TRUCKS: Handling issues cost Norm Benning speed in Atlanta

PHOTO: Michael Harvey, @mlharvey00

Norm Benning picked up the 17th last-place finish of his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career in Saturday’s FR8 Auctions 200 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway when his #6 MDF A Sign Company / Overton’s Chevrolet was flagged off the track for running too slow after 72 of 130 laps.

The finish, which came in Benning’s 234th series start, was his first of the year and first since August 21, 2020 at Dover, 14 races ago. In the Truck Series’ last-place history, it was the 3rd for running too low, the 16th for the #6, and the 403rd for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 7th for “too slow,” the 64th for the #6, and the 1,767th for Chevrolet.

For the second time in as many races, the underfunded Benning participated in one of the sponsorship promotions put forward by Camping World CEO Marcus Lemonis. In Vegas, he redecorated his black Chevrolet in Camping World blue-and-gold, then avoided an early tangle with a spinning Cory Roper to finish 33rd. This came after Benning picked up his first new backer in years – MDF A Sign Company – to start the season in Daytona. He failed to qualify for the season opener, then ran 32nd on the road course with the names of several supporters on his rear decklid.

The Atlanta promotion put forward by Lemonis was with the Overton’s company and also a tie-in with Women’s History Month. While many of the participants re-wrapped their trucks for the effort, Benning’s kept the blue-and-gold Camping World scheme, but with the new sponsor decals on the hood and quarter-panels. Benning drew the 37th starting spot. 

Rolling off 40th and last was Ross Chastain, who ran a “throwback” to Terry Labonte’s 1984 NASCAR Winston Cup Championship paint scheme with Billy Hagan and Piedmont Airlines. Chastain’s #44 CircleBDiecast.com Chevrolet would be joined by teammate Brett Moffitt, whose team had to change engines the morning of the race, pushing the #45 Overton’s Chevrolet onto the grid just before the command. Also dropping to the rear was Josh Berry, a last-minute driver change in the #02 Kris Wright Motorsports Chevrolet after Kris Wright had a positive COVID test on Friday.

When the race started, Berry was last across the stripe with Moffitt in 39th and Benning back one spot to 38th. At the end of Lap 1, both Berry and Moffitt had passed Benning, who believed he had a loose wheel. The driver struggled to communicate this due to a radio issue. By Lap 9, the last spot had passed to Chandler Smith, whose #18 Safelite Auto Glass Toyota made an unscheduled stop after the driver reported his truck was riding the splitter. He, too, had trouble communicating with his crew, and on Lap 12 shouted “Hitting the splitter everywhere on the race track!” The Kyle Busch Motorsports team would chase the issue the rest of the afternoon, even taking photographs which didn’t indicate visible wear on the splitter. He’d narrowly miss a spot in the Bottom Five by taking 35th.

Smith dropped Benning back to last on Lap 15, when both were two laps down. Benning then lost more ground with a lengthy stop on the 19th circuit, during which the team was unable to squeeze a spring rubber into the spring. On Lap 27, Benning was nearly hit by last-place starter Chastain, who charged his way to 5th and pulled high to pass him off Turn 4. Still struggling with his handling, Benning pitted on Lap 30, electing to take the tail-end penalty for pitting when pit road was closed. Still on pit road on Lap 32, the #6 crew reported the only spring rubber they had was too big to fit, and the crew thought about going behind the wall. The crew managed to fit it in by Lap 36, changed the right side tires, and also took between six and eight turns of adjustment into the left-rear. By then, he was nearly 10 laps down, but still running with the rest of the field.

On Lap 82, Benning was posted by NASCAR for not maintaining minimum speed. Apparently, this wasn’t their first warning, and they were promptly instructed to go to the garage. Benning pitted on Lap 88, which the crew seemed to think was a regular stop for adjustments, but the message was communicated that they had to go behind the wall. Done for the day, Benning reported his truck was “horrible loose” and the tires were wore out. Worse, even if they hadn’t received the penalty, they didn’t have any more tires, so they couldn’t have kept going anyway. The team indicated handling issues were the reason for their DNF, but NASCAR listed it as “too slow.”

The only other DNF on Saturday was Raphael Lessard, whose #24 Richelieu Chevrolet suffered transmission faiure in the final laps. Jennifer Jo Cobb finished 38th when she, too, was making multiple stops to improve her handling on the #10 Fastener Supply Company Chevrolet. With 20 to go, Cobb said she “can’t put any wheel in it at all,” and made a green-flag stop, where she was caught speeding on pit road. Akinori Ogata finished 37th in his first start of the season, six laps ahead of Cobb in his #33 Kyowa Industrial Chevrolet. Rounding out the Bottom Five was Bill Lester, making his return to the Truck Series on the 15th anniversary of his Cup debut at the same track. Lester’s #17 Camping World Ford dropped back early and finished on the same lap as Ogata, seven down to the leaders.

Carson Hocevar tied his second-best Truck Series finish on Saturday by finishing 12th in the #42 Overton’s Chevrolet, which also happened to be his first series start at Atlanta.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*Benning and the #6 haven’t finished last in a Truck Series race at Atlanta since February 28, 2015 when the rear gear failed after 12 laps.

*Benning was also the most recent driver to be classified last due to being “too slow,” which occurred on May 3, 2019 at Dover.

*Other than Johnny Sauter’s disqualification after his 17th-place finish in this race last year, Benning’s 72 laps completed are the most of any Truck Series last-placer at Atlanta.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

40) #6-Norm Benning / 72 laps / too slow

39) #24-Raphael Lessard / 115 laps / transmission

38) #10-Jennifer Jo Cobb / 117 laps / running

37) #33-Akinori Ogata / 123 laps / running

36) #17-Bill Lester / 123 laps / running

2021 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Niece Motorsports (2)

2nd) GMS Racing, Norm Benning Racing (1)

2021 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet (4)

2021 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

PREVIEW: Atlanta entry lists feature the returns of Bill Lester, Ryan Ellis, and – Martin Truex, Jr.?

PHOTO: @NieceMotorsport

Saturday, March 20, 2021 (2:30 P.M. Eastern)

TRUCKS Race 4 of 23

FR8 Auctions 200 at Atlanta

2020 Last-Place Finisher: Johnny Sauter

ENTRY LIST

There were 42 trucks entered for 40 spots as the series returned from a one-week hiatus. That changed after a par of withdrawals by the two teams on the wrong side of the cutline (see below). While Bill Lester (#17) is among those still carrying sponsorship from Camping World, Marcus Lemonis has again stepped in to back several unsponsored entries in Overton’s purple and white in recognition of Women’s History Month. Zane Smith, for example, was about to run a plain white truck similar to GMS Racing teammate Sheldon Creed before both were signed Tuesday.

OVERTON’S ENTRIES

#2-Sheldon Creed

#3-Jordan Anderson

#6-Norm Benning

#21-Zane Smith

#34-Ryan Ellis

#40-Ryan Truex

#41-Dawson Cram

#42-Carson Hocevar

#45-Brett Moffitt

#75-Parker Kligerman

DRIVER CHANGE: #9-CR7 Motorsports

DRIVER SWAP: #98-ThorSport Racing

Codie Rohrbaugh returns to his familiar Grant County Mulch Chevrolet after Grant Enfinger edged Rohrbaugh’s season-best 8th at Daytona with a 7th in Las Vegas. Enfinger slides back into his more familiar #98 entry at ThorSport, which he’ll continue to share with Christian Eckes the rest of the season. 

RETURNING: #11-Spencer Davis Motorsports

Spencer Davis returns to action for the first time since Daytona last month, where he failed to qualify for the season opener. With Hill Motorsports not entered this week (see below), Davis is assured his first start since he ran 23rd in last year’s Phoenix finale, and will roll off in 39th.

RETURNING / DID NOT QUALIFY: #14-Trey Hutchens Racing

RETURNING / DID NOT QUALIFY: #49-CMI Motorsports

Davis edged these two teams, who have also yet to start a race in 2021 and have already been sent home. Trey Hutchens was to be sponsored by Camping World, while Ray Ciccarelli had been entered in his own #49.

DRIVER CHANGE: #17-David Gilliland Racing

Saturday’s race will be exactly 15 years to the day that Bill Lester made his Cup debut at Atlanta, then driving the #23 Waste Management Dodge for Bill Davis Racing. Thanks to sponsorship from Marcus Lemonis at Camping World, Lester’s planned return to the Truck Series will be a reality as he drives in David Gilliland’s place in the #17 Ford. Lester, who recently published his memoir, will make his first start in any of NASCAR’s top three series since August 11, 2007, when he finished 20th for Billy Ballew at the Nashville Superspeedway.

DRIVER CHANGE: #33-Reaume Brothers Racing

Akinori Ogata also returns to action for the first time since last fall at Phoenix, again as driver of Josh Reaume’s #33 Chevrolet. He takes the place of Jesse Iwuji, who ran 31st with the team in Las Vegas. Kyowa Industrial is the listed sponsor.

DRIVER CHANGE: #34-Reaume Brothers Racing

Still another driver returning to the driver’s side of the garage is Ryan Ellis, who hasn’t driven in NASCAR’s top three series since August 24, 2019 at Road America, where he ran 21st for B.J. McLeod, and hasn’t in Trucks since August 27, 2016 at Michigan, where he finished last with Norm Benning. This time around, Ellis takes the place of B.J. McLeod in the second Reaume entry.

DRIVER CHANGE: #44-Niece Motorsports

Ross Chastain makes his first Truck Series start of the season on Saturday, taking the place of Conor Daly, who finished last after a brutal wreck in Las Vegas. This will be Chastain’s first Truck start since last summer at Bristol, where he ran 8th, and comes after he finished 6th in this race last year. What's more, Chastain will run a "throwback" paint scheme on his Circle B Diecast Chevrolet, reminiscent of the Carolina Blue-and-white Piedmont Airlines Chevrolet that Terry Labonte drove to the 1984 Winston Cup Championship.

MISSING: #56-Hill Motorsports

Timmy Hill announced earlier this week that his team will not be entered in this week’s race at Atlanta as the team repairs their truck damaged in Las Vegas, and focuses ahead to Mike Marlar’s run with the team in the upcoming dirt race at Bristol.

DRIVER CHANGE: #02-Young's Motorsports

Late breaking news Friday saw Kris Wright test positive for COVID, putting him out of the #02. Driving in his place will be Josh Berry. For Berry, it will be just his 2nd Truck start and first since 2016, when he finished 13th at Chicagoland for Carlos Contreras.

CUP INVADERS: #44-Ross Chastain, #51-Kyle Busch

Saturday, March 20, 2021 (5:00 P.M. Eastern)

XFINITY Race 6 of 33

Echo Park 250 at Atlanta

2020 Last-Place Finisher: Kody Vanderwal

ENTRY LIST

There are 43 drivers entered for 40 spots, and once again the same three entries ho haven’t seen a single green-flag lap in 2021 are not in the show. (see below).

DRIVER SWAP: #13-Motorsports Business Management

DRIVER CHANGE: #61-Motorsports Business Management

One week after he was swapped out for David Starr, Chad Finchum is swapped back into his ride in MBM’s #61, moving David Star back to the #13 since his eventful night in Homestead. Starr takes the place of Loris Hezemans, who isn’t entered after a 31st-place finish in his return to the series with a combined effort between MBM and the Reaume Brothers. UPDATE: Finchum and Starr have since again swapped rides with Starr in the #61 and Finchum in the #13.

DRIVER CHANGE: #17-Rick Ware Racing

After J.J. Yeley’s strong 13th-place finish in the XFINITY race at Phoenix last week, Cody Ware returns to the #17 for the first time since the Daytona road course, where he ran 25th. Nurtec ODT, Ware’s sponsor on the Cup side, will back the effort. This will be Ware’s first XFINITY start at Atlanta since 2016, when he ran 31st for the same team.

DID NOT QUALIFY: #31-Jordan Anderson Racing

DID NOT QUALIFY: #77-Bassett Racing

DID NOT QUALIFY: #03-Our Motorsports

Anderson, Bassett, and the original second team for Chris Our are all once again out of the field. Of course, Our still has two cars in the field after the earlier acquisition of the #23, formerly of RSS and Josh Reaume’s effort, and Blaine Perkins will again be the driver after his debut last Saturday. Incidentally, Ronnie Bassett, Jr. was slated to run the #77 in place of his brother Dillon at Phoenix.

DRIVER CHANGE: #54-Joe Gibbs Racing

Two-time XFINITY Series champion and last week’s Cup race winner Martin Truex, Jr. will on Saturday make his first XFINITY start since November 20, 2010, when he ran 12th for Michael Waltrip Racing in the Homestead finale. Carrying sponsorship from Stanley Tools, Truex will take the place of Ty Gibbs in the stout JGR entry, one week after Gibbs followed up his Daytona win with a runner-up at Phoenix.

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

Taking the place of Stefan Parsons, 18th last week in Phoenix, is a returning Mason Massey, who ran ten races for B.J. McLeod last season. Saturday will be his first series start since last fall’s double-header at Richmond, where he ran 27th in the first race and 21st in the second.

CUP INVADERS: #54-Martin Truex, Jr.

Sunday, March 21, 2021

CUP Race 6 of 36

Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta

2020 Last-Place Finisher: B.J. McLeod

ENTRY LIST

There are 39 drivers entered for 40 spots on Sunday, marking the fourth-straight short field in five races, but ending a streak of three consecutive 38-car fields.

RETURNING: #33-Penske Racing

Austin Cindric returns for his first Cup start since his breakout run in this year’s Daytona 500, where he ran among the leaders for several laps before he was collected in the final-lap tangle. The start will come less than a week after he won another XFINITY race at Phoenix, following up his championship-clinching victory in 2020. He rolls off 39th and last this Sunday.

DRIVER CHANGE: #53-Rick Ware Racing

Joey Gase makes his third start of 2021 and first since Las Vegas, where he ran 34th. This time, he runs Ware’s #53, just as he did in this year’s 20th-place finish in the Daytona 500. He takes the place of Garrett Smithley, who was a late driver change with J.J. Yeley last week in Phoenix. Smithley ran 34th that day, the last car under power.

TEAM UPDATE: #78-Live Fast Racing

Scott Heckert was originally slated to rejoin this team for the first time since the Daytona Road Course, but team co-owner Matt Tifft confirmed that B.J. McLeod will again be the driver of the #78 Surface Sunscreen Ford.

TODAY IN LASTCAR HISTORY (March 18, 1979): Hueytown, Alabama native Keith Davis picked up the first last-place finish of his NASCAR Winston Cup career in the Atlanta 500 at Atlanta when his #53 Davis Racing Chevrolet, which started last in the 40-car field, broke the rear end after 15 laps. This marked the first last-place finish for the #53 in a Cup race since June 2, 1966 by Jimmy Helms. Davis had planned to make his debut the previous year at Talladega, but he and team owner Harold Miller were suspended by NASCAR when a bottle of nitrous oxide was found in the car. Davis did return to Talladega in ’79 to make his only other Cup start. Again, he dropped out early – this time with engine trouble – and finished 30th out of 39. His last Cup attempt came at Pocono on July 22, 1984, where he was the race’s only DNQ.

ARCA: First-lap pileup leaves Toni Breidinger the odd one out in Phoenix

PHOTO: @ToniBreidinger

by William Soquet

LASTCAR.info Guest Contributor

Toni Breidinger finished last for the first time in her ARCA Menards Series career when her #02 Young’s Motorsports Chevrolet crashed without completing any of the 150 laps in the General Tire 150 at Phoenix Raceway.

The finish came in her fifth series start.

Tenured followers of the ARCA Menards Series will remember the name Toni Breidinger. The California native started climbing the racing ranks with her twin sister, Annie, and both moved up to the USAC ranks. There, Toni eventually earned the title of “Winningest Female in USAC”. Her first ride in ARCA was a three-race slate with Venturini Motorsports in 2018, a partnership that yielded a top-ten in her debut race at Madison. After an unsuccessful bid to become a W Series participant in late 2018 and early 2019, she ran a season of late model races with GMS Racing as part of the Drivers Edge Development program in 2019 and ran for David Pletcher’s DLP Motorsports in the Carolina Pro Late Model Series in 2020. For the 2021 season, Breidinger aligned with Young’s Motorsports for a limited schedule in the ARCA Menards Series and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

Since the General Tire 150 was a combination race with the ARCA Menards Series West, a stout 30-car entry list arrived at the track on Saturday. A strong West contingent showed up, including a three-car Bill McAnally Racing stable, two Sunrise Ford Racing entries, longtime independents like Todd Souza, Bridget Burgess and Bobby Hillis, established pairings such as Zane Smith and Steve McGowan, and a host of new driver-team pairings. Takuma Koga moved from Performance P-1 Motorsports to Pitts Racing, and Tony Toste took over the 77 machine. Dean Thompson and High Point Racing made their series debut, and Paul Pedroncelli, Jr. entered his first West race since 2019. The national ARCA contingent made a strong showing as well. Jack Wood increased his slate with GMS Racing from just the Sioux Chief Showdown to the entire schedule. Tim Richmond, Drew Dollar and Thad Moffitt continued part-time schedules in their cars. Fast Track Racing fielded two series debuts: USAC and dirt midget racer Mark Lowrey drove the #10 machine, and 17-year-old North Dakota sprint car racer Bryce Haugeberg drove the #12 car.

Noticeably absent was Wayne Peterson Racing, which didn't field a car in an ARCA race for the first time since Daytona in 2014. Plans for the team are still unknown going forward this season.

In the only practice session of the day, Bobby Hillis Jr. was the slowest, only getting one lap in at a time of about 51 seconds. The broadcast mentioned that Hillis had encountered issues in practice and brought out a caution flag, perhaps explaining the lack of laps. Of those that got to speed, Brad Smith was slowest, clocking in at just over 33 seconds. Qualifying was cancelled due to rare desert moisture, and Hillis claimed the 30th and final starting spot.

The start of the race was also delayed a while due to intermittent showers. When the race did commence, it was an even start, with no notable stragglers at the tail end of the field. The field made it about fifteen seconds before the last-place battle was settled for the race. Gracie Trotter, continuing a part-time schedule for Venturini Motorsports in the Mobil 1 machine, washed up a little bit in turn one and Zane Smith held his line, sending both cars spinning in the middle of the turn. Wood, who started the race right behind Smith in eighth, was collected almost immediately. After a handful of cars dived low and high to avoid the incident, Breidinger stayed in the middle of the track and plowed in to Trotter in a hood-to-hood collision that terminally damaged both cars, smoke spewing from the hood of the 02. Wood and Smith both retired as a result of the incident as well, wiping out a handful of formidable contenders. Brad Smith rounded out the Bottom Five, scoring his third-straight DNF (dating back to the 2020 season). The team cited the differential gear as the reason for the early exit, which occurred after 15 laps.

Attrition continued even after the bottom five filled up. An indecisive Drew Dollar punted Haugeberg as the latter was running the preferred racing line through turns three and four, ending the North Dakotan’s night after 32 laps. Hillis and Koga both found the wall with the rear ends of their respective race cars. In the closing stages of the race, the MAVTV cameras panned late to a destroyed Nick Sanchez machine in turn one. Motorsport.com’s Jim Utter reported that Mark Lowrey made contact with Sanchez to spark the incident. Sanchez claimed he was clipped by the 10, and that may well have happened, although without a replay it is impossible to place blame on either driver.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
30) #02-Toni Breidinger / 0 laps / crash
29) #21-Jack Wood / 0 laps / crash
28) #17W-Zane Smith / 0 laps / crash
27) #25-Gracie Trotter / 0 laps / crash
26) #48-Brad Smith / 15 laps / differential

2021 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES OWNERS CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Rette Jones Racing, Young’s Motorsports (1)

2021 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES MANUFACTURERS CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet, Ford (1)

2021 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP

CUP: Timmy Hill, MBM have finished last in three of previous six Phoenix starts

PHOTO: Dominic Aragon, TheRacingExperts.com

Timmy Hill picked up the 16th last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career in Sunday’s Instacart 500 at the Phoenix Raceway when his #66 LasVegas.net / Diamondback Surveying Toyota fell out with engine trouble after 15 of 312 laps.

The finish, which came in Hill’s 132nd series start, was his second of the year and first since Homestead, two races ago. In the Cup Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 63rd for the #66, the 169th for Toyota, and the 1,097th from engine trouble. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 81st for the #66, the 353rd for Toyota, and the 1,097th from engine woes.

As at Homestead, Hill’s Phoenix weekend began with a strong run in the XFINITY Series race. Carrying sponsorship from Interstate Batteries for the first time, Hill surged late in the race to finish 14th. This was a new season-best and track-best – his previous an 18th in 2011. It was also a recovery from his first DNF of the season at Las Vegas, where he finished 37th. That weekend, his Hill Motorsports team in the Truck Series was one of the last to join Marcus Lemonis’ Camping World challenge, the team wrapping the truck until early race morning. Timmy’s brother Tyler drove that night, but finished 35th after a pair of accidents.

On the Cup side, however, Timmy Hill and Motorsports Business Management have continued to struggle just to finish. He started last in Las Vegas and climbed just two spots before the finish, coming home 36th as the final car under power. The team then turned around his blue Toyota to run at Phoenix. They ran the same paint scheme from Vegas, but Diamondback Land Surveying only had its logo on the hood. The two decals on both doors were removed. The car pulled 37th through metric qualifying.

James Davison drew the 38th and final spot in his return to Rick Ware Racing’s #15 Smart Sanitizer Chevrolet, but he wouldn’t start there on Sunday. No fewer than six drivers were sent to the rear for various pre-race penalties. On Saturday, three were docked for twice failing pre-race inspection: 2nd-place Kyle Larson in the #5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, 10th-place William Byron in the #24 Axalta Chevrolet, and 31st-place Cody Ware in the #51 Nurtec ODT Chevrolet. Garrett Smithley in 34th was sent to the rear as J.J. Yeley was on the preliminary entry list to run the #53 Turf Sellers Chevrolet. On Sunday, NASCAR officials found issues with the side skirt of Chase Elliott’s #9 UniFirst Chevrolet, dropping the defending champion from 6th for unapproved adjustments. Quin Houff rounded out the group in his #00 Mount-N-Lock Chevrolet, dropping him from 36th for unapproved adjustments of his own.

By the time the field took the green, however, Timmy Hill had dropped to last place, and followed Cody Ware on the inside line. Ware had reported a possible engine issue during the pace laps, but still held off Hill at the start. By Lap 7, Hill caught Davison, and the pair were side-by-side, just 0.022 seconds apart at the stripe. On Lap 11, both passed Smithley, and again, Hill was just ahead of him at the stripe.

On Lap 16, Smithley was the first driver to lose a lap followed by Hill, but as the spotter navigated him through traffic, Hill pulled down pit road. Hill dropped to last place the next time by as the crew diagnosed an engine issue. “Check the spark plug wires, guys,” said Hill’s radio channel on Lap 21. “It smell like it blew up, Tim?” There was little radio traffic afterwards, and on Lap 43, NASCAR’s garage official confirmed “66 out, engine.”

Finishing 37th was Anthony Alfredo, who lost a lap early in his #38 MDS Ford, then tangled with Cody Ware in Turn 2. Ware’s car slid up the track into Alfredo, putting both hard into the outside wall. Alfredo was done, and at first it seemed Ware’s race was over, too. “It is what it is,” said Ware on pit road. “You guys built a fast race car. Just got into it with a lapped car, what are you gonna do?"

But the Ware crew managed to get the #51 back on track, and cleared the “Crash Clock” with around two minutes remaining. Unfortunately, it was after this that the engine issue from earlier returned, and the car started to lose power. “You want me to ride it until it blows up?” the driver asked. Despite this, when he pulled into the garage on Lap 114, NASCAR officials deemed him out of the race due to a crash instead of engine failure. Alfredo was officially declared out on Lap 118.

Rounding out the Bottom Five were Josh Bilicki, whose #52 Junction Fuels Ford lost power steering in the final laps, and teammate Garrett Smithley, who was the final driver to finish under power, 12 laps down to race winner Martin Truex, Jr.

Although he ended up finishing well back in the order, Corey LaJoie stretched his fuel and tires late in Stage 2 to lead 12 green-flag laps. This almost doubled his career total of 13 laps led in Cup, which all came last year, and marked the first time he’d led more than six laps in any one Cup race. LaJoie finished 27th, one lap down.

Bubba Wallace also enjoyed perhaps his best run since this year’s Daytona 500, his #23 McDonald’s Toyota leading a season-high four laps and driving his way up as high as 7th, passing Kevin Harvick late in the final stage. A gamble to stay out on old tires didn’t pay off, though it did put him into the lead. Taking on fresh tires after still another caution allowed him to salvage a 16th-place finish – a new season-best. Prior to Sunday, Wallace had only finished on the lead lap in two Phoenix races with a track-best 10th-place finish in 2018.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*Motorsports Business Management has now finished last in three of the last six Cup races held at Phoenix. All three were with Hill, who now has four last-place runs at the track along with his November 15, 2015 run with Premium Motorsports.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

38) #66-Timmy Hill / 15 laps / engine

37) #38-Anthony Alfredo / 87 laps / crash

36) #51-Cody Ware / 101 laps / crash

35) #52-Josh Bilicki / 258 laps / power steering

34) #53-Garrett Smithley / 300 laps / running

2021 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Motorsports Business Management (2)

2nd) Rick Ware Racing, StarCom Racing, Stewart-Haas Racing (1)

2021 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet, Toyota (2)

2nd) Ford (1)

2021 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

XFINITY: Jesse Little beats teammate for last place; Brown and Currey lead several impressive underdog performances in Phoenix

IMAGE: FS1, Screenshot by No Tires Just Gas on YouTube

Jesse Little picked up the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career in Saturday’s Call 811 Before You Dig 200 at the Phoenix Raceway when his #78 Skuttle Tight Toyota was involved in an accident after 44 of 200 laps.

The finish came in Little’s 38th series start. In the XFINITY Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 8th for the #78, the 145th for Toyota, and the 343rd from a crash. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 38th for the #78, the 352nd for Toyota, and the 1,243rd from an accident.

In 2020, after his family’s JJL Motorsports team in the Truck Series was sold to Logan Puckett to form Diversified Motorsports Enterprises, Little made the jump to the XFINITY Series full-time. Driving for JD Motorsports in the #4 Chevrolet, he finished a season-best 10th at Pocono in June, then matched that run that August in Daytona. Among his backers was Skuttle Tight, which sponsored him in Trucks and also followed him this past offseason to B.J. McLeod Motorsports.

Skuttle Tight would back Little again in Saturday’s race, already his fourth different paint scheme in as many races this year. His season-best came on the Daytona infield road course, where he ran 14th after a 17th in the season opener on the oval. He then struggled on the 1.5-mile tracks, finishing two laps down at both Homestead and Las Vegas for finishes of 32nd and 26th, respectively. He finished 21st and 29th in both Phoenix races last year, and would start 23rd on Saturday by metric qualifying.

Rolling off 40th and last was Loris Hezemans, making his second series start and first since last summer at Road America, where he too ran for B.J. McLeod. After Our Motorsports acquired the RSS Racing / Reaume Brothers Racing #23, the Reaume team joined forces with Motorsports Business Management’s #13 team, putting Hezemans in a Hezeberg Systems Chevrolet with Reaume’s number font on the doors and roof. The preliminary entry list showed Chad Finchum in the #13 instead, which meant Hezemans would incur a redundant tail-end penalty prior to the start.

Hezemans had some issues prior to the start. The team couldn’t hear him on the radio, and told him to move the microphone closer to his mouth. The car then wouldn’t fire, but before NASCAR could bring out the push truck, the team told him to “put it in second gear and mash the clutch in.” He caught the tail end of the field, pulled to the apron to index the wheel, and turned on the brake fans as the field prepared to take the green. He remained in last for the start, 4.9 seconds back of the lead. “No pressure out back,” the spotter told him.

Matt Mills on pit road early at Phoenix.
PHOTO: Paul Vicinanza, @philvicinanza

On Lap 4, Matt Mills dropped to last place, his #5 J.F. Electric Chevrolet 10.711 seconds back of the lead and 0.475 back of Hezemans. The next time by, Mills was 3.630 seconds back of Hezemans, though the team soon told him “You’re running Top 20 lap times here.” Next to enter the last-place battle was Josh Williams, who was running flat-out in his #92 DGM Racing Chevrolet as the car wouldn’t pull down the straightaway. By Lap 13, Mills had dropped Williams to last, and the #92 team spotter said it sounded like a carburetor issue.

But it was Mills who first trailed smoke on Lap 15, pulling to the apron as the driver said “I think we’re done here.” He made it to pit road, and after the crew looked under the hood, was pushed behind the wall around Lap 19. NASCAR confirmed this on the 22nd circuit. “You think we’re done here?” asked someone on his channel. “No, we’re fixing to get it running again.” The crew discovered a line had come loose and touched the wire to the alternator, causing a short.

Meanwhile, Little had also dropped off the pace and made it to pit road on Lap 24. The crew topped off the fluids, then sent him back out so they wouldn’t lose a lap. With the competition caution out on the track, the team checked for a leak, then sent him back out. Meanwhile, Williams went behind the wall on Lap 26 to address his engine issue. The DGM crew made quick repairs, and his #92 returned by the next lap, when he was four down in 39th. Little and Mills both continued on laps down to the leader while the crew continued to work on Mills’ car.

But on Lap 47, as the caution fell to end Stage 1, Mills’ radio reported “Hey, Dave, if you’re still on, one car did wreck so there’s a spot.” This turned out to be Little, who apparently lost the brakes heading into Turn 1 and backed hard into the outside wall. Little climbed out without serious injury, but his car was done for the day. “Just trying to get caught up so we could work on it,” said Little’s team on Lap 50. 

Looking to gain at least one spot on the day, Mills’ team re-fired the engine on Lap 52 and returned to the track, still trailing smoke. The smoke started to clear up two laps later, and after another pit stop, he was 28 laps from catching Little. The team also decided to run scuffed tires for the rest of the race, and the driver looked to nurse the car home as it was otherwise handling well. On Lap 84, Mills dropped Little to last place. Mills would ultimately climb to finish 35th.

Engine failures in the first half eliminated JR Motorsports teammates Noah Gragson in the #9 Bass Pro Shops / True Timber Camo and Michael Annett in the #1 Pilot / Flying J Chevrolet. Gragson’s car began dropping fluid on an early restart, and a small fire developed before he pulled behind the wall, out of the race. By staying out on old tires, Ryan Sieg briefly took the lead in the #39 CMR Construction & Roofing Ford, only to be put in the wall in Turn 1, ending his run. Rounding out the group was still another JRM entry, and the car who wrecked Sieg – Josh Berry – whose #8 Chevrolet Accessories Chevrolet was bounced into the wall by Santino Ferrucci, then hit again by Blaine Perkins before a hard driver’s side crash in Turn 4. A displeased Berry climbed from his car and gave a “double bird” to passing traffic.

Ferrucci went on to finish 15th – his second straight top-fifteen finish following a 13th last week in Vegas. His was just one of several impressive underdog performances.

Brandon Brown scored a career-best 3rd, taking just his second top-five finish in the #68 Larry’s Hard Pink Lemonade Chevrolet. Just a week after picking up a last-minute sponsor in Las Vegas, Brown now sits 9th in points with just one finish worse than 11th in the season’s first five races. Brown was running 11th when the final caution fell with 8 laps to go.

Bayley Currey earned a career-best 7th-place finish, his first Top 10 in his 55th XFINITY Series start. His bright yellow #74 Lerner & Rowe Chevrolet was turned around quickly from last week’s race in Las Vegas, and was soon battling inside the Top 15. The finish is a new team-best for Mike Harmon Racing, which broke through last year after many strong runs with Currey and teammate Kyle Weatherman. It was Weatherman who scored the team’s first top-ten finish with an 8th last summer in Kentucky.

Jeremy Clements finished 10th in his #51 First Pacific Funding Chevrolet, which is already his third top-ten finish in only five races this season.

J.J. Yeley earned still another impressive finish for Rick Ware Racing and SS-Green Light Racing’s XFINITY program in his first NASCAR start of the year. From 33rd on the grid, he climbed to the Top 20 in Stage 1, then his #17 Diamondback Land Surveying Chevrolet engaged in a spirited battle with Riley Herbst for 11th place with 11 to go. He briefly entered the Top 10, holding 9th with 8 laps to go, before he slipped to 13th on the final restart – a run made all the sweeter by coming on his home track.

Timmy Hill charged from 39th on the grid to finish 14th – a new season-best to improve on his 16th at Homestead. Running a black Toyota with Interstate Batteries on the hood, Hill peaked in the final laps, earning a new track-best finish for him in the series. His previous best of 18th came back in 2011, when he drove for Rick Ware. Prior to Saturday, he’d finished no better than 23rd at the track since then, but only once failed to finish.

Behind these drivers, Colby Howard finished 16th despite missing the rear panel on his #15 Project Hope Foundation Chevrolet. Tommy Joe Martins overcame contact with the Turn 2 wall to finish 17th in his #44 Diamond Gusset Jeans Chevrolet. Stefan Parsons and Jeffrey Earnhardt found their way into the Top 10 with Parsons rebounding from his rough Las Vegas race to take 18th in the #99 Sokal Digital Toyota, followed by Earnhardt’s #0 KSDT CPA Chevrolet. 

Finishing 20th was Jade Buford, who in the final stage was running much better than that. In fact, his #48 Big Machine Spiked Coolers Chevrolet was running around 10th place inside the final 50 laps. He re-took the 10th spot with 29 to go, but with 21 to go bounced off the outside wall while racing Riley Herbst for 11th. The team still managed to keep him on the lead lap and ahead of several other fast cars.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This marked the first last-place finish for the #78 in an XFINITY Series race at Phoenix. The number’s most recent last-place run in the series came August 23, 2020 at Dover with Vinnie Miller behind the wheel.

*This streak of six consecutive first-time XFINITY last-place finishers is the longest since March 5 through May 5, 2005, when nine consecutive races saw first-time last-placers. Three other nine-race streaks occurred from August 27, 1982 through February 26, 1983; February 22 through April 19, 1997; and July 8 through September 7, 2001. The all-time record stands at 18 - the first 18 XFINITY races ever run back in 1982.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

40) #78-Jesse Little / 44 laps / crash

39) #9-Noah Gragson / 67 laps / engine

38) #1-Michael Annett / 93 laps / engine

37) #39-Ryan Sieg / 133 laps / crash / led 2 laps

36) #8-Josh Berry / 146 laps / crash

2021 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) RSS Racing / Reaume Brothers Racing (2)

2nd) B.J. McLeod Motorsports, DGM Racing, Stewart-Haas Racing (1)

2021 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet (3)

2nd) Ford, Toyota (1)

2021 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP