PREVIEW: Several Truck Series teams aren't in Pocono while XFINITY sees many returning drivers

PHOTO: @Team_SHR26

Saturday, June 26, 2021 (12:00 P.M. Eastern)

TRUCKS Race 13 of 22

CRC Brakleen 150 at Pocono

2020 Last-Place Finisher: Matt Crafton

ENTRY LIST

Following a single withdrawal of Henderson Motorsports’ #75 (see below), there are 39 drivers entered for 40 spots. The return of metric qualifying means all of them will start Saturday’s race.

DRIVER CHANGE: #3-Jordan Anderson Racing

Howie DiSavino III is back in Jordan Anderson’s truck for the first time since Texas, replacing Keith McGee, who failed to qualify at Nashville. Kees Vacations and Bud’s are the listed sponsors.

RETURNING: #6-Norm Benning Racing

Norm Benning returns to action at his home track, and is looking forward to it. In eleven previous Pocono starts, he’s finished under power in every one of them with a best run of 20th in 2012 and 2014, completing all but 24 of the combined 645 laps.

RETURNING: #9-CR7 Motorsports

DRIVER CHANGE: #98-ThorSport Racing

Christian Eckes is back in ThorSport’s #98, moving Grant Enfinger back to the returning Codie Rohrbaugh entry. Rohrbaugh’s Grant County Mulch is the listed backer for the #9 Chevrolet.

RETURNING: #10-Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing

Jennifer Jo Cobb will also attempt the Pocono race after a one-week hiatus, hers coming after a liftgate failure on her hauler prevented her from practicing at Nashville. Cobb’s team withdrew the #10, and now is locked-in to Saturday’s field.

MISSING: #11-Spencer Davis Racing

Among the teams not making the trip north is Spencer Davis’ effort, which ran 25th last week in Nashville. Davis finished 18th at Pocono last year, his first series start at the track.

MISSING: #14-Trey Hutchens Racing

Trey Hutchens is likewise not entered after his return to action in Nashville, where he ran 33rd, the second-to-last truck to finish under power.

MISSING: #27-Rackley-W.A.R.

The Rackley-W.A.R. effort will only field Josh Berry’s #25 this week, parking the new second entry that William Byron finished last with after engine trouble in Nashville.

RETURNING: #28-FDNY Racing

Team owner Jim Rosenblum has been a fixture at Pocono, and will continue to be so this weekend as he brings Bryan Dauzat back to the “Tricky Triangle.” This will be only the second attempt of the season for Dauzat and Rosenblum, who previously qualified for the Daytona opener and finished 19th. This will be Dauzat’s fourth series start at Pocono, where his best finish of 22nd came in 2017.

MISSING: #32-Bret Holmes Racing

Bret Holmes is not entered this week after his Chevrolet failed to qualify in Nashville.

DRIVER CHANGE: #41-Cram Racing Enterprises

Todd Peck will finally get Holla Vodka some screen time this year after he failed to make the cut at both Daytona and Darlington. This time, instead of running his family’s #96 Chevrolet, Peck will run in place of Dawson Cram in the #41.

DRIVER CHANGE: #45-Niece Motorsports

Bayley Currey rejoins Al Niece’s team in place of Cup regular Ross Chastain, who ran 22nd at Nashville. This will be Currey’s fifth series start, his first since a 19th-place showing on the Charlotte oval. 

DRIVER CHANGE: #49-CMI Motorsports

J.J. Yeley came up just short of qualifying for Nashville, the fastest driver to miss the show. Team owner Ray Ciccarelli will take Yeley’s place this week, driving his #49 for the first time since his bottom-five finish at Texas.

DRIVER CHANGE: #51-Kyle Busch Motorsports

One week after Ryan Preece’s victory in Nashville, he will again run David Gilliland’s #17, but this time will have to contend with Kyle Busch. Busch again takes the place of Drew Dollar, who ran 24th the night Preece took the checkers.

DRIVER CHANGE: #56-Hill Motorsports

Tyler Hill once again trades places with brother Timmy in the #56, which will carry the Camping World colors once more. Tyler finished 19th his most recent time out in Texas.

MISSING: #68-Clay Greenfield Racing

Clay Greenfield’s Rackley Roofing entry is not entered after his DNQ in Nashville.

WITHDREW: #75-Henderson Motorsports

Parker Kligerman withdrew as one of the 40 initial entries, which means he would have started had the #75 team not pulled out by Tuesday.

MISSING: #04-Roper Racing

Cory Roper is not entered after his 31st-place run in Nashville, marking the first time the #04 will not start a Truck Series race in 2021.

CUP INVADERS: #17-Ryan Preece, #51-Kyle Busch

Saturday, June 26, 2021 (3:00 P.M. Eastern)

CUP Race 18 of 36

Pocono Organics CBD 325 at Pocono

2020 Last-Place Finisher: Quin Houff

ENTRY LIST

There are 38 drivers entered for 40 spots, marking the fourth consecutive short field and the 14th in 18 races this season.

MISSING: #13-Motorsports Business Management

David Starr and the second MBM entry will not be in Pocono this week after they finished 34th with brake issues in Nashville.

DRIVER CHANGE: #15-Rick Ware Racing

James Davison returns to the site of his Cup debut in place of Joey Gase, who rounded out a solid weekend for Rick Ware’s team with a 29th-place finish in Nashville. Go FMX is the listed sponsor for Davison, who returns to the series for the first time since Sonoma.

DRIVER CHANGE: #51-Rick Ware Racing

Cody Ware returns from his IndyCar debut in Road America in place of J.J. Yeley, who took 27th in Nashville. This will mark Ware’s first Cup start at Pocono since 2017, when he finished last after an early vibration.

DRIVER CHANGE: #66-Motorsports Business Management

Timmy Hill finished 35th and 29th in the Pocono doubleheader last year, and this week takes the place of Chad Finchum, who ran 33rd with rear end trouble in Nashville. M&M Mechanical is the listed sponsor for Hill’s Toyota.

Sunday, June 27, 2021 (12:00 P.M. Eastern)

XFINITY Race 16 of 33

Pocono Green 225 at Pocono

2020 Last-Place Finisher: Brandon Jones

ENTRY LIST

There are 41 drivers entered for 40 spots, meaning one team – MBM’s #13 – will fail to qualify under the metric.

DID NOT QUALIFY: #13-Motorsports Business Management

For the fourth-straight XFINITY Series race since Chad Finchum’s 15th-place finish in Charlotte, MBM’s #13 team is sent home, this time with Timmy Hill behind the wheel. Hill will still run on both days in MBM’s Cup car.

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

DRIVER SWAP: #07-SS-Green Light Racing

Carson Ware made his first three XFINITY starts last year, most recently at this same Pocono track, where he finished a career-best 20th. He will make his first series start of the year on Sunday, taking the place of brother Cody Ware after a midweek driver change. Cody had been entered in place of Joe Graf, Jr., who was eliminated in a crash with Jade Buford at Nashville, leaving him 34th. Graf this week will return to the #07 in place of J.J. Yeley, who was running inside the Top 20 at Nashville before he spun on the final lap, putting him 22nd.

DRIVER CHANGE: #8-JR Motorsports

DRIVER SWAP: #31-Jordan Anderson Racing

Josh Berry ran his final scheduled race for JR Motorsports in 2021 last week, taking 4th, but will still be in the show as he replaces Tyler Reddick in Jordan Anderson’s fleet #31 as he had in Mid-Ohio. Sam Mayer will make his XFINITY Series debut in Berry’s #8 with Tire Pros as sponsor.

DRIVER CHANGE: #23-Our Motorsports

Blaine Perkins will make his fourth XFINITY start of the year and first since Martinsville, looking to improve on his 24th-place run in his series debut at Phoenix. He takes the place of Natalie Decker, who ran 26th in Nashville, and will again be sponsored by Raceline.

DRIVER CHANGE: #26-Sam Hunt Racing

Still another driver returning to the series after an extended absence is Santino Ferrucci, who in the most recent three of his first four starts finished 13th at Las Vegas, 15th in Phoenix, and 15th again in Atlanta. As before, Ferrucci will drive Sam Hunt’s #26 Toyota Supra, this time with Moery and Mantawny Still Works as sponsors. He takes the place of Will Rodgers, whose own series return yielded a 14th-place finish in Nashville.

MISSING: #42-Motorsports Business Management

Chad Finchum will not run this week’s XFINITY race as Carl Long has not entered the #42 that failed to qualify last week. The team has since reported they will enter the #42 at Road America.

DRIVER CHANGE: #52-Jimmy Means Racing

Joey Gase will drive in Gray Gaulding’s place at Pocono as Gaulding offered to step out if another driver brought money. “Gray is still our driver,” says the Means team. Gase’s only other XFINITY start this year came at Talladega, when he drove the first of two Davey Allison tribute cars to a 36th-place finish after early issues.

DRIVER CHANGE: #54-Joe Gibbs Racing

Kyle Busch will run the Truck Series, but not XFINITY, where he scored his 100th win last week in Nashvile. Ty Gibbs will make his eighth series start and seek his third win, back in the #54 for the first time since his 3rd-place showing in Mid-Ohio.

DRIVER CHANGE: #74-Mike Harmon Racing

Announced after this article was posted, Jesse Iwuji will take the place of Bayley Currey in the #74 Chevrolet for Mike Harmon Racing. Iwuji made his first four XFINITY starts last year with a best finish of 23rd in Texas. This will be Iwuji's first start of the year.

DRIVER CHANGE: #90-DGM Racing

The 2019 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series Champion Loris Hezemans will make his third XFINITY Series start and first since Phoenix earlier this year. After running for both MBM and B.J. McLeod Motorsports, Hezemans will this time run for Mario Gosselin in the #90. He takes the place of Dillon Bassett, who failed to qualify in Nashville.

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

Pocono will be Mason Massey’s third series start of the season and first since Talladega, where he ran a season-best 29th. He takes the place of Stefan Parsons, who finished last at Nashville after a hard crash in the tri-oval.

CUP INVADERS: None

Sunday, June 27, 2021 (3:30 P.M. Eastern)

CUP Race 19 of 36

Explore the Pocono Mountains 350 at Pocono

2020 Last-Place Finisher: Michael McDowell

ENTRY LIST

As of this writing, the same 38 drivers and teams from Saturday’s first Cup race will be entered on Sunday. This means there will have been 15 short fields in the season’s first 19 races. Just like last year, the difference is the race’s length, which increases from 325 miles (130 laps) on Saturday to 350 miles (140 laps) on Sunday.

TODAY IN LASTCAR HISTORY (June 24, 2005): Alex Yontz of Walnut Cove, North Carolina picked up the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career in the Toyota Tundra Milwaukee 200 at the Milwaukee Mile when his #61 Bradco Supply Chevrolet lost the engine after 123 laps. This was the second of Yontz’ four series starts, all of them that season. His last start came at the Nashville Superspeedway, site of last week’s events, where he ran a career-best 28th.

SRX: Paul Tracy’s rough night ends early in Knoxville

SCREENSHOT: CBS Broadcast

by William Soquet
LASTCAR.info Staff Writer

Paul Tracy picked up the first last-place finish of his Superstar Racing Experience career at the Knoxville Raceway when his #13 Professional Bull Riders / World Championship Rodeo Alliance machine fell out with overheating problems after completing 5 of the feature’s 50 laps.

Across series history, it was the first for the #13 and the first for crew chief Todd Parrott.

A staple of CART in the 1990s and post-split early 2000s, Tracy drove his last full racing season in 2007 but has continued to dabble in various forms of motorsport since then, including Grand-Am sports cars and Stadium Super Trucks. Additionally, Tracy has been a color commentator for NBC’s IndyCar coverage. He took a reduced role with the broadcaster in 2021, allowing him to participate full-time in the Superstar Racing Experience.

Three driver storylines headlined the Knoxville event. The "local hero" car - driven by 410 sprint car racer Brian Brown - came loaded with expectations. Not only did Doug Coby win in the local hero car last week, but Brown is also announced to drive the Knoxville race in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series for Kyle Busch Motorsports, making the SRX seat time all the more valuable for a driver who had never raced a vehicle with fenders before Saturday. In the "ringer" car was one of dirt racing’s best personalities, Scott Bloomquist. The dirt late model legend entered with a leg up on most of the field, as he did participate in NASCAR’s inaugural Eldora event, giving him some sought-after seat time in stock cars on dirt. The third story was Hailie Deegan, subbing for Tony Kanaan. Deegan entered the event with a wealth of dirt experience and a win on dirt in a stock car, coming in the K&N Pro Series West in 2019. All three looked to be legitimate threats to win going in to the event.

Bloomquist, by luck of the draw, rolled off last on the grid for the beginning of Heat 1. He trailed the field for the first couple of laps, but passed Willy T. Ribbs by the two-minute mark of the event to put Ribbs’ blue Fram Filters machine at the tail end of the field. Despite a mid-heat caution for Paul Tracy rubbing the wall, Ribbs stayed in 12th until the final front straightaway, when Michael Waltrip checked up and spun off the bumper of Brown. Waltrip kept it off the wall and finished the heat, albeit ten seconds later than the rest of the field.

With the full-field invert for the beginning of Heat 2, Tony Stewart looked set to roll off from the final position. However, late-breaking news from pit road indicated that an adjustment to the event format this week left the possibility for drivers to make adjustments to their cars in between heats at the expense of their starting position in Heat 2. Ribbs gave up the second starting position to make adjustments to his car and inherited the final starting position behind the other two cars that pitted, Bill Elliott and Ernie Francis Jr. The adjustments must have helped, as Ribbs passed Bobby Labonte around the three-minute mark for 11th. Labonte returned the favor at around the six-minute mark of the heat, but Ribbs dropped Marco Andretti to last with about a minute to go. As Andretti looked three-wide under Ribbs and Labonte for tenth place with 30 seconds to go, Tracy, who had already also got into the wall on a restart, spun into the outside wall and made significant contact. On the ensuing green-white-checkered restart, Tracy looped it again and finished out of contention in last place.

In an interview with Matt Yocum in between the heat and the feature, Tracy went off on Waltrip, claiming that this was the second week in a row that he had been wrecked by the driver of the 15 car (CBS’ cameras missed the beginning of Tracy’s spins in Heat 2 this week) and told Yocum that Waltrip had one coming at some point in the series.

Another change the series made for its second race weekend was that instead of the finishing order of Heat 2 becoming the starting order, drivers’ average finishing position in the heat races would be the order of the starting lineup for the feature. Ribbs, who finished 11th in both heats, rolled off last with Tracy to his inside in Row 6.

The two remained side-by-side through lap one, with Ribbs maintaining in the last spot through the first caution, five laps in. Tracy pulled in to the pits during that caution and quickly exited the car, giving an interview to Yocum under the Lap 8 caution. While the audio didn’t cut in until midway through, the split-screen cameras went to Waltrip’s car on track, indicating that Tracy was again voicing his displeasure before explaining that he called it quits after overheating to avoid blowing an engine.

The Bottom Three was filled by Bill Elliott, eleven laps in arrears due to another mechanical issue, and Ribbs, the last car on the lead lap.

After last week’s feature was published, SRX announced that paint schemes will remain constant with drivers throughout the season. As such, LASTCAR’s paint scheme rankings have been discontinued.

THE BOTTOM THREE
12) #13-Paul Tracy / 5 laps / overheating
11) #9-Bill Elliott / 89 laps / running
10) #17-Willy T. Ribbs / 100 laps / running

2021 LASTCAR SRX CREW CHIEFS CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Mike Christopher, Todd Parrott (1)

2021 LASTCAR SRX DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP

CUP: At Nashville, five lug nuts drop Chase Elliott behind a driver who completed just two corners

PHOTO: Jared C. Tilton, Getty Images

Chase Elliott picked up the 4th last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career in Sunday’s Ally 400 at the Nashville Superspeedway when his #9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet finished 13th, but was disqualified for five “loose or missing lug nuts” after completing all 300 laps.

The finish, which came in Elliott’s 202nd Cup start, was his first of the season and first since November 10, 2019 at Phoenix, 54 races ago. In the Cup Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 34th for the #9, the 25th from disqualification, and the 808th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 43rd disqualification, the 56th for the #9, and the 1,788th for Chevrolet.

Quin Houff picked up the 5th last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career in Sunday’s Ally 400 at the Nashville Superspeedway when his #00 Mane ‘n Tail / Spirit Untamed Chevrolet was eliminated in a single-car crash without completing any of the 300 laps.

The finish, which came in Houff’s 70th series start, was his second of the year and first since the Daytona Infield Road Course, 15 races ago. In the Cup Series last-place rankings, it was the 30th for the #00, the 615th from a crash, and the 808th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 45th for the #00, the 1,257th for a crash, and the 1,788th for Chevrolet.

Last November saw Elliott bounce back from his last-place finish in the 2019 Phoenix race to take the checkered flag and the series championship in the same event. Following a runner-up finish to Michael McDowell in this year’s Daytona 500, he endured a hot-and-cold start to the year until Kansas, where a 5th-place finish began a streak of six straight finishes of 7th or better. A 3rd at Dover coincided with the resurgence of the entire four-car team at Hendrick Motorsports, and a win in the rain-shortened inaugural event in COTA was his first of the season. Coming into Nashville, Elliott had finished runner-up in each of the last two races to a now-dominant Kyle Larson – one each in the Coca-Cola 600 and the road course in Sonoma.

Elliott and his familiar NAPA Auto Parts machine arrived in Nashville with the 3rd-fastest time, again trailing teammates William Byron and Kyle Larson. He then qualified 6th with a speed of 161.093mph (29.722 seconds), again directly behind Byron and Larson.

Starting 39th and last was Quin Houff. Houff began the weekend 36th of the 39 entrants in practice, outpacing both Motorsports Business Management entries and the Rick Ware Racing #15 run this week by Joey Gase. In qualifying, Houff took an aggressive line into Turn 1, but his car slid up the track and out of the groove. The driver fought the wheel, keeping the car out of the wall, and managed to slow his car down in a four-wheel drift. Houff brought his car in after the incident as the only driver to not post a time, and would roll off last.

On race day, Houff incurred a redundant tail-end penalty for unapproved adjustments. Also docked for the same reason were Erik Jones, who qualified a strong 9th in the #43 Black Entrepreneur Initiative Chevrolet, and 4th-place William Byron in the #24 Liberty University Chevrolet. Both would be joined by Ryan Blaney, who suffered minor damage to the left-rear corner of his #12 Duracell Optima / Menards Ford and had to make a stop one lap before the green flag. Blaney did not take the green in last as Houff dropped behind him along with 37th-place Joey Gase in the #15 Donate Life Tennessee Chevrolet and 38th-place David Starr in the #13 Bob Menery Toyota.

When the green flag dropped, Houff’s car was the last to cross the stripe, 3.87 seconds back of the lead. Just seconds after frontrunners Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman had to check-up for running the high lane in Turns 1 and 2, Houff’s car suddenly cut right in Turn 1 and pounded the outside wall. Houff kept his car in the fence as his right-front wheel, apparently broken off in the impact, rolled down the banking into the grass. Houff climbed from his car, his day done just 18 seconds after the green flag. “Went straight into the fence,” said the team. “Knocked the right-front tire off it.” On Lap 3, Houff’s car was towed to the garage. It wasn’t until Lap 40 that NASCAR confirmed he was out of the race.

Houff towed behind the wall after his Lap 1 crash.
PHOTO: @STaranto92

Brake issues and high temperatures made Houff far from the only victim of a hard crash. After recovering from his pre-race pit stop, Ryan Blaney’s #12 used so much brake that the rotor exploded on Lap 54, putting him into the wall off Turn 2. Just over 20 laps later, Justin Haley’s #77 Diamond Creek Water Chevrolet had a right-front tire failure of his own, and Chris Buescher’s #17 Fifth Third Bank Ford followed him into the fence after running over debris from Haley’s car. 

Originally rounding out the Bottom Five was David Starr, whose #13 blew a left-front rake rotor and cut down a tire, but didn’t draw a caution. Starr made it to pit road after his brake pedal went to the floor, and Bubba Wallace spun his #23 Door Dash / PetSmart Toyota after he ran over Starr’s debris. Wallace kept going while Starr was declared out by NASCAR on Lap 143.

Chase Elliott, meanwhile, crossed the line in 13th place, having won Stage 1 and finished 7th in Stage 2. He remained 3rd in the series standings, but closed from 73 points to within 55 of Denny Hamlin’s lead. Kyle Larson, the race winner, remained second in the standings and closed from 47 points back to only 9. But in post-race inspection, Elliott’s car was found with five “loose or missing” lug nuts (not all on the same wheel), which resulted in an immediate disqualification. This bounced David Starr out of the Bottom Five, Cole Custer out of the Bottom Ten, and dropped Elliott to 4th in the overall standings, 94 back of Hamlin.

Kurt Busch was the big beneficiary of Elliott’s DQ, inheriting the Stage 1 victory and moving from 11th into a points-earning 10th in Stage 2. Also benefitting was Corey LaJoie, who originally finished three spots behind Elliott in the #7 Pryor & Lee Chevrolet. LaJoie moved from 16th to 15th – his fourth-straight finish in the Top 20 and best run since his season-best 9th in the Daytona 500.

Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. earned one of his best runs of the season, challenging for the lead over much of the distance and finishing in 6th in the #47 Kroger / Nature Valley Chevrolet.

Behind him in 7th came Daniel Suarez, who steered Trackhouse Racing’s #99 Tootsies Orchid Lounge Chevrolet to its first top-ten finish since Dover and second-best behind their 4th-place run in the Bristol Dirt Race, where Stenhouse finished his own season-best 2nd. This run came just hours after it was revealed Trackhouse’s leased Charter will go to Kaulig Racing’s second Cup team in 2022. Trackhouse has since announced they will run next season with or without a Charter, but expects to acquire a Charter from elsewhere.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This marked the first time the #9 was classified last by disqualification, and only the second time it was classified last after leading laps. The other time was March 30, 2003, when Chase’s father Bill Elliott led 43 laps at Texas before engine trouble.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

39) #9-Chase Elliott / 300 laps / disqualified / led 13 laps / won stage 1 (revoked)

38) #00-Quin Houff / 0 laps / crash

37) #12-Ryan Blaney / 53 laps / crash

36) #17-Chris Buescher / 77 laps / crash

35) #77-Justin Haley / 79 laps / crash

2021 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Spire Motorsports, Stewart-Haas Racing (3)

2nd) Chip Ganassi Racing, Motorsports Business Management, Rick Ware Racing (2)

3rd) Front Row Motorsports, Hendrick Motorsports, JTG-Daugherty Racing, StarCom Racing (1)

2021 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet (10)

2nd) Ford (5)

3rd) Toyota (2)

2021 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

XFINITY: Stefan Parsons’ crash leaves Dogecoin car down in the order at Nashville

SCREENSHOT: @WithAllMarbles, taken from NBCSN broadcast

Stefan Parsons picked up the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career in Saturday’s Tennessee Lottery 250 at the Nashville Superspeedway when his #99 Springrates / Dogecoin Toyota was involved in a crash after 69 of 189 laps.

The finish occurred in Parsons’ 23rd series start. In the XFINITY Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 14th for the #99, the 148th for Toyota, and the 349th from a crash. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 35th for the #99, the 357th for Toyota, and the 1,256th from a crash.

Since 2018, the 23-year-old son of 1988 Talladega winner and current FS1 broadcaster Phil Parsons has run no more than nine XFINITY or Truck starts in a season, but has made the most of each of his runs. He made his Truck debut under the lights at Bristol on August 16, 2018 and drove an old Premium Motorsports Chevrolet to a 17th-place finish. His XFINITY debut came the next year, when he was a last-minute replacement for Cody Ware in B.J. McLeod’s #99 Jacob Companies Toyota. Parsons again impressed, finishing a strong 12th, and ran no worse than 23rd in the five starts that followed that season.

During last year’s pandemic-affected season, Parsons ran another nine races for McLeod, and finished under power in all of them. He ran both races of the doubleheaders at Homestead and Dover, finished a season-best 18th in Texas, and completed 97.5% of the laps he attempted. Returning this year, he nearly bested his career-best 12th in the Daytona opener by finishing 13th, and has since run 18th in Phoenix and 20th at Martinsville. 

Parsons also debuted McLeod’s new fourth entry – the #76 – and finished 23rd with it at Charlotte. This same car, which Parsons ran at Vegas and McLeod ran at Dover, was used again at Texas, but ended up collected in a wreck with Jeffrey Earnhardt. The team had originally planned to run the car at Nashville, but after the accident, Parsons would run a Toyota Supra instead.

On the sponsorship front, Parsons has also reunited with cryptocurrency Dogecoin, which was famously instrumental in getting his father’s team voted into the 2014 All-Star Race with driver Josh Wise. Dogecoin had sponsored Stefan’s Chevrolet in Las Vegas, and would again back his Toyota in Nashville along with his longtime backer Springrates. 

“We’ve had pretty decent speed with our cars this year,” Parsons said prior to last week’s race in Texas. “It’s just a matter of putting everything together.” I also asked about his plans for the rest of the season. “Right now, just XFINITY. Obviously, I would be more than open to running anything with four wheels and a motor. But XFINITY is the only thing we’ve got in the works right now. Already kind of working on stuff for next year, trying to get all that squared away and trying to make some opportunities. I’m super thankful to have the opportunities with B.J. and Sokal (his sponsor for many races this year) and Springrates, it’s been an awesome year. Got a few more races after this one, so hopefully we can keep our program on a high note.”

At Nashville, Parsons ran 26th in practice and qualified 24th with a speed of 153.644mph (31.163 seconds). Missing the show were Motorsports Business Management teammates Chad Finchum in the returning #42 Garrison Homes Toyota and Timmy Hill in the #13 Bret Baier / Black Tie Moving Toyota, JD Motorsports teammates Jeffrey Earnhardt in the #0 Forever Lawn Chevrolet and Colby Howard in the #15 Project Hope Foundation Chevrolet, plus Dillon Bassett in the #90 Bassett Gutters & More / J. Hunt Supercenter Chevrolet and Gray Gaulding in the #52 Panini America Chevrolet.

Rolling off 36th and last was Natalie Decker, back in Our Motorsports’ #23 Red Street Records Chevrolet for the third time this year and first time since Talladega. This was a continuation of Reaume Brothers Racing’s combined effort with the Chris Our team, which was inherited by Our after the acquisition of RSS Racing’s share of the #23 team. After featuring recording artist Jason Crabb at Daytona and Cade Thompson in Talladega, Decker’s car only carried the Red Street logo on the hood for Nashville.

When the race started, Decker in the outside lane pulled ahead of 35th-place Jesse Little in the #78 Shriners Hospitals for Children Toyota. But by the time the pair came around to complete the first lap, Little had re-passed Decker and opened up a 1.511-second advantage. That gap stayed about the same until Lap 11, when it grew to 2.059 seconds, then 2.788 on Lap 14, 3.120 on Lap 16, 4.011 on Lap 19, and 4.759 on Lap 21. The next time by, Decker lost her first lap to the leaders. There was little radio traffic from Decker during all this – there had been some interference on her end since the pace laps – but the crew continued to encourage her.

By Lap 48, Decker had reached the end of Stage 1 nearly two laps down when the leaders came down pit road. Among these was Myatt Snider, who was running around 27th in his #2 Crosley Furniture Chevrolet. Coming down pit road, Snider’s car stalled, and a wrecker pushed him to his stall. The crew replaced the battery, but still couldn’t get him re-fired. After looking over the wiring behind the driver’s seat, the Richard Childress Racing team pushed Snider to the garage on Lap 55. A faulty master switch was soon discovered, and by Lap 68, the team was preparing to re-enter the race.

On Lap 70, just as Snider returned to the track 22 laps down, Stefan Parsons was racing David Starr’s #66 Whataburger Toyota off Turn 4. The two made contact, causing Parsons to slide sideways to the apron, then clip the grass with the right-front. The splitter didn’t dig into the turf, but the car abruptly cut right, directly in the path of teammate Matt Mills in the #5 J.F. Electric Chevrolet. The two missed a collision by mere inches, and Parsons slammed nose-first into the outside wall. The wrecked machine skated across the line, completing a 69th lap in the process, then stopped on the apron. Parsons climbed out without serious injury and was checked and released from the infield care center.

Finishing 35th was Brandon Brown in the #68 KickinTheTire.net / Brandon Davis Music Chevrolet, who cut down a right-front tire, then pulled behind the wall after his pit stop due to brake issues Joe Graf, Jr. in the #17 G Coin Chevrolet was eliminated in a wreck with Jade Buford, who had qualified a strong 9th in the #48 Big Machine Spiked Coolers Chevrolet. Buford broke loose in Turn 4 on Lap 155, collecting Graf in the process. Rounding out the group was Stage 1 winner Austin Cindric, whose #22 Car Shop Ford was collected in a five-car wreck while running among the leaders on Lap 160. Cindric’s car struck the wall head-on in a manner similar to Parsons, and also walked away without serious injury. Snider passed this entire group to finish in 31st.

Bayley Currey and Mike Harmon Racing teammate Kyle Weatherman both had brake issues during the race. Currey was involved in a frightening pit road incident where he couldn't slow for his pit stall and struck three of his crew members. Two were able to continue, though one was taken to a local hospital for further evaluation. Currey soldiered on to finish in 30th, breaking his bottom ten tiebreaker with Noah Gragson for the lead in the 2021 LASTCAR XFINITY Series standings.

Saturday saw the return of Hattori Racing Enterprises’ portion of fielding the #61 MBM entry in 2021 with their Truck Series driver Austin Hill behind the wheel of the AISIN Supra. Hill started 15th and finished 9th, already his fourth top-ten finish in just 11 series starts. Jeremy Clements came across the line in 11th in his #51 All South Electric Chevrolet, which is now his 11th finish of 15th or better in 15 races this season. Also impressive was Will Rodgers, who in his fifth career start and first since 2019 took 14th in Sam Hunt Racing’s #26 Good RX Toyota, the second-best finish of his XFINITY career.

J.J. Yeley in the #07 Smart Sanitizer Chevrolet for SS-Green Light Racing ran as high as 13th in the final laps, and had just slipped from 14th to 16th on the final lap over the overtime restart when he spun in Turn 2, dropping him to 22nd at the finish.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This marked the first last-place finish for the #99 in a XFINITY Series race since July 12, 2019, when Jairo Avila Jr. crashed after 3 laps of the Alsco 300 at Kentucky. The number also has one previous last-place finish at the Nashville Superspeedway's XFINITY race - during the inaugural race on April 14, 2001, Shawna Robinson's #99 Aaron's Chevrolet was collected in a crash after the first lap of the Pepsi 300 presented by Mapco / Williams.

*The 69 laps Parsons completed were the most by a last-place finisher of a XFINITY race at the Nashville Superspeedway, breaking the record of 35 laps set by Mike Harmon, whose #54 Global Pigeon Supply Pontiac lost an engine in the Pepsi 300 on March 26, 2005. That finish happened to be the 164th and last for Pontiac in the history of the XFINITY Series.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

36) #99-Stefan Parsons / 69 laps / crash

35) #68-Brandon Brown / 140 laps / brakes

34) #17-Joe Graf, Jr. / 152 laps / crash

33) #48-Jade Buford / 153 laps / crash

32) #22-Austin Cindric / 160 laps / crash / led 53 laps / won stage 1

2021 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) B.J. McLeod Motorsports (3)

2nd) JR Motorsports, Mike Harmon Racing, RSS Racing / Reaume Brothers Racing (2)

3rd) 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 (4)

3rd) Ford (1)

2021 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

TRUCKS: For the first time in nearly five years, William Byron starts a Truck Series race – and finishes last

PHOTO: @FS1

William Byron picked up the 2nd last-place finish of his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career in Friday’s Rackley Roofing 200 at the Nashville Superspeedway when his #27 Cruisin’ Sports / Rackley Roofing Chevrolet lost the engine after 78 of 150 laps.

The finish, which came in Byron’s 25th series start, was his first of the year and first since February 27, 2016 at Atlanta, 125 races ago. In the Truck Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 8th for the #27, the 134th from engine trouble, and the 409th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 56h for the #27, the 1,103rd from engine issues and the 1,787th for Chevrolet.

Entering his fourth season as a full-time Cup Series competition, Byron has become a vital part of Hendrick Motorsports’ resurgence this season. After winning his way into the 2020 Playoffs by scoring his first career win in the cutoff race at Daytona, Byron won this season’s third race at Homestead, and finished no worse than 9th for the next ten consecutive races. It took heavy rain, minor damage, and one position for the streak to end at COTA with an 11th-place run. He then finished 4th in the Coca-Cola 600, and was set for another top-ten run in Sonoma before a late-race Turn 11 tangle took him out, leaving him 35th.

At Nashville, Byron would run double-duty, returning to the Truck Series for the first time since 2016, when he closed out a seven-win season with Kyle Busch Motorsports that put him fifth in the series standings. His ride this time was with Rackley-W.A.R., which just one week prior had hired upstart Josh Berry to replace veteran Timothy Peters. Berry would run again in Nashville, meaning Byron would run the team’s new second entry, the #27. Byron’s ride was one of three carrying logos for race sponsor Rackley Roofing, joined by owner-driver Clay Greenfield in the #68 Toyota. Byron’s paint scheme was a reverse of Berry’s with a white hood and blue rear.

Byron ran second-fastest in practice, trailing only Chandler Smith’s Kyle Busch Motorsports entry, and qualified 10th with a speed of 157.754mph (30.351 seconds).

A total of 42 of the 43 entrants took time after Jennifer Jo Cobb’s #10 Fastener Supply Co. Ford was withdrawn due to the team’s issues with a faulty loading ramp on their hauler, which kept them from practicing. Failing to qualify were Clay Greenfield in the third Rackley-sponsored entry, J.J. Yeley in the #49 Sam’s Dock Toyota, Bret Holmes in the #32 Southern States Bank Chevrolet, Spencer Boyd in the #20 Banana Pepper Sauce Chevrolet, Josh Reaume in the #33 Colonial Countertops Chevrolet, and Keith McGee in the #3 Military.Finance Chevrolet.

McGee was bumped from the field at the last minute after John Hunter Nemechek’s lap was disallowed, dropping the #4 Mobil 1 Toyota to 34th on the grid. McGee’s loss was the gain of Dawson Cram, who inherited 31st in the #41 Camping World Chevrolet. The final two spots belonged to drivers who didn’t even turn laps in qualifying due to inspection failures relating to the noses of their trucks: Todd Gilliland in the #38 Crosley Brands Ford and Tanner Gray in the #15 Ford Performance Ford. Both teams had their crew chiefs ejected, were docked 25 points, and incurred redundant tail-end penalties – Gilliland rolled off 35th with Gray 36th.

By the end of Lap 1, Gray had climbed to 30th with Gilliland in 34th, dropping Cory Roper to last in the #04 Carquest Auto Parts Ford. By Lap 3, Roper had cleared Trey Hutchens III, who returned to the Truck Series for the first time since his scary wreck at Charlotte last month. Hutchens’ #14 – a different chassis from his totaled Charlotte ride – carried sponsorship from Rich Mar and Quality Roof Seamers. Like Roper, Hutchens was fighting a tight condition, and on Lap 13 reported his truck felt bogged down, as if the engine was not pulling enough RPMs. Despite this, Hutchens was reeling in 35th-place Danny Bohn in the #30 North American Motor Car Toyota for several laps. But when Hutchens was lapped on the 21st circuit, he had dropped to 2.798 seconds back of Bohn. On Lap 38, Hutchens was told he’d run “about your fastest lap of the race,” at which point he was two laps down.

On Lap 45, the caution fell to end Stage 1. Hutchens reported he was “getting killed down the straightaway.” The crew prepared to raise the track bar three rounds, taking a pound out of the left-rear. By the restart, he was still two laps down, and reported his truck was better than the first stage, though he still wanted further adjustments. On Lap 70, Hutchens reported his water temperatures were okay, and the team told him “Driver, hard as you can, man. All you can do.”

Byron, meanwhile, had finished inside the Top 10 in Stage 1 and was still running there ahead of ThorSport teammates Johnny Sauter and Matt Crafton. Entering the first corner, Byron’s truck let out a large puff of smoke, then slowed down the backstretch. NASCAR threw the caution for possible fluid, and Byron made it to pit road. The #27 made a move to the first garage entrance, then kept rolling, but when more smoke came from the exhaust, his truck stopped on pit road. On Lap 79, the crew talked about checking to see if it was “an oil line or something easy” to see if they could make a quick repair to try other things. But on Lap 81, they told Byron to climb out, saying “We’re done.” Byron took last from Hutchens on Lap 83 and was declared out by NASCAR on Lap 124.

Also declared out on Lap 124 was Derek Kraus, whose night began with his first career pole and ended with a hard crash. Kraus crossed the nose of Byron’s teammate, Josh Berry, turning his #19 Thorogood Toyota into the outside wall. The truck hit the fence twice more before it came to a stop in Turn 3, the driver climbing out with some difficulty. Hutchens climbed his way to 33rd, four laps ahead of Lawless Alan in the #34 Auto ParkIt Toyota. Both pulled out of the way of the leaders in the final laps along with Kris Wright, whose #02 Master Tech Chevrolet pulled high in Turn 1. 

Cup Series regular Ryan Preece led the final eight laps to take his first career Truck Series victory in his first-ever attempt, driving David Gilliland’s #17 Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford. Seven spots behind him in 8th was Ty Majeski, who for just the second time in 2021 drove ThorSport’s new #66 Sim Craft Toyota. Majeski’s 8th-place finish followed his season-best 7th two rounds ago in Charlotte. Also impressive was Jack Wood, who started on the front row alongside Derek Kraus, finished 5th in Stage 1, 7th in Stage 2, and 11th at the finish.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This marked the first last-place finish for the #27 in a Truck Series race since June 8, 2012, when Brandon Knupp’s run in the #27 Hillman Racing Chevrolet ended with ignition issues after 2 laps of the Winstar World Casino 400 at Texas. It was also the first last-place run for the #27 in a Truck Series race at the Nashville Superspeedway.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

36) #27-William Byron / 78 laps / engine

35) #19-Derek Kraus / 110 laps / crash

34) #34-Lawless Alan / 142 laps / running

33) #14-Trey Hutchens / 146 laps / running

32) #02-Kris Wright / 148 laps / running

2021 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Niece Motorsports (4)

2nd) Rackley-W.A.R. (2)

3rd) CMI Motorsports, GMS Racing, Norm Benning Racing, Reaume Brothers Racing, Roper Racing (1)

2021 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet (10)

2nd) Ford, Toyota (1)

2021 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP