PREVIEW: Eye-catching paint schemes, James Buescher’s return to the Truck Series, and a LASTCAR Championship among the storylines brewing in Texas

PHOTO: @BLeavine

Saturday, October 24, 2020

XFINITY Race 31 of 33

Round of 8: Race 2 of 3

O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 at Texas

2019 Last-Place Finisher: J.J. Yeley

ENTRY LIST

There are 36 drivers entered in Saturday’s XFINITY Series race, the same number as last week in Kansas.

DRIVER SWAP: #4-JD Motorsports

DRIVER CHANGE: #15-JD Motorsports

DRIVER SWAP: #90-DGM Racing

Colby Howard returns to action for the first time since Talladega, taking the place of Jesse Little in the #15, and carrying sponsorship from the NASCAR Foundation. Little moves to the #4, taking the place of B.J. McLeod, who crosses teams this week and will instead run Mario Gosselin’s #90, replacing Dexter Bean, who’s not entered after his 16th-place run in Kansas.

DRIVER CHANGE: #8-JR Motorsports

It’s Jeb Burton and State Water Heaters back on the #8 this week, returning to action for the tenth time in 2020 and first time since Bristol, where he ran 9th. He takes the place of Daniel Hemric, who once again came quite close to scoring his first win in NASCAR’s top three series, driving the John Andretti “throwback” scheme from Darlington.

DRIVER CHANGE: #47-Mike Harmon Racing

Kyle Weatherman returns to his familiar #47 for the first time since his rough outing early at the Charlotte “Roval,” taking the place of Josh Reaume, who finished 33rd after brake issues at Kansas.

DRIVER CHANGE: #66-Motorsports Business Management

Chad Finchum takes the place of Stephen Leicht in MBM's #66 Toyota, but Leicht can still clinch the 2020 LASTCAR XFINITY Series title on Saturday if the following drivers do not finish last at Texas: Kyle Weatherman, Timmy Hill, Kody Vanderwal, Joe Graf, Jr., Brandon Jones, and Michael Annett. For any of these drivers to take the title, however, they'll also have to finish last at both Martinsville and Phoenix.

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

C.J. McLaughlin also rejoins the XFINITY circuit for the first time since the “Roval,” and runs his third different car in as many starts this year. This time, he takes the place of Vinnie Miller, who isn’t entered after a 31st-place finish in Kansas, driving the #78 Toyota.

CUP INVADERS: None

Sunday, October 25, 2020 (12:00 P.M. Eastern)

TRUCKS Race 21 of 23

Round of 8: Race 2 of 3

SpeedyCash.com 400 at Texas

2018 Last-Place Finisher: Bo LeMastus

ENTRY LIST

There are 37 drivers entered in the first November Truck Series race since 2018, up one entry from last week in Kansas.

RETURNING: #14-Trey Hutchens Racing

Trey Hutchens makes only his third start of the season and first since Michigan in August, when he ran a season-best 29th. Vytal Studios will sponsor his #14 Chevrolet.

DRIVER CHANGE: #17-DGR-Crosley

After Hailie Deegan secured a full-time Truck Series ride for 2021 midway through her 16th-place finish in Kansas, Dylan Lupton will drive the #17 this week. This marks only the second Truck start of the year for Lupton, who was a late entry into the fall race at Las Vegas, finishing 14th.

DRIVER CHANGE: #24-GMS Racing

After David Gravel was swapped into his ride at Kansas, only to be collected in an early crash, Chase Purdy will again take the wheel of the #24 BamaBuggies.com Chevrolet. This will be Purdy’s seventh start of 2020 and first since Talladega, where he was the one collected in an early crash, yielding a 32nd-place finish.

DRIVER SWAP: #33-Reaume Brothers Racing

DRIVER SWAP: #00-Reaume Brothers Racing

Josh Bilicki and Josh Reaume will swap rides this week with Bilicki going to the #00 and Reaume to the #33.

RETURNING: #42-Niece Motorsports

Welcome back James Buescher, who makes his first Truck Series start since March 28, 2015 at Martinsville, where he ran 7th for Bob Newberry’s team. FHE Fraclock will sponsor the 2012 series champion as he also brings back Al Niece’s part-time #42 team for the first time since the fall race at Las Vegas.

DRIVER CHANGE: #44-Niece Motorsports

Also welcome back Natalie Decker, back in the race for the first time since she wasn’t medically cleared at Las Vegas. She takes the place of Colin Garrett, who ran 24th with the team in Kansas.

DRIVER CHANGE: #52-Halmar-Friesen Racing

Stewart Friesen is back in his ride after the scheduling conflict in Kansas put Timothy Peters in his truck at Kansas. Peters finished 7th in what was his first series start since October 12, 2019.

MISSING: #75-Henderson Motorsports

Parker Kligerman is not entered after a spirited rally at Kansas, where he was involved in the day’s early multi-truck pileup, only to take 15th at the finish.

CUP INVADERS: None

Sunday, October 25, 2020 (3:30 P.M. Eastern)

CUP Race 34 of 36

Round of 8: Race 2 of 3

Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 at Texas

2019 Last-Place Finisher: Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.

ENTRY LIST

There are 40 drivers entered in Sunday’s main event for the Cup Series, the second-straight “full” field in 2020 and the 18th out of 34 races this season.

NEW SPONSOR: #7-Tommy Baldwin Racing

Josh Bilicki will pull double-duty with the Truck Series this weekend, and on the Cup side run a new camouflage paint scheme for sponsor Junction Fuels and the military initiative Camp Hope.

TEAM UPDATE: #14-Stewart-Haas Racing

Just days after Chase Briscoe locked himself into the Championship 4 at Phoenix, it was announced he will take over for a retiring Clint Bowyer in 2021. This was just one of the many 2021 “Silly Season” stories that played out during the week, including Kyle Larson’s reinstatement set for January 1 and Erik Jones moving to Richard Petty Motorsports.

PAINT SCHEME: #48-Hendrick Motorsports

Rising motorsports artist Noah “Lefty” Sweet has designed the look of Jimmie Johnson’s car this week as the seven-time champion nears the end of his final full-time season.

DRIVER CHANGE: #53-Rick Ware Racing

Garrett Smithley returns to Cup after a brief hiatus since the night race at Bristol, replacing James Davison in the #53 with his frequent backer Victory Lane Quick Oil Change and Kendall Oil as sponsors. This is just one of four head-turning paint schemes for the Ware team this weekend, including new backing from FatBoy Ice Cream Sandwiches on J.J. Yeley’s #27.

PAINT SCHEME: #95-Leavine Family Racing

It was at this same Texas track on April 9, 2011 that the #95 team – then known as Leavine Fenton Racing – made its Cup Series debut with David Starr finishing 38th. After not running the team’s red-yellow-and-blue scheme from that year in this season’s “Throwback Weekend” at Darlington, the team will run the scheme this Sunday with Christopher Bell driving. It will be the LFR team’s final start at their home track, and two races before the team closes its doors.

TODAY IN LASTCAR HISTORY (October 22, 1994): Tommy Houston picked up the 11th last-place finish of his NASCAR Busch Series career in the ’94 season finale, the AC-Delco 200 at Rockingham, when his #6 Red Devil Enamels Ford fell out with handling problems after just one lap. The finish tied Houston with Ed Berrier for the most last-place finishes in the series at that time.

ARCA: Alex Clubb plays LASTCAR championship spoiler at Kansas

PHOTO: @StartAndParkCar

by William Soquet

LASTCAR.info Guest Contributor

Alex Clubb finished last for the second time in his ARCA Menards Series career in Saturday’s Speediatrics 150 at Kansas Speedway when his #01 A. Clubb Lawn Care & Landscaping Ford fell out with a vibration after completing only 1 of the race’s 100 laps.

The finish came in Clubb’s 11th series start, and was his first since Elko last year, 27 races ago.

 After Clubb’s 2019 season came to a premature end at Elko, the landscaper and city council member out of Morris, Illinois set his sights on 2020. While he did not enter any races until Kansas, there was a good reason for that: Clubb and his wife welcomed their first child over the summer. He tried to get a car ready for the race at Springfield, but family time and work obligations prevented him from running the event. He did finish his car for the Kansas event, and entered it with the number 01, using owner points borrowed from Andy Hillenburg at Fast Track Racing.

Clubb was not the only entry borrowing owner points from a different team at Kansas. Almost a quarter of the field - 4 of 18 entries - used owner points from a different team. The eventual race-winning car of Corey Heim was prepared in the Venturini Motorsports shop but used Fast Track Racing owner points, presumably for a better starting position. Kris Wright’s Chad Bryant Racing entry was also using owner points from Fast Track. Mike Basham’s entry from Fast Track was using owner points from Chad Bryant in a de facto swap. Derek Griffith finished out a sporadic part-time stint in CBR’s bright yellow #22 car. Other part-timers entered included Scott Melton, returning to his familiar #69, Dylan Lupton, driving a one-off ARCA race for DGR-Crosley, and Eric Caudell, who finished the season running four consecutive races in his #7 car. Owen Smith rounded out Fast Track’s stable, and based on the entry list, he looked poised to claim the LASTCAR drivers’ championship. Wayne Peterson Racing entered Tim Richmond in the #06 and Con Nicolopoulos in the #0, leaving the team patriarch off the entry list.

Only sixteen of the nineteen cars took time in practice. Eventual series champion Bret Holmes led the series with a lap of just over 30.7 seconds. Richmond trailed the field, running a best lap of 38.4 seconds. Qualifying was not held, and the lineup was set by owner points. As it was the CBR 77’s first attempt since Daytona, Basham started shotgun on the field.

Early in the race, ARCA timing and scoring listed Clubb out after one lap and Nicolopoulos out after two, all but clinching the LASTCAR championship for Owen Smith. However, during the middle portions of the race, reports emerged that Nicolopoulos was watching the race from his home in Michigan while being scored as the driver of the 0 car. Multiple sources from the garage later confirmed that Wayne Peterson had stepped into the 0 car for the race, setting off a retroactive nailbiter for the LASTCAR championship. If Peterson had pulled off at the initial green flag, as he did at Springfield two weeks ago, he would have claimed his fourth last-place finish of the year and his third consecutive LASRCAR championship. However, Peterson ran exactly two laps in all of his paved-track starts this year, and that was one too many in the LASTCAR championship battle. Clubb’s retirement after one lap prevented Peterson from claiming a would-be series-high fourth last-place finish on the year. While Peterson and Owen Smith both finished last three times in the 2020 season, Smith has a tiebreaker edge on Bottom Five finishes, 9 to 5, handing him the 2020 LASTCAR ARCA Menards Series drivers championship.

Smith, ironically, was the next car to fall out, citing brake issues. Brad Smith’s full-season effort ended a little early due to engine problems that sidelined the team after 36 laps completed. All other cars finished the race, and Ty Gibbs, who battled a number of issues throughout the night, came home 14th, 40 laps down.

The weekend took a terrible turn after the race. On Sunday morning, news broke that most of the Wayne Peterson Racing team equipment from the 06 car was stolen from a hotel outside the track:

STOLEN! pic.twitter.com/2278TMmH93

— Tim Richmond (@TimRichmondRace) October 17, 2020

Prior to the Kansas weekend, both Chevrolet and Fast Track Racing locked up the manufacturers and owners championships, respectively, to round out the awarding of LASTCAR ARCA Menards Series championships for 2020.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

18) #01-Alex Clubb / 1 lap / vibration

17) #0-Wayne Peterson / 2 laps / brakes

16) #11-Owen Smith / 30 laps / clutch

15) #48-Brad Smith / 36 laps / engine

14) #18-Ty Gibbs / 60 laps / running

2020 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES MANUFACTURERS CHAMPIONSHIP - FINAL

1st) Chevrolet (13)

2nd) Toyota (6)

3rd) Ford (1)

2020 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES OWNERS CHAMPIONSHIP - FINAL

1st) Fast Track Racing (10)

2nd) Wayne Peterson Racing (5)

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

2020 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP - FINAL

In total, 93 drivers started an ARCA Menards Series race this year. Of those, 68 recorded a Bottom Ten finish, 41 recorded a Bottom Five finish, and 16 recorded a last-place finish. The top twenty in the LASTCAR drivers standings are shown below.

CUP: Tangle with Jones ends Matt Kenseth’s afternoon in Kansas

SCREENSHOT: @CGRTeams from @NASCARonNBC

Matt Kenseth picked up the 5th last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career in Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at the Kansas Speedway when his #42 Advent Health Chevrolet fell out with crash damage after 144 of 267 laps.

The finish, which came in Kenseth’s 694th series start, was his second of the season and first since June 22, 2020 at Talladega, 20 races ago. In the Cup Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 27th for the #42, the 606th from a crash, and the 796th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 39th for the #42, the 1,231st from a crash, and the 1,751st for Chevrolet.

Since his most recent feature on this site, Kenseth has continued to struggle with a lack of practice and qualifying, often finishing between 15th and 20th with a handful of worse finishes. The lone bright spot came in what turned out to be the final Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis, a race he’d never won in his 22-year career. For the final restart, Kenseth worked his way to 2nd, but advanced no further on race leader Kevin Harvick, and the McDonald’s sponsorship has still yet to reach victory lane since 1994. Then on September 21 came news that Ross Chastain would drive the #42 in 2021, and Kenseth has all but confirmed he will not return to Cup after this season.

Kenseth started 30th at Kansas, in part due to a frustrating afternoon on the “Roval” where he struck a tire barrier head-on, leaving him 34th. He would run sponsorship from Advent Health, which most recently sponsored Chastain at both the Daytona 500 and the Coca-Cola 600, running in partnership with Ganassi at Spire Motorsports.

Starting 40th and last on Sunday was Chad Finchum, who for the first time since Las Vegas drove Motorsports Business Management’s #49 Sharelife / LasVegas.net Toyota, still carrying Timmy Hill’s “throwback” scheme from Darlington. He was joined at the rear by two drivers who each twice failed pre-race inspection – 5th-place Martin Truex, Jr. in the #19 Bass Pro Shops / Tracker Boats Toyota and 33rd-place James Davison in the #53 America’s Best Value Inn  / Tilson Ford.

When the race started, Davison was last across the stripe, 4.455 seconds back of the lead, but caught and passed Finchum by Lap 3. By the seventh circuit, Davison passed his teammate Joey Gase in the #51 Page Construction Ford, and both Gase and Finchum started to lose touch with the tail end of the pack. On Lap 15, Finchum’s team told him to stay high as the leaders caught him and made his #49 the first car one lap down by Lap 16. When the competition caution fell on Lap 27, Finchum was still last, but pit stops swapped the spot between Timmy Hill’s #66 CrashClaimsR.us Toyota on Lap 28 and Josh Bilicki’s #7 Insurance King Chevrolet on Lap 29. Bilicki took the spot after a pit road penalty that dropped him to tail end of the longest line.

On Lap 32, Bilicki dropped Finchum back to last, who gradually lost more laps through the remainder of Stage 1. He was three down on Lap 49, five down by Lap 72, and eight down by Lap 78. There was also at least one close call on Lap 76 as Brad Keselowski caught him entering Turns 1 and 2, squeezing between Finchum and the outside wall. On Lap 97, Finchum reported he had a problem in the rear of the car, but didn’t pit as he believed it was rear tire chatter. The vibration then returned on Lap 110, again in the rear of the car.

Meanwhile, Gase made a four-tire stop and took last from Finchum on Lap 124, shown 11 laps down to Finchum’s 10. The two then began racing each other, running nose-to-tail on Lap 130. On Lap 142, Gase slowed with a loss of fuel pressure, and crept onto pit road under green. The team decided to “just put fuel in it” when, moments later, the caution fell for a wreck on the frontstretch.

While not a factor for the lead, Kenseth was battling Erik Jones’ #20 Resers Toyota for 27th, running the low lane to complete the pass. When coming up the track, Kenseth wasn’t quite clear and hooked cross Jones’ nose, putting both cars into the wall. Both drivers made it to pit road with Kenseth’s team trying to address an issue with the track bar. Meanwhile, on Lap 146, Gase was told to turn into the garage “by the yellow canopy” to address a possible fuel leak, the driver told to stay in the car with the window net up. The next time by on Lap 147, Kenseth pulled behind the wall, out under the “Damaged Vehicle Policy.”

On Lap 166, Gase returned to the track 33 laps down and ten laps behind Kenseth. During the stay in the garage, the team also addressed a radio issue where they couldn’t hear the driver over static. On Lap 167, Kenseth was declared officially out by NASCAR due to an accident, not the DVP as in Noah Gragson’s finish the day before. Finchum pulled behind the wall shortly after, and NASCAR declared the #49 out with transmission issues on Lap 175. Gase then dropped Kenseth to last on Lap 180. 

Gase climbed to 37th at the finish, the last car under power, dropping Finchum to 39th and Kurt Busch, whose #1 Monster Energy Chevrolet blew an engine while battling among the leaders, dropped to 38th. Rounding out the Bottom Five was Reed Sorenson in Spire Motorsports’ #77 Marwin Sports Chevrolet, 17 laps down to the leaders.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This marked the first last-place finish for the #42 in a Cup Series race at Kansas.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

40) #42-Matt Kenseth / 144 laps / crash

39) #49-Chad Finchum / 154 laps / transmission

38) #1-Kurt Busch / 197 laps / engine

37) #51-Joey Gase / 228 laps / running

36) #77-Reed Sorenson / 250 laps / running

2020 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) JTG-Daugherty Racing (7)

2nd) Motorsports Business Management (6)

3rd) Rick Ware Racing (5)

4th) Chip Ganassi Racing (3)

5th) Hendrick Motorsports, Leavine Family Racing, Penske Racing (2)

6th) Beard Motorsports, B.J. McLeod Motorsports, Front Row Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, StarCom Racing, Tommy Baldwin Racing (1)

2020 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet (20)

2nd) Toyota (9)

3rd) Ford (4)

2020 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

XFINITY: Noah Gragson's out under DVP historically significant among last-place finishes

SCREENSHOT: @NASCARONNBC

Noah Gragson picked up the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career in Saturday’s Kansas Lottery 300 at the Kansas Speedway when his #9 Bass Pro Shops / True Timber Camo Chevrolet was involved in a multi-car accident and eliminated under the “Damaged Vehicle Policy” (dvp) after 16 of 200 laps.

The finish came in Gragson’s 66th series start. In the XFINITY Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 1st for the dvp, the 11th for the #9, and the 559th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 1st for the dvp, the 53rd for the #9, and the 1,750th for Chevrolet.

Just last week on the Charlotte “Roval,” Gragson overcame multiple incidents – including a skirmish with Riley Herbst, with whom he tangled at both Texas and Pocono – to finish a close 2nd to road course ringer A.J. Allmendinger. It was a performance befitting of the aggressive driver from Las Vegas as he completes his second full season in the XFINITY Series. This year saw him score his first series win in the Daytona opener, already securing him a spot in the Playoffs, then followed that up with a win at Bristol, where he tangled with his JR Motorsports teammate Justin Allgaier, who led 156 of the 303 laps.

The “Roval” performance followed a runner-up at Las Vegas and a 3rd at Talladega, easily moving him to the “Round of 8” for a chance to make the Championship Four. Last year, he came just short of making the cut, eliminated in the penultimate round. The slide began at Kansas, where he finished 13th, then crashed out to take 30th at Texas. The 10th-place run at Phoenix wasn’t enough to advance. Saturday would see him return to Kansas for another shot, and this time he’d start on the pole under NASCAR’s metric qualifying. In addition, NASCAR would stream on-board footage from his car.

Drawing the 36th and final starting spot was Josh Reaume, who took the wheel of Mike Harmon’s #47 Chevrolet for the first time. Carrying sponsorship from GPS Tab in addition to Reaume’s own Colonial Countertops sponsorship, Reaume pulled double-duty with the Truck Series along with Josh Bilicki, who served as his spotter. No teams were slated to join him at the back of the pack.

In the early laps, Stephen Leicht took over last place in the #66 Jani-King Toyota, running the same orange-and-blue Supra that made its downforce track debut at Homestead earlier this summer. Leicht lost a lap in the opening stages, then got it back when the caution fell for Matt Mills’ spin on Lap 10. The #66 made at least one more stop on Lap 14, and was still shown the only car one lap down for the restart.

On Lap 15, the battle up front rapidly intensified, and Gragson was part of a four-wide battle for the lead with the #10 Dyna-Gro Seed Chevrolet of Ross Chastain and Austin Cindric’s #22 Menards / Richmond Ford to his outside with Brandon Jones’ #19 Toyota Service Centers Toyota to his inside. As Jones backed off, Gragson appeared to try and slot in behind Cindric’s car when the two made contact, bumping Cindric into Chastain. While Chastain maintained control, Cindric’s car cut hard left into Gragson, damaging Gragson’s right-front and destroying Cindric’s left-front. Most of the field managed to keep going, though Anthony Alfredo banged doors with another car in his #21 Andy’s Frozen Custard Chevrolet and Tommy Joe Martins spun further back in the #44 AAN Adjusters Chevrolet.

With Leicht now back on the lead lap, both Cindric and Gragson pulled down pit road for repairs, each trying to clear the “Crash Clock.” Cindric took over last from Leicht on Lap 17, and by Lap 18 had already used up 3 minutes and 50 seconds on the six-minute clock. Cindric managed to pull back on track for the Lap 19 restart, three laps down, and despite heavy left-side damage would ultimately clear the clock on the first green-flag lap. The Penske crew made further repairs and returned to action on Lap 40, at least 20 laps down. Gragson, however, was still on pit road when the race restarted, and the clock soon expired. NASCAR reported they were out of time, and the crew eventually pushed the #9 behind the wall. Gragson bucked up his crew, looking ahead to trying to win Texas or Martinsville to make the Championship Four. Gragson took last from Cindric on Lap 20.

Leicht, meanwhile, remained on the lead lap until Lap 60, when he pulled behind the wall with fuel pump issues. With now three races to go and still a two-finish lead over the field, Leicht will secure the 2020 LASTCAR XFINITY Series Championship if any of the drivers behind him fail to finish last at Texas – Kyle Weatherman, Timmy Hill, Kody Vanderwal, Landon Cassill, Joe Graf, Jr., Brandon Jones, or Michael Annett. If one of those drivers finish last in Texas, that same driver must also finish last at Martinsville and Phoenix to take the title from Leicht.

 Ryan Vargas ended up 34th after two stays in the garage for a power steering issue, ultimately falling out in Johnny Davis’ #6 TikTok Chevrolet. Taking 33rd was Josh Reaume, whose right-front wheel locked-up in the final laps, citing brake issues in the final results. Joe Graf, Jr. rounded out the Bottom Five in 32nd after his #08 Bucked Up Energy Chevrolet erupted in smoke just before one of the last restarts, listed as a rear gear failure.

Making just his 9th series start, Austin Hill earned his first series top-five finish, finishing 5th in Motorsports Business Management and Hattori Racing Enterprises’ #61 Toyota Tsusho Toyota. Josh Williams and Brett Moffitt both rebounded from frustrating incidents at the “Roval” to finish 6th and 7th, respectively – Williams with a new career-best in the #92 Alloy Employer Services Chevrolet and Moffitt with his best run in the series since Richmond driving Chris Our’s #02 Destiny Homes / Concrete Supply Chevrolet just hours after ending his losing streak in the Truck Series. Further back, Tommy Joe Martins recovered from rear bumper damage to take 14th while Dexter Bean earned the second-best finish of his XFINITY career, taking 16th in the #90 Sleep Well / Alpha Prime Chevrolet.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This marked the first last-place finish for the #9 in an XFINITY Series race since October 13, 2006, when Kasey Kahne’s #9 Wisk Dodge crashed after 7 laps of the Dollar General 300 at Charlotte.

*Gragson is only the eighth driver to start on pole and finish last in an XFINITY Series race, and the first since May 9, 2008, when Carl Edwards’ #60 Scotts Water Smart Ford crashed after 3 laps of the Diamond Hill Plywood 200 at Darlington.

UNDERSTANDING AN OUT BY “DVP” VERSUS “CRASH”

The official reason out for Gragson was “DVP,” indicating the “Damaged Vehicle Policy.” It is not the first time a driver has been listed out for this reason, but it is the first time it’s resulted in a last-place finish. It’s much more common for a driver involved in an early wreck to fall out due to a “crash.” What distinguishes a “DVP” from a DNF by reason of a “crash” seems to be whether, in the space of six minutes, the team has attempted repairs, sent the driver back on the track to complete laps, and the driver fails to reach minimum speed when time expired. If any one of these elements isn’t met, it is listed as a “crash” instead. For example, when both Joey Logano at Watkins Glen in 2018 and Aric Almirola at Bristol in 2019 suffered minor damage, but were pushed behind the wall without an attempt to return, each were listed out as a “crash.”

This distinction came into focus a couple months ago at Indianapolis, where three drivers involved in the pit road accident – Justin Allgaier, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., and Brennan Poole – all attempted to meet minimum speed after the restart, but failed to do so. The four other drivers involved in the wreck were listed out as a “crash.” This, too, had a wrinkle, as the collected Martin Truex, Jr. was listed out as a “crash” despite returning to the track after repairs, then coming down pit road under caution before climbing out of the car. The “attempt” seems like it has to be made under green – a couple laps to feel it out under caution and then returning to pit road isn’t enough. This also explains Quin Houff’s incident at Pocono listed as a “crash,” where he made two trips to pit road for repairs, but had such a bad vibration each time that they called off the attempt and brought him to the garage.

The most deceptive aspect of a failure to finish under the “DVP” is the clock doesn’t stop if the driver suffers an issue unrelated to the crash, and goes to the garage to address that problem. At Bristol last month, Bayley Currey bumped the wall on Lap 198, completed repairs, and returned to the track to attempt to meet minimum speed. During this attempt, the battery died, and his car stalled on the track. The crew pushed him behind the wall for what they believed was the battery issue, unwittingly ending their race simply because they failed to meet minimum speed before the stall. NASCAR informed them they were out, and had been before they even set to work in the garage area.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

36) #9-Noah Gragson / 16 laps / dvp / led 13 laps

35) #66-Stephen Leicht / 59 laps / fuel pump

34) #6-Ryan Vargas / 81 laps / power steering

33) #47-Josh Reaume / 101 laps / brakes

32) #08-Joe Graf, Jr. / 158 laps / rear gear

2020 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Motorsports Business Management (8)

2nd) JR Motorsports (4)

2nd) Joe Gibbs Racing, Mike Harmon Racing (3)

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

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

2020 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet (19)

2nd) Toyota (11)

2020 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

TRUCKS: Tanner Gray collected in chain-reaction of grinding Kansas wreck

SCREENSHOT: @NASCARONFOX

Tanner Gray picked up the 2nd last-place finish of his NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series career in Saturday’s Clean Harbors 200 at the Kansas Speedway when his #15 Ford Performance Ford was collected in a multi-truck accident after 37 of 139 laps.

The finish, which came in Gray’s 23rd series start, was his second of the year and first since Texas, 12 races ago. In the Truck Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 6th for the #15, the 110th for Ford, and the 161st from a crash. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 43rd for the #15, the 968th for Ford, and the 1,230th for a crash.

With three races to go, Gray joins an even tighter battle for the 2020 LASTCAR Truck Series Championship, joining Bryant Barnhill, Johnny Sauter, and Norm Benning in a tie for the most last-place finishes this year. Benning leads Sauter in the bottom-five tiebreaker, 8-5.

Since he was last featured here, Gray has become the strongest non-Playoff driver in the Truck Series, finishing a career-best 3rd at Michigan, Bristol, and Las Vegas. Curiously, the streak began at Kansas, where in July 25th’s second round of a weekend double-header he took home 4th, his first career Top Five. The Bristol and Vegas runs were two of the series’ most recent three rounds heading into Saturday, followed by a wreck at Talladega that left him 29th. The wreck cost him one spot in points, from 12th to 13th. Gray would rolled off 19th in Saturday’s race.

Starting 36th and last was Ray Ciccarelli, who brought back his #83 CMI Motorsports Chevrolet that had been withdrawn in the most recent round at Talladega. When the race started, he was 3.837 seconds back of the lead, but no longer in last place. At least three others had dropped to the rear: 21st-place Ryan Truex in the #40 Marquis Chevrolet (4.329 seconds back at the start), 33rd-place Dawson Cram in the #41 Chevrolet (4.504 seconds), 34th-place Hailie Deegan, making her series debut in the #17 Ford as Gray’s teammate (4.094 seconds). Norm Benning had also surrendered 26th in his #6 H&H Transport Chevrolet and was just ahead of Ciccarelli for the restart, 3.724 seconds back of the lead.

When the first lap was complete, Cram took over last place, 6.949 seconds back, with Ciccarelli up to 32nd. By Lap 3, Cram passed Ciccarelli’s teammate Tim Viens in the #49 CMI Motorsports Chevrolet, which became the first truck to lose a lap around the 16th circuit. Struggling with a tight condition off Turns 2 and 4, Viens was three down by Lap 25. He also complained that the throttle was sticking.

Next to enter the last-place battle was Jordan Anderson, who this week ran red door numbers on his #3 Bommarito.com Chevrolet. After rolling off 15th, Anderson dropped to 32nd by Lap 16, when he too lost a lap. Radio communications indicated several issues, including a piece of debris on the grille and a track bar issue. The truck had jumped loose under green, feeling like it had “1500 springs in the rear” according to the driver. “It’s gonna be one of those days,” said someone on his radio. After a stop on Lap 33, Anderson was three laps down and took last place from Viens. He pitted a second time, and the crew looked under the hood. The truck lost electrical power, showing 12 volts on the battery, and couldn’t re-fire on pit road. Citing a starter issue, Anderson waited for a tow truck to push him to the garage when trouble broke out on the track.

On Lap 38, Talladega winner Raphael Lessard broke loose on the inside line of a tight Turn 4 battle, then pinned title contender Tyler Ankrum’s #26 Liuna Chevrolet into the outside wall. As Ankrum skated down the track with flames trailing his machine, Parker Kligerman was collected in the #75 Food Country USA Chevrolet. Further back, Tanner Gray was slowing in the outside lane when David Gravel broke loose in front of him in the #24 ChevyGoods.com Chevrolet. Gravel snapped to the right, pinning Gray into the outside wall. Still another wreck nearly unfolded behind the two as Deegan clipped Cram, leading to Colin Garrett’s nose damage to the #44 The Rosie Network Chevrolet as he rear-ended Clay Greenfield’s #68 Rackley Roofing Toyota. Kligerman recovered to finish a strong 15th.

The wreck resulted in a red flag, and crash damage eliminated Gray, Gravel, Ankrum, and Lessard. Gray, the lowest-classified of the four, dropped to 35th when the race restarted. Anderson, eight laps down when the wreck unfolded, returned to action soon after the restart, dropping Gray to last around four laps later. Gravel, Ankrum, and Lessard took the next three spots in the Bottom Five, which was completed by Viens. After running last before the accident, Anderson climbed to finish 30th.

Making his first Truck Series start since October 12, 2019 at Talladega, Timothy Peters took the checkered flag in 7th, turning in a strong run in his unexpected relief driver role after Stewart Friesen’s scheduling conflict. Peters’ performance in the #52 Halmar “Racing To Beat Hunger” Toyota was his best finish in the series since the 2019 Daytona opener, when he also ran 7th for Niece Motorsports.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This marked the first last-place finish for the #15 in a Truck Series race at Kansas.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

36) #15-Tanner Gray / 37 laps / crash

35) #24-David Gravel / 37 laps / crash

34) #26-Tyler Ankrum / 38 laps / crash

33) #4-Raphael Lessard / 39 laps / crash

32) #49-Tim Viens / 91 laps / fuel pump

2020 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Reaume Brothers Racing (4)

2nd) Niece Motorsports (3)

3rd) DGR-Crosley, Norm Benning Racing, ThorSport Racing (2)

4th) CMI Motorsports, FDNY Racing, Halmar Friesen Racing, Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing, Spencer Davis Motorsports, Young’s Motorsports (1)

2020 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet (12)

2nd) Ford (5)

3rd) Toyota (3)

2020 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP