5/9/81: Mark Martin, Nashville, and one of NASCAR’s longest streaks without a last-place finish

PHOTO: Rubbin's Racin' Forums

On May 9, 1981, Mark Martin picked up the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR Winston Cup Series career in the Melling Tool 420 at the Nashville Speedway when his #02 Ams Oil / Prototype Pontiac fell out with a busted cam after 2 of 420 laps.  The finish came in Martin’s second career start.

One month before the Nashville race, Martin made his NASCAR debut at North Wilkesboro Speedway.  The three-time and defending champion of the American Speed Association (ASA), Martin had already made a name for himself by the time he climbed aboard the Pontiac owned by Bud Reeder, who was also making his debut as an owner.  Right after scoring ASA’s Rookie of the Year in 1977, Martin had won three consecutive titles, and in ’81 looked to transition into Winston Cup by driving the short tracks.  The car carried the same orange-and-white paint scheme as Martin’s ASA ride, the number changed from #2 to #02.

At Wilkesboro, Martin surprised early, qualifying 5th in the 31-car field, but rear end trouble knocked him out after 166 laps, leaving him 27th.  Much like Jeff Gordon’s debut at Atlanta in 1992, this was a changing of the guard of sorts.  In the same race, Richard Petty took the checkered flag, his 15th and final at North Wilkesboro.

Nashville, next on Martin’s schedule, began with just as much promise: he qualified 6th in the 27-car field, trailing only Ricky Rudd, Mike Alexander, Benny Parsons, Morgan Shepherd, and Darrell Waltrip.  Petty lined up the next row back in 7th.  Starting last that day was owner-driver Cecil Gordon in his unsponsored #24 Gordon Racing Pontiac.  Gordon, who claimed his second LASTCAR title that season, had climbed from 36th to 23rd in points, and was driving a Pontiac for the first time that year.  He held the spot for a brief time, as Martin’s car broke down under green, securing him his first last-place finish.

Finishing 26th that day was Alabama driver Charlie Chamblee, who was making his second and final Cup start.  Chamblee was driving a second Broadway Motors Pontiac owned by another owner-driver, Jimmy Means, the #52 decals swapped around to make a #25.  Chamblee exited after 10 laps with oil pressure as the listed cause.  The next retiree was veteran short tracker Jody Ridley in Junie Donlavey’s #90 Truxmore / Sunny King Ford.  As it happened, a much better day wasn’t far away – just eight days later, Ridley took the checkered flag in the Mason-Dixon 500 at Dover, Ridley’s first win in his 55th start.  It also turned out to be Donlavey’s first – and only – Cup victory, the highlight of a career that dated back to 1950.

24th that day went to Lake Speed, just in his second season on the tour, his #66 Pontiac out with alternator issues.  This turned out to be the only Cup start for one Harry Dinwiddie as a car owner.  One year earlier, the Tennessee-born Dinwiddie made his only Cup start at Talladega for 23rd-place D.K. Ulrich (who Martin would also drive for in 1983), coming home a strong 12th in the Talladega 500.  Dinwiddie’s own attempt as an owner-driver during the 1981 Daytona 500, driving the #49 Pabst Blue Ribbon Pontiac, ended with a hard crash off Turn 4 during Race 2 of the UNO Twin 125-mile qualifiers.

Martin’s last-place finish at Nashville was a turning point in many ways.  His next time out in July’s return to Nashville handed him his first of 56 career poles, followed by another at Richmond.  His first Top 5 came during a grueling afternoon in Martinsville that September, a 3rd behind Darrell Waltrip and Harry Gant.  Following a solid 1982 where he ranked 14th in points, Martin and Reeder parted ways, and the Arkansas driver would travel from team to team, looking to take his career to the next level.  A return to ASA for another title in 1986, then a decision to unite with Jack Roush in 1988 on a new Cup Series team, laid the groundwork for 96 combined NASCAR victories in a Hall of Fame career that lasted through 2013.

Another measure of Martin’s success is how long it took for him to finish last after that day in Nashville.  It wasn’t until April 14, 1996 that he trailed another Cup Series race, and even when his #6 Valvoline Ford trailed the First Union 400 at North Wilkesboro that day, he still finished under power, just 45 laps behind race winner Terry Labonte.  This streak of 14 years, 11 months, and 5 days covered 440 races, just 89 races less than Jimmie Johnson’s streak of 529 before his first 40th-place run last August at Watkins Glen.

As of this writing, Martin’s streak has only been eclipsed by Joe Ruttman, whose “start-and-park” effort at Rockingham in 2004 came 15 years, 6 months, and 22 days after his #31 Slender You Figure Salons Oldsmobile trailed at Talladega on July 31, 1988, 494 races previous.  Even then, Ruttman had been off the tour for eight of those seasons while Martin had for only two.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked one of only three occasions where a cam was credited as the reason a Cup Series driver finished last.  The first was May 4, 1980, when Darrell Waltrip’s #88 Gatorade Oldsmobile fell out after 4 laps of the Winston 500 at Talladega.  The other was August 16, 1981, when Dick May’s #19 Belden Asphalt Buick fell out after 4 laps of the Champion Spark Plug 400 at Michigan.
*This marked the first last-place finish for #02 in a Cup race at Nashville, and the first in a Cup race since April 15, 1971, when Jimmy Crawford’s Crawford Racing 1969 Plymouth had ignition issues after 1 lap of the Maryville 200 at the Smoky Mountain (Tennessee) Raceway.  The number has finished last 14 other times, most recently on November 21, 2004, when Hermie Sadler’s Drive for Diversity / Sam Bass Chevrolet wrecked on the opening lap of the season finale, the Ford 400 at Homestead.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
27) #02-Mark Martin / 2 laps / cam
26) #25-Charlie Chamblee / 10 laps / oil pressure
25) #90-Jody Ridley / 116 laps / engine
24) #66-Lake Speed / 125 laps / alternator
23) #40-D.K. Ulrich / 200 laps / engine

SOURCES
Racing-reference.info
Waid, Steve. “Driving career over, maybe, Mark Martin has place in NASCAR lore,” Motorsports Unplugged, December 28, 2013.

Small Team Storylines: Las Vegas

PHOTO: Michael Harvey @MrLester88

CUP SERIES
Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas

The current entry list includes 39 drivers for 40 spots, one spot short of a full field for the second week in a row.

Last week at Atlanta, Cole Whitt finished 20th, giving TriStar Motorsports its first back-to-back Top 20 finishes since May 1994.  The team will look to extend that streak to three races for the first time since the fall of 1992, when the late Bobby Hamilton ran 19th at Rockingham, 8th at Phoenix, and 12th in the historic Hooters 500 at Atlanta.  It will also be team owner Mark Smith’s 200th Cup Series start.  Florida Lottery, the team’s Daytona sponsor, is again listed for his #72.

With their first Cup Series start under their belt, Rick Ware Racing returns to competition this Sunday with Timmy Hill, the Daytona driver, behind the wheel.  It was at the Las Vegas track in 2012 that Hill gave Ware his first-ever Cup start, driving the #37 Poynt.com Ford a 42nd-place finish.  While the Spoonful of Music Foundation backed the #51 Chevrolet the last two weeks, as of this writing, no primary sponsorship has been announced.

Last Sunday marked the return of three-time LASTCAR Cup Series Champion Derrike Cope to Cup competition for the first time in more than seven years, and the short field gave Premium Motorsports’ #55 team its first start of the year.  While a broken power steering hose and tire issues left him 36th, the team finished under power and will again use the Chevrolet in Vegas.  The last time Cope started a Cup race in Vegas in 2004, his Arnold Motorsports #50 Dodge carried sponsorship from redneckjunk.com.  NASCAR intervened and had it shortened to rjunk.com.  No sponsor has yet been announced for this weekend.

Premium Motorsports’ Chartered car, #15, will be entered with Reed Sorenson behind the wheel for the second-straight race.  There is no listed sponsor for the car this week, but last Saturday cleaning service “The Maids” came on as a primary, swapping the car’s black scheme for bright yellow.

Corey LaJoie was a last-minute addition to last Sunday’s field, preventing it from being Atlanta’s shortest since 1976.  This week, LaJoie is already on the preliminary entry list with sponsorship from JAS Expedited Trucking on his #83 Toyota.  Fellow rookie and BK Racing teammate Gray Gaulding, who blew an engine late Sunday, is also listed in the #23 Schulter Systems Toyota.  Both will be making their Cup debut at Las Vegas.

As the team showed, Jeffrey Earnhardt’s silver-and-black #33 Chevrolet for Circle Sport / The Motorsports Group left Atlanta “without a scratch,” rebounding from a crash in Daytona to come home a quiet 33rd at Atlanta, eight laps behind.  Team brands Little Joe’s Autos and Curtis Key Plumbing are again listed as the car’s sponsors for Earnhardt’s second Vegas start.  He ran 33rd last year for Go FAS Racing.

Go FAS Racing’s current driver, Matt DiBenedetto, followed-up his sterling 9th-place finish in the Daytona 500 with a respectable 28th in Atlanta, keeping him 18th in the point standings.  Like Earnhardt, Sunday will mark his second career Vegas start, a track which saw him run 31st in 2016 for BK Racing.  Can-Am and Kappa are slated as the primary sponsors of the #32 Ford.

XFINITY SERIES
Boyd Gaming 300 at Las Vegas

39 drivers are listed for 40 spots, which if unchanged would not only mark the XFINITY Series’ first short field of 2017, but its first since Mid-Ohio in 2014.

As of this writing, three teams have no listed drivers: the #24 Toyota fielded by JGL Racing, King Autosport’s #90 Cote / Gamache Truck Center Chevrolet, and RSS Racing’s second team, the #93 Chevrolet which came home next-to-last in Atlanta with Jordan Anderson driving.

Joey Gase and the Jimmy Means Racing team, left off the preliminary list last week, are listed this week.  Among those missing are Mike Harmon, whose #74 Dodge had engine trouble in qualifying, Morgan Shepherd, who entered both opening rounds in his #89 Chevrolet, Chris Cockrum’s #25, and Obaika Racing’s #97 with Stephen Leicht.  Obaika, whose entries have traditionally appeared late in the week, may make the field a full 40.

After putting Clint King in his #78 Chevrolet for the first two rounds of the season, B.J. McLeod climbs back aboard his flagship car, and will once again be teamed with last-place record holder Jeff Green in the #8 Chevrolet (who ran a strong 26th in Atlanta) and Daytona last-placer David Starr in the #99 Striping Technology Chevrolet (32nd on Saturday).  McLeod finished 27th in Las Vegas last year.

Timmy Hill is slated to run double-duty in Vegas, pairing his Cup run for Rick Ware with a return to the #40 Toyota entered by Motorsports Business Management.  Team owner Carl Long, 0-for-2 this season in attempts, will again drive the #13 Toyota.  As of this writing, neither car has primary sponsorship.

Jeremy Clements will have a familiar look on his #51 Chevrolet as RepairableVehicles.com returns as primary sponsor.  Curiously, according to the preliminary list, his is the only 2015 Chevrolet entered in the event – all 38 of the remaining entries are running 2017 models.  Clements’ best Las Vegas finish in five starts came last year, when he ran 20th.

JD Motorsports’ trifecta of Harrison Rhodes (#01), Garrett Smithley (#0), and Ross Chastain (#4) all finished in the Top 16 at Daytona, but ran just 24th, 25th, and 27th at Atlanta.  The trio return looking to break back into the Top 20.  Chastain’s #4 is listed with GK Services as the primary sponsor.

TRUCK SERIES
Next Race: April 1, 2017
Alpha Energy Solutions 250 at Martinsville

CUP: Cody Ware becomes 853rd last-place finisher in 2,500th Sprint Cup race

PHOTO: @RickWareRacing

Cody Ware picked up the 1st last-place finish of his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career in Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway when his #51 Spoonful of Music Foundation Chevrolet fell out with steering problems after 74 of 325 laps.  The finish came in Ware’s series debut.

Following a difficult SpeedWeeks where the team lost a lap during Duel Race 2, then pulled off the track, Rick Ware Racing had much to look forward to at Atlanta.  The team’s #51 Chevrolet was one of just 38 entries for 40 spots, the shortest field for a Cup race at Atlanta since November 1976, and the subsequent addition of Corey LaJoie’s #83 Dustless Blasting Toyota on Tuesday still guaranteed the Ware team its first Cup start since 2012, as well as a start in NASCAR’s 2,500th Cup Series race.

Driving duties would this time fall to Ware’s son Cody, who made the move from modifieds to XFINITY and Truck competition in 2014.  The short field was also a boon to the younger Ware, who made his first Cup attempt at Sonoma last June, but ended the up the only car bumped from the field.  His ride in Atlanta would again carry sponsorship from the Spoonful of Music Foundation and Bubba Burger, but now on a black car with white stripes instead of Daytona’s white with black.

The tough, slippery Atlanta surface proved a challenge for driver and team.  Ware was slowest overall in both practice sessions, and in qualifying joined four other drivers (Michael McDowell, Cole Whitt, Jeffrey Earnhardt, and Derrike Cope) who did not complete a timed lap.  This gave Ware the 39th and final starting spot in the field.  Cope, who lined up 38th, was making his first start in a Cup points race since October 2009 at Martinsville and his first at Atlanta since 2004.  The deal to drive Premium Motorsports’ #55 Wade Tractor and Equipment Chevrolet came together after news that the driver was pulling out of the XFINITY Series.

When the green flag flew on Sunday, Ware was struggling to keep up with the pack.  At the end of Lap 1, he was 6.197 seconds behind the leader and eight-tenths of a second behind 39th-place Jeffrey Earnhardt.  On Lap 2, those margins widened to 13.876 and 3.280, respectively, then on Lap 9 to 24.259 and 5.136.  By Lap 19, Ware was the first to lose a lap to race leader Kevin Harvick, and he was three down 11 circuits later.  Green-flag pit stops briefly shuffled 39th-place as Corey LaJoie took the spot from Laps 31 to 33.  By that 33rd circuit, Ware had pulled his car behind the wall, citing engine issues.  Minutes later, FOX’s leaderboard listed Ware as “OUT.”

However, around Lap 65, Ware returned to the track 35 laps down, and could be seen trying to catch the pack as the leaders restarted following Stage 1.  First Cope, then LaJoie then found trouble from an oil line and contact with the wall, respectively, but neither lost enough laps to challenge Ware for 39th.  Around Lap 109, Ware had been advised by NASCAR to meet minimum speed and pulled behind the wall a second time, having completed 74 laps.  On Lap 150, FOX listed Ware as “OUT” for a second time, and this time the #51 did not return.

Finishing 38th on Sunday was Denny Hamlin, whose #11 FedEx Ground Toyota broke a rear end, returned with 77 laps to go, then pulled off once more when 37th-place Gray Gaulding lost the motor on his #23 Dr. Pepper Toyota.  36th went to Cope, the last car to finish under power, 27 laps behind the leaders.  The three-time LASTCAR champion remains fourth in Cup last-place rankings.  16 circuits behind in 35th was a frustrated Ryan Newman, whose #31 Caterpillar Chevrolet started outside-pole and enjoyed a strong Top 10 run until battery issues forced him to the garage area.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the first Cup Series last-place finish for the #51 at Atlanta, and the first in a Cup race since May 24, 2015, when Justin Allgaier’s Brandt Chevrolet fell out with crash damage after 135 laps of the Coca-Cola 600.
*Ware’s last-place finish came in the 2,500th NASCAR Cup Series race, making him the 853rd driver to trail at least one of those events.
*Ware is the first Cup Series driver to finish last due to steering issues since last September at New Hampshire, when Michael Annett pulled out after 236 laps.  Ware is the first Cup driver to fall out at Atlanta for that reason.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
39) #51-Cody Ware / 74 laps / steering
38) #11-Denny Hamlin / 182 laps / rear end
37) #23-Gray Gaulding / 253 laps / engine
36) #55-Derrike Cope / 298 laps / running
35) #31-Ryan Newman / 309 laps / running / led 3 laps

2017 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Joe Gibbs Racing, Rick Ware Racing (1)

2017 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet, Toyota (1)

2017 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

XFINITY: Blake Koch scores first XFINITY last-place finish for #11 since 2009

PHOTO: FS1

Blake Koch picked up the 14th last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career in Saturday’s Rinnai 250 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway when his #11 Leaf Filter Gutter Protection Chevrolet was involved in a two-car accident after 2 of the 163 laps.

The finish, which came in Koch’s 182nd series start, was his first since September 26, 2015, 42 races ago, where his #8 Leaf Filter Gutter Protection Toyota crashed after 2 laps of the VisitMyrtleBeach.com 300 at Kentucky.

At the time of the Kentucky finish, Koch was driving for TriStar Motorsports and enjoying his best XFINITY Series season at the time.  In June, when he announced intentions to stay with TriStar in 2016, he’d nearly snatched his first victory at Road America, and he ultimately came home 17th in points.  However, the plan changed over the offseason and Kaulig started his own team with Koch driving his #11 Chevrolets.

The partnership paid instant dividends.  Koch started the 2016 season with a 9th-place finish at Daytona, an 8th at Richmond that spring, and earned himself a spot in the inaugural XFINITY Series Chase.  He continued to impress from there, surviving the first two elimination rounds and coming just short of making the Championship Four at Homestead, leaving him 7th in points.  Driver and team have returned once more in 2017, where a gutsy 15th in the Daytona opener has again started them on the right track.

The preliminary entry list at Atlanta included Koch among the 40 drivers for 40 spots, but the list then grew to 43 with the additions of Joey Gase’s #52 LifeLinkFoundation.org Chevrolet for Jimmy Means Racing (a full-season effort that was for some reason left off), Chris Cockrum’s #25 Advanced Communications Group Chevrolet, and Obaika Racing’s #97 Vroom! Brands Chevrolet with Stephen Leicht.  As it turned out, all three of these added entries made the race, bumping from the field Carl Long in Motorsports Business Management’s #13 TLC Vacations Toyota, and owner-drivers Morgan Shepherd in the #89 VisoneRV Chevrolet and Mike Harmon in his unsponsored #74 Dodge.  Harmon’s exit was particularly costly as something caught fire in the engine during his qualifying lap, aborting his run.

Koch, meanwhile, avoided the chaos.  He ran 20th in Friday’s opening practice, 21st in the second, 21st in Happy Hour, and settled on 25th in qualifying with a lap of 180.029mph.

Starting last on Saturday was Stephen Leicht, whose effort in the Obaika car marked his first run in any of NASCAR’s top three divisions since 2012.  He was joined by Dakoda Armstrong and Brandon Jones, whose cars were sent to the rear for unapproved adjustments, but then elected to fall behind those two once more by choice.  Also choosing to fall to the rear was Jordan Anderson, who was running double-duty between the XFINITY and Truck Series races held that day.  Anderson was driving the #93 RSS Racing Chevrolet, a team car to Ryan Seig’s #39 that, for much of 2016, was used as a start-and-park entry.  The decisions of Leicht and Anderson to fall to the rear seemed to indicate both cars would again be exiting early.

At the end of Lap 1, Leicht held 40th, 8.695 seconds behind the leaders.  By Lap 2, Anderson had again pulled behind Leicht and was preparing to come down pit road the next time by.  Then, up in 16th spot, trouble broke out.  Ty Dillon’s #3 Bass Pro Shops / Tracker Boats Chevrolet started 14th, but broke loose in Turn 3, sending him sliding to the apron.  As several cars dodged his car, Koch chose the apron, only to find Dillon sliding straight across his path.  Koch slowed, but couldn’t avoid a collision, tearing up the right-front of his #11.  With the damage unable to be repaired in five minutes, Koch was out of the race, while Dillon managed a 17th-place finish.

Anderson and Leicht parked their cars after 2 and 24 laps, respectively, Anderson edging Koch to the garage for 39th.  37th went to Jeremy Clements, whose #51 Chevrolet, with backing from race sponsor Rinnai, erupted in smoke on pit road, then retired with suspension issues.  Rounding out the Bottom Five was J.J. Yeley in TriStar’s #14 Superior Essex / Accu-Tech Toyota, out with engine failure.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the first XFINITY Series last-place finish for the #11 since February 14, 2009, when Scott Lagasse, Jr.’s #11 America’s Incredible Pizza Company Toyota crashed after 71 laps of the Camping World 300 at Daytona.  It’s only the tenth last-place finish for the number in XFINITY competition and the first at Atlanta.
*This marked Koch’s first last-place finish in an XFINITY race at Atlanta since August 31, 2013, when his #00 M&W Transportation / SupportMilitary.org Toyota had ignition issues after 5 laps of the Great Clips Grit Chips 300.
*This marked the first last-place finish for Kaulig Racing.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
40) #11-Blake Koch / 2 laps / crash
39) #93-Jordan Anderson / 2 laps / ignition
38) #97-Stephen Leicht / 24 laps / brakes
37) #51-Jeremy Clements / 76 laps / suspension
36) #14-J.J. Yeley / 128 laps / engine

2017 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) B.J. McLeod Motorsports, Inc., Kaulig Racing (1)

2017 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (2)

2017 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

TRUCKS: Todd Peck gives #83 third last-place finish in Truck Series history

PHOTO: NASCAR

Todd Peck picked up the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR Camping World Series career in Saturday’s Active Pest Control 200 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway when his unsponsored #83 Chevrolet overheated after 2 of 130 laps.  The finish came in Peck’s 22nd series start.

Peck entered this, his seventh season of Truck Series competition, by tying his career-best finish of 18th in the crash-filled Daytona opener, matching his run at Phoenix in 2012.  It was in Trucks that the second-generation driver made his debut in NASCAR’s top three divisions, driving a #96 Chevrolet owned by his father, Dr. Michael Peck.  As with the truck he raced that day, the #83 he drove last week at Daytona carried decals for the National Arthritis Foundation, an affliction the younger Peck has dealt with since youth.

Peck now drives for a start-up team owned by D.J. Copp.  Copp, a veteran tire carrier and crew chief with over 17 years of experience, developed his own pit crew training facility, OTWcrew.com and was a popular segment commentator for ESPN.  This past offseason, Copp acquired assets from Contreras Motorsports, a team owned by former Truck Series driver Carlos Contreras, and fields what were once the team’s #71 Chevrolets.  Contreras’ effort allowed Copp’s #83 to lock itself in on Owner Points, setting up Peck’s career-best run.

Peck and Copp arrived at Atlanta as one of 34 entries on the preliminary entry list, one which grew by one following the addition of Tracy Lowe’s #1 Chevrolet with Mike Harmon aboard.  Harmon vacated the #12 Lucas Oil / Knight Fire Protection Chevrolet fielded by Rick Ware Racing, giving Jordan Anderson the spot.

While both Harmon and Anderson qualified for the race (Harmon having recovered from a spin in qualifying), three drivers were sent home: J.J. Yeley in the #63 Chevrolet for Mike Mittler’s MB Motorsports, as well as owner-drivers Norm Benning in the #6 Houston Roll Pipe Chevrolet and Jennifer Jo Cobb in the #10 Driven2Honor.org Chevrolet.  For Benning and Cobb, Atlanta marked their second-straight DNQ.  In addition, Austin Wayne Self, who along with Yeley earned Top 10 finishes at Daytona, withdrew his #22 AM Technical Solutions Toyota.

Peck, meanwhile, skipped the opening practice, ran the slowest lap overall in the second session, climbed to 31st of 34 in Happy Hour, and again fell back on Owner Points, securing 29th in qualifying with a lap of 171.164mph.

Starting 32nd and last on Saturday was Akinori Ogata, making his first start of the year in Beaver Motorsports’ #50 Nisshinbo / Kajima Building & Design Chevrolet.  Ogata had struggled through the weekend, spinning in practice and putting up the slowest speed in qualifying at just 163.893mph.  When the green flag flew, however, Mike Harmon had an even harder time, missing the start due to mechanical issues.  Seconds later, Noah Gragson spun Kyle Busch’s #18 Switch Toyota in Turn 4, collecting Brett Moffitt’s unsponsored #7 Red Horse Racing Toyota.  Both Gragson and Moffitt continued, completing repairs inside of five minutes, but Harmon still held last.

Under caution on Lap 3, Peck pulled behind the wall, and soon became the race’s first retiree.  Moments later, Harmon returned to the track and would eventually finish 27th, dropping Peck to last on Lap 5.  Gragson and Moffitt recovered nicely to finish 14th and 11th, respectively.  Ogata suffered an oil leak and finished 30th.

Coming home 31st between Ogata and Peck was Parker Kligerman, whose strong Top 10 run for team owner Charlie Henderson ended on the apron of Turn 1 when the fuel pump failed, stranding his #75 Food Country USA / Frito-Lay Toyota.  On the other side of Ogata in 29th was defending Atlanta winner John Hunter Nemechek, who pounded the outside wall just short of the Stage 2 finish.  Rounding out the Bottom Five was Jordan Anderson, bumped into a spin by another truck and knocked-out when his splitter dug into the infield grass, nearly overturning his #12.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked only the third Truck Series last-place finish for #83 and the first since August 8, 2003, when Willie Green’s Quaker Steak & Lube Ford had ignition trouble on the first lap of the Federated Auto Parts 200 at the Nashville Superspeeedway.  The other occurred September 26, 1998, when Joe Gaita’s Building Specialties Ford overheated after 23 laps of the NAPA 250 at Martinsville.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
32) #83-Todd Peck / 2 laps / overheating
31) #75-Parker Kligerman / 28 laps / fuel pump
30) #50-Akinori Ogata / 51 laps / oil leak
29) #8-John Hunter Nemechek / 79 laps / crash / led 12 laps
28) #12-Jordan Anderson / 102 laps / crash

2017 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Copp Motorsports, MDM Motorsports (1)

2017 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (2)

2017 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP