CUP: Ty Dillon becomes first driver to finish last in both his Duel and the 500 since 1992

PHOTO: Jonathan Fjeld, @Jonathan_Fjeld

by Brock Beard

LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief

Ty Dillon picked up the 2nd last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career in Sunday’s 65th Annual Daytona 500 at the Daytona International Speedway when his #77 Ferris Chevrolet lost the engine after 26 of 212 laps.

The finish, which came in Dillon’s 203rd series start, was his first since May 12, 2018 at Kansas, 169 races ago. In the Cup Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 40th for the #77, the 715th from an engine, and the 831st for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 54th for the #77, the 1,131st from engine issues, and the 1,871st for Chevrolet.

Following his last-place finish in Race 1 of Thursday night’s Bluegreen Vacation Duel (LINK), Dillon secured the 37th spot on the starting grid and didn’t participate in final practice on Saturday.

Rolling off 40th and last was Travis Pastrana, whose #67 Black Rifle Coffee Toyota was last in Duel Race 2 after he was collected in the Turn 3 crash triggered by contact between race leaders Kyle Busch and Daniel Suarez. The wreck destroyed Busch’s #8 3CHI Chevrolet, sending the team to a backup car. This incurred Busch a tail-end penalty for Sunday, where he’d start a re-wrapped car from teammate Austin Dillon. This resulted in a car where Dillon’s car number “3” was visible on the doors beneath the wrap of his number “8.”

Helped by Pastrana’s wreck, which also collected other “open” diver Austin Hill in the #62 Bennett Chevrolet, Conor Daly secured the final transfer spot into Sunday’s field. He did so in The Money Team Racing’s #50 Bitnile Chevrolet, which suffered a massive vibration at the beginning of his qualifier. The issue was resolved during the race, but a new problem sprung up on Sunday – his rear-view camera wouldn’t work, and the driver couldn’t see anything behind him over the rear spoiler. Just like on Thursday, he had no choice but to drive through it.

When the green flag dropped, Busch dropped to the final row, 3.692 seconds back of the lead and just ahead of a returning Jimmie Johnson, who was just 17-thousandths of a second behind Busch. By the end of Lap 1, the field remained in two-by-two formation with Johnson’s #84 Carvana Chevrolet from the Legacy Motor Club now just ahead of Busch, 2.15 seconds back of the lead. 

Dillon's car pushed to the garage early in the race.
PHOTO: Jared Haas, @RealJaredHaas

The field remained in formation for several laps, causing last place to change hands frequently with each driver just a few hundredths from 39th place. As Johnson said his car felt “a little bouncy,” Busch put him to last on Lap 4, then Johnson moved Ty Dillon to last for the first time on Lap 9. Dillon moved ahead of Johnson on Lap 10 by just 0.016 second, then Johnson ahead of Dillon on Lap 11. Johnson was last on Lap 12, then Cody Ware in the #51 Biohaven Ford on Lap 14, just 0.091 back of Dillon. Ware then dispensed of Dillon the next time by, and both moved past Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.’s #47 Cottonelle Chevrolet on Lap 16. On Lap 17, Stenhouse inched ahead of Daly, who at that point was still 2.399 seconds back of the lead and just 0.058 back of Stenhouse. Stenhouse moved Dillon back to 39th by Lap 19, but Pastrana was 39th by Lap 22 and Ross Chastain in the #1 Advent Health Chevrolet on Lap 24. By the time Chastain took the spot from Daly, the tail end of the field slowly began to string out by tenths of a second, ranging from one to four-tenths. On Lap 25, Chastain was last with Daly 39th, Pastrana 38th, and Stenhouse 37th.

On Lap 26, Dillon was running 35th when his car started to trail smoke, forcing him to pull to the high lane. Chastain’s spotter warned him as he moved past the ailing #77, which prepared to come down pit road. “Sounds like a plug wire came off,” said Dillon as he came down pit road. Now in last and off the lead lap on Lap 28, Dillon’s crew pushed him behind the wall. Not long after on Lap 31, someone on the radio said, “Alright, boys, we’re done.” The on-board camera was shut off, and NASCAR confirmed Dillon was the first retiree on Lap 44.

After a clean, but intense first half of the race, a series of progressively larger accidents completed the Bottom Five. On Lap 118, contact in Turns 3 and 4 sent Tyler Reddick’s #45 Monster Energy Toyota into the outside wall. Erik Jones spun to avoid him in the #43 Guns N’ Roses Chevrolet, only to back into the path of Chase Elliott’s #9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet. All three were eliminated. It wasn’t until Lap 182 that another driver fell out – Ryan Preece, whose #41 HaasTooling.com Ford suffered significant left-front damage in a wreck entering Turn 3.

Riley Herbst’s 10th-place debut among Sunday’s surprises

At the scene of his surprising pole in 2020, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. picked up the win – his first since 2017, and the first for JTG-Daugherty Racing since 2014.

Not far behind, the Rick Ware Racing duo of Cody Ware and Riley Herbst both earned strong finishes. Herbst, making his Cup debut in the #15 SunnyD Ford, bounced back from a spin entering pit road that incurred him a controversial commitment cone penalty from NASCAR. He finished 10th, four spots ahead of teammate Cody Ware in 14th. For Ware, it’s his second consecutive top-fifteen finish at Daytona, following his career-best 6th here last August.

Two of the four “open” entries also filled the Top 15. Though involved in the last-lap pileup in Turn 2, Travis Pastrana led two laps and steered the #67 to an 11th-place showing. Two spots behind, Zane Smith completed a dream week with a 13th-place finish in Front Row Motorsports’ #36 Wellcare Ford, improving on his 17th-place debut as Chris Buescher’s relief driver last June in Gateway.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This was the first last-place finish for the #77 in a Cup Series points race at Daytona, and the second in a row for Spire Motorsports’ #77 team, combined with Landon Cassill’s in last fall’s Phoenix finale.

*Despite running just 26 laps, Ty Dillon ran more laps than 22 of the previous 64 last-place finishers of the Daytona 500.

*Ty Dillon is the first driver to finish last in both his Duel Qualifying Race and the 500 since 1992, when Bob Schacht had engine issues after 7 laps of both Race 2 of the 125s and the 500.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

40) #77-Ty Dillon / 26 laps / engine

39) #45-Tyler Reddick / 117 laps / crash

38) #9-Chase Elliott / 118 laps / crash

37) #43-Erik Jones / 118 laps / crash

36) #41-Ryan Preece / 181 laps / crash

2023 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Spire Motorsports (1)

2023 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet (1)

2023 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

XFINITY: After several drivers have pre-race issues, Bayley Currey takes last when transmission pops out of gear

PHOTO: Jared Haas, @RealJaredHaas

by Brock Beard

LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief

Bayley Currey picked up the 7th last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career in Saturday’s Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. 300 at the Daytona International Speedway when his #4 Mikes Weather Page / Firman Chevrolet lost the engine after 8 of 125 laps.

The finish, which came in Currey’s 108th series start, was his first of the season and first in a XFINITY race since October 29, 2022 at Martinsville, two races ago. In the XFINITY Series standings, it was the 21st for the #4, the 375th from engine issues, and the 610th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 71st for the #4, the 1,130th from engine issues, and the 1,870th for Chevrolet.

While Currey did claim the 2022 LASTCAR XFINITY Series Championship at the end of last fall’s Phoenix finale, he did so by the narrowest of margins as one of the only drivers to finish last twice all year. His best run of the season was a 10th at Loudon, followed closely by a hard-fought 11th at Bristol and 12th the next round in Texas. In between, his JD Motorsports entry attracted multiple much-needed sponsors to Johnny Davis’ team, including pain relievers Alka-Seltzer and Aleve, and most notably Hy-Vee Markets, which picked up much of the season’s second half.

With this much-needed stability, Currey was re-signed to continue his full-time effort with JD Motorsports into the current year. He’d be joined by his teammate from last fall, Brennan Poole, who like Currey had previously struggled to make ends meet while driving for Mike Harmon Racing. Again, sponsorship was central to both teams. While Poole welcomed back sponsor Macc Roof Systems with a paint scheme by Nicholas Wetherbee, Currey carried a scheme recognizing the importance of hurricane preparedness. Joining the effort were multiple sponsors: Mike’s Weather Page, Firman Power Equipment, Onesource Restoration, Victory Powerline Services, and Coastal Claims, plus associate backing from longtime NASCAR sponsor Lowe’s.

Currey’s Daytona weekend began with a 38th-fastest lap of 44 entrants in the lone practice session. He picked up some speed in qualifying, ranking 30th with a lap of 179.072mph (50.259 seconds). 

The six teams sent home included both Motorsports Business Management teammates of a returning Dexter Stacey in the #66 ReCap Recovery Drink Chevrolet and Timmy Hill in the #13 Klutch Vodka Toyota, plus two of the three DGM Racing cars of Josh Bilicki in the #91 Zeigler / Insurance King Chevrolet and Alex Labbe in the #36 Larue / DuroKing Chevrolet. Joining them were Garrett Smithley in B.J. McLeod’s #99 Trophy Tractor Chevrolet and Ryan Vargas in the #74 Leargas Security Chevrolet.

Securing the 38th and final starting spot was Jeremy Clements, whose #51 One Stop / All South Electric Chevrolet secured a spot based on his win at Daytona last August. Alongside him in 37th was Jesse Iwuji, whose unsponsored #34 Chevrolet didn’t turn a lap in qualifying. 

The tail end of the field would change by race time as six drivers incurred pre-race penalties. This included both SS-Green Light Racing entries of 27th-place Blaine Perkins in the #07 AUTOParkit.com Chevrolet and 23rd-place Gray Gaulding in the #08 Panini Chevrolet, whose teams completed unapproved adjustments along with Kyle Sieg’s #28 Night Owl Ford in 26th and Joey Gase’s #53 National Crime Prevention Ford in 36th. Two of the three Alpha Prime Racing entries were also docked: Ryan Ellis missed practice due to a transmission issue on his #43 Heartbeat Hot Sauce Chevrolet and ultimately changed engines; Caesar Bacarella fell ill after qualifying 17th in the #45 Clear Cryptos Chevrolet and handed the wheel to Stefan Parsons.

Even more drama unfolded once the command to start engines was given. Lined up 20th for his first start with Jordan Anderson Racing in the #27 State Water Heaters Chevrolet, Jeb Burton couldn’t fire the engine at the command. He briefly regained power, then lost it again, and as the field rolled away, his team pushed his car to his pit stall to replace the battery. At the head of the pack, polesitter Austin Hill had radio issues on his #21 Bennett Transportation Chevrolet, and after a single pace lap had to come back into his pit stall to swap out the radio. By then, Burton’s team had removed the right-rear wheel and installed another battery, then applied bear-bond elsewhere on the car for something that had come loose. Burton rejoined the tail end of the field, and was instructed by NASCAR to do his timing check down pit road, then pass the pace car. Hill then left his stall, the crew calming each other down as the #21 lined up at the back of the pack.

Coming to the green flag, as Hill pulled to the inside of Jeb Burton in the final row, Ellis had further issues with his #43. On top of the earlier transmission and engine issues, his car pulled to the apron of Turn 4 just before the start, then moved behind Hill as the leaders took the green flag. Further ahead, a few cars made contact on the inside line, causing Burton to pull high around the car in front of him while Ellis followed Hill down low. By the end of the first lap, Ellis remained in last, now 0.804 second behind 37th pace. This deficit grew to 1.564 the next time by, when Ellis reported his car was hitting the splitter hard as he drove over bumps on the track. He also mentioned something about the distributor. By Lap 6, he was now 2.599 seconds back of 37th, now held by Kaz Grala, who damaged the nose of his #26 Island Coastal Lager Toyota on the start. Grala and others in front of him had likewise lost touch with the pack, creating a gap of 2.470 seconds from Grala to 36th-place Kyle Sieg.

Then on Lap 8, NASCAR officials broke in with “Slow one up top off (Turn) 4.” This was Currey, who was running around the 20th spot when his car began trailing smoke. As the smoke worsened into Turn 1, he pulled to the apron and talked it over with the crew. Currey reported he thought he was having transmission issues, then when he reached down felt the shifter was in neutral. The car had come out of gear, terminally damaging the engine. Under this first caution of the day, Currey made it to the garage by Lap 10. The team’s spotter remained at his post, awaiting word if the damage was terminal. He wouldn’t have to wait long. On Lap 11, someone on Currey’s channel said, “We’re done.”

The next two spots in the Bottom Five were filled on Lap 20 after a collision off Turn 4 where contact from Sam Mayer’s #1 Accelerate Pros Talent Chevrolet sent Blaine Perkins’ #07 into Daniel Hemric’s #11 Cirkul Chevrolet, destroying the right-front suspension on Hemric’s car and sending Perkins into the inside wall. Ellis’ night ended after 41 laps when contact from Parker Kligerman’s #48 Big Machine Racing Spiked Coolers Chevrolet turned Sheldon Creed’s #2 Whelen Chevrolet on the approach to Turn 1, causing others to check-up and collide behind. Ellis’ radiator damage ended his night in the 35th spot.

Great night at Daytona for Jordan Anderson Racing, RSS Racing

While the race ended under caution following Sam Mayer’s last-lap flip down the backstretch, multiple drivers enjoyed fine showings. With 11 laps to go, Jeffrey Earnhardt was running 10th in Alpha Prime Racing’s #44 ForeverLawn Chevrolet when Parker Kligerman attempted to merge into his line. The two made contact, putting Earnhardt into the wall and dropping him to 28th at the finish, leading to a confrontation in the garage after the finish. Also robbed of a strong finish was Anthony Alfredo, who qualified 10th in B.J. McLeod’s #78 Dude Wipes Chevrolet, worked his way up to 3rd in the final stages, and was still running 15th the instant before Mayer’s flip, only to be collected and dropped to 24th.

Coming through clean on the other side was Parker Retzlaff, who in his own first start for Jordan Anderson Racing steered the #31 Funkaway Chevrolet to a career-best 4th – his first-ever Top Five in only his 10th career start. Jeb Burton, Retzlaff’s teammate, overcame his issues before the start to nearly secure a Top Ten of his own, ultimately taking a hard-fought 11th. Also in the mix were two of the three RSS Racing entries with Joe Graf, Jr. earning a career-best 7th-place finish in his #39 Getcoverseal.com Ford ahead of teammate Ryan Sieg in the #38 CMRroofing.com Ford, just the third top-ten finish of Graf’s young career.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This marked the first last-place finish for the #4 in a XFINITY Series race at Daytona.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

38) #4-Bayley Currey / 8 laps / engine

37) #07-Blaine Perkins / 19 laps / crash

36) #11-Daniel Hemric / 20 laps / crash

35) #43-Ryan Ellis / 41 laps / crash

34) #2-Sheldon Creed / 41 laps / crash

2023 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) JD Motorsports (1)

2023 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet (1)

2023 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

TRUCKS: Hard luck Dean Thompson scores first Truck Series last-place run for #5 since 2012

PHOTO: Jared Haas, @RealJaredHaas

by Brock Beard

LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief

Dean Thompson picked up the 3rd last-place finish of his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career in Friday’s NextEra Energy 250 at the Daytona International Speedway when his #5 Thompson Pipe Group Toyota was involved in a multi-truck accident after 28 of 79 laps.

The finish, which happened in Thompson’s 25th series start, was his first of the season and first since April 7, 2022 at Martinsville, 19 races ago. In the Truck Series’ rankings, it was the 4th for the #5, the 48th for Toyota, and the 180th from a crash. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 40th for the #5, the 389th for Toyota, and the 1,317th from a crash.

Driving for Niece Motorsports at the time, then-rookie Thompson led the 2022 LASTCAR Truck Series Championship nearly all season, beginning with crash damage in Daytona and continuing through a fire in the driver’s cockpit at Martinsville. Only a late-season series of struggles by Spencer Boyd led to the title changing hands at Homestead. This captured the frustrations of a lackluster season with a best finish of 11th at Las Vegas and five DNFs, three due to crashes. As the year progressed, his sponsor Worldwide Express started to venture beyond his team – first to teammate Carson Hocevar, then to Ross Chastain’s Cup effort at Trackhouse Racing.

But the offseason presented a new opportunity. On December 5, 2022, Thompson signed with TRICON Garage, the new Toyota team formed after Kyle Busch’s departure from Joe Gibbs Racing. With the restructuring of what was once David Gilliland Racing’s Ford team, TRICON put Thompson into one of three new entries on the now five-truck effort, campaigning the #5. Joining as sponsor was Thompson Pipe Group, which the team’s press release indicated is a “leading water and waste piping manufacturer across the United States and Canada.”

Thompson qualified 18th with a speed of 177.708mph. The fastest truck sent home was Lawless Alan, Thompson’s former teammate at Niece, though it was rumored Alan’s team would buy a spot in the field. This never came to pass, and Alan’s #45 AUTODockit Chevrolet was sent home with Bryan Dauzat in the #28 FDNY / O.B. Builders Chevrolet, Todd Peck in the unsponsored #96 Toyota, Spencer Boyd in the #12 Freedom Warranty Chevrolet, Kaden Honeycutt in the #04 FlyAllianceCar Quest Ford, and Norm Benning in the #46 Middle Department Inspection Agency Toyota. Benning, who took the place of Johnny Sauter at G2G Racing, had run 10th in the lone practice session.

Rolling off 36th and last was Jason M. White of Canada – as opposed to Virginia’s Jason A. White, who started TRICON Garage’s #1 Celsius Toyota – in the #34 Powder Ventures Excavations Toyota, slowest in qualifying with a speed of just 166.417mph (54.081 seconds), nearly five seconds off the pole. Jason M.’s truck recognized the efforts of the Mooresville Fire Department, who 22 days ago extinguished a blaze that seriously damaged the Reaume Brothers Racing shop. Both Reaume trucks qualified for the race as new teammate Mason Massey ranked 35th in the #33 Brunt Ford, along with Reaume himself in AM Racing’s #22 JAG Metals Ford.

Both Reaume and Jason M. White were among the seven trucks sent to the rear for unapproved adjustments, including 5th-place Corey LaJoie in the #7 Schluter Systems Chevrolet, 10th-place Chase Purdy in the #4 Bama Buggies Chevrolet, 29th-place Daniel Dye in the #43 Giuseppe’s Steel City Pizza Chevrolet, 31st-place Clay Greenfield in the #84 Backyard Blues Pools Toyota, and 33rd-place Chris Hacker in the #30 Morgan & Morgan P.A. Toyota. This changed the order so that, crossing under the green flag, Hacker had taken over last place, 4.029 seconds back of the lead.

By the end of Lap 1, Jason M. retook the last spot, but a quick caution fell for the first of a series of pop-up rain showers. Under this yellow, a few trucks hit pit road, including Derek Kraus, who pitted his #20 Hardscape Construction Inc. Chevrolet. Tyler Ankrum took the spot on Lap 6 in his #16 Liuna Toyota, and was still there on the Lap 7 restart when rain force the caution once more. Ankrum dispensed with Jason M. the next time by, but Ankrum pitted again under this caution, putting him back to 36th on Lap 9. Ankrum then passed Kris Wright, whose #02 F.N.B. Corporation Chevrolet followed by Timmy Hill’s #56 Coble Enterprises Toyota on the 11th circuit and Reaume back to last on Lap 12. With the race under green, Reaume drew alongside Jason M., the pair just 0.099 second apart at the stripe. 

But on Lap 15, Reaume had an issue with the master switch that caused him to lose touch with the pack, already 1.668 seconds back of Jason M. The deficit grew to 2.316 seconds on Lap 17, when Reaume remarked that it “smells like popcorn in here, not sure if it’s electrical.” By then, the Reaume-owned trucks of Jason M. and Massey had also dropped back of the pack, and Reaume caught the pair to form a three-truck draft on Lap 19. The Stage 1 caution on Lap 22 led to more pit stops, putting Massey to last, followed by Codie Rohrbaugh’s #97 Grant County Mulch Chevrolet on Lap 23. Reaume came in for an extended stop, which put him back to last on Lap 24, and he finally returned to the track as the pace car came off Turn 4. Reaume caught the tail end of the field for the Lap 26 restart, and this time kept up with the pack.

On Lap 29, Reaume and his teammates were among the few drivers who had dropped behind the lead pack in a draft of their own. This proved well-timed, as the night’s first big wreck broke out some distance ahead. Caught in the middle of a three-wide pack, Clay Greenfield’s #84 was pinballed between the #51 Eberlestock Chevrolet to his inside and Ty Majeski’s #98 Road Ranger Ford to his outside. Greenfield broke loose, clipped another passing truck to his inside, then cut right into traffic. Stuck in the outside lane some distance back of Greenfield, Thompson had nowhere to go and hit Matt DiBenedetto’s #25 Rackley Roofing Chevrolet, which hooked left into Greenfield. Thompson pulled low with nose damage, a small fire erupting beneath his machine as he slid to a stop on the apron. Thompson started to roll again, but his spotter told him to stop as he was leaking fluid. 

With that, Thompson climbed from his truck, last in Daytona’s opener for a second-straight year. He was joined in the medical center by Greenfield and Hailie Deegan, who suffered significant damage to her #13 Ford Performance Ford. Completing the Bottom Five were Codie Rohrbaugh and Parker Kligerman in the #75 Purina / Food Country USA Chevrolet, both involved in a later crash entering Turn 3.

Thompson was understandably frustrated in his interview after he was checked and released from the infield care center, stating that he didn’t feel like he had the opportunity to challenge for wins last year, and wanted to capitalize on this new chance with Toyota. He did say he was looking forward to the upcoming race at Darlington, his favorite track.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This was the first last-place finish for the #5 in a Truck Series race since August 22, 2012, when Johnny Chapman had electrical issues after 2 laps around Bristol.

*This marked the first time any truck numbered between #0 and #11 had ever finished last in a Truck Series race at Daytona.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

36) #5-Dean Thompson / 28 laps / crash

35) #13-Hailie Deegan / 28 laps / crash

34) #84-Clay Greenfield / 28 laps / crash

33) #97-Codie Rohrbaugh / 39 laps / crash

32) #75-Parker Kligerman / 45 laps / dvp

2023 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) TRICON Garage (1)

2023 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Toyota (1)

2023 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

CUP: Travis Pastrana’s last-place finish a footnote to Conor Daly’s improbable comeback in Duel Race 2

PHOTO: Jared C. Tilton, Getty Images

by Brock Beard

LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief

Travis Pastrana finished last in Thursday’s Bluegreen Vacations Duel Race 2 at the Daytona International Speedway when his #67 Black Rifle Coffee Toyota was involved in a multi-car accident after 40 of 60 laps.

One of the most surprising entries for this year’s 500 was that of extreme sports legend Pastrana, who to much fanfare drove a neon-hued #60 Ford for Roush-Fenway Racing in a lone NASCAR XFINITY Series campaign back in 2013. He earned a pole at Talladega and four top-ten finishes, securing 14th in the final standings. Since then, he’s only made five other starts in NASCAR’s top three series – all of them in the Truck Series, and none since 2020. 

But that didn’t stop the announcement that 23XI Racing would enter a third car for the first time. After fielding the #23 and #45 as team co-owner Michael Jordan’s most famous jersey numbers, the team selected #67, a number that hadn’t started the Daytona 500 since 1989 with Mickey Gibbs. The number was most famously driven by Mopar loyalist Buddy Arrington, who died just last year. Pastrana’s incarnation of the #67 would be far different than Arrington’s red-and-blue Mopars. He’d run a plaid paint scheme, emblematic of his own branding.

In qualifying – Pastrana’s first-ever laps behind the wheel of a NASCAR NextGen car – he put up a best lap of 179.254mph (50.208 seconds), ranking him 25th of the 42 entrants. Most importantly, it ranked him second among the six “open” teams – just two spots below class leader Jimmie Johnson – securing him a starting spot in “The Great American Race.” He celebrated on pit road with the family of close friend Ken Block, who lost his life in a snowmobile accident in January.

Pastrana would line up 12th in Duel Race 2, where Conor Daly would roll off last in The Money Team Racing’s #50 Bitnile Chevrolet. Daly’s mount had suffered even worse electrical issues than Chandler Smith from Race 1. A short caused a failure in a custom-made oil line, and a replacement couldn’t be found either on the track premises nor in any local sports car shops. While the crew did manage to repair the line later that night, Daly was the only driver to not turn a lap in qualifying, and wouldn’t get to shake down his car until the Duel race itself.

This, too, proved problematic. No sooner had Daly’s #50 rolled off the grid than it started shaking violently from front to back, making the driver feel like he was jumping in his seat. The bouncing grew worse as the car accelerated, making him think something was bent in the rear of the car. Despite it feeling “like driving over a supercross track,” making him think the driveline was failing, Daly took the green flag on the track. The car’s rocking motion was immediately apparent, and he lost touch with the field immediately. “It’s fighting so hard when I get in the corner,” he said, “I feel like the rear is snapping out on me aggressively.”

After a caution-free Duel Race 1, Daly was saved by an early yellow on Lap 5, caused by the passenger-side window coming free from Justin Haley’s #31 Cirkul Chevrolet. This allowed Daly to follow the rest of the field down pit road, where the crew first took off both right-side wheels, then the left-front to make further adjustments. On Lap 9, Daly put the car in gear and returned to the track, still on the lead lap in last place. “Feel better, Connor?” the team asked. “Yes, much better. Much better.” The next time by, Daly had even passed another car. B.J. McLeod in the #78 Power Slap Rumble Chevrolet had stalled on pit road, costing him nearly a lap to the leaders. As Daly filed in at the tail end of the pack for the restart, McLeod was by himself a half-lap behind, trying to catch up. On Lap 12, McLeod could gain no more ground, and fell 23.726 seconds back of the leader. Daly managed to battle Chase Briscoe’s #14 Mahindra Tractors Ford for 19th until he was shaken out on Lap 14, causing Daly to gradually fall toward the distant McLeod.

During this run, McLeod’s spotter was impressed with how their car was performing. “Buddy, by yourself, this is actually a pretty good time,” he said on Lap 16. And even when the leaders caught and lapped the #78 on the 20th circuit, he was impressed with how well the car sucked up on the draft. Daly, meanwhile, continued to lose ground, showing 39.348 seconds back of the leader on Lap 27. By Lap 29, the leaders had caught and passed Daly off Turn 2, the #50 dropping back in the high lane. “Just go ahead and go by him,” said McLeod’s spotter. “He’s really off the pace.” On Lap 31, McLeod had caught Daly and looked to his outside, ultimately dropping Daly to last by Lap 34. Daly was himself sounding positive on the radio, saying on Lap 35 that the car handled better as it burned off more fuel.

Pastrana, meanwhile, had lagged back in the pack as he tried to learn for Sunday’s race. Even so, he was still among the leaders when trouble broke out on Lap 41. Halfway down the backstretch, Daniel Suarez had locked the front bumper of his #99 Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge Chevrolet to the rear bumper of Kyle Busch’s #8 3CHI Chevrolet. Busch had paced the field for most of the race, and was as hardly contested as Joey Logano had been in Race 1. But one bump too many from Suarez sent Busch’s car hard to the right entering Turn 3, slamming the #8 head-on into the wall. As traffic scattered, Pastrana was running in the low lane behind Austin Hill, whose #62 Bennett Chevrolet was the other “open” car Daly needed to beat in order to make the 500 field. Pastrana appeared to get into the back of Hill, sending the #62 up the track and into the passing #15 SunnyD Chevrolet of Riley Herbst. Pastrana skated into the pileup, then down the banking and into the grass. 

Busch and Herbst didn’t make it to pit road, and while the NASCAR leaderboard indicated Pastrana did, joining Hill, Pastrana was credited with the last-place finish. Hill attempted to return to the race, but completed just one more lap before suspension damage from the wreck sent him behind the wall, both out of the race and the 500. With that, Daly – still one lap down after his early misfortune – became the last driver to lock himself into the 500 field. Daly finished the race under power, completing the Bottom Five, but secured the open-wheeler his first 500 and the second in a row for The Money Team Racing.

Daly will start 34th in Sunday’s 500 with Pastrana taking 40th and last on the grid.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This was the first last-place finish for the #67 in the Duel races.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

21) #67-Travis Pastrana / 40 laps / crash

20) #15-Riley Herbst / 40 laps / crash

19) #8-Kyle Busch / 40 laps / crash / led 28 laps

18) #62-Austin Hill / 41 laps / dvp

17) #50-Conor Daly / 59 laps / running

CUP: Loose wheel during late-race pit stop hands Ty Dillon last in Duel Race 1

PHOTO: Jared C. Tilton, Getty Images

by Brock Beard

LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief

Ty Dillon finished last in Thursday’s Bluegreen Vacations Duel Race 1 at the Daytona International Speedway when his #77 Ferris Chevrolet finished under power, one lap down, after 60 laps.

At the end of last season, it was already known that Ty Dillon would not return to Petty GMS Racing in 2023. He’d started the year in spectacular fashion, winning the Last Chance Qualifier for the inaugural Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum before he was penalized for jumping the restart. But just one top-ten finish followed – a 10th in a Gain-sponsored Chevrolet at the Bristol Dirt Race. As Noah Gragson prepared to challenge for Rookie of the Year in Ty’s place, Ty landed at Spire Motorsports in the #77, a car that last year was shared by four different drivers.

After failing to make this year’s Clash through the final Last Chance Qualifier, Ty arrived in Daytona ten days later ready to put up his time once more. In Round 1, Ty ran the 39th-fastest time with a speed of 176.315mph (51.045 seconds), just ahead of his new teammate Corey LaJoie in the #7.

Rolling off 21st and last in Thursday’s Duel Race 1 was Kaulig Racing’s newest hire, former Kyle Busch Motorsports Truck Series driver Chandler Smith. Combined with his full-time XFINITY effort for Kaulig, Chandler was entered in a third “open” Cup team under the Kaulig banner, carrying sponsorship from Quick Tie, Inc. With no practice before Wednesday’s qualifying, however, the team was unable to discover an electrical issue until Chandler was on the track, where he turned in the session’s slowest completed lap at 165.022mph (51.422 seconds). Repairs incurred him a redundant tail-end penalty for Thursday’s race, the only penalty handed down before the start.

When the green flag dropped, Chandler Smith started by himself on the inside of the final row, and by following the draft from Austin Dillon’s #3 Bass Pro Shops Club Chevrolet, pulled 0.139 second ahead of Ty, whose #77 was the last car on the outside line. Chandler then pulled to the high lane with Dillon down low as both shook out Cody Ware in the #51 Biohaven / Jacob Construction Ford. Ware was last at the stripe, 0.144 back of Ty, but only held the spot for just over a lap. 

Alex Bowman, who scored his record sixth consecutive front-row start in the Daytona 500 with his third pole, dropped to last on Lap 3 in his #48 Ally Chevrolet. That time by, Bowman was already 1.373 seconds back of the lead and 0.463 back of 20th-place Ware. “Obviously, you know hat the ultimate goal is here,” Bowman’s crew told him. Still under green, while 20th place continued to change hands as the field first raced side-by-side, then in single-file formation, Bowman’s deficit grew. He was 1.794 behind 20th place on Lap 6, 6.212 on Lap 9, 20.691 on Lap 16, and 28.482 on Lap 20. That time by, Bowman’s crew asked about the car’s balance, to which Bowman provided a couple details about how his car handled when others bumped him.

While the Chevrolet teams began pitting on Lap 22, Bowman stayed out, and he soon caught another car. A.J. Allmendinger stalled on pit road, and was by himself in the #16 Nutrien Ag Solutions Chevrolet. Bowman caught him on Lap 24, the two just one-tenth of a second apart, and the #48 made the pass the next time by. But by then, two other drivers were handed pit road speeding penalties, dropping them to the final two spots. First came Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., whose #47 Cottonelle Chevrolet was too fast in Section 12, and became the first lapped car on the 25th circuit. The other was Chandler Smith, whose struggles continued after his penalty on Lap 26. Both remained in the final two spots even after Ty Gibbs received a penalty of his own for speeding in his #54 Monster Energy / Interstate Batteries Toyota. Gibbs stayed in touch with the tail end of the field and began to climb up the order once more.

On Lap 38, Stenhouse also caught the tail end of a drafting pack, and was soon bracketed by Zane Smith in the #36 Wellcare Ford. Zane – of no relation to Chandler – was in direct competition with Chandler to transfer into the Daytona 500 field. Zane could see Chandler in his rear-view mirror, but some distance behind. Chandler had the misfortune of running by himself, stranded between two single-file lines that contained the remainder of the entire field. With still no cautions, it appeared the electrical issue in qualifying would cost Chandler his shot at his Cup debut.

Bowman pitted for the final time with 20 laps to go, dropping from 17th and losing a lap, but most importantly keeping his pole-winning car in one piece. This dropped Bowman to last on Lap 43 as Chandler Smith passed him through Turns 1 and 2. On Lap 49, Bowman dropped Cody Ware to last for a second time, and the #51 briefly showed two laps down on the running order. This did not occur on pit road as Ware did not make any more stops past the halfway point. 

One who did pit was Ty, who after running as high as 13th came in with just five to go. There, an apparent miscommunication over a four or two-tire stop caused Ty to leave his stall with the right-rear wheel loose. The driver stopped and quickly returned to his stall, losing a lap before returning to the track. He took last from Ware on Lap 59, just seconds from the finish, and took the checkered flag on track. 

With all cars still running at the finish, Cody Ware, Ty Gibbs, Chandler Smith, and Alex Bowman completed the Bottom Five, all of them one lap down to race winner Joey Logano. Chandler was the first driver eliminated from the 500 field as Zane Smith secured his place with an 8th-place finish. Zane will start 17th on Sunday with Ty Dillon back in 37th.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This marked the first last-place finish for the #77 in a Duel race since February 20, 2014, when Dave Blaney’s #77 Plinker Arms Ford did not start following a practice crash with Parker Kligerman that destroyed the Randy Humphrey team’s only car.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

21) #77-Ty Dillon / 59 laps / running

20) #51-Cody Ware / 59 laps / running

19) #54-Ty Gibbs / 59 laps / running

18) #13-Chandler Smith / 59 laps / running

17) #48-Alex Bowman / 59 laps / running