INDYCAR: Benjamin Pedersen suffers third first-lap exit of 2023

PHOTO: A.J. Foyt Racing

by William Soquet

LASTCAR.info Staff Writer

Benjamin Pedersen finished last for the 3rd time in his NTT IndyCar Series career in Sunday’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at World Wide Technology Raceway when his #55 Sexton Properties Chevrolet crashed out of the race before completing any of the race’s 260 laps.

The finish came in Pedersen’s 15th career start and was his first since Toronto, five races ago. Across NTT IndyCar Series history, it was the 11th for the #55, the 111th for Chevrolet and the 207th due to a crash.

Since his last-place finish at Toronto, the struggles have continued for the Danish-American rookie. He finished 15 laps down on pace in the first Iowa race and was disqualified in the second for running too slow. At Nashville, Pedersen was the victim of a late-race stack-up and failed to finish the race. His car then didn't fire at the start of the Indianapolis GP, leaving him several laps down at the start of the race. Pedersen’s last finish better than 23rd was Road America back in the middle of June. 

However, some bright news for A.J. Foyt Racing arrived before Gateway, as Team Penske announced a technical alliance for the team. Aside from engineering support, Penske also noted that in the future, Foyt would be used to house Penske's junior drivers who weren’t ready for the big team yet. It's still unclear what this means for Pederson. While he has plenty of funding and is thought to have a multi-year deal with Foyt, anything can happen in this crazy IndyCar silly season.

The entry list for Gateway looked marginally different than that of the Indianapolis GP. Ed Carpenter and Takuma Sato returned for their final races in oval-only programs - Carpenter in a third car for his team and Sato filling Chip Ganassi’s #11. Simon Pagenaud will continue to recover from a vicious crash at Mid-Ohio for the remainder of the season, and Meyer Shank Racing again tabbed last year’s Indy Lights champion Linus Ludqvist to fill the #60. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing got a jump on silly season and parted ways early with Jack Harvey. Conor Daly got the call to drive for this race. It has been quite the season for Daly, who started the season as a full-time driver for Ed Carpenter Racing but was released midseason. Iowa marked Daly’s fourth race as a sub, making him IndyCar’s de facto “super sub” of the 2023 season.

Due to constant rain on Saturday, there was only one practice session ahead of the race, run late on Saturday evening. Graham Rahal was slowest in the session, continuing a brutal oval run this year that included a crash at Texas, failing to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 on speed, and a crash at Iowa. His fastest lap was a 26.4. Pedersen was 26th on the charts, making a hot lap of 26.13 seconds.

Qualifying involved single-car two-lap runs with the starting order determined not by the fastest lap but by total time. Carpenter, who was sandwiched between Pedersen and Rahal in qualifying, recorded the slowest combined time in qualifying at a 51.58. Santino Ferrucci was immediately ahead of him on the charts while Pedersen was 26th with a two-lap time of 50.92 seconds.

Due to a multitude of grid penalties issued for engine changes, Agustin Canapino dropped from his 21st qualifying position to the rear of the field before the race. This pushed the entire bottom seven up one position for the start.

At the start of the race, several drivers in the midpack fanned out from the original double-wide start to go three and four-wide into Turn 1, kicking up some oil dry dust on the bottom of the track. Pedersen slowed for the corner behind the car of Ryan Hunter-Reay, and Carpenter’s left-front plowed into Pedersen’s right-rear, sending the #55 spinning. Pedersen backed hard into the turn one outside wall, ending his day. There were differing opinions as to whether the oil dry impeded his vision or not, but Carpenter served a 30-second stop and hold penalty in pit lane for avoidable contact, which put him three laps down to the field during the opening green flag run.

Callum Ilott, Sato and Josef Newgarden were all eliminated from the race in single-car crashes. Newgarden led 98 laps prior to the crash and was looking to sweep the IndyCar oval season this year. However, both that and any championship hopes dried up with his crash. Carpenter's was the last car running, six laps down by the end of the race.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*Pedersen’s first three last-place finishes have all come via first-lap crashes. He is the first driver in IndyCar Series history (since 1996) to do so.
*This was the first last-place finish for the #55 on an oval since Kosuke Matsuura, who had a first-lap crash on 4/21/2007 at Motegi.
*Pedersen is the only driver this year to finish last with 0 laps completed in any race.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
28) #55-Benjamin Pedersen / 0 laps / crash
27) #77-Callum Ilott / 58 laps / crash
26) #11-Takuma Sato / 119 laps / crash
25) #2-Josef Newgarden / 210 laps / crash
24) #33-Ed Carpenter / 254 laps / running

2023 LASTCAR INDYCAR SERIES MANUFACTURERS CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Honda (10)
2nd) Chevrolet (5)

2023 LASTCAR INDYCAR SERIES OWNERS CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Dale Coyne Racing (5)
2nd) A.J. Foyt Racing, Chip Ganassi Racing (3)
3rd) Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (2)
4th) Arrow McLaren SP, Juncos Hollinger Racing (1)

2023 LASTCAR INDYCAR SERIES DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP

ARCA: Alex Clubb scores second-consecutive Milwaukee last-place finish

PHOTO: Jared Haas, @RealJaredHaas

by William Soquet

LASTCAR.info Staff Writer

Alex Clubb finished last for the 6th time in his ARCA Menards Series career in Sunday’s Sprecher 150 at the Milwaukee Mile when his unsponsored #03 Clubb Racing Ford exited the race after completing two laps.

The finish came in Clubb’s 41st career start and was his first since DuQuoin last year, 20 races ago.

Since a relatively average end to the 2022 season, Clubb Racing has remained one of the staple teams in the ARCA garage for 2023. The team opened up the season by giving their owner points to Mullins Racing and driver Brayton Laster at Daytona. Alex Clubb has run a majority of the schedule in the #03 car, running as high as 13th. After breaking into the stock car racing scene last year, Casey Carden returned to Clubb Racing for a trio of races this season, although he failed to finish all three. Roger Carter holds the team’s best finish on the year - an 11th in a one-off at Berlin.

Clubb on track at Milwaukee.
PHOTO: Small Budget Racing, @BudgetRacing51

The entry list for Milwaukee held 23 cars, up five from the previous ARCA race and down two from the previous ARCA East race. Several drivers wound up in new places. Grant Enfinger hopped behind the wheel of the Grant County Mulch car usually driven by Jason Kitzmiller. After running his own team in the past, Ron Vandermeir Jr. returned to ARCA for his first start of the season using his own car and Fast Track Racing’s #10 owner points. For the first time since Pocono, Jake Finch wound up in a fifth Venturini Motorsports entry, the #1.

The lone series debut was Rick Redig-Tackman, son of former ARCA competitor Rick Tackman Jr. According to Jared Haas of Frontstretch, Redig-Tackman helped rebuild Brad Smith’s #48 car from Charlotte and was given the chance to drive in return. Redig-Tackman, a southeast Wisconsin native, secured sponsorship from La Crosse Speedway promoting their Oktoberfest race weekend, which includes races in the ASA Midwest Tour, Big 8 Late Model Series and Midwest Truck Series, among others. Redig-Tackman is a regular in the Mid-Am Stock Car Series, where Ron Vandermeir Jr. was also successful before trying ARCA. As a result, Smith was entered in Kimmel Racing’s #69 car.

Saturday’s practice session was led by William Sawalich, who set a fast lap of 29.332 seconds. Clubb was by far the slowest, clocking in at 41.091 seconds. Next up the chart were Dale Shearer and A.J. Moyer, who were both in the 36-second range. In qualifying, Sawalich set a new track record of 29.069 seconds. Shearer's was the slowest car to take a time at 35.746 seconds, with Clubb, 20th in practice, not far ahead at 35.385 seconds.

At the command to fire engines, 22 of the 23 cars followed through. The one who didn’t was Rita Goulet, who needed a push to get her car rolling. She eventually left pit lane and joined the tail end of the field. Before the drop of the green flag, Redig-Tackman, Smith and Clubb all dropped to the rear of the field with Smith's the final car to take the green flag. However, he passed Clubb in the first set of turns, dropping the #03 to last. In the next set of turns, Clubb then caught Shearer, and drew nearly even with the #98 at the line to complete the first lap. Clubb cleared Shearer in Turns 1 and 2 on the second lap, leaving Shearer at the rear of the field. At this point, Shearer was between a third and a half-track in arrears to leader Sawalich.

At the end of the second lap, Smith entered pit road and immediately made the hard left turn to enter the ARCA garage. The #69 car sat for a lap until Clubb pulled in a lap later and then promptly returned to pit lane and then the track. The scenario did not repeat for Clubb, who soon dropped the window net and climbed from the unsponsored car. He noted after the race on Facebook that he hoped it would be the car’s final start-and-park effort of the season.

Clubb pulls up to the team's hauler in the garage.
PHOTO: Small Budget Racing, @BudgetRacing51

This was much different than 2022, when Clubb had ambitions of completing a full race before a right-front mechanical failure led to a brutal wall impact and another last-place finish - also after two laps.

Dallas Freuh, driving Fast Track Racing’s #01 this weekend, finished in 22nd. He and Jon Garrett both completed 12 circuits before retiring from the race. Smith lasted 24 laps and got Kimmel a few more owners points, finishing 20th instead of 23rd. Shearer rounded out the Bottom Five, stalled on track after completing 104 laps.

Redig-Tackman finished 14th in his series debut, the best finish for the #48 this year. Former LASTCAR ARCA championship leader Tim Monroe ran a full race as well, coming home six laps down in 15th.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
23) #03-Alex Clubb / 2 laps / mechanical
22) #01-Dallas Freuh / 12 laps / mechanical
21) #66-Jon Garrett / 12 laps / mechanical
20) #69-Brad Smith / 24 laps / mechanical
19) #98-Dale Shearer / 104 laps / stalled

2023 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES MANUFACTURERS CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet (8)

2nd) Ford (5)

3rd) Toyota (2)

2023 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES OWNERS CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Smith Brothers Racing (4)

2nd) Fast Track Racing (3)

3rd) Clubb Racing (2)

4th) Coughlin Brothers Racing, KLAS Motorsports, Our Motorsports, Spraker Racing Enterprises, Tamayo-Cosentino Racing, Kimmel Racing (1)

2023 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES EAST OWNERS CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Wayne Peterson Racing, Fast Track Racing (2)

2nd) Brad Smith Motorsports, Kimmel Racing, Clubb Racing (1)

2023 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES EAST MANUFACTURERS CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Ford (4)

2nd) Toyota (2) 

3rd) Chevrolet (1)

2023 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP

TRUCKS: Flat tire spoils Josh Bilicki’s first Milwaukee start

PHOTO: Jared Haas, @RealJaredHaas

by Brock Beard

LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief

Josh Bilicki picked up the 2nd last-place finish of his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career in Sunday’s Clean Harbors 175 at the Milwaukee Mile when his #02 Insurance King Chevrolet was involved in a crash after 9 of 175 laps.

The finish, which came in Bilicki’s 11th series start, was his first of the season and first in a Truck Series race since February 21, 2020 at Las Vegas, 84 races ago. In the Truck Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 10th for the #02, the 187th from a crash, and the 437th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 33rd for the #02, the 1,350th from a crash, and the 1,911th for Chevrolet.

Coming into Sunday, Bilicki had made just one Truck Series start since 2020, which came at Sonoma last year. That day, Bilicki was a late substitution for Colin Garrett after a delay in receiving drug test results swapped Garrett out of the #30 11/11 Veteran Project / Un Broken Toyota. Bilicki qualified 26th, but was involved in a fiery crash at Turn 1. 

Over those same three seasons, Bilicki’s focus has instead been on the Cup Series and XFINITY Series. He earned his first full-time Cup ride in 2021, driving the #52 entry for Rick Ware Racing and earning his first top-ten finish in the summer race at Daytona. He’s since run a reduced schedule for both Spire Motorsports and now Live Fast Motorsports, then a road course-heavy portion of the XFINITY schedule. Most recently, he finished a series-best 8th at Road America, which had been NASCAR’s lone stop in his home state since the Milwaukee Mile was taken off the schedule after 2009.

Bilicki on track in the Randy Young #02.
PHOTO: Small Budget Racing, @BudgetRacing51

On August 16th, Bilicki announced he would be competing in the Truck Series’ return Milwaukee. The track had special significance to Bilicki, who grew up just 30 miles from the track and watched several open-wheel and stock car races from the grandstands. He’d drive for Young’s Motorsports in the #02, which has had five different drivers in the six races since the team parted ways with Kris Wright. Sponsorship came from Bilicki’s longtime backer Insurance King, plus several other Milwaukee-area sponsors in Creative Construction of Milwaukee, Allied Insulation, Willson’s Sport and Marine, and Calderone Club.

In practice, Bilicki ranked 31st of the 37 entrants, then qualified 31st as the last driver in on speed, clocking in at 118.249mph (30.901 seconds). The lone DNQ was another Wisconsin native in Dexter Bean, who restarted his own Blackjack Racing team that attempted Cup Series races with the #51 in 2009. Bean’s #21 Badger Environmental / IUOE 139 Chevrolet ranked 33rd-fastest, just over seven-hundredths slower than Bilicki.

Bilicki's truck about to be towed off pit road.
PHOTO: William Soquet, @WilliamSoquet

Still another Wisconsin native caught the ire of officials during pre-race inspection. IRP winner Ty Majeski was tagged for an infraction relating to his right-rear tire on the #98 Road Ranger Ford. NASCAR confiscated the tire, ejected crew chief Joe Shear, Jr., and handed down both a tail-end penalty that negated his 13th-place qualifying effort and a pass-through after the green flag. Majeski was one of five drivers sent to the rear before the start: 26th-place Matt Mills for unapproved adjustments on the #51 J.F. Electric Chevrolet, plus 35th-place Josh Reaume in the #22 JAG Metals LLC Ford, 23rd-place Matt DiBenedetto in the #25 Rackley Roofing Chevrolet, and 36th-place Greg Van Alst in the #20 CB Fabricating Chevrolet for missing driver intros. For Van Alst, the last-place finisher at IRP, this was a redundancy as he’d already been the slowest qualifier.

Based on intervals, Majeski didn’t cross the line in last place, but was instead 33rd (3.903 seconds back of the leader) ahead of DiBenedetto (4.174), Van Alst (4.26), and Reaume (5.032). After taking the green, Majeski prepared to come down pit road for his penalty, and took over last place 12.325 seconds back of the leader, 5.095 behind the now 35th-place Reaume. Majeski returned to the track about 20 seconds back of the leader, and by Lap 6 had closed within 8.824 seconds of 35th place. He quickly cut the deficit to 7.272 on Lap 7, 5.954 on Lap 8, and 4.599 on Lap 9. By that lap, Bilicki had fallen to the 35th spot, and on the following circuit, Majeski was just 3.115 seconds behind him. 

But on Lap 11, Bilicki cut down a right-front tire between Turns 1 and 2 and bounced off the outside wall with the right-front. Under the first caution of the day, Majeski slipped past into 35th, putting Bilicki to last place as he came down pit road. The crew spent at least three laps working on the right-front corner, but there was too much damage. A tow truck arrived on the scene and towed Bilicki behind the wall, done for the day. The driver was also checked and released from the infield care center, after which he examined the truck with his crew.

Bilicki towed behind the wall.
PHOTO: Brett, @22fan4ever

The next two spots in the Bottom Five were filled after a hard crash in Turn 1 where Greg Van Alst’s #20 apparently had a stuck throttle entering the corner, collecting Brad Perez’ #30 Bread Rocket Toyota before hitting the wall. Perez had made an unscheduled stop around Lap 11, which put him a lap behind Van Alst and thus dropped him to 35th with Van Alst 34th. These were the day’s only three DNFs. Rounding out the Bottom Five were Josh Reaume, who finished four laps down in the #22, while Spencer Boyd took 32nd after a late-race spin in his #12 Cronauer Law Chevrolet.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This marked the first last-place finish for the #02 in a Truck Series race since November 13, 2009, when Terry Cook’s #02 Koma Unwind / CorrieStottracing.com Chevrolet fell out with brake issues after 3 laps of the Lucas Oil 150 at Phoenix. This race preceded the series debut of Young’s Motorsports by more than two years – April 15, 2012 at Rockingham. 

*The #02 had never before finished last in a Truck Series race at Milwaukee.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

36) #02-Josh Bilicki / 9 laps / crash

35) #30-Brad Perez / 62 laps / crash

34) #20-Greg Van Alst / 63 laps / crash

33) #22-Josh Reaume / 171 laps / running

32) #12-Spencer Boyd / 172 laps / running

2023 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

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

2nd) G2G Racing (3)

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

4th) CR7 Motorsports, GK Racing, Roper Racing (1)

2023 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet (7)

2nd) Ford (6)

3rd) Toyota (5)

2023 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

CUP: Brennan Poole’s hard hit to inside wall overshadowed by big Daytona wrecks involving Blaney and Preece

IMAGE: @ryandaleydesign

by Brock Beard

LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief

Brennan Poole picked up the 2nd last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career in Saturday’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 at the Daytona International Speedway when his #15 Finance Pro Plus Ford was involved in a multi-car accident after 93 of 163 laps.

The finish, which came in Poole’s 40th series start, was his second of the year and first since Darlington, 13 races ago. In the Cup Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 32nd for the #15, the 656th from a crash, and the 734th for Ford. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 50th for the #15, the 1,018th for Ford, and the 1,349th from a crash.

Saturday’s race marked only Poole’s fifth Cup start of the season and second since the last-place run at Darlington. He last took the controls of Rick Ware Racing’s #15 entry at Nashville, where he finished 33rd, three laps down. The focus has instead been on the XFINITY Series, where he’s run most of the season in JD Motorsports’ #6 Chevrolet. Since Darlington weekend, Poole has finished all but one of his attempts – a crash on the road course in Portland that also left him in last place. The road courses have also seen some of his best runs, taking 15th at Road America and recovering from an early spin to take 12th last time out at Watkins Glen.

Poole was originally slated to run double-duty in Daytona, where he would follow-up his season-best 5th-place showing in Talladega. But his ride in the #6 went to Garrett Smithley, who finished 16th after starting third-from-last. Despite NASCAR’s lack of superspeedway practice sessions, Poole secured 34th on the starting grid with a lap of 178.518mph (50.415 seconds). With 39 drivers entered for 40 spots, no Cup teams were sent home.

Securing 39th and last on the grid was Indianapolis winner Michael McDowell, whose #34 Fr8Auctions Ford turned in the slowest lap by just over one-tenth of a second. Failing pre-race inspection were both Chandler Smith’s #13 Quick Tie Products, Inc. Chevrolet and Josh Berry in the #42 Sunseeker Resort Chevrolet, but neither incurred tail-end penalties, nor a pass-through penalty after the start. Smith qualified 36th with Berry in 29th. But during Saturday’s pace laps, 9th-place qualifier Ryan Preece had an issue with the power steering on his #41 RaceChoice.com Ford. The crew managed to fix a tight sensation in the wheel and send him back out, but he would incur a tail-end penalty as a result.

When the green flag dropped, Preece slotted in behind McDowell on the inside line, crossing the stripe 4.001 seconds back of the leader. Preece remained last at the end of Lap 1, now just nine-thousandths behind Corey LaJoie, whose #7 NEGU Chevrolet was alongside. Preece inched ahead of LaJoie at Lap 3 by 0.022 second, then dropped Michael McDowell to last on Lap 5. On the sixth circuit, the spot fell to Chandler Smith, who reported his #13 was a little free, but just 0.148 behind the now 38th-place LaJoie. Further ahead, Brad Keselowski pulled to the high lane, his #6 Kings Hawaiian Ford bailing out of tight traffic. Keselowski took last on Lap 10, but dropped 0.623 behind Smith. Keselowski then charged back at Smith using the draft off Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.’s #47 Boost by Kroger / Entemann’s Chevrolet, putting Smith back to last place. Stenhouse then bailed on Keselowski and moved two spots ahead.

On Lap 14, Chandler Smith suddenly lost touch with the other 38 drivers and plummeted to 3.487 seconds behind 38th-place Keselowski. Checking his digital dash for error codes, Smith wondered if he had an engine problem. The team believed the car only felt slow as he’d lost touch with the draft. By Lap 21, Smith was 22.773 seconds behind 38th-place Keselowski, and now counting down the laps to the caution that would end Stage 1. As the leaders quickly caught him, Smith was told by his spotter to hold the high lane, which he did on Lap 28 as the leaders whistled past through Turns 1 and 2. Smith then reported a possible fuel pressure issue, and his telemetry indicated he was lifting off the throttle down the straightaway. Smith made it to the end of Stage 1 on Lap 36, when he was awarded the Lucky Dog. After pit stops, last place fell to his teammate Justin Haley in the #31 Celsius Chevrolet.

The race restarted on Lap 41, where last place fell to Todd Gilliland in the #38 Boot Barn Ford. Gilliland then climbed past B.J. McLeod, whose #78 B’laster Ford was just 0.015 behind McDowell at the start of Lap 42. Both then dispensed with Ty Dillon, who on Lap 43 held the 39th spot in his #77 Gainbridge Chevrolet. It was on this same lap that NASCAR first reported a possible fluid leak from Gilliland’s #38, though he was cleared soon after. On Lap 44, Ty Dillon dropped McLeod back to last, and Brennan Poole took it for the first time on Lap 45. Poole then caught Gilliland, who was just 0.091 behind 38th-place LaJoie at the start of Lap 46. LaJoie took last on Lap 47, just over one-tenth back of Poole, while further up, Gilliland was told he could bail out of line if he felt uncomfortable. Gilliland declined, saying he could see better. Poole took last on Lap 48, and on Lap 51 was locked in a side-by-side battle with LaJoie, the two just 0.020 apart with the #7 running last. The next time by, 38th spot fell to Denny Hamlin, who three laps earlier bailed out of line and dropped his #11 FedEx Cares Toyota to 35th. Hamlin held off LaJoie through Lap 57, when Poole retook last place by just 0.013 second. That gap narrowed to five-thousandths the next time by, but McLeod took last from both of them on Lap 59, 0.031 behind Poole.

On Lap 60, Gilliland was again noticed for a fluid leak, and this time was black-flagged by NASCAR. LaJoie took last on Lap 61, and was again setting after Hamlin in 38th. But on Lap 64, Gilliland took the spot when he served his penalty just before NASCAR would stop scoring. While NASCAR officials reported no fluid at pit entrance, Gilliland’s crew pushed the #38 backwards up pit road, then behind the wall below the signpost for the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona. Gilliland stopped for a moment, then was waved on to drive further into the garage. He stopped a few feet later, where the crew raised the hood. On Lap 68, Gilliland drove further into the garage, completed a 180-degree turn, then drove part of the way back. The crew again raised the hood and continued their work, wiping the windshield as they did. Radio traffic indicated a possible issue with the oil cooler, forcing the team to craft a bypass to get the car running. On Lap 78, Gilliland refired his engine and returned to the track, 15 laps down.

Gilliland pulls behind the wall with an oil leak.
SCREENSHOT: NASCAR Drive

Soon after Gilliland’s return, green flag stops began. During this sequence, both Poole and Hamlin were penalized for separate pit road infractions, forcing each to serve pass-through penalties. Also docked was Riley Herbst, whose strong early run in the #36 Monster Energy Ford was spoiled by his crew coming over the wall too soon. Herbst, Hamlin, and Poole ran by themselves on the track until Lap 87, when Hamlin and Poole linked up and dropped Herbst to 38th. Herbst then linked up with teammate Gilliland, and the pair went a lap down to then-leader Daniel Suarez as he entered Turn 3 on Lap 89. By then, Gilliland now had an overheating issue, reporting his water and oil temperature had reached 330 degrees. Soon after, the lead pack caught Hamlin and Poole. By Lap 95, as the leaders came down to complete Stage 2, Poole pulled ahead of Hamlin and Herbst in their battle for the Lucky Dog spot.

But coming off Turn 4, trouble broke out among the leaders. Contact from 3rd-place Christopher Bell’s #20 Yahoo! Toyota sent teammate and runner-up Ty Gibbs sideways in his #54 Monster Energy Toyota, which turned Gibbs into the right-rear of race leader Ryan Blaney. Blaney’s #12 Advance Auto Parts Ford cut right along with Gibbs, both striking the outside wall and triggering a massive pileup. Poole was running behind 15th-place Austin Dillon in the Lucky Dog spot when he checked-up in front of a fast-closing Hamlin, who clipped Poole’s rear bumper as he cut to the right. This contact sent Poole hard to the left, sending him careening into the inside wall, which he struck hard with the right-front corner. Both Hamlin and Herbst also spun in the chain-reaction while Dillon damaged his left-front wheel after striking a spinning Stenhouse. These were among the 12 drivers involved in the wreck.

Poole's car towed into the garage after his wreck.
SCREENSHOT: NASCAR Drive

After a nearly ten-minute red flag, the race resumed with Gilliland still in last – and in one piece – still 15 laps down. Poole’s car was among the first to be towed behind the wall, joined by Herbst, Cindric, Blaney, and Gibbs, who completed the Bottom Five. Poole dropped to 38th on Lap 97, and Gilliland put him in last place on Lap 111. Gilliland reached 32nd before his persistent overheating issue put him behind the wall for good in the final laps.

Spire cars and XFINITY stars impress under the lights at Daytona

After both contended for last place in the early stages of the race, Spire Motorsports teammates Corey LaJoie and Ty Dillon went on to finish 10th and 11th, respectively, both coming home on the lead lap. For LaJoie, it was only his second top-ten finish of the year and fourth at Daytona. For Dillon, who ran as high as 8th, it was his best finish of the year, improving on his previous mark of 14th in the spring race at Talladega, and was his best since he ran 10th in the Bristol Dirt Race last year. Dillon’s finish also came after a frustrating SpeedWeeks in February, where he became the first driver to finish last in both his Duel and the 500 since Bob Schacht in 1992.

Among the several XFINITY Series regulars competing in Saturday’s race, both Chandler Smith and Austin Hill were best in class, taking home 15th and 14th, respectively. Smith overcame his fuel pressure issue at a track where he’d failed to qualify for the Daytona 500 in February, and at one point raced as high as 3rd. In so doing, Smith successfully followed up a strong 17th at Richmond the week he scored his first XFINITY Series win. Austin Hill, who suffered a frustrating wreck while battling among the leaders in Friday’s race, earned his own career-best Cup finish in the #62 United Rentals / Beard Oil Chevrolet, besting his 18th-place debut for RCR at Michigan last year.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This marked the first last-place finish for the #15 in a Cup points race at Daytona since February 14, 2021, when Derrike Cope crashed out of the Daytona 500. The number hadn’t finished last in the 400-mile summer race since July 2, 1988, when Brett Bodine’s Crisco / Motorcraft Ford crashed after 1 lap of the Firecracker 400.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

39) #15-Brennan Poole / 93 laps / crash

38) #36-Riley Herbst / 94 laps / crash

37) #2-Austin Cindric / 94 laps / crash

36) #12-Ryan Blaney / 94 laps / crash

35) #54-Ty Gibbs / 94 laps / crash

2023 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Spire Motorsports (4)

2nd) Live Fast Motorsports, Penske Racing, Richard Childress Racing, Rick Ware Racing (3)

3rd) Joe Gibbs Racing, Legacy Motor Club (2)

4th) Front Row Motorsports, Hendrick Motorsports, Kaulig Racing, Stewart-Haas Racing, Trackhouse Racing (1)

2023 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet (15)

2nd) Ford (8)

3rd) Toyota (2)

2023 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

XFINITY: Alex Guenette collected in multi-car pileup at Daytona

PHOTO: @dgm_racing_

by Brock Beard

LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief

Alex Guenette picked up the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINTIY Series career in Friday’s Wawa 250 Powered by Coca-Cola at the Daytona International Speedway when his #91 EVIRUM / BKFC Chevrolet was collected in a multi-car crash after 41 of 110 laps.

The finish came in Guenette’s sixth series start. In the XFINITY Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 31st for the #91, the 384th from a crash, and the 628th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 56th for the #91, the 1,348th from a crash, and the 1,910th for Chevrolet.

It’s been nearly a decade since Guenette has been featured in an article on this site. On March 30, 2014, the 17-year-old Canadian was making his second career Truck Series start with Mario Gosselin, qualifying 24th at Martinsville. It was his first NASCAR start on an oval, and yielded his first last-place finish after early fuel pump issues. That day, he carried sponsorship from Motos Illimitées, an off-road enthusiast shop based in his native Terrebonne, Quebec and operated by his father and grandfather, both sports car racers. The same brand was on board his lone ARCA Menards Series entry at Talladega – also fielded by Gosselin – with which he finished in 20th place.

Guenette is still quite new to the NASCAR XFINITY Series. Coming into 2023, his only starts came in 2016, and only his last at Kentucky came with Gosselin. The other three were for Victor Obaika, with whom he earned his series-best 24th-place finish at Pocono. He then returned home to compete in the NASCAR Pinty’s Series, where he’d achieved modest success during his time running in the U.S. He finished top-ten in two of his first three starts back, then in 2021 ranked 7th in points driving a car entered by Cup Series team Rick Ware Racing. But it was with team owner Dave Jacombs that, on August 7, 2022, Guenette broke through with his first Pinty’s victory, besting a dominant Marc-Antoine Camirand to claim his first victory on the road course at Trois-Rivieres.

July’s landmark weekend at the Chicago Street Course brought Guenette back to the United States, where he again teamed with Gosselin in the team’s part-time effort, the #36 Chevrolet. Though torrential rains cut the race short, Guenette managed to qualify his car on speed in 18th and secured 15th at the checkered flag – a new career-best. Friday’s run at Daytona would be his first start since, now in Gosselin’s #91 entry. It would also be his first XFINITY start at Daytona since July 1, 2016, when he finished 38th of 40 starters in Obaika’s #97 Vroom! Brands Chevrolet. 

This time around, Guenette would be sponsored by Evirum, a Quebec-based waste management service, and the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship, or BKFC. According to the team’s press release, Guenette had VIPs on hand in BKFC Two-Divisjon World Champion Lorenzo “The Juggernaut” Hunt and “BKFC Bombshells” Kaitlyn and Alyssa. Guenette would do so as the only non-U.S. driver in the field.

With no practice, Guenette’s first opportunity to shake down his Chevrolet came in qualifying, where he struggled with the car’s handling to run the 31st-fastest lap in Round 1 with a speed of 177.975mph (50.569 seconds). With exactly 38 drivers entered for as many spots, he still made the show, securing the 31st starting spot.

Securing the 38th and final starting spot in qualifying was the #39 Ford of Ryan Sieg, who after several races with reduced sponsorship received new backing from Sci Aps, long a sponsor of part-timer C.J. McLaughlin. Both Sieg and the #27 Capital City Towing Chevrolet of 37th-place qualifier Jordan Anderson – back behind the wheel for the first time since his fiery wreck at Talladega last fall – were prohibited from qualifying. Both were among five drivers docked late Thursday for multiple inspection failures, each also resulting in a tail-end penalty and a mandatory pass-through down pit road after taking the green flag. The others docked were Anderson’s teammates in 10th-place Jeb Burton in the #22 State Water Heaters / Puryear Chevrolet and 23rd-place Parker Retzlaff in the #31 Funkaway Chevrolet, plus JR Motorsports’ Justin Allgaier who timed in 12th in the #7 Hellmann’s Chevrolet.

By the evening of the race, two more drivers incurred pre-race penalties for unapproved adjustments: 29th-place Connor Mosack in the #24 Toyota Racing Development Toyota and 35th-place Natalie Decker in the #53 Wawa Rechargers “The Mermaid” Ford. Mosack took the green flag 3.249 seconds back of the lead with 38th place shifting to Jordan Anderson’s #27, 3.588 seconds behind. The five teams incurring a Lap 1 pass-through formed a draft of their own, pulling down pit road together and returning in a single-file procession. On Lap 3, those five cars were led by Jeb Burton in 34th with Anderson still last, the group 22.993 seconds behind 33rd-place Natalie Decker. By Lap 14, this five-car line closed the gap to just 4.227 seconds behind Decker, who lost touch with the tail end of her own pack. By Lap 16, Burton caught Decker and pulled his group past, dropping Decker to last place on Lap 17. Unable to latch onto this pack, Decker fell 2.246 behind the now 37th-place Anderson on Lap 18, a gap that grew to 10.100 seconds on Lap 23. Stranded, Decker was first to be lapped on the 24th circuit.

Coming to complete Lap 30 and with it, Stage 1, the five “pass-through” drivers had closed within 1.556 seconds of 32nd-place Riley Herbst, whose #98 Monster Energy Ford had plummeted down the rankings with a steering box issue that kept his steering wheel at the three o’clock position. As Jeb Burton caught Herbst, the #98 blew a left-front tire, tearing away the fender and forcing him to come down pit road. The stage-ending caution came out before 38th-place Decker could drop Herbst to last place, trapping her a lap down. Herbst’s crew made at least two stops under the ensuing yellow, still leaving the left-front fender completely exposed. By the Lap 37 restart, Herbst was showing three laps down with 37th-place Decker still one down. The five “pass-through” cars were now caught up with the leaders.

On Lap 39, Joey Gase made an unscheduled stop after his #35 National Crime Prevention Council Ford lost a left-rear window. He fell 13.826 seconds back of the lead, then lost two laps on pit road as the crew retrieved the replacement. This moved Gase to 37th, lifting teammate Decker to 36th. Herbst remained on track in 38th, still three laps down and hoping for attrition to move him up the rankings. He wouldn’t have to wait long.

Entering the tri-oval to begin Lap 42, Anthony Alfredo was running around 12th place on the inside of a three-wide battle when his #78 Dude Wipes Chevrolet appeared to slide up the track into the left-rear of Josh Berry’s #8 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet and the left-front of his JR Motorsports teammate Brandon Jones in the #9 Menards Chevrolet. While Berry and Alfredo kept their cars straight, Jones lost control, collecting to his inside Brett Moffitt’s #25 Wawa Rechargers "Dragon Blast” Ford. Jones and Moffitt then swept up the track and into the outside wall, triggering a multi-car pileup. Further back, a secondary wreck sent Garrett Smithley’s #4 Duelly.com Chevrolet sliding backward into the outside wall, which is likely where Guenette’s #91 was collected. Told he was leaking fluid, Guenette stopped on the apron of the track, unable to continue along with Jones and Mosack, whose #24 was trapped behind the wrecking #9 as the wreck began.

Also suffering damage in the wreck were both Decker and Herbst, the former rear-ending the latter and pushing in the nose of her #53. Both made it to pit road for repairs, which meant it wasn’t until Lap 46 that Guenette took over last place. Mosack and Jones were also towed to the garage, done for the night in 37th and 36th. Decker made it no further than 35th as another trip to pit road saw her battery fail, leaving her stranded at pit entrance. Rounding out the group was Joe Graf, Jr., who nearly cleared the wreck in his #38 Wawa Rechargers “The Galaxy” Ford before he spun out and came back up the track, forcing Jordan Anderson to cut hard to the left. Anderson cleared the wreck, only for Graf to slide into the path of a wrecking Jones.

A few underdogs survive late-race chaos at Daytona

Following his involvement in the Lap 42 wreck, Anthony Alfredo worked his way into contention and finished 8th. This was not only his season-best, but his first top-ten run since Las Vegas last fall, when he drove for Our Motorsports. It’s also B.J. McLeod’s first top-ten finish as a team owner since Nashville last year, when Ryan Preece finished 6th. 

One spot ahead of Alfredo came Parker Retzlaff, whose 7th-place showing was his sixth top-ten finish of the year and second in the last four races – all the more incredible as he was among the five drivers who incurred the first-lap pass-through penalty for inspection failures. He was joined in the Top 10 by fellow penalized drivers Justin Allgaier, who won a photo finish with Sheldon Creed, and Ryan Sieg, who climbed from last on the grid to finish 6th.

Gray Gaulding’s 9th-place finish was just one spot short of his season-best 8th with the same SS-Green Light Racing team at Talladega, piloting the #08 Panini NFT Chevrolet for the first time since the spring race at Darlington. Six of Gaulding’s eight top-ten finishes have now all come on the superspeedways, including a pair of runner-up finishes.

Just outside the Top 10 in 11th came the #45 Ark Encounter Chevrolet of Jeffrey Earnhardt, who rebounded from his disappointing tangle with Parker Kligerman in this year’s Daytona opener to earn his best finish of 2023. In what has been a difficult year both for Earnhardt and the entire Alpha Prime Racing team, Earnhardt’s previous best of the season was only 18th, which came in the spring race at Richmond.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This marked the first last-place finish for the #91 in a XFINITY Series race since October 1, 2022, when Mason Massey finished under power, 18 laps down, at Talladega. The number hadn’t finished last in a XFINITY race at Daytona since February 22, 2014, when Jeff Green earned his 54th career last-place run after a vibration 3 laps into the season opener.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

38) #91-Alex Guenette / 41 laps / crash

37) #24-Connor Mosack / 41 laps / crash

36) #9-Brandon Jones / 41 laps / crash

35) #53-Natalie Decker / 42 laps / crash

34) #38-Joe Graf, Jr. / 42 laps / dvp

2023 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) SS-Green Light Racing (4)

2nd) Alpha Prime Racing (3)

3rd) Big Machine Racing, CHK Racing, Emerling-Gase Motorsports, JD Motorsports (2)

4th) B.J. McLeod Motorsports, DGM Racing, Joe Gibbs Racing, Jordan Anderson Racing, Kaulig Racing, Motorsports Business Management, Our Motorsports, Sam Hunt Racing, Stewart-Haas Racing (1)

2023 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet (19)

2nd) Toyota (3)

3rd) Ford (2)

2023 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

PREVIEW: Five XFINITY regulars set to run double-duty in Daytona; Blackjack Racing and Milwaukee are back for first time since 2009

PHOTO: @RyanSiegRacing

by Brock Beard

LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief

Friday, August 25, 2023 (7:30 P.M. ET, USA)

XFINITY Race 24 of 33

Wawa 250 Powered by Coca-Cola at Daytona

2022 Last-Place Finisher: Sammy Smith

ENTRY LIST

There are 38 drivers entered for as many spots, meaning all will qualify.

DRIVER CHANGE: #10-Kaulig Racing

In place of Kyle Busch, who finished 27th at Watkins Glen after transmission issues, Justin Haley takes the controls of Kaulig’s #10 entry in a double-duty effort with Saturday’s Cup Series race. This will be Haley’s fifth XFINITY start of the year and first since his season-best 4th in Atlanta last month.

MISSING: #17-Hendrick Motorsports

Not among the entrants this week is Alex Bowman, who finished 9th in the XFINITY race at Watkins Glen as he will this week focus on earning a Playoff spot with a win on Saturday.

DRIVER CHANGE: #19-Joe Gibbs Racing

Just days after Ty Gibbs nearly won at Watkins Glen before late-race contact from Sam Mayer dropped him to 17th, news broke that Trevor Bayne will reunite with JGR this weekend for the first of three races with Interstate Batteries as sponsor. The 2011 Daytona 500 champion ran nine XFINITY races for JGR last year, most recently a 6th-place finish at Homestead where he started on pole. Like Bowman, Gibbs sets his focus squarely on Saturday, where a 5th-place finish at Watkins Glen closed him to within 32 points of Bubba Wallace for the final Playoff spot.

NEW TEAM / DRIVER SWAP: #22-Jordan Anderson Racing

DRIVER CHANGE: #27-Jordan Anderson Racing

Welcome back to the driver’s seat team owner Jordan Anderson, who hasn’t started a XFINITY Series race since a 20th-place run at Kansas on October 23, 2021, and hasn’t run in any NASCAR race since he suffered serious burns in his crash in last fall’s Truck Series race at Talladega. Anderson takes the wheel of his own #27, bringing with him Larry McReynolds as his crew chief. Anderson takes the place of Jeb Burton, who finished 10th in a car that honored first responders. Burton runs a brand-new third entry at the Anderson team, the #22, which carries a “throwback” scheme to father Ward Burton’s famous Caterpillar Dodge that won the 2002 Daytona 500. Tonight’s race will be a challenge as all three Anderson entries – including Parker Retzlaff in the #31 – were among the five drivers to fail pre-race inspection, incurring a tail-end penalty and a pass-through after the green flag. The other two penalized drivers are Justin Allgaier and Ryan Sieg, the latter debuting new sponsorship from Sci Aps on RSS Racing’s #39 Ford. Sci Aps, the longtime backer for C.J. McLaughlin, remains an associate backer this weekend for Emerling-Gase’s #35 entry with Joey Gase (see below).

PAINT SCHEME: #28-RSS Racing

Another “throwback” scheme among this Friday’s entrants is the Night Owl Ford decorated like Davey Allison’s 1990 Texaco / Havoline Ford, a car that failed to qualify in its one previous attempt at Charlotte. Kyle Sieg will start the car this week, following his 19th-place finish with the #28 team at Watkins Glen.

DRIVER CHANGE: #35-Emerling-Gase Motorsports

On the same week he was elected the newest board member of the National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC), Joey Gase returns to the seat of the #35 he co-owns with the NCPC and its mascot “McGruff The Crime Dog” as sponsor. This will be Gase’s 270th career XFINITY start, his first since a 31st-place showing at Pocono, and follows an 18th-place run in this year’s season opener at Daytona. He takes the place of road racer Stanton Barrett, who earned a 32nd-place finish after suspension issues in Watkins Glen.

DRIVER CHANGE: #44-Alpha Prime Racing

Superspeedway action once again beckons Alpha Prime co-owner Caesar Bacarella, who this week takes the controls of the #44 in place of 33rd-place Watkins Glen finisher Stefan Parsons. With sponsorship from Advanced Drainage Systems, Bacarella will make his 29th series start and first since his career-best 6th-place showing at Talladega, his first career Top Ten.

DRIVER CHANGE: #45-Alpha Prime Racing

Also rejoining the circuit this week is Jeffrey Earnhardt, back with Alpha Prime for the first time since his 24th-place showing in Michigan. Earnhardt takes the place of Sage Karam, who isn’t entered this week after his latest in a series of strong runs since Road America was capped by a 15th-place performance at Watkins Glen. Contact from Parker Kligerman in this February’s Daytona event spoiled a chance at a strong run, leaving him 28th.

DRIVER CHANGE: #53-Emerling-Gase Motorsports

In addition to their title sponsor for tonight’s race, convenience store chain Wawa has sponsored no fewer than four of the cars in the race, each promoting a different “Recharger” beverage available at the chain. Among these is the second Emerling-Gase entry, which this week goes to Natalie Decker, who makes her 10th series start and first since a 34th-place run at Charlotte for SS-Green Light Racing. Her particular beverage is called “The Mermaid.” The other three Wawa paint schemes, all designed by DMP Designs, will be featured on the cars of Brett Moffitt (#25 “Dragon Blast” Ford for AM Racing), Joe Graf, Jr. (#38 “The Galaxy” Ford for RSS Racing), and J.J. Yeley (#07 “Island Surf” Chevrolet for SS-Green Light Racing).

MISSING: #66-Motorsports Business Management

MISSING: #74-CHK Racing

Two of the smallest teams in the XFINITY garage were both unable to make a bid at this weekend’s race in Daytona as both were unable to lease an engine for this weekend. For CHK Racing, this follows a DNQ with road race instructor Casey Carden at Watkins Glen. For MBM, which didn’t enter The Glen, this comes one year after Timmy Hill finished a close 2nd to Jeremy Clements in this race. Hill is expected to drive the #66 next week in Darlington, where CHK Racing is also expected to run.

DRIVER CHANGE: #91-DGM Racing

Taking the place of Ross Chastain – already assured his Playoff spot as the race winner in Nashville, and also earning a 4th-place finish for this team in Watkins Glen – is a surprising Alex Guenette. Guenette hasn’t started a XFINITY Series race at Daytona since 2016, when he finished 38th in this race after an early crash driving for Obaika Racing. He did return to action last month on the Chicago Street Course, where he earned a solid 15th-place finish in the rain-shortened event, driving DGM’s #36.

MISSING: #96-FRS Racing

Max McLaughlin qualified FRS Racing into their second-ever race last week in Watkins Glen, but a crash off Turn 11 left them with a disappointing 34th-place finish. The team has not entered this week.

DRIVER CHANGE: #07-SS-Green Light Racing

With Josh Bilicki traveling to his home state in Wisconsin to participate in NASCAR’s revival of the Milwaukee Mile (see below), one week after his 25th-place run at Watkins Glen, David Starr was originally listed to drive the #07 this week until the Wawa deal led to J.J. Yeley climbing aboard the Chevrolet. This gives Yeley the opportunity to run double-duty this weekend, returning to a Daytona track where he’s finished no worse than 18th in his last seven consecutive XFINITY starts dating back to 2017. He ran 9th in this race last year, the night his then-teammate at MBM Timmy Hill finished 2nd.

DRIVER CHANGE: #08-SS-Green Light Racing

Taking the place of Alex Labbe, who finished 24th last week at The Glen, is a returning Gray Gaulding, who brings back his Panini NFT sponsorship on the #08 Chevrolet. Like his teammate Yeley, Gaulding is a good dark horse pick for the superspeedway, having scored two of his seven career Top Tens in consecutive XFINITY races at Daytona from 2019 to 2020. More recently, he finished 8th with this team in this spring’s race at Talladega. 

CUP INVADERS: #10-Justin Haley

Saturday, August 26, 2023 (7:00 P.M. ET, NBC)

CUP Race 26 of 36

Regular Season Finale

Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona

2022 Last-Place Finisher: Kyle Larson

ENTRY LIST

There are 39 drivers entered for 40 spots, marking the 25th straight short field since the series was last in Daytona for the season opener.

RETURNING: #13-Kaulig Racing

In addition to the Playoff drama of Saturday’s regular season finale, there are no fewer than six XFINITY Series competitors who are running double-duty in Daytona who could each potentially shake up the race’s outcome. First among these is Kaulig’s Chandler Smith, who failed to qualify this #13 entry in the Daytona 500, finished a strong 17th in his series debut at Richmond (where he scored his first XFINITY win the day before), then finished last in the All-Star Open in North Wilkesboro. His is also the first of three “open” entries competing this weekend.

DRIVER CHANGE: #15-Rick Ware Racing

Brennan Poole returns for his fifth Cup start of the season, the 40th of his career, with Finance Pro Plus sponsoring his black-and-white Ford for Rick Ware Racing. Poole, who runs double-duty with JD Motorsports, takes the place of 25th-place Watkins Glen finisher Andy Lally. Poole has just two prior Cup starts at Daytona, which each came as Rick Ware acquired Premium Motorsports, and finished a respectable 16th and 15th.

RETURNING: #36-Front Row Motorsports

Riley Herbst is still searching for his first XFINITY Series victory, but also returns to Daytona fresh off a 10th-place finish in February’s 500, followed by a 20th-place run in Talladega. While Herbst drove Rick Ware’s #15 in both races – the car Poole drives this Saturday – he this time is entered in the part-time third entry for Front Row Motorsports, complete with his Monster Energy sponsorship promoting its Zero Sugar variety. The #36 team last ran in the same Talladega race where Herbst last ran Cup, where it too took home 10th with teammate Todd Gilliland.

DRIVER CHANGE: #42-Legacy Motor Club

Mike Rockenfeller’s 19th-place finish was sadly overlooked last week in Watkins Glen – a run that stands as the second-best finish Legacy Motor Club’s #42 Chevrolet has earned all season. The new-look variant of the Sunseeker Resort scheme runs again this weekend, though now with a returning Josh Berry back aboard for the first time since his 34th-place run in Michigan. Still another driver running double-duty, Berry pairs his effort with his JR Motorsports #8 entry for tonight’s race.

DRIVER CHANGE: #51-Rick Ware Racing

The aforementioned J.J. Yeley completes his weekend in Rick Ware’s #51, taking the place of fellow XFINITY and Cup veteran Cole Custer, who claimed 28th last week at Watkins Glen. Yeley enters this race fresh off his 7th-place finish in last month’s rain-shortened superspeedway race in Atlanta, a race that saw his first Top Ten in Cup since the 2013 Daytona 500.

RETURNING: #62-Beard Motorsports

Fresh off news of his contract extension with RCR’s XFINITY team, superspeedway ace Austin Hill will be the fifth full-time XFINITY driver to run double-duty between XFINITY and Cup in Daytona. This will be Hill’s fifth Cup start and first since Michigan, where he finished 28th. Like Chandler Smith, Hill failed to qualify for this year’s Daytona 500, but will get his first opportunity to run a Cup car on the track this weekend.

DRIVER CHANGE: #78-Live Fast Motorsports

After Josh Bilicki took home 27th last week in Watkins Glen, then travels to Milwaukee for Sunday’s Truck Series race, team co-owner B.J. McLeod will pilot the #78 Chevrolet for the first time since Richmond, where he finished last, but just five laps down to the race winner. Both of McLeod’s two career top-ten finishes have occurred in each of the last two runnings of this race, beginning with a 9th-place showing in 2021 and a career-best 7th last year. Saturday will also make his 130th series start.

Sunday, August 27, 2023 (4:00 P.M. ET, FS1)

TRUCKS Race 18 of 23

Round of 10: Race 2 of 3

Clean Harbors 175 at Milwaukee

2009 Last-Place Finisher: Nick Tucker

ENTRY LIST

As the Truck Series returns to action for the first time since IRP, there are 37 drivers entered for 36 spots, meaning one will fail to qualify.

DRIVER CHANGE: #7-Spire Motorsports

After Layne Riggs turned heads in his return to the site of his Truck Series debut with a career-best 3rd-place finish, the #7 Spire entry goes this week to Derek Kraus, whose 75th career Truck Series start will be his first since an 18th-place run in this year’s Daytona opener with Young’s Motorsports. gener8or Skills Accelerator will join as spsonsor.

RETURNING: #21-Blackjack Racing

It’s appropriate that, on a track returning to the circuit for the first time since 2009, a small team from that same season would also come back. That year, Dexter Bean attempted to qualify for seven Cup races in a #51 Dodge entered under the banner of Blackjack Racing. Bean only qualified for one, which came at Pocono, where he finished under power, four laps down, in 36th position. That same year, Bean competed in the last Truck Series race at Milwaukee, finishing 17th for Mario Gosselin. Since then, Bean has focused on the XFINITY Series, running the occasional race for Gosselin, most recently 2021 at Loudon. But this week, Bean enters his own #21 under the Blackjack branding, bringing with him longtime sponsor Badger Environmental along with iiOTec. 

DRIVER SWAP: #22-AM Racing

DRIVER CHANGE: #33-Reaume Brothers Racing

Derek Lemke returns to the Truck Series for the first time since he finished 33rd in his series debut at Richmond. He again pilots Josh Reaume’s #33, taking the place of Reaume himself, who failed to qualify at IRP. Reaume will instead pilot AM Racing’s #22, taking the place of 21st-place IRP finisher Logan Bearden, who’s not entered this week.

DRIVER CHANGE: #30-On Point Motorsports

As Chris Hacker continues to serve his suspension after he was arrested for driving his passenger car under the influence, his law firm sponsor Morgan & Morgan has since announced a multi-year, multi-race sponsorship of both Richard Childress Racing’s Cup entries for Austin Dillon an Kyle Busch, starting with Dillon’s run at Darlington next week. Taking the controls of the #30 on the Truck Series side is a returning Brad Perez, who carries his Bonesteel Aerospace sponsorship, and as of this writing was looking for sponsors for the “Bread Rocket’s” tailgate. Perez’ only Truck start of 2023 came at a soggy Martinsville, where he ran 35th for Randy Young.

DRIVER CHANGE: #41-Niece Motorsports

Shane Van Gisbergen nearly finished on the lead lap in his Truck Series debut at IRP, where he earned a 19th-place finish. This week, the ride goes back to Bayley Currey and sponsor GlobalTranz, Currey’s first Truck start since his 18th-place run at Richmond. In his five previous Truck starts this season, Currey has finished no worse than 18th and earned his first two Top Fives, taking 4th in Atlanta and 5th in Nashville.

MISSING: #44-Niece Motorsports

MISSING: #46-G2G Racing

Not among this week’s entrants are Al Niece’s part-time fourth entry, which Chad Chastain failed to qualify at IRP, and G2G Racing’s #46, which also missed the cut with Armani Williams.

DRIVER SWAP: #51-Kyle Busch Motorsports

DRIVER CHANGE: #02-Young’s Motorsports

Josh Bilicki’s race at his home track comes in Randy Young’s #02 entry, which will carry Bilicki’s longtime sponsor Insurance King. This moves out Matt Mills, who finished 23rd with the team at IRP, back to the #51 with which he ran so strong at Richmond. Taking the place of Jack Wood, who finished 18th at IRP, Mills again carries his own familiar sponsor in J.F. Electric.

DRIVER CHANGE: #61-Hattori Racing Enterprises

Seeking his NASCAR national series debut this week is current ARCA Menards Series West championship leader Sean Hingorani, winner of four of the season’s eight races run so far in 2023. The 16-year-old from Newport Beach, California takes the controls of the part-time second entry fielded by Shigeaki Hattori, not long after a 3rd-place finish in the ARCA Menards Series race at IRP driving for Venturini Motorsports. Fidelity Capital is the listed sponsor of the #61, which ran 17th at IRP in the hands of Jake Drew.

MISSING: #04-Roper Racing

Landen Lewis and the Cory Roper-owned team are not among this week’s entrants after Lewis ran 28th last time out at IRP.

TODAY IN LASTCAR HISTORY (August 25, 1973): Robert Brown picked up the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR Winston Cup Series career in the Nashville 420 at Nashville Fairgrounds when his #58 Stanley Jones Mechanical Constructors 1973 Chevrolet had suspension issues after 5 laps. Brown started last in the 33-car field in what was his ninth and final series start. His best finish was 18th at Bristol on March 28, 1971.

CUP: One week after breakthrough victory, Michael McDowell adds to last-place record

SCREENSHOT: NASCAR on NBC / USA

by Brock Beard

LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief

Michael McDowell picked up the 36th last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career in Sunday’s Go Bowling at the Glen at Watkins Glen International when his #34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford fell out with electrical issues after 74 of 90 laps.

The finish, which came in McDowell’s 454th series start, was his first of the season and first in a Cup race since September 5, 2021 at Darlington, 70 races ago. In the Cup Series last-place rankings, it was the 37th for the #34, the 43rd from electrical issues, and the 733rd for Ford. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 57th for the #34, the 138th from electrical issues, and the 1,017th for Ford.

When McDowell was last featured here, he’d just qualified for his first-ever Playoff appearance earned from his first career victory in the Daytona 500, the third win for Front Row Motorsports. The crash that left McDowell last that night at Darlington ultimately led to his early elimination from the Round of 16. But in 2022, with the introduction of NASCAR’s new NextGen car, McDowell put together an even better season. While winless, he earned a career-best 12 top-ten finishes and finished 3rd at Sonoma. The key difference seemed to be the NextGen’s inspiration from road racing series, though McDowell also impressed on the ovals. This year, he built on this success, pointing his way into the Playoff field before last week scoring a dominant victory on the Indianapolis Grand Prix Circuit.

McDowell arrived at The Glen with a more than realistic chance of going two-for-two. He ran 9th-fastest of the 36 entrants in opening practice, ranked 2nd in Qualifying Round 1A behind only eventual race winner William Byron, then in Round 2 secured 3rd on the grid with a lap of 124.944mph (70.859 seconds).

Securing the 36th and final starting spot for Sunday was Ty Dillon, whose #77 Ferris Commercial Mowers Chevrolet was the only car clocking in over 72 seconds on his lap. He’d be joined by five drivers for unapproved adjustments. Corey LaJoie, Dillon’s teammate at Spire Motorsports, qualified an impressive 10th in the #7 Gainbridge Chevrolet, only to require repairs on a leaky left-front shock. Justin Haley gave up 20th for a spring adjustment made on his #31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet during qualifying. Brad Keselowski surrendered 24th for an ECU issue on his #6 BuildSubmarines.com Ford. Also docked were 27th-place Aric Almirola in the #10 Go Bowling Ford and Cole Custer in the 34th-place #51 Biohaven / Jacob Companies Ford.

After Bubba Wallace fired his engine after a starter issue on his 12th-place #23 McDonald’s Toyota, the penalized drivers dropped to the back. Due to most of them starting in even-numbered starting spots, last-place qualifier Ty Dillon now had four drivers behind him with LaJoie, Haley, Keselowski, and Custer completing the left lane. Josh Bilicki, who originally started 35th in the #78 Zeigler Auto Group Chevrolet, moved up just one row with Almirola behind him in the right lane. On the break, this put Ty Dillon up to 28th with Custer now in last place, 3.579 seconds back of the leader and about one-tenth behind both Almirola and Keselowski. Almirola cleared Keselowski for 34th, and at the end of Lap 1, the final two cars were 0.328 second apart. The gap from Custer to Keselowski remained around four-tenths of a second until Lap 5, when Daniel Suarez lost control exiting the Inner Loop and nearly wrecked his #99 Freeway Insurance Chevrolet. As Suarez got back up to speed in 24th, Custer closed to within 0.395 second of Keselowski. 

Once again, the gap stayed the same until Lap 8, when contact from Erik Jones’ #43 Allegiant Chevrolet into Andy Lally’s #15 Camping World Ford spun Harrison Burton’s #21 Dex Imaging Ford at Turn 5. Like Suarez, Burton avoided hitting the wall, but did drop to last place on Lap 9 as he came down pit road for fresh tires. Burton returned to the track the only car one lap down. Surrounded by the leaders, Burton was encouraged by his team to learn from them the best way around the track. The leaders then began to pit soon after, putting Burton back on the lead lap on the 24th circuit, but the driver radioed that he was “falling off pretty hard – free.” On Lap 29, Burton’s crew told him he’d have to run another 13 laps before his next stop unless the caution fell. But on Lap 31, just after the leaders put him a lap down again, Burton felt his car struggle to turn and radioed he had a tire going down in Turn 6. He made it to pit road, where the crew took half-rounds out of both rear tires. Burton returned to the race, saying something was wrong in the front of the car and that it still struggled to make left-hand turns. Burton believed it to be a shock, not the steering box, though it was later revealed to be a faulty control arm. 

Chase Briscoe and his stuck left-rear wheel.
PHOTO: Zach Leffler, @Zeffler9

The race remained green, and by Lap 41, the leaders put other cars a lap down, taking the “Lucky Dog” away from the trailing Burton. First to be lapped was Ty Dillon, the last-place qualifier, who had run his tires longer than other cars around him after his last stop on Lap 17. He pitted on Lap 43. Also struggling was Chase Briscoe, whose crew discovered around this time that the left-rear wheel couldn’t be removed during a tire change. Forced to run his left-rear tire much longer, Briscoe tumbled to 35th after his stop on Lap 46, then to last on Lap 47. “I know it’s not fun with that left-rear tire on there, just hang on,” said Briscoe’s crew on Lap 51. 

Briscoe was still in last place when the day’s only caution fell on Lap 54. A catastrophic miscalculation led to Chase Elliott running out of fuel on the backstretch, ending a top-ten run for the #9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet. Elliott lost a lap waiting for a push truck to com to his aid, dropping him to 33rd on Lap 56, then 35th on Lap 57. He returned to the track under the yellow, during which time Briscoe’s crew struggled and failed to remove their stuck left-rear wheel during the first of two yellow-flag stops. “It’s welded on there,” the crew told him, estimating they wouldn’t have time to fix it without falling out of the race. At the time, all 36 cars were running with their own car still within one lost lap of the leader.

The race restarted on Lap 61, and by the next lap, Briscoe still managed pass Ty Dillon, dropping the #77 to last place. That same lap saw Elliott take 33rd, putting him in the Lucky Dog spot should another caution fall. Ty Dillon’s crew told their spotter to keep encouraging their driver, which helped by Lap 74 as Dillon caught and passed Briscoe, putting the #14 back in last place. The next time by, McDowell entered the last-place battle.

McDowell's car is pushed back to the garage.
SCREENSHOT: NASCAR Drive

After running a flawless race in Indianapolis, the Watkins Glen round for McDowell was anything but. After taking the lead from polesitter Denny Hamlin and leading 17 laps, claiming Stage 1 in the process, McDowell drove through one too many pit boxes on his approach to his first stop, earning him a pass-through, then another penalty for a crewman over the wall too soon. He still climbed to within 6.267 seconds of the leader on Lap 75 when his car suddenly slowed on the approach to Turn 5, the exhaust note sounding flat. He made it to pit road, where the crew retrieved a replacement battery, but McDowell couldn’t re-fire the engine. The crew looked under the hood, their car quickly taking last from Briscoe on Lap 77, but time was running out. On Lap 78, with no other cars out of the race, the crew chief said “Yeah, we’re gonna be done here. Don’t worry about it.” The crew pushed #34 backwards into the first garage opening, looked under the hood again, then by Lap 83 pushed it into a garage stall. The issue occurred so close to the finish of the race that NASCAR’s official couldn’t relay the reason out.

In the final few laps, Briscoe pulled his #14 onto pit road, where the crew spent several laps trying to remove the left-rear wheel but to no avail. He ended up 35th, seen laps down. Ty Dillon, Harrison Burton, and Chase Elliott completed the Bottom Five as the only other cars off the lead lap, Elliott stranded in the Lucky Dog spot.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*McDowell completed the second-most laps of a Cup Series last-place finisher at Watkins Glen. The record remains with Max Papis, who turned 81 laps before a crash in 2008.

*It was McDowell’s first Cup Series last-place finish at Watkins Glen, and the first at the track for the #34.

*McDowell is the first driver to both lead a lap and finish last in the same Cup race at Watkins Glen. Only 19 other Cup races have seen the last-place finisher lead more laps than he did on Sunday.

*McDowell is the first race winner to finish last the following race since August 27, 2022, when Watkins Glen winner Kyle Larson lost an engine after 14 laps around Daytona.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

36) #34-Michael McDowell / 74 laps / electrical / led 17 laps / won stage 1

35) #14-Chase Briscoe / 83 laps / running

34) #77-Ty Dillon / 89 laps / running

33) #21-Harrison Burton / 89 laps / running

32) #9-Chase Elliott / 89 laps / running

2023 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Spire Motorsports (4)

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

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

4th) Front Row Motorsports, Hendrick Motorsports, Kaulig Racing, Stewart-Haas Racing, Trackhouse Racing (1)

2023 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet (15)

2nd) Ford (7)

3rd) Toyota (2)

2023 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

XFINITY: Blaine Perkins scores first last-place finish after early transmission issues at The Glen

Perkins' car at Road America earlier this summer.
PHOTO: Logan Riely, Getty Images

by Brock Beard

LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief

Blaine Perkins picked up the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career in Saturday’s Shriner’s Children’s 200 at Watkins Glen International when his #02 Gratis Chevrolet fell out with transmission issues after 11 of 86 laps.

The finish came in Perkins’ 34th series start. In the XFINITY Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 8th for the #02, the 54th from transmission issues, and the 627th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 32nd for the #02, the 177the from the transmission, and the 1,909th for Chevrolet.

Much like last week’s Cup winner Michael McDowell, the 23-year-old Perkins may most often be known for a spectacular crash – his being a tumble down the backstretch at Talladega which sidelined him for a week. But this overshadows his career in the ARCA Menards Series West, where he raced since age 15 and in 2020 won three races and came home just 25 points short of Jesse Love for the championship. The title was settled at Phoenix, where in 2021, Perkins made his XFINITY Series debut with Our Motorsports in the #23. Kicking off an eight-race stint with the team, Perkins finished 24th that day, then at Talladega drafted off then-teammate Brett Moffitt to earn a dramatic Stage 2 victory on his way to a 13th-place finish.

Last year, Perkins went full-time in the Truck Series for CR7 Motorsports, taking the place of team owner Codie Rohrbaugh. This was a difficult season, yielding only one finish better than 21st, an 18th at the Nashville Superspeedway, and six DNFs. He turned his attention back to XFINITY, reuniting with Chris Our late that season, and earned his first career Top 10 with a 10th in Martinsville. After a disastrous first five races in 2023 for SS-Green Light Racing where he only once ran better than 31st, Perkins and Our have steadily returned to their 2021 form. One week before his Talladega crash, he took 13th at Martinsville, then after it ran 15th in Portland, plus 17th at both the Chicago Street Course and Road America. However, among XFINITY drivers without a last-place finish, he entered Watkins Glen with more Bottom Fives (6) and Bottom Tens (11) than any other.

At Watkins Glen, where he finished 29th last year, Perkins ran 35th-fastest of the 40 entrants, then qualified 15th-fastest in Qualifying Round 1B, securing him the 30th starting spot with a best lap of 120.658mph (73.099 seconds). The two teams sent home were Patrick Emerling in Emerling-Gase Motorsports’ unsponsored #53 Chevrolet and road course instructor Casey Carden, who attempted to make his NASCAR debut in CHK Racing’s #74 Reel Racing Chevrolet (which carried logos for this website).

Securing the 38th and final starting spot was the other Emerling-Gase entry, the #35 Horseheads Brewing Toyota of veteran road racer Stanton Barrett. Barrett had joined forces with the team at Road America, where he made his first XFINITY Series start since 2019, and at Watkins Glen ran double-duty with the ARCA Menards Series. After finishing 9th in that race, Barrett returned on Saturday, where he’d be joined by four drivers sent to the rear for unapproved adjustments: outside-polesitter Alex Bowman with a brake rotor issue on Hendrick Motorsports’ #17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, 4th-place Cole Custer for a leak on Stewart-Haas Racing’s #00 HighPoint Ford, plus 20th-place Brett Moffitt in the AM Technical Solutions Ford and 29th-place Parker Retzlaff in the #31 Funkaway Chevrolet. Not penalized was 33rd-place Kyle Weatherman, whose crew made repairs to the left-front of his #4 TeamJDMotorsports.com Chevrolet after he hit the tires in Turn 5.

When the green flag dropped, Barrett retained the 38th and final starting spot, 4.486 seconds back of the lead with 37th now held by Parker Retzlaff, nearly a full second ahead at 3.625. Barrett remained last at the end of Lap 1, showing 12.613 back of the lead and now 0.936 behind new 37th-place runner Kyle Sieg in the #28 SFWW / LOTZE Ford. Over the next few laps, that gap grew to 1.326 on Lap 3 and 2.043 on Lap 4. 

It was on Lap 4 that Brennan Poole dropped to 36th after contact from FRS Racing’s Max McLaughlin, making his debut in the #96 Randco Chevrolet, spun Poole’s white #6 into the outside wall. Kyle Sieg cleared Poole on the short chute, dropping him to 37th at the stripe, still 3.184 seconds ahead of Barrett. Poole reeled in Kyle Sieg, who he passed back for 36th on Lap 7. By the next lap, Barrett was also catching Sieg, narrowing the gap from 3.345 seconds to only 2.402, as Sieg battled his RSS Racing teammate Joe Graf, Jr. in the #38 G-coin Ford. Two more incidents in the Inner Loop soon followed. On Lap 9, Connor Mosack’s #24 Toyota Genuine Parts Toyota slid off track after contact from Stefan Parsons’ #44 AAN Adjusters / Gilreath Farms Chevrolet, but Mosack stayed well ahead of the Bottom Five. Not so fortunate was Jeremy Clements, who on Lap 11 had a flat tire on his #51 All South Electric / One Stop Chevrolet, sending him off track with A.J. Allmendinger’s #16 Quick Tie Products Inc. Chevrolet. With Barrett now just 0.872 second behind 37th-place Sieg, both then passed Clements as he made it to pit road to change tires. Clements took over last on Lap 11, and was first to lose a lap to the leaders.

The next time by, Perkins pulled onto pit road, then went behind the wall with a transmission issue. This dropped Perkins to last on Lap 13. Perkins was soon joined in the garage by Josh Bilicki, whose #07 Burdicks All Season Roofing Ford lost brake pressure around Lap 16. By Lap 18, Bilicki had fallen to 37th, two laps down with Perkins six down. Perkins’ crew said they didn’t have a replacement transmission on hand. Bilicki’s crew completed repairs on Lap 20, sending him out four laps down just before the race’s first caution fell for Ryan Ellis’ stalled #43 Costa Oil Chevrolet. Ellis received a push from a tow truck back to the garage, where the crew advised him to not get out of the car. It was during this caution that, on Lap 24, Perkins’ crew said “Alright, Pat, we’re done. Eric, we’re done. We’ll get fucking g-force transmissions next time.” 

NASCAR declared Perkins out on Lap 28, the same lap Jeremy Clements was declared out for a subsequent trip to the garage for suspension issues likely stemming from his flat tire. Ellis returned to the track around Lap 41, dropping Clements to 37th by Lap 43. Ellis ultimately finished 30th, first passing Josh Williams, who while reconnecting his earplugs rear-ended Stefan Parsons’ car enough to stove in the nose of his #92 Nordic Logistics / Alloy Employer Services Chevrolet. Williams went to the garage just after Brett Moffitt, who lost 13 laps for a snapped axle before he returned to the track. Ellis didn’t pass Moffitt, but did pass Riley Herbst, who after transmission issues had broken the track bar on the #98 Monster Energy Ford, leaving him 35th. Rounding out the Bottom Five was Max McLaughlin, whose #96 broke loose in Turn 6 and slammed the wall with the right-rear, ending his day.

Mosack and Poole rebound from early Inner Loop issues

After his early on-track issue in the Inner Loop, Connor Mosack rebounded to finish a strong 5th, his first career Top Five in only his 18th career start. Brennan Poole also recovered from his own incident with Max McLaughlin by taking home 12th, just ahead of his JD Motorsports teammate Kyle Weatherman. And while Cup regular Ross Chastain piloted DGM Racing’s #91 Protect Your Melon / #BuckleUpNY Chevrolet, this was only the third top-five finish for team owner Mario Gosselin and their first since Indianapolis last year.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This was also Perkins’ first last-place finish across all three of NASCAR’s national series, which would include his 22 starts in the Truck Series. Between the two series, he’d finished next-to-last a combined five times.

*This marked the first last-place finish for the #02 in a XFINITY Series race since September 17, 2021, when Brett Moffitt crashed after 9 laps around Bristol. It was also the first last-place run for the number at Watkins Glen.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

38) #02-Blaine Perkins / 11 laps / transmission

37) #51-Jeremy Clements / 21 laps / suspension

36) #92-Josh Williams / 23 laps / crash

35) #98-Riley Herbst / 37 laps / suspension

34) #96-Max McLaughlin / 43 laps / crash

2023 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) SS-Green Light Racing (4)

2nd) Alpha Prime Racing (3)

3rd) Big Machine Racing, CHK Racing, Emerling-Gase Motorsports, JD Motorsports (2)

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

2023 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet (18)

2nd) Toyota (3)

3rd) Ford (2)

2023 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP