PREVIEW: The departure of Kahne and three Truck Series drivers among Talladega entry list storylines

PHOTO: Parker Kligerman's Instagram (pkligerman)

Saturday, October 13, 2018
TRUCKS Race 19 of 23
Round of 8, Race 3 of 3
Fr8Auctions 250 at Talladega
2017 Last-Place Finisher: Norm Benning

ENTRY LIST
The Truck Series returns to action this Saturday for their first race since Las Vegas. The preliminary entry list sees 36 drivers for 32 spots, meaning that four will miss the show. Two drivers will be eliminated from Playoff contention, pruning the field to six at Martinsville.

DRIVER CHANGE: #0-Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing
Ray Ciccarelli steps in for Camden Murphy, who was withdrawn at Las Vegas. Ciccarelli looks to make his third start of the season, his first since Mosport, and will attempt to qualify Cobb’s second truck for the first time since his DNQ at Eldora. CMI Installation is the listed sponsor.

DRIVER CHANGE: #2-GMS Racing
On September 24, GMS Racing parted ways with Cody Coughlin “due to unforeseen issues with additional sponsorship needed.” Coughlin, 11th in the points after Las Vegas, will be replaced this week by Spencer Gallagher and his family’s Allegiant Airlines sponsorship.

DRIVER CHANGE: #12-Young’s Motorsports
DRIVER CHANGE: #20-Young’s Motorsports
Randy Young shuffles his driver lineup once again, moving Tanner Thorson from the #20 to the #12, taking the place of Tate Fogleman, who isn’t entered this week. Taking Thorson’s place in the #12 is Max Tullman, back on the circuit for the first time since a 30th-place showing at Mosport.

DRIVER CHANGE: #15-Premium Motorsports
Five months after making his return to the Truck Series at Kansas, Jamie Mosley is entered in Jay Robinson’s #15 this week, taking the place of Ross Chastain. Mosley ran 28th at Kansas for Beaver Motorsports, which isn’t entered this week (see below).

RETURNING: #28-FDNY Racing
After reportedly shutting down after Daytona, Jim Rosenblum’s team FDNY Racing is back for at least one more start, bringing back short tracker Bryan Dauzat in the #28 FDNY Chevrolet. Dauzat faces a tall order in qualifying as his entry has the fewest Owner Points of any on the list.

DRIVER CHANGE: #30-On Point Motorsports
Following a short night in Bristol, Scott Lagasse, Jr. returns to On Point Motorsports. He takes the place of Austin Theirault, whose return to Las Vegas yielded a strong 8th-place finish. Strustmasters.com is the listed sponsor for Talladega, and the truck will run a white scheme instead of black as at Bristol and Vegas.

DRIVER CHANGE: #33-Reaume Brothers Racing
Welcome back Robby Lyons, who we haven’t seen in the Truck Series since his most recent start for Jay Robinson at Kentucky. Lyons’ sponsor, Sunwest Construction, follows him this week to the Reaume Brothers Racing team. Lyons takes the place of Reaume himself, who the preliminary entry list showed as this week’s driver, taking the place of J.J. Yeley at Las Vegas. The truck will be white in place of the black scheme used for much of this season.

MISSING: #38-Niece Motorsports
TEAM UPDATE: #45-Niece Motorsports
Al Niece enters just one of his two trucks this week, leaving the #38 at the shop and T.J. Bell without a ride. Since Las Vegas, there has also been an update as to primary driver Justin Fontaine in the #45. On September 19, Fontaine said he would step away from NASCAR at season’s end, citing his family’s stress and a lack of sponsorship. Fontaine will close out the schedule, and is still entered Saturday in the #45 ProMATIC Automation / Superior Essex Chevrolet.

MISSING: #46-Kyle Busch Motorsports
KBM leaves the #46 out of the chaos of Talladega, one month after Riley Herbst ended up 29th in Las Vegas after a mid-race crash.

RETURNING: #47-Chris Fontaine, Inc.
The plate race sees Chris Fontaine return to action with his own #47 Glenden Enterprises Chevrolet. Fontaine last ran in the series in this year’s Daytona opener, where electrical issues left him 29th. Crashes have eliminated him from his last two starts at Talladega, though he finished 8th the year before that.

DRIVER CHANGE: #49-Premium Motorsports
On Monday, Wendell Chavous announced he would be leaving the sport, citing his desire to spend more time with his family and develop his own business. Saturday's turn in the #49 SobrietyNation Chevrolet will be his 50th and final series start.

MISSING: #50-Beaver Motorsports
Mark Beaver has not entered the #50 Chevrolet, which was withdrawn along with Travis Kvapil last time out at Las Vegas.

DRIVER CHANGE: #51-Kyle Busch Motorsports
Two of the three KBM trucks will go to the Gilliland family as Cup veteran David drives the #51 Pedigree Toyota against his son Todd in the #4. David takes the place of Brandon Jones, whose 26th-place showing in Las Vegas was his first finish worse than 9th this season.

DRIVER CHANGE: #54-DGR-Crosley
Following Chris Eggleston’s 10th-place run in Las Vegas, Bo LeMastus – 30th that same night - seeks his 11th Truck Series start of the year. LeMastus also drove this truck in this year’s Daytona opener, where a crash left him 30th.

RETURNING: #63-MB Motorsports
Mike Mittler’s single-truck team rejoins the circuit for the first time since they withdrew from the night race in Bristol, nearly two months ago. As in their recent plate race showings, ARCA veteran Bobby Gerhart will drive with his Lucas Oil sponsor on the hood. Gerhart missed the field in this year’s Daytona opener, but ran 11th in this race last year.

RETURNING: #68-Clay Greenfield Motorsports
Clay Greenfield and the AMVETS Please Stand movement return to the Truck Series for the first time since the night race at Bristol, where they matched a season-best 20th. Greenfield looks to regain some of the magic he left at Daytona, where he qualified a strong 3rd only to be eliminated in a late-race crash.

MISSING: #74-Mike Harmon Racing
Mike Harmon takes the week off along with his XFINITY Series program, one month after the team withdrew at Las Vegas.

RETURNING: #75-Henderson Motorsports
Two-time and defending Talladega winner Parker Kligerman looks to take the checkers again as he and the #75 team rejoin also rejoin the circuit for the first time since Bristol, where they ran a season-best 4th.

DRIVER CHANGE: #83-Copp Motorsports
As of this writing, Joey Gase is the only driver who will pull double-duty this weekend at Talladega. On the Truck side, he takes Bayley Currey’s place in D.J. Copp’s #83 Chevrolet and brings with him sponsorship from Sparks Energy, Inc.

MISSING: #97-JJL Racing
Jesse Little isn’t entered in this week’s race, nor is his family’s #97, following a 15th-place finish in Las Vegas. The team also didn’t enter this year’s opener in Daytona.

MISSING: #04-Roper Racing
Also not making the trip south is Cory Roper and the #04 Roper Racing entry, which finished 25th in Vegas.

CUP INVADERS: None.

Sunday, October 14, 2018
CUP Race 31 of 36
Round of 12, Race 2 of 3
1000Bulbs.com 500 at Talladega
2017 Last-Place Finisher: Justin Marks

ENTRY LIST
After last Sunday saw the Cup Series’ first short field since Watkins Glen, 41 drivers are entered in this week’s final plate race of the season, meaning that one “open” driver will miss the cut. The race stands as the “wild card” of the Round of 12, which concludes next week in Kansas.

DRIVER CHANGE: #6-Roush-Fenway Racing
In place of Matt Kenseth, who after Ryan Newman’s addition to the team announced he has no plans to drive in 2019, comes Trevor Bayne and sponsor AdvoCare Rehydrate.

RETURNING: #7-Premium Motorsports
Jay Robinson’s second Cup car rejoins the circuit for the first time since the Roval, this time with D.J. Kennington driving a black-and-blue Chevrolet sponsored by WILRIDE Transport Ltd.

MANUFACTURER CHANGE: #23-Front Row Motorsports
For the first time since Bob Jenkins acquired BK Racing in August, the #23 will run a Ford like the other Front Row Motorsports cars and not a Toyota. J.J. Yeley will once again drive with Steakhouse Elite as sponsor.

TEAM UPDATE: #48-Hendrick Motorsports
Following a disastrous afternoon in Dover for Jimmie Johnson, it was announced late Wednesday that Chad Knaus will move to the #24 team with William Byron in 2019. It will be the first different team Knaus has crewed for since 2001, when he led Stacy Compton's team at Melling Racing. Kevin Meendering will lead the 48 crew next year.

DRIVER CHANGE: #51-Rick Ware Racing
MISSING: #52-Rick Ware Racing
For the second time in four races, Rick Ware Racing leaves the #52 at the shop and brings the #51 Jacob Companies Ford to the track. Driving this week is Cody Ware, announced Tuesday in place of B.J. McLeod. It will be Ware's first Cup start since Sonoma, when he debuted the #52.

RETURNING: #62-Beard Motorsports
Brendan Gaughan and Mark Beard close out their 2018 restrictor-plate campaign with the #62 Beard Oil Distributing / South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet. The team arrives in Talladega as the lowest-ranked entrant in Owner Points, meaning they must beat at least one “open” car in qualifying, and will miss the show if qualifying is rained out.

MISSING: #66-Motorsports Business Management
Carl Long's Cup team will sit out the final plate rae of 2018 along with Timmy Hill, who trailed his third fall Dover race last Sunday.

TEAM UPDATE: #95-Leavine Family Racing
On Tuesday came the announcement that Kasey Kahne was not medically cleared for the rest of this season, putting an abrupt end to his NASCAR career with 18 wins in 529 Cup starts. At the time of the news, a press conference had already been set for Wednesday, where Matt DiBenedetto was annoinced as the car's driver in 2019 along with a switch from Chevrolet to Toyota. The manufacturer swap comes with a technical alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing, who DiBenedetto once drove for as a development driver in 2009. Regan Smith is the listed driver for this Sunday, a decade following his controversial loss in the same race, and will drice the car the rest of this season.

NEW TEAM: #97-Obaika Racing
After months of speculation, Victor Obaika is going Cup racing this weekend, entering a Toyota purchased from the shuttered BK Racing. Incidentally, the team also acquired two race-used car hoods from BK and are auctioning them off. The #97 Vroom Brands / Space Grill Toyota will have Dan Stillman as crew chief and a driver to be announced. UPDATE: On Thursday came the reveal that David Starr will drive on this off-weekend for the XFINITY Series, where he drives for Jimmy Means.

RETURNING: #99-StarCom Racing
DRIVER CHANGE: #00-StarCom Racing
Derrike Cope’s team reprises their lineup from Daytona in July, bringing back their second “open” car #99 for Landon Cassill to drive the StarCom Fiber Chevrolet. In Cassill’s place in the #00 comes Joey Gase with sponsorship from the PFK Foundation.

Saturday, October 20, 2018
XFINITY Race 30 of 33
Round of 8, Race 1 of 3
Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas
2017 Last-Place Finisher: Jeff Green

This time, the XFINITY Series takes two weeks off and will start their Round of 8 in Kansas.

LASTCAR STAT OF THE WEEK
The largest number to finish last in a NASCAR national touring series race was car #791. The date was April 26, 1959, in the 11th round of the season at the Reading (Pennsylvania) Fairgrounds. In a race that saw Bobby Johns run the #72A, John Findlay in the #100, and Ray Fanning in the #200, Reading native Dave Marburger lined up in a 1957 Ford with the #791 as his identifier. Marburger, a competitor in the Reading Stock Car Association, was a competitor in so-called “jalopy races,” taking at least on 25-lap victory at the Hilltop Speedway in 1958 according to the Lebanon Daily News. The Reading track also hosted “jalopy” races, giving Marburger a chance to compete in NASCAR at his home track. Unfortunately, he turned just 22 laps that day before he crashed and finished 25th, perhaps from oil left by the #7 of 24th-place finisher Jim Reed. It was to be Marburger’s only Cup start.

K&N EAST: Colin Garrett finishes last due to flat right-rear, claims LASTCAR championship

PHOTO: Hunt-Sellers Racing, @Team_HSR18

by William Soquet
LASTCAR.info Guest Contributor

Colin Garrett finished last for the third time in his NASCAR K&N Pro Series East career in Saturday’s Crosley Brands 125 at the Dover International Speedway when his #18 Propel GPS / Hunt-Sellers Racing Toyota crashed out after 2 of 125 laps.

The finish came in Garrett’s twelfth career start and was his first since Thompson, six races ago. With the finish at Dover, Garrett claimed the inaugural LASTCAR K&N Pro Series East Championship.

From the last time Garrett appeared on LASTCAR, his schedule has expanded even more. What started as a three-race deal eventually expanded to six races, and from those six the schedule morphed into every race after Langley Speedway. Despite missing two races and finishing last three times, Garrett was able to secure the last spot in the top ten for the season-long points tally, a promising sign for a young driver and a young team.

The season finale brought out a few extra cars with eighteen on the entry list. Derek Kraus continued his partnership with DGR-Crosley in the #1, Trey Hutchens and his family team returned, and Sam Mayer continued his late-season swing with MDM Motorsports. Todd Gilliland returned to the K&N Pro Series, taking the place of Tyler Dippel in the #54. Dippel was dismissed from DGR-Crosley following the previous race. Harrison Burton returned to the site of his championship triumph a year ago, piloting yet another MDM Motorsports entry. Hutchens wound up withdrawing, not participating in any of the weekend’s activities.

Juan Manuel Gonzalez was slowest in practice Friday, in which all 17 cars took part. Of note, Garrett was sixteenth, still a second faster than Gonzalez but more than a second off Sam Mayer’s practice-leading pace. Gonzalez was the slowest car to take a lap in qualifying, but he would not start last. Spencer Davis crashed in practice and his Danny Watts Racing team only brought one car to the race, rendering them unable to compete.

DWR works out of the Rette Jones Racing shop, and RJR lent Davis and company a backup car to start-and-park with - for owners points purposes, according to Davis. Going into the race, it looked like the LASTCAR battle would be settled fairly early - Davis would park his #82 for his third of the year, claiming the inaugural LASTCAR championship. Instead, the action started even earlier than that, at the very back end of the field. Garrett, who started fourteenth, reported a loose condition, and on lap three, spun the car and collected Gonzalez. The team eventually blamed a flat right-rear tire as the culprit. Both cars were forced to retire as a result.

Davis wound up fifteenth, parking after 11 laps. Todd Gilliland finished fourteenth, exiting after a crash with Ruben Garcia after 49 laps. Tristan van Wieringen rounded out the Bottom Five, also the victim of contact.

On the strength of Garrett’s three last-place finishes, Hunt-Sellers Racing claimed the inaugural LASTCAR K&N Pro Series East Owners’ Championship with three. Toyota squeaked out a victory in the Manufacturers’ Championship, breaking a tie with Chevrolet in the final race of the season.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
17) #18-Colin Garrett / 2 laps / crash
16) #5-Juan Manuel Gonzalez / 2 laps / crash
15) #82-Spencer Davis / 11 laps / electrical
14) #54-Todd Gilliland / 49 laps / crash
13) #30-Tristan van Wieringen / 93 laps / crash

2018 LASTCAR K&N PRO SERIES EAST OWNERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Hunt-Sellers Racing (3)
2nd) Danny Watts Racing, Rev Racing, Ronnie Bassett Sr. (2)
3rd) Bill McAnally Racing, Chuck Buchanan Jr., Carroll Motorsports, Ace Motorsports, Rev Racing, Rette Jones Racing (1)

2018 LASTCAR K&N PRO SERIES EAST MANUFACTURERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Toyota (7)
2nd) Chevrolet (6)
3rd) Ford (1)

2018 LASTCAR K&N PRO SERIES EAST DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP
Note: 45 drivers recorded at least one bottom-ten finish, and 34 of those recorded a Bottom Five. The top twenty are included in this snapshot.

CUP: Timmy Hill’s third last-place run in a fall race at Dover overshadowed by missed start by Jimmie Johnson

PHOTO: Edward James O'Rourke, @ejorourke41

Timmy Hill picked up the 7th last-place finish of his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career in Sunday’s Gander Outdoors 400 at the Dover International Speedway when his #66 Ternio Toyota fell out with transmission issues after he completed 35 of 404 laps.

The finish, which came in Hill’s 80th series start, was his second of the year and first since Chicagoland, 13 races ago. In the Cup Series last-place rankings, it was the 53rd for car #66, the 78th from transmission issues, and the 152nd for Toyota. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 63rd for the #66, the 158th from transmission failure, and the 304th for Toyota.

Hill’s last-place run at Chicagoland proved to be a turning point for his part-time Cup Series effort with Carl Long’s team, Motorsports Business Management (MBM). After weekly backing by attorney James Carter’s personal injury firm CrashClaimsR.us, the #66 finally attracted the first in a series of new sponsors at Kentucky - cryptocurrency program Crypto Crow. At Pocono, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms youth hockey team joined the effort, the team splitting time with Josh Reaume and his #33 Truck Series effort. Rewards.com joined at Michigan and also funded the 2000 Darrell Waltrip throwback scheme team owner Carl Long had originally planned to run at Darlington in 2017. Beef Jerky Outlet backed Hill’s best Cup finish of the season at Bristol, a 28th-place run under the lights. And at Indianapolis came Ternio, another blockchain framework.

The blue Ternio scheme, nearly identical to Martin Truex, Jr.’s Auto-Owners Insurance scheme on the #78, finished 35th at the Brickyard, 39th at Richmond, and 38th last week on the Charlotte “Roval.” The paint job would return at Dover, where Hill would run double-duty with the XFINITY Series. Coming into “The Monster Mile,” Hill had qualified for 24 of the first 28 races on the XFINITY schedule, all of them for MBM. By last weekend, he’d made at least one start in all three of Long’s cars - #13, #66, and #72 – driving a combination of Chevrolets, Toyotas, and Dodges. His best finish was a surprising 7th in the July race at Daytona. In each of his other 23 previous starts in 2018, Hill had finished no better than 27th, which came at Talladega in the spring. That changed on Saturday, when Hill ran 27th once more in the #66 Dodge. Hill hoped to turn in another surprising run on Sunday, though with qualifying rained out, his part-time “open” ride would have to line up 38th in the 39-car field. He’d run 38th in the weekend’s only practice session.

Starting 39th – and also last in practice – was Harrison Rhodes, a former XFINITY Series driver for JD Motorsports, who was making his return to the Cup Series for the first time since April 20, when he drove for Rick Ware Racing at Richmond. Rhodes would again drive for Ware at Dover, though this time in Ware’s second “open” car, the #52. Like MBM, the second Ware car had acquired a number of new sponsors in recent weeks, most recently at Richmond, where last-place finisher Gray Gaulding was backed by the Live! Hotel & Casino in Maryland. Rhodes’ sponsor was The Medicine Shoppe of Columbia, Pennsylvania. Like Hill’s blue Ternio car, Rhodes’ #52 resembled another playoff contender’s paint scheme – specifically, the Sun1 Energy Chevrolet of Chase Elliott.

Johnson's car in the garage after the lower ball joint
failed on the pace lap.
PHOTO: @NASCAR

Joining Rhodes at the tail end of the field on Sunday was Bubba Wallace, whose #43 World Wide Technology Chevrolet qualified 29th, but failed pre-race inspection three times. Moments later, 13th-place starter Jimmie Johnson began to slow noticeably, the right-front wheel of his car shaking visibly. As NASCAR reported debris in Turn 3 on driver’s left, possibly off Johnson’s #48 Lowe’s for Pros Chevrolet, Johnson took a turn down pit road, then steered into the garage. The driver reported he hit the splitter hard during the pace laps, and felt something break in the front of the car. The crew discovered the lower ball joint failed, twisting the right-front wheel upward until the weight of the car caused the suspension to collapse.

Repairs in the garage area forced Johnson to miss the start of the race, much as Austin Dillon had at Texas last year and Hill himself driving for Premium Motorsports at Indianapolis and Michigan in 2015. As in those instances, the event threatened the Cup Series’ first last-place finish due to a “did not start” since September 5, 1993, when Bob Schacht’s #85 Burger King Ford missed the green in the Southern 500 at Darlington. But, as in those same instances, Johnson managed to return to the track. The #48 was rolling again on Lap 8 and completed its first lap on the 10th circuit, 10 laps back of the lead. He remained in 39th, threatening to give the #48 only its second last-place run in a Cup race at Dover, its first since Freddie Crawford’s early exit on June 3, 1990.

Hill, meanwhile, had slipped behind Rhodes on the start, and the driver reported his car was shooting up the track in Turn 1. He was a lap down by the 17th circuit, and had dropped to 12 laps back by the 46th circuit. That time by, Hill pulled his own car behind the wall, parking his Toyota in an infield stall facing Turns 1 and 2. After several minutes of radio silence, communication picked up on Lap 94, when Hill’s car was listed “unavailable.” The crew said something broke either in the engine or the input shaft to the transmission, remarking that the fluids were fine but “whatever it is is big.” The team then proceeded to load up their equipment, allowing the team’s VIPs to stay in the pit box as the race continued. Located in Stall 31 between Daniel Suarez and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., the box was closer to Turn 4, some distance from the #66 itself.

Rhodes finished 38th, but didn't pull into the garage until late in the final stage with brake issues. The 37th spot fell to Ross Chastain, who one day after being eliminated from XFINITY playoff contention saw his #15 Use Your Melon Drive Sober Chevrolet lose a right-rear axle on the track in Turn 4, damaging Joey Logano's passing Ford. Johnson worked his way to 36th by the finish, just one lap short of 35th-place Clint Bowyer, whose own playoff chances took a hit with a loose wheel, then a hard hit in the Turn 3 wall in the #14 Haas VF1 / Rush Truck Centers Ford.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*Hill has now finished last in three fall Cup races at Dover. His two consecutive lasts in this event were preceded by a short afternoon for Team XTREME Racing on September 28, 2014, when his #44 Phoenix Construction Chevrolet had a vibration after 11 laps. Altogether, Hill has finished last in half of his previous six Cup starts at Dover.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
39) #66-Timmy Hill / 35 laps / transmission
38) #52-Harrison Rhodes / 308 laps / brakes
37) #15-Ross Chastain / 314 laps / rear gear
36) #48-Jimmie Johnson / 387 laps / running
35) #14-Clint Bowyer / 388 laps / crash / led 1 lap

2018 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) StarCom Racing, TriStar Motorsports (4)
2nd) Rick Ware Racing (3)
3rd) BK Racing, Furniture Row Racing, Motorsports Business Management, Penske Racing, Premium Motorsports (2)
4th) Chip Ganassi Racing, Front Row Motorsports, Germain Racing, Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, JTG-Daugherty Racing, Richard Petty Motorsports, Roush-Fenway Racing, Stewart-Haas Racing (1)

2018 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (16)
2nd) Ford, Toyota (7)

2018 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

XFINITY: Speeding penalty hastens Stephen Leicht’s exit at Dover

PHOTO: Benjamin Schneider, @bcschneider53

Stephen Leicht picked up the 3rd last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career in Saturday’s Bar Harbor 200 at the Dover International Speedway when his unsponsored #99 B.J. McLeod Motorsports Chevrolet fell out with electrical issues after he completed 13 of 200 laps.

The finish, which came in Leicht’s 96th series start, was his first of the season and his first in an XFINITY Series race since Charlotte on May 27, 2017, 52 races ago. In the XFINITY Series last-place rankings, it was the 12th for car #99, the 49th for electrical problems, and the 515th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 32nd for the #99, the 119th for electrical issues, and the 1,629th for Chevrolet.

Dover saw both Leicht and the #99 team return to the circuit after brief absences. Leicht was making his first XFINITY Series attempt since Road America in August, his fourth and most recent attempt to get Mike Harmon’s #74 into the field, which yielded a 33rd-place finish on the road course. It was a ride he secured following his mutual decision to part ways from JP Motorsports following the previous XFINITY race at Dover this past May. While Bayley Currey has driven the majority of the races since then, Leicht was still the “placeholder” for JP on preliminary entry lists before each week’s driver change.

B.J. McLeod Motorsports, meanwhile, had entered its third team, the #99, in just five races earlier this year. The first was this year’s Daytona opener, where Ray Black, Jr. failed to qualify. The team then withdrew without a listed driver for the next two rounds in Atlanta and Las Vegas before McLeod himself turned just three laps at Charlotte in May. Black then rebounded from his Daytona DNQ by not only getting the car into the July race there, but finishing 22nd, three laps down to race winner Kyle Larson. Dover marked the team’s first series attempt since that night. Joining Leicht in the other two cars were the #78 CorvetteParts.net Chevrolet of Vinnie Miller, who shifted from JD Motorsports to the McLeod team the week before on the Roval, and Matt Mills, another JD export, in the #8 J.F. Electric Chevrolet. Miller would ultimately finish 25th on Saturday with Mills in 28th.

Leicht, meanwhile, was one of 34 of the 40 entered drivers to participate in opening practice. He ranked 29th of that group despite turning just two laps. Absent from Happy Hour, Leicht also turned the 33rd-best lap in qualifying with a speed of 147.783mph (24.360 seconds), the slowest lap of anyone who didn’t need to rely on Owner Points.

Starting 40th on Saturday was Leicht’s former boss Mike Harmon, whose #74 was driven the previous week by Ray Black, Jr. Harmon carried another new military initiative on his Dodge, Veterans for Child Care, whose representatives Craig and Aspen Sawyer took several photos with the team’s car and the “Miles the Monster” trophy. Engine trouble, however, prevented Harmon from turning a lap in qualifying, and the Dodge would be the only car to not take time. He’d incur a redundant tail-end penalty prior to the start for the engine change, joined by unsponsored JD Motorsports teammates Landon Cassill (#01 Chevrolet) and B.J. McLeod himself (#15 Chevrolet) for unapproved adjustments.

The opening two stages were run without incident, and while a number of cars exited early, many were also tagged for pit road speeding penalties. On Lap 13, 36th-place starter Morgan Shepherd was tagged for too fast exiting. The same happened the next time by to Leicht, who served his penalty by pulling into the garage. Shepherd didn’t serve his pass-through penalty until Lap 21, at which point he too exited the race. Shepherd only finished 38th, however, as Jeff Green had already pulled his #93 RSS Racing Chevrolet into the garage. McLeod’s turn in the #15 ended with engine failure, leaving him 37th, while Carl Long, docked on Lap 63 for crew members over the wall too soon, pulled out of the race with suspension issues on the #13 OCR Gaz Bar Toyota.

Last-place starter Harmon just missed the Bottom Five when his Dodge was flagged off the track on Lap 71 for not maintaining minimum speed.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the second last-place finish of the season for B.J. McLeod Motorsports’ #99. McLeod himself piloted the car to an early exit at Charlotte on May 26, 2018, following an early vibration.
*Each of Leicht’s three last-place finishes in the XFINITY Series have come with different teams. The previous two came with The Motorsports Group, owned by Curtis Key and Rod Sieg’s RSS Racing.
*This was the first last-place finish for car #99 in an XFINITY Series race at Dover.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
40) #99-Stephen Leicht / 13 laps / electrical
39) #93-Jeff Green / 16 laps / suspension
38) #89-Morgan Shepherd / 21 laps / electrical
37) #15-B.J. McLeod / 30 laps / engine
36) #13-Carl Long / 59 laps / suspension

2018 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) RSS Racing (14)
2nd) B.J. McLeod Motorsports, JP Motorsports (3)
3rd) Roush-Fenway Racing (2)
4th) Fury Race Cars LLC, Jeremy Clements Racing, JGL Racing, JR Motorsports, Mike Harmon Racing, Shepherd Racing Ventures, SS-Green Light Racing (1)

2018 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (21)
2nd) Ford, Toyota (4)

2018 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

PREVIEW: Kasey Kahne, Fury Race Cars among those missing at The Monster Mile

Jeff Green's 99th last-place finish came in this race last year.
PHOTO: NBC Sports; screenshot by NrReference

Saturday, October 6, 2018
XFINITY Race 29 of 33
Round of 12, Race 3 of 3
Bar Harbor 200 at Dover
2017 Last-Place Finisher: Jeff Green

ENTRY LIST
There are 40 drivers entered for as many spots, meaning all entrants will start the race.

DRIVER CHANGE: #3-Richard Childress Racing
Shane Lee returns for his ninth start of the 2018 campaign, his first since a 9th-place showing at Richmond. It will be his first series start at Dover, where Jeb Burton drove this car to a 12th-place finish. Lee takes the place of Brendan Gaughan, who closed out his road course schedule with a 17th-place finish on the Roval.

DRIVER CHANGE: #8-B.J. McLeod Motorsports
After Dylan Murcott rebounded from his Mid-Ohio disappointment to finish a quiet 30th on the Roval, Matt Mills regains his seat with the McLeod team, two rounds since he ran 27th in the team’s flagship #78 at Richmond. Like Lee, Mills will be making his first Dover start.

DRIVER CHANGE: #13-Motorsports Business Management
DRIVER CHANGE: #66-Motorsports Business Management
The preliminary list had Timmy Hill in the #13 in place of Landon Cassill (who himself swapped in for John Jackson) and Carl Long in Hill’s place in the #66. Hill will run double-duty with the Cup Series, again driving Long’s #66 (see below). UPDATE: Long will be in the #13, Hill in the #66.

DRIVER CHANGE: #15-JD Motorsports
B.J. McLeod rejoins JD Motorsports in place of Katherine Legge, who was eliminated from contention at the Roval following right-front damage suffered as she tried to return to the track from an off-course excursion. Like Hill, McLeod will also run double-duty as he rejoins Rick Ware’s Cup effort (see below). McLeod finished 23rd at Dover this past spring in his own #78.

DRIVER CHANGE: #42-Chip Ganassi Racing
Swapping in for “road ringer” Justin Marks, runner-up on the Roval, John Hunter Nemecehek takes the wheel for his 14th XFINITY start of the year and first since a 25th-place run at Indianapolis. Nemechek finished 14th when the series last ran here in May.

DRIVER CHANGE: #60-Roush-Fenway Racing
MISSING: #98-Stewart-Haas Racing with Biagi DenBeste
After taking the first checkered flag on the Roval, Chase Briscoe moves from the Biagi #98, not entered this week, to the Roush-Fenway #60, replacing Ty Majeski, who isn’t entered. Briscoe last drove the #60 at Las Vegas, where a hard crash left him 31st.

MISSING: #61-Fury Race Cars LLC
Kaz Grala and upstart Fury Race Cars LLC aren’t entered in the race this week after a strong 8th on the Roval, their first top-ten finish since Daytona in July.

DRIVER CHANGE: #74-Mike Harmon Racing
The yellow B.J. McLeod door numbers return to Mike Harmon red as the owner-driver climbs back behind the wheel of his #74 Chevrolet this week. Harmon, who failed to qualify at Dover in the spring with Cody Ware behind the wheel, last ran at Richmond, where he ran 35th.

RETURNING: #89-Shepherd Racing Ventures
Also returning is Morgan Shepherd, less than a week before his 77th birthday. Shepherd, who last ran at Richmond with a last-place finish, finished 38th here in the spring.

DRIVER CHANGE: #90-DGM Racing
Brandon Brown takes over for road racer Andy Lally with sponsorship from Coalition to Salute America’s Heroes. It will be Brown’s fifth XFINITY start of the season and his first since Darlington, when he ran a season-best 18th.

MISSING: #97-Obaika Racing
One week after Victor Obaika and driver Tanner Berryhill returned to the circuit after long absences only to miss the cut on the Roval, both driver and team aren’t entered this week.

RETURNING: #99-B.J. McLeod Motorsports
McLeod’s part-time third team returns for the first time since Daytona in July, where Ray Black, Jr. finished 22nd, this time with Stephen Leicht driving. Leicht, once the entry list placeholder for JP Motorsports’ #55 (now driven by Bayley Currey), looks to make his first XFINITY start since Road America, when he ran 33rd for Mike Harmon.

DRIVER CHANGE: #01-JD Motorsports
One week after being the late replacement for John Jackson in MBM’s #13, Landon Cassill will pull double-duty this week as he takes road racer Lawson Aschenbach’s place in Johnny Davis’ #01 Chevrolet. Aschenbach finished 21st last week on the Roval while Cassill was out early with engine trouble, finishing 38th.

CUP INVADERS: None.

Sunday, October 7, 2018
CUP Race 30 of 36
Round of 12, Race 1 of 3
Gander Outdoors 400 at Dover
2017 Last-Place Finisher: Timmy Hill

ENTRY LIST
There are 39 drivers entered for 40 spots, marking the first short field since Watkins Glen, eight races ago, and the 18th short field in 30 points races this year.

DRIVER CHANGE: #6-Roush-Fenway Racing
Matt Kenseth rejoins the Cup circuit for the 12th time in 2018 and the first time since Richmond, two races ago. He takes the place of Trevor Bayne, collected in last week’s biggest Roval pileup and finishing 35th. Wyndham Rewards returns as sponsor for Kenseth, a three-time Cup winner at “The Monster Mile.”

MISSING: #7-Premium Motorsports
DRIVER CHANGE: #15-Premium Motorsports
Jay Robinson’s team scales back from two cars to only their chartered #15 this week, moving Ross Chastain from the #7 back to his traditional ride. Justin Marks, who ran the #15 last week, isn’t entered. Chastain, who made his Cup debut at this track in the spring of last year, finished 20th that day and ran 28th there earlier this year. He, too, runs double-duty this weekend as he fights to stay in the Playoffs driving JD Motorsports’ #4 Chevrolet.

MISSING: #8-Richard Childress Racing
Daniel Hemric turned heads last week when he was not only announced as joining Richard Childress Racing’s Cup team in 2019, but proceeded to run strong in both the XFINITY and Cup Series races on the Roval. On Sunday, he started 11th and ran inside the Top 15 for much of the day until he was involved in the day’s biggest crash, then Jeffrey Earnhardt’s last-corner spin, leaving him 23rd. Hemric will focus exclusively on XFINITY this weekend as his #8 isn’t entered on the Cup side.

DRIVER CHANGE: #51-Rick Ware Racing
RETURNING: #52-Rick Ware Racing
Rick Ware brings both his cars to the track for the first time since Richmond with B.J. McLeod taking Stanton Barrett’s place in the flagship #51 and a driver to be announced in the #52, most recently steered by Gray Gaulding. UPDATE: Welcome back Harrison Rhodes, who we haven't seen in Cup since this year's spring race at Richmond. Rhodes drives the #52 with The Medicine Shoppe as sponsor.

DRIVER CHANGE: #72-TriStar Motorsports
Cole Whitt survived to finish 20th on the Roval, the TriStar team’s second top-twenty run in the last three rounds. Returning to the driver’s seat is Corey LaJoie, who prior to the Roval ran 11 of the 12 races before that with the exception of Watkins Glen. LaJoie finished last here in the spring, giving him the lead in the 2018 LASTCAR Cup Series standings he still holds right now.

TEAM UPDATE: #95-Leavine Family Racing
Following his extreme dehydration at Darlington, Kasey Kahne had planned to return to action this Sunday at Dover. However, following a two-hour test on Charlotte’s oval this past Tuesday, Kahne has not been cleared to drive this Sunday, and Regan Smith will once again pilot the #95.

Saturday, October 13, 2018
TRUCKS Race 19 of 23
Round of 8, Race 3 of 3
Talladega 250 at Talladega
2017 Last-Place Finisher: Norm Benning

Next weekend’s action at Talladega sees the Truck Series return to action for the first time in three weeks.

LASTCAR STAT OF THE WEEK
These days, when a team withdraws from a NASCAR race, it typically happens prior to qualifying, as it did with Cody Lane following his crash two weeks back at Richmond. However, there are two occasions where a driver was classified last for “withdrawing” for the race. Both were distinguished from “did not start” as each actually turned laps in the race, and are also categorized separate from “did not finish” or “quit” among more generic reasons a driver stopped racing. The first occasion took place on April 29, 1956 at Richmond, where Tim Flock pulled out after 2 laps in his #49 1956 Mauri Rose Engineering Chevrolet. The other came on June 2, 1963, this time Curtis Crider exiting in his #62 1963 Mercury. As of this writing, it has not happened since.