CUP: For the second-straight race, Aric Almirola finishes last after a brutal hit at Dover

PHOTO: @NASCARONFOX

Aric Almirola picked up the 14th last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career in Sunday’s Drydene 400 at Dover International Speedway when his #10 Smithfield / Weis Markets Ford crashed after 300 of 400 laps.

The finish, which came in Almirola’s 365th series start, was his third of the year and second in a row. In the Cup Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 37th for the #10, the 614th from a crash, and the 708th for Ford. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 129th for the #10, the 975th for Ford, and the 1,253rd from a crash.

One week after his wreck in Darlington, Almirola returned to his familiar black-and-white colors, this time with associate backing from Weis Markets on the quarter-panels and rear decklid. He rolled off 32nd.

Starting 37th and last was Josh Bilicki, who had new sponsorship from Bullshooter.com on his #52 Ford. Bilicki was joined at the rear by the #77 Diamond Creek Water Chevrolet, which was slated to roll off 29th with Justin Haley behind the wheel. When Haley was then sidelined late Thursday due to COVID-19 protocols, Josh Berry was tabbed as driver to make his series debut. Also sent to the rear was Chase Elliott, whose #9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet was set to start 8th before twice failing inspection. Ryan Newman ended up next to Elliott instead of 13th, despite his team contesting that NASCAR incorrectly concluded they made unapproved adjustments to their #6 Guaranteed Rate Ford, as they had midway through the race in Kansas.

When the race started, Elliott and Newman lined up ahead of Bilicki and Berry, who occupied the final two spots with Berry in last on the inside line. Berry pulled up on Bilicki in Turns 1 and 2, putting them side-by-side through the corners until Bilicki pulled out ahead. Berry then caught and re-passed Bilicki on Lap 6, and would ultimately climb to 33rd before he was lapped for the first time. Bilicki, meanwhile, was caught by the leaders on Lap 16. Martin Truex, Jr. passed Bilicki on his inside while runner-up William Byron elected the high lane, allowing Byron to complete a pass for the lead.

Bilicki held the last spot until Lap 40, when during pit stops, teammate Garrett Smithley took over the spot in the #53 RichMar Florists Chevrolet. Smithley then dropped to last yet another Rick Ware Racing entry in James Davison, whose #15 Smart Sanitizer Chevrolet took over the spot on Lap 41. Davison had expressed concerns with the padding in his helmet, and was requesting it be changed out with different material in his helmet bag. He was five laps down when, on Lap 82, he dropped Bilicki back to last place.

Meanwhile, Kyle Busch in the #18 M&M’s Mix Toyota was struggling to stay on the lead lap since early reports around Lap 30 that his car was not running on all eight cylinders. Believing it to be a valve spring issue, Busch was instructed to stay on the track until he saw smoke. By Lap 53, he was in 29th, the last car on the lead lap, and a full 6.674 seconds back of the next car in line.

On Lap 69, Corey LaJoie slowed off Turn 2 in his #7 Drydene Chevrolet with a flat right-front tire. LaJoie had been bumped by Erik Jones and bounced off the outside wall, but like Busch had managed to not fall to last place. On Lap 74, LaJoie was four down – on the same lap as Smithley, Bilicki, and Davison, but still holding the 34th spot.

The next last-place contender arrived on Lap 120, at the end of Stage 1. That time by, rookie contender Chase Briscoe was running 19th in his #14 Ford Performance Racing School Ford. At the time, his was the last car on the lead lap, and directly in the sights of then-leader Kyle Larson. Entering Turn 1, Briscoe apparently cut a right-rear tire and slapped the outside wall with the right-rear corner of his Ford. This drew the caution immediately before the end of the stage, allowing him to come down pit road. While Briscoe’s rear deck was knocked loose by the impact, he managed to reach minimum speed.

Moments after Almirola's wreck, as
seen from the stands.
PHOTO: No Tires Just Gas on YouTube

During this same caution, Busch’s crew raised the hood and took particular notice of the passenger side of the engine bay. Davison had hardly taken last from Bilicki on Lap 126 when on Lap 127, Busch took last from them both, and returned to the track 7 laps down. Busch’s team reported the issue was repaired, but Busch was frustrated that he had no chance of getting back on the lead lap. “Just a test session for never racing here again with these cars,” he said. Now fighting a tight condition on the restart, Busch put Davison back to last place on Lap 155.

Briscoe’s damaged car pulled behind the wall by Lap 162, when he was shown nine laps down, and took last from Davison the next time by. There was little radio traffic on Briscoe’s main channel until Lap 200, when the crew assembled back at the pit stall. On Lap 203, Briscoe re-fired his engine, and by the time he was back up to speed, was a full 50 laps down, 40 laps behind 36th-place Davison. With still just under half the race remaining, Briscoe would run the rest of the race unless he couldn’t maintain minimum speed.

By Lap 278, all 37 cars were still running, and Briscoe had lost another 5 laps. The team soon had radio trouble, and couldn’t hear their driver to make further adjustments. On Lap 300, Briscoe had just completed his 242nd lap, breaking the record for most laps complete by a last-place finisher at Dover – 241 by Dale Jarrett’s #44 UPS Toyota on June 4, 2007 – when the caution came out.

Up until this point, Almirola had enjoyed one of his best runs of the year. He was running on the lead lap in 13th, but soon felt something was wrong in the front of his car. He’d barely reported it when a possible suspension issue entering Turn 3 sent his car straight into the outside wall. A small fire erupted in the right-front corner, and Almirola was noticeably woozy as he climbed from his wrecked machine. Almirola was later checked and released from the care center, but his day was done. Briscoe finally dropped Almirola to last on Lap 362.

By the time Briscoe caught Almirola, B.J. McLeod had pulled his #78 Koolbox Ice Ford behind the wall with engine trouble. If Briscoe stayed on the track, and the approaching rain held off, he’d have a chance at passing McLeod for the 36th spot. With four laps to go, Briscoe’s car slowed and pulled to the apron, apparently done for the day. But at the finish, Briscoe had edged McLeod by a single lap, moving him to 35th, his car still under power. Bilicki and Davison rounded out the Bottom Five.

Kyle Busch reached 27th by the checkered flag.

The race saw all four of Hendrick Motorsports’ cars sweep the top four finishing positions, a feat a Cup team hasn’t accomplished November 20, 2005, when four of the five Roush-Fenway Racing entries swept the spots at Homestead (Kenny Wallace finished 21st). The first time a team swept the top four occurred on December 30, 1956 at the Titusville-Cocoa (Florida) Speedway road course, when DePaolo Engineering saw four of its five teams sweep the spots. Their fifth car, the #J12 driven by Joe Weatherly, finished last with clutch issues. It was the first last-place finish of Weatherly’s career.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This marked only the second last-place finish for the #10 in a Cup race at Dover. The only other occurrence was back on May 15, 1977, when Raymond Williams’ unsponsored Ford lost the engine on the first lap of the Mason-Dixon 500.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

37) #10-Aric Almirola / 300 laps / crash

36) #78-B.J. McLeod / 334 laps / engine

35) #14-Chase Briscoe / 335 laps / running

34) #52-Josh Bilicki / 381 laps / running

33) #15-James Davison / 382 laps / running

2021 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Stewart-Haas Racing (3)

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

3rd) Chip Ganassi Racing, Front Row Motorsports, Hendrick Motorsports, StarCom Racing (1)

2021 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet (6)

2nd) Ford (5)

3rd) Toyota (2)

2021 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

XFINITY: Radio issues and a blown water line knock David Starr out of the running at Dover

PHOTO: @starr_racing

David Starr picked up the 3rd last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career in Saturday’s Drydene 200 at the Dover International Speedway when his #61 Special Report with Bret Baier Special Report Toyota lost the engine after 18 of 200 laps.

The finish, which came in Starr’s 217th series start, was his first of the season and first in the XFINITY Series since August 18, 2017 at Bristol, 120 races ago. In the XFINITY Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 18th for the #61, the 37th from overheating, and the 146th for Toyota. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 18th for the #61, the 146th for Toyota, and the 179th for overheating.

In his first year as part of Motorsports Business Management’s three-car lineup, the veteran Starr has already turned heads with one of his best runs in years. Starting last at Homestead on February 27th, Starr was on the lead lap in 12th place with just two laps to go in regulation. But just moments before race leader Noah Gragson was about to put him a lap down, one of Starr’s worn tires let go, putting both drivers into the wall. Despite the damage, Starr finished 21st.

Since Homestead, Starr has steadily improved, particularly in the three races leading into Saturday’s event at Dover. He ran 22nd in Martinsville, then finished on the lead lap at both Talladega and Darlington, taking 16th and 17th, respectively. At Dover, Starr picked up new sponsorship from FOX News anchor Brett Baier in conjunction with Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C. Children’s National would sponsor the roof of Starr’s car and the hood of the #74 Chevrolet of Bayley Currey, still in the silver-and-black of its Bobby Allison “throwback” scheme from last week. Both Starr and Baier made an appearance at Children’s National on Friday.

Starr rolled off in 21st, five spots ahead of Currey in 26th.

Starting 40th was Gray Gaulding, who looked for a turnaround after back-to-back DNFs at Talladega and Darlington. Unlike the latter race, Gaulding’s #52 Panini Chevrolet fired up at the command and followed the field onto the track. As he was reminded of the blown tire issues from the ARCA race the day before, others dropped to the rear of the field. COVID-19 protocols put Justin Haley out of the #11 Leaf Filter Gutter Protection Chevrolet, and replacement Zane Smith fell to the back. When he did, another car had dropped from 35th – Kyle Sieg, making his NASCAR debut in the #90 Independent Metal Strap Ford. The younger brother of Ryan Sieg was entered in a second RSS Racing Ford which was fielded by Mario Gosselin’s DGM Racing. The younger Sieg was among those who waved Smith to start ahead of him, putting the #11 higher up the running order.

When the race started, Kyle Sieg was last to cross the stripe, 4.9 seconds back of the leader. The gap opened to 7.269 seconds by the end of Lap 1, then 10.609 by Lap 4. On Lap 10, the spot fell to Colby Howard, who pitted his #15 Drydene Chevrolet due to concerns his left-rear tire was going down. By the time Howard returned to the track, he was the only driver off the lead lap, a full three circuits down to the leaders. Sieg, meanwhile, would lose his first lap on the 14th circuit.

During this entire run leading to the Lap 20 competition caution, Starr’s car began to have handling problems and lose power. By Lap 19, the driver was slow into Turn 1, attracting the attention of NASCAR. Unfortunately for Starr, he’d also been having radio trouble, so the MBM team wasn’t aware of the issue until the yellow came out. By Lap 21, the team instructed him to go around to the backstretch entrance to the garage area, where the crew was waiting. MBM also had Starr’s remaining pit crew go to teammate Matt Jaskol’s pit box to service the #13 Auto Parts 4 Less Toyota. Back at Starr’s garage stall, the crew reported a water line had blown, which caused water to get under the tires, resulting in the handling problems. With the loss of water, the team believed they’d blown a hole in the head gasket or the piston, so by Lap 25 declared they were done for the day. NASCAR announced they were out of the race for overheating issues some time later.

Jaskol, now with Starr’s pit crew, didn’t get to turn many more laps. On Lap 58, his car was involved in the day’s most frightening accident. Coming off Turn 2, Jesse Little spun his #78 Apex Wireless Chevrolet followed by Josh Williams’ #92 Alloy Employer Services Chevrolet. As Jaskol checked-up, he too was turned into the ensuing pileup on the apron. Jaskol’s car turned 180 degrees, then backed into the nose of Little’s stopped car, causing it to ramp up and over Little’s #78. None of the three drivers were injured, but the impact of Jaskol’s car sheared away part of Little’s roof. The crew talked briefly about getting Jaskol back on the track, but when wreckers had to separate the two cars, they soon joined Williams in the garage.

Rounding out the Bottom Five was Zane Smith, whose run for Kaulig Racing ended with a tangle with Brandon Jones in Turns 1 and 2, eliminating both drivers. Kyle Sieg, who ran last in the early laps, earned the Lucky Dog under Smith’s caution. He was back racing his way through the field when an apparent flat right-front tire sent him into the outside wall, leaving him 34th.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This marked the first last-place finish for the #61 in an XFINITY race since September 11, 2020, when Chad Finchum’s Smithbilt Homes Toyota was disqualified after finishing 27th in the Go Bowling 250 at Richmond. The number hadn’t finished last in an XFINITY race at Dover since September 20, 2003, when Justin Ashburn’s run in the #61 31-W Insulation Chevrolet ended with engine failure after 6 laps of the Stacker 200 presented by YJ Stinger.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

40) #61-David Starr / 18 laps / overheating

39) #13-Matt Jaskol / 56 laps / crash

38) #92-Josh Williams / 57 laps / crash

37) #78-Jesse Little / 57 laps / crash

36) #11-Zane Smith / 67 laps / crash

2021 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) B.J. McLeod Motorsports, RSS Racing / Reaume Brothers Racing (2)

2nd) DGM Racing, JD Motorsports, Mike Harmon Racing, Motorsports Business Management, Our Motorsports, Stewart-Haas Racing (1)

2021 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet (7)

2nd) Toyota (2)

3rd) Ford (1)

2021 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

PREVIEW: Debut of Kyle Sieg, return of John Hunter among the few driver swaps in Dover

PHOTO: RSS Racing

Saturday, May 15, 2021

XFINITY Race 10 of 33

Drydene 200 at Dover

2020 Last-Place Finishers (August): Timmy Hill, Vinnie Miller

ENTRY LIST

There are 43 drivers entered for 40 spots. Next week at the Circuit of the Americas, these three teams without a single start in 2021 will finally get their chance to qualify: Our Motorsports’ #03, Jordan Anderson Racing’s #31, and Bassett Racing’s #77.

DRIVER SWAP: #4-JD Motorsports

DRIVER SWAP: #6-JD Motorsports

In what is likely an effort to keep the struggling #6 team up in the points, Landon Cassill and Ryan Vargas have swapped rides this week with Cassill taking over the #6 and Vargas to the #4. Both drivers – along with teammate Colby Howard in the #15 – will carry sponsorship from Drydene, the title sponsor of the weekend’s events.

DRIVER CHANGE: #11-Kaulig Racing

On Friday came news that Justin Haley would not compete in either of this weekend's races following a positive COVID-19 test. On the XFINITY side, this opens the door for Zane Smith to make his first start in the series since driving part-time for JR Motorsports in 2019. Smith's second and most recent Truck win came at this same Dover track.

DRIVER CHANGE: #17-Rick Ware Racing

DRIVER SWAP: #23-Our Motorsports

Cody Ware will run double-duty in Dover, looking to make his fourth start on the XFINITY side and first since Atlanta, where he ran a season-best 23rd. He takes the wheel of the #17 in place of J.J. Yeley, 22nd in Darlington. Yeley moves over to the #23 Our Motorsports entry for the first time this year, taking the place of Tanner Berryhill, 21st last week in his return to the series.

DRIVER CHANGE: #26-Sam Hunt Racing

Also returning to the XFINITY garage is John Hunter Nemechek, who we haven’t seen in this series since he closed out the 2019 season at Homestead for GMS Racing. This time, John Hunter and his ACME sponsorship go to Sam Hunt’s team, taking the place of Brandon Gdovic in the #26 Toyota. Gdovic finished 36th in Darlington, re-entering the Bottom Five after Noah Gragson’s disqualification was rescinded on Wednesday.

DRIVER CHANGE: #90-DGM Racing

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

Set to make his NASCAR debut is 20-year-old Kyle Sieg, who on Saturday will race against older brother Ryan Sieg in the 200-lapper. In four ARCA starts this year, Sieg has completed all but one lap, having not finished worse than 8th with a season-best 4th at Phoenix. Kyle will take the wheel of DGM Racing’s #90 with sponsorship from Independent Metal Strap and will run one of RSS Racing's Fords as part of an alliance. The younger Sieg moves B.J. McLeod to his own #99 in place of Ryan Ellis, who isn’t entered. McLeod finished 26th at Darlington while Ellis finished 16th.

CUP INVADERS: None

Sunday, May 16, 2021

CUP Race 13 of 36

Drydene 400 at Dover

2020 Last-Place Finishers (August, 311 miles): Kurt Busch, Joey Gase

ENTRY LIST

There are 37 drivers entered for 40 spots, marking the 10th short field in 13 races in 2021, and the third in a row.

DRIVER CHANGE: #53-Rick Ware Racing

At first, the only change in the lineup on the Cup side is Rick Ware’s fourth entry, which this week goes to Garrett Smithley, back in the car for the first time since Kansas. He takes the place of J.J. Yeley, 29th in Darlington, who will not run Sunday and instead focus on his XFINITY effort with Our Motorsports.

DRIVER CHANGE: #77-Spire Motorsports

Due to the aforementioned circumstances for Justin Haley, his Cup entry will this week be driven by Josh Berry, a close 2nd in last week's XFINITY race at Darlington. The Martinsville winner will be making his Cup debut.

Saturday, May 22, 2021

TRUCKS Race 9 of 22

Toyota Tundra 225 at the Circuit of the Americas

2020 Last-Place Finisher: Inaugural Event

The Truck Series takes the week off and returns as part of the inaugural triple-header at Austin’s Circuit of the Americas.

TODAY IN LASTCAR HISTORY (May 13, 1995): Rick Wilson picked up the 3rd and final last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career in the NE Chevy Dealers 250 at New Hampshire when his #75 Food Country USA Ford fell out with a blown engine after 45 laps. Wilson’s car was entered by Charlie Henderson, who today continues to field the Food Country #75 part-time in the Truck Series. Nearly all of Wilson’s 47 series starts came in Henderson’s car, mostly on a part-time basis from 1989 – when he scored his lone two victories at Bristol and Dover – through 1997. He’d run the scheme one more time on March 20, 2010, when he won the 35-lap Scotts EZ Seed Shootout at Bristol.

CUP: Aric Almirola’s difficult 2021 continues with first last-place run for #10 at Darlington

ALL PHOTOS: Luis Torres, @TheLTFiles

Aric Almirola picked up the 13th last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career in Sunday’s Goodyear 400 at the Darlington Raceway when his #10 Smithfield / Winn-Dixie Ford crashed after 5 of 293 laps.

The finish, which came in Almirola’s 364th series start, was his second of the year and first since Las Vegas, eight races ago. In the Cup Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 36th for the #10, the 613th from a crash, and the 707th for Ford. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 128th for the #10, the 974th for Ford, and the 1,252nd from a crash.

Since his crash at Las Vegas, the 2021 season has continued to be a struggle for the veteran from Florida. After an 11th-place run at Phoenix, he ran no better than 20th in the next three races, including a brutal hit in a backstretch pileup during the Bristol Dirt Race. He finally earned his first top-ten finish of the year at Richmond, taking 6th at a track where he’d finished no better than 8th since 2018. But with a 15th at Talladega and a 29th, three laps down at Kansas, he sat a disappointing 28th in the standings.

For Darlington, Almirola would join in the “throwback” festivities by running a flame-covered paint scheme that Mark Martin ran in the XFINITY Series in the year 2000. The red-orange-and-yellow scheme, recreated by Harris Lue, went to victory lane that year in Texas. Martin was part of the team’s unveiling of the scheme on May 3.

Almirola rolled off 27th, but would drop to the rear as his team twice failed inspection. Also dropping to the rear was 6th-place starter Chase Elliott, whose #9 Hooters Chevrolet – decorated like Alan Kulwicki’s Ford Thunderbird from his 1992 Winston Cup Championship. Elliott’s team was penalized for unapproved adjustments, specifically removing a packer from the suspension. Both Elliott and Almirola would take the green behind original 37th-place starter Josh Bilicki, whose #52 Insurance King Ford was itself a throwback to Lennie Pond’s yellow Burger King Chevrolet from 1979. 

When the green flag dropped, Elliott was last across the stripe, but both he and Almirola made quick work of the tail end of the field. By the end of Lap 1, the 37th spot now belonged to James Davison in the #15 Hope Givers Ford, a throwback to Dick Johnson’s #38 Redkote Ford from the late 1980s. Davison, who finished last in last September’s Southern 500, fell to 11.393 seconds back of the lead on Lap 4. By then, the car he was following belonged to Quin Houff in the #00 RCA Chevrolet, a throwback to John Andretti’s #98 RCA Ford from 1997. The two remained at the back of the field when the first caution fell on Lap 6.

Almirola being towed to the garage after Lap 6 crash

By then, Almirola had caught and passed Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., who waved him by after his #47 Kroger / Tide Chevrolet bounced off the wall. As Almirola later reported, he was a second faster than the cars ahead of him, but got tight off Turn 2 and checked-up. Stenhouse then gave him a bump, which steered Almirola head-on into the inside wall. The impact bent the body of his car so badly that the front tires were lifted off the ground by the twisted nose. Fortunately, Almirola walked away without serious injury. His car was towed to the garage, done for the afternoon. NASCAR officially declared him out on Lap 34.

Finishing 36th was Almirola’s teammate Cole Custer, whose #41 HaasTooling.com Mother’s Day Ford locked wheels with Anthony Alfredo’s #38 We Care / Alan Kulwicki 1985 Ford coming off Turn 2. Alfredo managed to correct his car while Custer slammed the wall in a manner similar to Almirola, destroying his Ford. Kurt Busch took 35th in the #1 Monster Energy Chevrolet when he broke loose off Turn 4 and hit the inside wall, perhaps after some contact from Bubba Wallace’s #23 Root Insurance / Wendell Scott Toyota. Busch tried to drive his car back to pit road, but stopped after the fluid he leaked caught fire in Turns 1 and 2.

Cody Ware ended up 34th when something broke on his #51 Nurtec ODT / Darrell Waltrip 1990 Chevrolet. The crew looked under the car in the garage, where they first said the yoke broke off the transmission. The next report was the yoke was still on the transmission, but the driveshaft had broken off. With that, the team said they were out of the race on Lap 198, and NASCAR confirmed this on Lap 207. By then, so many cars were multiple laps down on the long green-flag run that teammate Josh Bilicki didn’t climb past Ware until Lap 234. Bilicki, who made two trips to the garage from Laps 141-149 and Laps 176-203, climbed no further and finished 33rd.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This marked the first last-place finish for the #10 in a Cup Series race at Darlington.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

37) #10-Aric Almirola / 5 laps / crash

36) #41-Cole Custer / 97 laps / crash

35) #1-Kurt Busch / 106 laps / crash

34) #51-Cody Ware / 188 laps / driveshaft / led 1 lap

33) #52-Josh Bilicki / 245 laps / running

2021 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Motorsports Business Management, Rick Ware Racing, Spire Motorsports, Stewart-Haas Racing (2)

2nd) Chip Ganassi Racing, Front Row Motorsports, Hendrick Motorsports, StarCom Racing (1)

2021 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet (6)

2nd) Ford (4)

3rd) Toyota (2)

2021 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

XFINITY: Rescinded penalty causes Matt Mills to prevail in four-day last-place battle

ALL PHOTOS: Luis Torres, @TheLTFiles

UPDATED Wednesday, May 12, 2021 to reflect the rescinded Gragson penalty

Matt Mills picked up the 2nd last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career in Saturday’s Steakhouse Elite 200 at the Darlington Raceway when his #5 J.F. Electric Chevrolet was eliminated in a single-car accident after 44 of 148 laps.

The finish, which came in Mills’ 80th series start, was his first of the season and first since September 16, 2017 at Chicagoland, 115 races ago. In the XFINITY Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 11th for the #5, the 346th from a crash, and the 568th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 35th for the #5, the 1,251st from a crash, and the 1,777th for Chevrolet.

Fresh off his Cup Series debut at Kansas, where he drove team owner B.J. McLeod’s #55 Siebert Electric / J.F. Electric Ford to a 38th-place finish, Mills returned to his XFINITY effort with McLeod. Coming into Darlington, Mills had come home 25th at Talladega, his first finish better than 33rd since Homestead. Mills rolled off 32nd on Saturday.

Noah Gragson picked up the 2nd last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career in Saturday’s Steakhouse Elite 200 at the Darlington Raceway when his #9 Bass Pro Shops / Black Rifle Coffee Chevrolet finished 4th, but was disqualified after completing all 148 laps.

The finish, which came in Gragson’s 78th series start, was his first of the season and first in the series since October 17, 2020 at Kansas, 12 races ago. In the XFINITY Series last-place rankings, it was the 12th for the #9, the 15th from disqualification, and the 568th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 42nd from disqualification, the 54th for the #9, and the 1,777th for Chevrolet.

After last year’s disappointing end to his second full-time XFINITY season with JR Motorsports, Gragson has continue to be one of the sport’s most exciting – and controversial – competitors. At Homestead, he surprised many when he openly adopted a “checkers or wreckers” approach to the season, despite no wins in the first two races and no finishes better than 28th. He was well on his way to victory that night in Florida, but with two laps to go, while running the high lane with plenty of open track over second place, he collided the David Starr, who was enjoying a career night in 12th before a blown tire put him in Gragson’s path. The wreck left Gragson 33rd, and he’d two races later blown an engine in Phoenix. Other than that, his #9 has finished strong, taking 5th in Las Vegas, 4th in Atlanta, 2nd in Martinsville, and 6th in Talladega.

Gragson started 5th on the grid for Darlington. Prior to the race, he had the opportunity to sit in a restored #8 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet that Dale Earnhardt, Jr. would drive during the pace laps of the race.

Rolling off 40th and last was Matt Jaskol, whose team was particularly committed to the return of “throwback” weekend. He’d already been slated to run a new version of the #13 Glidden Paints Chevrolet that Mike Skinner ran in Cup from 1990 through 1992. That car had been owned by Thee Dixon, who at Mansion Motorsports became Carl Long’s first Cup Series team owner in 1998. The Motorsports Business Management team had the car towed to the track on Long’s old open-top late model trailer, which had recently been refurbished.

Jaskol’s #13 Lift Kits 4 Less Toyota only held the last spot briefly, as another driver struggled to even start. Prior to the race, the 40-car starting grid had been formed up on the now-unused backstretch pit road. The cars would then fire engines and cue up to the frontstretch, where they’d shut down again for opening ceremonies. A video posted by Bob Pockrass showed all 40 cars make the trip, including the #52 Panini America Chevrolet of 37th-place Gray Gaulding. Gaulding’s car stopped for a moment, then continued on out of frame.

Gaulding's car (far right) with issues just before
the green flag

But Gaulding’s car wouldn’t fire at the command, and photos by Luis Torres showed the Means Racing crew pushing the car back to their stall as the leaders addressed the starting line for the green flag. Gaulding’s pit was Stall 26, just five stalls from the starting line. Perhaps it was this reason timing and scoring showed Gaulding 3.402 seconds back of the leader at the start with Jaskol in 40th, 4.571 back. Gaulding was then classified last at the end of Lap 1, and by Lap 4 was being directed to the garage entrance. “No volts,” someone said on the radio. “Wouldn’t turn over.” Gaulding remained in the car, and by Lap 14 was told to shove in the clutch. The next time by, the engine fired, and he rolled back onto the track. “We’re up shit creek,” said someone on the radio. “We’re 15 laps down, and we just need to keep a clean car here.” Gaulding slotted in at the tail end of the field, just ahead of the damaged #26 SnapMobile.shop Toyota of Brandon Gdovic, three laps down after an early wreck with Joe Graf, Jr. and J.J. Yeley.

Gaulding completed his first lap on the 17th circuit, and was deemed to have reached minimum speed with the rest of the field. While back on the track, Gaulding now reported some smoke in the cockpit, and that the volt meter was fluctuating. He remained on track, looking to reach the end of Stage 1 on Lap 45. That time by, another driver found trouble. Matt Mills in the #5 J.F. Electric Chevrolet spun off Turn 4 and slammed head-on into the inside wall. He managed to re-fire the engine, but stopped at the apron of Turn 1 under caution. No sooner had a wrecker come to pick up Mills’ car than it was called to pit road, where Josh Williams’ Rusty Crews “throwback” had collided with another car. Williams’ #92 Starbrite / Alloy Employer Chevrolet was pushed to the garage. The team looked for replacement parts from JR Motorsports, but would ultimately be declared out on Lap 106. By then, NASCAR had also declared Mills out, as reflected on the FS1 leaderboard with 44 to go. Mills had taken last from Gaulding on Lap 61, and had apparently locked-up last place.

Mills' car being towed to the garage

Gragson, meanwhile, led 40 laps and looked to be closing on the leaders in the final run to the checkers. He again had a fast car, and one caution was warned twice by NASCAR to slow down for the yellow. He ultimately came home 4th behind two of his JR Motorsports teammates – runner-up Josh Berry in the #8 Tire Pros / Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 2001 Pepsi 400 Chevrolet and winner Justin Allgaier in the #7 Good Humor Ice Cream / Dale Earnhardt 2000 Daytona 500 Chevrolet. He still finished ahead of 12th-place A.J. Allmendinger for the $100,000 bonus under XFINITY’s “Dash 4 Cash” program.

Only later was it announced that Gragson’s Chevrolet had failed post-race inspection, handing the bonus to Allmendinger and taking last from Mills. The reason was Gragson’s suspension mounts, specifically a violation of Rule 20.14.c governing mounts that allow too much abnormal movement.

The penalty lifted Mills to 39th with Williams in 38th, and bumped Brandon Gdovic out of the Bottom Five. Gaulding only made it to 37th after he’d eventually spin entering Turn 3, ending his race. Graf’s damaged #07 Bucked Up / Back to the Future Chevrolet rounded out the group, eliminated in a second accident during the final laps.

But JR Motorsports appealed the penalty, which was rescinded on Wednesday, putting him back to 4th and returning his $100,000 bonus. This put Mills back to last place once again, dropping Brandon Gdovic back into the Bottom Five.

After the penalty was overturned, Jeremy Clements missed his first Top Five of 2021, taking 6th in the #51 All South Electric / 2006 Dale Jarrett Chevrolet. Alex Labbe was also impressive, taking 10th in his #36 Larue Industrial Snow Blowers / 1995 Kenny Wallace Chevrolet. Landon Cassill edged Allmendinger for the 12th spot for his best run of the season in JD Motorsports’ #4 MaintenX Chevrolet.

One of the day’s most impressive runs belonged to Tommy Joe Martins, who turned heads with his “throwback” to Rich Bickle’s 10-10-345 Pontiac – even Bickle himself was looking to get one of the team’s shirts. In the race, Martins took tires early, allowing him to take 4th in Stage 1. He bounced off the wall midway through the race, but still clawed his way back up the order to finish 15th. After Gragson’s penalty, Martins was afforded 4th-place points in the first stage and a solid 15th-place finish.

Ryan Ellis (16th), David Starr (17th), and Tanner Berryhill (21st) also secured solid finishes. For Berryhill in Our Motorsports’ #23 Realty Connect Chevrolet, Saturday was his first XFINITY start since 2014.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This marked the first last-place finish for the #5 in an XFINITY race at Darlington since August 30, 1997, when Terry Labonte’s Alka-Seltzer / Bayer Chevrolet lost an engine after 6 laps.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

40) #5-Matt Mills / 44 laps / crash

39) #92-Josh Williams / 48 laps / suspension

38) #52-Gray Gaulding / 107 laps / crash

37) #07-Joe Graf, Jr. / 132 laps / crash

36) #26-Brandon Gdovic / 140 laps / running

2021 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) B.J. McLeod Motorsports, RSS Racing / Reaume Brothers Racing (2)

2nd) DGM Racing, JD Motorsports, Mike Harmon Racing, Our Motorsports, Stewart-Haas Racing (1)

2021 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet (7)

2nd) Ford, Toyota (1)

2021 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP