TRUCKS: Recently reinstated Chris Hacker gives #30 first-ever Truck Series last-place finish; Josh Reaume secures title

PHOTO: Brock Beard

by Brock Beard

LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief

Chris Hacker picked up the 2nd last-place finish of his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career in Friday’s Craftsman 150 at the Phoenix Raceway when his #30 Morgan & Morgan / The Taco Spot Toyota was involved in a multi-truck accident after 53 of 179 laps.

The finish, which occurred in Hacker’s 15th series start, was his first of the season and first in a Truck Series race since September 24, 2021 at Las Vegas, 49 races ago. In the Truck Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 1st for the #30, the 189th from a crash, and the 53rd for Toyota. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 27th for the #30, the 402nd for Toyota, and the 1,360th from a crash.

Just last week at Martinsville, Hacker was reinstated by NASCAR following a suspension in August following his arrest for driving while intoxicated near Huntersville, North Carolina. Having been sober for more than two months and completed NASCAR’s “Road To Recovery” program, Hacker was cleared to run last week, where he steered Emerling-Gase Motorsports’ #35 XFINITY car to a 30th-place finish. It was his first series start since Loudon, where he finished 30th after a 14th-place debut in Richmond for RSS Racing.

For Phoenix, Hacker was one of several drivers to run double-duty in the season finale. On top of his run for Emerling-Gase in XFINITY – this time in the #53 – his Morgan & Morgan sponsorship would also be on a plain white Toyota fielded by On Point Motorsports. It was with this team that Hacker made his most recent Truck start at IRP, taking 29th. The Taco Spot also joined as backer, putting their logos on the quarter-panels. In between a 25th-place speed in XFINITY practice, Hacker ran 32nd in Thursday’s opening Truck practice, then qualified 30th with a lap of 132.558mph (27.158 seconds). He was second-slowest of those locked in on speed. Interestingly, the truck didn’t carry the driver’s “Hackerman” moniker as it had back in 2021. It instead showed Hacker’s name with a character from the film “Finding Nemo” saying “LFG.”

Not on the entry list for Phoenix were LASTCAR Truck Series title contenders Greg Van Alst and Stephen Mallozzi. After the remaining 38 entrants attempted the final 36-truck field of 2023, the list was shortened further. Sent home were the #12 King of the Hammers Chevrolet of Spencer Boyd – the defending LASTCAR Truck Series Champion who was eliminated from title contention after Zane Smith’s disqualification in the last round at Homestead – and the #33 More Core Ford of Keith McGee, who entered the race as the only driver who didn’t need to finish last in order to take the title from team owner Josh Reaume, who wasn’t entered.

With that, only four drivers were in position to take the LASTCAR Truck Series Championship from Reaume: 4th-place Zane Smith in the #38 Speedco / Delo Ford, 15th-place starter Dean Thompson in the #5 Thompson Pipe Group Toyota, 26th-place Colby Howard in the #9 Grant County Mulch Chevrolet, 31st-place Lawless Alan in the #45 AUTOParkit Chevrolet. All these drivers could only claim the title if they finished last – otherwise, it would stay with Reaume.

Securing the 36th and final starting spot was Tyler Hill in the #56 Consolidation Coach / UNITS Toyota – a truck which had no sponsorship on the rear TV panel. He’d be joined in the back by Stefan Parsons, who landed the best ride of his Truck Series career in a one-off for Rackley W.A.R. But late in Thursday practice, where he’d just put up the 13th-fastest lap, a cut right-front tire sent him into the wall, forcing the team to roll out the backup. During the final pace lap, Parsons dropped to the rear down the backstretch, slotting in line behind Hill’s #56.

When the green flag dropped, Parsons quickly gained a few spots, and Hill followed him past Nick Leitz, whose #20 Precision Measurements Chevrolet stayed locked onto Hill’s bumper. On Lap 3, Hill was now racing Marco Andretti in Spire Motorsports’ #7 Gainbridge Chevrolet. Leitz lost more ground until the next time by, when the first caution fell for Stewart Friesen’s Turn 2 spin in the #52 Halmar International Toyota. Friesen continued with only a small tire mark to the left-rear corner of his rear bumper, taking 35th ahead of the still last-place Leitz. Still under yellow on Lap 8, the spot fell to Hailie Deegan, who had stopped her #13 Pit Boss Ford to avoid the spinning Friesen. 

Deegan restarted in last place and now battled Hill to his outside. On Lap 14, she pulled ahead, but Hill caught her the next time by and on Lap 16 crossed her nose going into Turn 3 to drop her back to last place. On Lap 18, both Hill and Deegan passed another struggling truck in Spencer Davis, returning to the #04 Fly Alliance / CarQuest Ford. Davis started to lose ground to both Hill and Deegan, and for the first time was about to be caught by the leaders. On Lap 21, Deegan was up to 33rd and working over Christian Rose in the #22 Disability Opportunity Fund Ford. Behind her, Leitz now held 34th, leading a trailing line of Hill and Davis. Davis began to catch Hill just before the leaders caught them, and on Lap 27, then-leader Ty Majeski put Davis the first truck one lap down.

As traffic continued to thread their way through the back of the field, Davis reeled in the now 35th-place Rose, who had fallen behind Deegan, Leitz, and now Hill. Davis caught and dropped Rose to last on Lap 30, then fell behind Davis by open ground. The gap grew from about one second on Lap 35 to three seconds on Lap 41, counting down the laps to the end of Stage 1. After running the low lane down the backstretch for several laps, he pulled high on Lap 44 to let Matt Crafton work his way past. Rose remained last when Stage 1 ended on Lap 46. Under the yellow, Rose’s crew discussed shock and air pressure adjustments, then settled on track bar changes. This was done on Lap 50, when he pitted with the other lapped trucks.

Under this same yellow, Sean Hingorani made at least three stops for a persistent issue on his #75 Fidelity Capital Chevrolet. This dropped him to last on Lap 52. Two laps later, as Hingorani left his stall from his third stop, the leaders had already taken the restart and were working their way through Turns 1 and 2. This put Hingorani about five seconds back of the 35th-place runner, a gap which was soon erased when the last-place battle came to a sudden end.

Per a report by David PeQueen, Hacker had finished 32nd in Stage 1, complaining of his truck running “tight in the center, plowing, not able to cut to the bottom like he wants. He says the back wants to jump out on throttle, a result of having so much wheel in it.” On Lap 56, Hacker had slipped to 32nd when he tangled with the now 34th-place runner Marco Andretti. The collision put Hacker hard into the outside wall, crumpling both ends of his #30, which was left stranded on track. Andretti made it past the stripe and onto pit road, where the team saw they had too much damage. “Thank you, guys, what a bummer,” said Andretti on the radio, reporting that he was hit by “several trucks” before he crashed. The medical staff picked him up and transported him to the infield care center, where Hacker was soon treated and released. An AMR official accompanied Andretti’s wife Marta to the medical center, and he too was soon released. After both were interviewed, Andretti watched replays of the accident.

With the last-place finish, Josh Reaume locked-up the 2023 LASTCAR Truck Series Championship.

More accidents soon filled the Bottom Five. Taking 34th and 33rd were Conner Jones in the #66 Lung Cancer Awareness Ford and Jake Drew in the #61 Cyclum Truck Stops Toyota, whose battle for 15th led to Drew sliding into the wall and a trapped Jones following him into the fence. Competing the group was Daniel Dye, whose “throwback” scheme to Sheldon Creed’s 2020 title run ended with a stack-up in Turn 3 which destroyed the front of his #43 GMS Racing Chevrolet. Dye was checked and released, but not cleared to run his own double-dury effort with Alpha Prime's XFINITY team. His #44 for Saturday went to Leland Honeyman.

Multiple overtimes yield a few surprising performances

After all the chaos of a race that went 29 laps past the scheduled distance, some drivers came out with fantastic runs. In only his third career start, Jesse Love took home 4th despite a bumper bar sticking from the nose of his #1 HomeSmiles Toyota. On the eve of his full-time XFINITY ride with Richard Childress Racing in 2024, Love has now made three Truck starts, completed all of his attempted laps, and finished no worse than 13th. Dean Thompson – one of the LASTCAR title contenders – finished 7th, his second-best run of the entire season. Kaden Honeycutt, running another unsponsored Young’s Motorsports entry, finished 8th in the #02, improving on his career-best 9th in this same race last year, which he’d matched earlier this year in the Bristol Dirt Race. And after running last at the end of Stage 1, Christian Rose recovered to finish on the lead lap in 16th – a significant improvement over his 32nd-place debut earlier this year at Richmond.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*Hacker completed the third-most laps of any Truck Series last-place finisher at Phoenix. The record remains with Travis Kvapil, who turned 99 laps before a crash on February 25, 2011.

*This marked the first last-place finish for the #30 in a Truck Series race. Coming into Friday, the #30 was the lowest available truck number to have yet to finish last in a points-paying race in this series. Friday marked its 363rd start in the series’ history, dating back to Joe Bessey’s 4th-place run in the 1995 inaugural at this same Phoenix track.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

36) #30-Chris Hacker / 53 laps / crash

35) #7-Marco Andretti / 54 laps / crash

34) #66-Conner Jones / 100 laps / crash

33) #61-Jake Drew / 100 laps / crash

32) #43-Daniel Dye / 128 laps / crash 

2023 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP - FINAL

1st) Reaume Brothers Racing, Young’s Motorsports (4)

2nd) G2G Racing (3)

3rd) AM Racing, Niece Motorsports, Roper Racing, TRICON Garage (2)

4th) CR7 Motorsports, FDNY Racing, Front Row Motorsports, GK Racing, Kyle Busch Motorsports, On Point Motorsports (1)

2023 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP - FINAL

1st) Chevrolet (9)

2nd) Ford (8)

3rd) Toyota (6)

2023 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP - FINAL

PREVIEW: Two tight LASTCAR championship battles and several double-duty drivers on hand for Phoenix finales

PHOTO: Emerling-Gase Motorsports, @EG_Motorsports

by Brock Beard

LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief

LASTCAR TRACKSIDE COVERAGE

I'll be closing out my 2023 trackside coverage with this weekend's action from Friday through Sunday - including the close LASTCAR championships in both Trucks and XFINITY. Be sure to follow me on Twitter / X at @LASTCARonBROCK for more updates!

Friday, November 3, 2023 (10:00 P.M. ET, FS1)

TRUCKS Race 23 of 23

Championship Race

Craftsman 150 at Phoenix

2022 Last-Place Finisher: Armani Williams

CHAMPIONSHIP FOUR

#11-Corey Heim

#23-Grant Enfinger

#42-Carson Hocevar

#99-Ben Rhodes

LASTCAR CHAMPIONSHIP SCENARIOS

The current leader in the LASTCAR Truck Series Championship is Josh Reaume, who leads by just one bottom-ten finish over his teammate Keith McGee. McGee is entered while Reaume is not, giving McGee a prime opportunity to clinch the title in the season’s final race. McGee clinches with a last-place finish, no matter where everyone else finishes.

McGee can also win with a Bottom Five if none of the four title contenders below finish in last. If McGee finishes in the Bottom Ten, but not the Bottom Five, and none of the other four title contenders finish last, Reaume takes the title on a bottom-fifteen tiebreaker, 9-4.

These are the four drivers who can win the title by finishing last at Phoenix, no matter where McGee finishes. Greg Van Alst was also on this list, but remains out of the field as he recovers from his Talladega injury. Stephen Mallozzi also had a mathematical shot at the title, but was not entered. Thus, McGee joins these four contenders:

ENTRY LIST

There are 38 drivers entered for 36 spots, meaning two will fail to qualify.

RETURNING: #1-TRICON Garage

Earlier this season at Gateway, Jesse Love made his Truck Series debut in Corey Heim’s truck – a last-minute switch after an illness. Love finished 9th, then returned to his originally scheduled “all-star” #1 entry for Kansas, where he finished 13th. Now with his ARCA Menards Series championship in hand – and Heim competing for the Truck Series title - Love makes his first start since, and on the eve of his graduation to RCR’s XFINITY program. It’s the first run for TRICON’s #1 since team owner David Gilliland’s crash at Talladega left him 35th.

DRIVER CHANGE: #22-AM Racing

Christian Rose seeks to make only his second career start this Friday, his first since a 32nd-place debut with this same AM Racing team in Richmond, where he came home six laps down. Taking the place of Mason Maggio, who finished 27th in Homestead, Rose’s Ford carries sponsorship from the Disability Opportunity Fund.

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

As announced just last month, Stefan Parsons seeks his 11th career Truck Series start and first since a 28th-place run for Young’s Motorsports in Pocono – this time behind the wheel of last year’s Talladega winning Rackley-W.A.R. effort. This will be the best entry Parsons has yet raced in the series where his career-best finish of 17th came in his 2018 series debut at Bristol driving for Jay Robinson, formerly of Premium Motorsports. Parsons takes the place of Trevor Bayne, who steered the #25 to a 14th-place finish in Homestead, and eyes a new career-best. Parsons will also run double-duty with the XFINITY Series (see below).

DRIVER CHANGE: #30-On Point Motorsports

Another driver pulling double-duty with the XFINITY Series will be Chris Hacker who was announced as driver of the On Point #30 effort in place of 26th-place Homestead finisher Jonathan Shafer. This would be Hacker’s 15th career Truck Series start and first since IRP, where he ran 29th with this same team. 

DRIVER CHANGE: #33-Reaume Brothers Racing

While the preliminary entry list showed only “TBA,” it was announced early in the week that Keith McGee will return to race at the track where he crashed out early last year in a tangle with Armani Williams. McGee, who has hinted at soon-to-be-announced plans for 2024, will pilot the flagship #33 entry in place of Memphis Villarreal, who ran 29th in Homestead. More Core is the listed sponsor for McGee, who remains locked in a tight battle with team owner Josh Reaume for the 2023 LASTCAR Truck Series Championship.

MISSING: #46-G2G Racing

The aforementioned Armani Williams, the defending last-place finisher of this race, is not entered this week after a 31st-place finish in Homestead. The G2G team announced that last week’s race would be their last for 2023.

RETURNING: #66-ThorSport Racing

Phoenix will mark the ninth career start for Conner Jones, who we last saw piloting ThorSport’s part-time #66 entry back at Bristol, yielding a career-best 15th-place finish.

RETURNING: #75-Henderson Motorsports

A surprising bit of news came from Charlie Henderson’s team, which has rarely competed on the west coast tracks and particularly without XFINITY regular Parker Kligerman. The #75 will make the trip for Sean Hingorani’s second career Truck Series start and first since a 23rd-place run in Hattori Racing Enterprises’ second entry at Milwaukee. Fidelity Capital, which backed him that day, will again sponsor Hingorani's ride the same day he looks to clinch the ARCA West title.

NEW TEAM: #77-Spire Motorsports

On the eve of their formal acquisition of Kyle Busch Motorsports, the Spire team has for the first time entered two Truck Series entries. Alongside Marco Andretti in the #7 comes a returning Derek Kraus, whose stock has been on the rise after a series of strong runs with Kaulig Racing, most recently an 11th last week in Homestead where he led 21 laps. Kraus seeks his third Truck Series start of the year – his first since an equally impressive 8th in Spire’s #7 at Milwaukee – and carries sponsorship from Western States Flooring.

DRIVER CHANGE: #02-Young’s Motorsports

As I revealed in the lead-up to the ARCA Menards Series race at Roseville, Kaden Honeycutt will indeed reunite with Young’s Motorsports for the Phoenix finale, taking the place of 24th-place Homestead finisher Brad Perez. Honeycutt, who has been on a tear in ARCA West since his win in Roseville, last competed in Trucks at Bristol with a 25th-place finish, and in this race last year scored his first career top-ten finish with a 9th for On Point Motorsports.

CUP INVADERS: None

Saturday, November 4, 2023 (7:00 P.M. ET, USA)

XFINITY Race 33 of 33

Championship Race

XFINITY Series Championship at Phoenix

2022 Last-Place Finisher: Dillon Bassett

CHAMPIONSHIP FOUR

#1-Sam Mayer

#7-Justin Allgaier

#20-John Hunter Nemechek

#00-Cole Custer

LASTCAR CHAMPIONSHIP SCENARIOS

Saturday sees the conclusion of an unusually competitive LASTCAR XFINITY Series Championship. Parker Kligerman remains the leader as the only two-time last-place finisher entered in the race, but has so few Bottom Fives (2) and Bottom Tens (2) that 16 one-time last-place finishers could have won the title by finishing last at Phoenix, no matter where Kligerman finishes. Of these, 12 are entered, eliminating Dawson Cram, Gray Gaulding, Patrick Emerling, and Sage Karam:

ENTRY LIST

There are 40 entrants for 38 spots, meaning two will fail to qualify.

DRIVER CHANGE: #4-JD Motorsports

DRIVER SWAP: #08-SS-Green Light Racing

Stefan Parsons completes his double-duty weekend with JD Motorsports – his first start for team owner Johnny Davis since November 2, 2019 at Texas – as he takes the place of 34th-place Martinsville finisher J.J. Yeley in the #4. Jupiter Rings Buffalo Sauce will sponsor the Parsons effort, the 65th of his career. Yeley will also drive, taking the place of 27th-place Martinsville finisher Chad Finchum in SS-Green Light’s #08 Ford with sponsorship from Fan Controlled and Safelite, the result of an online poll that voted him in over challenger Mason Massey.

DRIVER CHANGE: #11-Kaulig Racing

Derek Kraus looks to continue his string of strong runs for Kaulig in the season finale as he takes the place of 11th-place Martinsville finisher Layne Riggs in the #11. This will close a double-duty weekend for Kraus, who is also entered in Spire Motorsports’ second entry for Friday’s Truck Series race.

RETURNING / DRIVER SWAP: #17-Hendrick Motorsports

DRIVER CHANGE: #44-Alpha Prime Racing

As he helps close out GMS Racing’s Truck Series program in a 2020 throwback scheme on Friday, Daniel Dye will also run a third and last XFINITY race for the year in Alpha Prime’s #44, his first since a 21st-place run in Las Vegas. Dye takes the place of one of his GMS teammates in Rajah Caruth, who this weekend gets his chance in elite level equipment as driver of Hendrick Motorsports’ #17 Chevrolet. In anticipation of this opportunity, Caruth has even purchased his own HendrickCars.com merchandise at a track’s souvenir hauler.

DRIVER SWAP: #28-RSS Racing

WITHDREW: #29-RSS Racing

RSS Racing has withdrawn their part-time fourth entry, the #29 which finished last after Kyle Sieg’s blown tire in the early laps at Martinsville. Sieg will move over to the #28 in place of C.J. McLaughlin, who finished an impressive 13th that day.

DRIVER CHANGE: #35-Emerling-Gase Motorsports

DRIVER SWAP: #53-Emerling-Gase Motorsports

Another shuffling of entries comes at the Emerling-Gase program where Joey Gase returns to the #35 with Donate Life Arizona n the car, moving Chris Hacker to the #53 in place of 33rd-place Martinsville finisher Akinori Ogata. Hacker, who closes out a double-duty effort with On Point Motorsports’ Truck Series team on Friday, will carry sponsorship from Morgan & Morgan.

RETURNING / DRIVER CHANGE: #74-CHK Racing

DRIVER SWAP: #07-SS-Green Light Racing

There was originally no driver listed for CHK Racing, which had withdrawn from last week’s action in Martinsville. But that news changed mid-week with word that Brad Perez – who originally thought he’d run his last race of the year – was tabbed to run the #74. Perez seeks his eighth series start and first since his last-place run on the Indianapolis Grand Prix Circuit for Emerling-Gase. Dawson Cram, who last ran for CHK at Homestead where a freak wheel issue resulted in a crash, this time drives SS-Green Light’s #07 with returning sponsorship from Titan Construction. Cram takes the place of Devin Jones, whose first XFINITY start since 2017 resulted in a 37th-place finish. 

DRIVER CHANGE: #91-DGM Racing

Kyle Weatherman will make his 109th series start after he wasn’t entered at Martinsville looking to build on his 16th-place run his last time out at Homestead. Then as now he drives for DGM Racing in the #91, taking the place of 23rd-place Martinsville finisher Josh Bilicki. Fanttik is the listed sponsor for Weatherman’s Chevrolet.

CUP INVADERS: None

Sunday, November 5, 2023 (3:00 P.M. ET, NBC)

CUP Race 36 of 36

Championship Race

Cup Series Championship at Phoenix

2022 Last-Place Finisher: Landon Cassill

CHAMPIONSHIP FOUR

#5-Kyle Larson

#12-Ryan Blaney

#20-Christopher Bell

#24-William Byron

LASTCAR CHAMPIONSHIP SCENARIOS

B.J. McLeod secured his third LASTCAR Cup Series championship with his series-leading fifth last-place finish last Sunday in Martinsville.

ENTRY LIST

The season concludes with the Daytona 500 as the only 40-car starting grid in 2023 as Phoenix marks the 23rd time only the 36 Chartered teams arrive at the track. There are no team or driver changes from last week’s Martinsville race.

TODAY IN LASTCAR HISTORY (November 2, 1997): Ricky Craven picked up the 4th last-place finish of his NASCAR Winston Cup Series career when his #25 Budweiser Chevrolet crashed after 39 laps of the Dura Lube 500 Presented by K-Mart at Phoenix. Craven had started last in the 43-car field, then found trouble in Turn 3. Of his 12 career Cup Series last-place finishes, this was the only one he earned while driving for Hendrick Motorsports.

ARCA WEST: Armtrout’s last-place finish guarantees wide-open title battle at Phoenix

Armtrout bringing up the rear of the field on the pace laps.
SCREENSHOT: FloRacing

by Ben Schneider

LASTCAR.info Staff Writer

Brody Armtrout finished last for the 1st time in his ARCA Menards Series West career in last Saturday’s 51FIFTY Jr Homecoming ARCA 150 at Madera Speedway when his No. 77 REX MD / Fiddler on the Roof / Jan’s Towing Toyota fell out with brake issues after completing 93 of 150 laps.

The finish came in Armtrout’s West Series debut.

A former Jr. Late Model Series champion, Armtrout first made headlines on the West Coast during the 2021 season, during which he won five races en route to the title. The series' 2019 and 2020 series champions - Joey Iest and Bradley Erickson - have also gone on to compete in the ARCA Menards Series West. While ARCA West had not competed at Madera since 2009, Armtrout’s own experience at the one-third mile track made it a natural choice for him to make his debut.

In all, 22 cars originally appeared on the entry list. However, due to the withdrawals of Paul Pedroncelli Jr., R.J. Smotherman, and Nick Joanides, only 19 started the race. In practice, Armtrout’s 15.109-second fastest lap placed 18th of the 19 remaining entries, followed only by David Smith, who anchored the field with a fastest lap time of 15.378. While their qualifying positions carried over from practice, Armtrout broke into the 14-second range with a time of 14.954, while Smith’s pace dropped a bit as the Canadian driver clocked in roughly half a second behind at 15.464. Monty Tipton, Nick Joanides, and Takuma Koga rounded out the Bottom Five on the grid.

In the race, as Armtrout retired with brake issues, Dustin Ash also pulled behind the wall due to crash damage sustained after hitting the outside wall in a chain-reaction stackup. Ash and Armtrout were both scored with 93 laps completed, though Ash edged Armtrout by virtue of completing his 93rd lap first, narrowly avoiding a last-place finish. In 17th was Tanner Reif, who lost out on a potential top-five finish when his car came to a stop and brought out a caution on Lap 78. However, the Bill McAnally Racing team was able to get Reif back out on track to be running at the finish with 100 laps completed. Rounding out the Bottom Five were Robbie Kennealy and Takuma Koga, who completed 129 laps before their nights ended early in a crash with Ethan Nascimento.

Up front, Kaden Honeycutt picked up another victory, taking the lead from polesitter Eric Nascimento in the opening laps and leading every lap that followed to take his second win in three West Series starts. Sean Hingorani, meanwhile, opened up his points lead to 30 with a strong fifth-place finish. With 30 cars entered at Phoenix, Hingorani will likely only need to take the green flag and survive the opening laps to clinch the ARCA West drivers’ championship.

LASTCAR CHAMPIONSHIP SCENARIOS

The West Series now heads into Phoenix with 30 cars entered in the season finale. With 11 different last-place finishers in 11 races, any driver who has previously finished last this season can win the LASTCAR ARCA West Drivers’ Championship by simply finishing last at Phoenix. With part-timers Tim Monroe, Jake Drew, Jalen Mack, and Armtrout not currently on the entry list, Kyle Keller, Nick Joanides, Bradley Erickson, Tanner Reif, Trevor Huddleston, and Todd Souza make up the seven competitors that have a chance to clinch the title with a last-place finish. R.J. Smotherman had been eligible but has withdrawn as of Thursday.

Additionally, with nine Bottom Ten finishes to Keller’s five, a last-place finish would be enough to give David Smith or Takuma Koga the title on countback even if Keller also finishes in the Bottom Five. Finally, Ethan Nascimento has an outside shot at the championship, but with only three Bottom Five finishes to Keller’s four, he must finish last and have Keller finish outside the Bottom Five to claim the championship.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

19) #77-Brody Armtrout / 93 laps / brakes

18) #5-Dustin Ash / 93 laps / crash

17) #16-Tanner Reif / 100 laps / running

16) #1-Robbie Kennealy / 129 laps / crash

15) #7-Takuma Koga / 129 laps / crash

2023 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES WEST MANUFACTURERS CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Ford (6)

2nd) Toyota (4) 

3rd) Chevrolet (1)

2023 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES WEST OWNERS CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Lowden-Jackson Motorsports, Performance P-1 Motorsports (2)

2nd) Fast Track Racing, Central Coast Racing, High Point Racing, Jerry Pitts Racing, Bill McAnally Racing, Nascimento Motorsports, Sigma Performance Services (1)

AUTHOR’S NOTE: Click HERE to view the full standings for both the main ARCA Menards Series and the ARCA Menards Series East and West divisions. You can also find the full manufacturers’ and owners’ standings HERE.

2023 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES WEST DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP

CUP: B.J. McLeod clinches third LASTCAR title after car overheats on hot Martinsville track

PHOTO: @teamlivefast

by Brock Beard

LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief

B.J. McLeod picked up the 14th last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career in Sunday’s XFINITY 500 at the Martinsville Speedway when his #78 Falk’d Up Garage Chevrolet fell out with overheating issues after 147 of 500 laps.

The finish, which came in McLeod’s 136th series start, was his fifth of the season and first since Darlington, eight races ago. In the Cup Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 36th for the #78, the 119th from overheating, and the 850th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 51st for the #78, the 180th from overheating, and the 1,921st for Chevrolet.

With the finish, McLeod has secured his third LASTCAR Cup Series Championship with one race still to go. His only two remaining challengers were brothers Ty Dillon and Austin Dillon. Ty could have taken the lead from McLeod with a last-place run on Sunday, but McLeod would have been able to respond in Phoenix.

Just days after the team’s most recent last-place finish in Darlington, the Live Fast Motorsports team announced that they had sold their Charter to Spire Motorsports, which would expand from two to three entries. As the team prepares to scale back to a part-time “open” entry in 2024, the team has continued to fight near the back of the pack. Live Fast gave Sheldon Creed his first Cup start at Kansas, yielding a 29th-place finish. McLeod finished 22nd in Texas coming home on the lead lap. And on the Charlotte “Roval,” Josh Bilicki was battling inside the Top 20 before contact from Corey LaJoie left him 26th.

For Martinsville, the team carried a special Halloween-themed paint scheme featuring McLeod himself. Joining a returning Superior Logistics Services, Inc. as sponsor was the YouTube channel Falk’d Up Garage.

With only the 36 Chartered entries arriving at the track once more, McLeod was slowest in both practice and qualifying, securing the last spot on the grid with a lap of 91.660mph (20.659 seconds) in Qualifying Round 1A. The field remained so close that he was just two-hundredths of a second slower than 35th-place J.J. Yeley in the #15 IFCJ.org Ford and just over a half-second off the pole.

No drivers incurred pre-race penalties, so McLeod and Yeley rolled off side-by-side in the final row. When the race started on an unseasonably hot afternoon, McLeod’s outside line got a better start, pulling him 4.086 seconds back of the lead at the stripe ahead of 33rd-place starter Ryan Newman in the #51 Biohaven / Jacob Companies Ford (4.118 seconds) and the now last-place Yeley (4.331). Newman dropped McLeod back to 35th by Lap 3, when the #78 was now locked in a side-by-side battle with Yeley. That time by, the gap from McLeod to the last-place Yeley was 0.075 second, then 0.095 on Lap 4 and 0.041 on Lap 5. Yeley finally cleared McLeod on Lap 7, opening a gap of 0.244.

On Lap 12, McLeod maintained a half-second gap behind Yeley and began to report on his water temperature, citing it at 270 degrees. “Everything feels fine,” said the driver. On Lap 21, McLeod pulled to within 0.355 second of Yeley, then cut it to 0.211 on Lap 22. But now, the leaders had caught them both, and McLeod and Yeley were the first to be lapped on the 28th and 29th circuits. In traffic, McLeod reported his car was now “free in, tight center, free off.” The positions remained unchanged until the first caution on Lap 104.

Heading through Turns 1 and 2, the battle for 22nd turned physical. Holding the spot was last week’s last-place finisher Harrison Burton in the #21 Motorcraft / Quick Lane Ford, who had a mirrorful of Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.’s #47 Kroger / Reese’s Chevrolet. As Stenhouse moved by, Burton cut in front of an approaching Alex Bowman in the #48 Ally Chevrolet, who then bumped his way under Burton as Austin Dillon closed from behind in the #3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet. As Bowman banged doors with Burton, a stack-up ensued where Dillon spun Bowman, then hooked Burton into a spin. Squeezing past was then-leader Denny Hamlin before Corey LaJoie’s #7 Gainbridge Chevrolet locked the brakes behind a stopped Burton. All involved drivers escaped with little damage, though each were first shown one lap down. Under caution, Burton took last on Lap 106, followed by McLeod on Lap 107, then Burton on Lap 108, Bowman on Lap 109, and Burton on Lap 111. The race restarted the next time by with Burton last in line, at which point NASCAR declared all cars had met minimum speed. 

With the end of Stage 1 fast approaching, Burton set after Bowman. Both were now the only two cars off the lead lap, and now fighting for the Lucky Dog. Burton caught Bowman by Lap 123, but five laps later, leader Hamlin caught and passed 34th-place McLeod, putting him a lap down. By the end of Stage 1 on Lap 131, Hamlin had also lapped 33rd-place Carson Hocevar in the #42 Sunseeker Resort Chevrolet and, coming off Turn 4 the final time, 32nd-place Yeley in the #15. This gave Yeley the Lucky Dog, putting him back on the lead lap.

This stage caution saw McLeod retake last place on Lap 136, the crew clearing rubber off the grille as they continued to track a overheating issue. Scoring showed Bowman in last on Lap 138, then McLeod again on Lap 139 just before the Lap 141 restart. Right when the field went green, Kyle Busch made an unscheduled stop for a flat left-front tire on his #8 BetMGM Chevrolet, immediately taking last again from McLeod. Busch quickly returned to the track, and by Lap 147 had caught and passed McLeod, climbing to 35th. 

Then on Lap 149, McLeod made a sudden turn into the garage at the entrance of Turn 3. “I don’t want to oil the track down,” said McLeod, reporting the water was now at 385 degrees. “See you at Phoenix.” With the car parked behind the team’s hauler, McLeod’s camera was shut off on Lap 156, then was declared out by NASCAR on Lap 180.

McLeod's car shortly after pulling into the garage.
SCREENSHOT: NASCAR Drive

Yeley finished 35th after a frustrating series of events led to his car being towed behind the wall prematurely. It began on Lap 273, when entering Turn 3, Joey Logano spun 3rd-place running Ty Gibbs’ #54 Monster Energy Toyota, which was then struck by Daniel Suarez’ #99 Jockey Outdoors by Luke Bryan Chevrolet that had been pushed by Brad Keselowski’s #6 King’s Hawaiian Ford. Yeley was among those involved, though he only suffered flat tires. While Suarez’ car was allowed to drive around the track with broken toe links, Yeley was told be track officials to climb from his car, ending his race. Yeley fell to 35th with Suarez only completing three more laps in 34th. Keselowski continued with nose damage, then briefly caught fire on pit road, only to return to the track in the final four laps. Completing the group was Bowman, who took the checkered flag four laps down. 

Burton rallies, Gilliland finishes 10th

After competing for last place early in the event, Harrison Burton rebounded nicely to take home a 15th-place finish – his best run since an 8th at Pocono. The fall race at Martinsville seems to suit the newcomer well, one year after he finished 11th in the 2022 running.

Sunday’s race also saw Todd Gilliland pick up the sixth top-ten finish of his career and first since Talladega in the spring when he crossed the line in 10th in the #38 Quincy Compressor Ford. Gilliland scored his first career Truck Series victory at the track in 2019.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This marked McLeod’s second last-place finish in a Cup race at Martinsville, following April 9, 2022 where handling issues were to blame after 132 laps.

*This was the first Cup last-place finisher at Martinsville to finish last due to overheating issues since October 26, 2014, when Clay Rogers’ #93 Burger King Toyota dropped out after 25 laps.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

36) #78-B.J. McLeod / 147 laps / overheating

35) #15-J.J. Yeley / 271 laps / crash

34) #99-Daniel Suarez / 274 laps / dvp

33) #6-Brad Keselowski / 305 laps / running

32) #48-Alex Bowman / 496 laps / running

2023 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Live Fast Motorsports (5)

2nd) Joe Gibbs Racing, Richard Childress Racing, Rick Ware Racing, Spire Motorsports (4)

3rd) Legacy Motor Club, Penske Racing (3)

4th) Stewart-Haas Racing (2)

5th) Front Row Motorsports, Hendrick Motorsports, Kaulig Racing, Trackhouse Racing, Wood Brothers Racing (1)

2023 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet (19)

2nd) Ford (11)

3rd) Toyota (4)

2023 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

XFINITY: Kyle Sieg’s first career last-place finish precedes late-race Martinsville chaos

PHOTO: Steven Taranto, @STaranto92

by Brock Beard

LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief

Kyle Sieg picked up the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career in Saturday’s Dead On Tools 250 at the Martinsville Speedway when his #29 Night Owl Ford crashed after he completed 40 of 256 laps.

The finish came in Sieg’s 49th series start. In the XFINITY Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 5th for the #29, the 166th for Ford, and the 388th from a crash. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 27th for the #29, the 1,026th for Ford, and the 1,359th from a crash.

The 22-year-old younger brother of Ryan Sieg has shown steady improvement during the expansion of their family’s team RSS Racing. The younger Sieg showed immediate promise in ARCA, finishing 10th in his 2020 series debut at IRP, then took his first Top Five in the 2021 opener at Daytona. That May, this led to Sieg’s first XFINITY start at Dover, where he finished 34th in a joint effort between RSS and Mario Gosselin’s team DGM Racing. He ran a partial schedule last year, finishing a season-best 10th in another Daytona run that summer, and this year has run most of the calendar, swapping between three of the team’s four entries. He earned a career-best 7th in Atlanta in July, but also threatened for the win at Talladega before he slipped to 15th.

For Martinsville, Sieg would drive the team’s newest entry, the #29, with returning sponsorship from Night Owl National Contractors, Inc. He would compete against brother Ryan in the flagship #39 Sci Aps Ford – a sponsor that will step up to full-time backer in 2024 – plus Joe Graf, Jr. in the #38 Bucked Up Energy Ford and C.J. McLaughin in the #28 Sci Aps Ford. Coming into this race, all four of these teams had not once finished last in 2023.

Sieg was one of 40 drivers on the preliminary entry list, which was cut to 39 after CHK Racing withdrew Dawson Cram’s #74 Chevrolet. In practice - which was led by a surprising Blaine Perkins in Our Motorsports’ #02 PayDay Salutes Chevrolet – Sieg ranked just 30th, then qualified 28th with a lap of 92.213mph (20.535 seconds). The only DNQ was a frustrated Timmy Hill, whose #66 Cole Enterprises Toyota ran a strong 8th in practice, only to struggle with changing track conditions as the first car to take time.

Securing the 38th and final starting spot was Jeb Burton, whose #27 State Water Heaters Chevrolet was unable to take time in qualifying due to a radiator change. This change also handed him a redundant tail-end penalty for unapproved adjustments. The same penalty was handed to 16th-place Brett Moffitt in the #25 AM Technical Solutions Ford (3rd in practice), 29th-place Jeffrey Earnhardt in the #45 ForeverLawn Cleveland Chevrolet (slowest in practice), 35th-place Chris Hacker in the #35 Emerling-Gase Motorsports Chevrolet, and 37th-place Devin Jones in the #07 Verinext Chevrolet. For both Hacker and Jones, it was their first series return after an absence: Hacker after a more than 70 days sobriety following a suspension for a DWI in August, and Jones following a DNQ on the “Roval” which was his first series attempt since 2017.

After some difficulty getting the final two rows organized, NASCAR had Moffitt line up ahead of Burton on the outside lane with Earnhardt ahead of Hacker on the inside line. On the break, Burton on the outside pulled ahead of Hacker, putting the #35 in last place. By the end of Lap 1, the spot fell to Devin Jones, who was 5.732 seconds back of the lead and already 0.395 behind Hacker. Jones remained in last through Lap 5, when he now trailed Akinori Ogata in the other Emerling-Gase car, the #53 Pneumatic Tools Shinano Chevrolet. The next time by, the first caution fell for Joe Graf, Jr. in the RSS #38. Running 30th at the time, Graf cut down a left-rear tire and spun off Turn 2. He got going again, but didn’t start rolling until then-leader Sammy Smith put him a lap down off the corner. Graf pitted for fresh tires and returned to the track the only car one lap down. Also pitting under yellow were Jeb Burton’s #27 and Ryan Ellis in the #43 KeenParts.com Chevrolet, who took the final spots on the lead lap from Devin Jones.

On the Lap 11 restart, Graf looked to stay in the Lucky Dog spot, but he began to have brake issues that forced him behind the wall on Lap 33. He entered the garage on the Turn 4 side, where the crew removed one of the wheels and retrieved more brake fluid. He was still in the garage on Lap 42, when Kyle Sieg was running 30th when his car pulled straight entering Turn 2. The #29 slammed the outside wall with the right-front, and the driver soon dropped the window net, signaling the end of his race. The car was then towed to the garage, where it sat in the open as the team’s hauler was parked outside the track. Under the caution, Graf’s crew continued to have the driver pump the brakes. On Lap 47, Graf returned to the track showing 16 laps down. He caught and passe Sieg on Lap 58, putting the #29 into last place.

This pass also proved critical in the LASTCAR XFINITY Series Championship. Graf came into the race with the most Bottom Fives (6) and Bottom Tens (13) of all XFINITY drivers without a last-place finish in 2023. The last-place run would have put him in title contention. Instead, he’s now eliminated along with all other drivers without a last-place finish this year. He finished in 29th.

Finishing 37th was Devin Jones, who pulled the #07 behind the wall on Lap 142, then was declared out by NASCAR with 79 to go in regulation. Playoff contender Chandler Smith was the first of his group to find trouble when overheating issues forced his #16 Quick Tie Products, Inc. Chevrolet pulled behind the wall just short of the 200-lap mark to save the engine. This ended Smith’s “must-win” bid at the Championship Four. Ryan Sieg made to two RSS cars in the Bottom Five due to late-race steering issues on the #39 while 34th went to J.J. Yeley after his #4 Old House Life Chevrolet had a hard crash with Ryan Ellis off Turn 4.

Heartbreak for Perkins, but Alfredo, Burton, Caruth, and McLaughlin capitalize

After leading practice and running inside the Top 10 for much of the final stage, Blaine Perkins took the white flag in 10th place, just under 1.2 seconds back of the leader. Instead, he was collected in the massive pileup triggered by the Playoff contenders up front. Perkins car ended up pointed backwards against the inside wall just 100 feet or so from the finish line, dropping him to a disappointing 22nd. 

When the smoke cleared, a few other drivers did earn solid finishes, though some were spinning across the finish line as they did. Among these was Anthony Alfredo, whose #78 Chevrolet carried race sponsor Dead On Tools. Alfredo was sideways across the stripe ahead of 9th-place Jeb Burton, who after starting in the back slammed the inside wall flush with the passenger side. Like Perkins, both drivers walked away uninjured.

Just behind the Top 10 came Layne Riggs, who overcame a spin to finish 11th in his #11 Infinity Communications Group Chevrolet. Rajah Caruth’s last start of the year for Alpha Prime Racing saw him take 12th after starting 26th on the grid in the #44 Virginia State Chevrolet, tying Caruth’s series-best run in this same race last year. And on a rough evening for RSS Racing, C.J. McLaughlin came back from mid-race overheating issues to take 13th - tied for the second-best run of his own XFINITY career – in the #28 Sci Aps Ford.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This marked the first XFINITY Series last-place finish for the #29 since October 4, 2014, when Milka Duno’s #29 CanTV Toyota crashed after 3 laps around Kansas in what was her series debut.

*This was the first last-place finish of the season for RSS Racing.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

38) #29-Kyle Sieg / 40 laps / crash

37) #07-Devin Jones / 131 laps / engine

36) #16-Chandler Smith / 187 laps / crash

35) #39-Ryan Sieg / 203 laps / steering

34) #4-J.J. Yeley / 207 laps / crash

2023 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) SS-Green Light Racing (4)

2nd) Alpha Prime Racing, Emerling-Gase Motorsports, Motorsports Business Management (3)

3rd) Big Machine Racing, CHK Racing, DGM Racing, JD Motorsports (2)

4th) AM Racing, B.J. McLeod Motorsports, Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, Jordan Anderson Racing, JR Motorsports, Kaulig Racing, Our Motorsports, RSS Racing, Sam Hunt Racing, Stewart-Haas Racing (1)

2023 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet (23)

2nd) Ford (5)

3rd) Toyota (4)

2023 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP