PREVIEW: For many on Atlanta entry lists, the 2019 season begins this weekend

PHOTO: @TommyJoeMartins

Saturday, February 23, 2019
TRUCKS Race 2 of 23
Ultimate Tailgating 200 at Atlanta
2018 Last-Place Finisher: Scott Stenzel

ENTRY LIST
There are 33 drivers entered for 32 spots, down seven drivers from last week’s massive 40-truck preliminary list. One team will not make the starting lineup.

RETURNING: #1-Beaver Motorsports
The Mark Beaver / Tracy Lowe effort was the only team to withdraw last week in Daytona, and the team is again entered this week with 2003 series champion Travis Kvapil. Kvapil last took the green in a Truck Series race in Atlanta in 2016, finishing 23rd for Jennifer Jo Cobb. That remains his lone Atlanta start in the series since 2008.

MISSING: #7-All Out Motorsports
Korbin Forrister and the All Out team aren’t entered this week following their DNQ at Daytona.

DRIVER CHANGE: #8-NEMCO Motorsports
MISSING: #87-NEMCO Motorsports
NEMCO Motorsports scales back from two trucks to just the flagship #8 this week, to be driven by team owner Joe Nemechek. Nemechek ran 16th last week in the #87, the same race that saw Angela Ruch have a career night with an 8th-place finish and two laps led.

MISSING: #9-CR7 Motorsports
Also among the Daytona DNQs not entered in Atlanta is ARCA competitor Codie Rohbraugh and his #9 Chevrolet.

DRIVER CHANGE: #17-DGR-Crosley
Taking the place of team co-owner David Gilliland, who was ensnared in last Friday’s wild first lap action at Daytona, 20-year-old Anthony Alfredo seeks his NASCAR national touring series debut. Alfredo, from Ridgefield, Connecticut, finished 5th in last year’s K&N Pro Series East standings highlighted by a last-lap pass for the win in South Boston. His truck carries sponsorship from Ceco Building Systems.

MISSING: #27-ThorSport Racing
Myatt Snider’s effort in ThorSport’s part-time #27 entry ended in one of Daytona’s many multi-truck melees, leaving him a disappointing 21st. Neither Snider nor the #27 are entered this week.

MISSING: #28-FDNY Racing
Also missing are driver Bryan Dauzat and team owner Jim Rosenblum’s FDNY Racing, whose 21st-place qualifying effort ended abruptly with an early crash, then a scary pit road incident involving the team’s jack man. Neither driver nor team are entered in this week’s race.

MISSING: #34-Reaume Brothers Racing
Like NEMCO, the Reaume Brothers team scales back from two trucks to only the flagship #33 with Josh Reaume himself. Both Jason White and the #34 team are not entered this week following their DNQ in Daytona.

DRIVER CHANGE: #42-Chad Finley, Inc.
Chad Finley returns to the driver’s seat of his #42 for the first time since last summer at Bristol, and his first Truck Series start since a one-off for Reaume at Martinsville which yielded a last-place finish. Finley takes the place of Robby Lyons, who finished a disappointing 30th in Daytona.

MISSING: #47-Chris Fontaine
Chris Fontaine remains committed to the restrictor-plate races, and both he and his #47 Toyota are not entered in this week’s Atlanta race. Fontaine crashed out in Daytona and finished 27th.

DRIVER CHANGE: #51-Kyle Busch Motorsports
Flying the flag for the Cup invaders is one Kyle Busch, less than a week after teammate Denny Hamlin denied him his first Daytona 500 victory. Busch takes the place of Christian Eckes, who won the pole in Daytona only to finish 22nd.

MISSING: #68-Clay Greenfield Motorsports
Owner-driver Clay Greenfield is not among the Atlanta entrants after his Chevrolet crashed late in Friday’s season opener, yielding a 12th-place finish.

RETURNING: #75-Henderson Motorsports
Joining Busch from the Daytona 500 is Parker Kligerman, who rejoins Charlie Henderson’s venerable team as driver of the #75 Food Country USA Chevrolet. Kligerman’s most recent two of his five Atlanta starts in the series came with Henderson, yielding a 31st-place run in 2017, then an 11th last year. Kligerman is also entered in Sunday’s race (see below).

RETURNING: #80-Jacob Wallace Racing
Typically a one-off team for Eldora since 2014 with all but three of their eight Truck starts coming on the dirt track, Jacob Wallace Racing announced they will be making a rare pavement start at Atlanta with B.J. McLeod behind the wheel. McLeod, now running a larger part of the Cup schedule for Rick Ware Racing, has not made a Truck Series start since last summer at Michigan, and has not started the Truck race at Atlanta since 2011.

MISSING: #82-Mark Rette
Driver Spencer Davis and team owner Mark Rette are not among the Atlanta entrants following their own DNQ at Daytona.

MISSING: #92-Ricky Benton Enterprises
Also missing is Austin Theriault and the Ricky Benton team, the fastest of the trucks to miss the show in Daytona. Theriault has never made a Truck Series start in Atlanta.

RETURNING: #97-JJL Racing
After skipping the Daytona opener - and avoiding its carnage - Jesse Little’s season debut comes this weekend in the family’s #97 Skuttle Tight / Parker FiberNet / Visit Kings Ford. Little closed out the 2018 season strong with Top Tens in his final two starts, ending with a 9th at Homestead. He was 8th in this race that year.

CUP INVADERS: Kyle Busch

Saturday, February 23, 2019
XFINITY Race 2 of 33
Rinnai 250 at Atlanta
2018 Last-Place Finisher: Jeff Green

ENTRY LIST
In just the series’ second race with its new 38-car cap on starting fields, just 37 drivers are entered this week, the first short field of 2019.

DRIVER CHANGE: #4-JD Motorsports
MISSING: #10-Kaulig Racing
Since his part-time effort in Kaulig Racing’s #10 Chevrolet is not entered this week, Ross Chastain returns to Johnny Davis’ #4 Chevrolet this week, taking the place of Scott Lagasse, Jr., who ran 21st in Daytona. Chastain, who won Stage 2 and finished 13th last Saturday, finished a track-best 16th in this race last year.

DRIVER CHANGE: #8-JR Motorsports
After his “Days of Thunder” inspired feats of wreck avoidance in the Daytona 500, Ryan Preece returns to the XFINITY Series, taking Chase Elliott’s place in the #8 Chevrolet. Louisiana Hot Sauce sponsors the ride, Preece’s first since a 6th-place showing for Joe Gibbs in last year’s Homestead finale.

MISSING: #12-Penske Racing
Both Penske Racing’s #12 and the troublesome roof hatch on the #12 Ford are not entered this week, leaving Cup regular Brad Keselowski to focus his attention on Sunday’s 500-miler.

DRIVER SWAP: #13-Motorsports Business Management
DRIVER SWAP: #42-Motorsports Business Management
At Carl Long’s team, John Jackson moves from the #42 to #13, leaving #42 open for returning Chad Finchum. Finchum now part-time as team continues search for sponsors. Max Tullman, who ran #13 last week, is not entered. Timmy Hill remains in the #66, as he had last week.

DRIVER CHANGE: #17-Spraker Racing / Rick Ware Racing
As of this writing, no driver is listed for the #17 Chevrolet, driven to a 31st-place finish last week by Chris Cockrum.

RETURNING: #89-Shepherd Racing Ventures
Welcome back ageless Morgan Shepherd, who after not entering Daytona will make his season debut at a track he once dominated in the Cup Series. Shepherd eyes his 12th XFINITY start at the track where he’s missed the field just once in the last eight years.

DRIVER CHANGE: #90-DGM Racing
After he was replaced with Josh Williams at the start of this season, Alex Labbe rejoins DGM Racing to drive the team’s second car, the #90 Chevrolet. This team earned some quality TV time during Saturday’s broadcast when Caesar Bacarella earned a strong top-ten performance in the opening and closing stages until a late brush with the wall left him 29th.

DRIVER CHANGE: #99-B.J. McLeod Motorsports
Atlanta is also the season debut for Tommy Joe Martins, who takes D.J. Kennington’s place in B.J. McLeod’s #99 Toyota Supra. Longtime Martins sponsor Diamond Gusset Jeans returns to back the effort in a fan-designed paint scheme. Martins finished 33rd in this race last year.

Sunday, February 24, 2019
CUP Race 2 of 36
Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta
2018 Last-Place Finisher: Gray Gaulding

ENTRY LIST
Continuing the trend of massive team drop-off after Daytona, there are just 37 drivers entered in Sunday’s 40-car field for the second race of the season, down five cars from last week. It is just one entry more than last year’s 36-car field for the race, and marks the first time that exactly 37 cars will start a Cup race in Atlanta.

STILL MISSING: #7-NY Racing Team
Jonathan Cohen’s single-car effort is still not entered in this week’s race after also skipping the Daytona opener. It was during this same race weekend in 2015 that the Cohen team endured the bizarre incident of their race car being stolen, then recovered after their withdrawal.

MISSING: #27-Germain Racing
Several “open” teams are not making the trip to Georgia this weekend. Among them is the second Germain Racing entry with driver Casey Mears, a pair that ended up last in Sunday’s Daytona 500 following a mid-race crash.

MISSING: #31-Richard Childress Racing
Tyler Reddick will focus on his XFINITY Series effort with Richard Childress Racing after both he and Childress’ “open” #31 team are not entered this week. Atlanta thus marks the first race without car #31 in the field since November 18, 2001, when Robby Gordon failed to qualify the Lowe’s Chevrolet – also at Atlanta.

DRIVER SWAP: #51-Rick Ware Racing
DRIVER SWAP: #52-Rick Ware Racing
Following their tangle during the Daytona 500 after the cars in front tried to duck onto pit road without notice, B.J. McLeod and Cody Ware are swapping rides this week with McLeod now in the #52 and Ware in the #51.

MISSING: #62-Beard Motorsports
Brendan Gaughan and the Mark Beard team remain committed to their restrictor-plate schedule in 2019, and neither are entered in this week’s race.

MISSING: #66-Motorsports Business Management
Carl Long’s team has also elected not to enter their Cup car this week following Joey Gase’s DNQ for the Daytona 500.

MISSING: #71-Tommy Baldwin Racing
Ryan Truex, the 500’s other DNQ, is also not entered this week along with the newly-renumbered Tommy Baldwin effort.

NUMBER AND DRIVER CHANGE: #77-Spire Motorsports
This week comes the first real test for Spire Motorsports, which last week ran unofficially in a Chip Ganassi effort for Jamie McMurray’s final Cup start. The team will for the first time run their claimed car number 77, and bring on XFINITY Series regular Garrett Smithley from JD Motorsports. Smithley, who made his Cup debut last year for StarCom Racing, will be sponsored by Overkill Motorsports.

TEAM UPDATE: #96-Gaunt Brothers Racing
The lone “open” team entered in Atlanta is the Gaunt Brothers effort, along with a returning Parker Kligerman. Kligerman finished a respectable 15th in last week’s Daytona 500 after tangling with Casey Mears in the aforementioned mid-race tangle.

STILL MISSING: #97-Obaika Racing
As of this writing, the Victor Obaika team has yet to be added to the entry list after also not entering the Daytona 500.

LASTCAR STAT OF THE WEEK
Matt DiBenedetto turned heads with a strong run in last week’s Daytona 500, leading the most laps and remaining in position for an upset victory until he was eliminated in a late crash, leaving him 28th. It was also on this date three years ago, February 21, that DiBenedetto scored his first Cup Series last-place finish, which also came in the Daytona 500. At the time, he was driving one of four cars from the now-defunct BK Racing.

CUP: Casey Mears’ return to Cup competition ends with mid-race wreck

PHOTO: David PeQueen, @CarSDS2078

Casey Mears picked up the 5th last-place finish of his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career in Sunday’s Daytona 500 at the Daytona International Speedway when his #27 Rim Ryderz Chevrolet was involved in a multi-car crash after 104 of 207 laps.

The finish, which came in Mears’ 489th series start, was his first in a Cup Series race since October 9, 2016 at Charlotte, 79 races ago. In Cup Series last-place history, it was the 26th for car #27, the 575th from a crash, and the 757th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 52nd for the #27, the 1,169th from a crash, and the 1,642nd for Chevrolet.

Daytona set the stage for a reunion between Mears and Germain Racing. The journeyman driver of the famous “Mears Gang” first climbed aboard Bob Germain’s #13 car in late August 2010, and helped grow the team from a part-time “start-and-park” program into a solid mid-pack contender, complete with continued sponsorship from GEICO Insurance. The relationship lasted more than six full seasons before Mears was released at the end of 2016 for rookie contender Ty Dillon, who has driven the #13 to this day.

GEICO stayed with Mears in 2017, backing a part-time XFINITY Series effort with longtime team owner Fred Biagi and the Biagi-DenBeste #98 Ford. At Fontana, Mears made his first series start since 2010 and finished a respectable 14th, then earned a pair of 9th-place showings at Richmond and Road America. But when Stewart-Haas Racing formed a partnership with the Biagi team last year, Mears was out, replaced by another group of young guns.

Mears was absent from NASCAR’s top three series through all of last year, and had no plans to compete in 2019. That changed on February 5, just five days before pole qualifying for the Daytona 500, when Germain Racing announced they would field a second “open” car alongside Ty Dillon’s flagship #13. The car, unsponsored at the time, was #27, and used a number font similar to that driven by Paul Menard when he campaigned one of Richard Childress Racing’s Chevrolets.

As an “open” car – one of six entered for the final four spots – speed proved critical. Mears started the Cup part of SpeedWeeks 19th in opening practice, then turned a single lap in the second session that put him 28th of 37 entrants. In qualifying, Mears ranked 26th overall with a speed of 189.849mph (47.406 seconds), edging Ryan Truex by less than three-hundredths of a second for the last spot locked-in to the 500 field on speed. Mears ended up falling back on that time with a 17th-place finish in Duel Race 2, and he thus secured the 40th and final starting spot.

By the time of the Duels, Mears picked up sponsorship from skateboard accessory manufacturer Rim Ryderz. The flat black Chevrolet with pink roof numbers was then changed slightly with the company’s logo on the hood and quarter-panels, a narrower number font similar to one of Donnie Allison’s old Fords, and a couple accents on the doors. Closing out the week, the new scheme ran 22nd of 38 drivers in the third session, then didn’t turn a lap in either of the last two practices.

On race day, Mears incurred a redundant tail-end penalty for Sunday’s race due to a transmission change, the same reason that Kyle Larson dropped to the rear in his #42 Credit One Bank Chevrolet. Joining the pair was Jamie McMurray, whose likely final Cup start in Spire Motorsports’ #40 McDonald’s / Cessna Chevrolet involved a drop to the back for a rear gear change. Mears remained behind the #40 and #42, who pulled to the high lane as they dropped to the rear on the final pace lap. Mears also dropped back from the pack, and was briefly joined by rookie Matt Tifft in the #36 Speedco Ford before Tifft resumed his spot a couple rows up.

When the green flag fell, Mears held last place, then pulled high alongside fellow Row 20 occupant Tyler Reddick. Reddick, the defending XFINITY Series champion, had also locked himself in on speed driving an “open” car from the Richard Childress Racing stables, a #31 Chevrolet sponsored by Symbicort. Mears worked his way past Reddick, then ducked in behind Cody Ware, making his first 500 start in his family’s #52 Winn-Dixie Chevrolet. Mears and Ware then slipped past Reddick, dropping the #31 to last at the end of Lap 1.

On Lap 2, the outside line began to move again, and Ware slipped to last. He then quickly lost touch with the pack, followed soon after by teammate B.J. McLeod in the team’s #51 Jacob Companies Chevrolet on Lap 10. On the 13th go-round, Ware was then warned to watch for the approaching leaders, telling him to pull low, then move back up when he could find a place in line. On Lap 16, leader Matt DiBenedetto caught and passed Ware in his fast #95 Procore Toyota as the group entered Turn 3. As the group whisked past off Turn 4, Denny Hamlin nearly lost control as he pulled down in front of Ware. Hamlin would ultimately recover to win his second Daytona 500.

On Lap 17, Ware tried to slot into line ahead of a trailing three-car pack led by fellow “open” driver Brendan Gaughan in the #62 Beard Oil / South Point Chevrolet. Two laps later, Gaughan and the other two cars scooped Ware out of line, and the #52 was again losing touch with the draft.

On that same lap, the 19th circuit, Corey LaJoie drew the race’s first caution for the third straight Daytona 500. This time around, he drove for Go FAS Racing, a ride vacated by DiBenedetto before ultimately landing the #95 of Leavine Family Racing. Carrying one of designer David Marrero’s most unique paint schemes – one with LaJoie’s face covering the entire front valence – a right-front tire let go, destroying much of the space around the graphic’s right ear. LaJoie made it to pit road under the ensuing caution, then lost a second lap on the 21st circuit, dropping him to last behind Ware.

Unlike Ware, who again lost touch with the draft on the Lap 24 restart, LaJoie still had some success in keeping up with some of the cars, and found himself drafting the #15 Premium Motorsports Chevrolet of Ross Chastain. LaJoie then worked his way past Chastain, and Ware and Chastain worked in tandem on trying to draft past the #32. The experiment was short-lived, as this time Ware lost touch with Chastain, and was 37.2 seconds back of the lead by Lap 44.

The first caution for an accident occurred on Lap 49. Near the front, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.’s #17 Fastenal Ford closed on the #1 Monster Energy Chevrolet of Kurt Busch. With Stenhouse closing on the left-rear corner of Busch’s Chevrolet, the #1 suddenly spun out, scrubbing the apron before collecting both Bubba Wallace in the #43 Aftershokz Chevrolet and Jamie McMurray’s #40. All three cars made it back to pit road, but Busch and Wallace incurred the heaviest damage. On Lap 52, Wallace returned to action two laps down with the nose heavily taped. Busch followed soon after with a mangled left-rear corner. Both remained in front of LaJoie, now three laps down, when the race restarted on Lap 54, and was a fourth down by Lap 58.

Lap 62 brought the caution that ended Stage 1, allowing Wallace, Busch, and LaJoie the time to make extra repairs. The next time by, Wallace took last when his stop ran too long, dropping him four laps down onto the same circuit as LaJoie. On Lap 65, Wallace took the green flag ahead of McMurray and Tifft, who both split him on either side down the backstretch. It was from here on out that Wallace’s wounded car ran visibly off the pace, at one point losing a lap for each six to seven he’d completed. He lost a fifth circuit on Lap 74, a sixth on Lap 81, and was a seventh down by Lap 89.

It was on Lap 89 that Busch’s own damage caught up to him, the left-rear of his black car coming loose and flapping behind him. Now seven laps down on the same circuit as Wallace, Busch ran 40th for the first time in the race. Wallace retook last after a stop on Lap 91, at which point the driver was considering parking his car as the field was running so much faster. By Lap 97, Wallace was nine laps down, then ten on Lap 103.

Mears, meanwhile, was running in a separate draft along with Parker Kligerman in the #96 Toyota: Proud Sponsor of Team USA Toyota fielded by Gaunt Brothers Racing. On Lap 107, Mears was drafting Kligerman when the two made contact entering Turn 1. The two collided and spun, destroying the right-front of Mears’ car and the rear of Kligerman’s. As the two rolled down the backstretch under caution, Kligerman gestured at Mears before both made it to the pits. While Kligerman made it back onto the track, Mears pulled into the garage, done for the day under the Damaged Vehicle Policy. Mears was “unavailable” on Race View on Lap 109, then on Lap 115 took last from Wallace.

Wallace only climbed one more spot to 38th before he retired with crash damage. In doing so, he slipped past Ware, who along with McLeod lost control coming onto pit road on Lap 159, triggering a pit pileup that collected Reddick, Stenhouse, and Jimmie Johnson. Ware pulled behind the wall soon after, done for the day. Rounding out the group were Chris Buescher and Matt Tifft, both eliminated in the grinding Lap 192 pileup that decimated much of the field.

The same wreck put an abrupt end to a career race for Matt DiBenedetto. After showing speed in both qualifying and the Duels, the popular driver led the field for a race-high 49 laps, at one point weaving through two lanes of lapped traffic before a mid-race caution. He was still among the leaders when contact from Paul Menard sent him around, leaving him a disappointing 28th.

Surviving the chaos were Michael McDowell, who followed-up his strong Daytona showing last July to run as high as 3rd before he settled for 5th. Ty Dillon, Mears’ teammate, finished 6th in his second-straight Daytona points race, his two best career finishes to date. Ryan Preece expertly weaved through two of the race’s biggest pileups to himself threaten for a Top Five before taking a career-best 8th. And Ross Chastain closed out a weekend where he ran 3rd in Trucks and 13th in XFINITY with a career-best 10th. It was just the second Cup Series top-ten for team owner Jay Robinson and his first since the 2017 Daytona 500, where Michael Waltrip ran 8th.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the first last-place finish for car #27 in the Daytona 500. The number had twice trailed the July race at Daytona on July 1, 2006 with owner-driver Kirk Shelmerdine and July 6, 2013 with Paul Menard.
*The 104 laps completed by Mears are the third-most by a last-place finisher of the Daytona 500, edging Matt Kenseth’s 103 laps on February 26, 2017. The top two remain Kenny Wallace’s 141 on February 17, 2008 and Tony Stewart’s record 152 on February 18, 2007.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
40) #27-Casey Mears / 104 laps / crash
39) #52-Cody Ware / 155 laps / crash
38) #43-Bubba Wallace / 169 laps / crash
37) #37-Chris Buescher / 190 laps / crash
36) #36-Matt Tifft / 190 laps / crash

2019 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Germain Racing (1)

2019 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (1)

2019 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

XFINITY: Slipped belt leaves Stephen Leicht last in placid Daytona race

ALL PHOTOS IN THIS ARTICLE:
David PeQueen, @CarSDS2078

Stephen Leicht picked up the 4th last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career in Saturday’s Racing Experience 300 at the Daytona International Speedway when his #01 OPAV Experience It / BTX General Logistics Chevrolet fell out with overheating issues after he completed 24 of the race’s 120 laps.

The finish, which came in Leicht’s 100th series start, was his first in the series since last fall at Dover, five races ago. In the XFINITY Series, it was the 15th last-place finish for car #01, the 33rd from overheating issues, and the 520th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 32nd for the #01, the 171st from overheating problems, and the 1,641st for Chevrolet.

Last season saw Leicht run 17 of the 33 XFINITY Series races, his most since 2007. This time around, he drove for four different teams. He began the year teamed with Josh Bilicki at the start-up JP Motorsports team. He began the year with a season-best 15th in the Daytona opener, but parted ways after the season’s tenth round in Dover. A one-off for RSS Racing yielded a 39th-place finish at Iowa, then he ran the August events for Mike Harmon with a best of 31st at Bristol. He then closed out the season driving the #99 Chevrolet for B.J. McLeod, returning to the “start-and-park” doldrums that have plagued his career.

Leicht’s new ride at JD Motorsports promises to be his first full-time effort in the series since the same 2007 season, when he was a development driver for Yates Racing. The team’s best finish of 2018 was a 14th at Darlington with Landon Cassill, one of only two starts for the Cup regular. Curiously, Cassill came aboard after the team’s full-season driver Vinnie Miller was released late in the season, and followed Leicht to B.J. McLeod’s team.

A second NASCAR-mandated field reduction in six years made Saturday’s race the first time only 38 cars started an XFINITY Series race since June 21, 2014, when Kevin Lepage exited on the first lap at Road America. As it happened, exactly that many cars arrived in Florida to qualify for the event, meaning no teams were sent home. Leicht ran 26th in opening practice and ran 16th of the 22 who braved Happy Hour. He qualified 23rd with a speed of 184.22mph (48.854 seconds).

Starting in the last spot was Cole Custer, who put up the slowest lap in qualifying, then incurred a redundant tail-end penalty for an engine change on his #00 Jacob Companies Ford. Joining Custer at the back was polesitter Tyler Reddick, whose first start in Richard Childress Racing’s #2 Pinnacle Financial Partners Chevrolet began with a flat tire found after time trials. The same issue befell Max Tullman in Motorsports Business Management’s (MBM) #13 Zoomi Toyota.  Also falling back was Jeremy Clements, whose new-look silver #51 RepairableVehicles.com Chevrolet had unapproved adjustments.

A ragged start caused the back half of the field to unspool quickly into several broken packs of single-file traffic, allowing both Reddick and Custer to gain 17 spots in just three laps. By the end of Lap 2, the last-place runner became the #42 James Carter Attorney / CrashClaimsR.us Toyota driven by John Jackson.

Leicht overheating on pit road.

Jackson’s entry in the #42 would have been unthinkable before last year’s turbulent offseason. At season’s end, the number belonged to Chip Ganassi Racing’s XFINITY Series program, which was to be Ross Chastain’s full-season ride for 2019. But the fallout from the FBI’s raid of team sponsor DC Solar’s headquarters changed all that, causing the team to shut down. The number was then picked up by MBM, which tabbed Jackson to drive.

Keselowski after his roof hatch came off mid-race.

By Lap 5, Jackson was last by 15.228 seconds behind the leader, nearly a second back of his teammate Tullman in the #13. Jackson caught Tullman’s draft, and the pair linked up with fellow underdogs Mike Harmon in the #74 Air One Heating & Cooling Chevrolet and group leader Matt Mills in B.J. McLeod’s #5 J.F. Electric Chevrolet (the result of a number swap with JR Motorsports, who acquired the McLeod team’s #8). On Lap 22, with eight laps to go in Stage 1, the single-file group was running the inside line headed into Turn 3 when the leading single-file draft caught and passed them up high. By that time, Leicht was two laps down.

According to Racing Underdogs, Leicht came down pit road for a missing power steering belt, which made the car virtually impossible to drive on the superspeedway. David PeQueen reported smoke from the pipes, as shown in his photograph, which signaled the overheating issue that ultimately sent the #01 behind the wall.

Trouble under the hood for Jeremy Clements.

Finishing 37th was Cup regular Brad Keselowski, who was out due to a likely first in NASCAR history – a roof hatch issue. From the early laps, Keselowski’s #12 Fitzgerald USA Ford had an issue with the edge of his roof hatch coming up at speed. Despite several attempts at repairs, the issue couldn’t be resolved. The flap finally came off around Lap 69, drawing a caution soon after, and the resulting damage forced the #12 to pull behind the wall.

The only other retiree was Jeremy Clements, whose new-look #51 RepairableVehicles.com Chevrolet had engine issues as early as Lap 37, then exited after 90 circuits complete. Harmon’s #74 spent several laps behind the wall after his crew had to push-start the Chevrolet on pit road, ultimately finishing 35th.

Gray Gaulding with damage and an awkward pit entry. 

Rounding out the group was Gray Gaulding’s new ride in SS-Green Light Racing’s #08
GGPure.com Chevrolet. Gaulding's day took a brief detour when he spun out in his pit stall, and PeQueen's photo caught damage to the left-rear corner where the TV panel had become separated.

Enjoying a fine run on Saturday was LASTCAR all-time leader Jeff Green, who worked his way up to the 6th spot with 34 laps to go, ultimately settling for 7th. Caesar Bacarella had a very fast car under him in his first start for Mario Gosselin’s DGM Racing, running inside the Top 10 early, and was still running there until he hit the Turn 3 wall with just three laps to go.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the first last-place finish for car #01 since this exact race three years ago, when Ryan Preece’s Uptick Vineyards / YouthRanchers.org Chevrolet was eliminated in a crash after 5 laps of the Powershares QQQ 300. Preece is now the driver of JTG-Daugherty Racing’s #47 Chevrolet, returning to the Cup Series for the first time since 2015.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
38) #01-Stephen Leicht / 24 laps / overheating
37) #12-Brad Keselowski / 71 laps / roof hatch
36) #51-Jeremy Clements / 90 laps / engine
35) #74-Mike Harmon / 108 laps / running
34) #08-Gray Gaulding / 110 laps / running

2019 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) JD Motorsports (1)

2019 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (1)

2019 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

TRUCKS: Natalie Decker’s truck series debut goes up in flames at Daytona

PHOTO: Luis Torres, @TheLTFiles

Natalie Decker picked up the 1st last-place finish of her NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series career in Friday’s NextEra Energy 250 at the Daytona International Speedway when her #54 N29 Technologies Toyota was eliminated in a bizarre crash after she completed just 1 of the race’s 111 laps.

The finish, which came in Decker’s series debut, was the 2nd for truck #54, the 33rd for Toyota, and the 149th from a crash. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 20th for the #54, the 308th for Toyota, and the 1,168th from a crash.

The 21-year-old Decker began racing go-karts when she was nine, and turned her attention to working her way up the ranks of stock car racing. A competitor in both NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity and the Alan Kulwicki Driver Development programs, Decker has cut her teeth in ARCA, claiming Rookie of the Year honors in the ARCA Midwest Tour, then finishing 11th in her ARCA Menards Series debut at Toledo in 2017.

Driving for Bill Venturini and carrying sponsorship from Wisconsin startup firm N29 Capital Partners, LLC, Decker’s best finish in ARCA have been a pair of 5th-place runs last year at Daytona (where she won the pole) and the Elko Speedway. She nearly improved on this run in her return to Daytona just last Saturday, when she finished 6th.

Friday’s Truck Series race would mark Decker’s debut in NASCAR’s top three national touring series. She’d once previously attempted to make a Truck Series race three years ago, missing the cut at Martinsville in a one-off effort for MAKE Motorsports. Her cousins Claire and Paige both made the race, finishing 27th and 25th in the 32-truck field.

Late last season, it was announced that Natalie Decker would drive part-time for David Gilliland’s two-truck operation, DGR-Crosley, in addition to three ARCA starts at Daytona, Talladega, and Charlotte. On Friday, Decker would drive the flagship #54 entry at Daytona with Gilliland himself in the #17. Decker began the weekend 16th in opening practice, 20th in Happy Hour, and made the final round of qualifying, starting 11th with a speed of 180.763mph (49.789 seconds).

Qualifying 32nd and last in the field was the #33 TheChallengesBook.com Chevrolet of owner-driver Josh Reaume, who along with teammate Jason White in the #34 Powder Ventures Excavations Chevrolet put up the two slowest times in qualifying. While Reaume secured his starting spot on Owner Points, White was sent home along with eight other drivers, including Travis Kvapil, whose Beaver Motorsports #1 Chevrolet was withdrawn on Wednesday.

Joining Reaume at the back of the field were 4th-place starter Harrison Burton, whose Kyle Busch Motorsports team changed engines on his #18 Safelite Toyota, and 20th-place Robby Lyons, slated to start 20th in Chad Finley’s #42 Sunwest Construction / Auto Value Chevrolet before an unapproved adjustments penalty.

When the race started, the back of the field stacked up in three-wide formation. Shaken from the formation was ARCA veteran Bobby Gerhart, who after a 13th-place showing in last week’s ARCA 200 was once again driving the #63 Lucas Oil Chevrolet. The #63 had typically been fielded by longtime team owner Mike Mittler, but due to an ongoing illness, fellow team owner D.J. Copp had taken a greater role in team operations, ultimately becoming the listed owner for Daytona. Gerhart held 32nd at the end of Lap 1 when trouble broke out in front of him.

Leading a trailing pack of trucks was the #28 Chevrolet of Bryan Dauzat, who was back along with FDNY Racing one full year after Jim Rosenblum had reportedly planned to close his team. According to a later report by Bob Pockrass, Dauzat saw a piece of debris come from under Joe Nemechek’s #87 D.A.B. Constructors Chevrolet (whether or not it was from the #87 was unclear). Dauzat ran it over and cut his right-front tire, sending him straight into the outside wall. Caught in Dauzat’s path was Robby Lyons, who was running the high line as he attempted to overcome his prerace penalty. Lyons continued on with the right side damaged, while last-place Gerhart narrowly avoided hitting the slowing Dauzat in the high lane.

Decker's truck pushed to the garage after the fire.
PHOTO: @MRNRadio

At that very moment, further up the rankings, both DGR-Crosley trucks suddenly slowed with flat left-front tires. Decker’s truck slowed first, and pulled to the apron as the left-front fender started to come apart. Gilliland, meanwhile, was heading the inside line closer to the front when he slowed on the banking, causing the following trucks to check-up. Gilliland managed to slow off the banking and get safely to pit road without much damage. Decker, however, saw the left-front fender continue to disintegrate. By the time she reached pit entrance, a fire started under the hood, forcing the driver to climb out in a rush. Decker climbed out uninjured as fire crews fumbled with the extinguisher. Several feet away, Dauzat’s night went from bad to worse when he ran over Billy Rock, his jack man. After a few tense moments, Rock was reported awake and alert as he was transported to a local hospital.

Dauzat was classified 31st when he pulled behind the wall after the pit road incident. Lyons made it past the ensuing restart before ultimately falling out to finish 30th. The next of the night’s many accidents quickly filled the Bottom Five. Tyler Dippel’s #02 Danda Concrete / Lobas Productions Chevrolet broke loose, ultimately collecting both Ray Ciccarelli’s #49 CMI Installations Chevrolet and the #47 Glenden Enterprises Toyota. All three were eliminated with Ciccarelli rounding out the group in 28th.

Several multi-truck accidents marred the night’s action, but did ultimately give several drivers some valuable TV time. Among them were Cory Roper, who made his first-ever plate start, and worked his #04 Preferred Industrial Contractors Ford up to the 3rd spot, where he was running when he lost control in Turn 4 and slammed head-on into the inside wall. Joe Nemechek, who took over for his son John Hunter in the #87, ran as high as fifth before another wreck spun him into the grass, tearing off the splitter. Gus Dean, another standout from ARCA, ran near the front late in the going despite heavy damage to his right-front fender, only to see his #12 LG Air Conditioning Technologies Chevrolet be collected in still another pileup. Curiously, it was Austin Hill, a former driver of Dean’s team Young’s Motorsports, who would go on to win driving for defending series champion owner Shigeaki Hattori.

Only eight other trucks were still running at the finish. Among the survivors were Ross Chastain (3rd for Al Niece’s #45), Spencer Boyd (4th for Young in the #20), Josh Reaume (6th for his own team), Timothy Peters (7th for Niece in the #44), and Angela Ruch (8th in the NEMCO #8) who all earned sterling runs. Among them, it was Boyd’s first top-five finish in the series, Reaume’s first top-ten (after starting last), and Ruch’s first top-ten in only her second series start, her first in nine years.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the first last-place finish for truck #54 since last fall at Texas, when Bo LeMastus wrecked 2 laps into the JAG Metals 350. The number had never trailed a Truck Series race at Daytona.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
32) #54-Natalie Decker / 1 lap / crash
31) #28-Bryan Dauzat / 2 laps / crash
30) #42-Robby Lyons / 16 laps / crash
29) #02-Tyler Dippel / 23 laps / crash
28) #49-Ray Ciccarelli / 27 laps / crash

2019 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) DGR-Crosley (1)

2019 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Toyota (1)

2019 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

CUP: Rick Ware Racing sweeps Duel race last-place finishes with McLeod and Ware

PHOTO: Jonathan Ferrey, Getty Images

Cody Ware finished last in Thursday’s Gander RV Duel Race 1 at the Daytona International Speedway when his #52 Winn-Dixie Chevrolet finished under power after 58 of 60 laps.

Ware’s entry into the Daytona 500 came after his Cup Series plate debut last fall at Talladega, where he finished under power in a Cup event for the first time in his brief career. It was the third of four starts that year for the 22-year-old from Greensboro, North Carolina. His best run of the year came in the penultimate round at the ISM Raceway, where driver and crew overcame a wreck that destroyed their only car in practice and long hours preparing a borrowed Chevrolet from Premium Motorsports to ultimately finish a season-best 28th.

Ware would drive the #52 Chevrolet, a team he debuted last summer at the Sonoma Raceway. To guarantee a starting spot for the car, Rick Ware Racing acquired the Charter from TriStar Motorsports’ #72 Chevrolet. One year after barely making it to the Daytona 500 in time to sign in, the #72 was not among the entrants for this year’s running. TriStar’s co-drivers Corey LaJoie and Cole Whitt have since gone on to different things with Whitt retiring at Phoenix and LaJoie moving to Go FAS Racing’s #32. In fact, the Winn-Dixie sponsored car that Ware was to drive bore a striking resemblance to the #72 that LaJoie ran last fall at Talladega.

Ware began the weekend 40th on the speed charts in opening practice and remained in the same spot in Sunday’s qualifying session with a speed of 183.737mph. This would put Ware 21st and last on the grid for Duel Race 1.

When the Duel race started, Ware slotted in behind Landon Cassill’s #00 Permatex Chevrolet, who started on the outside of the row in front of him. While he made the move quickly, Ware was already losing touch with the pack off Turn 2, and was two seconds back of the lead at the end of the lap. During that lap, Ware’s car was bottoming out nearly all the way around the track, sparks spitting from under the car as he continued to lose ground.

By Lap 9, Ware was a half-lap behind the pack, so far back that when Martin Truex, Jr. unexpectedly pitted by himself three circuits later, his #19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota was able to rejoin the pack without falling behind Ware. It was on that same Lap 12, as the field exited Turn 4, that Ware pulled down pit road for a fuel-only stop. This made Ware and not Truex the first driver to lose a lap.

As the rest of the field pitted for fuel, Brad Keselowski incurred a controversial penalty for pitting outside the box, then his #2 Discount Tire Ford was docked a second lap after he sped down pit road. This dropped Keselowski back to 20th by Lap 17, when Matt Tifft’s own speeding penalty dropped his #36 Speedco Ford back to last. When Keselowski finally pulled off pit road on Lap 19, he took the spot from Tifft as he lost a second lap to the leaders.

For the rest of the race, Keselowski grasped onto whoever he could catch on the track. He soon caught Daniel Hemric in the #8 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet. The duo then caught a slowing Ryan Newman in the #6 Oscar Meyer Ford, and the three slipped past Cassill’s #00, who tried, but was unable, to keep up with the trio. Multiple laps down with other drivers only one circuit behind, Keselowski was unable to make up any ground when Kyle Busch spun on the backstretch for the race’s only caution on Lap 27.

On the restart, Keselowski made quick work of Ware, but was still one lap behind the #52. He once again drafted with Newman, then caught polesitter William Byron, who pulled out of line and ultimately finished just outside the Bottom Five. Slowly, the group closed the gap on Ware, who was again running by himself some distance ahead. With six laps to go, Keselowski’s group was in Turn 4 when Ware was at the stripe. Then, with three to go, Keselowski’s group caught and passed Ware off Turn 2, dropping the #52 to last. Ware ran there the rest of the night. As he did, he watched his water temperatures, noticing that the car was running cold.

No drivers fell out of the race. Keselowski remained in 20th with Tifft 19th and the damaged Kyle Busch in 18th. Daniel Hemric rounded out the Bottom Five.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the first last-place finish for car #52 in the Duels since February 11, 1993, when during Race 2, Jimmy Hensley’s turn relieving Jimmy Means in the #52 NAPA Ford ended with an early backstretch wreck with Indy 500 champion Al Unser, Jr. as the pair raced down the backstretch after 10 laps.
*This was only the fifth time a driver finished last while still under power in a Duel race. The last time it happened was on February 20, 2014, when Brad Keselowski’s #2 Miller Lite Ford led 34 laps, then finished three circuits behind in Duel Race 2. A driver hadn’t finished under power in Duel Race 1 since February 17, 2000, when Bobby Gerhart ran three laps down in his #89 Kewadin Casinos Chevrolet.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
21) #52-Cody Ware / 58 laps / running
20) #2-Brad Keselowski / 58 laps / running
19) #36-Matt Tifft / 59 laps / running
18) #18-Kyle Busch / 59 laps / running
17) #8-Daniel Hemric / 59 laps / running

PHOTO: Jonathan Ferrey, Getty Images

Later that night, B.J. McLeod finished last in Thursday’s Gander RV Duel Race 2 at the Daytona International Speedway when his #51 Jacob Companies Chevrolet finished under power after 57 of 60 laps.

McLeod campaigned the Ware team’s flagship #51, which had already leased a Charter from Richard Petty Motorsports just last season. While also balancing the demands of his multi-car XFINITY Series team and driving other races in that series for JD Motorsports, McLeod started 14 of the 36 Cup races run last fall and earned a season-best 28th in the fall race at Las Vegas. By Loudon in July, the team acquired sponsorship from construction firm Jacob Companies, which would later become a brand partner with NASCAR itself. That sponsorship would carry over to SpeedWeeks.

Like his teammate Cody Ware in the #52, McLeod also struggled to find speed in practice and qualifying, running just under Ware’s times in 41st overall both sessions. His qualifying lap of 182.682mph was faster only than Joey Gase, whose run in Motorsports Business Management’s #66 Medic Air Systems, Inc. / Fan Memories Toyota was another half-second off the pace. The speed put McLeod 20th of the 21 cars in Duel Race 2.

Gase’s #66 sat last on the grid, but would soon after be joined by Ross Chastain. Driving Premium Motorsports’ #15 Chevrolet in addition to efforts with Kaulig Racing in XFINITY and Al Niece in Trucks, Chastain had missed the driver’s meeting for the Duels and was penalized as a result. Coming to the start, two more cars dropped to the rear – the “open” rides of Casey Mears, who just picked up sponsorship from skateboard accessory company Rim Ryderz on his unsponsored #27 Germain Racing Chevrolet, and Brendan Gaughan, who needed to race his way in driving Mark Beard’s #62 South Point Casino / Beard Oil Distributing Chevrolet.

On the break, Chastain remained in last, but unlike Ware in Race 1, managed to hang on to Mears running in front of him. On Lap 2, Mears and Chastain pulled past McLeod, who in turn caught back up to the pair and nearly cleared Mears once more on Lap 3. Further ahead, Gaughan and Gase raced side-by-side for the final transfer spot into the Daytona 500 field. Gaughan ultimately prevailed, and by Lap 8 Gase slid back between Mears and Chastain as the group lost touch with the lead pack. According to the team’s PR, Gase was struggling with the car bottoming out much worse than it had in qualifying.

Around Lap 15, Erik Jones entered the last-place battle. Just days after finishing last in the Clash, Jones’ #20 Sport Clips Toyota was tagged with a pit road speeding penalty and dropped back in the pack. That pack caught him by Lap 25, and he slotted into the faster group of machines as they continued on in single-file formation. This allowed Jones to join the rest of the leaders in lapping both Chastain and McLeod as they were lapped under the long green-flag run. Chastain briefly held the spot during this exchange before it fell back to McLeod.

By Lap 33, McLeod was a half-straightaway behind Gase, who had tumbled even further back to the 20th spot. Positions changed five circuits later, however, when Chastain slowed on the back straightaway as he lost a second circuit to the leaders. Completely by himself, Chastain lost a third lap just eight circuits later on Lap 46. Despite Chastain’s struggles, the cars in front of him lost laps at the same rate, allowing him to pass McLeod for 20th one last time on Lap 52, as the leaders took eight laps to go.

As in Race 1, no drivers failed to finish. Gase and Chastain remained on the same lap as McLeod to finish 20th and 19th. Gase failed to qualify along with Ryan Truex, who had been passed by Parker Kligerman late in Duel Race 1. The 18th spot fell to Michael McDowell, who pitted off-sequence in his #34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford late in the Duel, costing him two laps. Mears rounded out the group, the last car one lap down.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the first last-place finish for car #51 in a Duel race.
*This was also the second time in three years that teammates swept the last-place runs. In 2017, JTG-Daugherty Racing teammates A.J. Allmendinger and Chris Buescher were disqualified, taking away the last-place runs by Reed Sorenson and Timmy Hill.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
21) #51-B.J. McLeod / 57 laps / running
20) #66-Joey Gase / 57 laps / running
19) #15-Ross Chastain / 57 laps / running
18) #34-Michael McDowell / 58 laps / running
17) #27-Casey Mears / 59 laps / running

Despite the issues, both McLeod and Ware are locked-in to Sunday’s Daytona 500, the first for either driver, and the first for Ware’s second team. Rick Ware will also be partnered with Spraker Racing as they look to secure Chris Cockrum a spot in Saturday’s XFINITY Series race. McLeod is entered in JD Motorsports’ #15 BT Global Logistics / Run The Race Chevrolet while his own team boasts Matt Mills (#5), Vinnie Miller (#78), and D.J. Kennington (#99).