CUP: Daniel Suarez eliminated in early wreck with Erik Jones at Texas

PHOTO: Brock Beard

Daniel Suarez finished last in Sunday’s running of the All-Star Open at the Texas Motor Speedway when his #99 CommScope Chevrolet was eliminated in a two-car accident after 13 of 50 laps.

Overlooked for much of the previous offseason was the birth of Team Trackhouse, founded by former NASCAR driver Justin Marks with support from Richard Childress Racing. The team had landed Suarez as driver, but didn’t receive much press compared to 23XI Racing, co-owned by NBA legend Michael Jordan. That is, until recording star Pitbull joined weeks before the Daytona 500. Suarez showed speed in his qualifier for the Daytona 500, and after he was collected in the race’s biggest wreck has since matched and at times exceeded the performance of Bubba Wallace at 23XI.

Suarez ran Top 20 in three of the first six races, then led 58 laps on the Bristol Dirt Track before Joey Logano passed him for the win. He ran 11th at Kansas, 9th at Dover, and nearly had another Top 10 at Sonoma before a late-race scuffle with Michael McDowell. At rainy COTA, the team showed its determination by changing two transmissions on the same day, avoiding their first last-place finish in the process. Since then, motivational speaker Tony Robbins has eyed investing in the team. They’ve also matched 23XI’s rumors of possibly expanding to two cars are soon as next season.

Suarez, who won the Open in 2017 and finished runner-up the next year, had crossed paths with Bubba Wallace in the Open before. In 2019, Wallace made contact with Suarez while battling for the lead, sending Suarez spinning while Wallace made the show. Now on competing start-up teams, there was a possibility for a repeat as the two lined up nose-to-tail for the second-straight race: 

Rolling off 22nd and last was David Starr, who was eligible for running the event when he made his lone start of 2021 in this year’s Coca-Cola 600, finishing 36th in Motorsports Business Management’s #66 Toyota. This time around - with Timmy Hill in the #66 - Starr would run MBM’s #13, an effort that hasn’t run a Cup race since Garrett Smithley narrowly missed the field for this year’s Daytona 500. This time, the car was flat black with a logo for T-Top Manufacturing on the hood and Cantera Design Builders on the quarter-panels.

Suarez pulls his wrecked car behind the wall.

Prior to the start of the race, Starr incurred a tail-end penalty for unapproved adjustments. This likely stemmed from the crew working under the hood while the other cars were gridded. Two more cars would join him. Ross Chastain was set to start 5th in the #42 McDonald’s Chevrolet until he twice failed inspection as the aero ducts did not conform to OEM specifications. Chastain’s crew chief was ejected and the team was handed a $25,000 fine. Also sent to the rear was 16th-place starter Austin Cindric, whose #33 Pirtek Ford twice failed inspection for another reason, leaving them among the last of the Open cars to join the grid on pit road.

During the pace laps, Starr and Chastain started in the final row. Chastain drew away at the start, and by the end of Lap 1 was running by himself. NASCAR then posted Chris Buescher’s #17 Fastenal Ford and, by Lap 4, Austin Cindric’s docked #33, likely for start violations. Neither would serve their penalty before Lap 5, when Bubba Wallace drew the first caution for spinning his #23 Door Dash Toyota in Turn 2. Wallace took last from Starr, and Cindric and Buescher served their penalties by dropping to the tail end of the longest line.

On the Lap 9 restart, Buescher spun in Turn 4 after contact in the left-rear from Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.’s #47 Kroger / Bush’s Beans Chevrolet. Like Wallace, Buescher avoided serious damage and came down pit road for fresh tires and a pull on the fender. He took over last place, which had also been held by Timmy Hill after he dropped to the tail end in MBM’s #66 Boathouse Bar & Grill / Oak’d Handcrafted BBQ Toyota. Hill had laid back under caution, and had been joined in the rear by B.J. McLeod, who had pulled to the outside to let traffic pass in the #78 Surface Sunscreen Ford. McLeod stayed ahead of Hill, who briefly held the spot until Lap 13, when Josh Bilicki took over the spot in his #52 Junction Fuels Ford.

Erik Jones' wrecked car that collected Suarez

Suarez didn’t enter the last-place picture until the following restart on Lap 14, when contact from Chase Briscoe’s #14 Ford Performance Racing School Ford sent Erik Jones spinning his #43 Petty’s Garage Chevrolet in Turn 4. The field split around the sideways Jones, but Suarez couldn’t avoid slamming into the front of his car with the right-front of his #99. Suarez cut to pit road and immediately pulled into the first garage opening, followed a few seconds later by Jones. Both were done for the night, their haulers parked next to each other as they unloaded. 

I was unable to reach both Suarez and Jones for comment. However, I did speak to a few other drivers on their experience.

“Actually, it was fun,” said B.J. McLeod, who finished 12th. “I like this place. This package, you run easy wide-open in three and four, and one’s a challenge because you have to back out of the gas. So, interesting and just had fun. We made some adjustments to see if we could get a little better, and so we did.”

“I was really happy,” said Cody Ware, who finished 11th. “I was happy to see we had some good speed with this package, so hopefully next year with this new Next-Gen car coming out, we’ll see some more of the same, improving the program, getting some better equipment, and just progressing. . .Seeing how the PJ1 activates, how long it took to come in, is good to know. I don’t think we’re going to be doing as much drafting when we go back to the 550 package coming in November, but I think other than that, just seeing we have a good mile-and-a-half package and we’re improving it. Had a good run at the 600, backed it up here with a solid finish, so I’m really happy with what Mike Hillman and the guys on the Nurtec ODT car are doing this year.”

“For us, it was gonna be a practice session,” said David Starr, who finished 18th. “Trying to make our cars better and me and Timmy (Hill) were racing hard back there and just making some pit stops, trying some stuff. We knew we wasn’t gonna transfer, but we were racing hard to make our cars better. And, I’ll tell you what – that first segment was crazy. They were wrecking each other left and right. I don’t know if they were wrecking each other on purpose, but it just seemed like every time you’d go green, two or three laps later, it was a cation coming out. It’d happen right in front of you. But that’s what you get when you have a Saturday night feature on a Sunday afternoon at the Texas Motor Speedway. . .It was a fun race, man. I’m just glad I was in it.”

The next two spots in the Bottom Five were given to Ross Chastain, who overcame his pre-race penalty to win Stage 1, and polesitter Tyler Reddick, who claimed Stage 2 in the #8 iCash Autos / I Am Second Chevrolet. Starr rounded out the group, last of the four drivers who were lapped by the time Aric Almirola won the third and final stage. Matt DiBenedetto, the runner-up, scored the Fan Vote to transfer into the main event.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This marked only the second last-place finish for the #99 in the Open race. The other occurrence was at Charlotte on May 22, 2004, when Jeff Burton’s #99 Roundup FastAct Ford was among the 11 drivers collected in a pileup on the initial start.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

22) #99-Daniel Suarez / 13 laps / crash

21) #43-Erik Jones / 13 laps / crash

20) #42-Ross Chastain / 20 laps / stage 1 winner / led 2 laps

19) #8-Tyler Reddick / 40 laps / stage 2 winner / led 38 laps

18) #13-David Starr / 49 laps / running

XFINITY: In Texas, Bayley Currey and Jordan Anderson find themselves locked in two-car battle to even start the race

PHOTO: Brock Beard

Bayley Currey picked up the 4th last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career in Saturday’s Alsco Uniforms 250 powered by Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen at the Texas Motor Speedway when his #74 Electric Fence Reel Chevrolet fell out with electrical problems without completing any of the 171 laps.

The finish, which came in Currey’s 62nd series start, was his second of the year and first since Talladega, six races ago. In the XFINITY Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 13th for the #74, the 55th from electrical woes, and the 571st for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 53rd for the #74, the 131st from electrical problems, and the 1,786th for Chevrolet.

Currey arrived at his home track looking to turn around a difficult season. Despite earning a career-best 7th at Phoenix this past spring, he’d finished no better than 22nd anywhere else and failed to qualify for both time trials at the Circuit of the Americas and Charlotte. Teammate Kyle Weatherman at the Mike Harmon Racing team has fared little better with a season-best 15th at Daytona, a 16th on the Daytona Road Course, but no other finishes better than 22nd. This was a frustrating turn for the MHR effort, whose two young drivers turned heads with many consistent runs last season.

One positive, however, has been on the sponsorship front. Both Currey and Weatherman debuted new backers at Texas: Weatherman’s #47 Duke & Boone Hunting Supply Chevrolet and Currey’s #74, which carried security fence company Electric Fence Reel on the h

Jordan Anderson in the garage

ood, plus quarter-panel logos for Shoofly Leggins, which manufactures “fly boots” for horses.

Currey rolled off 39th, one spot ahead of last-place starter Matt Jaskol in Motorsports Business Management’s #61 LiftKits4Less.com Toyota. When the engines fired, however, a logjam developed behind 32nd-place starter Jordan Anderson. Anderson, who got to race his own #31 Bommarito.com Chevrolet in the XFINITY Series for the first time, had trouble engaging the clutch, and soon the rest of the field drove around him to join the field. A push truck came to the scene, at which point Anderson’s engine fired, and he caught up to the pack.

Currey, meanwhile, would soon have problems of his own. During the second pace lap, his #74 started smoking, and the driver thought the car was on fire. His car also stopped on the track, and was towed into the garage area. NASCAR looked over the track, fearing that fluid had been dropped, and delayed the start. During that delay, Anderson pulled down pit road, the engine running. After a crewman looked under the driver’s side hood flap, Anderson’s engine seemed to pick up before it cut off. The team now looked under the hood, then soon pushed the car behind the wall as the green flag dropped.

Anderson’s crew worked on the #31 just behind pit wall, then at the bottom of the steep rise between the garage’s entrance and pit road, before pushing it the rest of the way to their truck. Anderson’s truck happened to be next to Currey’s, and the two cars sat nose-to-nose around ten yards apart with both crews working hard to get their machines back on the track. Currey, classified behind Anderson on the starting grid, was shown in last place on the leaderboard with Anderson 39th.

Bayley Currey's car across from Anderson's

By the time Anderson’s car arrived and was put on jack stands, Harmon’s crew had jacked up the right side of Currey’s #74 and had removed the right-rear wheel. A faulty battery had caused the smoke in the cockpit – a battery that was tossed aside, then kicked by the team owner. The crew attempted to install other batteries, but each kept shorting out due to an electrical fault. Currey climbed out of his car and assisted the crew.

Anderson’s crew continued to add fluid to a reservoir on the driver’s side of the car, and had at least two cans of engine cleaner and brake cleaner under and around the machine. A crew member from Richard Childress Racing, still wearing his TaxSlayer uniform from Myatt Snider’s team, was working under the right-front corner of the car. By Lap 35, both front wheels were off Anderson’s car, and the driver had climbed out. “No clutch, and it was leaking clutch fluid everywhere,” he said. “I don’t know what it is just yet. It keeps leaking whenever we put clutch fluid in it.” 

By Lap 40, Currey had climbed back into his car without his helmet, and another crewman was sitting on the passenger side, working on the dash. A trickle charger was then hooked to the dash four circuits later, and efforts were made to re-fire the engine. Things took a turn the next time by as Harmon walked back with the team’s tire cart, and another crewman brought back the set of tires they had on pit road. By then, Anderson was back in his car, the window net up and tires bolted back on. Currey’s crew brought out their own jack stands on Lap 47, and soon removed the right-side wheels. The car was still in this position two laps later when Anderson’s car, back on all four, re-fired its engine and returned to the race a full 50 laps down.

On Lap 54, Currey’s team removed the air cleaner, then the tapered spacer. NASCAR declared Currey out the next time by, preventing them from climbing out of last place. Currey said the car gave no indication of the issue at the shop. “I don’t know what we need to do to get the monkey off our back, man,” he said. “It’s been pretty bad these past few weeks. . .I work as hard as I can on that thing, and for something weird like that to happen sucks. I really enjoy coming here. I really enjoy Texas. Feel like I’m actually pretty good at this race track.” Currey will be helping the team get that same car turned around for next week’s race in Nashville, where he’ll drive it again.

Anderson climbed to 34th at the finish, losing just one more lap by the checkered flag. Among those who finished behind him were those collected in crashes during the race. On Lap 89, Tanner Berryhill’s #23 Eclipse Claims Consulting Chevrolet tangled with Gray Gaulding’s #52 Panini America Chevrolet off Turn 4, and Matt Mills spun his #5 J.F. Electric Toyota into the grass. The pileup resulted in heavy nose damage to both Gaulding and Berryhill with the #23 trailing fluid on his way to the transporter. Mills recovered to finish 26th while Gaulding and Berryhill ended up 38th and 39th.

Kyle Weatherman, Currey’s teammate, also had a short day, dropping out after 100 laps with fuel pump issues to take 37th. Jeffrey Earnhardt rounded out the group when his #0 Forever Lawn Chevrolet was collected by Stefan Parsons’ #99 Sokal Digital Chevrolet in a tangle down the backstretch. Parsons finished three more laps than Earnhardt, moving him to 35th behind Anderson.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This marked the first last-place run for the #74 in an XFINITY Series race at Texas since April 10, 2015, when Mike Harmon’s unsponsored #74 Dodge fell out with engine trouble after 2 of 200 laps of the O’Reilly Auto Parts 300.

*It hasn’t been that long since two consecutive XFINITY Series races saw the last-place finisher fail to complete a lap. During the double-header at Kentucky on July 9-10, 2020, Brandon Jones and Kyle Weatherman, respectively, crashed out on the opening lap.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

40) #74-Bayley Currey / 0 laps / electrical

39) #23-Tanner Berryhill / 88 laps / crash

38) #52-Gray Gaulding / 89 laps / crash

37) #47-Kyle Weatherman / 100 laps / fuel pump

36) #0-Jeffrey Earnhardt / 107 laps / crash

2021 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

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

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

2021 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet (10)

2nd) Toyota (3)

3rd) Ford (1)

2021 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

TRUCKS: Ross Chastain disqualified for the second time in his Truck career

PHOTO: @NieceMotorsport

Ross Chastain picked up the 2nd last-place finish of his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career in Saturday’s SpeedyCash.com 200 at the Texas Motor Speedway when his #45 Plan B Sales Chevrolet finished 3rd, but was disqualified after completing all 147 laps.

The finish, which came in Chastain’s 94th series start, was his first of the season and first since June 16, 2019, 47 races ago, which was also by disqualification. In the Truck Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 4th from disqualification, the 5th for the #45, and the 408th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 39th for the #45, the 42nd from disqualification, and the 1,785th for Chevrolet.

Sheldon Creed picked up the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career in Saturday’s SpeedyCash.com 200 at the Texas Motor Speedway when his #2 LiftKits4Less.com Chevrolet was eliminated in a crash after 18 of 147 laps.

The finish came in Creed’s 64th series start. In the Truck Series last-place rankings, it was the 2nd for the #2, the 168th from a crash, and the 408th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 33rd for the #2, the 1,256th from a crash, and the 1,785th for Chevrolet.

Since he was last featured here on the Truck Series side, Chastain has strived to make a name for himself in all three of NASCAR’s top divisions. He spent many of those years in JD Motorsports’ #4 Chevrolet, at times outperforming in the equipment as one of the best drivers on the circuit without a win. That changed in 2018, when he landed a ride with Chip Ganassi Racing and sponsor DC Solar. He nearly took the win at Darlington before a late-race tangle with Kevin Harvick, took the checkers in Las Vegas, and secured a full-time ride with the team for 2019.

But when scandal erupted at DC Solar after the FBI raided their headquarters, the deal fell apart, shutting down Ganassi’s XFINITY team in the process. Chastain then had to piece together deals with various teams and little backing.

This opened the door for Chastain to run part-time, then full-time with the blossoming Kaulig Racing. In 2019, he scored his first win for the team in the summer race at Daytona, and in 2020 put on a sterling late-race battle with Denny Hamlin at Darlington. This led to him ultimately reuniting with Chip Ganassi, this time as a Cup driver. After Kyle Larson was fired from the team for uttering a racial slur, Matt Kenseth endured a frustrating return to the series which saw him run well back in the running order the rest of the pandemic-affected season. The ride became Chastain’s at the start of this year, and he’s since shown speed with career runs on the road courses of COTA and Sonoma.

Creed's truck towed to the garage
PHOTO: Brock Beard

Chastain has also continued to run a few races in the Truck Series, reuniting with the Al Niece team he nearly carried to a championship in 2019. He began his partial schedule this year in Atlanta, finishing 7th in a “throwback” scheme to Terry Labonte’s Piedmont Airlines Chevrolet. He then finished runner-up to Kyle Busch in Kansas, charging from 34th on the grid of 40 starters. Both of these came in Niece’s #44 entry, which has since scaled back. Chastain’s ride at Texas would be the #45 previously driven by Brett Moffitt before he declared for XFINITY points after Richmond. Circle B Diecast, which sponsored all of Chastain’s runs this year, was again the backer, and he’d roll off 24th.

Taking 36th and last on the grid was Ray Ciccarelli, who would make his first Truck start as a driver in 2021. Ciccarelli drove the #49 Sam’s Dock Toyota with the nickname “Ol’ Right Side Ray” on the roof rails. He’d be joined at the rear by Howie DiSavino III, who was a last-minute driver change with team owner Jordan Anderson in the #3 Good Sam Chevrolet. Anderson had elected to focus on his XFINITY ride later that day, which unfortunately saw him contend for last place (LINK). Ciccarelli’s truck couldn’t get rolling with the rest of the field, but managed to fire soon after the push truck arrived.

When the race started, the last two spots belonged to DiSavino and Keith McGee, who had an entourage cheering for him from pit road. These fans wore shorts decorated with images of his #33 The Mullet That Changed Chevrolet, and waved a flag from pit road when McGee crossed the line in 30th. McGee pulled ahead of DiSavino at the end of Lap 1, but Norm Benning soon fell into DiSavino’s clutches. Benning, who ran Camping World colors on his #6 Chevrolet once more, had an exhaust note that was noticeably deeper than the rest of the field, and he took over last on Lap 3.

On Lap 6, with NASCAR already warning Benning to “get a plan together here” as he was about to lose a lap, trouble broke out in Turn 2. Sheldon Creed, the defending series champion, had pushed his #2 LiftKits4Less.com Chevrolet into the PJ1 in Turn 1. The truck switched ends and backed into the outside wall, causing the rear deck to protrude perpendicularly from the rear of the vehicle. He made it to pit road, where the crew strapped everything down with tape. Creed lost a lap in the process, and was joined at the back by Tate Fogleman, who had nose damage on his #12 Da-Quick Clip / Randco Chevrolet, and Matt Crafton, who had electrical problems on his #88 Chi Chi’s / Menards Ford.

Crafton took last by Lap 13, followed by Creed’s injured truck around Lap 16. Creed attempted to catch Benning as the leaders caught them both, and by Lap 17, the top six drivers had all put the #2 a lap down. Moments later, Creed spun off Turn 2 and hit the wall a second time, wrecking his truck beyond repair. Creed climbed from his vehicle and was released from the care center, his truck towed through a rear entrance to reach the garage in Turn 1. On Lap 80, he was declared out due to the accident along with Stewart Friesen, whose #52 Halmar International Chevrolet nosed into the backstretch wall in a later wreck.

Ciccarelli pushed to the garage with 40 to go
PHOTO: Brock Beard

“I had a really fast truck,” said Creed in the garage. “Just climbing my way through – I don’t know where I went through there. I guess I was close to the Top Ten. And I got really tight behind the 19 (Derek Kraus) and I lost the nose really bad, which I’ve never really done. I’ve never lost the nose that bad. As soon as I touched the spray, I was backwards. Just a product of not having practice and they spray it, and you can’t touch it. It sucks until it comes in, and I was the first one to go around in it. I’m sure you’ll see more today that’ll do that.” The truck was even more of a handful after the repairs. “I was just running the PJ1 like I did every other lap, and I’ll tell you, it’s like oil. Like, it’s no control up there.”

I asked Creed for his thoughts about the controversial PJ1 substance added to the upper groove of the track’s turns. “I think it’s cool when you practice and all three series can practice and slowly work it in, but it sucks when it’s you, right? I like it sometimes and at certain tracks, but I don’t have the answer, nor am I gonna complain about it.”

Creed appeared certain to score what would have been the first last-place finish of his Truck Series career, and only the second in series history scored by the #2 (the other by Dave Ashley on April 22, 1995 at Mesa Marin). But that changed in post-race inspection. Per Bob Pockrass, Chastain, who had finished 3rd, was disqualified for violating a rule that the throttle body must be supplied by the NT1 engine supplier without modification.

Creed thus moved to 35th with Friesen 34th. Drew Dollar was another driver eliminated in a hard single-truck crash, this one destroying his #51 Sunbelt Rentals Toyota. Rounding out the group was Ray Ciccarelli, whose crew pushed his truck behind the wall with 40 laps to go, citing brake trouble.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*Chastain led 5 laps on Saturday and was the most recent driver to lead laps in a Truck Series race and be classified last. He led 141 laps in the Iowa race on June 16, 2019 before his technical infraction.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

36) #45-Ross Chastain / 147 laps / disqualified / led 5 laps

35) #2-Sheldon Creed / 18 laps / crash

34) #52-Stewart Friesen / 52 laps / crash

33) #51-Drew Dollar / 68 laps / crash

32) #49-Ray Ciccarelli / 89 laps / brakes

2021 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Niece Motorsports (4)

2nd) CMI Motorsports, GMS Racing, Norm Benning Racing, Rackley-W.A.R., Reaume Brothers Racing, Roper Racing (1)

2021 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet (9)

2nd) Ford, Toyota (1)

2021 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

PREVIEW: Cup Series All-Stars aren't the only storylines in Texas

Jordan Anderson gets to race his own XFINITY car for the first time this season.
PHOTO: @j66anderson

Saturday, June 12, 2021 (1:00 P.M. Eastern)

TRUCKS Race 11 of 22

SpeedyCash.com 220 at Texas

2020 Last-Place Finisher (July): Tanner Gray 

LASTCAR TRACKSIDE COVERAGE

As I write this, I am in Dallas preparing to cover this weekend’s action during All-Star Weekend at the Texas Motor Speedway, marking the second time I’ve covered races trackside on consecutive weeks. As always, stay tuned to my Twitter feed @LASTCARonBROCK for more content!

ENTRY LIST

There are 36 drivers entered for 40 spots, so all will start the race. This mars the fourth short field in 11 Truck Series races this season, but the first where the initial entry list had fewer than 40 entries. Charlotte saw 38 take the green after two withdrawals.

DRIVER CHANGE: #3-Jordan Anderson Racing

DRIVER SWAP: #33-Reaume Brothers Racing

For only the sixth time this year and the first time since Darlington, Jordan Anderson will pilot his own #3 Chevrolet, which carries Good Sam as sponsor. Anderson takes the place of Keith McGee, who will also be in Saturday’s race as he slides over to the primary Josh Reaume entry, taking the place of 28th-place Charlotte finisher Akinori Ogata.

RETURNING: #6-Norm Benning Racing

Welcome back Norm Benning, who hasn’t started a Truck Series race since Darlington, where he was flagged off the track for not meeting minimum speed for the third time in 2021. The team had withdrawn from their most recent entry at the Circuit of the Americas.

MISSING: #9-CR7 Motorsports

DRIVER SWAP: #98-ThorSport Racing

Codie Rohrbaugh’s team is not entered for the first time in 2021 as Grant Enfinger, who ran 14th in Charlotte, will again return to the #98 ThorSport entry in place of Christian Eckes, who isn’t entered. Enfinger gave Rohrbaugh’s #9 its best finish of the year with a 4th at COTA.

MISSING: #11-Spencer Davis Racing

Spencer Davis’ team withdrew from Charlotte, and this week isn’t entered in Texas.

MISSING: #14-Trey Hutchens Racing

A flat tire, then a lengthy delay throwing the caution flag, left Trey Hutchens with his only race-ready truck destroyed, and its driver lucky to walk away uninjured. Hutchens and his #14 team are not entered this week, though the omnipresent Marcus Lemonis at Camping World tweeted his desire to help the team.

DRIVER CHANGE: #24-GMS Racing

One year ago at Charlotte, Chase Elliott collected the bounty placed on Kyle Busch. This year, he makes his first Truck start of the year with the same GMS Racing team. His entry will be sponsored by energy drink brand Adrenaline Shoc, for whom he’ll be making an appearance at Texas’ on-site 7-Eleven this Friday. Elliott takes the place of Jack Wood, who quietly finished a strong 15th in Charlotte – only his second-ever series start.

DRIVER CHANGE: #25-Rackley W.A.R.

News broke following Timothy Peters’ last-place run in a backup truck at Charlotte that the driver had parted ways with the team, effective immediately. Taking his place this week is Josh Berry, whose services continue to be in demand following his breakout win in Martinsville. This will be Berry’s second Truck Series start of the year, following a 22nd-place run in Atlanta, where he was a last-minute driver substitute for Kris Wright at Young’s Motorsports.

DRIVER CHANGE: #30-On Point Motorsports

After he was entered in every Cup race last season except, curiously, the Bristol night race, Brennan Poole closed out his rookie Cup campaign with a best finish of 9th in the fall Talladega race, and a surprising run during the late stages of the spring Darlington race. This Saturday, Poole reunites with On Point Motorsports, with whom he last drove on August 7, 2020 at Michigan. He runs an unsponsored Toyota in place of his replacement, Danny Bohn, who was likewise strong at Darlington on the Truck side earlier this year before damage left him 18th.

MISSING: #32-Bret Holmes Racing

Bret Holmes and his #32 are not entered following a crash that left him 36th in Charlotte.

DRIVER CHANGE: #34-Reaume Brothers Racing

Following a series of fan vote wins in the iRacing Pro Invitational Series, Jesse Iwuji returns to the Truck Series in the second Reaume entry, taking the place of 27th-place Charlotte finisher C.J. McLaughlin. This will be Iwuji’s second series start at his home tack, following a 17th-place finish with the same team and truck number in 2019.

DRIVER CHANGE: #45-Niece Motorsports

Ross Chastain and his Circle B Diecast sponsorship again join Niece Motorsports, this time on the #45. The Cup Series regular, who enjoyed breakout runs at COTA and Sonoma, takes the place of XFINITY regular Bayley Currey, 19th in Charlotte. Currey will run later on Saturday in his XFINITY ride with Mike Harmon Racing.

RETURNING: #49-CMI Motorsports

Ray Ciccarelli is entered in his Ford after his team withdrew from the Charlotte race. Saturday will thus mark Ciccarelli’s first series start of the season, and his first green flag since a 25th-place run at Martinsville last fall. Sam’s Dock is the listed sponsor.

DRIVER CHANGE: #56-Hill Motorsports

Tyler Hill steps in for brother Timmy in the #56 this week, marking Tyler’s second series start of the year and first since Las Vegas, where he was collected in a hard late-race crash. Mountain Fork Brewery is the listed sponsor of the team’s Chevrolet.

MISSING: #66-ThorSport Racing

Ty Majeski is not entered this week, nor is the extra ThorSport entry that ran the last two rounds in COTA (finished 11th with Paul Menard) and Charlotte (7th with Majeski).

CUP INVADERS: #24-Chase Elliott, #45-Ross Chastain

Saturday, June 12, 2021 (4:00 P.M. Eastern)

XFINITY Race 14 of 33

Alsco Uniform 250 at Texas

2020 Last-Place Finisher (July): Kyle Busch

ENTRY LIST

There are 42 drivers entered for 40 spots, meaning two teams have failed to qualify under metric qualifying: the #13 for Motorsports Business Management and the #77 for Bassett Racing (see below):

DRIVER SWAP: #8-JR Motorsports

DRIVER CHANGE: #31-Jordan Anderson Racing

In addition to running his Truck, Jordan Anderson will pull double-duty on Saturday, driving his own #31 XFINITY Series entry for the first time since Daytona qualifying in February. He takes the place of Josh Berry, 8th last week, who will likewise run both races. On the XFINITY side, Berry rejoins JR Motorsports in the #8 Tire Pros Chevrolet, taking the place of 27th-place Mid-Ohio finisher Miguel Paludo.

DID NOT QUALIFY: #13-Motorsports Business Management

DID NOT QUALIFY: #77-Bassett Racing

While handing the wheel to brother Tyler on the Truck Series side, Timmy Hill will also not run the XFINITY race as his #13 did not make the cut under metric qualifying. Also sent home is Dillon Bassett, entered in he and his brother’s #77 Chevrolet.

DRIVER CHANGE: #17-Rick Ware Racing / SS-Green Light Racing

Garrett Smithley brings his Trophy Tractor sponsorship over to the originally-listed Nurtec ODT-backed Toyota of Cody Ware, 15th in Mid-Ohio. Fresh off his first Sonoma start and the 200th combined NASCAR green flag of his career, Smithley will make only his second XFINITY race of the year. His came in Las Vegas, where he ran 24th with the same sponsor.

DRIVER CHANGE: #23-Our Motorsports

Tanner Berryhill surprised with a strong run in his return to the XFINITY Series at Darlington, ultimately finishing 23rd in Our Motorsports’ surprising second entry. He runs the car this Saturday for the first time since then, taking the place of 5th-place Mid-Ohio finisher Andy Lally. Eclipse Claims Consulting is the listed sponsor.

DRIVER CHANGE: #26-Sam Hunt Racing

After stepping out voluntarily from the #26 following a difficult practice in Charlotte, Brandon Gdovic is again entered in a 1.5-mile race for the first time in years. SnapMobile.Shop is again the listed sponsor as he takes the place of Kris Wright, collected in a late-race wreck that left him 32nd, just four laps short of the scheduled distance.

DRIVER CHANGE: #54-Joe Gibbs Racing

Kyle Busch will not compete against Chase Elliott in the Truck Series race, but again will be heavily favored in the XFINITY event. Busch takes the place of Ty Gibbs – now a two-time XFINITY winner with an average finish of 4.9 in his seven starts. Busch runs the Twix colors – the same ones that were disqualified in this race last year following his win – and marks Busch’s second series start, following his win in the COTA inaugural.

DRIVER SWAP: #61-Motorsports Business Management

DRIVER SWAP: #66-Motorsports Business Management

David Starr and Matt Jaskol have swapped rides this week – Starr will run the #66 following his 36th-place run in Mid-Ohio while Jaskol runs the #61 after a solid 19th-place finish.

DRIVER CHANGE: #90-DGM Racing

While Dillon Bassett will not run the race as the #77 missed the cut, brother Ronnie Bassett, Jr. will make his first XFINITY start of the season and 18th of his career. Ronnie drives DGM Racing’s #90 in place of “road ringer” Preston Pardus, who finished 25th at Mid-Ohio. Jerry Hunt Supercenter and East Coast Wings are the listed sponsors.

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

We last saw Stefan Parsons at Charlotte, where he debuted the #76 team for B.J. McLeod’s effort. This time, Parsons will run in place of Ryan Ellis in the McLeod #99, again sponsored by Sokal Digital.

CUP INVADERS: #54-Kyle Busch

Sunday, June 13, 2021 (6:00 P.M. Eastern)

CUP Exhibition Race

All-Star Open at Texas

2020 Last-Place Finisher (Bristol): Bubba Wallace

ENTRY LIST

These 22 drivers will compete for the final four spots in the All-Star Race – one winner of the first 20-lap segment, one in the second 20-lap segment, one in the final 10-lap sprint, and the Fan Vote Winner. Among these entries, Motorsports Business Management enters two cars for the first time since the Daytona 500, putting Timmy Hill in the primary #66 and David Starr in the second car, the #13. Austin Cindric will also attempt the race in Penske Racing’s #33 Pirtek Ford. 

Noticeably absent is Ryan Preece and the second JTG-Daugherty Racing entry, #37. According to Bob Pockrass, “open” teams like Preece’s aren’t required to run the event the way Chartered teams are, and the team has elected to leave him off the list. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. will fly the flag for JTG in his #47.

#7-Corey LaJoie

#8-Tyler Reddick

#10-Aric Almirola

#13-David Starr

#14-Chase Briscoe

#15-James Davison

#17-Chris Buescher

#21-Matt DiBenedetto

#23-Bubba Wallace

#33-Austin Cindric

#38-Anthony Alfredo

#42-Ross Chastain

#43-Erik Jones

#47-Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.

#51-Cody Ware

#52-Josh Bilicki

#53-Garrett Smithley

#66-Timmy Hill

#77-Justin Haley

#78-B.J. McLeod

#99-Daniel Suarez

#00-Quin Houff

Sunday, June 13, 2021 (8:00 P.M. Eastern)

CUP Exhibition Race

All-Star Race at Texas

2020 Last-Place Finisher (Bristol): Kurt Busch

ENTRY LIST

The four transfer drivers from the Open will increase this group of 17 locked-in drivers to 21, set to do battle in the 100-lap main event. Among these are the season’s surprise winners of Christopher Bell (Daytona Road Course) and Michael McDowell (Daytona 500), who each will make their first start in the race. McDowell had previously run the Open seven times with a best finish of 7th last year at Bristol, when he started on pole.

#1-Kurt Busch

#2-Brad Keselowski

#3-Austin Dillon

#4-Kevin Harvick

#5-Kyle Larson

#6-Ryan Newman

#9-Chase Elliott

#11-Denny Hamlin

#12-Ryan Blaney

#18-Kyle Busch

#19-Martin Truex, Jr.

#20-Christopher Bell

#22-Joey Logano

#24-William Byron

#34-Michael McDowell

#41-Cole Custer

#48-Alex Bowman

TODAY IN LASTCAR HISTORY (June 10, 1989): Chuck Bown scored the first last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career in the Roes Stores 200 at Orange County Speedway when his #63 Nescafe Classic Pontiac lost the engine after 32 of 200 laps. Bown, who started 3rd, led 10 of the first 11 circuits before surrendering the lead to Jimmy Spencer, who led the rest of the way.

ARCA: Mark Green’s ARCA return is short-lived at Mid-Ohio

PHOTO: @RNN_All_Access

by William Soquet

LASTCAR.info Staff Writer

Mark Green finished last for the 1st time in his ARCA Menards Series career in Friday’s Dawn Ultra 150 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course when his #02 Young’s Motorsports Chevrolet retired with a vibration after completing five of the race’s 42 laps.

The finish came in Green’s second series start.

Many stock car racing fans know of the Green family. Hailing from Owensboro, Kentucky, brothers Jeff, David, and Mark all made an impact in NASCAR as drivers, and each stuck around after leaving the driver’s seat. Mark, after making his final NASCAR-sanctioned attempt in 2012, found his way over to ARCA team Rev Racing, serving as team manager and an occasional test driver. Coincidentally, 2021 saw a second Green brother enter the ARCA arena, as Jeff served as crew chief for RSS Racing’s Kyle Sieg for some of the young driver’s efforts. With Rev set to tackle the full ARCA schedule for the first time in 2021, Mark hopped behind the wheel of the team’s #2 car at the Daytona preseason test, offering nuggets from his over a dozen restrictor plate starts in the Busch Series.

Coming in to the Mid-Ohio race, Green was a late add to the entry list, not for Rev, but for a different team – Young’s Motorsports. The Truck mainstay team attempted five of the first six races with Toni Breidinger, but made no mention on any of its social media accounts of fielding an entry for Green in Friday’s race. The car was completely unsponsored - and still had a #2 on the roof instead of the #02 on the doors  meaning Green’s first ARCA race since 2001 would likely be a quiet one.

After a few changes throughout the week, the entry list settled at 17 cars for ARCA’s first Mid-Ohio appearance since 1965. Two drivers also entered in the weekend’s NASCAR XFINITY Series race were entered: Brandon Jones took over the helm of Venturini Motorsports’ #25 machine, and Kris Wright, a driver who pilots a Young’s Motorsports entry in the Truck Series, drove the Rette Jones Racing #30 car in Friday’s ARCA race. Camping World Truck Series driver Austin Hill made his first ARCA start since 2018, and it came with his Truck team, Hattori Racing Enterprises. Thad Moffitt was able to secure backing from Dirteeze in order to compete in the event, and his Team DGR car made it to the podium by race’s end. Kyle Sieg continued his part-time schedule, and Russ Lane, who contested three ARCA races last year, made his first appearance of the season. After running in alliance with Empire Racing last season, Lane joined forces with Kimmel Racing for 2021.

Arnout Kok may have been the most interesting storyline in the field on Friday. After an ill-fated partnership with Obaika Racing never hit the track in 2018, Kok, a South African, signed with Fast Track Racing to run a Brand South Africa livery in the race, his first in America. Fast Track’s other three cars were filled by Owen Smith, Tony Cosentino and Stanton Barrett, who took the place of last race’s last-place finisher, DL Wilson. Wilson is now aiming to return at Iowa in July and compete in 13 total races this season. Barrett, surprisingly, did not bring a primary sponsor with him to Fast Track for his first ARCA start since 2001. The one entry that did not make it to the track was Wayne Peterson Racing’s #06 car, set to be driven by Con Nicolopoulos.

The one-hour practice/qualifying combination session was a little hectic for most entries in the field from front to back. Corey Heim managed to grab the pole award with a lap of 1 minute, 27.9 seconds. Owen Smith was the slowest car on track, registering a fastest lap of 2 minutes, 13.7 seconds. However, the last car on the grid was Brad Smith, who did not make a lap in the session and made the field on a provisional.

The Smith vs. Smith battle for last place didn’t even make it past the first corner. While FS1’s cameras couldn’t catch the situation close enough to see if there was any contact with Drew Dollar, they did catch Kris Wright sliding into the gravel trap in turn one. The car remained motionless long enough to draw a caution, and the last-place battle looked to be settled for the day. However, the car re-fired and continued on, making it to the pit road for repairs. Around that same point in time, Tim Richmond went behind the wall due to mechanical issues. Although the Richmond Clubb Motorsports team announced a full schedule ahead of the season, the broadcast noted that the team’s road course entry was in danger of not making it to the track before no less than six teams helped prepare the car to get it on track. While Wright restarted two laps down on lap four, the broadcast verbally indicated that Richmond was out for the race.

After lap five, the cars of Green, Brad Smith, and Cosentino all exited the track, done for the day. The trio was running 15th, 13th, and 12th on the racetrack, respectively. Owen Smith went behind the wall after completing seven laps, completing the Bottom Five for the time being.

However, that was not all. Richmond returned to the track on Lap 11 and passed the trio of Lap 5 retirees on the 15th circuit, relegating Green to last. For a while, it looked like Richmond could catch Drew Dollar, who exited the race after fifteen laps completed, but Richmond returned to the garage for the final time after completing thirteen more laps, leaving him the last member of the Bottom Five.

2021 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES MANUFACTURERS CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (4)
2nd) Ford (2)
3rd) Toyota (1)

2021 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES OWNERS CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Fast Track Racing, Young’s Motorsports (2)
2nd) Brad Smith Motorsports, Kimmel Racing, Rette Jones Racing (1)

2021 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP