#JD70: J.D. McDuffie's Career on All-Star Weekend

(Above and below)
An original 1986 Atlanta Invitational ballot.
PHOTO: James Oldham Collection

Despite his modest statistics, J.D. McDuffie competed in the inaugural runnings of two different NASCAR exhibition races that were invite only. In 1979, he qualified for the first Busch Clash at Daytona due to his only career pole at Dover the year before. And, in 1986, he also participated in the first running of what is now the Monster Energy Open.

The Open, then known as the Atlanta Invitational, was the first new addition to “The Winston,” NASCAR’s all-star event, then in its second year. Ironically, it debuted at the only running of the All-Star Race to not be held at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. As the Invitational’s name implies, it was run at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. What’s more, the race winner didn’t transfer into the main event – the Invitational would be separate 100-lap race held the same day.

Unlike today, where drivers and teams not qualified for the All-Star could compete so long as they made a certain number of attempts in the previous year, the “Invitational” was quite literally that. Just 26 drivers were made eligible, of which only 14 would be allowed to compete. Which 14 drivers made the cut was determined entirely on a fan vote. Ballots like the one seen here (provided by J.D. McDuffie Fan Club president James Oldham), invited fans to select their 14 favorites, and also receive an autographed picture of their favorite driver.

It’s interesting to note the names on the list. The 1986 running of “The Winston” was specifically for winners from the 1985 season only. Thus, past champions like Richard Petty, David Pearson, Bobby Allison, and Benny Parsons (who helped broadcast ESPN’s coverage of “The Winston” that day) made the list. Joining them were Kyle Petty, Rusty Wallace, and Morgan Shepherd – drivers who would’ve been in the 1986 race under today’s rules since they won in the first part of the ’86 season. But all three were still on the list, joined by owner-drivers like Buddy Arrington, Jimmy Means, Dave Marcis, and J.D. McDuffie.

A push by McDuffie’s fan club got the #70 into the Invitational, which was no small accomplishment. The 12 eligible drivers who missed the cut were Mike Alexander, Eddie Bierschwale, Ron Bouchard, Clark Dwyer, Tommy Ellis, Lennie Pond, Bobby Wawak, “The Silver Fox” himself, David Pearson, current broadcaster Phil Parsons, short track veteran Ken Schrader, as well as 1986 race winners Rusty Wallace and Morgan Shepherd.

A busted valve knocked McDuffie out of the Invitational after 37 laps, leaving him next-to-last in the finishing order. Benny Parsons took the win. The following week, when the series resumed at Dover, McDuffie made his 600th career Cup Series start.

McDuffie competed in three of the next five runnings of the event, which became the Winston Open, a qualifier for the main event. His best of those three races came in the race’s return to Charlotte in 1987, where he finished 16th of 34 starters, three laps down to race winner Buddy Baker. He then crashed out of the 1989 race, leaving him 26th of 30, and in 1991 lost an engine after 15 laps, leaving him 28th of 30. That final start on May 19, 1991 came driving the same bright red Pontiac Grand Prix that was wrecked at Dover later that month.

McDuffie falls off the pace in the inaugural Atlanta
Invitational, 1986
PHOTO: ESPN, YouTube cubs604

Reserve your copy of "J.D.: The Life and Death of a Forgotten NASCAR Legend" at Waldorf Publishing, coming July 15, 2018. Click here for more details.

K&N EAST: Colin Garrett’s Cinderella run ends halfway through at South Boston

PHOTO: @Team_HSR18

by William Soquet
LASTCAR.info Guest Contributor

Colin Garrett scored the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR K&N East Series career in Saturday night’s Who’s Your Driver Twin 100s Race 2 when his #18 Propel GPS / Hunt-Sellers Racing Toyota fell victim to mechanical issues after three of 100 laps. The finish came in Garrett’s third series start.

Garrett, 17, is making quick work of racing divisions. He was South Boston Speedway’s Rookie of the Year in 2016, his second year racing. The following year, he broke the track record in the Limited Late Model Stock Car division and won the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series track championship. His 2018 schedule for late models includes various events at SoBo, Langley Speedway and Dominion Raceway, plus the prestigious ValleyStar 300 at Martinsville.

In addition, Hunt-Sellers Racing announced that Garrett had been added to its driver development lineup for three K&N Pro Series East races in 2018: an early-season venture at Langley, a mid-season journey out to Iowa Speedway, and a September trip to New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The effort would be backed by Propel GPS, a technical solutions company helping companies that own or manage vehicles. News broke May 4 that the Twin 100s were added to the schedule, and Garrett’s personal website also lists the season finale at Dover.

The name Hunt-Sellers Racing may very well ring a few bells with followers of the sport. The team is co-owned by former drivers Sam Hunt and Peyton Sellers. Hunt ran the full K&N East schedule in 2012 and ran partial schedules every year since, while Sellers has had starts scattered across many years and series. On a high-profile scale, he most recently drove almost half a season for now-defunct XFIINITY Series team Obaika Racing in 2016.

The entry list had 17 drivers, none of which were debuts. Headlining the entry list were four part-time teams: two LASTCAR championship contenders in Chuck Buchanan Jr. and Justin Carroll, and two small teams returning with big drivers: Kyle Busch Motorsports driver Spencer Davis with the #82 Danny Watts Racing team, and Brandon McReynolds with the #74 Visconti Motorsports team. McReynolds came to the track Saturday after spotting for Noah Gragson for his Friday night Truck Series win at Kansas Speedway.

Buchanan's was the only car not to practice in the first session, leaving last to NextGen Motorsports driver Juan Manuel Gonzalez. The 87 got on track for second practice and proceeded to anchor the charts, more than a second off leader Tyler Ankrum’s pace. He also qualified last for the first Twin 100.

The first race had a last-place battle that was decided relatively quickly for a race with no "start-and-parks." Anthony Alfredo spun and collected seven or eight cars, dropping Dillon Bassett to last after 22 laps. After more attrition, Buchanan worked his way up to fifth around the midpoint of the race before fading to ninth, his first K&N Top 10. The first race claimed, among many, McReynolds, who was the only car to not return for the second race.

Buchanan once again trailed the field coming to green, but this time the last-place battle was even shorter. With no live feed and timing and scoring down throughout the night, Race Central Live was NASCAR’s only official news source. There, Davey Segal reported that by Lap 5, Garrett had gone to the garage because of mechanical problems. Almost simultaneously, a tweet from the team announced the end of their night just over an hour after driver wheeled car to a third-place finish.

15th went to Ruben Garcia Jr., who also fell victim to mechanical gremlins. Gonzalez was 14th, 55 laps down and the last car running. Connor Hall was the only crash attrition of the second race, as his night ended early after wrecking in both races. Buchanan rounded out the Bottom Five, eleven laps down at the finish.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
16) #18-Colin Garrett / 3 laps / mechanical
15) #6-Ruben Garcia Jr. / 37 laps / mechanical
14) #5-Juan Manuel Gonzalez / 45 laps / running
13) #31-Connor Hall / 45 laps / crash
12) #87-Chuck Buchanan Jr. / 89 laps / running

2018 LASTCAR K&N EAST OWNERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Bill McAnally Racing, Ronald Bassett Sr., Charles Buchanan Jr., Carroll Motorsports, Hunt-Sellers Racing (1)

2018 LASTCAR K&N EAST MANUFACTURERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Toyota (3)
2nd) Chevrolet (2)

2018 LASTCAR K&N EAST DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP

CUP: Race-long last-place battle between Hill and McLeod gives way to Ty Dillon edging Blaney at Kansas

PHOTO: @GermainRacing

Ty Dillon picked up the 1st last-place finish of his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career in Saturday’s KC Masterpiece 400 at the Kansas Speedway when his #13 Twisted Tea Chevrolet was involved in a multi-car accident after 247 of 267 laps.

The finish came in Dillon’s 66th series start. In the Cup Series last-place rankings, it’s the 18th for car #13, the 565th by reason of a crash, and the 745th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it’s the 28th for the #13, the 1,138th by reason of a crash, and the 1,596th for Chevrolet.

The younger grandson of Richard Childress, Ty Dillon cut his teeth in Bandoleros and go-karts. He ran his first K&N Pro Series race in 2009, won his first race at Gresham Motorsports Park in 2010, and in 2011 cruised to the ARCA Racing Series Championship with seven wins. Also in 2011, the 19-year-old Ty made his Truck Series debut at Kentucky, finishing 21st.

From there, Ty followed older brother Austin through NASCAR’s top three ranks. At first, he took over his rides each time Austin advanced to the next level. When Austin moved to the XFINITY Series in 2012, Ty took over RCR’s #3 truck and nearly won the next two Truck Series titles, taking three wins along the way. Ty’s XFINITY debut came at Dover in 2012, and his only XFINITY win came at Indianapolis in 2014. Again, he was a championship contender, finishing no worse than 5th in the standings for three consecutive seasons.

When Austin was selected to bring back the #3 to Cup competition in 2014, Ty made his Cup debut in a second RCR car, the #33, at Atlanta on August 31, 2014. Ty finished 25th that day, and improved on that with a 14th-place run with the #33 bunch at Michigan the next summer. In 2016, Ty’s Cup schedule expanded from five races to 11. He split time between Stewart-Haas Racing, where he relieved an injured Tony Stewart for three races, as well as small teams Leavine Family Racing and Tommy Baldwin Racing. His best run that season was a 15th at Phoenix in Stewart’s #14.

It wasn’t until 2017, three years after Austin, that Ty Dillon earned a full-time ride in the Cup Series. With Austin in the #3, Ty wouldn’t drive for Childress this time, but instead Germain Racing, who had entered into a technical alliance with RCR. He took the place of Casey Mears, who had raced Germain’s GEICO-sponsored cars since late in 2010 season. For those seven seasons, Mears helped the Germain team transition from a part-time “start-and-park” to a full-time competitor. He earned a team-best 4th-place finish at Daytona, but managed no better than 23rd in the standings, which he accomplished in 2015.

Ty’s first start for Germain was a 30th-place finish in the 2017 Daytona 500. In the next plate race at Talladega, he improved his career-best Cup finish with a 13th. The next month at Dover, he very nearly took his first career victory, leading 27 laps and pacing the field as late as 40 to go before a late-race crash left him 14th. He finished the year with a new career-best of 11th in the return to Talladega and at Phoenix. But Ty still finished only 24th in the standings, about the same Germain had with Mears.

2018 has been a year of great change for Ty Dillon and Germain Racing. On top of the introduction of Chevrolet’s new Camaro ZL1 model, Germain ended their long relationship with crew chief Robert “Bootie” Barker. Like Mears, Barker had been instrumental in developing the #13 team, joining the effort in 2009 when road racer Max Papis was behind the wheel. In Barker’s place came Matt Borland, the longtime crew chief for Ryan Newman. A crash in the Daytona 500 left Dillon 39th in the opener, and other than a 13th at Texas and a 15th at Talladega, the team has struggled to find consistency. Coming into Kansas, Ty Dillon sat 28th in the point standings. What unfolded would drop him another two spots.

Ty would drive the Twisted Tea car at Kansas, a sponsor that joined Ty and Germain Racing after Brian Scott retired at the close of the 2016 season. In this same Kansas race last year, Ty finished 14th, one of his best runs of the year. This time around, the car struggled for speed. Ty ran 31st in the opening practice, then ran 26th in qualifying with a speed of 182.692mph (29.558 seconds).

Just 38 drivers would start the race, the first short Cup field in Kansas’ history. A 39th entry, Derrike Cope in his #99 StarCom Fiber Chevrolet, was withdrawn on Monday.

Starting last was Timmy Hill, driving the #66 Toyota for Carl Long’s team Motorsports Business Management. Kansas marked the one-year anniversary of Long’s return to Cup competition, and Hill was the third different driver in as many starts to run the #66 in 2018. By Friday, CrashClaimsR.us appeared on the quarter-panels of the black Toyota. Hill was one of six drivers whose cars failed to pass pre-qualifying inspection, and as the lowest-ranked in points of the three, took the last spot. In preparations for the night race, his crew added a pair of light bars to Hill’s pit board, a drawing of the character Timmy from “South Park.”

When engines fired, Hill and the rest of the pack had to move around the #15 LowT Centers Chevrolet of Ross Chastain. Chastain, the last-placer at Bristol, had stalled on pit road and, according to Chris Knight, needed a push. The #15 turned a slow lap on the apron, then returned to his pit stall for repairs. This caused him to miss the start of the race. He pulled down pit road as the leaders completed the first lap, avoiding a “did not start,” but causing him to start the race one lap down.

Despite his mechanical issues, Chastain showed speed early, and was within sight of 37th-place Hill by Lap 8. He caught Hill on the 12th circuit and just made it past on the 13th circuit. Just then, race leader Kevin Harvick passed both of them on the high side of Turn 1, putting Chastain a second lap down and Hill one lap behind. This kept Chastain two laps down until the competition caution on Lap 30, when he took the wave-around to get one of them back. Doing so moved him to 37th during pit stops, dropping to last Rick Ware Racing’s #51 Prefund Capital Chevrolet, driven for the first time this year by XFINITY Series regular B.J. McLeod.

The first 237 laps of Saturday’s race were slowed only by the competition yellow and the ends of each stage. During that time, none of the 38 starters pulled behind the wall, and a tight last-place battle ensued between Hill and McLeod. On Lap 40, McLeod was tracking down Hill for position, both of them two laps down. Hill edged away from McLeod on Lap 48. By Lap 62, McLeod was four laps down, and on Lap 78 he was five down, where he remained at the end of Stage 1.

The stage caution allowed McLeod to restart next to Hill (also five laps down) for the Lap 89 restart, and two circuits later he caught and passed Hill for position. Hill gradually lost laps to the leader as he held 38th. He lost a 6th by Lap 107, a 7th on Lap 114, and an 8th after a pit stop on Lap 128. During this time, McLeod lost laps at the same rate, allowing Hill to this time race him for position on Lap 138. After Kyle Larson lapped the pair a 9th time on Lap 140, Hill drove past McLeod by Lap 145. McLeod lost a 10th lap on Lap 155, then Hill re-took the 38th spot with a pit stop on Lap 164, following the end of Stage 2.

On Lap 168, the final stage started with Hill one lap behind McLeod, so when Hill passed McLeod under green, he still held the 38th spot. On Lap 182, Hill was still last, and now 11 laps behind. McLeod made a green-flag stop on Lap 188 and was 13 laps down, then made a second unscheduled stop on Lap 201 that put him 15 laps behind. This put McLeod a handful of laps behind Hill. But Hill once again kept pace with McLeod, and closed to within one lap on the 226th circuit. That time by, Hill passed McLeod in the tri-oval, but McLeod remained one lap behind Hill – 15 to his 14.

Ty Dillon on pit road at Kansas
PHOTO: @DnfRacers

The complexion of the race – both for the lead and for last place – changed when Alex Bowman and Daniel Suarez tangled off Turn 2 on Lap 238. While Bowman remained within one lap of the leader, Suarez lost nine laps for repairs, making his #19 Stanley Tools Toyota a threat for a Bottom Five. The ensuing restart caused a second wreck on Lap 248, when Kyle Larson and Ryan Blaney tangled in a heated race inside the Top 5. Contact entering Turn 1 damaged the right-rear of Larson’s #42 Clover / First Data Chevrolet, but sent Blaney’s #12 REV Group Ford into the outside wall. With 19 laps to go, Blaney turned his #12 behind the wall, out of the race by virtue of the “Crash Clock” protocol. With McLeod 15 laps down at the time and Blaney on the lead lap when he crashed out, Blaney would take last with four laps to go – if nothing happened to the drivers behind him.

The race restarted on Lap 253, triggering the night’s biggest accident. Coming off Turn 4, William Byron lost control of his #24 Liberty University Chevrolet and swerved into traffic, collecting Clint Bowyer in the #14 Haas 30 Years of the VF1 Ford and Ryan Newman’s #31 Bass Pro Shops / Cabela’s Chevrolet. More drivers piled in on the apron, including Jamie McMurray, Chris Buescher, Matt Kenseth (in his Cup Series return for Roush-Fenway Racing), and Ty Dillon.

Dillon’s car slid to a stop in the grass, the radiator knocked out (according to RacingUnderdogs), ending his race. Due to the night’s long green-flag runs (and damage suffered to the left-rear before the halfway point), Ty was six laps down at the time of the accident, the lowest-ranked of the cars involved in the wreck. On that same lap, Blaney’s eliminated car had fallen six laps down, joining the same lap as Dillon. Though both Dillon and Blaney were on the same lap, and Blaney wrecked first, NASCAR’s leaderboard ranked Dillon beneath Blaney. This meant that Dillon would finish last – again, if nothing happened to the drivers behind him.

Through it all, 38th-place McLeod lost a 16th lap, changing the magic number to three laps to go. When no other drivers fell out, Dillon and Blaney took the final two spots from McLeod and Hill on Lap 264, followed by Kenseth’s #6 Wyndham Rewards Ford on the very last lap. McLeod finished 35th. Rounding out the Bottom Five was Chris Buescher, whose #37 Breyers 2 in 1 Chevrolet was also eliminated in the Byron accident, but was running fewer laps behind than Kenseth or Dillon.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the first last-place finish for the #13 in a Cup Series race since October 9, 2016, when Casey Mears’ #13 GEICO Chevrolet fell out in a crash after 61 laps of the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte.
*This marked the first time the #13 finished last in a Cup Series race at Kansas.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
38) #13-Ty Dillon / 247 laps / crash
37) #12-Ryan Blaney / 247 laps / crash / led 54 laps
36) #6-Matt Kenseth / 250 laps / crash
35) #51-B.J. McLeod / 251 laps / running
34) #37-Chris Buescher / 252 laps / crash

2018 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) TriStar Motorsports (3)
2nd) Premium Motorsports (2)
3rd) BK Racing, Chip Ganassi Racing, Front Row Motorsports, Furniture Row Racing, Germain Racing, Roush-Fenway Racing, StarCom Racing (1)

2018 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (8)
2nd) Ford, Toyota (2)

2018 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

TRUCKS: Kevin Donahue outpaces brother Kyle in qualifying, but is first out of the race

Kevin Donahue's #63 with brother Kyle's #83 at far left.
PHOTO: Rubbin's Racin' Forums

Kevin Donahue picked up the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career in Friday’s 37 Kind Days 250 at the Kansas Speedway when his #63 First Responder Racing Chevrolet fell out with transmission problems after failing to complete any of the 167 laps.

The finish came in Donahue’s 9th series start. In the Truck Series last-place rankings, it’s the 18th for truck #63, the 32nd by reason of transmission failure, and the 349th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it’s the 35th for the #63, the 155th by reason of transmission issues, and the 1,595th for Chevrolet.

Kevin is the oldest of three racing siblings in the Donahue family, joined by his younger brother Kyle and sister Angie. Born and raised in Chesterfield, Missouri, the trio have worked their way through Bandoleros and go-karts with eyes on a career in NASCAR. Kevin and Kyle made the jump on October 29, 2016, when the pair raced against each other in the Truck Series race at Martinsville, each sponsored by the Agile Network. Both encountered a steep learning curve. Kyle finished 31st in Mike Mittler’s #63 following an early crash with Josh White. Kevin made it past halfway, but lost the engine on Bobby Dotter’s #07 for SS-Green Light Racing, handing him 30th.

With the exception of a one-off for the now-shuttered Contreras Motorsports, Kevin and Kyle have run partial schedules for both Mittler’s MB Motorsports (between the primary #63 and the often “start-and-park” #36) as well as Copp Motorsports (#83). Due to the close business relationship between Mittler and Copp, this has essentially made the brothers teammates.

While Kevin has three more starts than Kyle, the younger Kyle has enjoyed the best runs of the pair: two 16th-place runs at Martinsville and Gateway last year. Kevin’s best finish in Trucks remains his 20th-place run in the one-off for Contreras two years ago. The pair’s most recent battle came last month at Martinsville, where again Kyle came out on top, steering Copp’s #83 to a 23rd-place finish. Donahue turned 49 laps before Mittler’s #63 pulled out, leaving him 30th. Kansas would see the brothers return with the same teams.

According to MB Motorsports’ press release, Kevin Donahue’s Kansas truck would carry new sponsorship from Fenton, Missouri-based Camp-Zero Coolers. Leading the returning backers was Extreme Brand Products of Cedar Hill, Missouri, joining SP Air USA, Inc., Spanesi Americas, FS Curtis, Leacree, Gateway Kartplex, MARADYNE High Performance Fans, Mayhew Tool, Reikken, Excel Bottling / Ski Soda, Timken, MechanixWear, and WIX Filters.

However, as in many of the Mittler team’s races, Kevin’s truck was still flat white with many of these sponsors crammed onto the space between the door numbers and the rear tires. A much larger logo for “First Responder Racing” occupied the hood. Kevin’s brother Kyle would run a near-identical #83 Chevrolet which, despite being fielded by Copp Motorsports, had Mittler-style red numbers similar to those on the #63, again symbolic of the cooperation between the two teams.

Kevin looked forward to getting another speedway start under his belt. “It’s great to come back to where I made my first intermediate track start,” said the driver in the same press release. “We had a pit road issue that cost us track position and dropped us to a 22nd place finish last year. This time around, I’m hoping to improve on that.” Mittler himself called the elder Donahue “a very conscientious driver,” saying that he “does his best to allow us to roll [the truck] back onto the hauler looking like it did when we rolled it off.” This proved particularly true on Friday.

This time around, Kevin outpaced Kyle in opening practice, ranking 21st ahead of Kyle in 26th. Kevin carried this momentum into qualifying, where he put up the 20th-fastest lap with a 171.681mph (31.472 seconds), more than three seconds better than Kyle in 31st.

Camden Murphy in the lone DNQ for TJL Racing.
Note the taped name in the rear window.
PHOTO: @DnfRacers

The lone DNQ was Camden Murphy, who on Friday morning was named the driver of TJL Racing’s unsponsored white #1 Chevrolet. The deal for Murphy to drive came together so late, that photos from LASTCAR reader @DnfRacers showed Murphy’s name was shambled together on the rear window with strips of white tape. In qualifying, Murphy put up the slowest completed lap of 152.018mph (35.522 seconds), nearly eight-tenths off the next-slowest truck of Kyle Donahue and nearly three full seconds off a guaranteed spot.

Starting last on Friday was Myatt Snider in ThorSport’s #13 Louisiana Hot Sauce Ford. Snider was on a pole lap in Round 1 when he spun off Turn 4. While he failed to turn a lap in the session, Snider did, however, still have his primary truck, and with it earned the final starting spot. Snider incurred a redundant tail end penalty for changing his flat-spotted tires, making him one of four drivers sent to the rear of the field. Joining him were Robby Lyons in Premium Motorsports’ #15 for unapproved body adjustments and both 14th-place starter John Hunter Nemechek and 30th-place Mike Harmon in his #74, both for unapproved adjustments to the electrical system.

Kevin Donahue on the apron.
PHOTO: @DnfRacers

Falling to the rear voluntarily prior to the start was 23rd-place starter Joey Gase in Jennifer Jo Cobb’s #0 Driven2Honor.org Chevrolet. When the race started, Gase was running 5.440 seconds behind the leader, and was in brief control of last place. Brief, that is, as Kevin Donahue encountered transmission issues that first time by. Donahue pulled the #63 behind the wall short of the starting line, preventing him from completing a lap. The issue proved terminal, and Donahue was done for the night. Gase exited 6 laps later to secure 31st.

30th fell to Joe Nemechek, who brought back his second truck, the #87 Fleetwing Chevrolet, for the first time since it was withdrawn at Martinsville. The elder Nemechek then watched over his NEMCO team as son John Hunter rallied from his tail end penalty to finish a strong 4th. 29th belonged to Donahue’s MB Motorsports teammate Bayley Currey, also entered in a “start-and-park” truck, Mittler’s #36 Chevrolet. Rounding out the group was Jamie Mosley, driving Todd Peck’s last-placer from Dover. Mosley’s first Truck Series start since 2009 ended after just 66 laps with overheating issues on Beaver Motorsports’ #50 Crossbar E-Cigarettes Chevrolet.

Kyle Donahue, meanwhile, finished 20th in the #83, his best finish since his pair of 16th-place showings.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the first time the #63 finished last in a Truck Series race at Kansas since July 2, 2005, when Justin Allgaier was driving Mittler’s #63 Dave Porter Truck Sales Ford, which crashed after 68 laps of the O’Reilly Auto Parts 250. It was Allgaier’s first career Truck Series last-place finish.
*Donahue’s 20th-place starting spot is the best by a Truck Series since last July at Eldora, 18 races ago, when Caleb Holman started 9th.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
32) #63-Kevin Donahue / 0 laps / transmission
31) #0-Joey Gase / 6 laps / electrical
30) #87-Joe Nemechek / 27 laps / overheating
29) #36-Bayley Currey / 30 laps / transmission
28) #50-Jamie Mosley / 66 laps / overheating

2018 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Beaver Motorsports, MB Motorsports (2)
2nd) Copp Motorsports, TJL Racing (1)

2018 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (6)

2018 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

PREVIEW: Kenseth returns to take part in Kansas Speedway's smallest Cup field

PHOTO: @WyndhamRewards

Friday, May 11, 2018
TRUCKS Race 6 of 23
37 Kind Days 250 at Kansas
2017 Last-Place Finisher: Stewart Friesen

ENTRY LIST
The preliminary entry list stood at 30 trucks entered for 32 spots, threatening the first short field of the 2018 Truck Series season, and the first in the series since 31 took the green last fall at Talladega, ten races ago. However, by Tuesday, three late entries were added, bringing the total to 33. One truck will miss the race.

RETURNING: #0-Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing
The #0 team, which withdrew Joey Gase’s entry last Friday, is again entered this week. The preliminary list showed Jennifer Jo Cobb herself as the driver to both trucks, but she is already committed to the #10 (see below). Gase is again entered this week with Driven2Honor.org on board.

LATE ENTRY & DRIVER CHANGE: #1-TJL Racing
The first of three late entries added to the preliminary Kansas list, TJL Racing returns to action after their withdrawal of Ray Ciccarelli’s entry at Dover. Driving this week is to be announced. UPDATE: Camden Murphy makes the move from MB Motorsports' #63, and shares the Crossbar E-Cigarettes sponsor with Beaver Motorsports' #50 (see below).

TEAM UPDATE: #3-Jordan Anderson Racing
Following a costly Turn 2 accident at Dover, Jordan Anderson’s team worked many sleepless nights to prepare one of their few remaining trucks for this Friday’s race. The Bommarito Automotive Group Chevrolet entered this week had no decals on it Sunday, but was finished and loaded by Wednesday evening.

DRIVER CHANGE: #4-Kyle Busch Motorsports
Cup Series regular Kyle Busch returns to the Truck Series for the first time since his win in Las Vegas for his third start of 2018. He takes the place of Todd Gilliland, who isn’t entered this week, and carries sponsorship from Cessna.

MISSING: #7-All Out Motorsports
Korbin Forrister finished 21st for All Out last week in Dover, but driver and team aren’t entered this week.

DRIVER CHANGE: #8-NEMCO Motorsports
With the XFINITY Series off, John Hunter Nemechek returns to his father’s #8 for the fourth time this year, and the first time since his victory at Martinsville. His father Joe, who ran 7th last week in Dover, moves over to the team’s second truck, the returning #87 (see below).

SPONSOR UPDATE: #10-Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing
On Monday, Jennifer Jo Cobb unveiled a new paint scheme for her #10 truck, swapping the team’s traditional black scheme for a white one. In addition to Mark One Electric, which has sponsored eight previous of her Truck efforts at Kansas dating back to 2010, the hood and rear decklid carry multi-colored logos for Think Realty, which sponsored the #10 at Atlanta and Las Vegas. Among the other backers shown in the artist’s rendering are Community America, PizzaShoppe.com, Cornell, and IBC.

DRIVER CHANGE: #15-Premium Motorsports
After Reed Sorenson turned just 15 laps at Dover in an apparent “start-and-park,” Robby Lyons returns to make his fourth start of the season in five Truck Series races. The truck, unsponsored last week, will carry sponsorship from Finke Brothers, Inc. Lyons’ best finish of the season remains his 13th-place showing at Daytona.

SPONSOR UPDATE: #16-Hattori Racing Enterprises
Brett Moffitt debuts a new look on his #16 Toyota with sponsorship from Central Plains Cement Company.

DRIVER CHANGE: #20-Young’s Motorsports
While the preliminary entry list showed Tyler Young as the driver of the #20 Chevrolet, on Tuesday it was announced that Darrell Wallace, Jr. would make his first Truck Series start since his encumbered win at Michigan last summer. Wallace takes the place of Tanner Thorson, who finished 16th at Dover. Go Share returns as an associate sponsor with Andy’s Frozen Custard as the primary.

SPONSOR UPDATE: #33-Reaume Brothers Racing
Josh Reaume welcomes a new primary sponsor this week, Colonial Countertops. Reaume arrives woth three consecutive 25th-place finishes, his season-best.

LATE ENTRY: #36-MB Motorsports
The second late entry is the second truck from Mike Mittler’s team, the first appearance for the entry since last fall at Homestead. Driving it will be Bayley Currey, who last week finished 26th for D.J. Copp in the #83. Past performance by this second team indicates this will be a likely “start-and-park” entry.

LATE ENTRY & DRIVER CHANGE: #50-Beaver Motorsports
The third late entry was Beaver Motorsports, which for some reason wasn’t on the preliminary list following Todd Peck’s last-place finish last week in Dover. Peck is not entered this week. In his place is Jamie Mosley, set to make his first Truck Series start since July 18, 2009, when he finished 29th for Joey Sonntag. Sponsorship comes from Crossbar E-Cigarettes.

DRIVER CHANGE: #51-Kyle Busch Motorsports
Welcome back last week’s XFINITY Series polesitter Brandon Jones, who this Friday makes his first Truck Series start since a 10th-place showing for MDM Motorsports at Bristol last summer. It will be Jones’ first Truck Series start at Kansas since 2015, when he finished 30th for GMS Racing after starting 3rd. This time around, he takes the place of Harrison Burton, who isn’t entered. Sponsorship comes from Lyons Industries and Menards.

DRIVER CHANGE: #54-DGR-Crosley
Following David Gilliland’s 4th-place run at Dover, Bo LeMastus is back in the Truck Series for the first time since Atlanta, where he scored a season-best 17th. The Kentucky native has a pair of Kansas starts in the ARCA Racing Series, where he finished 13th in 2014 and 18th in 2015.

DRIVER CHANGE: #63-MB Motorsports
Kevin Donahue is set to make his second Truck Series start of the year, following a 30th-place showing with the same team at Martinsville. Taking the place of Camden Murphy, 29th at Dover, Donahue finished 21st in this race last year.

TEAM UPDATE: #74-Mike Harmon Racing
Mike Harmon will drive his Chevrolet for the second-straight race after his entry did not have a driver entered on the preliminary list.

DRIVER CHANGE: #83-Copp Motorsports
Kyle Donahue, Kevin’s younger brother, is listed in place of Bayley Currey, who made the move to the #36. Kyle finished 23rd in his most recent start at Martinsville, and this week makes his first start on a 1.5-mile oval. First Responder Racing sponsors the effort.

RETURNING: #87-NEMCO Motorsports
Joe Nemechek brings back his second truck for the first time since the team withdrew at Martinsville. With his son back behind the wheel of the #8, it’s possible it could be another short race for Joe, as it was in the #87’s most recent start at Las Vegas.

MISSING: #97-JJL Racing
Jesse Little had the best run of his young career at Dover, leading two laps before late trouble left him 9th at the finish. Regardless, driver and team aren’t entered this week as JJL Racing continues to build on its part-time schedule.

CUP INVADERS: #4-Kyle Busch

Saturday, May 12, 2018
CUP Race 12 of 36
KC Masterpiece 400 at Kansas
2017 Last-Place Finisher: Ryan Newman

ENTRY LIST
There are 38 drivers for 40 spots, the tenth short field of 2018 and the first short Cup field in the history of Kansas Speedway.

DRIVER & SPONSOR CHANGE: #6-Roush-Fenway Racing
For the first time since last fall at Homestead, Matt Kenseth is behind the wheel of a Cup Series car. The announcement, which came on April 25 at the NASCAR Hall of Fame, revealed that Kenseth would make his season debut this weekend with Wyndham Rewards as sponsors. Kenseth is a two-time winner at Kansas, though his last race here in 2017 ended with an infamous “Crash Clock” penalty that eliminated him from the Playoffs. On Friday, it was announced Kenseth will drove the car in 6 more races after Saturday, starting with the 600 in two weeks.

TEAM UPDATE: #23-BK Racing
The preliminary entry list showed Gray Gaulding once again in the #23, but this time with no sponsor listed. The entry comes amidst more news on BK Racing’s bankruptcy, and team owner Ron Devine’s efforts to remain involved. On Tuesday, Judge J. Craig Whitley reminded Devine that a court-appointed trustee – not Devine himself – has a management role with the team. The trustee’s plans for the team going forward remain to be known.

SPONSOR UPDATE: #43-Richard Petty Motorsports
As RPM continues to fill in sponsors for Darrell Wallace, Jr. this year, Saturday will see the season debut of World Wide Technology as the primary backer. The scheme, which will once again be in Petty blue-and-red, was revealed at the NASCAR Hall of Fame on May 1.

DRIVER CHANGE: #51-Rick Ware Racing
Welcome back XFINITY Series regular B.J. McLeod, who made his first eight Cup races for Rick Ware Racing last year. Taking the place of Cody Ware, who wrecked out at Dover, McLeod’s most recent Cup start came at this track last fall, where he finished 30th.

SPONSOR UPDATE: #55-Premium Motorsports
Reed Sorenson has picked up backing from local hotel Harrah’s North Kansas City, the third time driver and team have been sponsored by the hotel at Kansas since the fall of 2016. Sorenson’s best of 16 Cup starts at Kansas remains his 7th-place run in 2007. He finished 25th in both races last year.

RETURNING: #66-Motorsports Business Management
The only addition from last week’s Dover entry list is the return of Motorsports Business Management, back in Cup for the first time since Chad Finchum’s debut at Bristol. While Carl Long was originally listed as driver, Timmy Hill tweeted that he will drive the #66. The car has no sponsor and is flat black, not the green-and-yellow scheme from last year. It will be Hill’s fourth Cup start of the season, the other three coming with Rick Ware at Phoenix, Fontana, and Talladega with a best of 33rd.

SPONSOR UPDATE: #72-TriStar Motorsports
The preliminary list has Schluter Systems back as primary sponsor for the #72 for the first time since Phoenix, where driver Corey LaJoie scored his second of three engine-related last-place finishes. Following the third last Sunday in Dover, LaJoie looks for a better run after finishing 27th in both Kansas races last year. The car will carry a new inverted version of the Phoenix paint scheme with orange over black instead of black over orange.

WITHDREW: #99-StarCom Racing
Last week in Dover, Derrike Cope debuted his new second team, but was involved in a hard crash, leaving him 37th of 38 drivers. This same car was entered at Kansas, where the team made its debut last fall, but was withdrawn on Tuesday. Landon Cassill will fly the flag for StarCom in the chartered #00. On May 9, it was announced Cassill will have another new sponsor, Dairi-O Restaurants, for both next week’s All-Star Race and the Coca-Cola 600.

Saturday, May 26, 2018
XFINITY Race 11 of 33
Alsco 300 at Charlotte
2017 Last-Place Finisher: Stephen Leicht

ENTRY LIST
This time, it’s the XFINITY Series which takes a couple weeks off. After four-straight thrillers without Cup regulars in the field, it will be interesting to see what, if anything, will be done when the circuit returns to Charlotte.

LASTCAR STAT OF THE WEEK
The lone last-place finish caused by a busted “time gear” occurred on May 20, 1967, during the Tidewater 250 at the Langley Speedway in Hampton, Virginia. On that day, Dick Johnson (not to be confused with the Australian road racer of the same name) started 14th in the 16-car field driving his #18 1966 Ford. He made it just one lap before the issue arose. It was Johnson’s second last-place finish. Johnson, born in Elverta, California, made 56 career Cup starts from 1967 through 1969. His best finish was a 7th in the Cracker 200 at the Augusta (Georgia) Speedway on March 16, 1969. He passed away in 1997.