TRUCKS: Disappointing DQ negates Trevor Bayne’s sterling 5th-place run in Bristol

PHOTO: @NASCAR_Trucks

Trevor Bayne picked up the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series career in Thursday’s UNOH 200 Presented by Ohio Logistics at the Bristol Motor Speedway when his #45 Proceller8 Chevrolet finished 5th, but was disqualified after completing all 200 laps.

The finish came in Bayne’s 3rd series start. In the Truck Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 3rd disqualification, the 4th for the #45, and the 394th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 38th for the #45, the 39th by disqualification, and the 1,743rd for Chevrolet.

Josh Reaume picked up the 2nd last-place finish of his NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series career in Thursday’s UNOH 200 Presented by Ohio Logistics at the Bristol Motor Speedway when his #33 Colonial Countertops Toyota fell out with suspension failure after 9 of 200 laps.

The finish, which came in Reaume’s 46th series start, was his first of the season and first since March 29, 2019 at Texas, 35 races ago. In the Truck Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 8th for the #33, the 15th for suspension problems, and the 39th for Toyota. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 51st for the #33, the 45th for suspension issues, and the 346th for Toyota.

It was the subject of controversy when Al Niece announced that Trevor Bayne, the 2011 winner of the Daytona 500, had replaced newcomer Ty Majeski as the driver of the #45 Chevrolet, effective last week in Richmond. Ever since Majeski’s spectacular last-place finish in this year’s Daytona opener, the Niece team as a whole had been struggling after losing support from GMS Racing and their title contender Ross Chastain committing to full-time XFINITY competition. Through the season’s 15th race at Darlington, Majeski had two Top Tens with a best of 8th in Charlotte, but most often finished between 13th and 19th.

Bayne, meanwhile, had been out of NASCAR since late in the 2018 season, when Matt Kenseth closed out the season in his Cup ride with Roush-Fenway Racing. Bayne then opened Mahalo Coffee, a cafe in his native Knoxville, Tennessee, and seemed to have put his racing career behind him. That soon changed this past summer, when Niece tabbed Bayne to drive his #40 at Darlington, appropriately, for “Throwback Weekend.” Despite a 27th-place finish, the aforementioned news that he’d replace Majeski soon followed. Bayne ran 29th in Richmond, then looked ahead to his home track in Bristol, where he’d start 24th.

Following the withdrawal of both CMI Motorsports entries following a two-truck tangle between teammates at Richmond, 36 drivers rolled off on Thursday night. Taking last on the grid was NEMCO Motorsports, which returned to the circuit for the first time in five races. Driving the #8 Advanced Collision Chevrolet was Camden Murphy, who was making his first Truck Series start of the year and his first-ever at Bristol.

Prior to the start, Josh Reaume dropped from 29th to the tail end of the field, moving Murphy up a row. On Lap 4, the spot fell to Cody Erickson, who began losing laps. Erickson was making his first series start in over five years, and took the wheel of Dawson Cram’s #41 Magnum Contracting Chevrolet. Meanwhile, Reaume lost his first lap on the 6th circuit, at which point he ran 35th ahead of Erickson. Under the first caution for debris on Lap 8, Reaume pulled behind the wall, and Erickson returned before the end of Stage 1 to drop the #33 to last place. Reaume was declared out near the end of Stage 2.

Also declared out with Reaume was Norm Benning, who pulled his #6 H&H Transport Chevrolet behind the wall on Lap 50 after he lost his first lap around the seventh time by. Ultimately, he was declared out with suspension issues. Austin Wayne Self took 34th after he crossed the nose of Austin Hill heading into Turn 1, putting the #22 Go Texan / AM Technical Solutions Chevrolet into the outside wall. Stewart Friesen took 33rd after he lost power, then several laps, running on the apron for much of Stage 1 in his #52 Halmar “Racing To Beat Hunger” Toyota. He ended up on the same lap as Codie Rohrbaugh, who originally closed out the Bottom Five following brake issues on his #9 Pray For Joshua Chevrolet.

Bayne, meanwhile, turned in an impressive race. While he didn’t place in either of the two stages, he climbed into the Top 10 in the final laps and crossed the stripe in 5th – far and away the best finish of the year for the #45 team. But hours later, NASCAR Officials reported Bayne’s truck failed the height sticks in post-race inspection, resulting in an immediate disqualification. The DQ dropped Bayne to last behind Reaume and knocked Rohrbaugh back out of the Bottom Five.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This marked the first last-place finish by disqualification for the Truck Series at Bristol, and ties Ross Chastain’s DQ at Iowa last year - also in a Niece truck - for most laps complete by a DQ in the series.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

36) #45-Trevor Bayne / 200 laps / disqualified

35) #33-Josh Reaume / 9 laps / suspension

34) #6-Norm Benning / 38 laps / suspension

33) #22-Austin Wayne Self / 153 laps / crash

32) #52-Stewart Friesen / 167 laps / running

2020 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Reaume Brothers Racing (4)

2nd) Niece Motorsports, Norm Benning Racing, ThorSport Racing (2)

3rd) CMI Motorsports, DGR-Crosley, FDNY Racing, Halmar Friesen Racing, Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing, Spencer Davis Motorsports (1)

2020 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet (10)

2nd) Ford (4)

3rd) Toyota (3)

2020 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

PREVIEW: Only a few driver and team changes in store for Bristol weekend

Chad Finchum's #61 Toyota for Friday's XFINITY race.
IMAGE: @ChadFinchum

Thursday, September 17, 2020

TRUCKS Race 17 of 23

Round of 10: Race 1 of 3 

UNOH 200 Presented by Ohio Logistics at Bristol

2019 Last-Place Finisher: Jesse Little

ENTRY LIST

There are 36 drivers entered for 40 spots, the same number from last week in Richmond.

RETURNING: #8-NEMCO Motorsports

Bristol will see Monster Jam competitor Camden Murphy make his first NASCAR start of 2020, and the return of Joe Nemechek’s team for the first time since Mike Skeen ran the #8 on the Daytona infield road course. This will be Murphy’s first Truck Series start at Bristol.

MISSING: #17-DGR-Crosley

David Ragan was surprisingly not entered just one week after the David Gilliland-owned team acquired All Out Motorsports’ Owner Points to lock Ragan into the field. The All Out #7 is likewise not entered.

DRIVER SWAP: #33-Reaume Brothers Racing

DRIVER SWAP: #00-Reaume Brothers Racing

The two Joshs – Bilicki and Reaume – swap rides this week under the lights. Josh Bilicki will run the #00 for his first Truck Series start at Bristol while team owner Josh Reaume pilots the #33. Bilicki finished the best of the pair last week in Richmond, taking 25th ahead of his owner in 32nd.

DRIVER CHANGE: #41-Cram Racing Enterprises

Welcome back to Cody Erickson, who on Thursday will make his first Truck Series start since 2015 at Eldora, where he ran 25th for the Corr team. Magnum Contracting, one of his sponsors that night, will again back his effort in the #41, which last week ran 28th with Ryan Huff.

RETURNING: #42-Niece Motorsports

Ross Chastain will pull double-duty in both the Trucks and XFINITY this weekend as Al Niece has brought back his part-time third team for the first time since Mark Smith’s 36th-place run on the Daytona infield road course. Chastain will make his fifth series start at Bristol, where he has twice finished 3rd – once each in 2012 and 2019.

WITHDREW: #49-CMI Motorsports

WITHDREW: #83-CMI Motorsports

On Wednesday, the CMI team stated they would be withdrawing both entries this week – originally planned for Ray Ciccarelli in the #49 and Tim Viens in the #83 – following the damage suffered to the #49 last week in Richmond. In the meantime, the team plans to turn their focus to speedway races toward the end of the season, including Talladega.

RETURNING: #75-Henderson Motorsports

Parker Kligerman returns as Charlie Henderson will again enter the team’s home race, but this time carries a new JDR Graphics paint scheme with sponsorship from Luck’s Mixed Beans. Like Chastain, Kligerman has been strong at “Thunder Valley,” finishing no worse than 20th in all six of his previous starts with a best of 2nd in the same 2012 race where Chastain finished 3rd. He finished 13th in this race just last year.

CUP INVADERS: None

Friday, September 18, 2020

XFINITY Race 26 of 33

Regular Season Finale

Food City 300 at Bristol

2019 Last-Place Finisher: Mason Diaz

ENTRY LIST

There are 36 drivers entered for the regular season finale of the XFINITY Series, the same number of starters from last week in Richmond.

DRIVER SWAP: #13-Motorsports Business Management

DRIVER SWAP: #66-Motorsports Business Management

Two of the three MBM teammates will again swap rides this week as Timmy Hill drives the #13, putting Stephen Leicht back in the #66. Chad Finchum will remain in the #61 after his disqualification with that entry in the first round of the Richmond double-header.

DRIVER CHANGE: #21-Richard Childress Racing

Anthony Alfredo swaps back in for Kaz Grala, who finished 9th in both rounds of last week’s Richmond double-header. Carrying sponsorship from Death Wish Coffee, Alfredo will make his first short track start in his young XFINITY Series career and eyes a rebound after a disappointing early crash in Darlington.

DRIVER CHANGE: #78-B.J. McLeod Motorsports

Stefan Parsons announced this week a three-race deal with Springrates as primary sponsor, and will debut the deal this Friday, to be followed by both Texas and Martinsville this fall. Parsons takes the place of Mason Massey, who finished 21st last week in Richmond and hoisted himself out of last place after missing the start here in the spring.

DRIVER CHANGE: #07-SS-Green Light Racing

Gray Gaulding steps in for Joey Gase, who himself was a late swap for J.J. Yeley at Richmond, taking 20th and 23rd in the twin races that weekend. It will be Gaulding’s first start in the car since his season-best runner-up finish at Daytona last month, and comes one year after his track-best 6th-place finish in the 2019 Bristol race.

CUP INVADERS: None

Saturday, September 19, 2020

CUP Race 29 of 36

Round of 16: Race 3 of 3

Bass Pro Shops / NRA Night Race at Bristol

2019 Last-Place Finisher: Kevin Harvick

ENTRY LIST

There are 40 drivers entered in the first cutoff race of the Cup Series season, marking the first “full” field since the Daytona 400-miler three races ago, and only the 16th in 29 races this season.

RETURNING: #7-Tommy Baldwin Racing

Josh Bilicki returns to drive the #7 with Insurance King as sponsor, running double-duty with the Truck Series. The TBR team didn’t run last week at Richmond, and last turned laps at Darlington, where Bilicki took 32nd under the lights.

DRIVER SWAP: #15-Rick Wae Racing

DRIVER CHANGE: #27-Rick Ware Racing

Gray Gaulding will also pull double-duty - his with the XFINITY Series - as he takes the place of J.J. Yeley, 34th in Richmond. Gaulding brings returning sponsorship from Panini America, and in six previous Bristol starts on the Cup side has yet to finish better than 29th. UPDATE: Yeley will run at Bristol in the #15 as on Thursday it was revealed Brennan Poole, unsponsored last week, would miss his first race of the year. Yeley's Thriv5 sponsor will follow him to the #15.

RETURNING: #78-B.J. McLeod Motorsports

Welcome back B.J. McLeod’s single-car effort, which hasn’t made a Cup start since the Dover double-header, where McLeod himself finished 38th and 31st. McLeod was also on his way to a strong Top 25 finish at this track in May before he was collected in a late accident, leaving him 28th. This time, Garrett Smithley will drive the car for the first time since Talladega, where he took 34th.

TODAY IN LASTCAR HISTORY (September 17, 1950): The Langhorne Speedway still stands as one of the most treacherous tracks on which NASCAR has ever competed – a one-mile unpaved near-perfect circle with hardly any straightaways. On this day in 1950, 48 drivers were entered, but at least three didn’t start, all likely due to accidents in the lead-up to the race. Credited with last place was Braddock, Pennsylvania native Dick Burns, whose 1950 Mercury joined John Meekins and Bill Harrison on the early ride home.

ARCA: Part-time fixture Clifton scores first last-place finish of career

PHOTO: Melrose Photography, thank you @StartAndParkCar and @nascarcatholic

by William Soquet

LASTCAR.info Guest Contributor

Rick Clifton finished last for the first time in his ARCA Menards Series career in Saturday’s Royal Truck & Trailer 200 at Toledo Speedway when his #11 Asheville Propane Ford retired with brake problems after completing three of the race’s 200 laps.

The finish came in Clifton’s 42nd career start.

The 66-year-old Rick Clifton is an eleven-year veteran of the ARCA Racing Series. He got his start with Andy Hillenburg’s Fast Track Racing in 2010, running two races with the team. Between Fast Track and James Hylton Motorsports, Clifton ran a few races a year, and made it to the finish in most of them. In 2015, he picked up backing from Ohio Ag Equipment and Asheville Propane, running a career-high seven races that year. The Ohio Ag Equipment sponsorship disappeared at the beginning of 2020, but like he has done in the past, Clifton is still running a partial schedule. He finished in the top ten for the first time at the first Toledo race this year, a small but important victory in his 40th career start.

The Royal Truck & Trailer 200 marked the first combination race for the ARCA Menards Series. Previously, the NASCAR K&N Pro Series had run combination events at tracks like Iowa Speedway and World Wide Technology at Gateway. However, in the shuffle of rescheduling this year, a new type of combination event was born: the ARCA Menards Series / ARCA Menards Series East Combination Race. As such, a number of East regular teams entered, as all drivers entered earned points for both the national and East Series. Rev Racing entered its drivers, Nick Sanchez and Chase Cabre; Parker Retzlaff and his Bruce Cook Technologies team entered; Venturini Motorsports entered their East Series driver, Mason Diaz; and the part-time family teams of the East, Justin Carroll and “Farmer Bob” Pawlowski, also entered. As for the regular national series teams, it was about the usual entry list. Noticeably absent again was Thad Moffitt, whose next confirmed race is at Memphis, and Chad Bryant Racing, who will return at Bristol with Kris Wright and Derek Griffith.

All 19 cars on the entry list participated in practice, where eventual race winner Sam Mayer topped the charts with a lap that clocked in at just over sixteen seconds. Clifton was last on the charts, three and a half seconds behind Mayer and eight-tenths of a second behind 18th-place Owen Smith. Qualifying was about the same story: Mayer got just under the sixteen-second mark and Clifton barely broke the nineteen-second barrier, although the lap still left him in last place.

At the drop of the green, the nearly-identical cars of Clifton and Smith trailed the field. Clifton held last place flag-to-flag, falling ten seconds back of the leaders by the time he exited the race on lap four. Two Smiths were next to retire, with Owen retiring after five laps and Brad ending his race after 41 laps. The last two spots in the Bottom Five were filled by crash victims. Chase Cabre had what looked like a tire go down, leading to an early exit after 55 laps. Drew Dollar claimed he got dumped by Parker Retzlaff and promised words for the Wisconsin driver after the race, although it is unclear if an exchange ever happened.

With the finish, Clifton clinched the 2020 LASTCAR ARCA Owners Championship for Fast Track Racing with the team’s eighth last-place finish of the year. Wayne Peterson Racing is currently in second with two. 

THE BOTTOM FIVE

19) #12-Rick Clifton / 3 laps / brakes

18) #11-Owen Smith / 5 laps / electrical

17) #48-Brad Smith / 41 laps / overheating

16) #4E-Chase Cabre / 55 laps / crash

15) #15-Drew Dollar / 86 laps / crash

2020 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES MANUFACTURERS CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet (9)

2nd) Toyota (5)

3rd) Ford (1)

2020 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES OWNERS CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Fast Track Racing (8)

2nd) Wayne Peterson Racing (2)

3rd) Brother-in-Law Motorsports, DGR-Crosley, Kimmel Racing, Reeves Racing, Russ Lane Racing (1)

2020 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP

CUP: Timmy Hill the first driver to, on the same day, finish last in two NASCAR points races at the same track with the same team, car number, and manufacturer

PHOTO: Jared C. Tilton, Getty Images

Timmy Hill picked up the 13th last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career in Saturday’s Federated Auto Parts 400 at the Richmond Raceway when his #66 CrashClaimsR.us Toyota fell out with rear hub issues after 100 of 400 laps.

The finish, which came in Hill’s 120th series start, was his 4th of the season and first since Martinsville, 17 races ago. In the Cup Series’ last-place history, it was the 2nd from a rear hub, the 60th for the #66, and the 164th for Toyota. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 2nd rear hub issue, the 77th for the #66, and the 345th for Toyota.

With the finish, Hill became the first driver in NASCAR history to finish last in any two Cup, XFINITY, or Truck Series points races held on the same day at the same track, while also running the same car number and manufacturer for the same team. He very nearly extended the record into Friday’s first round of the XFINITY double-header, holding last from his exit on Lap 5 until teammate Chad Finchum was disqualified.

The finish also gave Hill the lead in the 2020 LASTCAR Cup Series Championship with eight races to go, tying previous leader Ryan Preece and now prevailing on a bottom-five tiebreaker of 13-6.

Following his early exit with fuel pump issues during the Virginia Is For Racing Lovers 250 XFINITY race held that afternoon, Hill would roll off 37th in the field of 38. He would run the same black-and-white scheme with which he finished last at both Phoenix and Martinsville, though with main sponsor Pit Boss Grills replaced with attorney and MBM’s longtime backer James Carter, Esq., whose name was on the hood, and his website CrashClaimsR.us on the quarter-panels.

Starting 38th and last was Darlington last-placer James Davison, who this week carried sponsorship from Cruz & Associates on his #53 Ford. Davison’s last-place finish the previous Sunday was the third in a row for Rick Ware Racing, and one more finish by he or his three teammates would tie JTG-Daugherty’s streak of four from this past summer. Kyle Busch incurred a tail-end penalty, dropping his #18 M&M’s Toyota from 6th on the grid to the back of the pack, though it’s unlikely he spent much time in last place as he was 32nd by the end of Lap 1, keeping Davison in last.

On Lap 3, Davison passed his teammate Joey Gase to last, putting the #51 Donate Life Virginia Ford to last place. Gase reported his car was “really tight,” but managed to stay within shouting distance of Davison through the opening run. On Lap 22, just when Austin Dillon took the lead from Kevin Harvick, the #3 made Gase the first car one lap down, passing him low in Turn 1. He remained last under the competition caution, when the team relayed his lap time range from 23.85 to 24.90.

On Lap 36, the “choose cone” moved Gase ahead of Reed Sorenson in the #77 BetterForYourHealth.com Chevrolet, but Sorenson got back by on Lap 40. Seven circuits later, Gase’s crew had issues hearing their driver over the radio, and on Lap 51 they were advised they might be leaking oil. The driver who raised the concern was Timmy Hill, who relayed the message to NASCAR moments earlier. Gase’s crew didn’t think they were leaking anything, and were cleared by NASCAR soon after. However, Ryan Preece then reported someone was leaking oil soon after, and Gase’s team decided to check their car for leaks on the next stop.

Next to take last place at the end of Stage 1 was Quin Houff, whose #00 Trucker Appreciation Chevrolet first took the spot on Lap 84. Houff then moved past Sorenson, whose pit crew crew jumped over the wall too soon. Sorenson re-passed Houff on Lap 91, and the #00 was still running last on Lap 103 when NASCAR reported “66 to the garage, mechanical.” The next time by, Hill, who was running 37th at the time, took last from Houff in the garage area.

Hill reported he felt like “only one wheel is turning,” and the crew wondered if a faulty locker was to blame. He also reported there was a bad smell in his car. By Lap 119, with the #66 now on jack stands, the crew said they needed to change the gear, but also discovered issues with the hub and the left-rear axle. On Lap 128, the crew was looking for a new left-rear axle, and tried to match the one on the right-rear. There was very little radio traffic on the publicly-available channel until Lap 176, when NASCAR reported “66 out, rear hub.” As with Talladega, the issue seemed to revolve around the left-rear hub, making this and Matt Kenseth’s last-place run on the superspeedway the only two last-place finishes because of a left-rear hub. The team had still been working, but with so few laps remaining and no one else in the garage, there wasn’t enough time to get back out.

Hill was the only driver to fail to finish, and without any cautions for incidents, the rest of the field finished within 15 laps of the leader. Davison took 37th, two laps behind both Sorenson and Gase. Finishing one further lap ahead was J.J. Yeley, who again ran his 1997 Kenny Irwin, Jr. “throwback” scheme from Darlington, though this time with Thriv5 on the hood in place of Jacob Industries.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This marked the first last-place finish for the #66 in a Cup Series race at Richmond since September 12, 2009, when Dave Blaney’s unsponsored #66 PRISM Motorsports Toyota fell out with brake trouble after 36 laps of the Chevy Rock ‘n Roll 400.

*Hill is also the first driver to finish last in a Cup race at Richmond specifically because of a failure of any of the four hubs.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

38) #66-Timmy Hill / 100 laps / rear hub

37) #53-James Davison / 385 laps / running

36) #77-Reed Sorenson / 387 laps / running

35) #51-Joey Gase / 387 laps / running

34) #27-J.J. Yeley / 388 laps / running

2020 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) JTG-Daugherty Racing (6)

2nd) Rick Ware Racing (5)

2nd) Motorsports Business Management (4)

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 (18)

2nd) Toyota (6)

3rd) Ford (4)

2020 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

XFINITY: Timmy Hill unable to avoid last place in second Richmond race; Matt Mills backs up 13th-place finish

PHOTO: Motorsports Business Management Facebook, thanks @StartAndParkCar

Timmy Hill picked up the 4th last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career in Saturday’s Virginia Is For Racing Lovers 250 at the Richmond Raceway when his #66 CrashClaimsR.us Toyota fell out with fuel pump issues after 56 of 250 laps.

The finish, which came in Hill’s 206th series start, was his second of the season and first since August 22, the opening round of the Dover double-header, five races ago. In the XFINITY Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 5th from a fuel pump issue, the 12th for the #66, and the 142nd for Toyota. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 30th from a fuel pump, the 76th for the #66, and the 344th for Toyota.

It has continued to be the best of times and worst of times for the popular underdog from Maryland. Since his most recent last-place run in the XFINITY Series, he steered a Joe Gibbs Racing engine into the lead pack at Daytona, only to drop from contention after a tire went down under green. Mechanical gremlins have continued to plague his Cup effort with Motorsports Business Management, including an engine failure at Dover and overheating issues just last week in Darlington. But it’s been his Truck Series effort that has turned some of the strongest runs of the year. After a 9th-place finish at Darlington, running a paint scheme honoring he and brother Tyler’s father Jerry Hill, he finished 9th once more to start the Richmond weekend on Thursday.

For the XFINITY double-header at Richmond, Hill would drive MBM’s #66 Toyota, a team that has most often been on “start-and-park” duty in 2020. Hill, along with teammates Chad Finchum and Stephen Leicht, have combined to finish just two races this year under power in the #66 – the season-opener in Daytona and the Indianapolis road course.

On Friday night, Hill appeared to have his second last-place finish in four races when he pulled off the track in the early laps, but Finchum inherited the spot after failing post-race inspection. Despite the change, the matrix still placed Finchum’s #61 in 33rd ahead of both Leicht’s #13 and Hill’s #66, as well as Vinnie Miller in the #99 Koolbox Chevrolet. Hill would thus roll off 36th and last, a field reduced by one as Kyle Busch was not entered. Finchum would end up joining Hill at the tail end, however, as he incurred a pre-race penalty for changing engines. Myatt Snider would also surrender 27th after a crash sent him to a backup #93 Superior Essex Chevrolet.

In the race itself, Hill lost a lap by the 30th circuit, but by Lap 43 climbed past Snider’s backup car into 35th place. He only stayed in the race just past the competition caution before pulling behind the wall. Incidentally, NASCAR.com's online leaderboard showed Hill a total of 5,728.810 seconds behind the leader when the checkered flag dropped.

Hitting the "refresh" button after the race on NASCAR.com's online leaderboard
briefly showed the intervals back to last place in seconds.

Colby Howard, whose #15 Project Hope Foundation Chevrolet stopped in Turn 4 the night before, slowed there again on Saturday after hitting the wall. This put him out of the race, and he eventually dropped to 35th. Riley Herbst took 34th after his #18 Monster Energy Toyota crossed the nose of Brandon Brown entering Turn 1, leaving him with significant damage to the right-rear. These three were the day’s only DNFs. Rounding out the Bottom Five were Jesse Little, six laps down in the #4 JD Motorsports Chevrolet, and one lap behind Vinnie Miller’s #99.

The same B.J. McLeod Motorsports team that fielded Miller’s 32nd-place finisher also enjoyed a strong weekend with teammate Matt Mills. Mills finished 13th on Friday, took 3rd on the grid for Saturday, and finished 13th once again, achieving some well-earned television time with Jeff Burton giving him encouragement. These two runs are now tied for Mills’ second-best ever XFINITY Series finishes, trailing only his 10th-place run on the Daytona oval last month.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This marked the third consecutive last-place finish for Motorsports Business Management in an XFINITY race at Richmond, dating back to September 20, 2019 with Mike Marlar.

*This was the first XFINITY Series last-place finish by reason of a “fuel pump” since November 4, 2017, when John Jackson's #13 Dodge (also fielded by MBM) fell out after 7 laps of the O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge at Texas.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

36) #66-Timmy Hill / 56 laps / fuel pump

35) #15-Colby Howard / 140 laps / crash

34) #18-Riley Herbst / 227 laps / crash

33) #4-Jesse Little / 244 laps / running

32) #99-Vinnie Miller / 245 laps / running

2020 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Motorsports Business Management (7)

2nd) Joe Gibbs Racing (3)

3rd) JD Motorsports, Jimmy Means Racing, JR Motorsports, Mike Harmon Racing, Shepherd Racing Ventures, SS-Green Light Racing (2)

4th) B.J. McLeod Motorsports, Jeremy Clements Racing, Kaulig Racing (1)

2020 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet (15)

2nd) Toyota (10)

2020 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP