Logano, causing a second logjam that caused Bubba Wallace’s #23 to bump Suarez into a spin of his own. While Logano only made minor contact with the left-front of his Ford, Suarez spun up the track and struck the barrier hard with the nose of his car.

Back under caution, Suarez managed to get his car rolling again, saying his engine was still running and gauges looked fine. But NASCAR told him to run the apron, fearing he was dropping fluid as his car trailed smoke. While Suarez made it to pit road, Logano was stranded much as Yeley had been earlier, his tires flat and car pointed the wrong way. Much like Sage Karam in the XFINITY race the previous day, it was decided on Lap 38 to tow Logano’s car backwards to pit road. This caused visible damage to Logano’s splitter and caused his left-front tire to come apart by the time he reached the entrance to the pits. By then, Suarez had less than four minutes left on his “Crash Clock,” and both he and Logano were two laps down. Yeley earned his second “Lucky Dog” under this caution, moving him to 35th, one lap down. Suarez now held last place with Logano in 35th.

As the Trackhouse crew worked on the #99, they discovered it was leaking both water and oil, and the tethers on the mangled hood had to be cut away to examine the engine. On Lap 39, Suarez’ crew sent him back out to try and run another lap. Again, NASCAR told Suarez to run the inside line, and again, the driver insisted that the engine was still running properly. It was on this lap that Logano’s car finally arrived on pit road, where the tow truck left it facing the wrong way in the #22 team’s pit. Logano’s crew removed both left side tires and set to work. On Lap 40, Suarez was told by his crew that he was leaking oil from a crack in the oil line that they couldn’t find. But by going out, they had now climbed to 35th, putting Logano in last place.

On Lap 41, Suarez returned to pit road, then pulled behind the wall, done for the day under the “Damaged Vehicle Policy.” At that moment, Suarez was still in 35th and two laps ahead of last-place Logano. With less than a minute left on the “Crash Clock,” Logano re-fired the engine and returned to the track, though still off the pace. Just ahead, 34th-place Yeley wasn’t allowed to choose a lane due to a pit road speeding penalty. Logano’s plan was to at least pass Suarez to take 35th, then pull into the garage one lap after the green flag. But on the Lap 42 restart, there was another incident in Turn 1 when Austin Dillon spun his #3 Bretztri Chevrolet. Dillon continued without serious damage, meaning Logano wouldn’t gain another spot under the caution. What it did mean was that J.J. Yeley had earned his third-straight “Lucky Dog” and was now back on the lead lap. 

Suarez pulls into the garage after turning a 37th lap.
SCREENSHOT: NASCAR Drive

Under the Dillon caution, Logano continued to drive around the track, and unlike Suarez was not told to run the apron. He did incur a redundant tail-end penalty for improper fueling – which may have been due to how the tow truck had left his car in its stall. On Lap 45, Logano dropped Suarez back to last place, then lined up for the Lap 46 restart. But once again, there was trouble in Turn 1 – this time Kyle Larson’s #5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet was spun from 2nd place off the nose of Christopher Bell’s #20 Yahoo! Toyota. Like Dillon, Larson had minor damage to the rear of his car, but continued. And though he didn’t have a spot to gain, Logano did earn the Lucky Dog and  was now five laps down. “About 30 more of those and we’re back in this thing,” Logano said with a laugh. Both Logano and his Penske Racing team discussed their options, and the driver doubted he’d be able to reach minimum speed. There also weren’t more spots to gain, though B.J. McLeod was reportedly having a steering rack issue.

On Lap 51, when NASCAR confirmed Suarez was out of the race, Logano let the field roll away from him. A lap later, the #22 was the only car to not reach minimum speed. When the speed didn’t improve on Lap 54, Logano’s crew called him to pit road, followed seconds later by NASCAR calling him to the garage under the “Damaged Vehicle Policy.” With that, Logano came to pit road and pulled into the same garage entrance used by Suarez. After falling two laps down to Suarez following their incident, Logano ended up completing 11 more laps to secure 35th.

Taking 34th was Austin Dillon, whose second encounter with the Turn 1 wall ended his afternoon. Entering Turn 1 on Lap 105, Dillon had recovered from his restart spin to take 11th place, only to cross the nose of Tyler Reddick’s #45. Dillon spun up the track and made hard contact with the passenger side, this time eliminating him from the race. Dillon climbed from his car without serious injury and threw his helmet at Reddick’s car as it passed. It bounced just behind Reddick’s car. Justin Haley took 33rd after his #31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet spun in Turn 2, nearly collecting several cars before he slapped the wall with the driver’s side. As Haley was checked and released from the infield care center, B.J. McLeod took 32nd, one of only two drivers to finish off the lead lap. The other was Ryan Preece, whose stall after a spin forced the race to end under caution.

Ty Gibbs’ first career Top Five among impressive runs

One year after he first drove in relief of an injured Kurt Busch, Ty Gibbs in the #54 He Gets Us Toyota returned to Pocono and finished 5th, leading 4 laps and earning stage points along the way. It was Gibbs’ first career top-five finish in only his 36th series start. The race also saw impressive runs by two of the sport’s most iconic numbers. Harrison Burton finished 8th in the Wood Brothers’ #21 DEX Imaging Ford, his first top-ten finish since his season-best 6th in Darlington. Erik Jones scored 9th in Legacy Motor Club’s #43 U.S. Air Force Chevrolet, marking the fourth time in the last five races he’s finished 11th or better.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This marked the first last-place finish for the #99 in a Cup Series race at Pocono.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

36) #99-Daniel Suarez / 37 laps / crash 

35) #22-Joey Logano / 48 laps / dvp / led 21 laps / won stage 1 

34) #3-Austin Dillon / 105 laps / crash

33) #31-Justin Haley / 153 laps / crash

32) #78-B.J. McLeod / 159 laps / running

2023 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Spire Motorsports (4)

2nd) Penske Racing (3)

3rd) Joe Gibbs Racing, Legacy Motor Club, Live Fast Motorsports, Richard Childress Racing, Rick Ware Racing (2)

4th) Hendrick Motorsports, Kaulig Racing, Trackhouse Racing (1)

2023 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet (13)

2nd) Ford (5)

3rd) Toyota (2)

2023 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP