PREVIEW: IndyCar stars Andretti and Daly join Karam in adding further intrigue to elimination weekend at the Charlotte “Roval”

IMAGE: @tmtracing50

by Brock Beard

LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief

Saturday, October 8, 2022 (3:00 P.M. ET, NBC)

XFINITY Race 29 of 33

Round of 12: Race 3 of 3

Drive for the Cure 250 at the Charlotte Roval

2021 Last-Place Finisher: Gray Gaulding

ENTRY LIST

The XFINITY Series closes out the “Round of 12” with 41 drivers entered for 38 starting spots, meaning three will fail to qualify.

DRIVER CHANGE: #5-B.J. McLeod Motorsports

This weekend’s final road course race of the season means the return of several road course “ringers” in NASCAR’s top two series, starting with Scott Heckert, whose best of four previous starts this year with B.J. McLeod’s team was a 13th at rainy Portland. This week, he takes the place of Joey Gase, who finished 21st in Talladega.

DRIVER CHANGE: #18-Joe Gibbs Racing

Rich Mar Florist has become an increasingly prolific sponsor in NASCAR these last couple seasons, but their paint scheme on the #18 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing will be their first with a multi-hued flower print against a black backdrop. Behind the wheel is James Davison, making his first XFINITY start since August 14, 2021 at Indianapolis, where he ran 18th for B.J. McLeod, his first NASCAR start since a 34th-place run in Cup for Carl Long at Talladega, and his first for JGR’s XFINITY team since 2018 when he ran 8th at Road America. Davison takes the place of Trevor Bayne, who after an aggressive start at Talladega finished 13th.

MISSING: #24-Sam Hunt Racing

Joe Nemechek is not entered in the second Sam Hunt car that was withdrawn from Talladega.

DRIVER CHANGE: #26-Sam Hunt Racing

Running the primary Sam Hunt machine is Daniil Kvyat, who will pull double-duty on the “Roval” following his only two previous starts in NASCAR’s national series – 36th-place finishes in this year’s Cup races at Indianapolis and Watkins Glen. Nemaco is the listed sponsor of his #26 Toyota.

RETURNING: #32-Jordan Anderson Racing / AM Racing

As team owner Jordan Anderson continues to recuperate from his burns suffered in last week’s Truck Series race at Talladega, Austin Wayne Self will attempt to get his part-time second entry into a race for the first time this year. Self’s Truck Series effort, AM Racing, is backing the effort with AM Technical Solutions following as sponsor. Self seeks his first career XFINITY Series start following a DNQ in Watkins Glen.

DRIVER CHANGE: #34-Jesse Iwuji Motorsports

This week, it is Kaz Grala and not Kyle Weatherman in the #34 entry with which team co-owner Jesse Iwuji finished 28th in Talladega. Grala’s previous eight XFINITY Series starts this year have come with fellow Chevrolet efforts Alpha Prime Racing and Big Machine Racing, including his season-best 5th his last time out at Watkins Glen. Grala finished 8th in the 2018 inaugural “Roval” race for Fury Race Cars.

DRIVER CHANGE: #35-Emerling-Gase Motorsports

MISSING: #53-Emerling-Gase Motorsports

Brad Perez returns seeking his second career XFINITY Series start. This time, he runs the bright colors of sponsor Green Tech as he takes the place of 37th-place Talladega finisher Jeffrey Earnhardt in the flagship Emerling-Gase Motorsports entry, the same team with which Perez finished 20th at Watkins Glen in his series debut. Earnhardt is not entered this week along with the second Emerling-Gase car, #53, which was withdrawn from Talladega.

DRIVER CHANGE: #36-DGM Racing

RETURNING / DRIVER SWAP: #92-DGM Racing

Alex Labbe is back for the first time since his 17th-place showing in Texas and is running the #36 with sponsorship from Can-Am for the first time since Bristol. This moves Josh Williams to DGM’s part-time third effort, the #92. Both teammates have enjoyed strong runs on the “Roval” with Williams taking 11th last year and Labbe never finishing worse than 14th in his four previous starts with a best of 4th in 2020.

DRIVER CHANGE: #38-RSS Racing

Patrick Gallagher returns for his fifth XFINITY Series start of the year, looking to improve on his season-best 19th at Road America. He takes the place of C.J. McLaughlin, 29th in Talladega, in the #38 Ford with sponsorship from Belle Haven.

DRIVER CHANGE: #44-Alpha Prime Racing

Josh Bilicki and longtime sponsor Insurance King are among the teams carrying pink paint schemes for the Susan G. Komen Foundation this weekend. Recovering from an injury that kept him from running the Cup race at Bristol, Bilicki makes his first XFINITY start since Watkins Glen, where he steered Alpha Prime’s #45 to a 17th-place finish. Bilicki takes the place of Howie DiSavino III, whose superspeedway debut at Talladega yielded a 32nd-place finish.

DRIVER CHANGE: #45-Alpha Prime Racing

Stefan Parsons has enjoyed the strongest stretch of his young XFINITY Series career in recent weeks, taking 12th in his most recent road course start at Watkins Glen, then 17th at Darlington, 26th in Kansas, 8th at Bristol, and 13th in Texas. As in four of those five starts, Parsons again drives for Alpha Prime, this time in place of 31st-place Talladega finisher Caesar Bacarella.

DRIVER CHANGE: #47-Mike Harmon Racing

As of this writing, there is no driver listed for the #47, which was piloted last week by team owner Mike Harmon to a 34th-place finish in Talladega.

DRIVER CHANGE: #48-Big Machine Racing

Fresh off his championship in this year’s Superstar Racing Experience, third-generation IndyCar star Marco Andretti will make his NASCAR debut this weekend in no less than Scott Borchetta’s #48 Chevrolet, a team that’s been on the rise the last couple weeks following Nick Sanchez’ 11th-place performance at Texas and Parker Kligerman’s 6th-place outing in Talladega.

RETURNING: #52-Jimmy Means Racing

For the second time this year and first since Bristol, Brennan Poole will again attempt to get team owner Jimmy Means into his first race of the 2022 season. Poole has yet to qualify for a XFINITY Series race on the Charlotte “Roval.”

DRIVER CHANGE: #68-Brandonbilt Motorsports

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

Last Saturday in Talladega marked Brandon Brown’s final start with Brandonbilt Motorsports, the team with which he won the same race just one year earlier. After a 33rd-place finish, the ride goes back to Kris Wright, who seeks his fifth start of the year and first since a 25th-place showing in Bristol. Brown moves to B.J. McLeod’s #78, taking McLeod’s own spot with the team that finished 26th in Talladega.

MISSING: #77-Bassett Racing

Ronnie Bassett, Jr. is not entered after his family’s team withdrew from Talladega.

DRIVER CHANGE: #91-DGM Racing

Taking the place of Talladega last-place finisher Mason Massey, plagued by electrical issues in the early laps last week, is returning Spec Miata standout Preston Pardus. Pardus finished 21st his last time out at Watkins Glen and ran 7th his last time out on the “Roval,” again running for Mario Gosselin’s DGM effort.

DRIVER CHANGE: #02-Our Motorsports

Welcoming fellow open-wheeler Marco Andretti into the XFINITY Series is Sage Karam, who eyes his ninth start of the season and first since Bristol, when he finished a solid 18th in his first start for the Chris Our team. Karam takes the place of Blaine Perkins, who ran the #02 last time out at Talladega for a 36th-place finish.

DRIVER CHANGE: #08-SS-Green Light Racing with Jeff Lecourt

Completing the XFINITY Series’ “road ringer” contingent is Andy Lally, who brings sponsors Engine Parts Plus and DB Automotive to the second SS-Green Light effort, swapping in for 25th-place Talladega finisher David Starr. Lally has run the #08 in three of his previous four XFINITY starts this year including his season-best 14th at Road America and 19th his last time out in Watkins Glen. But he hasn’t run the XFINITY “Roval” race since the 2018 inaugural, when a crash driving for Mario Gosselin left him 37th.

CUP INVADERS: None

Sunday, October 9, 2022 (2:00 P.M. ET, NBC)

CUP Race 32 of 36

Round of 12: Race 3 of 3

Bank of America ROVAL 400 at the Charlotte Roval

2021 Last-Place Finisher: Ryan Newman

ENTRY LIST

The Cup Series will likewise eliminate four drivers from Playoff contention this Sunday as title contenders complete an entry list of 39 drivers for 40 spots. It’s still the 31st short field in 32 races, but only the fourth time the series has come up just one car short of filling all 40 spots, the first since Watkins Glen in August.

DRIVER CHANGE: #15-Rick Ware Racing

DRIVER SWAP: #51-Rick Ware Racing

Back with the Ware team for the first time since his 31st-place showing at Watkins Glen is Joey Hand, who enjoyed a strong 9th-place qualifying run at Road America earlier this summer. Hand takes the place of J.J. Yeley, who was 31st last week at Talladega, in what was the site of Hand’s Cup debut last fall. That day, Hand finished 27th in RWR’s #52 entry. Yeley will still run this Sunday in RWR’s #51. While Cody Ware was able to finish 32nd at Talladega despite his ankle injury suffered in his frightening crash at Texas, on Tuesday, Ware elected not to run this weekend’s road course race. As of this writing, Ware expects to return next week in Las Vegas.

DRIVER CHANGE: #16-Kaulig Racing

Just announced to be returning to full-time Cup competition in 2023, A.J. Allmendinger returns to the Cup garage for the first time since his 7th-place showing at Bristol as one of the clear favorites for victory. Allmendinger takes the place of Daniel Hemric, whose late-race electrical issues in Talladega left him stranded on pit road in 34th.

RETURNING: #26-Team Hezeberg

RETURNING: #27-Team Hezeberg

The second half of Daniil Kvyat’s double-duty effort comes with the returning Team Hezeberg group, which has brought both its cars to the track for the third time this year. Kvyat will again run the #26 Toyota with flagship driver Loris Hezemans in the #27 Ford. The pair most recently ran at Watkins Glen, where Hezemans took 33rd ahead of 36th-place Kvyat.

TEAM UPDATE: #48-Hendrick Motorsports

It was reported Tuesday that Alex Bowman, out at Talladega due to his Texas concussion, will again be out of the car this week in the “Roval,” eliminating Bowman from a chance at winning his way into the “Round of 8.” Bowman will again be replaced by Noah Gragson, who pulls double-duty following his 19th-place run in Talladega.

RETURNING: #50-The Money Team Racing

Welcome back The Money Team, which hasn’t attempted a Cup race since their season-best 23rd-place performance at the Coca-Cola 600 on this same Charlotte track this past May. Carrying new sponsorship from Bitnile.com is second-generation open-wheel driver Conor Daly, who makes his Cup Series debut. Daly is no stranger to NASCAR as he has a combined three starts in XFINITY and Truck Series competition, most recently last year’s Truck race in Las Vegas, where he finished last (LINK).

MISSING: #62-Beard Motorsports

The Beard family’s team, a regular on NASCAR’s superspeedways, has likely wrapped up their 2022 campaign after Justin Allgaier took the controls for Noah Gragson at Talladega, yielding a 30th-place finish for the #62.

DRIVER CHANGE: #77-Spire Motorsports

After Landon Cassill’s sterling 11th-place run in Talladega where he also led a lap, Mike Rockenfeller looks to rebound from a difficult 30th-place debut in Watkins Glen. Rockenfeller carries sponsorship from Bon Secours and Swamp Rabbits on his Chevrolet.

DRIVER CHANGE: #78-Live Fast Motorsports

The “Roval” will also see Josh Williams make his third career Cup Series start with the Live Fast Motorsports team, bringing Alloy Employer Services on board for a double-duty effort with the XFINITY Series. Williams, who finished 25th in his prior two races at Bristol and Indianapolis, takes the place of B.J. McLeod, who ran 33rd in Talladega.

Saturday, October 22, 2022

TRUCKS Race 22 of 23

Round of 8: Race 3 of 3

Baptist Health 200 at Homestead

2020 Last-Place Finisher: Bryant Barnhill

The Truck Series returns in two weeks to compete at Homestead for the first time in more than two years. It will be the semifinal race to determine which four drivers will compete for the championship in the finale at Phoenix.

TODAY IN LASTCAR HISTORY (October 6, 1996): Jeremy Mayfield picked up the 1st career last-place finish of his NASCAR Winston Cup Series career in the UAW-GM Quality 500 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway when his #37 Kmart / Little Caesar’s Ford blew a right-front tire and crashed after 17 laps. Mayfield started 3rd on the grid but was one of many drivers to crash in practice, sending him to a backup car. This was his fifth start for team owner Michael Kranefuss after leaving Cale Yarborough Motorsports in a ride swap with John Andretti.

ARCA WEST: Tuttle’s title hopes still alive despite Pedroncelli’s return

SCREENSHOT: FloRacing

by Ben Schneider

LASTCAR.info Guest Contributor

Andrew Tuttle finished last for the 3rd time in his ARCA Menards Series West career in Saturday’s NAPA Auto Care 150 at All American Speedway when his #39 Gearhead Coffee Chevrolet failed to start the event.

The finish came in Tuttle’s fifteenth career West Series start.

For the second West Series race in a row, Tuttle’s team entered the weekend fully intending to compete in the event. His Last Chance Racing team was able to log a timed lap in qualifying - albeit nearly three full seconds off the pace of the next closest competitor. This placed Tuttle 21st of 22 cars on the starting grid, with Paul Pedroncelli bringing up the rear as he did not record a qualifying time.

Pedroncelli and his son P.J. made a welcomed return to the West Series this weekend after sitting out Evergreen and Portland. After Tuttle’s car was assisted off the track during the pace laps, Pedroncelli followed his familar “start-and-park” form, retiring from the race with brake issues after completing just three laps. Following the race, P.J. confirmed in an Instagram post that this would be the family’s final race of the season before returning in 2023.

While Pedroncelli appeared to have one hand on the 2022 LASTCAR ARCA Menards Series West championship a long time ago, Tuttle’s recent DNS results have kept him from clinching a successful defense of his title. With Pedroncelli expected to be absent from the final two races in Las Vegas and Phoenix, Tuttle can still mathematically clinch the LASTCAR West Series title should he finish in last place in both races. However, the chances of this are slim. Unlike Pedroncelli’s #31 entry, which is used almost exclusively as a start-and-park, Tuttle was on a stretch of five consecutive races where he finished under power before these two DNS results. Should Tuttle and his team be able to bounce back and take the green flag in the final two races, his form from earlier this season suggests Pedroncelli is still the title favorite despite his projected absence for the rest of the season.

After Tuttle and Pedroncelli, the next two retirements were Chris Lowden and Bridget Burgess, who fell out with crash damage after 11 and 12 laps respectively. As a spin from Burgess did not immediately bring out a caution, Lowden collided head on with Burgess’ car, resulting in significant damage to both vehicles. The final spot in the Bottom Five was taken by Takuma Koga, who suffered crash damage of his own in an incident with Vince Little after completing 120 laps.

At the front of the field, Bill McAnally Racing’s Cole Moore led 70 of 150 laps to score his long-awaited first career West Series victory. Moore competed part-time for BMR from 2015-17 and returned to the team last season in a full-time effort, finishing third in the championship standings. Moore’s win is also the first in 2022 for BMR as a team and BMR’s first win with Chevrolet since 2007.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

22) #39-Andrew Tuttle / 0 laps / did not start

21) #31-Paul Pedroncelli / 3 laps / brakes

20) #11-Chris Lowden / 11 laps / crash

19) #88-Bridget Burgess / 12 laps / crash

18) #7-Takuma Koga / 120 laps / crash

2022 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES WEST MANUFACTURERS CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet (8)

2nd) Ford (1)

3rd) Toyota (0)

2022 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES WEST OWNERS CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Pedroncelli Racing (4)

2nd) Last Chance Racing (2)

3rd) Jones Racing (1), Brian Kamisky Racing (1), Kart Idaho Racing (1)

2022 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES WEST DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP

CUP: Ty Gibbs avoids “The Big One” on Saturday, but not on Sunday

Gibbs during last week's race at Texas.
PHOTO: Sean Gardner, Getty Images

by Brock Beard

LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief

Ty Gibbs picked up the 2nd last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career in Sunday’s Yellawood 500 at the Talladega Superspeedway when his #23 Monster Energy Toyota crashed after 23 of 188 laps.

The finish, which came in Gibbs’ 11th series start, was his second of the season and first since Richmond, seven races ago. In the Cup Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 39th for the #23, the 180th for Toyota, and the 637th from a crash. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 71st for the #23, the 386th for Toyota, and the 1,309th from a crash.

Since his most recent last-place finish, Gibbs has continued his determined pursuit for a first XFINITY Series championship. Despite a crash while battling for the lead at Bristol, he easily made the cutoff for the Playoffs and since finished 3rd in Texas. He’s also continued his unexpected relief driver role for Kurt Busch at 23XI Racing, though now running the #23 in a number swap with Bubba Wallace to pursue the Owner’s Championship. The swap paid off with Wallace’s second career win at Kansas, and Gibbs earned solid finishes of 13th at Daytona and 15th in his first Southern 500. 

But there has also been controversy. First a debate over “team orders” at Bristol, where both Wallace and Gibbs lost several laps with steering issues. When fellow Toyota driver and Playoff contender Kyle Busch lost an engine, both 23XI Racing cars still returned to the track many laps down. Wallace passed Busch, who ultimately was eliminated from Playoff contention, while Gibbs pulled off the track just four laps short of catching the #18. A more troubling issue came up last week in Texas, where Gibbs and Ty Dillon made contact on pit road late in the race. Gibbs retaliated, swerving into Dillon, who nearly struck a NASCAR official and members of Chris Buescher’s pit crew. The incident resulted in a $75,000 penalty and a 25-point deduction for the #23 team, after which Gibbs tweeted an apology.

Talladega proved to be a bizarre weekend for Gibbs. On the XFINITY side, he started outside-pole, then on Lap 3 contact from Justin Allgaier caused him to spin out of 3rd place. Incredibly, Gibbs didn’t make contact with any other driver and made just light contact with the wall. In a race where all 38 starters finished under power, Gibbs finished 7th. In Cup, Gibbs’ #23 briefly had the fastest lap in Round 1 of qualifying despite smoke from his right-front tire. The issue kept him from competing in Round 2, so he earned the 10th spot. Additional repairs meant Gibbs would incur a tail-end penalty on Sunday for unapproved adjustments, the same for 35th-place B.J. McLeod in the #78 NASCAR Rivals Ford and 8th-place Tyler Reddick, whose #8 Realtree Chevrolet suffered splitter damage after a brake failure in qualifying caused him to hit a NASCAR official on pit road. Gibbs’ teammate Bubba Wallace required an engine change, so he would also drop to the rear in his #45 Leidos Toyota.

On race day, Ryan Blaney was slow coming off pit road as his #12 Menards / Dutch Boy Ford had a radio issue. NASCAR allowed him to rejoin the field in his original 19th-place starting spot, last of the 12 current Playoff contenders. When the race started, Gibbs and Wallace were the last two cars across the stripe, 2.765 and 2.997 seconds back of the lead, respectively. By Lap 1, both pulled past McLeod, who was 2.579 seconds back of the lead and just 0.074 behind J.J. Yeley’s #15 Summit Racing Equipment Ford. McLeod then dispensed with Yeley by Lap 3 with Martin Truex, Jr.’s #19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota ahead of him in 36th.

The next time by, as RFK Racing teammates Brad Keselowski and Chris Buescher dropped toward the tail end of the field, Yeley lost touch with the pack, and was already 1.344 seconds back of 36th place. Yeley relayed information on his rpms and voltage, and by Lap 6 said his car was running between 7400 and 7500 rpms. By then, he was now 7.151 behind 36th and 9.632 back of the lead. The crew told Yeley to keep running, hoping for an early caution to look over their car. On Lap 8, they got that break when a debris caution came out for the right-side window coming out of Ty Dillon’s #42 SunseekerResorts.com Chevrolet. By then, Yeley had dropped a full 14.412 seconds back of 36th place, 20.082 back of the lead.

Gibbs was among those joining Yeley on pit road, and on Lap 9, Michael McDowell took over the last spot after an extended stop for handling issues on his #34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford. McDowell held the spot until Austin Cindric incurred a pit road speeding penalty, then his #2 Discount Tire Ford came in another time to top off his fuel cell before the restart. Cindric passed the RFK duo on the restart, moving Chris Buescher to last in the #17 Fastenal Ford behind teammate Brad Keselowski in the #6 Kohler Generators Ford. Buescher was still running in last, following Keselowski’s tire tracks, when trouble broke out just in front of them on Lap 24.

Gibbs' car being towed to the garage after the Lap 24 crash.
SCREENSHOT: NASCAR.com

Heading into Turn 1, Harrison Burton’s #21 made a move for 13th by pulling his #21 DEX Imaging Ford in front of Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.’s #47 Kroger / SunnyD Chevrolet. But the two cars made contact, causing Burton to spin across Stenhouse’s nose. The two-wide pack behind them jammed up with at least seven cars colliding and spinning. Among these was the #62 Beard Oil Chevrolet of Justin Allgaier – the lone “open” entry in the field – which after their incident in Saturday’s race ended up the one who pinned Gibbs’ #23 into the outside wall. Of those involved, both Gibbs’ and Burton’s cars were stopped on the infield grass with Allgaier limping to pit road.

On Lap 24, it appeared that Allgaier’s string of terrible luck on the Cup Series side would continue as he took over last place, the same spot he finished in this race last year for Spire Motorsports. Allgaier wasn’t slated to run this race until Noah Gragson was tabbed by Hendrick Motorsports to take over for Alex Bowman in the #48 Ally Chevrolet, Bowman the victim of a concussion in a crash last week at Texas. But on Lap 25, Allgaier’s crew got the #62 back on track, dropping Gibbs to last on Lap 26. Gibbs’ car was towed to the garage, followed by Burton’s, which was dragged backwards toward the exit of pit road. Gibbs’ car reached the garage on Lap 28 followed by Burton’s on Lap 30. Both were done for the day, declared out by NASCAR on Lap 40.

Finishing 35th was Corey LaJoie, whose #7 Schluter Systems Chevrolet was in a trailing pack of cars when he lost a tire in Turns 1 and 2 and bounced off the outside wall. Daniel Hemric took 34th after he drew the last caution when his #16 Celsius Chevrolet had an electrical failure at the exit of pit road. McLeod rounded out the Bottom Five with a 33rd-place showing, six laps down to the leaders.

Cassill and Gilliland enjoy strong runs

Following a 3rd-place finish in the XFINITY Series race the day before, Landon Cassill earned a strong 11th-place finish in the #77 Voyager: Crypto For All Chevrolet, backing up his 4th-place run in the crash-marred Daytona race in August. Also impressive was Todd Gilliland, whose 7th-place finish wasn’t a career-best, but his #38 Georgia Peanuts Ford was among the lead pack all day long, often drafting with his teammate and eventual 3rd-place finisher Michael McDowell.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*Gibbs has so far handed 23XI Racing two of their three last-place finishes this year, one each in both the team’s car numbers.

*This marked the first time the #23 finished last in a Cup race at Talladega since October 19, 2014, when Alex Bowman crashed his #23 Dustless Blasting Toyota after 102 laps.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

37) #23-Ty Gibbs / 23 laps / crash

36) #21-Harrison Burton / 23 laps / crash

35) #7-Corey LaJoie / 44 laps / crash

34) #16-Daniel Hemric / 180 laps / electrical

33) #78-B.J. McLeod / 182 laps / running

2022 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Live Fast Motorsports (6)

2nd) Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing (4)

3rd) 23XI Racing, Spire Motorsports (3)

4th) Penske Racing, Stewart-Haas Racing, Team Trackhouse (2)

5th) Kaulig Racing, NY Racing Team, Richard Childress Racing, Rick Ware Racing, Team Hezeberg (1)

2022 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet, Ford (12)

2nd) Toyota (7)

2022 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

XFINITY: For the first time in more than 14 years, all XFINITY Series starters finish under power - including last-place Mason Massey

PHOTO: @dgm_racing_

by Brock Beard

LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief

Mason Massey picked up the 2nd last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career in Saturday’s Sparks 300 at the Talladega Superspeedway when his #91 Anderson Power Services Chevrolet finished under power, 18 laps down, after completing 95 of 113 laps.

The finish, which came in Massey’s 43rd series start, was his first of the season and first in a XFINITY Series race since July 17, 2021 at New Hampshire, 42 races ago. In the XFINITY Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 4th time the driver finished under power, the 30th for the #91, and the 606th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 49th to finish running, the 55th for the #91, and the 1,863rd for Chevrolet.

After running part-time for B.J. McLeod Motorsports, Massey joined Mario Gosselin’s then three-car lineup this year in the #91 Chevrolet, running most of the oval schedule with Preston Pardus taking over on the road courses. Through a difficult start to the season where Massey failed to qualify for three of the first 15 races, the DGM Racing team had to scale back the #92 entry due to sponsor issues, losing Kyle Weatherman. But Massey also picked up a career-best 6th-place finish at Atlanta’s new superspeedway this past spring, then bounced back from his last-place run in 2021 to take 9th at the Loudon oval in July. Massey arrived in Talladega in need of a turnaround, having finished no better than 31st in his last three starts.

The preliminary entry list showed 41 drivers entered for 38 spots, but with weather threatening from Hurricane Ian, three teams withdrew: the second entries for both Sam Hunt Racing and Emerling-Gase Motorsports, plus Bassett Racing’s #77 Chevrolet. With that, Massey secured 29th on the grid among the 38 remaining drivers, clocking in with a speed of 178.971mph (53.506 seconds).

Securing the 38th and final starting spot was Mike Harmon, who made his first XFINITY Series start as a driver since last fall at Martinsville. The short entry list helped the Mike Harmon Racing team tremendously as Harmon was prohibited from taking qualifying time since his car failed inspection three times.

Before the start, Harmon would be joined by no less than 10 other drivers who incurred various pre-race penalties, including Massey, who was docked for unapproved adjustments along with 6th-place Noah Gragson in the #9 Bass Pro Shops TrueTimber BRCC Chevrolet, 22nd-place Jesse Iwuji in the #34 Equity Prime Mortgage Chevrolet, 31st-place Caesar Bacarella in the #45 Clear Cryptos Chevrolet, 32nd-place B.J. McLeod in the red #78 B.J. McLeod Motorsports Chevrolet, and 37th-place Jeremy Clements in the #51 One Stop / ASE Chevrolet. Joey Gase, swapped from the withdrawn Emerling-Gase #53 to B.J. McLeod’s #5 in place of Matt Mills, needed an engine change on the #5 Absaroka Ford that lined up 25th. Three others missed driver intros: 24th-place Bayley Currey in the #4 Alka-Seltzer Chevrolet, 34th-place Howie DiSavino III in the #44 Travis Mills Foundation Chevrolet, and 36th-place Timmy Hill in the #13 Buffalo Wild Wings / Coble Chevrolet. Currey and Hill had just completed the Truck Series event run before the XFINITY race.

Last-place qualifier Harmon didn’t incur a tail-end penalty, but still crossed the starting line 36th ahead of Hill and DiSavino, the #44 reaching the line 3.883 seconds back of the leader. At the end of Lap 1, both had dropped Harmon back to last, 3.68 seconds back of the lead, while DiSavino paired up in the draft with teammate Bacarella. On Lap 3, contact from Justin Allgaier off Turn 2 caused Ty Gibbs to spin from third place. Miraculously, the only damage to Gibbs’ #54 SportClips Haircuts Toyota was to the right-front and right-rear as the field avoided involvement. Bacarella had just taken over last at the moment of caution, followed by Gibbs on Lap 4 after an extended stop for new tires and cosmetic repairs. Gibbs remained in the spot through the Lap 7 restart, when he just caught the tail end of the field before the green flag dropped. Gibbs quickly cleared minimum speed as he worked his way through the field. The first car he passed turned out to be Mason Massey’s.

Just before Lap 8, NASCAR radioed that Massey had gone behind the wall with a mechanical issue. There was an issue with the gauges, and the crew checked the alternator wire. On Lap 15, Massey returned to the track eight laps down, but said the car wouldn’t be able to reach minimum speed as it struggled in fourth gear. The team now believed the issue to be with the ignition or carburetor, and called him behind the wall a second time on Lap 17. As Massey’s team scrambled to get the replacement carburetor, they sent him back out a second time on Lap 19, but signs now pointed to a short in the electrical system. “It’s something to do with that fucking master switch,” said someone on the team. Just like last time, after completing just one more lap, Massey was behind the wall for a third time on Lap 20. This time, he complained of a vibration that was so bad he couldn’t see anything in his rear view mirror. By Lap 24, Massey was now 16 laps down and the crew was replacing the master switch, which had been caused the car’s electronics to flicker. Finally, on Lap 28, Massey returned to the track for a third time and turned just his ninth lap of the day. He now said the engine sounded fine, but the vibration was still there. To address it, the crew called him in for four tires and two bounds out of both rears, though the team had issues relaying it due to radio problems. Massey himself had to be told to move his microphone closer to his mouth as the team couldn’t hear him over the engine noise.

By Lap 31, Massey was back up to speed. The vibration had subsided. But he was now down a full 18 laps to the leader – and more intriguingly, the only driver so far off the lead lap. The crew had Massey lag back by himself, anticipating a pileup among the leaders that didn’t come. Stage 2 ended on Lap 51, and Massey got the Lucky Dog, putting him 17 laps down to the field. The crew discovered they’d forgotten to re-hook his coolbox during the master switch change, but driver and team agreed to not take the time to set it back up again. On Lap 71, Massey was docked for speeding in Section 1 and served a pass-through, putting him back down the 18th lap. 

No other drivers were lapped until around the 85th circuit, when DiSavino’s went down a lap after a stop. The leaders remained single-file for much of the final stage, and ultimately caught a few stragglers toward the back of the field by the checkered flag. On Lap 105, there were still 29 cars on the lead lap, then 23 at the finish. One of the last to drop off was Myatt Snider, whose #31 Tax Slayer Chevrolet spun to the runoff down the backstretch, but still managed to come home under power. In fact, everyone else did, too – including 37th-place Jeffrey Earnhardt, whose Ford was just in front of the leaders as A.J. Allmendinger took the checkered flag. Snider took 35th with Harmon 34th. The 36th spot fell to Blaine Perkins in Our Motorsports’ #02 AUTOParkIt Chevrolet.

Turning heads was Parker Kligerman, who in his first XFINITY start at Talladega since 2013 finished a strong 6th in Scott Borchetta’s #48 Big Machine Spiked Coolers Chevrolet. It was Kligerman’s first top-ten finish in a XFINITY Series race since he drove for Precision Performance Motorsports at Road America in 2017, taking 10th.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This marked the first last-place finish for the #91 in a XFINITY Series race since November 15, 2014, when Jeff Green picked up his 60th last-place finish with an early vibration on his TriStar Motorsports entry at Homestead. The number hadn’t finished last in a XFINITY Series race since April 26, 2008, when Larry unselman’s MSRP Motorsports Chevrolet collided with Dario Franchitti’s Dodge on the apron of Turn 3, resulting in injuries to Franchitti.

*This was the first time the entire field of a XFINITY Series race finished under power since August 15, 1998, when the 43 cars that took the green for the Pepsi 200 Presented by Devilbiss all finished within eight laps of the leader, including last-place finisher Tracy Leslie.

*This was also the first time the last-place finisher of a XFINITY Series race at Talladega finished the race under power – excluding Michael Annett’s disqualification from a lead-lap finish in 2020.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

38) #91-Mason Massey / 95 laps / running

37) #35-Jeffrey Earnhardt / 109 laps / running

36) #02-Blaine Perkins / 110 laps / running

35) #31-Myatt Snider / 111 laps / running

34) #47-Mike Harmon / 111 laps / running

2022 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Alpha Prime Racing (4)

2nd) B.J. McLeod Motorsports, JR Motorsports (3)

3rd) JD Motorsports, Mike Harmon Racing, Motorsports Business Management, Our Motorsports, Sam Hunt Racing (2)

4th) Big Machine Racing, DGM Racing, Jesse Iwuji Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, Kaulig Racing, Richard Childress Racing, SS-Green Light Racing, Stewart-Haas Racing (1)

2022 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet (21)

2nd) Toyota (5)

3rd) Ford (2)

2022 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

TRUCKS: Jordan Anderson airlifted to local hospital after fire invades the cockpit in early laps at Talladega

PHOTO: @j66anderson

by Brock Beard

LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief

Jordan Anderson picked up the 2nd last-place finish of his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career in Saturday’s Chevy Silverado 250 at the Talladega Superspeedway when his #3 Dometic Outdoor Chevrolet was involved in a fiery single-truck accident after 18 of 95 laps.

The finish, which came in Anderson’s 138th series start, was his first of the season and first in a Truck Series race since July 20, 2016 at Eldora, 147 races ago. In the Truck Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 2nd for the #3, the 178th from a crash, and the 428th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 29th for the #3, the 1,308th from a crash, and the 1,862nd for Chevrolet.

Since he was last featured on this website, Jordan Anderson has grown his own race team by leaps and bounds, expanding first into a full-time Truck Series effort, then a full-time program in XFINITY. His longtime sponsor Bommarito Automotive Group teamed with him in 2018, when he first campaigned the #3 with a 9th-place showing at Daytona. In the years that followed, he’d come agonizingly close to his first career win at the track, taking 2nd in both 2020 and 2021. 

The ’21 season saw Anderson’s expansion into the XFINITY Series, where the use of metric qualifying in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic limited him to just six starts, including a career-best 5th at Talladega. This year, Anderson has handed the wheel of his XFINITY ride to Myatt Snider, who brought sponsor Tax Slayer from his previous ride at Richard Childress Racing. Coming into this weekend, Snider nearly scored his second career win in a rain-soaked Portland race, where he finished runner-up to A.J. Allmendinger. Anderson’s only XFINITY attempt as a driver this year came in a joint effort with AM Racing at Michigan, where a slip in qualifying kept him out of the show.

Since his XFINITY expansion, Anderson has scaled back to only a part-time effort in the Truck Series, but has remained a contender for his first series win. Last year at Darlington, he avoided much of the night’s chaos to finish 10th – his first top-ten in the series on a non-superspeedway. With new sponsorship from Dometic Outdoor, Anderson missed the field for this year’s Daytona race, then after a crash at Las Vegas came into Talladega with three consecutive finishes of 18th or better, most recently a 16th in Gateway.

With no practice at Talladega, Anderson needed to put up a big lap in qualifying and did, securing a career-best 9th on the grid with a speed of 175.600mph (54.533 seconds). Missing the show were Tim Viens in his co-owned #46 Turning Point USA Toyota for G2G Racing, 2019 Talladega winner Spencer Boyd in the #12 Alabama Roofing Professionals Chevrolet, and Reaume Brothers Racing teammates Jason White in the #33 Lakeside Heffley Hideaway Toyota and Natalie Decker in the #43 Diesel Beverages Toyota.

Securing the 36th and final starting spot was Kaden Honeycutt, who raced On Point Motorsports’ #30 Rangeline Group Toyota with a heavy heart following the passing of his grandfather on Tuesday. No drivers joined him in the back for pre-race penalties, so Honeycutt took the green in last place, 3.447 seconds behind the leader.

By the end of Lap 1, Honeycutt had climbed to 32nd, dropping Jennifer Jo Cobb to last in her first start of the 2022 season, following a pair of DNQs at Daytona and Nashville. Cobb’s #10 Fastener Supply Company Chevrolet remained in the spot until Lap 4, when Bryan Dauzat dropped 0.307 second behind her in his #28 FDNY / National Police Association Chevrolet for Jim Rosenblum’s returning FDNY Racing. Enthusiastic over the radio, Dauzat shouted “Truck’s good. Truck’s real good,” and decided to hang back while the field sorted itself out. But Dauzat’s truck also drafted well, and on Lap 5 had dropped to last XFINITY Series standout Parker Retzlaff, making his Truck Series debut in Randy Young’s #20 Funkaway Chevrolet. Dauzat then picked up debris on his grille, bringing the water temperature to 245 degrees, and dropped back behind Retzlaff on Lap 6. The two were side-by-side the next two laps, and on the 7th circuit were in a dead heat at the stripe, tied past the thousandth of a second with Retzlaff credited with last place.

As Dauzat cleared the debris from his nose, his battle with Retzlaff continued. Retzlaff pulled ahead on Lap 9 and opened up an advantage of 0.232 second, but by Lap 14, Dauzat had rocketed back to 34th, passing both Retzlaff and teammate Kaz Grala in the #02 RandCo Chevrolet. That time by, Clay Greenfield made an unscheduled pit stop in Cook Racing Technologies’ #84 Backyard Blues Pools Toyota. Greenfield, another driver making his first start of the 2022 season, was back up to speed on Lap 15, when he took over last a full 48.005 seconds back of the lead. Stranded without drafting help, the field immediately rushed past, putting him the first truck one lap down. The crew remained calm, reminding him he’d get his lap back soon at the end of Stage 1. One of the last trucks to catch Greenfield was Cobb, whose #10 had fallen 1.249 seconds back of now 34th-place Bryan Dauzat.

Then on Lap 19, Greenfield’s spotter said, “Got a smoker up front – got one on fire,” and told him to watch for fluid and a truck spinning to the middle of the track. This was Jordan Anderson, who after his strong qualifying run was still in the Top Five, just 0.325 seconds back of the lead behind Carson Hocevar. Entering Turn 1 in the low lane, a fuel line came loose in the engine, and the truck erupted in flames from behind both front wheels. Anderson dropped the window net as he slowed and pulled to the apron, then was beginning to climb from the window an instant before the truck slammed the inside wall. Anderson climbed on the barrier, then fell as he hopped back onto the track. He was quickly attended to by emergency crews, who brought him to the infield care center, then airlifted him to a local hospital in Birmingham. He was reported to be awake and alert. After 60 laps of the following XFINITY race, Anderson was reported to have suffered minor burns to his neck, left arm, and knee and was expected to be discharged in the evening.

Anderson took over last on Lap 20, becoming at least the fourth driver to finish last in a Truck Series race after a fire invaded the cockpit. The previous instances were Hailie Deegan at Atlanta, Dean Thompson at Martinsville, and Spencer Boyd at IRP.

The next three trucks eliminated were involved in a bizarre series of incidents that began when Lawless Alan’s #45 AUTOParkIt Chevrolet blew a right-front tire in Turn 3 and slammed the outside wall, causing a piece of debris to embed itself in the front valence of teammate Carson Hocevar’s #42 Worldwide Express Chevrolet. On the same lap, Bryan Dauzat suffered heavy right-front damage to his truck, which may or may not have been from contact with Dean Thompson, whose #40 WWEX Racing Chevrolet had damage to the left-front and right-rear. Alan climbed from his truck, which was towed behind the wall. Dauzat made it to pit road, where his truck stalled as their “Crash Clock” expired, eliminating him under the DVP. What happened to Thompson’s truck wasn’t televised, though he did not make it back to pit road and was checked and released from the infield care center with teammate Alan.

With two races to go, Thompson now retakes the lead in the 2022 LASTCAR Truck Series standings by a single bottom-ten finish over Spencer Boyd, who failed to qualify.

Rounding out the Bottom Five was Jennifer Jo Cobb, who had clutch issues from the start of the race and was ultimately eliminated when the starter failed near the end of the race.

DiBenedetto wins first NASCAR national series race over surprising Bret Holmes

Seconds before a photo finish between Bret Holmes and Matt DiBenedetto, NASCAR threw the caution for an accident in the tri-oval. Holmes’ #32 Golden Eagle Syrup Chevrolet reached the finish line first by mere thousandths of a second, which would have been Holmes’ first win in just his 14th series start. But NASCAR ruled that at the moment of caution, DiBenedetto’s #25 Rackley Roofing Chevrolet was out front, giving him his own first NASCAR national series win after 248 Cup starts, 69 in XFINITY, and 21 – all of this season’s – in Trucks. Holmes ended up taking 3rd, still his first Top Five after a previous career mark of 8th this year in Las Vegas.

Colby Howard picked up a career-best 8th in the #91 Gates Hydraulics Chevrolet, recovering from at least one spin off Turn 4 to improve on his previous best mark of 9th at both Mid-Ohio and Kansas. 

Kaden Honeycutt charged from last on the grid to take home a career-best of his own in 11th in this, only his seventh series start. His previous best of 13th was the very last race at Bristol.

And in the #84 team’s first-ever start of the season, Clay Greenfield finished in 12th, his best run since the 2019 opener at Daytona, where he also ran 12th. His career-best remains a 8th-place finish at the Talladega race in 2017.

Jay Sauter's truck losing the engine at Richmond, September 9, 1999.
SCREENSHOT: ESPN2, race posted by Dave W

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This marked the first last-place finish for the #3 in a Truck Series race since September 9, 1999, when Jay Sauter’s run in Richard Childress’ #3 GM Goodwrench Service Plus Chevrolet ended with a blown engine after 60 laps at Richmond. The #3 had never finished last in a Truck Series race at Talladega.

*This is also the first last-place finish for Jordan Anderson’s own Truck Series team.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

36) #3-Jordan Anderson / 18 laps / crash

35) #28-Bryan Dauzat / 32 laps / dvp

34) #40-Dean Thompson / 32 laps / crash

33) #45-Lawless Alan / 32 laps / crash

32) #10-Jennifer Jo Cobb / 73 laps / clutch

2022 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) G2G Racing (4)

2nd) Niece Motorsports, Reaume Brothers Racing, Young’s Motorsports (3)

3rd) AM Racing, David Gilliland Racing (2)

4th) Front Row Motorsports, Halmar Friesen Racing, Jordan Anderson Racing, McAnally-Hilgemann Racing (1)

2022 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet (11)

2nd) Toyota (6)

3rd) Ford (3)

2022 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP