XFINITY: Stephen Leicht’s dazzling new paint scheme out early at Homestead

PHOTO: Motorsports Business Management Facebook

Stephen Leicht picked up the 6th last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career in Sunday’s Contender Boats 250 at the Homestead-Miami Speedway when his #66 Jani-King Toyota fell out with handling issues after 9 of 177 laps.

The finish, which came in Leicht’s 140th series start, was his second of the season and first since Darlington, five races ago. In the XFINITY Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 8th for the #66, the 53rd for handling issues, and the 134th for Toyota. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 72nd for the #66, the 53rd from handling woes, and the 333rd for Toyota.

Leicht has driven for Motorsports Business Management in nearly every race since NASCAR’s return in May, excepting only the season’s sixth round in Charlotte. He returned at Bristol and finished 34th, then ran next-to-last at Atlanta, both times exiting in the first 23 laps citing mechanical issues.

Homestead, however, would be different. After running MBM’s Toyota Camry in all his previous starts, he would debut a new Toyota Supra. (UPDATE: New to the team, that is. According to crew member @WookieAutomoTV, this was a Red Bull Racing chassis from 2010 that was first used on the superspeedways, then converted to a downforce track car. Prior to Saturday, Joey Gase ran this same chassis on the XFINITY Series' three superspeedway races in 2019).

The car also had sponsorship from Jani-King on a brilliant deep blue and neon orange paint scheme designed by Jay Lopez. “You lookin’ good, man!” said someone over the team radio. “Even Ray Charles can see your ass, man!” It proved to be a short afternoon. He pulled off the track after 49 laps with handling issues and finished 36th, saving the car for Sunday’s second race of the doubleheader. Since he finished outside the Top 15, Leicht would start exactly where he finished on Saturday in 36th place.

Starting 38th on the grid was A.J. Allmendinger in the #16 Ellsworth Advisors Chevrolet. The Atlanta winner was the only team added to the entry list that didn’t run on Saturday, thus placing him behind 37th-place Kody Vanderwal. Vanderwal ran a backup #52 car after yesterday’s second-consecutive engine failure, and did not carry the previous day’s sponsorship from Advanced Dairy Service.

Vanderwal’s backup car would send him to the tail end before the start with five other drivers. Jairo Avila, Jr. was sent to the rear both for the driver change at Our Motorsports and the backup #02 Chevrolet, which was provided to them by B.J. McLeod Motorsports after the two teams collided in yesterday’s race. Carson Ware (#07 Jacob Companies Chevrolet) and Daniel Hemric (#8 Poppy Bank Chevrolet) were also sent to the rear for driver changes, replacing J.J. Yeley and Dale Earnhardt, Jr., respectively. Last to drop back was Noah Gragson, whose JR Motorsports team – including teammate Justin Allgaier – worked to repair the damaged right-rear quarter panel of his #9 PUBG Mobile Chevrolet late Saturday.

When all the penalized drivers had dropped to the back, Leicht had pulled in behind them. He was last across the stripe, 5.017 seconds back of the lead. By the end of Lap 1, Leicht had driven past Avila, and on the lap after passed Carson Ware to reach 36th. On Lap 8, Leicht slipped back to 37th, and the team prepared him to come to pit road and stop in his stall before heading to the garage. On Lap 11, Leicht pulled in, and Carl Long told him to take it straight to the truck. NASCAR Officials reported “66 to the garage, mechanical” on Lap 12, then reported he was out with handling issues on Lap 32. A few laps later, @RandomNASCAR tweeted a picture of the team preparing to load Leicht’s car on the hauler.

Declared out at the same time was Avila, who pulled off the track after 15 laps with “electrical” issues as the officially listed cause. Taking 36th was Brandon Brown, who started outside-pole after the inversion, but pulled into the garage with engine issues on Lap 51. Brown’s team told him to climb out on Lap 62, saying “We’re done.” He was declared out with overheating issues at Lap 70.

Finishing 35th was Kyle Weatherman, who for the second-straight day battled for stage points at the end of Stage 1. Weatherman’s #47 #BackTheBlue Chevrolet broke into the Top 10 with 4 to go in the stage, but reported a miss in the engine. As he started to drop back, teammate Bayley Currey took the 10th spot in the #74 Mutt & Jeff Porkskins Chevrolet, briefly putting both Mike Harmon’s cars in the Top Ten. Currey held on, reaching 9th before settling into 10th, but Weatherman slipped to 11th. Weatherman was told he could run faster with the miss, but was declared out on Lap 113 with “fire” as the official reason. Weatherman was disappointed, saying “I want to actually finish where you guys deserve.” The team said “You’re proving all our hard work is working.” Currey overcame two improper fueling penalties to finish 26th, four laps down. One spot in front of him was Leicht’s MBM teammate Timmy Hill, who edged Currey by a position at the end of Stage 1 in his #61 RoofClaim.com Toyota.

In 34th marked the end of another strong underdog performance by B.J. McLeod. Driving the #6 KSDT CPA Chevrolet for JD Motorsports, McLeod kept his nose clean and climbed up to 18th. He was still running in 18th when the clutch failed on Lap 118, sending him to the garage. McLeod thanked his crew for giving him a “hot rod,” and thanked every member of the Johnny Davis team. “Most appreciative driver in the garage area,” said a crew member. McLeod fell into the Bottom Five when Stefan Parsons ran the distance after losing several laps for a distributor cap replacement. Parsons went behind the wall on Lap 69, returned to the track on Lap 89, and managed to climb to 32nd in the #99 Racing Jobs / Springrates Toyota.

Parsons passed both McLeod and Kody Vanderwal on his way to the finish. Vanderwal was listed out with power steering issues, referencing still another issue with smoke midway through the race. Vanderwal also had trouble with the throttle pedal sticking during the pace laps. In the closing laps, Vanderwal struggled to maintain minimum speed as he was losing battery power. He was warned by NASCAR on Lap 141, then posted on Lap 144, told to go to the garage.

Myatt Snider, fresh off his announcement of running the full XFINITY season, nearly scored a Top Five with RSS Racing before settling for 7th in the #93 Louisiana Hot Sauce Chevrolet. This marked the first top-ten finish of the season for RSS’ second car, improving on Snider’s 11th-place run at Fontana. Josh Williams earned a strong 12th-place finish and led during a late exchange of pit stops, giving TV time for a new paint scheme saluting his longtime sponsors Starbrite and Star Tron. Colin Garrett finished 14th for his career-best XFINITY Series finish, improving on his 21st-place run at the same track last November.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the first last-place finish for the #66 in a XFINITY Series race at Homestead.
*Leicht has now finished last with two different models, trailing in the Camry at Darlington and the Supra at Homestead.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
38) #66-Stephen Leicht / 9 laps / handling
37) #02-Jairo Avila, Jr. / 15 laps / electrical
36) #68-Brandon Brown / 49 laps / overheating
35) #47-Kyle Weatherman / 84 laps / fire
34) #6-B.J. McLeod / 117 laps / clutch

2020 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Jimmy Means Racing, Motorsports Business Management, Shepherd Racing Ventures (2)
2nd) JD Motorsports, Jeremy Clements Racing, JR Motorsports, SS-Green Light Racing (1)

2020 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (8)
2nd) Toyota (2)

2020 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

XFINITY: For the second straight race, a smoky pace lap signals an early exit for Kody Vanderwal

PHOTO: @MeansRacing52

Kody Vanderwal picked up the 2nd last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career in Saturday’s Hooters 250 at the Homestead-Miami Speedway when his #52 Advanced Dairy Service Chevrolet fell out with a blown engine after 32 of 167 laps.

The finish, which came in Vanderwal’s sixth series start, was his second of the season and second in a row. In the XFINITY Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 22nd for the #52, the 263rd from engine trouble, and the 548th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 58th for the #52, the 1,089th from engine trouble, and the 1,716th for Chevrolet.

Following their early struggles in Atlanta, Vanderwal was set to rebound in Jimmy Means Racing’s #52 Chevrolet. He drew the 32nd starting spot in a field of 37.

Rolling off 37th was Colin Garrett, whose Sam Hunt Racing team made their debut at this same Homestead track last fall. Garrett was himself running his first XFINITY race since the series’ return at Darlington, and had to index the wheel on his #26 Rosie Network / R4H Toyota. After a momentary pause for Caesar Bacarella’s window net getting locked in place on the #90 Alpha Prime / Maxim Chevrolet, the field rolled off pit road.

While no drivers incurred pre-race penalties to drop him to the back, the pace laps proved unusually busy. In a frustrating twist, it was Vanderwal who first had issues for a second consecutive race. Once again, his car was smoking, and other drivers were once more reporting the issue to NASCAR Officials. “There’s a little bit of smoke in the cab, but it’s clearing up,” said Vanderwal. “It was never really bad at all.”

At the same time, NASCAR was scrambling to pick up debris. Chase Briscoe, set to start 8th in his #98 Ford Performance Racing School Ford, had dropped what appeared to be frame rail spacers for the tungsten ballast. This forced Briscoe to pit road, where he missed the start for quick repairs. Then, the Martins Motorsports crew stood atop pit wall for Tommy Joe Martins’ #44 Gilreath Farms Red Angus Chevrolet, which was also reporting smoke. The alternator wire had grounded on the head, causing it to short out. The team had to tie back the wire, and at least one crewman climbed through the passenger window. Martins was reported behind the wall on Lap 3 for a mechanical issue, having missed the start along with Briscoe. Martins held last place with Briscoe in 36th.

On Lap 7, Briscoe returned to the track, six laps down. Moments earlier, NASCAR reported Vanderwal’s #52 was smoking in the corners. On Lap 18, Martins returned to the track and completed his first lap. The competition caution fell moments later, and Martins was told to turn off all fans except the helmet and the radiator. Martins had already planned to run a conservative race as his backup had no laps on it, but now looked to run “slightly above minimum speed” while saving tires for Sunday’s double-header.

Lap 23 saw Vanderwal make his first trip to the garage for a mechanical issue. The driver was unclear on the issue, but said the battery wasn’t dead. He returned to the track multiple laps down on the 27th circuit. By then, he reported “It ain’t going very well, it may be down a cylinder.” Things went from bad to worse on Lap 38, when the car erupted in smoke down the backstretch, drawing the caution flag. Vanderwal pulled behind the wall, the crew reporting “We’re done.” The team reported they will go to a backup car for Sunday's second 250-mile race on the Homestead track.

Vanderwal took last from Martins on Lap 51. On Lap 72, NASCAR Officials confirmed Vanderwal was out with engine woes. Also declared out was Stephen Leicht, who was on the lead lap when he pulled behind the wall in his new bright blue-and-orange #66 Jani-King Toyota Supra. Taking the next two spots were Brett Moffitt and Vinnie Miller, who tangled on Lap 58 when Miller’s #78 Koolbox Chevrolet dove under Moffitt’s #02 Robert B. Our Co. Chevrolet entering Turn 3. The two tangled with Miller soon flagged off the track under the Damaged Vehicle Policy. Moffitt made it two more laps and dropped fluid on pit road before his race also ended.

Rounding out the Bottom Five was Kyle Weatherman in the #47 #BackTheBlue Chevrolet. Weatherman was one of the day’s most surprising runs as he took tires toward the end of Stage 1, allowing him to charge to 6th at the end of Stage 1. He then stalled on pit road and dropped to 30th, then pulled behind the wall on Lap 61. Curiously, he then returned to the track on Lap 129 and ran until Lap 137, but never climbed past the 33rd spot. Teammate Bayley Currey saw his streak of Top 20 finishes end at three, but he still managed to finish in 24th.

Joining Weatherman with strong runs in Stage 1 were Alex Labbe, who reached the Top 5 in Mario Gosselin’s #36 Globocam / Rousseau Chevrolet and held that spot at the end of the stage. Slipping into the Top 10 was Daytona last-place finisher Joe Graf, Jr., who earned his first stage point of the season in SS-Green Light Racing’s #08 Bucked Up Energy Chevrolet. Graf finished best of the surprises in Stage 1, taking 16th at the finish ahead of Labbe in 25th.

Finishing just outside the Top 10 in 11th was Graf’s teammate J.J. Yeley, who this weekend shares SS-Green Light’s #07 Chevrolet with Carson Ware. The finish set a new season-best for Yeley, improving on his 12th-place run for Jimmy Means in the Daytona opener.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marks the first time the #52 finished last in two consecutive XFINITY Series races. The number had never before finished last in an XFINITY race at Homestead.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
37) #52-Kody Vanderwal / 32 laps / engine
36) #66-Stephen Leicht / 49 laps / handling
35) #02-Brett Moffitt / 56 laps / crash
34) #78-Vinnie Miller / 58 laps / dvp
33) #47-Kyle Weatherman / 60 laps / transmission

2020 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Jimmy Means Racing, Shepherd Racing Ventures (2)
2nd) JD Motorsports, Jeremy Clements Racing, JR Motorsports, Motorsports Business Management, SS-Green Light Racing (1)

2020 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (8)
2nd) Toyota (1)

2020 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

TRUCKS: Bryant Barnhill’s season debut ends early at Homestead

PHOTO: Bryant Barnhill Racing Facebook

Bryant Barnhill picked up the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR Gander & RV Outdoors Truck Series career in Saturday’s Baptist Health 200 at the Homestead-Miami Speedway when his #34 RBR Graphics Chevrolet fell out with transmission issues after 1 of 134 laps.

The finish came in Barnhill’s 4th series start. In the Truck Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 5th for the #34, the 35th for transmission issues, and the 386th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 48th for the #34, the 161st for transmission woes, and the 1,717th for Chevrolet.

Barnhill, a 21-year-old late model racer from Conway, South Carolina, first raced closed-fendered cars in 2017, testing in the ARCA Menards Series at Daytona. That July, he made a K&N Pro Series West start at the Iowa Speedway. It was a short night – fuel pump issues left him next-to-last in the 34-car field. But he’d made some important connections in the sport. He drove a car fielded by Jesse Iwuji, who shares his current Truck Series ride at Reaume Brothers Racing. He also carried sponsorship from his family’s real estate company, Barnhill Realty Co.

On June 23, 2018, Barnhill made his Truck Series debut at Gateway, a track that in recent years has seen many other competitors cut their teeth on running larger tracks. Driving for Premium Motorsports, Barnhill qualified 28th in the 32-truck field, but was out after just five laps with engine woes. He returned to Gateway the next year, where he made his first start with the Reaume Brothers. This time, he ran all but five laps, finishing a career-best 22nd. Another start came later that summer at Pocono, where he ran 27th.

When the series returned from its suspension following the pandemic, Barnhill and Reaume were entered in the first two races back at Charlotte and Atlanta. Since other drivers had raced the #34, Barnhill would have been able to start the Charlotte race, but the team traded their rank in Owner Points to guarantee Chase Elliott a spot in the field. Elliott capitalized, winning the race and the bounty that came with it. Unfortunately for Barnhill, this point swap also excluded him from Atlanta, where he was one of the seven teams sent home.

Homestead, however, would be different. Exactly 40 trucks were entered, meaning everyone would start the race. The list then shrank by two. Ray Ciccarelli had been slated to run his own #83 Chevrolet alongside Bayley Currey in his #49. Following Ciccarelli’s statement Wednesday regarding NASCAR’s ban on the Confederate flag, he withdrew the #83 and Currey left the team. Ciccarelli would drive the #49 in Currey’s place and roll off 35th. Tim Viens drew the 39th starting spot, but Mike Affarano’s #03 Patriots of America PAC Chevrolet withdrew after multiple issues in technical inspection, sending him home within hours of the green flag.

Barnhill drew the 38th starting spot, which became last place after Viens withdrew. The Reamue team planned to run the full race, but reports indicated they didn’t have enough money for tires, so they would exit the race early. While the truck appeared mostly white without major sponsors, RBR Graphics had purchased space on the quarter-panels with both the National Parkinson Foundation and Crowe Equipment, Inc. on the decklid. The Chevrolet was incorrectly listed as a Toyota on the entry list.

Barnhill would be joined at the back by Kyle Busch, whose #51 Cessna Toyota drew the outside-pole, but had several issues in pre-race inspection. Busch would drop to the rear, lifting Barnhill to 37th, and also have to incur a pass-through penalty after the start. Also sent to the rear were 29th-place starter Tate Fogleman in the #02 Solid Rock Carriers Chevrolet and 20th-place starter Tanner Gray in the #15 Turtle Beach Construction Ford, both for unapproved adjustments.

When the race started, Barnhill crossed the stripe 5.587 seconds back of the leader, nearly a full second behind 37th-place Dawson Cram in the #55 Long Motorsports Chevrolet. Busch served his pass-through penalty on the first lap, and while he took over last place on Lap 2, he managed to not lose a lap. Just moments later, NASCAR Officials reported “34 to the garage, mechanical,” indicating Barnhill had pulled behind the wall. Later, he was declared officially out of the race.

Zane Smith had been one of the series’ biggest stories since last month’s return, pulling off daring Turn 3 moves at both Charlotte and Atlanta for finishes of 3rd and 5th, respectively. While Homestead was one of the four races this season where his #21 GMS Racing Chevrolet didn’t have sponsorship, costing the driver $55,000 out-of-pocket, there were hopes the streak would continue. Unfortunately, on Lap 20, he made contact with teammate Chase Elliott off Turn 3, triggering a multi-truck pileup that eliminated himself and teammate Brett Moffitt in the #23 CMRRoofing.com Chevrolet.

Taking the 35th spot was T.J. Bell, whose run in the #40 Cypress Ridge Hunting Preserve Chevrolet ended when he pulled into the garage after dropping crush panels midway through the race. Rounding out the Bottom Five in 34th was Norm Benning, who was plagued by radio issues all night in his first start of the 2020 season. Benning earned the Lucky Dog at the end of Stage 1, and the team looked to purchase Moffitt’s tires to run the rest of the race, but the lack of communication made their night practically impossible. At one point, Benning was told he was placed a lap ahead of the field, and he gave up three laps coming to pit road. Handling issues were the officially listed cause of his exit after 89 laps.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the first last-place finish for the #34 in a Truck Series race at Homestead since November 15, 2002, when Eric Jones (no relation to current Cup Series driver Erik Jones) broke an axle after 2 laps of the Ford 200. The Iowa native made 27 Truck Series starts from 2001 through 2004 with a best finish of 6th at Kansas in 2003.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
38) #34-Bryant Barnhill / 1 lap / transmission
37) #21-Zane Smith / 19 laps / crash
36) #23-Brett Moffitt / 20 laps / crash
35) #40-T.J. Bell / 70 laps / crash
34) #6-Norm Benning / 89 laps / handling

2020 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Reaume Brothers Racing (2)
2nd) Niece Motorsports, Spencer Davis Motorsports (1)

2020 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (3)
2nd) Ford, Toyota (1)

2020 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

PREVIEW: Four Truck Series underdogs finally able to take the green flag during big Homestead weekend

PHOTO: @DavidMarrr

Saturday, June 13, 2020 (3:30 P.M. Eastern)
XFINITY Race 9 of 33
Hooters 250 at Homestead
2019 Last-Place Finisher: Ray Black, Jr. (300-mile race)

ENTRY LIST
There are 37 drivers entered for 40 spots, the fourth-straight race to see that many starters in the series. There has yet to be a full 40-car list for an XFINITY Series race since NASCAR’s temporary field increase from 36 to 40 in May.

DRIVER CHANGE: #8-JR Motorsports
Back in March, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was edged by Denny Hamlin for the victory in Homestead’s opening round of the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series. This time around, Junior will not be competing against Hamlin, but will run his Hellmann’s Mayonnaise Chevrolet for the first time since last fall at Darlington. He takes the place of Daniel Hemric, who ran 4th at Atlanta, and will return to the #8 in Sunday’s second XFINITY race (see below).

MISSING: #16-Kaulig Racing
A.J. Allmendinger will not run on Saturday following his win at Atlanta, but will compete along with the #16 Kaulig team in Sunday’s second part of the doubleheader (see below).

RETURNING: #26-Sam Hunt Racing
Also rejoining the circuit is Sam Hunt Racing, whose driver Colin Garrett last took to the track at Darlington with a 37th-place finish. The #26 Rosie Network Toyota has Bryan Smith as the crew chief.

DRIVER SWAP: #36-DGM Racing
DRIVER CHANGE: #90-DGM Racing
Caesar Bacarella rejoins the circuit for the first time since his 29th-place finish at Daytona in February, and will again run Mario Gosselin’s #90 Chevrolet with sponsorship from Alpha Prime and Maxim. This moves Alex Labbe once again to the team’s #36, taking the place of Ronnie Bassett, Jr., who isn’t entered.

DRIVER CHANGE: #47-Mike Harmon Racing
Kyle Weatherman returns to the series in place of Joe Nemechek in the second Chevrolet. Weatherman last ran in the series at Fontana in the #74.

DRIVER CHANGE: #99-B.J. McLeod Motorsports
Welcome back Stefan Parsons, who will make his first start of the season and first in the series since a 23rd-place finish last November at Texas. Parsons impressed in his series debut last year, taking 12th as a last-minute replacement for Cody Ware in the McLeod #99. Saturday will mark his 7th series start, and will be followed by an 8th on Sunday. He takes the place of Mason Massey, who ran 23rd last week in Atlanta.

DRIVER CHANGE: #07-SS-Green Light Racing
For the first time since the end of his three-race stint with Jimmy Means Racing at Fontana (and subsequent DNQ for McLeod at Phoenix), J.J. Yeley is back in the XFINITY Series. This time, he takes the place of Garrett Smithley, who isn’t entered, and take the controls of Bobby Dotter’s #07 Chevrolet.

CUP INVADERS: None

Saturday, June 13, 2020 (7:30 P.M. Eastern)
TRUCKS Race 5 of 23
Baptist Health 200 at Homestead
2019 Last-Place Finisher: Anthony Alfredo

ENTRY LIST
After back-to-back races where seven drivers were sent home without a chance of attempting the race, exactly 40 drivers were entered for as many spots, meaning all entrants would start. While one team since withdrew for a grid total of 39, four underfunded teams will each make their first start of the season.

WILL START: #6-Norm Benning Racing
First of the four underdogs who will take their first green flag of the year at Homestead is Norm Benning, who has not started a Truck Series race since last October at Martinsville, where he was collected in a late accident and finished 24th. Benning has not started the Truck Series race at Homestead since 2017, when he finished 25th.

MISSING: #8-NEMCO Motorsports
John Hunter Nemechek is not entered following a 24th-place finish at Atlanta following an early incident on pit road.

MISSING: #14-Trey Hutchens Racing
MISSING: #17-DGR-Crosley
MISSING: #75-Henderson Motorsports
These three teams, which were unable to qualify for Atlanta once the entry list was posted, were not entered at Homestead. Included is the #17, which was only entered at Atlanta with David Ragan, and Trey Hutchens and Parker Kligerman, who were entered at both Charlotte and Atlanta.

MISSING: #28-FDNY Racing
It’s been a rough two weeks for Bryan Dauzat and the Jim Rosenblum team, who nearly finished last at both Charlotte and Atlanta, and left the latter with a damaged #28 Chevrolet. As the team completes repairs, they will not attempt Saturday’s race.

WILL START: #34-Reaume Brothers Racing
Josh Reaume will see his second truck in the field for the first time since Josh Bilicki’s last-place run in Las Vegas, giving Bryant Barnhill his first green flag of 2020. Barnhill’s third and most recent start came last summer at Pocono, where he ran 27th in Reaume’s #32 after handling issues. This will be Barnhill’s first start at Homestead.

DRIVER CHANGE: #40-Niece Motorsports
DRIVER SWAP: #83-CMI Motorsports
T.J. Bell will drive for Al Niece in the #40 this week, taking the place of Ryan Truex, who is not entered after a 13th-place showing in Atlanta. Bell last drove for Niece last year at Michigan, where he piloted the #38 Chevrolet to a 29th-place finish, leading a lap before clutch issues. Bell drove Ray Ciccarelli’s #83 truck last week. Ciccarelli was slated to drive the #83 this week, but that has since changed (see below).

MISSING: #42-Niece Motorsports
DRIVER SWAP: #44-Niece Motorsports
Al Niece has also scaled back from four trucks to three, leaving the #42 at the shop. Ross Chastain, who drove that truck to a 6th-place finish at Atlanta, will slide over to Niece’s #44, taking the place of Jeb Burton, who ran 16th at Atlanta, but isn’t entered. The red watermelon scheme will return as Chastain races in his home state.

DRIVER CHANGE: #49-CMI Motorsports
WITHDREW: #83-CMI Motorsports
The preliminary entry list showed Ray Ciccarelli fielding two trucks in Saturday’s race with himself taking over for T.J. Bell in the #83 and Bayley Currey remaining in the #49. That changed after a comment Wednesday that Ciccarelli would potentially close his team at the end of 2020 in protest of NASCAR’s ban on the Confederate flag. Ciccarelli’s #83 was then withdrawn on Thursday, and Currey tweeted that same day he would not run the #49 and had parted ways with the team. Ciccarelli will run the #49 in his place.

WILL START: #55-Long Motorsports
Dawson Cram will make his first start of the season, and his fifth in the series, his first since a career-best 13th last fall at Martinsville driving for Josh Reaume. In so doing, Cram will run the oldest truck in the field, a 2018 Chevrolet. Team owner Boyd Long will have his first start since 2017 with Ted Minor.

DRIVER CHANGE: #56-Hill Motorsports
Tyler Hill will make his first series start of 2020, and like other season debuts, last took the green flag at Homestead. Last November, Hill finished 23rd, completing a four-race part-time schedule where he completed all but 28 laps. Tyler takes the place of his brother Timmy, who ran 22nd last week in Atlanta.

MISSING: #97-Diversified Motorsports Enterprises
Jesse Little finished 35th last week in Atlanta, but will not run this week’s Truck Series race. He will instead run both XFINITY races as part of his full-time ride with JD Motorsports.

WILL START: #03-Mike Affarano Motorsports
Last of the underfunded teams making their debut at Homestead is Tim Viens in his Trump / Pence 2020 paint scheme on the Mike Affarno-owned #03 Chevrolet. It will be Viens’ fifth series start and first since Las Vegas in the fall of 2016, when he ran 29th for Mike Harmon. For Affarno, it will be his first start as an owner since last year’s Dirt Derby at Eldora, where Jake Griffin finished 26th. Driver and team will be making their first series start at Homestead.

CUP INVADERS: #24-Chase Elliott, #51-Kyle Busch

Sunday, June 14, 2020 (12:00 P.M. Eastern)
XFINITY Race 10 of 33
Contender Boats 250 at Homestead
2019 Last-Place Finisher: Inaugural Event

ENTRY LIST
There are 38 drivers entered for the “Dash 4 Cash” race at Homestead, one more than the Saturday race.

DRIVER CHANGE: #8-JR Motorsports
Daniel Hemric will return to the #8 after Junior’s run Saturday, carrying returning sponsor Poppy Bank.

RETURNING: #16-Kaulig Racing
A.J. Allmendinger will look for his second victory in three races after skipping the Saturday event.

DRIVER CHANGE: #07-SS-Green Light Racing
Carson Ware will make his second series start and first since his 22nd-place finish in his debut at Bristol. He will take then place of J.J. Yeley, who isn’t entered in this second XFINITY race.

CUP INVADERS: None

Sunday, June 14, 2020 (3:30 P.M. Eastern)
CUP Race 12 of 36
Dixie Vodka 400 at Homestead
2019 Last-Place Finisher: Kyle Larson

ENTRY LIST
There are 38 drivers entered for 40 spots in Sunday’s race following the withdrawal of two teams.

WITHDREW: #7-Tommy Baldwin Racing
Late on Thursday, Tommy Baldwin withdrew their entry and will not run for the first time since the second Darlington race . Reed Sorenson was slated to be the driver for a third-straight race. At Martinsville, the #7 fell out after the halfway point with electrical issues.

GIVE A CALL: #21-Wood Brothers Racing
Near the Stuart, Virginia birthplace of his team, Matt DiBenedetto enjoyed far and away his best run at Martinsville, running in the Top 10 nearly all night before finishing 7th. Prior to that, he’d run no better than 16th at the track, which came in 2019. And, before that season, he’d run no better than 29th. It was the best finish by the Wood Brothers at Martinsville since April 10, 2005, when Ricky Rudd also ran 7th. The team has not won at the tiny track since 1973, when the late David Pearson won from the pole.

GIVE A CALL: #32-Go FAS Racing
Among the many great stories from Wednesday’s race, congratulations to Corey LaJoie, who for the second-straight Martinsville race finished in 18th, driving the #32 Keen Parts / CorvetteParts.net Ford. Prior to those two Martinsville races, he’d finished no better than 28th there. LaJoie charged up from the 25th spot at the start and threatened for a Top 10, even lapping Denny Hamlin after their spat on Twitter. This week, LaJoie carries another distinctive paint scheme on his #32 with Storm Tight Windows as sponsor.

GIVE A CALL: #34-Front Row Motorsports
Michael McDowell was in and around the Top 10 for much of Wednesday’s Martinsville race before he ultimately finished 14th. The 14th spot remains McDowell’s best finish of the season, tied with both the Daytona 500 and the other short track race at Bristol. Prior to Wednesday, the Martinsville track, which saw McDowell make his series debut in 2008, had seen him finish no better than 18th, which came way back in 2016.

GIVE A CALL: #43-Richard Petty Motorsports
Bubba Wallace’s 11th-place finish featured a two-tire call that netted him 5th in Stage 1, then a spirited charge in the final laps where he was literally knocking on the door of 10th-place Jimmie Johnson. After finishing 34th in his first two Martinsville starts, Wallace has improved in every start there since, taking 17th, then 13th before his run Wednesday. Two of his three best finishes this season have come on the short tracks, trailing only his season-best 6th at Las Vegas.

DRIVER CHANGE: #53-Rick Ware Racing
Josh Bilicki returns to Cup for the first time since Atlanta, and this time runs Rick Ware’s #53 in place of the #27 from his previous start. Bilicki has just one previous Cup start at Homestead, which came in last year’s finale, where he ran 36th in the Ware #52.

DRIVER CHANGE: #77-Spire Motorsports
WITHDREW: #78-B.J. McLeod Motorsports
For the second-straight race, B.J. McLeod has withdrawn his own #78 from the field. However, unlike Martinsville, he will be in Sunday’s show as he takes the controls of Spire Motorsports’ #77 Chevrolet. He takes the place of Garrett Smithley, who finished 36th after early brake troubles in Martinsville. Smithley is not entered in Sunday’s race.

TODAY IN LASTCAR HISTORY (June 12, 2005): On this date in 2005, the NASCAR Busch Series was at the Nashville Superspeedway, which was recently announced as the latest addition to the 2021 Cup Series schedule. In that race, the Federated Auto Parts 300, Brandon Miller started outside-pole in Richard Childress Racing’s #21 Reese’s Chevrolet. His day ended after just 33 laps. On Lap 21, 4th-place qualifier Aaron Fike spun Miller entering Turn 4, putting him into the outside wall. It was Miller’s only last-place finish in fourteen series starts.

CUP: Timmy Hill’s strong run at Martinsville ends with a busted fuel pump

PHOTO: FS1

Timmy Hill picked up the 12th last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career in Wednesday’s Blu Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 at the Martinsville Speedway when his #66 CrashClaimsR.us / James Carter Attorney Toyota fell out with fuel pump issues after 105 of 500 laps.

The finish, which came in Hill’s 103rd series start, was his third of the season and first since Phoenix, seven races ago. In the Cup Series last-place rankings, this was the 17th for fuel pump issues, the 59th for the #66, and the 162nd for Toyota. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 28th for a fuel pump, the 71st for the #66, and the 332nd for Toyota.

Following the suspension of the season following his most recent last-place run at Phoenix, Hill became one of the biggest stars of the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series. Using perhaps the least expensive computer setup, the veteran sim racing competitor finished 3rd in the series opener at Homestead, then bumped William Byron at Texas to take the victory. Hill finished no worse than third in six of the seven sim races, excepting only an 11th-place finish at Talladega. A diecast was produced of his Texas-winning sim car, and his current sponsor RoofClaim.com pledged additional support to his Cup and XFINITY efforts with Motorsports Business Management.

When the series returned to action last month at Darlington, Hill finished 33rd, and would run no better in each Cup race until two weeks ago at Bristol. There, Hill managed not only his first lead-lap finish of 2020, but took a strong 19th. It was the second-best finish of his Cup Series career, trailing only his 14th-place run with MBM at Indianapolis in 2017. The next night, Hill finished 14th in the XFINITY Series race there for another lead-lap finish, his second-best run to a 3rd in this year’s Daytona opener.

Hill arrived in Martinsville in what appeared to be the same black-and-white Pit Boss Grills car from Bristol, though this time with CrashClaimsR.us on the quarter-panels. With the withdrawal of B.J. McLeod and his #78 team, Hill drew the 38th starting spot in the 39-car field.

Rolling off last in the field was Reed Sorenson, who took the controls of the unsponsored Tommy Baldwin Racing #7 Chevrolet. He would be shortly joined by 36th-place starter Joey Gase, whose Rick Ware Racing entry debuted new sponsorship from Carolina Sim Works, but unfortunately failed inspection five times. This meant Gase would have to serve a pass-through penalty before the start. Gase dropped to the back before the start, and was reminded he had to take the green flag at the start/finish line before he slowed on the backstretch to enter pit road. Gase did this at the start and lost a lap, hoping for a caution.

When the race started, 22nd-place starter Austin Dillon ran over something with his right-rear tire of his #3 Symbicort Chevrolet, and immediately struggled to make his way around the track. He managed to limp around until Lap 5, when the caution fell after his tire let go, dropping debris on the track. Dillon made it to pit road, where the crew removed crush panels while changing the tires. Gase’s team was thrilled, as Dillon’s caution secured Gase the Lucky Dog. Someone on the 51 team said, “Imagine that – something went our way this week!” No sooner had the words been said, when as Gase passed the pace car on Lap 9, something came off Gase’s car. The team thought it was a spring rubber, but it appeared to be an electronic device with cables sticking out of it. The object appeared smaller than a battery, and was unlikely to be the team’s transponder as Gase’s scoring continued uninterrupted.

By Lap 40, last-place Austin Dillon was on the same lap as the race’s new 38th-place runner, Quin Houff, in the #00 Permatex Chevrolet. Soon to join them was Garrett Smithley, who had started 35th in Spire Motorsports’ #77 Formula One Imports Chevrolet. On Lap 47, Smithley reported he had lost the brakes, and he cut across the track in Turn 4 to dive onto pit road. Rolling down pit road with a small fire behind the left-front wheel, Smithley pulled into the garage at the Turn 4 entrance and stopped next to two haulers. The crew set to work bleeding the brakes, and promptly took last from Dillon.

On Lap 74, Smithley re-fired the engine, and returned to the track by Lap 77. He also had to serve a pass-through penalty for his commitment cone infraction for cutting across the track during the brake issue. As Smithley continued to fine-tune his setup, addressing a tight condition in the center, Timmy Hill was enjoying another solid run. On Lap 78, he was in 20th, holding on as the last car on the lead lap, 15.86 seconds back of the lead. Team owner Carl Long was enthusiastic on the radio, encouraging his driver onward.

But while coming down pit road just before the end of Stage 1, Hill stalled on pit road. The caution flew on Lap 114 as the car was eventually pushed to the garage. The team checked readings on fuel pressure, then traced the issue to the fuel pump. Unfortunately, Long said they didn’t have a replacement pump. Hill climbed out of the car around Lap 116, and the crew continued to work, even when it was clear not much more could be done. One crew member summed up the emotions perfectly: “That's a damn shame, we drove up to the Top 20 in a good car and it goes to shit.” Around Lap 152, Hill took last from Smithley.

On Lap 154, Joey Gase returned to the track from a trip to the garage of his own, which occurred during Hill’s misfortune. Gase lost power around Lap 135, when NASCAR Officials reported he’d gone to the garage for a mechanical issue. He returned to the track on Lap 154 and climbed his way up to 35th at the finish, one spot ahead of Smithley. Taking 37th was Austin Dillon, whose lost crush panels took their toll. From the Lap 6 incident onward, Dillon struggled with blazing heat and carbon monoxide poisoning. He continued to fight to get back on the lead lap until nearly the final 100 laps, when he pulled onto pit road complaining of dizziness. With no relief drivers on hand – including A.J. Allmendinger, who was originally scheduled to be on stand-by as Dillon awaits the birth of his first son – the #3 was done for the night.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*The now eight times the #66 finished last in a Cup race at Martinsville have all been with different drivers. Hill joins Roy Tyner (1958), Rick Mast (1989), Lake Speed (1991), Darrell Waltrip (2000), Todd Bodine (2001), Hideo Fukuyama (2002), and Joe Nemechek (2014).
*Hill is the first driver to finish last at Martinsville due to a fuel pump issue since October 28, 1956, when Jimmie Lewallen’s 1956 Ford fielded by Bob Welborn fell out after 11 laps of the Old Dominion 400. The only other time it’s occurred at Martinsville was on October 13, 1953, when a faulty fuel pump stopped Herb Thomas’ “Fabulous Hudson Hornet” after 28 laps, handing Thomas his first career last-place finish.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
39) #66-Timmy Hill / 105 laps / fuel pump
38) #7-Reed Sorenson / 295 laps / electrical
37) #3-Austin Dillon / 399 laps / fatigue
36) #77-Garrett Smithley / 450 laps / running
35) #51-Joey Gase / 464 laps / running

2020 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Motorsports Business Management (3)
2nd) Hendrick Motorsports, JTG-Daugherty Racing (2)
3rd) B.J. McLeod Motorsports, Leavine Family Racing, Penske Racing, Rick Ware Racing (1)

2020 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (6)
2nd) Toyota (4)
3rd) Ford (1)

2020 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP