CUP: B.J. McLeod’s superspeedway car makes it just three laps around Atlanta

PHOTO: @StartAndParkCar

B.J. McLeod picked up the 5th last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career in Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway when his #78 Circle Track Warehouse Chevrolet fell out with clutch issues after 3 of 325 laps.

The finish, which came in McLeod’s 48th series start, was his first since September 1, 2019 at Darlington, 21 races ago. In the Cup Series’ last-place rankings, this was the 24th for the #78, the 42nd from clutch issues, and the 783rd for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’ s top three series, it was the 35th for the #78, the 66th for clutch issues, and the 1,715th for Chevrolet.

When NASCAR returned from its two-month hiatus in May, B.J. McLeod revealed he would be fielding a Cup Series team for the very first time. McLeod’s team B.J. McLeod Motorsports had been fielding cars in the XFINITY Series since 2016, and in their inaugural season he drove the flagship #78. He’s since worked his way into the Cup Series driving for Rick Ware Racing and run XFINITY for JD Motorsports, freeing up his now three-car XFINITY program for a series of up-and-coming drivers. Just last week at Bristol, both Vinnie Miller, now the driver of the #78, and McLeod were in position to finish in the Top 10 before taking 11th and 12th.

McLeod’s current Cup program came about following the merger between Rick Ware Racing and Premium Motorsports, which also allowed Tommy Baldwin Racing to re-enter the series for the first time in more than a year. At Darlington, McLeod would run his same #78 with sponsorship from Christensen Arms, which backed his run for Ware in this year’s Daytona 500. Unfortunately, the car slowed on the backstretch after just 13 laps, leaving him 39th with engine trouble. He then ran all but six laps in Wednesday’s 208-lap affair, finishing 36th, and improved further with a 32nd in the Coca-Cola 600. By then, he was running a Ford in place of the Chevrolet from his first two starts.

After a 35th-place run in the second Charlotte race, McLeod was running laps down in the 27th spot, a new season-best, and was just 13 laps from finishing the race under power once more. While running the low line, he was then caught by race leader Denny Hamlin, who was fending off a fast-closing Joey Logano and Chase Elliott. McLeod held his line off the second corner as Logano and Elliott threaded the needle entering Turn 3. But when Logano broke loose, Hamlin lose control and spun down the track. He collected McLeod, putting both cars hard into the inside wall. Unable to return from the damage, McLeod lost one more spot and finished 28th.

McLeod also had serious enough damage to his Ford that he couldn’t run it in Sunday’s Atlanta race, so the team was forced to run a bright red Chevrolet built for superspeedways. Circle Track Warehouse, which backed some of McLeod’s runs as well as Jimmy Means Racing’s #52 team in XFINITY, put their logo on the hood. After the random draw, the team would roll off 39th in a field of 40.

Starting last in Sunday’s race was Reed Sorenson, who was back in a Cup car for the first time since the midweek Darlington race, where J.J. Yeley was swapped into Spire Motorsports’ #77 before the start. It also marked a bookending of the field by Georgia natives as the Peachtree City driver rolled off last while Chase Elliott drew the pole.

Multiple drivers were sent to the rear, headed by 12th-place starter Kurt Busch, whose #1 Monster Energy Chevrolet failed inspection three times, meaning he’d have to serve a pass-through penalty at the start. Joining him were 25th-place Corey LaJoie in the #32 Built Bar Ford and 34th-place Garrett Smithley in the #53 Hero Box Chevrolet, who each failed twice, and 38th-place Timmy Hill in the #66 RoofClaim.com Toyota and 31st-place Cole Custer in the #41 HaasTooling.com Ford, whose teams made unapproved adjustments.

When the race started, Sorenson and Yeley remained in the final two spots before Busch served his pass-through at the end of Lap 1. Busch returned to the track one lap down, but by around Lap 6 had already climbed a spot. That occurred after McLeod pulled into the garage after four laps. On Lap 5, NASCAR Officials reported” 78 to the garage, mechanical.” On Lap 13, the #78 crew said “We are for sure done, guys,” then “Yeah, B.J. says we’re done.” Officials then confirmed this on Lap 17, reporting “78 out, clutch.”

Long green-flag runs and low attrition meant multiple drivers were several laps down before the end of Stage 1. Taking 39th was Timmy Hill, the day’s only other retiree, who fell out in the final laps with electrical issues. Last of the cars running was Joey Gase, a full 16 laps down to the leaders in the #51 Donate Life Ford. Sorenson came home two laps ahead of Gase with Yeley one lap ahead of Sorenson following a late pit stop. Kurt Busch, who briefly held last after his pass-through penalty, recovered to finish a strong 6th.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the first last-place finish for car #78 in a Cup Series race since September 10, 2018, when Martin Truex, Jr. lost the brakes on his #19 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota after 41 laps of the Big Machine Vodka 400 at Indianapolis, just six days after news broke that Furniture Row Racing would close at the end of the season.
*The number hadn’t finished last in a Cup race at Atlanta since March 9, 1998, when Gary Bradberry’s Pilot Travel Centers Ford fell out with ignition problems after 12 laps of the Primestar 500.
*A Cup Series driver hasn’t finished last at Atlanta due to clutch issues since June 13, 1965, when Wayne Smith’s #38 1965 Chevrolet fell out after 6 laps of the Dixie 400.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
40) #78-B.J. McLeod / 3 laps / clutch
39) #66-Timmy Hill / 259 laps / electrical
38) #51-Joey Gase / 308 laps / running
37) #7-Reed Sorenson / 310 laps / running
36) #77-J.J. Yeley / 311 laps / running

2020 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Hendrick Motorsports, JTG-Daugherty Racing, Motorsports Business Management (2)
2nd) B.J. McLeod Motorsports, Leavine Family Racing, Penske Racing, Rick Ware Racing (1)

2020 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (6)
2nd) Toyota (3)
3rd) Ford (1)

2020 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

TRUCKS: Johnny Sauter disqualified at Atlanta for post-race tire issue

PHOTO: NASCAR

Johnny Sauter picked up the 3rd last-place finish of his NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series in Saturday’s Vet Tix / Camping World 200 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway when his #13 Vivitar / Altec Lansing Ford finished 17th, then was disqualified after completing all 135 laps.

The finish, which came in Sauter’s 270th series start, was his first of the season and first since April 2, 2016 at Martinsville, 93 races ago. In the Truck Series’ last-place history, it was the 2nd by disqualification, the 6th for the #13, and the 106th for Ford. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 32nd for the #13, the 36th by disqualification, and the 960th for Ford.

Bryan Dauzat picked up the 2nd last-place finish of his NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series in Saturday’s Vet Tix / Camping World 200 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway when his #28 FDNY Racing Chevrolet fell out with crash damage after 4 of 136 laps.

The finish, which came in Dauzat’s 10th series start, was his first of the season and first since Bristol on August 21, 2014, 128 races ago. In the Truck Series’ last-place history, it was the 5th for the #28, the 157th from a crash, and the 386th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 42nd for the #28, the 1,208th from a crash, and the 1,713th for Chevrolet.

In 2016, Sauter’s most recent last-place finish at Martinsville was followed by a win there in the fall race, paving the way to his first series title with GMS Racing. It was his first of three consecutive seasons in the Championship Four. In 2017, he came one spot short to current Cup Series rookie Christopher Bell, then in 2018 slipped to 12th behind race and title winner Brett Moffitt. Across all three seasons, Sauter won 13 races and finished in the Top 10 in 55 of 69 races, a near 80% success rate. But at season’s end, Sauter was out of his ride at GMS, and it wasn’t until later he made the move back to ThorSport for 2019. He’d drive the #13 for the first time since 2012.

Last year had a promising start. He won the sixth race of the season at Dover, at which point he’d closed within four points of teammate Grant Enfinger. But he wouldn’t win the rest of the season, and gradually slipped down the rankings. His Dover win put him in the Playoffs, but the ThorSport team was wracked by engine failures during the opening laps of a critical cutoff race in Las Vegas. With a 29th-place finish that night, Sauter was eliminated from title contention, ending his streak in the Championship Four.

During this young season, Sauter has returned to form. He finished 7th the night Enfinger took the checkers in Daytona, then won the pole in Las Vegas and ran runner-up to Cup invader Kyle Busch. Another 7th in the series return just last week in Charlotte kept him 2nd in the point standings – just where he’d ranked a year earlier – though now tied with Zane Smith at 16 markers behind series leader Austin Hill. He’d hoped to keep things headed the right direction in Atlanta, where he drew the 10th starting spot in his #13 Ford.

He nearly went back-to-back the next year, scoring four wins and matching his season total in Top Tens, but was edged by current Cup Series rookie contender Christopher Bell.

Drawing the 40th spot was Clay Greenfield in the #68 Rackley Roofing Toyota. During the pace laps, he was frequently reminded by crew chief Jeff Hammond to take care of his tires on the aging Atlanta surface. Greenfield again ran the “Tennessee Strong” paint scheme he ran at Charlotte, and had planned to run when this race was to be held in March. No drivers incurred pre-race penalties or voluntarily dropped to the rear, so Greenfield remained alongside 39th-place starter Bayley Currey in CMI Motorsports’ #49 Chevrolet.

When the green flag dropped, Currey got the jump on Greenfield to keep the #68 in 40th. By the end of Lap 1, both had passed Bryan Dauzat, who was in last place and trailing by open track at the start of Lap 2. Then, coming off the second corner, Dauzat spun to the inside of the track and stalled on the apron of the backstretch. While it didn’t appear his truck suffered serious damage, at least one tire was flat and the truck was stalled. Crew gave him a push and he made it to pit road. By then, he was three laps down.

As the crew underwent repairs, the team made further adjustments, saying the truck was bottoming out hard, just as it had in Charlotte. The team made adjustments in both the right-front and left-front before sending him back out on Lap 7, six laps in arrears. It was unclear whether he’d cleared the “Crash Clock,” but he was able to continue. Unfortunately, he sped off pit road, and NASCAR called him in for a pass-through. Moments after being lapped a seventh time, Dauzat barely avoided getting run over as he slowed to serve his penalty. “This is a joke every week,” said someone on the crew, understandably frustrated.

On Lap 10, Dauzat was back underway, and the team hoped to make it to the next scheduled caution. Unfortunately, on Lap 13, they drew the yellow instead. This time in heavy traffic, Dauzat spun out of the low lane in Turn 2. Jeb Burton, running behind him in the #44 State Water Heaters Chevrolet, suffered slight damage to his left-front as the two made contact. This time, Dauzat made contact with the inside wall. The driver said he cut another tire. Someone on the crew said, “Put a tire on it before I park this thing.” Dauzat would not return to the race. Although it was reported his day ended under the “Damaged Vehicle Policy,” the crash was his listed reason out rather than “DVP.”

The 2020 season marks the 60-year-old Dauzat’s fifth as a part-time competitor in the Truck Series. He’s driven for longtime car owner Jim Rosenblum, whose FDNY Racing team has been in the series since the very beginning, most often attempting the races at Daytona, Charlotte, and Pocono. In addition to their runs this year, Rosenblum has posted several pictures from the team’s history on his Facebook page, featuring the many patriotic schemes the team has run on their Chevrolets.

Carrying additional sponsorship from American Genomics and O.B. Builders, Dauzat’s red #28 qualified a strong 22nd for this year’s opener at Daytona. He was still on the lead lap when his race ended on Lap 66. During a multi-truck pileup in Turn 2, Dauzat pulled to the apron, where he rear-ended Tate Fogleman’s burning #02 Solid Rock Carriers Chevrolet. Both drivers were uninjured. Driver and team didn’t attempt the following round in Las Vegas, but ironically benefitted from the suspension of the season. They rebuilt the Daytona truck and had it ready at Charlotte, where the team’s rank in Owner Points secured them into the now 40-truck fields. While Dauzat ran last for much of the night and had issues with something dragging under his truck, he managed to finish under power in 34th, 14 laps down.

As at Charlotte, the FDNY team had planned to run the full race, as evidenced by the sets of tires the team now had to deal with. Jimmy Means bought all but one set for his XFINITY team that afternoon, and another set then went to another team. Bob Pockrass clarified the rule, pointing out that teams can sell their tires to teams in any of the other top three series, so long as they have the “same code and similar date code and the series director approves.”

Finishing 39th was T.J. Bell, who lost a lot of time when his truck kept losing power. Multiple laps down on Lap 75, the team thought he was simply out of fuel. In the end, he completed just 53 laps before retiring with a burned clutch. Jordan Anderson’s #3 Capital City / Bommarito.com Chevrolet took 38th, out with crash damage after 95 laps. It was Anderson who was pulling to the outside when Kyle Busch attempted to squeeze past in Turn 4, putting Busch’s #51 Cessna Toyota into the outside wall.

Rounding out the Bottom Five were Jennifer Jo Cobb in the #10 Newnan Peachtree Dodge Chevrolet and the #97 Teletrac Navman Chevrolet of Jesse Little, both flagged in the late stages for not meeting minimum speed. Cobb, who was warned on Lap 93, was posted on Lap 110 and parked on Lap 120. Her team told her to stay in her pit stall, then go to the garage with two to go. Little managed to clear his infraction and finished under power.

But then, Little was then bumped out of the Bottom Five when Johnny Sauter was disqualified just after 6 P.M. Eastern. The reason listed was a “race tire violation.” According to series director Brad Moran, the #13 team was in violation of treating or modifying one of the tires. The issue was discovered during the “dunk tank” test, which was done with one randomly picked Toyota, Chevrolet, and Ford team. A discovered air leak led to the penalty and disqualification, nixing Sauter’s 17th-place finish.

LASTCAR STATISTICS 
*This marked the first last-place finish for the #13 in the Truck Series since July 19, 2008, when Shelby Howard’s #13 FarmPaint.com Chevrolet – also fielded by Duke Thorson – crashed after 2 laps of the Built Ford Tough 225 Presented By Cincinnati Ford Dealers at Kentucky.
*This is also the second time in Sauter’s career that he’s been classified last by disqualification in a NASCAR national touring series race. In fact, prior to NASCAR’s re-institution of post-race DQs, it was Sauter who scored the most recent last-place finish by disqualification in the XFINITY Series. On April 16, 2005, Sauter’s #1 Fleet Pride / Yellow Dodge was docked for an oversized carburetor. Sauter’s DQ saved Tony Stewart from a last-place finish for an early crash.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
40) #13-Johnny Sauter / 136 laps / disqualified
39) #28-Bryan Dauzat / 4 laps / crash
38) #83-T.J. Bell / 53 laps / clutch
37) #3-Jordan Anderson / 95 laps / crash
36) #10-Jennifer Jo Cobb / 109 laps / too slow

2020 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Niece Motorsports, Reaume Brothers Racing, Spencer Davis Motorsports (1)

2020 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (2)
2nd) Ford, Toyota (1)

2020 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

XFINITY: Kody Vanderwal out early after smoking on the pace laps

PHOTO: @MeansRacing52

Kody Vanderwal picked up the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career in Saturday’s Echo Park 250 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway when his #52 Advanced Dairy Service Chevrolet fell out with engine trouble after 3 of 163 laps.

The finish came in Vanderwal’s fifth series start. In the XFINITY Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 21st for the #52, the 262nd from engine trouble, and the 547th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 57th for the #52, the 1,088th from engine trouble, and the 1,714th for Chevrolet.

This season marks Vanderwal’s first in NASCAR national touring series competition, having previously competed in three seasons between the former K&N Pro Series West and East. His best season between the two came in 2018, when he swept a double-header at Tucson in John Wood’s #43 Biltrite Signs / LaSalle Oil Ford. He finished seventh in the standings that year despite four DNFs in fourteen races.

Over the offseason came news that Vanderwal would make his XFINITY Series debut in the fourth round at Phoenix, taking over after J.J. Yeley ran the car in the first three races. He finished 29th in the race, still under power, though 23 laps down. He rejoined the team for last month’s return at Darlington, taking 32nd, then lost an engine early at Charlotte, placing him 35th. The following round at Bristol saw the rookie’s best run to date, when he placed 21st under the lights.

Vanderwal drew the 36th spot for Saturday’s following round in Atlanta. Earlier that day, Means had bought all but one set of tires from FDNY Racing, whose driver Bryan Dauzat was originally classified last after a pair of incidents. The other set reportedly went to JD Motorsports. Dauzat averted his first last-place finish since 2014 when Johnny Sauter was later disqualified out of 17th.

Vanderwal started next-to-last ahead of 37th-place Stephen Leicht, the last-place finisher at Darlington. He was joined at the rear by Tommy Joe Martins, who surrendered the 33rd spot on the grid due to a penalty for unapproved adjustments on the #44 Gilreath Farms Red Angus Chevrolet. With one lap to green, however, Leicht was back in the last spot, where he reported smoke coming off Vanderwal’s car. The message was relayed from the team to NASCAR officials, but the green flag still dropped as scheduled.

When the race started, Vanderwal’s spotter said “A lot of smoke coming off there, keep digging.” At the time, his #52 was still running 36th as Leicht had dropped a full 1.609 seconds back of him in last spot. The team continued to watch if the smoke was going away. Leicht apparently made an unscheduled pit stop on Lap 3 as he dropped back nearly two laps. By then, another car was smoking – this time 7th-place started Ryan Sieg in the #39 CMRroofing.com Chevrolet. First Vanderwal, then Sieg came down pit road to address their issues. Both soon went to the garage with Vanderwal classified behind Sieg. On Lap 6, Leicht passed both cars after his team told him to do so, then joined them in the garage. Sieg, meanwhile, reported he’d “ran out of steam at garage stall 12,” and the crew put the #39 on jack stands. Vanderwal was soon done for the day. Before Lap 24, Means himself tweeted they were done, and ready to start over in Homestead. UPDATE: Means confirmed he Sunday he was unable to re-sell the purchased tires to a Cup Series team for Sunday.

Sieg returned to the track, completing enough laps to get past Leicht for 35th, but not enough to catch Leicht’s teammate Chad Finchum, who suffered suspension issues on the #13 Smithbilt Homes / Carter’s Royal Dispos-All Toyota in the early laps. Timmy Hill ended up putting all three MBM cars in the Bottom Five when the alternator failed on the #61 RoofClaim.com Toyota.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the first XFINITY Series last-place finish for the #52 since July 21, 2013, when Joey Gase’s Donate Life Toyota fell out with engine trouble after 1 lap of the STP 300 at Chicagoland. Gase also gave the number its only other last-place run at Atlanta in the series, which came on September 1, 2012.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
37) #52-Kody Vanderwal / 3 laps / engine
36) #66-Stephen Leicht / 8 laps / clutch
35) #39-Ryan Sieg / 47 laps / engine
34) #13-Chad Finchum / 50 laps / suspension
33) #61-Timmy Hill / 87 laps / alternator

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

2020 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (7)
2nd) Toyota (1)

2020 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

PREVIEW: It's "take two" at Atlanta, where NASCAR hit the pause button in March

PHOTO: @KarynMarinella

Saturday, June 6, 2020 (1:00 P.M. Eastern)
TRUCKS Race 4 of 23
Vet Tix Camping World 200 at Atlanta
2019 Last-Place Finisher: Joe Nemechek

ENTRY LIST
For the second-straight race, 47 drivers were entered to attempt the 40-truck entry list. However, the lack of qualifying for races without fans in the stands has resulted in the same outcome as Charlotte. This will also not be a bounty race as it had been in March since Chase Elliott scored it in Charlotte. Elliott is still entered with the Hooters sponsorship he’d planned to run in the spring.

MISSING: #5-Wauters Motorsports
DID NOT QUALIFY: #6-Norm Benning Racing
DID NOT QUALIFY: #14-Trey Hutchens Racing
RETURNING / DID NOT QUALIFY: #17-DGR-Crosley
DID NOT QUALIFY: #34-Reaume Brothers Racing
DID NOT QUALIFY: #55-Long Motorsports
DID NOT QUALIFY: #75-Henderson Motorsports
DID NOT QUALIFY #03-Mike Affarno Motorsports
Six of the seven teams which missed the cut in Charlotte will also not run in Saturday’s Atlanta race. The only team missing from Charlotte’s cut list was the Richie Wauters #5, which was not entered after Erik Jones was cut from that race. In its place among the DNQs is the returning DGR-Crosley #17, which was slated for David Ragan to run at his home track. Ragan will join Norm Benning, Trey Hutchens, Bryant Barnhill, Dawson Cram, Parker Kligerman, and Tim Viens as the seven DNQs. All have yet to start a race so far in 2020.

DRIVER CHANGE: #33-Reaume Brothers Racing
Gray Gaulding takes the place of Jesse Iwuji, who took the blame for a controversial wreck at Charlotte that collected Brennan Poole, Tyler Ankrum, and Stewart Friesen. This will be Gaulding’s first Truck Series start since November 3, 2017, when he finished 27th for Premium Motorsports after an early electrical issue on his #15 Chevrolet.

DRIVER CHANGE: #40-Niece Motorsports
DRIVER CHANGE: #44-Niece Motorsports
Al Niece brings back the lineup originally scheduled for this race when it was scheduled in March with Ryan Truex taking the place of Garrett Smithley in the #40 and Jeb Burton replacing Natalie Decker in the #44. Plan B Sales will back Truex while State Water Heaters and Alsco will sponsor Burton. Neither Smithley nor Decker are entered.

CUP INVADERS: #8-John Hunter Nemechek, #24-Chase Elliott, #51-Kyle Busch

Saturday, June 6, 2020 (4:30 P.M. Eastern)
XFINITY Race 8 of 33
Echo Park 250 at Atlanta
2019 Last-Place Finisher: John Jackson

ENTRY LIST
There are 37 drivers entered for Saturday’s XFINITY Series race, meaning the series has yet to have a single 40-car field since the temporary field increase went into effect at Darlington, three races ago.

DRIVER CHANGE: #21-Richard Childress Racing
DRIVER SWAP: #93-RSS Racing
Anthony Alfredo returns to the #21 for his third series start and first since Darlington, replacing Myatt Snider, who returns to the #93. Snider takes the place of Jeff Green, who is not entered after a short night in “Thunder Valley.”

DRIVER SWAP: #36-DGM Racing
DRIVER SWAP: #90-DGM Racing
Alex Labbe moves back to the #90, swapping rides with Ronnie Bassett, Jr. Both drivers look to bounce back after each had a short night in Bristol, finishing 33rd and 31st, respectively.

GIVE A CALL: #74-Mike Harmon Racing
Bayley Currey looks to score his third-straight Top 20 finish for the Harmon team following a 18th at Charlotte and 20th at Bristol.

SPONSOR CHANGE: #99-B.J. McLeod Motorsports
Following his gutsy performance after missing the first 189 laps at Bristol, Mason Massey has different sponsorship as Generac and Anderson Power Services back his #99 Toyota. Gerber Collision & Glass sponsored his previous four races this season.

DRIVER CHANGE: #02-Our Motorsports
Brett Moffitt in for Patrick Emerling with the FR8 Auctions scheme originally slated for the race back in March. Moffitt finished a season-best 6th his last time out at Charlotte and has twice finished 4th in the Truck Series race at Atlanta.

DRIVER CHANGE: #07-SS-Green Light Racing
Garrett Smithley and Dream Giveaway are back in the #07 for the first time since Charlotte. Both take the place of Carson Ware, who ran a solid 22nd in his series debut at Bristol.

CUP INVADERS: None

Sunday, June 7, 2020
CUP Race 10 of 36
Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta
2019 Last-Place Finisher: Michael McDowell

ENTRY LIST
There are 40 drivers entered for as many spots in Sunday’s Cup Series race, the fourth full field in the last five races and the fifth overall this year.

DRIVER CHANGE: #7-Tommy Baldwin Racing
DRIVER SWAP: #53-Rick Ware Racing
DRIVER SWAP: #77-Spire Motorsports
J.J. Yeley moves from the #7 to the #77, taking the place of Garrett Smithley, who moves to the #53 in place of Bayley Currey, who isn’t entered. Taking Yeley’s place in the #7 is a returning Reed Sorenson, who is set to make his first Cup start since he was slated to run Wednesday at Darlington before Yeley took his place.

DRIVER CHANGE: #27-Rick Ware Racing
Josh Bilicki takes the place of Gray Gaulding in the #27, and on Wednesday revealed Bilicki's sponsor Insurance King will back his ride. Bilicki was briefly listed in the #77 on Wednesday before it was then revealed he'd run the #27 Ford.

SPONSOR UPDATE: #96-Gaunt Brothers Racing
Fresh off a strong 18th-place finish at Bristol, Daniel Suarez will carry Coca-Cola as sponsor. He will not run the Cherry Vanilla Coca-Cola paint scheme he was slated to run when this race was scheduled in March, but instead carry the hashtag #WeLoveThisPlace.

Wednesday, June 10, 2020
CUP Race 11 of 36
Blue Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville
2019 Last-Place Finisher: Cody Ware

ENTRY LIST
UPDATE: (June 8): There are 40 drivers entered for as many spots in Wednesday's first race under the lights at Martinsville. UPDATE: (June 9): Make that 39.

TEAM UPDATE: #3-Richard Childress Racing
A.J. Allmendinger, last Saturday's winner in Atlanta, will be on standby in case Austin Dillon's wife goes into labor. Allmendinger has enjoyed some of his best non-road course performances in Cup at the track, finishing 2nd there twice in 2012 and 2016.

DRIVER SWAP: #27-Rick Ware Racing
DRIVER CHANGE: #53-Rick Ware Racing
DRIVER SWAP: #77-Spire Motorsports
J.J. Yeley moves from the #77 to the #27, taking the place of Josh Bilicki, who isn't entered following his 34th-place finish in the Insurance King Ford at Atlanta. Yeley, who made his 300th Cup start on Sunday, finished 36th. In place of Yeley in the #77 is Garrett Smithley, who moves from the #53 he drove to a 35th-place run in Atlanta. This opens up the #53, which this week will be driven by David Starr. It will be Starr's 10th Cup start, his first at Martinsville, and his first in the series since November 4, 2018 at Texas, when he drove for Victor Obaika. Helluva Ranch, Richardson Service, and SANY are Starr's sponsors.

WITHDREW: #78-B.J. McLeod Motorsports
On Tuesday, B.J. McLeod withdrew from Martinsville, his first Cup race missed since NASCAR's return. His last two starts saw his season-best finish and a last-place run, including significant damage to his Bristol car.

TODAY IN LASTCAR HISTORY (June 4, 1966): Birmingham, Alabama driver Bill Latham picked up the first last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career during a 200-lap race at half-mile dirt oval, the Piedmont (South Carolina) Interstate Fairgrounds. Latham started next-to-last in the 22-car field and fell out after 7 laps when his 1964 Ford lost the engine. It was Latham’s third and final series start.

XFINITY: Mason Massey “doesn’t believe in failure,” drops Michael Annett to last in Bristol

PHOTO: @JRMotorsports

Michael Annett picked up the 4th last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career in Monday’s Cheddar’s 300 Presented by Alsco at the Bristol Motor Speedway when his #1 Pilot / Flying J Chevrolet was collected in a multi-car accident after 5 of 303 laps.

The finish, which came in Annett’s 269th series start, was his first since October 20, 2018 at Kansas, 43 races ago. In the XFINITY Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 16th for the #1, the 330th from a crash, and the 546th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 65th for the #1, the 1,207th from a crash, and the 1,713th for Chevrolet.

After a frustrating 2018, Annett has found new life with his #1 team at JR Motorsports. The turnaround began immediately, when he cruised to victory in the 2019 opener at Daytona – his first series victory in his 230th series start. He remained in Playoff contention through the penultimate round at Phoenix, where even a 9th-place finish – his 19th top-ten finish in 33 starts – wasn’t quite enough to make the Final Four.

The 2020 season has proven more difficult. Coming into this season, he ran 11th despite a last-lap wreck at Daytona and 7th at Las Vegas, he ran no better than 17th in the next three rounds before the season was suspended. He then managed just 25th in the return at Darlington before recovering for a 7th-place showing in Charlotte. He still stood 10th in the point standings, just 82 markers short of leader Chase Briscoe.

For Bristol, Annett drew the 12th starting spot for Monday’s race. As with the rest of the field, his windshield banner carried the name of a XFINITY employee - Leriqua Jackson. After a momentary delay getting strapped into the seat and his radio secured, the #1 rolled off pit road.

Drawing the 37th spot was Stephen Leicht, who returned to Motorsports Business Management’s #66 Toyota for the first time since his last-place finish in last month’s series return at Darlington. When the engines fired, however, the MBM team found they couldn’t close the window net. The team struggled to compress the roll bar padding, but couldn’t close it by the time the field started to roll. The team was instructed to pull their car to their pit stall – number seven, right next to the Joe Gibbs Racing stall for Riley Herbst’s #18. “We need to get a wrench for this bottom bar so we can get it to move,” said the frustrated Leicht crew.

Leicht managed to get rolling again and join the tail end of the field, only for another car to stall on the track. This time, it was 34th-place qualifier Mason Massey in B.J. McLeod’s #99 Gerber Collision & Glass Toyota. “Has no pedal whatsoever,” said Massey. “Can you get it in gear or anything to push-start it?” asked the crew. A truck came to give him a push start, but this failed, and he came to pit road. The crew frantically tried to get him re-started before the green flag, but missed the start of the race. On Lap 4, NASCAR Officials reported Massey had been pushed to the garage, and the team parked the car behind the hauler located near the Turn 1 portion of the infield. Moments later, the caution fell.

On Lap 6, Annett was working his way through the pack when trouble broke out in Turn 4. Ross Chastain lost a tire on his #10 Nutrien Ag Solutions Chevrolet and clipped the #22 Odyssey Battery Ford of Austin Cindric, sending Cindric backing into the outside wall. Annett caught up to the spinning Chastain and chose the high lane, trying to squeeze between the #10 and the outside wall. But the hole closed and Annett slammed into the rear of Chastain’s car, destroying his left-front and bouncing him off the wall. While Chastain and Cindric made it back to pit road, Annett stopped on the apron of Turn 1. He climbed out unhurt, but done for the night. Cindric turned just three more laps before he, too, fell out from the crash damage.

From there, the garage area filled rapidly. Jeff Green was driving the same C2 Freight Chevrolet from his strong run at Phoenix, but pulled into the garage around Lap 18. He returned to the track on Lap 29 as Leicht pulled behind the wall, then returned to the garage on Lap 32. Also struggling was Alex Labbe, whose #36 Prolon Controls Chevrolet was posted for a pass-through on Lap 29, then came into the garage a few laps later. Labbe’s teammate Ronnie Basett, Jr. pulled the #90 Bassett Gutters & More Chevrolet behind the wall with engine trouble on Lap 77, five laps after Joe Nemechek’s #47 Mutt & Jeff Porskins Chevrolet was parked under the Damaged Vehicle Policy following a tangle with Harrison Burton.

Massey's #99 car (center right) in the garage during the race.
SOURCE: @FS1, thanks to @DnfRacers

While all this was happening, Massey’s team continued to work on the #99, though there was virtually no radio communication from the team over NASCAR’s scanner. The car could be seen from FS1’s camera looking up the end of the frontstretch pits. The car was apparently on jack stands with one wheel off, the hood up, and one to two crewmen standing around it. On Lap 113, NASCAR Officials confirmed that Green, Leicht, Labbe, and Bassett were out of the race, but made no mention of Massey. Soon to join them was Patrick Emerling, whose XFINITY debut with Our Motorsports ended on Lap 142 when he was reportedly dumped by Matt Mills in Turn 3, destroying the #02 Robert B Our Co. Chevrolet.

Then, on Lap 184, NASCAR Officials reported Massey was “back in the race.” He apparently exited the garage and stopped in his pit stall as he did not complete his first lap until the 189th circuit. Back on the track with 111 laps remaining, Massey had enough time to climb to 30th position, coming just short of passing the wrecked Emerling. On Lap 195, he dropped Annett to last place. He ultimately completed all 111 of the remaining laps, and briefly was seen in the broadcast with 84 laps to go. He finished 30th, the last car to finish under power. It was a run truly befitting of Massey, whose Twitter biography says simply “I don’t believe in failure.”

By climbing out of the Bottom Ten, Massey shuffled Labbe into his first Bottom Five of the year ahead of Leicht, Green, Cindric, and Annett. Annett left the race 13th in points, 130 markers back of Briscoe’s lead.

Several other underdogs performed well under the lights at Bristol. Brandon Brown finished 7th, his third top-ten finish of the season and second in a row. He has finished worse than 13th just once all season. Jeremy Clements took 8th, just his second top-ten finish of the season and first since Fontana. Josh Williams came just one spot of matching his career-best finish from last year with a 9th-place finish, his second top-ten finish of 2020.

A.J. Allmendinger bounced back from his DNQ at Daytona and multiple issues in the race to put Kaulig Racing’s part-time team in 10th. In so doing, he edged both B.J. McLeod and Vinnie Miller, who were each briefly in 10th place during the run to the checkers. McLeod, the owner of both Miller and Massey’s car, equaled his career-best at Daytona in July of 2017. Miller charged into the Top 10 early, overcame a spin with Timmy Hill, and was briefly on the front row for a late restart. He, too, came one spot short of a career-best in the 2019 July race at Daytona.

Joe Graf, Jr.’s 13th-place finish was his new career-best, improving on a 14th last year at Richmond. Colby Howard earned his first Top 20 in just his fourth career start, taking 19th. Bayley Currey gave Mike Harmon his second straight Top 20 with a 20th-place showing, two spots under his career-best 18th-place run in Charlotte. Kody Vanderwal’s 21st-place finish was his career-best in four starts and his first finish better than 29th. And Carson Ware’s XFINITY Series debut with SS-Green Light Racing resulted in a respectable 22nd-place finish.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*Car #1 hadn’t finished last in an XFINITY Series race since August 11, 2007, when Max Papis lost the engine on his #1 Miccosukee Resorts Chevrolet after just 2 laps of the Zippo 200 at Watkins Glen.
*This marked just the second time car #1 has finished last in an XFINTIY Series race at Bristol. The only other time occurred on April 13, 1991, which proved historically significant. It was Jeff Gordon’s first last-place finish in the series, where his #1 Carolina Ford Dealers Ford lost an engine after 22 laps of the Budweiser 250. It was Gordon’s first last-place finish in a NASCAR national touring series, and his only one in the XFINITY Series.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
37) #1-Michael Annett / 5 laps / crash
36) #22-Austin Cindric / 8 laps / crash
35) #93-Jeff Green / 19 laps / ignition
34) #66-Stephen Leicht / 23 laps / suspension
33) #36-Alex Labbe / 41 laps / overheating

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

2020 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP