XFINITY: Overheating car hands Colby Howard first last-place finish

PHOTO: @JDMotorsports01

Colby Howard picked up the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career in Monday’s Alsco 300 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway when his #15 SANY America Chevrolet fell out with overheating issues after 11 of 203 laps.

The finish came in Howard’s third series start. In the XFINITY Series last-place rankings, it was the 10th for the #15, the 34th from overheating issues, and the 545th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 40th for the #15, the 174th from overheating issues, and the 1,711th for Chevrolet.

Just 18 years old from Simpsonville, South Carolina, Howard is among the many series newcomers trying to gain experience in national competition. According to his website, Colby began racing Bandloeros at Greenville Pickens Speedway and Anderson Motor Speedway, then worked his way to mini-stocks, limited late models, and full-blown late models. Through much of his career, Howard has been sponsored by the Project HOPE Foundation, a nonprofit benefiting the autistic.

On April 22, 2018, Howard made his ARCA debut at Salem Speedway, finishing 8th for Mason Mitchell. His Truck Series debut came the following November at Phoenix, where he ran 21st for Youngs Motorsports. Over the ensuing offseason, Howard signed with JD Motorsports, joining several drivers who would alternate between the team’s four different cars. Howard made his series debut in the last XFINITY race before the season’s suspension, running 34th after a mid-race crash at Phoenix. He then ran 27th in the series return at Darlington. Project HOPE sponsored both efforts.

Howard drew the 29th spot in Monday’s field, placing him behind JD Motorsports teammates B.J. McLeod in 14th and Jeffrey Earnhardt in 23rd, but ahead of Jesse Little in 34th. Bayley Currey was swapped into the 36th-place starting #74 Save22.vet Chevrolet, taking the place of Robby Lyons.

Starting 37th and last was Alex Labbe, who was swapped from DGM Racing’s #90 to the #36 Larue Snowblowers Chevrolet. Among those joining him at the rear were 33rd-place Matt Mills in the #5 J.F. Electric Chevrolet and Jeff Green, who drew 20th in an unsponsored #93 RSS Racing Chevrolet and confirmed he wouldn’t be running the whole race.

When the race started, Mills was so far back of the field that his car didn’t register an interval back of the leader as he crossed the stripe. Moments later, he was shown 6.81 seconds behind. He took over last at the end of Lap 1 with Green holding 36th, two seconds in front of Mills. Mills had dropped a full 11 seconds back of the lead when the first caution fell on Lap 5 for Kody Vanderwal, who struck the wall in Jimmy Means’ #52 Chevrolet.

Under the caution, Mills radioed he had smoke in the cockpit while Green said his car’s splitter was hitting the track. Green’s pit stop for adjustments and tightening the lug nuts dropped him to last on Lap 6, when he lost a lap to the leaders. Back on the track, Vanderwal was the last car on the lead lap, but this time he quickly lost touch with the rest of the field. On Lap 9, Vanderwal met minimum speed to clear the “Crash Clock,” but Howard now dropped to 35th place.

On Lap 11, Green’s spotter radioed that a car “sounds like they might be blowing up” and was smoking. It first appeared to be Vanderwal, who was now 5.5 seconds back of Howard. But Howard himself then pulled into the garage, and took last on Lap 14. Moments later, NASCAR Officials confirmed Howard had gone to the garage, and the team said overheating issues ended their day.

Green pulled into the garage on Lap 16. After his earlier splitter issues, he now believed he had a flat tire, then issues with the steering that kept the car from turning to the right. Perhaps due to smoke from the Green car, NASCAR Officials kept an eye on the #93 as he pulled in, four laps ahead of Howard. Vanderwal’s engine then let go down the backstretch on Lap 29, taking him out of the event and placing him 35th.

On Lap 39, NASCAR Officials in the garage confirmed Howard was out with overheating, Green with power steering, and Vanderwal with engine trouble.

Timmy Hill finished 34th when his #66 RoofClaim.com Toyota lost an engine in Turns 3 and 4 on Lap 156, dropping fluid that caused both Ross Chastain and Chase Briscoe to slap the wall. Austin Hill, whose #61 AISIN Group Toyota was fully-backed by Hattori Racing Enterprises, crashed out on Lap 177, collecting Jeremy Clements in the #51 All South Electric Chevrolet.

The heartbreaker of the night had to be Tommy Joe Martins, who clawed his way to 11th in his #44 Market Rebellion Chevrolet with just two laps to go. He was running in the low lane when three of the leaders tangled coming off Turn 2, triggering a pileup he couldn’t avoid. Martins spun and was struck by a passing Justin Haley, sending both cars hard into the inside wall. Martins finished 24th.

Finishing inside the Top 10 were both Brett Moffitt and Brandon Brown, each earning strong runs for their underfunded efforts. Moffitt’s #02 FR8 Auctions Chevrolet climbed to 6th in the final running order, scoring the first top-ten finish for Our Motorsports after a previous season-best of 11th last week in Darlington. Brown finished 8th in the #68 Coastal Carolina University Class of 2020 Chevrolet, just one spot shy of his season-best of 7th in the Daytona opener.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the first last-place finish for the #15 in an XFINITY Series race at Charlotte. The number hadn’t finished last in the series since September 16, 2017, when Matt Mills had a vibration after 3 laps of the TheHouse.com at Chicagoland.
*Howard is the seventh driver to score his first XFINITY Series last-place finish in the #15, joining Dale Earnhardt (1982), Jeff Purvis (1990), Clay Brown (1993), Michael Annett (2010), Todd Peck (2016), and Matt Mills (2017).

THE BOTTOM FIVE
37) #15-Colby Howard / 11 laps / overheating
36) #93-Jeff Green / 15 laps / power steering
35) #52-Kody Vanderwal / 26 laps / engine
34) #66-Timmy Hill / 151 laps / engine
33) #61-Austin Hill / 173 laps / crash

2020 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Shepherd Racing Ventures (2)
2nd) JD Motorsports, Jeremy Clements Racing, Motorsports Business Management, SS-Green Light Racing (1)

2020 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (5)
2nd) Toyota (1)

2020 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

CUP: Jimmie Johnson’s disqualification nixes strong runner-up finish in Coca-Cola 600

PHOTO: @NASCAR

Jimmie Johnson picked up the 4th last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career in Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway when his #48 Ally Patriotic Chevrolet finished 2nd, but was disqualified for failing post-race inspection, classifying him last with all 405 laps complete.

The finish, which came in Johnson’s 658th series start, was his first of the season, and his first in a Cup race since Martinsville on October 27, 2019, ten races ago. In the Cup Series’ last-place history, this was the 23rd for the #48, the 24th from disqualification, and the 781st for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, this was the 30th for the #48, the 35th from disqualification, and the 1,710th for Chevrolet.

Clint Bowyer picked up the 9th last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career in Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway when his #14 Rush Truck Centers / Mobil Delvac 1 Ford was involved in a hard single-car crash after 96 of 405 laps.

The finish, which came in Bowyer’s 512th series start, was his first of the season and first since March 17, 2019 at Fontana, 38 races ago. In the Cup Series last-place rankings, it was the 41st for the #41, the 595th from a crash, and the 698th for Ford. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 60th for the #14, the 959th for Ford, and the 1,205th from a crash.

Despite the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the current schedule, Johnson reaffirmed his decision to retire from full-time Cup Series competition at the end of the 2020 season. Prior to the national emergency declaration in March, Johnson had secured 5th in the series standings, bouncing back from a late wreck at Daytona to finish 5th in Las Vegas, 7th, and Fontana, and 12th at Phoenix. The Fontana run was perhaps the most emotional, as he nearly took the pole from Clint Bowyer and led a five-wide salute at his home track with his wife and children waving the green flag from the flag stand.

Johnson also participated in several iRacing events during the suspension, including six of the seven rounds of the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series. After a disastrous opener in Homestead, where he was involved in several accidents, he continued to struggle for the rest of the series, finishing no better than 19th. He ran better in two IndyCar rounds at digital Indianapolis and Barber Motorsports Park, which seemed better suited to his open-wheel designed sim rig: Johnson finished 16th in the former and 12th in the latter.

Back in action at Darlington, Johnson looked to pick up where he left off in March. Incidentally, he’d won at Darlington the last time the track hosted two Cup dates, taking the spring race in 2004. He drew the 8th starting spot and chased down teammate Alex Bowman in the early laps, taking the lead on Lap 81. He was still leading on the final lap of Stage 1 when he caught Chris Buescher off Turn 2 and bumped the #17 Fastenal Ford into the wall. Buescher’s car bounced back into Johnson’s, sending the #48 careening head-on into the inside wall. Johnson was uninjured, and as his crew chief Cliff Daniels rallied the troops on pit road, the #48 team left the track 38th in a field of 40. This placed him 37th on the grid for Wednesday’s return to the track, where he bounced back with an 8th-place finish.

Charlotte was next, another of Johnson’s best tracks. He’d won there eight times, including four Coca-Cola 600s – three in a row from 2003 through 2005. Though he hadn’t won at the track since 2016, he’d also finished worse than 8th just once since then – a 17th in the spring of 2017. He’d even come within one swerve of taking the inaugural Charlotte “Roval” race in 2018 before his last-turn spin collected race leader Martin Truex, Jr.

As part of NASCAR’s Memorial Day tribute, Johnson’s windshield would carry the name of Army Corporal Patrick Deans, who served in the 101st Airborne Division. On December 12, 2010, Corporal Deans and five other soldiers were killed by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan. Adding to the tribute, Johnson’s car and helmet would be painted an olive drab color with stenciled white graphics and an exposed rivet pattern. “To have Corporal Deans on my car and run a special paint scheme is a big honor for me to recognize the individual, and all those who have lost a loved one,” said Johnson.

Johnson qualified a strong 2nd with a lap of 181.214mph, but held the provisional pole for most of the session before Kurt Busch edged him by nine-thousandths of a second.

Starting 40th and last in Sunday’s race was Aric Almirola, whose #10 Smithfield Ford spun out during his qualifying lap and backed lightly into the Turn 4 wall. By rolling past the stripe during his spin, Almirola was the only driver to not record a completed qualifying lap. Repairing the minor damage also incurred Almirola a redundant tail-end penalty for unapproved adjustments, joined by 9th-place qualifier Brad Keselowski in the #2 Miller Lite Ford, 32nd-place Timmy Hill in the #66 RoofClaim.com Toyota, and 34th-place J.J. Yeley in the #7 VCP Chevrolet. Also sent to the rear was Matt DiBenedetto, who during qualifying slapped the Turn 4 wall with the passenger side of his #21 Menards / FVP Ford. Unlike Almirola, DiBenedetto’s wreck sent him to a backup car. However, none of these drivers spent much time in last place.

Clint Bowyer's wreck that left him last at the end of the race.
PHOTO: @NASCARonNBC

As the field rolled off pit road into Turn 1, wisps of smoke were seen from 13th-place Denny Hamlin in the #11 FedEx #SupportSmall Toyota. As he climbed the banking, two chunks of Tungsten ballast tumbled from the driver’s side rail. According to 39th-place Joey Gase in the #51 ACS Chevrolet, at least three drivers ran over the debris. Among these drivers was the penalized Aric Almirola, who avoided one piece with a swerve to the left that caused him to clip the other with his left-front fender. Gase had also winged one of the pieces, starting a slow leak in one of his tires. But Hamlin was the first to pit road, making an unscheduled stop during the final pace laps.

Hamlin was still on pit road when the race went green, the crew scrambling to find new ballast. Someone on the FedEx crew suggested they just go home, but someone else on the team said “we can’t do that.” Hamlin remained in last place while Gase came down pit road in the first six laps. Contact with Hamlin’s ballast cut the inside sidewall of one of the tires on the #51, forcing a pit stop, and on Lap 6 he lost more time serving a penalty for too many crew members over the wall. Hamlin then returned to the track on Lap 8, completing his first lap on the ninth circuit. Hamlin then tried to focus on his car’s handling, saying it was running tight while in traffic.

Hamlin and Gase remained in the final two positions for much of the first stage. On Lap 69, Gase was three laps ahead of Hamlin. Then on Lap 97, with just three laps to go in Stage 1, the caution fell for a wreck in Turn 4. Involved was Clint Bowyer, whose #14 Rush Truck Centers / Mobil Delvac 1 Ford suffered a lower control arm failure that sent him hard into the outside wall. Bowyer, who was running 11th at the time of the accident, was slow to get out of the now-burning car, catching his breath as crews put out the flames. On Lap 100, as Stage 1 ended under yellow, Bowyer’s car was towed to the garage. He took last from Hamlin on Lap 106, the first car out of the race.

Bowyer’s car carried the name of Private First Class Andy Krippner of Garland, Texas. Just six weeks into his tour in Afghanistan, and just days after his 20th birthday, Private Krippner and three other soldiers were killed in Afghanistan in 2011 when their vehicle was struck by an IED. “I am incredibly honored to carry Andy’s name on our car and can’t thank him and his family and friends enough for the sacrifices made for our country,” said Bowyer in an interview with NBC Sports.

From then through the end of the race, Bowyer seemed assured of his second last-place finish at Charlotte, following an engine failure on October 11, 2014. Car #14 hadn’t finished last in a Cup Series race at Charlotte since October 7, 1979, when Jimmy Means made a one-off start in H.B. Cunningham’s #14 Cunningham-Kelley Chevrolet for the NAPA National 500. Means qualified 19th and falling out after 1 lap with handling woes. The car was most commonly driven by the late Coo Coo Marlin, who finished last in both Charlotte races in 1975, including the only previous last-place finish for the number in the Coca-Cola 600 on May 25, 1975.

Meanwhile, Johnson enjoyed one of his best runs of the season. After saving his car when it broke loose early in Turn 2, he led six laps and earned stage points in all three stages, finishing 8th, 10th, and 4th, respectively. Twice in the final laps, he was in contention for the win, including the final restart, when he took the green on the front row alongside eventual race winner Brad Keselowski. Johnson closed to Keselowski’s bumper on the final lap, and came just short of making a move in the high lane. The runner-up finish was Johnson’s best of the season and jumped him three positions in points, from 12th to 9th, tied with Kyle Busch and Aric Almirola as 82 points back of the lead.

But after 2 A.M. local time, following post-race inspection, news broke that Johnson’s car failed the Optical Scanning Station (OSS), specifically the rear alignment tolerance. The result was an immediate disqualification, dropping Johnson from 2nd to last place, and forfeiting his 11 stage points earned during the night. The disqualification lifted Bowyer from last place, bumped Quin Houff out of the Bottom Five, and Brennan Poole out of the Bottom Ten. UPDATE: Johnson now loses three spots in points, tying him with Tyler Reddick for 15th.

Finishing 38th was Bubba Wallace, whose #43 U.S. Air Force Chevrolet suffered a hub failure that sent him behind the wall just before the halfway point. Wallace fell 70 laps down before he returned to the track briefly on Lap 209. But someone then said “Something broke in the rear. Let’s go to the garage – we’re done.” Wallace ultimately fell out with 164 completed laps, citing a vibration for the hub issue.

Rounding out the Bottom Five were J.J. Yeley, whose #7 VCP Chevrolet was eliminated under the damaged vehicle policy following an undisclosed accident that didn’t draw the caution flag, and Joey Gase, whose #51 ACS Ford spun on Lap 349, drawing the caution flag just short of scheduled green-flag pit stops. Gase finished as the final car under power, 20 laps down to the leaders.

Tyler Reddick’s incredible first season continued with a 9th-place finish, his third top-ten finish in just nine career Cup starts. He finished just one spot ahead of Christopher Bell, who like at Las Vegas, saved his car from a wreck in a four-wheel drift after contact from Ryan Blaney entering Turn 3. Bell’s 10th-place finish was his first career Top Ten in his seventh series start.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the first last-place finish for car #48 in a Cup Series points race at Charlotte.
*Johnson is also the fourth driver to be classified last at Charlotte by reason of disqualification. The first came in the June 19, 1960 inaugural, when Lennie Page was the lowest-ranked of six penalized for cutting off the entrance to pit road. Buddy Baker was disqualified on October 7, 1973 after a disagreement between his team owner and NASCAR officials over inspecting the engine. And Bobby Hillin, Jr.’s disqualification on October 11, 1992 was the last for a Cup driver in a points race until Erik Jones’ penalty at Richmond just last year.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
40) #48-Jimmie Johnson / 405 laps / disqualified / led 6 laps
39) #14-Clint Bowyer / 96 laps / crash
38) #43-Bubba Wallace / 164 laps / vibration
37) #7-J.J. Yeley / 251 laps / dvp
36) #51-Joey Gase / 385 laps / running

2020 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Hendrick Motorsports, JTG-Daugherty Racing, Motorsports Business Management (2)
2nd) Leavine Family Racing (1)

2020 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (4)
2nd) Toyota (3)

2020 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

PREVIEW: Massive Truck Series entry list among the stories heading into Charlotte

SOURCE: @chaseelliott

Sunday, May 24, 2020
CUP Race 7 of 36
Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte
2019 Last-Place Finisher: Erik Jones

ENTRY LIST
There are 40 drivers entered for as many spots, marking the second full field in the last three races. This will also be the first race since the suspension of the season where cars will qualify. The lineup will be set Sunday afternoon before the race.

RETURNING: #7-Tommy Baldwin Racing
DRIVER CHANGE: #77-Spire Motorsports
After skipping both Cup races at Darlington, Ross Chastain returns to run his previously scheduled start in the Spire #77, carrying Daytona 500 sponsor Advent Health. Chastain’s return bumps J.J. Yeley to the #7, which returns to the track after skipping Wednesday’s night race at Darlington. Josh Bilicki, who ran the car that day, is not entered.

Monday, May 25, 2020
XFINITY Race 6 of 33
Alsco 300 at Charlotte
2019 Last-Place Finisher: Chad Finchum

ENTRY LIST
There are just 37 drivers entered for 40 spots in the upcoming Memorial Day race for the XFINITY Series, two fewer cars than in the circuit’s return last Thursday in Darlington. The series has yet to have a 40-car field in the series since the temporary field increase by NASCAR.

DRIVER SWAP: #21-Richard Childress Racing
DRIVER CHANGE: #93-RSS Racing
Myatt Snider struggled mightily in the #93 last Thursday and finished 35th. He now moves back to the RCR #21, taking the place of Anthony Alfredo, who isn’t entered. Returning to the seat of the #93 is Jeff Green, his first start since Phoenix in March. No sponsor is yet listed for Green, so it is yet uncertain whether the car will run the full race.

MISSING: #26-Sam Hunt Racing
Colin Garrett is not entered after brake trouble left him just 37th at Darlington.

DRIVER CHANGE: #36-DGM Racing
DRIVER SWAP: #90-DGM Racing
Alex Labbe moves from the #90 back to the #36 this week, taking the place of Ronnie Bassett, Jr., who isn’t entered after a 31st-place run in Darlington. Ronnie’s brother Dillon Bassett will drive the #90 in Labbe’s place. We last saw Dillon Bassett run at Phoenix just before the suspension of the season, where he finished 18th after an on-track tangle with Brandon Brown.

SPONSOR UPDATE: #44-Martins Motorsports
Tommy Joe Martins welcomes another new sponsor to his single-car operation this week as Market Rebellion will back his black #44 Chevrolet.

DRIVER CHANGE: #61-Motorsports Business Management / Hattori Racing Enterprises
DRIVER SWAP: #66-Motorsports Business Management
Timmy Hill slides from the #61 to the #66, taking the place of Darlington last-place finisher Stephen Leicht, who isn’t entered. Into Hill’s place comes Austin Hill, who will run a fully-funded effort in the #61 with sponsor AISIN Group and support of Hattori Racing Enterprises. This will be Austin’s third series start of the season, following a 35th at Daytona and 16th at Fontana, and he will pull double-duty with the Truck Series for Hattori.

DRIVER CHANGE: #74-Mike Harmon Racing
Robby Lyons takes the place of Bayley Currey, who isn’t entered. This will be Lyons’ fourth series start of the season and first since Fontana. It will also be his first of the year for Mike Harmon Racing, having run the previous three for JD Motorsports. Harmon was part of Lyons’ XFINITY debut last November at Homestead, when he ran the #17 co-owned by Rick Ware Racing. UPDATE: And now the driver change is reversed - Bayley Currey will run the #74 in Lyons' place.

MISSING: #89-Shepherd Racing Ventures
Morgan Shepherd’s team will take a brief hiatus. Landon Cassill is not entered, but reported he would make himself available at the Charlotte track as “a reserve driver on the Cup and Truck side, and ready with my stuff to drive anything else.” For more on how you can help Shepherd Racing Ventures, check out this article from Toby Christie's site.

DRIVER CHANGE: #07-SS-Green Light Racing
After his ride with JD Motorsports fell through, Garrett Smithley will return to the XFINITY Series for the first time this season, taking the place of Ray Black, Jr. in the #07 Chevrolet. While CDA Tech was still shown as the listed sponsor, he will actually be backed by Dream Giveaways. This race will follow Smithley’s run in Sunday’s Cup race for Rick Ware Racing and precede Tuesday’s run in the Truck Series (see below). UPDATE: The sponsor and driver change are no coincidence as Rick Ware Racing has entered into a partnership with the #07 team. Smithley will also contend for XFINITY Series points, surrendering his place in the Cup Series Rookie of the Year battle.

CUP INVADERS: #54-Kyle Busch

Tuesday, May 26, 2020
TRUCKS Race 3 of 23
North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Charlotte
2019 Last-Place Finisher: Joe Nemechek

ENTRY LIST
The return of the Truck Series for the first time since Las Vegas on February 21 saw an incredible 47 trucks on the entry list for the first NASCAR-extended 40-truck field. To put that number in perspective, the prestigious Daytona opener hasn’t had that many entries since 2002. However, since there will be no qualifying, the seven teams to be sent home has already been determined. Part of this was by NASCAR changing the rules for the 40-truck field, where 27 spots are set by 2019 spots and 13 by points after the two races held so far in 2020. Others worked out deals to acquire Owner Point rankings from other teams, as will be described below. To further add to the confusion, the driver and team changes noted in this article are from the entry list to the postponed Atlanta race, which was to be held on March 14.

SEASON STORY: #3-Jordan Anderson Racing
SEASON STORY: #98-ThorSport Racing
The Daytona opener on February 14 was settled between two very different competitors – owner-driver Jordan Anderson nearly pulled the upset in his first race with K-Seal as sponsor, earning the attention of both fans and the Lionel company, which planned to produce diecast of his #3 Chevrolet. Grant Enfinger took the narrow victory by just one-hundredth of a second, leading 41 laps in the process. He stands as the only series regular to win in the two races yet run.

RETURNING (DNQ): #5-Wauters Motorsports
Tuesday’s race was slated to mark the return of Richie Wauters to the Truck Series for the first time since 2017, as he had planned to field a #5 Toyota for Cup Series regular Erik Jones in the planned “Bounty Race.” However, unable to obtain another team’s rank in points leaves the team out of the race.

RETURNING (DNQ): #6-Norm Benning Racing
Norm Benning will likewise not race. He has yet to make a start in 2020, having failed to qualify at Daytona, then skipped both the completed race at Las Vegas and the postponed round at Atlanta.

TEAM UPDATE: #7-All Out Motorsports
Korbin Forrister will race in Tuesday’s race, and according to the entry list will be driving the oldest truck in the show – a 2015 Toyota.

SEASON STORY: #8-NEMCO Motorsports
SEASON STORY: #10-Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing
The 40-truck limit has been a big help to both Joe Nemechek and Jennifer Jo Cobb’s teams, which have both been shut out of the season thus far. Both John Hunter Nemechek and his father failed to qualify for their only attempt at Daytona, and John Hunter was denied the ability to bounce back at Atlanta due to the postponement. Cobb failed to qualify for both the first two races at Daytona and Las Vegas.

RETURNING: #9-CR7 Motorsports
Codie Rohrbaugh will race after he had originally planned to skip Atlanta. Rohrbaugh scored a career-best 3rd in this season’s Daytona opener and finished a respectable 18th the next round in Las Vegas.

MISSING: #12-Young’s Motorsports
RETURNING / DRIVER CHANGE: #83-CMI Motorsports
T.J. Bell was originally not entered after the #12 he was slated to run in the postponed Atlanta race with RANDCO Industries as sponsor was not on the Charlotte entry list. He then popped up at CMI Motorsports, driving the team’s second truck, the #83, which will start the race. Bell takes the place of Stefan Parsons, who ran the truck in Las Vegas and was entered in Atlanta.

RETURNING (DNQ): #14-Trey Hutchins Racing
Trey Hutchins planned to return for the first time since a three-race schedule last year at Texas, Iowa, and Michigan (the Iowa race was a one-off for NEMCO Motorsports). Unfortunately, Hutchins’ low rank in points leaves him out of the field at Charlotte for a second consecutive year.

POINT SWAP: #24-GMS Racing
POINT SWAP (DNQ): #34-Reaume Brothers Racing
Prior to the postponement, Chase Elliott was slated to run the first “Bounty Race” in Atlanta with Hooters as sponsor. He is again entered for the Charlotte race, this time with iRacing as sponsor. While Elliott would not have qualified as he drives for a new team at the GMS stable, GMS acquired the Top 25 rank in Owner Points from the #34 owned by Josh Reaume. Consequently, this bumps Bryant Barnhill – who was slated to take the place of Josh Bilicki – from the field.

RETURNING: #28-FDNY Racing
Bryan Dauzat is entered and will make the race on points. This marks Dauzat’s first start since the Daytona opener, where his red Chevrolet caught fire in an accident that left him 29th.

MISSING: #29-On Point Motorsports
DRIVER SWAP: #30-On Point Motorsports
The On Point team had planned to field a second entry for the first time in Atlanta, putting Brennan Poole in the truck so Danny Bohn could run the #30. However, the second truck is not entered, and Poole remains in the #30 to pull double-duty with his continued rookie campaign in Cup.

DRIVER CHANGE: #33-Reaume Brothers Racing
Jesse Iwuji will drive the #33 in place of J.J. Yeley, who isn’t entered. This will be Iwuji’s first start of the season, though he’d also participated in this year’s eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series by competing in the qualifying races at Homestead and Texas.

DRIVER CHANGE: #40-Niece Motorsports
Garrett Smithley is in for Ryan Truex, who isn’t entered. Truex had been slated to make his series debut at Atlanta before the postponement. Smithley will carry his Rick Ware Racing sponsor Trophy Tractor on the #40 in what will be his first series start since a one-off for Jeff Finley last year at Texas, where he ran 15th.

NEW TEAM: #42-Niece Motorsports
Al Niece will field still a new fourth team in the race for Ross Chastain, who will run his familiar watermelon colors for the Florida Watermelon Association on the #42 Chevrolet. Chastain started the year driving Niece’s #40 truck, finishing 8th at Daytona and 14th in Las Vegas.

DRIVER CHANGE: #44-Niece Motorsports
Natalie Decker returns, taking the place of Atlanta entrant Jeb Burton, who isn’t entered. Decker scored her first career Top Five in the season opener at Daytona, finishing 5th.

RETURNING: #49-CMI Motorsports
Ray Ciccarelli returns, fielding both the aforementioned #83 and his primary #49. Both will make the show for the first time this season after Ciccarelli failed to qualify at Daytona and Bayley Currey missed the show in Las Vegas. This will be Ciccarelli’s first series start at Charlotte.

SEASON STORY: #51-Kyle Busch Motorsports
It was yet another dominant victory by Kyle Busch in the February 21st round at Las Vegas that started Kevin Harvick and Marcus Lemonis’ “Bounty Race” concept, which was set to debut at Atlanta before the event was postponed. Busch is again entered in the series’ return, which will include Chase Elliott, who had been entered at Atlanta.

RETURNING / NUMBER CHANGE (DNQ): #55-Long Motorsports
Long Motorsports was set to make their return to the series at Charlotte, where they switched truck numbers from the #14 to the #55. Team owner Boyd Long had previously fielded entries for Ted Minor, running the #14 at Iowa and Chicago in 2017 with a best finish of 26th in the latter. However, the team will not make the cut under the rule change.

SPONSOR UPDATE: #56-Hill Motorsports
RoofClaim.com’s increased support of Timmy Hill following his strong runs in the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series has extended from his Cup and XFINITY efforts to his own Truck Series team, as the company will adorn his #56 Chevrolet. Hill’s team has made both races this year, putting Gus Dean behind the wheel at Daytona, then Timmy in Vegas.

TEAM UPDATE: #68-Clay Greenfield Motorsports
Clay Greenfield, who failed to qualify at Daytona and was set to make his season debut at Atlanta before the postponement, is locked into the Charlotte race, along with his veteran crew chief Jeff Hammond. Last time out at Atlanta, the team had decorated the #68 with the Tennessee state flag in memory of lives lost in the Nashville tornado outbreak.

RETURNING (DNQ): #75-Henderson Motorsports
One surprising DNQ on the list is Parker Kligerman, whose Henderson Motorsports team has remained a part-time competitor in the series. Instead, the #75 team is on the wrong side of the cut line and will not run on Tuesday.

RETURNING: #97-Diversified Motorsports Enterprises
Jesse Little returns to the series for the first time since the Daytona opener, where his neon green Chevrolet was involved in a late accident. He is also locked-into the race in his 2018 Chevrolet.

RETURNING (DNQ): #03-Mike Affarano Motorsports
Tim Viens will not run, though the Affarano #03 was entered for the first time since the season opener at Daytona, where the truck carried logos in support of President Trump. During that week, Viens was photographed next to a similarly decorated XFINITY car fielded by Mike Harmon, even though Joe Nemechek was the car’s driver.

CUP INVADERS: #24-Chase Elliott, #51-Kyle Busch

Wednesday, May 27, 2020
CUP Race 8 of 36
Alsco Uniforms 500k at Charlotte
2019 Last-Place Finisher: Inaugural Event

ENTRY LIST
UPDATE (May 25): There are 40 drivers entered for the second Cup race of the week in Charlotte, matching the number from Sunday's Coca-Cola 600.

DRIVER CHANGE: #7-Tommy Baldwin Racing
DRIVER SWAP: #27-Rick Ware Racing
Josh Bilicki returns to the #7 team for the first time since last Sunday's race in Darlington. J-Cal Designs has put together another patriotic scheme for the car, which carries sponsorship from Strutmasters.com. Bilicki takes the place of J.J. Yeley, who ran 37th on Sunday. Yeley will move to the #27 in place of Gray Gaulding, who isn't entered after a 31st-place run Sunday. UPDATE: Gaulding is back in the #27 once more.

DRIVER CHANGE: #77-Spire Motorsports
Reed Sorenson returns to the Spire team this week in place of Ross Chastain, who finished 21st on Sunday. Aquesta Bank is the listed sponsor. UPDATE: Yeley takes the place of Sorenson in the #77. Sorenson is not entered in the race.

MANUFACTURER CHANGE: #78-B.J. McLeod Motorsports
After he finished 32nd on Sunday in a Ford, B.J. McLeod will again campaign a Chevrolet this Wednesday. UPDATE: McLeod will run the Ford again in the race.

LASTCAR STAT OF THE WEEK (May 23, 1998): “The High Plains Drifter,” Rick Carelli, picked up the first last-place finish of his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career in the Yellow Freight 200 at the I-70 Speedway. Carelli’s #6 RE/MAX International Chevrolet started on the outside-pole and led 18 of the first 23 laps. He was still running 2nd on Lap 89 when Dennis Setzer lost an engine in front of him. Carelli backed into the Turn 3 wall, ending his race.

XFINITY: Evil-handling Camry puts Stephen Leicht out after one lap at Darlington

PHOTO: MBM, @StartAndParkCar

Stephen Leicht picked up the 5th last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career in Thursday’s Toyota 200 at the Darlington Raceway when his #66 CrashClaimsR.us Toyota fell out with suspension issues after 1 of 147 laps.

The finish, which came in Leicht’s 136th series start, was his first since February 15, 2019 at Daytona, 37 races ago. In the XFINITY Series last-place rankings, it was the 7th for the #66, the 19th from suspension issues, and the 133rd for Toyota. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 43rd for suspension trouble, the 70th for the #66, and the 330th for Toyota.

Since he was previously featured here last year, Leicht completed a full season for JD Motorsports, finishing 18th in points. His best finish came in his return to Daytona for the July race, where he ran 5th – his first top-five finish in the series since the Homestead finale on November 17, 2007 – his final start as a development driver for Yates Racing.

This year, Leicht joins Motorsports Business Management, campaigning the #66. While the team fielded a Toyota Supra in the Daytona opener, where Timmy Hill overcame a technical inspection penalty to finish 3rd, Leicht drives the team’s gold-and-white “Zombie” Toyota Camry. While Leicht failed to finish his three starts at Las Vegas, Fontana, and Phoenix, in each case he completed just over half the race distance.

Leicht rejoined the team in Darlington, where the qualifying draw placed him 37th in the 39-car field – the first race since NASCAR’s temporary allowance of 40-car fields in XFINITY and Trucks when there is no qualifying. Drawing the last starting spot was the #26 Rosie Network Toyota of Colin Garrett, whose Sam Hunt Racing team was returning to the circuit for the first time since Daytona.

Three more teams would drop to the before the start, each for unapproved adjustments: 21st-place Kody Vanderwal in the #52 Circle Track Warehouse / Franklin Signs Chevrolet, 36th-place Joe Graf, Jr. in the #08 Core Development Group Chevrolet, and 38th-place Landon Cassill, the current 2020 LASTCAR XFINITY leader, in Morgan Shepherd’s #89 Visone RV Chevrolet. With one lap until green, the trio had dropped to the back, but Cassill soon had another three cars behind him – Garrett in the #26, 31st-place Colby Howard in the #15 Project Hope Foundation Chevrolet, and 33rd-place Mason Massey in the #99 Gerber Collision & Glass Toyota. Moments before the start, Cassill waved Garrett to move past him, but Garrett declined.

The moment the race went green, Leicht plummeted to the rear of the field. The lack of practice and qualifying seemed to affect him most seriously as he was already 7.6 seconds back of the lead as he crossed the stripe, and turned the first lap at just 38.681 seconds – well off the 32-33 second range of other trailing cars. Also struggling was Ronnie Bassett, Jr., whose #36 Bassett Gutters & More Chevrolet was advised to pick up the pace after he was lapped on Lap 7. Bassett ultimately finished 31st.

Leicht pulled into the garage after just that first lap, saying the car is “wandering really hard off the left-front.” Team owner Carl Long met with him to look over the chassis, but the team never returned to the track. On Lap 8, Long radioed “Come on out, bud.” It wasn’t until Lap 60 that NASCAR Officials announced, “66 out, suspension.”

Also on Lap 60 was “89 out, handling,” signaling the end of the day for Landon Cassill. Cassill stayed out to complete 35 laps, well past the Lap 15 competition caution, and was still just one lap down when he pulled into the garage. Cassill only dropped to 37th at the time as Colin Garrett had gone to the garage on Lap 26, citing a left-front issue that was revealed to be brake issues. Bayley Current later tweeted that he ran the entire race without brakes on the #74 Save 22 Chevrolet, still managing to finish 33rd. Garrett, however, didn’t return to the track until Lap 52, and completed his 19th lap on Lap 54. Combined with his stay in the garage, the completed lap clocked in at 1494.984 seconds. Garrett dropped Cassill to 38th on Lap 71 but climbed no further and finished 37th.

Myatt Snider turned just 129 laps in Thursday’s race after an early incident where the TV panel on his #93 Superior Essex Chevrolet came loose after he struck the wall. NASCAR Officials made multiple calls to their spotters to watch for smoke coming off his car, requiring additional stops. He still managed to climb one more spot in the final laps, passing Jesse Little, whose #4 SEM Products Chevrolet fell out with a vibration.

Brett Moffitt fell just short of a top-ten finish when he slipped back to 11th in the final laps in the #02 Fr8 Auctions Chevrolet. This still turned out to be the team’s best finish in this, their first season. They have also not finished out of the Top 20 since the opener in Daytona, completing all but two laps in those five races.

Leicht’s MBM teammates Timmy Hill (#61 RoofClaim.com Toyota) and Chad Finchum (#13 Great Southern Homes Toyota) both finished on the lead lap in 22nd and 24th, respectively. David PeQueen tweeted that this marked the first time two MBM cars finished on the lead lap since Indianapolis last summer. For Hill, it was his best Darlington finish since 2012. For Finchum, it was his fifth-straight Top 25 finish – the longest streak of his XFINITY career.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the first last-place finish for car #66 in a XFINITY Series race at Darlington.
*The only other time the last-place finisher of a XFINITY race at Darlington fell out with suspension issues occurred on September 5, 2015, when Ryan Ellis’ run in the #17 Navy Seals vs. Zombies Ford also ended after 1 lap of the VFW Sport Clips Help a Hero 200. It was this same finish that ended Jeff Green’s record streak of eight consecutive last-place finishes.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
39) #66-Stephen Leicht / 1 lap / suspension
38) #89-Landon Cassill / 35 laps / handling
37) #26-Colin Garrett / 111 laps / running
36) #4-Jese Little / 122 laps / vibration
35) #93-Myatt Snider / 129 laps / running

2020 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Shepherd Racing Ventures (2)
2nd) Jeremy Clements Racing, Motorsports Business Management, SS-Green Light Racing (1)

2020 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (4)
2nd) Toyota (1)

2020 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

CUP: Ryan Preece starts first, finishes last in rough week at Darlington for JTG-Daugherty Racing

SCREENSHOT: @FS1

Ryan Preece scored the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career in Wednesday’s Toyota 500K at the Darlington Raceway when his #37 Tide Chevrolet blew the engine after 69 of 208 laps.

The finish came in Preece’s 47th series start. In Cup Series last-place history, it was the 39th for the #37, the 694th from engine trouble, and the 780th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three divisions, it was the 45th for the #37, the 1,087th from engine woes, and the 1,709th for Chevrolet.

In a few short years, peaks and valleys have defined the career trajectory of Preece, the 29-year-old NASCAR Modified Series star who designed his helmet after Cole Trickle's from "Days of Thunder." Hard racing and the persistent search for sponsorship earned him a one-off ride in the XFINITY Series in 2013, where he finished 24th at Loudon. He got his first taste of the Cup Series two years later, making five races for Phil Parsons Racing as the team was absorbed into Premium Motorsports. He finished under power in each race, including at Martinsville, where he was sitting at the exit of pit road the moment a lapped Matt Kenseth wrecked Joey Logano out of the lead heading into Turn 1.

Next came a full-time XFINITY Series ride for JD Motorsports, where he earned his first top-ten finish at Darlington and ranked 17th in points at season’s end. This caught the attention of Joe Gibbs, who brought him on board to run part-time for his own XFINITY Series program. In his 19 starts for the team, Preece finished outside the Top 10 only five times, and scored a pair of victories at Iowa and Bristol.

Preece was then welcomed to JTG-Daugherty to compete for Rookie of the Year, taking the place of A.J. Allmendinger in the #47 Chevrolet. He caught the attention of many in the season-opening Daytona 500, where he skillfully avoided a multi-car pileup with a narrow escape on the apron. He finished 8th that night, and two months later took 3rd in Talladega for his current career-best. He also continued his strong runs in the XFINITY Series, where his four starts with JR Motorsports were all lead-lap finishes in the Top 10. He also was leading much of the K&N Pro Series West race at Sonoma before he was black-flagged on the final restart, handing the win to Noah Gragson. Cup, however, proved more challenging, and in the final stretch he lost Rookie of the Year to Daniel Hemric.

This year sees Preece swapping rides with new teammate Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., moving him to the #37 vacated by Chris Buescher. Prior to the suspension of the season, his best finish came just before the cutoff at Phoenix, where he ran 18th. He then participated in all seven rounds of the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational, where he again caught the attention of viewers with many strong runs. He ran 8th in the opener at Homestead and nearly took the next race at Texas, where he was edged by Timmy Hill for the victory. A 6th at Bristol was followed by a pole at Richmond, where he finished 19th after an online scuffle with Matt DiBenedetto. But after a 3rd at Talladega, he failed to finish the final two rounds at Dover and North Wilkesboro.

Sunday’s return to racing at Darlington proved significant as Preece edged Bubba Wallace for 20th in the final laps. The scheduled inversion of the Top 20 for Wednesday’s race meant Preece would line up on the pole under the lights. His paint scheme was bright orange and white, an updated version of the classic “Tide Ride” to represent the sponsor’s “Power Pods” laundry detergent.

Scheduled to roll off last was Stenhouse, Preece’s teammate, who finished last Sunday after a first-lap accident. He would soon be joined by five drivers who dropped to the rear for penalties. First were 28th-place Gray Gaulding in the #27 Panini America Ford and 29th-place J.J. Yeley in the #77 Bon Secours #TheRealHeroes Chevrolet, as both teams changed drivers since Sunday (Yeley was swapped in for Reed Sorenson at the last minute, Sorenson taking over as the #77’s spotter). Both 31st-place Corey LaJoie in the #32 Keen Parts “Thank a Hero” Ford and 38th-place B.J. McLeod in the #78 Christensen Arms Chevrolet were docked for multiple inspection failures. McLeod’s particular penalty warranted a pass-through after the green flag. Last to join them was 13th-place Erik Jones, whose team had made unapproved adjustments to the #20 DeWalt Toyota after inspection.

Persistent rain forced the field to run under caution for several laps, and even run single-file to dry one of the grooves. Only after the field doubled-up for the one to go signal did the five penalized drivers drop to the rear. Jones dropped back on the inside line as the field headed down the frontstretch, putting him in front of McLeod on the inside line. Jones then swapped spots with the car in front of him, the #00 Good Greek Movers Chevrolet, so the two cars in front of the trailing McLeod were Houff and Gaulding. McLeod looked to have a better run than Sunday, where he pulled off track after 13 laps due to engine woes. In addition to engine repairs, the driver radioed thanks to his crew for replacing the steering box.

When the race started, McLeod’s crew told him to pull the #78 to the apron in Turn 3 and make his trip down pit road. The driver finished his pass-through and slotted in just behind the 38th-place car, putting him exactly one lap down. As he came up to speed, the caution fell for the night’s first incident on Lap 4. Involved was John Hunter Nemechek, who brought the same #38 SCAG Ford with which he earned a career-best 8th on Sunday. This time, the car snapped loose in Turn 3 and hit the wall with the left-rear. As McLeod earned the Lucky Dog, Nemechek immediately took over last place, and lost a lap of his own.

Nemechek was advised by his crew that his car would “be a handful” as the rear spoiler was damaged in the impact. The crew also struggled to seal up the damaged rear decklid, which also made things more difficult for the gas man to refuel the car. Still, Nemechek cleared the “Crash Clock” on Lap 9, and prepared for further repairs on the Lap 25 competition caution. Unfortunately, Nemechek again spun on Lap 12, and damaged the rear clip further by backing into the backstretch wall. In those four laps since the restart, he’d already passed three cars, including Gaulding and Houff. Under caution, Nemechek’s team put spring rubbers behind both rear wheels, made quick repairs, and brought him back onto the track, two laps down. He again cleared the “Crash Clock,” and was still last under the competition caution, when he got one lap back.

Under the caution, Nemechek got another set of fresh tires in an attempt to keep from losing more laps to the leaders. He was warned he would likely have to run scuffs near the end of the race. The new tires allowed Nemechek to pass McLeod on the track on Lap 38 as the driver continued to contend with radio issues. Nemechek once again fell two laps down on Lap 48, two circuits after McLeod lost his first. Clint Bowyer caught Nemechek down the backstretch with three to go in Stage 1, putting the #38 a third lap back. At the time, the supports holding the left-rear had failed, causing the quarter-panel to flap behind him. A piece of this panel was removed under the ensuing stage caution.

Preece didn’t enter the last-place battle until just after the Lap 69 restart, when his #37 erupted in smoke heading into Turn 3 and pulled out of line. At the time, he was still among the leaders. Preece pulled down pit road under green – the caution wouldn’t fall until Michael McDowell and Chris Buescher tangled on Lap 73. On that same lap, Preece took over last place from the damaged Nemechek. On pit road, the JTG-Daugherty team had looked under Preece’s hood, then pushed him behind the wall. A crew member was heard to say “I’ll definitely see you on Sunday” before the radio went silent. It was not until Lap 75 that NASCAR Officials reported Preece was in the garage with “mechanical” issues, and not until Lap 89 that officials declared him out with engine woes.

While McLeod and Nemechek remained the final two cars running for much of the race, the positions changed in the final moments before rain stopped the event 20 laps short of the advertised distance. Taking 38th was a furious Chase Elliott, whose #9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet led 28 laps and was racing Kyle Busch for 2nd in the final laps when Busch inexplicably came up into him on the frontstretch, hooking the #9 head-on into the inside wall. Elliott was apparently unhurt as he climbed from his car and gave the middle finger to Busch's passing Toyota. After the race, Busch apologized for the wreck, saying it was a mistake and not intentional.

The ensuing seven-lap caution lengthened by rain was just one lap enough to drop Elliott behind Brennan Poole, who himself fell out short of the finish due to transmission issues. Poole received his first real television time of the season when the Premium Motorsports / Rick Ware Racing crew used pit strategy to keep his #15 Spartan Go Chevrolet among the leaders. Poole led Lap 182 during caution flag pit stops and held 4th for the Lap 188 restart. He then dropped back after the green, making contact with Kyle Busch as he pulled into the high lane exiting Turn 2. He dropped out of the Top 10 three laps later, and was outside the Top 20 after a round of caution flag pit stops on Lap 196. The mechanical issue arose around this time, dropping Poole to 37th.

McLeod and Nemechek completed the Bottom Five, both of them on the same lap, each six circuits down.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked only the third time car #37 finished last in a Cup Series race at Darlington. The last time it happened was on April 12, 1981, when Mike Alexander’s #37 Rogers Auto Leasing Buick lost an engine after 9 laps of the CRC Chemicals Rebel 500. The other time was September 7, 1970, when Dr. Don Tarr’s #37 Coca-Cola / Biscayne Dodge 1969 Dodge crashed after 11 laps of the Southern 500.
*Preece is also the fifth driver to finish last at Darlington after starting in the first spot (he did not win the pole due to the field inversion from Sunday’s race). The last time it happened was on May 10, 2008, when Greg Biffle’s #16 3M Ford lost an engine after 234 laps of the Dodge Challenger 500. The 95 laps Biffle led that night were the most by a NASCAR last-place finisher before the current rule change allowing for post-race disqualifications.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
39) #37-Ryan Preece / 69 laps / engine
38) #9-Chase Elliott / 200 laps / crash / led 28 laps
37) #15-Brennan Poole / 201 laps / transmission / led 1 lap
36) #78-B.J. McLeod / 202 laps / running
35) #38-John Hunter Nemechek / 202 laps / running

2020 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) JTG-Daugherty Racing, Motorsports Business Management (2)
2nd) Hendrick Motorsports, Leavine Family Racing (1)

2020 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet, Toyota (3)

2020 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP