PREVIEW: This week’s entry lists feature a new Truck Series team and several threats for a superspeedway upset

Cram Enterprises is the newest addition to the Truck Series field.
RENDER: Ryan Pistana Designs, posted by @dawsoncram

Friday, August 28, 2020

XFINITY Race 22 of 33

Wawa 250 Powered by Coca-Cola

2019 Last-Place Finisher (July): A.J. Allmendinger

ENTRY LIST

There are 37 drivers entered for 40 spots, one driver more than last week’s double-header in Dover.

RETURNING: #16-Kaulig Racing

A.J. Allmendinger returns to the site of his disqualification last July and his DNQ this past February having finished no worse than 10th in all seven of his starts this year. He looks for redemption after finishing 4th in his most recent start on Daytona’s infield road course.

DRIVER SWAP: #36-DGM Racing

DRIVER CHANGE: #90-DGM Racing

Caesar Bacarella makes his fifth start of 2020 and first since Talladega, where he ran a season-best 17th. He will again drive Mario Gosselin’s #90 Chevrolet, bumping Alex Labbe back to the #36 in place of Korbin Forrister, who isn’t entered after his return to the series last weekend.

DRIVER CHANGE: #47-Mike Harmon Racing

DRIVER CHANGE: #74-Mike Harmon Racing

While both Kyle Weatherman and Bayley Currey have enjoyed solid seasons this year with the Harmon team, neither will run this weekend in Daytona. Tim Viens will take Weatherman’s place in the #47 Thin Blue Line USA Chevrolet, a car he was erroneously reported to be driving in February when Joe Nemechek was behind the wheel. Team owner Mike Harmon will return to his #74 in place of Currey for just his third start of the year, all of them on superspeedways. Harmon ran a season-best 16th here in February.

DRIVER SWAP: #61-Motorsports Business Maangement

DRIVER CHANGE: #66-Motorsports Business Management

Drawing the final starting spot for Friday’s race is John Jackson, who returns to the #66 Jani-King Toyota in place of Timmy Hill, who moves back to the #61 in place of Stephen Leicht, who isn’t entered this weekend. This will be just the second start of the year for Jackson, who finished last with overheating issues in this year’s Talladega race. Timmy Hill will certainly be one to watch after he finished a career-best 3rd in February’s Daytona opener and ran well in this race last year before crash damage left him 20th.

DRIVER CHANGE: #99-B.J. McLeod Motorsports

Joey Gase makes just his second XFINITY start of 2020 and first since Las Vegas, where he ran 19th for RSS Racing. This time, he takes the controls of B.J. McLeod’s #99 in place of Stefan Parsons, who ran 26th and 28th in the twin rounds at Dover. EFX Corporation and Eternal Fan will back Gase’s Toyota.

DRIVER CHANGE: #07-SS-Green Light Racing

Two months ago at Talladega, Gray Gaulding finished 8th with SS-Green Light Racing’s #07 team, harkening back to his strong runs in 2019 capped by his runner-up performance at the same track. This weekend, he returns once more, taking the place of David Starr, who ran 27th and 20th at Dover.

CUP INVADERS: None

Saturday, August 29, 2020

CUP Race 26 of 36

Regular Season Finale

Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona

2019 Last-Place Finisher (July): Daniel Suarez

ENTRY LIST

There are 40 drivers entered for the Cup Series’ regular-season cutoff event, marking the third-straight full field in 2020 and the 15th in 26 races this year.

DRIVER CHANGE: #7-Tommy Baldwin Racing

DRIVER CHANGE: #51-Rick Ware Racing

DRIVER CHANGE: #53-Rick Ware Racing

It’s a dizzying series of driver swaps at Rick Ware Racing, where two of their teams, plus leasing affiliate Tommy Baldwin Racing, will trade lineups. James Davison returns from his unfortunate weekend in the Indianapolis 500 to tackle the Daytona high banks, taking the place of Joey Gase in the #51 Signing Day Ford. Gase will drive the #53 in place of Josh Bilicki, putting Gase in both Daytona races this weekend. Bilicki goes to the Baldwin #7 Ariens Chevrolet, taking the place of Garrett Smithley, who isn’t entered on the Cup side this weekend.

RETURNING: #62-Beard Motorsports

Brendan Gaughan returns after finishing last on the Daytona infield road course, and will roll off from the 40th spot on Saturday. This will mark Gaughan’s penultimate NASCAR start before he calls it a career this fall in Talladega.

DRIVER CHANGE: #77-Spire Motorsports

Ross Chastain will return to the #77 this week while defending race winner Justin Haley, who ran this car last year, isn't in the field. Reed Sorenson ran this car in both Dover races last week, and had been entered until the driver change was revealed late this week. Also revealed was Moose Fraternity as sponsor.

MISSING: #78-B.J. McLeod Motorsports

B.J. McLeod will focus exclusively on his XFINITY Series run with JD Motorsports, and has not brought his #78 Chevrolet to this weekend’s Cup Series field. McLeod finished 38th last Saturday in Dover, then improved to a solid 31st in the Sunday round – the third-best finish for his fledgling Cup effort in 2020.

Sunday, August 30, 2020

TRUCKS Race 14 of 23

CarShield 200 Presented by CK Power at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway

2019 Last-Place Finisher (June): Greg Rayl

ENTRY LIST

There are 34 drivers entered for 40 spots, down one entry from last week’s Dover event.

WITHDREW: #7-All Out Motorsports

The #7 team wasn’t entered last week in Dover, where their driver Korbin Forrister made a surprising return the XFINITY Series with DGM Racing for the weekend. The team had been entered without Forrister or any other driver listed behind the wheel, but the team then withdrew by Tuesday. Forrister is likewise not entered in the XFINITY race in Daytona.

MISSING: #28-FDNY Racing

Bryan Dauzat is also not entered in Gateway after the Jim Rosenblum effort withdrew prior to last week’s round in Dover.

RETURNING: #30-On Point Motorsports

Danny Bohn turned heads last fall with an 8th-place finish in his series debut at Martinsville, but had yet to make a single Truck Series start in 2020. That changes this weekend as North American Motor Car sponsors his return to the #30 team. This also marks a return of the On Point team after they didn’t enter the Dover race following Scott Lagasse, Jr.’s surprising season-best 9th-place finish on the Daytona infield road course.

NEW TEAM: #41-Cram Enterprises

MISSING: #55-Long Motorsports

Dawson Cram’s big news broke on Tuesday when he revealed he would co-own his new Truck Series entry, the #41 Chevrolet, fielded under his family’s Cram Enterprises. Magnum Contracting, Inc. will sponsor the hood of Cram’s white-and-blue machine. Boyd Long, who had Cram drive for him part-time through their final start together at Dover, has not entered the #55 this week following their 25th-place performance on the “Monster Mile.”

DRIVER CHANGE: #44-Niece Motorsports

Natalie Decker is back in place of Bayley Currey, who will be running neither the XFINITY race in Daytona nor the Truck Series race in Gateway. Currey ran 18th in Dover.

DRIVER CHANGE: #49-CMI Motorsports

DRIVER SWAP: #56-Hill Motorsports

Roger Reuse gives it another shot after finishing last without starting the Daytona road course, taking the place of Tyler Hill in Ray Ciccarelli’s #49. Tyler Hill will also take the controls of his family’s #56 while brother Timmy pulls double-duty in Daytona. Hair Club sponsors Tyler’s effort.

MISSING: #75-Henderson Motorsports

Parker Kligerman is not entered after a frustrating engine failure in Dover left him 34th last Friday.

MISSING: #83-CMI Motorsports

The second Ciccarelli truck is likewise not entered after Tim Viens finished 31st with it in Dover. Viens will instead run the XFINITY race for Mike Harmon (see above) while Ciccarelli will not race on Sunday.

DRIVER CHANGE: #00-Reaume Brothers Racing

While J.J. Yeley elected to run for Truck Series points prior to Dover, he will not run Sunday’s race in Gateway as he focuses on his Cup ride with Rick Ware Racing. Taking Yeley’s place is Kyle Donahue, whose brother Kevin ran for the Reaume team earlier this summer. Sunday marks Kevin’s first start since 2018, when he ran 22nd for the late Mike Mittler at Martinsville.

TODAY IN LASTCAR HISTORY (August 27, 1983): Johnny McFadden, who would later take the 1992 LASTCAR Cup Series Championship driving a second car for Jimmy Means, scored his first Cup Series last-place finish at Bristol when his #45 McFadden Racing Buick fell out with brake issues after 44 laps of the Busch 500. 

CUP: A frustrating day for Rick Ware Racing ends against the inside wall at Dover

PHOTO: @JoeyGaseRacing

Joey Gase picked up the 7th last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career in Sunday’s Drydene 311 Race 2 at the Dover International Speedway when his #51 Race For Relief / Gift of Life Donor Program Ford was involved in a multi-car accident after 4 of 311 laps.

The finish, which came in Gase’s 64th series start, was his second of the year and first since the first race of the Michigan double-header, four races ago. In the Cup Series’ last-place history, it was the 28th for the #51, the 602nd from a crash, and the 702nd for Ford. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 41st for the #51, the 966th for Ford, and the 1,221st from a crash.

This past weekend promised to be one of the busiest in the history of Rick Ware Racing. On top of fielding four cars in the weekend’s two Cup Series races following their merger with Premium Motorsports, Ware would also be breaking into the IndyCar Series for the first time. On August 6 came news that Ware had partnered with Dale Coyne Racing to field an entry for James Davison in the Indianapolis 500. The primary sponsor would be Jacob Construction, a longtime backer of the Ware effort, and would field the team’s familiar #51. With 33 cars entered for as many spots, Davison didn’t have to worry about being bumped from the field, and secured the 27th starting spot with a four-lap average of 228.747mph, slowest among the Honda contingent.

Unfortunately, Sunday’s running of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” did not go according to plan. On Lap 6, while running some distance behind the field in 32nd, something catastrophic happened behind the right-front wheel. The center of the wheel appeared to fail halfway down the backstretch, and the brake rotor glowed bright red. By the time Davison stopped at the entrance to pit road, the tire had come apart, and the entire assembly had caught fire. While Davison managed to climb out of the car without serious injury, the car was totaled. And after Ed Carpenter returned to action following 14 laps of repairs for early wall contact, Davison inherited last place.

Back in Dover, the second Cup race was set to go green around the halfway point of the 500. Among the Ware contingent in the field was Joey Gase, who debuted a new scheme for the weekend. Although the original render of Gase’s ride was of a white car with matching white numbers, but by the time the car arrived, the numbers were dark blue to match the Gift of Life logo. Gase finished 35th on Saturday with the car intact, and the metric placed him 38th for Sunday’s second round of the double-header.

While Kurt Busch finished last in the Saturday race, the metric placed him 28th for Sunday, giving the last spot to B.J. McLeod in his #78 Royal Teak Chevrolet. Busch would, however, incur a tail-end penalty along with Alex Bowman after both were involved in an early crash on Saturday, sending each to backup cars. Both drivers would still start ahead of McLeod at the green as McLeod started in the last row alongside Garrett Smithley in the #7 Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet. Smithley was sent to the rear for an engine change.

Gase towed behind the wall.
PHOTO: Matthew Pencek, @mattpencektv

At the green flag, McLeod drew ahead of Smithley and began to race Timmy Hill in the #66 Manscaped Toyota. McLeod was last across the stripe, 6.142 seconds back of the lead, but by Lap 3 had put Smithley in last. The field remained close in the early laps with Smithley’s new engine keeping him within 9.89 seconds of the lead on Lap 4. By then, Gase slipped back to the 39th spot, into the clutches of both Smithley and Hill. But coming off the fourth corner, Smithley made contact with Gase while Hill checked-up. Gase backed into the outside wall, then nosed into the inside barrier with the right-front. Smithley stopped on the apron of the frontstretch, but managed to avoid serious contact.

The incident between Smithley and Gase occurred just a moment after the leaders also found trouble. Joey Logano spun Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.’s #47 Kroger Chevrolet off Turn 4 and slammed the inside wall with the right-rear. Because of a strong 10th-place run in Saturday’s race, Stenhouse had taken the green in 11th, and several drivers checked-up and made contact. The 16th-place Chase Elliott rear-ended Kyle Busch’s #18 Interstate Batteries Toyota. While Busch had slight damage to the rear bumper, Elliott’s #9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet was pushed in significantly.

While Elliott made it to pit road with the rest of those involved, Gase’s car was towed behind the wall, out of the race. The #51 crew then set to work figuring out what to do with the four sets of sticker tires they had on hand. Elliott then pulled behind the wall soon after, done for the day with his own crash damage. All the other damaged cars continued on, including Stenhouse, who cleared the “Crash Clock,” then pulled behind the wall for further repairs on Lap 20. That same time by, Elliott was declared out by NASCAR Officials. It wasn’t until Lap 49 that NASCAR did the same for Gase.

With that, Rick Ware Racing set two unfortunate last-place records. It was the first time a single team finished last in a Cup Series race run on the same day as the Indianapolis 500. It also marked the first time the car number that finished last in the Indianapolis 500 also finished last in a Cup Series race held the same day (the Coca-Cola 600 or otherwise).

Taking the 38th spot was J.J. Yeley in the #27 Thriv5 Ford, which fell off the pace on Lap 88, then spent an extended stay behind the wall with a broken shock. Yeley returned to action with the shock replaced, but ultimately fell out after completing just 110 laps. Stenhouse’s damaged car returned to the track around Lap 101 after some significant work under the car by the JTG-Daugherty crew. Running 88 laps down at the time, Stenhouse ultimately turned 215 laps, but advanced no further than 37th. Timmy Hill rounded out the Bottom Five, completing his five-race sweep of running every race during the busy Dover weekend.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This marked the first last-place finish for the #51 in a Cup Series race at Dover.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

40) #51-Joey Gase / 4 laps / crash

39) #9-Chase Elliott / 6 laps / crash

38) #27-J.J. Yeley / 110 laps / handling

37) #47-Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. / 215 laps / running

36) #66-Timmy Hill / 252 laps / engine

2020 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) JTG-Daugherty Racing (6)

2nd) Motorsports Business Management, Rick Ware Racing (3)

3rd) Chip Ganassi Racing, Hendrick Motorsports, Penske Racing (2)

4th) Beard Motorsports, B.J. McLeod Motorsports, Front Row Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, Leavine Family Racing, StarCom Racing, Tommy Baldwin Racing (1)

2020 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet (16)

2nd) Toyota (5)

3rd) Ford (4)

2020 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

XFINITY: Vinnie Miller’s early charge halted after tangle with Earnhardt at Dover

SCREENCAP: @NASCARONFOX

Vinnie Miller picked up the 2nd last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career in the Drydene 200 Race 2 at the Dover International Speedway when his #78 GlassSkinz Chevrolet was involved in a two-car accident after 11 of 200 laps.

The finish, which came in Miller’s 87th series start, was his first of the season and first since November 17, 2018 at Homestead, 54 races ago. In the XFINITY Series’ last-place history, it was the 7th for the #78, the 334th from a crash, and the 553rd for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 36th for the #78, the 1,220th from a crash, and the 1,736th for Chevrolet.

Following point finishes of 27th and 23rd in his first two full-time XFINITY seasons the last two years, Miller has run all but one race in the series this year, excepting only the Daytona infield road course just last week, where road course competitors Scott Heckert and Josh Bilicki joined teammate Matt Mills at the B.J. McLeod Motorsports effort. Miller enjoyed a solid start to the year, finishing 14th in the Daytona opener, 15th two rounds later in Fontana, and a season-best 12th in the seventh round in Bristol. But coming into Dover, he’d scored just one top-twenty finish since.

At Dover, Miller welcomed his first new primary sponsor since the start of the season as GlassSkinz.com backed his #78 for both races in Dover. The GlassSkinz company sells stylish rear window skins for current-model sports cars, including the production version of the Camaro like the one his #78 was modeled after. After finishing 28th, four laps down, in Saturday’s first round of the double-header, Miller would start 29th in the Sunday race.

Miller would also incur a tail-end penalty for unapproved adjustments, which would also drop to the rear 18th-place Alex Labbe in the #90 Prolon / VRVictoriaVille.com Chevrolet and Jeffrey Earnhardt in the #0 Drydene Chevrolet. Daniel Hemric, set to start 9th, would drop to the back after taking the place of Saturday’s driver Jeb Burton along with his sponsor in the #8 Poppy Bank Chevrolet while 6th-place Chase Briscoe in the #98 Highpoint.com Ford was docked for running the only backup car.

These penalized drivers shuffled the lineup for the tail end of the field, where Saturday’s last-place finisher Timmy Hill was set to start 36th in the #66 Jani-King Toyota. Not dropping to the rear was 5th-place Anthony Alfredo, who discovered a power steering issue during the pace laps on the #21 ADS / Footing First Chevrolet. 

On Lap 4, Miller climbed to 32nd, dropping Korbin Forrister to last in the #36 Nursing Home Heroes Chevrolet. On Lap 7, Miller climbed to 30th and was reeling in 29th-place Jeffrey Earnhardt. Two laps later, he completed the pass, but Earnhardt continued to contest the position. On Lap 11, the two were side-by-side off the second corner when Miller crossed Earnhardt’s nose, slamming the #78 hard into the outside wall. Miller rolled down the backstretch with heavy right-front damage before the right-front tire failed, putting him into the Turn 3 wall. The caution fell for the accident as Miller reached the stripe, debris from his fender still in Turn 3. He pulled behind the wall, done for the day. Miller promptly took last from teammate Matt Mills, whose J.F. Electric Chevrolet was still on the lead lap in last place on Lap 10.

The 35th spot fell to Kyle Weatherman, who cited suspension issues on the #47 Thin Blue Line USA Chevrolet. As of this writing, the Mike Harmon Racing team is still trying to recover the truck, hauler, and Weatherman’s road course car that were stolen from a parking lot following last week’s race in Daytona. With the help of several partners, the initial $5,000 reward has increased to $20,100. Bayley Currey, Weatherman’s teammate in the #74 Chevrolet, finished 33rd with engine trouble.

Timmy Hill took 34th, though he nearly returned to the track after Jeffrey Earnhardt’s damaged car hit the wall when they were in the garage. As Earnhardt kept rolling, the Motorsports Business Management crew elected to pull out of the race. Completing the Bottom Five was Korbin Forrister, who dropped out with brake issues after briefly holding last place in the early laps.

Coming home an impressive 10th was Brett Moffitt in Our Motorsports’ #02 Robert B. Our, Inc. Chevrolet. Moffitt, who ran a “throwback” scheme honoring Jimmie Johnson and his “red vest” Lowe’s paint job, inherited the pole after the field inversion from Saturday. He led the opening 24 laps, then once more, appropriately, on Lap 48. These were the first laps led by the #02 this season, and was Moffitt’s fifth top-ten run in 2020.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This marked the first XFINITY last-place finish for the #78 since September 28, 2019, when J.J. Yeley’s run in the BringYourBible.org Toyota ended after 5 laps with a crash during the Drive for the Cure 250 on the Charlotte “Roval.”

*The number hadn’t finished last in an XFINITY race at Dover since May 30, 1998, when Loy Allen, Jr. scored his first series last-place finish due to rear end trouble on his Mark III Financial Chevrolet after 18 laps of the MBNA Platinum 200. This also happened to be the first last-place run for the #78 in series history.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

36) #78-Vinnie Miller / 11 laps / crash

35) #47-Kyle Weatherman / 23 laps / suspension

34) #66-Timmy Hill / 59 laps / overheating

33) #74-Bayley Currey / 106 laps / engine

32) #36-Korbin Forrister / 167 laps / brakes

2020 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Motorsports Business Management (5)

2nd) Joe Gibbs Racing (3)

3rd) JD Motorsports, Jimmy Means Racing, Mike Harmon Racing, Shepherd Racing Ventures (2)

4th) B.J. McLeod Motorsports, Jeremy Clements Racing, JR Motorsports, Kaulig Racing, SS-Green Light Racing (1)

2020 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet (13)

2nd) Toyota (8)

2020 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

CUP: Early contact hands Kurt Busch first last-place finish of the season

SCREENSHOT: NBC Sports

Kurt Busch picked up the 7th last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career in the Drydene 311 Race 1 at the Dover International Speedway when his #1 Gearwrench Chevrolet was involved in a multi-car accident after 6 of 311 laps.

The finish, which came in Busch’s 708th series start, was his first of the season and first since September 15, 2019 at Las Vegas, 33 races ago. In the Cup Series’ last-place history, it was the 36th for the #1, the 602nd from a crash, and the 792nd for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 66th for the #1, the 1,219th from a crash, and the 1,735th for Chevrolet.

Coming into Dover, the site of his Cup Series debut in the fall of 2000, Kurt Busch had been a model of consistency. Through still without a win since last summer at Kentucky, he’d finished no worse than 18th since the season’s second race of the year in Las Vegas, locking him in a tight points battle with his brother Kyle. In all, he’d scored four top-five finishes and 14 Top Tens, earning an average finish of 11.4. His season-best runs were a pair of 3rd-place finishes back in the spring, both at Fontana and the Sunday round in Darlington. But while the Ganassi team had won the most recent Cup race at Dover last fall with Kyle Larson, Busch hadn’t taken the checkered flag in a Cup race there since 2011, when he drove for Team Penske.

Busch drew the 9th starting spot, and carried sponsorship from Gearwrench for the first time since Homestead.

Drawing the 40th and final starting spot was B.J. McLeod, who brought to the Cup Series his leased Chevrolet from Rick Ware Racing for the first time since Kansas. This time, he drove an all-black car with sponsorship from Royal Teak, a frequent backer of Jay Robinson’s team before the Premium Motorsports merger with Rick Ware Racing. “Keep him safe,” said the crew, “bring this thing back in one piece, and tomorrow we'll get a little more grip.” Dropping to the rear was another Ware / Premium entry, the #15 Remember Everyone Deployed Chevrolet of Brennan Poole. Poole was slated to start 30th, but dropped back alongside McLeod.

When the race started, both McLeod and Poole made quick work of 39th-place starter Garrett Smithley in the #7 Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet. Smithley incurred a pass-through penalty for an impound rule violation, requiring him to serve the penalty after taking the green. Smithley lost a lap during the stop and was back up to speed on Lap 3. Meanwhile, McLeod had climbed to 36th, passing both Joey Gase in the #51 Race For Relief / Gift of Life Donor Program Ford and Quin Houff in a Harry Gant “throwback” paint scheme on his #00 Eagle Rock Wealth Chevrolet.

Busch, meanwhile, had fallen into the clutches of 13th-place starter Erik Jones in the #20 DeWalt Atomic Toyota. As the two came off the second corner, Jones looked to the inside, then made light contact with Busch’s left-rear, immediately hooking the #1 into the inside wall. Busch made hard contact with the left-front corner. Jones also suffered damage in the incident after he was immediately rear-ended by the #88 Acronis Chevrolet of Alex Bowman. All three made it to pit road.

“It’s gonna have to be cut off,” said Busch, who also reported he lost oil pressure. “It hit way too hard not to be.” By Lap 8, Busch had lost two laps, and took last from Smithley. “10-4, it’s done,” said someone on Busch’s crew. The team debated about whether to push the car or get a wrecker. It wasn’t until around Lap 12 that Busch was able to be pushed to the infield, at one point wondering if they would have to wait until a later caution. As they did, the team said they gave Jones “just enough room, but he just barely clipped us.”

Finishing 39th was Reed Sorenson, who endured a difficult afternoon in the #77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet. With six laps to go in Stage 1, his car started trailing smoke from the right-front, and he pulled to the high lane. The crew believed he was dropping oil, so he pulled to the apron. Joey Logano was among the drivers to break loose in the fluid, though the field avoided any accidents. With four to go, Sorenson pulled down pit road with an even larger plume of smoke. Sorenson remained on pit road until Lap 74, when a wrecker pushed him to the garage. The crew discovered a wiggins clamp had come loose, causing an oil leak. He returned to action on Lap 149, 86 laps down, and ran just 83 laps in total before he pulled out a second time.

Finishing 38th was B.J. McLeod, who turned 166 laps before he pulled behind the wall. Smithley took 37th with Poole rounding out the Bottom Five.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This marked the first last-place finish for the #1 in a Cup race at Dover since October 2, 2016, when Jamie McMurray had engine trouble after 192 laps.

*This was also Kurt Busch’s first last-place finish in a Cup race at Dover.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

40) #1-Kurt Busch / 6 laps / crash

39) #77-Reed Sorenson / 83 laps / handling

38) #78-B.J. McLeod / 166 laps / handling

37) #7-Garrett Smithley / 241 laps / battery

36) #15-Brennan Poole / 286 laps / rear end

2020 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) JTG-Daugherty Racing (6)

2nd) Motorsports Business Management (3)

3rd) Chip Ganassi Racing, Hendrick Motorsports, Penske Racing, Rick Ware Racing (2)

4th) Beard Motorsports, B.J. McLeod Motorsports, Front Row Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, Leavine Family Racing, StarCom Racing, Tommy Baldwin Racing (1)

2020 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet (16)

2nd) Toyota (5)

3rd) Ford (3)

2020 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

XFINITY: Timmy Hill scores first XFINITY last-place finish in nearly four years

PHOTO: Hunter Martin, Getty Images (Thank you to @ARRacing7CR)

Timmy Hill picked up the 3rd last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career in Saturday’s Drydene 200 Race 1 at the Dover International Speedway when his #66 Jani-King Toyota fell out with a vibration after 55 of 200 laps.

The finish, which came in Hill’s 202nd series start, was his first of the season and first in the series since October 15, 2016, 122 races ago. In the XFINITY Series last-place rankings, it was the 11th for the #66, the 140th for Toyota, and the 140th from a vibration. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 75th for the #66, the 214th for vibration, and the 342nd for Toyota.

Dover proved to be one of the most challenging weekends for Hill as he’d enter all five combined Cup, XFINITY, and Truck Series races held on three consecutive days. He’d also start the weekend as both owner and driver while competing against his brother Tyler Hill. Timmy drove his family’s #56 Chevrolet while Tyler took the place of Ray Ciccarelli in his #49 Back the Blue Chevrolet. Timmy prevailed in the race, taking 21st over Tyler in 30th.

Timmy would continue to race for Carl Long’s team Motorsports Business Management in both Cup and XFINITY. On the XFINITY side, where he hadn’t finished last since back-to-back races in 2016, he had driven all three of Long’s cars this season with a season-best 3rd in the season opener at Daytona, driving the #66, an 8th at Pocono and 14th at Bristol in the #61, and a 19th in his one-off in the #13 at the Indianapolis Grand Prix Circuit. Dover would mark his first time in the #66 XFINITY car since Charlotte in May, and he’d share sponsorship from Jani-King with teammate Stephen Leicht in the #61.

Hill drew the 36th and final starting spot, but had radio issues on pit road as the crew couldn’t hear the driver’s voice. Sitting 25th on pit road, Matt Mills also had radio trouble on the #5 J.F. Electric Chevrolet, and was about to be pushed to his pit stall before the crew raised the window net. Mills and Hill joined the field along with Korbin Forrister, whose #36 Nursing Home Heroes Chevrolet needed a push off pit road. Forrister ultimately dropped to the rear along with 33rd-place Colby Howard, whose team made unapproved adjustments to the #15 Project Hope Foundation Chevrolet. 

When the race started, Howard and Forrister were about five seconds back of the lead, but weren’t racing for last place. That spot fell to Mills, who missed the start due to additional issues on the #5. “When I turn the wheel, it keeps undoing the belts,” said Mills on Lap 3. He finally pulled onto the track on Lap 11, but was furious on the radio. According to the driver, something was dangling from the roof of the car, blocking his view of the track and touching the steering wheel, and at least one pair of vice grips was left on the floor of the cockpit. “I don't know if we're meeting minimum speed because I can't see the goddamned race track,” shouted Mills.

On Lap 23, Mills returned to pit road, but missed the garage entrance. He was behind the wall by Lap 26, when NASCAR confirmed he’d pulled alongside the infield care center. At the time, he’d completed just nine laps. He didn’t return to action until Lap 42, when he was now 34 laps down. This time, he was told not to blend into traffic, and instead run the apron as he waited for the end of Stage 1. By then, Mills also reported his tachometer had stopped working. While a pit road speeding penalty was expected, he instead incurred a tail-end penalty for the crew coming over the wall too soon on Lap 49.

Hill didn’t enter the last-place battle until Lap 60, when NASCAR reported the #66 was behind the wall with a mechanical issue. At the time, he was listed five laps down, and Mills had nearly 30 laps to close the gap. On Lap 69, NASCAR reported Hill was out with a vibration, and Mills now had just 22 laps to catch and pass him. On Lap 92, under the caution to end the second stage, Mills finally caught and passed Hill, putting the #66 in last place. Mills only gained two more spots before taking the checkers in 33rd, 39 laps down.

Taking the 35th spot was Bayley Currey, whose #74 Mutt & Jeff Porkskins Chevrolet lost fuel pressure. B.J. McLeod took 34th after his #6 Drydene Chevrolet suddenly slowed in the high lane of Turn 4 on Lap 150, then pulled into the garage area entering Turn 3. Suspension issues were the listed cause of McLeod’s issue. Rounding out the Bottom Five in front of Mills was Korbin Forrister, who finished nine laps down.

Brandon Brown finished just 14th in his #68 Jabs Construction Chevrolet, but turned heads with some pit strategy that gave him the lead on Lap 93. Brown led four laps under caution, and while Justin Allgaier took the lead on the restart, he hung on to a Top 10 spot well past Lap 127. Most critically, the run kept him 27 points ahead of 13th-place points man Jeremy Clements, who finished one spot ahead of Brown in 13th.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This marks the first last-place finish for the #66 in an XFINITY Series race at Dover.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

36) #66-Timmy Hill / 55 laps / vibration

35) #74-Bayley Currey / 92 laps / fuel pressure

34) #6-B.J. McLeod / 146 laps / suspension

33) #5-Matt Mills / 154 laps / running

32) #36-Korbin Forrister / 185 laps / running

2020 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Motorsports Business Management (5)

2nd) Joe Gibbs Racing (3)

3rd) JD Motorsports, Jimmy Means Racing, Mike Harmon Racing, Shepherd Racing Ventures (2)

4th) Jeremy Clements Racing, JR Motorsports, Kaulig Racing, SS-Green Light Racing (1)

2020 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet (12)

2nd) Toyota (8)

2020 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP