CUP: Kurt Busch last as, for the first time in All-Star history, the entire field finishes on the lead lap

PHOTO: @furluvcats

Kurt Busch finished last in Wednesday’s NASCAR All-Star Race at the Bristol Motor Speedway when his #1 Monster Energy Chevrolet finished under power and completed all 140 of the 140 laps.

Last weekend’s race in Kentucky marked one year since Busch scored his first ever victory for Chip Ganassi Racing, edging his brother Kyle Busch in a dramatic finish. He arrived at the All-Star Race 10th in points, having finished inside the Top Ten in all but seven of his 17 starts in points races this year. He finished 5th in his return to Kentucky for his fourth top-five finish, joining a 3rd in Fontana, 3rd in Darlington’s Sunday race, and a 5th in the mid-week Charlotte event.

The All-Star Race’s move from Charlotte to Bristol must have excited Busch, who had scored six wins in Cup races at the track, but only once claimed the Charlotte All-Star in 2010. Monster Energy would again sponsor his Chevrolet, which not only had the #1 moved back in front of the rear tires, but also a yellow chassis light under the rear end to identify his car among the other Chevrolet teams. Busch drew the 7th spot in the original field of 16 locked-in entrants, which grew to 20 after Open transfers Aric Almirola, William Byron, Matt DiBenedetto, and Clint Bowyer.

Bowyer’s “Fan Vote” gave him the last spot on the grid in the #14 Rush Truck Centers Ford, but he was soon joined by Martin Truex, Jr., who drew the pole, but twice failed inspection in his #19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota.  Truex pulled ahead of Bowyer at the start, and the #14 trailed the leader by 2.068 seconds at the green flag.

Busch entered the last-place battle early. On Lap 8, he was spun in Turn 1 by contact from Brad Keselowski’s #2 Discount Tire Ford. Busch spun up the track and appeared to make light contact with the right-rear corner. From there, however, Busch’s car would fight a serious tight condition, then become loose in the final stages, keeping him in the back of the pack the rest of the night.

On Lap 16, Busch dropped Justin Haley to last in Spire Motorsports’ #77 Fraternal Order of Eagles Chevrolet. This happened to be Haley’s first Cup start with Spire since his upset win with them at Daytona last July. Haley held the spot until Lap 19, when Matt DiBenedetto’s damaged #21 dropped to last. Haley and Busch then engaged in a tight battle for 18th and 19th, allowing DiBenedetto to catch up and drop Busch back to last on Lap 30. Haley took last on Lap 33, Kurt again on Lap 40, and on Lap 46, leader Ryan Blaney put Busch one lap down off Turn 2. This gave Busch the Lucky Dog when Stage 1 ended on Lap 55.

Early in Stage 2, Ryan Newman took last when his #6 Oscar Mayer Bacon Ford broke loose off Turn 4 and made light contact with the inside wall. Newman’s pit stop gave him last on Lap 60, but he passed DiBenedetto on Lap 66 before Kurt again took last on Lap 67. Once again, Busch struggled with the handling on his car, and once again, he lost a lap to the leader on Lap 88. The second stage ended on Lap 90, and Busch earned his second Lucky Dog of the evening.

In Stage 3, Busch set to work on his teammate Matt Kenseth, who was also struggling with his #42 McDonald’s McDelivery Chevrolet. Kenseth had tumbled to 19th, and Busch passed him on Lap 93. Then came the familiar pattern – Haley dropped to last on Lap 95, followed by Kurt on Lap 99. This time, Busch managed to stay on the lead lap with the rest of the field, though he would still be in last place for Stage 4’s final 15-lap sprint to the finish. While Kenseth managed to climb to 18th with Haley improving to 14th, Kurt Busch remained last at the finish.

This was Kurt’s second last-place finish in the All-Star Race - his first since May 20, 2006, when his #2 Miller Lite Dodge lost the engine after 33 laps. He joins Carl Edwards, Kyle Petty, Greg Sacks, and Rusty Wallace as the only driver to finish last in more than one running of the All-Star Race.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked just the third time in the history of the NASCAR All-Star Race that every one of the starters finished under power. Curiously, the first time was in 1986, the only previous time the race was held at a track other than the Charlotte Motor Speedway. Held on May 11, 1986 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway, Greg Sacks finished one lap down in his #10 DiGard Chevrolet. The other time was in Charlotte on May 16, 2015, when Danica Patrick’s #10 Mobil 1 / Aspen Dental Chevrolet finished 32 laps down.
*This was also the first time that every one of the starters in the All-Star Race finished on the lead lap – including the last-place finisher. Such a thing is not unprecedented, at least in exhibition races. The Busch Clash at Daytona was for many years a 20-lap sprint, and on eight occasions saw the entire field complete the full distance, most recently in 1997. This also technically happened in the All-Star Open on May 19, 2018, when Reed Sorenson was classified last, though the race’s two stage winners – Alex Bowman and Daniel Saurez - had parked their cars earlier in the event.
*This marked the first last-place finish for the #1 in the All-Star Race since May 21, 2005, when Martin Truex, Jr.’s #1 Bass Pro Shops / Tracker Boats Chevrolet crashed out after 35 laps.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
20) #1-Kurt Busch / 140 laps / running
19) #6-Ryan Newman / 140 laps / running
18) #42-Matt Kenseth / 140 laps / running
17) #48-Jimmie Johnson / 140 laps / running
16) #41-Cole Custer / 140 laps / running

CUP: Contact during frantic Open start leaves Bubba Wallace last

IMAGE: @NASCARTalkNBC

Bubba Wallace finished last in Wednesday’s running of the NASCAR All-Star Open at the Bristol Motor Speedway when his #43 World Wide Technology Chevrolet was eliminated in a crash after 17 of the 85 laps.

Wallace entered Wednesday’s race 19th in the series standings, already an improvement over his previous two full-time seasons, where he ended the year in 28th. He’d already matched his season-best total of three top-ten finishes, most recently a 9th at Indianapolis, two rounds ago. The week also saw him welcome new sponsorship from Cash App, and a neon green paint scheme will debut Sunday as part of a five-race deal, kicking off a multi-year agreement with the company.

For the All-Star Race, Wallace would again run with sponsorship from World Wide Technology, who had contributed funds to the Petty family’s charity Victory Junction. Like the rest of the field, his car would carry a new look with WWT’s logo occupying a larger part of the doors, the #43 made smaller and placed just in front of the rear wheels.

Recent events had brought even more attention to Wallace, who by Wednesday was the clear frontrunner to win the “Fan Vote” that would transfer him from the Open to the main event. That is, if he needed to fall back on it – Wallace had raced his way into the event just last year, edging Daniel Suarez in a dramatic finish. He’d also finished 10th when the Cup Series ran their 500-lap event on May 31, and drew the 6th spot in the field of 21. There were originally 22 cars on the entry list, but Motorsports Business Management, whose driver Timmy Hill had been slated to start 17th, had withdrawn earlier in the week.

Drawing the 21st and final starting spot was Corey LaJoie, driver of Go FAS Racing’s #32 Trump 2020 Ford. After engines fired, however, the tail end of the field began to change. While no drivers incurred pre-race penalties, Joey Gase, who inherited 17th from Hill in his #51 Red Rock Secured Ford, needed a push off pit road. By the time the field took the green flag, Gase was now in the 21st spot on the inside line, trailing new 20th-place J.J. Yeley in the #27 Greenlight Debit Card Ford (drew the 13th spot) and 19th-place Quin Houff in the #00 Permatex Chevrolet (who drew 16th).

The racing proved particularly physical at the start. While Gase remained in the last spot, 10th-place Matt DiBenedetto was routed out of the groove and into the outside wall, damaging the right side of his #21 Menards / FVP Ford. Tyler Reddick, the 5th-place starter, nearly spun his #8 Food City Chevrolet, and ultimately suffered damage to his right-front corner. Both remained in the Top 10 as Gase caught teammate Garrett Smithley on Lap 7, putting Smithley’s #53 Chantz Scott Auto Group Chevrolet into the last spot. By Lap 15, Smithley was 13.7 seconds back and about to be lapped. He managed to stay on the lead lap on the 18th circuit, when the caution came out.

During the same opening stint, Wallace had climbed to 3rd and was in a tight battle with polesitter Michael McDowell in the #34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford. At one point, Wallace nudged McDowell up the track and completed the pass, but soon had McDowell in his rear-view mirror. Coming down the backstretch, William Byron had also closed in on McDowell, his #24 Axalta Chevrolet on McDowell’s left-rear as McDowell’s left-front was on Wallace’s right-rear. Contact was made between all three cars. McDowell turned Wallace hard into the outside wall as Byron spun McDowell to the apron. McDowell made it to pit road with heavy damage to his left-rear, but Wallace climbed from his destroyed #43, done for the day. He immediately took last from Smithley, who finished 16th.

As the race resumed, pieces of the nose from Wallace’s #43 were seen sitting near the rear gate of McDowell’s hauler. Wallace was seen putting the debris on the lift gate, and McDowell’s crew was seen taking it away and placing it near some garbage cans. Ultimately, McDowell’s crew was seen putting the debris in their hauler. McDowell finished 7th.

Byron went on to win the second of the race’s three stages, leaving him 19th ahead of 20th-place finisher Aric Almirola, who took Stage 1 in his #10 Smithfield Ford. Gase dropped to the apron in the final laps with what the team reported were brake issues, but were officially listed as handling issues. Rounding out the Bottom Five was Houff, who was two laps down after DiBenedetto won the final stage. Clint Bowyer won the “Fan Vote.”

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the first time the #43 finished last in the Open race for the All-Star Event. The number has finished last in the main event three times: Bobby Hamilton on May 17, 1997, John Andretti on May 20, 2000, and Bobby Labonte on May 19, 2007.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
21) #43-Bubba Wallace / 17 laps / crash
20) #10-Aric Almirola / 35 laps / won stage 1
19) #24-William Byron / 70 laps / won stage 2
18) #51-Joey Gase / 76 laps / handling
17) #00-Quin Houff / 83 laps / running

PREVIEW: Change is in the air for Bristol All-Star Race while familiar faces return in Texas

PHOTO: @JTGRacing

Wednesday, July 15, 2020 (7:00 P.M. Eastern)
CUP Exhibition Race
NASCAR All-Star Open at Bristol
2019 Last-Place Finisher (Charlotte): B.J. McLeod

ENTRY LIST
This race will be run in three stages: 35 laps, 35 laps, and 15 laps. From these 21 entrants, four will advance into the main event: each segment winner, joined by the winner of the Fan Vote. This race will also see NASCAR test out a new door number placement on the cars, and the NASCAR debut of the “choose cone” for restart lineups. After the random draw on Monday, Michael McDowell will start on the pole with Corey LaJoie starting last in the field.

#3-Austin Dillon
#8-Tyler Reddick
#10-Aric Almirola
#13-Ty Dillon
#14-Clint Bowyer
#15-Brennan Poole
#17-Chris Buescher
#21-Matt DiBenedetto
#24-William Byron
#27-J.J. Yeley
#32-Corey LaJoie
#34-Michael McDowell
#37-Ryan Preece
#38-John Hunter Nemechek
#43-Bubba Wallace
#47-Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.
#51-Joey Gase
#53-Garrett Smithley
#95-Christopher Bell
#96-Daniel Suarez
#00-Quin Houff

NOT ENTERED: #7-Tommy Baldwin Racing
NOT ENTERED: #78-B.J. McLeod Motorsports
Both the Baldwin and McLeod entries are not among the Open contestants after each ran part-time this season.

WITHDREW: #66-Motorsports Business Management
Timmy Hill was originally entered in the Open, but word came the team withdrew on Monday. Hill was originally slated to start 17th in the Open.

Wednesday, July 15, 2020 (8:30 P.M. Eastern)
CUP Exhibition Race
NASCAR All-Star Race at Bristol
2019 Last-Place Finisher (Charlotte): Erik Jones

ENTRY LIST
This race will be run in four stages: 55 laps, 35 laps, 35 laps, and 15 laps. There will be unlimited attempts at a green-white-checkered finish. Unlike those drivers listed above for the Open, these 16 locked-in drivers below will also have special chassis lights under their cars. Martin Truex, Jr. drew the pole with Erik Jones ranked last of the locked-in drivers.

#1-Kurt Busch
#2-Brad Keselowski
#4-Kevin Harvick
#6-Ryan Newman
#9-Chase Elliott
#11-Denny Hamlin
#12-Ryan Blaney
#18-Kyle Busch
#19-Martin Truex, Jr.
#20-Erik Jones
#22-Joey Logano
#41-Cole Custer
#42-Matt Kenseth
#48-Jimmie Johnson
#77-Justin Haley
#88-Alex Bowman

DRIVER CHANGE: #77-Spire Motorsports
For the first time since his upset victory at Daytona just over a year ago, Justin Haley will drive the #77 Chevrolet for Spire Motorsports, now under the Rick Ware Racing affiliation. Haley made one other Cup start since then in this year’s Daytona 500, where he ran 13th in the first Cup attempt for his XFINITY team owner Matthew Kaulig.

Saturday, July 18, 2020 (3:00 P.M. Eastern)
XFINITY Race 16 of 33
My Bariatric Solutions 300 at Texas
2019 Last-Place Finisher: Jeff Green

ENTRY LIST
There are 37 drivers entered for 40 spots in Saturday’s race as this week sees the XFINITY Series compete before the Trucks.

DRIVER CHANGE: #8-JR Motorsports
Jeb Burton returns to the JR Motorsports team for the first time since his opening-lap spin and crash with Brandon Jones in the first race of the Kentucky double-header. He takes the place of Daniel Hemric, who ran 9th in the second round. Longtime Burton sponsor State Water Heaters returns as sponsor.

DRIVER CHANGE: #36-DGM Racing
DRIVER SWAP: #90-DGM Racing
When we last saw Dexter Bean at Pocono, he earned a career-best 11th in his very first start of the 2020 season. Bean makes his first start since then this Saturday, taking the place of Alex Labbe, who moves back to the #90 in place of Ronnie Bassett, Jr., who isn’t entered. Labbe looks to keep his own strong start to the season going at a track where he’s never finished better than 28th in three previous starts.

RETURNING: #54-Joe Gibbs Racing
Kyle Busch is back to crash the party for the series regulars in both the XFINITY and Truck Series this weekend. He again runs the Twix Cookies & Crème paint scheme on his Toyota, which we last saw at Phoenix, where Brandon Jones beat him for the victory. This will be Busch’s fourth XFINITY start of the year and first since Charlotte, which he won.

DRIVER CHANGE: #99-B.J. McLeod Motorsports
Like Dexter Bean, Stefan Parsons returns to the series for the first time since Pocono, where his own strong run slipped away in the final laps, dropping him to 21st. He takes the place of Mason Massey, who isn’t entered following a 23rd-place finish in the second race at Kentucky.

NEW SPONSOR: #02-Our Motorsports
For the first time this year, Brett Moffitt will trade Chris Our’s flat black scheme for a vibrant neon-hued one by Harris Lue, welcoming new sponsorship from sunglass company Knockaround.com. Moffitt finished 17th in the second Kentucky race after a tangle with Ross Chastain in the first race, where he rebounded to finish 10th.

DRIVER CHANGE: #07-SS-Green Light Racing
As of this writing, no driver is yet listed to drive the #07 in place of Garrett Smithley, who overcame a small fire in the Thursday race to finish 16th on Friday.

CUP INVADERS: #54-Kyle Busch

Saturday, July 18, 2020 (8:00 P.M. Eastern)
TRUCKS Race 8 of 23
Vankor 250 at Texas
2019 Last-Place Finisher (Vankor 350): Josh Reaume

ENTRY LIST
There are 36 drivers entered for 40 spots, which is down four entries from last week in Kentucky. All entrants will start the race.

MISSING: #14-Trey Hutchens Racing
Trey Hutchens not entered after he was collected in an early tangle with Jennifer Jo Cobb and Korbin Forrister in Kentucky, leaving him 36th.

DRIVER CHANGE: #24-GMS Racing
Following his first-ever All-Star Race start, Justin Haley will return to the Truck Series this weekend, taking the place of Chase Purdy, who ran 31st last week in Kentucky. It will be Haley’s first Truck Series start since the 2018 finale at Homestead, and he will again run sponsorship from the Fraternal Order of Eagles. He won his most recent Truck Series start at Texas in that same 2018 season, beating Ben Rhodes by more than 8 seconds.

DRIVER CHANGE: #33-Reaume Brothers Racing
Akinori Ogata will make his first Truck Series start since February 24, 2018, when he ran 30th for the late Mike Mittler. This time, he will drive for Josh Reaume, taking the place of Bryant Barnhill, who ran 33rd in Kentucky. This will be Ogata’s first series start at Texas. KYOWA Industrial is the listed sponsor of his Toyota.

RETURNING: #42-Niece Motorsports
Also returning is Ross Chastain along with Al Niece’s #42 team. For Chastain, it’s his first start since Pocono, where he ran 6th in Niece’s #40. For the #42 team, it’s their first since Atlanta, where Chastain also ran 6th.

DRIVER CHANGE: #51-Kyle Busch Motorsports
Kyle Busch makes his fifth Truck Series start of the year and first since his victory at Homestead, again driving his #51 Toyota. He takes the place of Chandler Smith, who last week in Kentucky was 22nd when the lightning hold, then the rain ultimately cut the race short.

MISSING: #55-Long Motorsports
Boyd Long’s team is not entered this week after Dawson Cram finished 28th in Kentucky, the first truck off the lead lap.

DRIVER CHANGE: #56-Hill Motorsports
The Hill brothers will swap driving duties this weekend with Timmy taking over for Tyler, who ran 30th in Kentucky. Tyler had run the three most recent races in the series following Timmy’s most recent start in Atlanta, where he equaled his season-best 22nd from Charlotte. UPDATE: The Hill team confirmed on Twitter that the truck they're running Saturday is a former GMS Racing truck which they will be running for the first time.

MISSING: #75-Henderson Motorsports
Charlie Henderson has not entered the #75 truck one week after Parker Kligerman took 18th in Kentucky.

MISSING: #83-CMI Motorsports
Ray Ciccarelli will enter just one of his two trucks this week, keeping the #49 with new teammate Tim Viens, who took 35th in Kentucky after a spin and handling issues. Ciccarelli is himself not entered as driver as he keeps his #83 in the shop.

TEAM UPDATE: #00-Reaume Brothers Racing
While the original entry list did not have a driver listed for the #00, Angela Ruch was confirmed Tuesday to return to the team again this weekend following a 25th-place run in Kentucky.

CUP INVADERS: #51-Kyle Busch

Sunday, July 19, 2020 
CUP Race 18 of 36
O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas
2019 Last-Place Finisher: Kyle Larson

ENTRY LIST
There are 41 drivers entered for 40 spots, including Vic Keller’s new #90 team attempting their first start. However, without a qualifying session, Keller will not qualify (see below).

RETURNING: #7-Tommy Baldwin Racing
Tommy Baldwin’s team returns to the Cup Series for the first time since Josh Bilicki’s 25th-place run in Indianapolis. The preliminary entry list did not indicate who would drive the car. UPDATE (July 16, 2020): Reed Sorenson will return to action in Texas, making his first Cup start since this past spring at Martinsville, where he also ran the TBR #7 and finished 38th that night.

DRIVER CHANGE: #27-Rick Ware Racing
DRIVER SWAP: #51-Rick Ware Racing
DRIVER SWAP: #77-Spire Motorsports
J.J. Yeley was originally listed to run the #27 once again for Texas, but by Tuesday, Gray Gaulding was set to return with the same Panini America sponsorship from his previous five starts. This will mark Gaulding's first Cup start since Talladega, where he ran 30th. UPDATE (July 16, 2020): Yeley is now listed in the #51 this week, bumping Joey Gase to the #77, which he will run in place of All-Star entrant Justin Haley, who isn't entered. Prior to Thursday, the #77 had no driver liosted.

RETURNING: #66-Motorsports Business Management
After withdrawing from the All-Star Open, Timmy Hill returns to action in Texas, where he prevailed in the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series by working his way past William Byron back in the spring. This will be Hill’s 7th Cup start at Texas, where he has yet to finish better than 35th.

DRIVER CHANGE: #77-Spire Motorsports
The preliminary entry list showed no driver listed to run the #77 following Justin Haley’s run in the All-Star Race.

RETURNING: #78-B.J. McLeod Motorsports
Also rejoining the Cup Series field this weekend is B.J. McLeod’s #78 Chevrolet, back in the lineup for the first time since McLeod’s season-best 22nd in Indy. McLeod has just one previous Cup start in Texas, which yielded a 31st-place finish for Rick Ware Racing in the spring of 2019.

NEW TEAM (DNQ): #90-Vic Keller Racing
Vic Keller, an entrepreneur involved in several businesses that have sponsored Rick Ware Racing, including Axele.com and Christensen Arms, had planned to enter a car of his own in Sunday’s race. The 2019 Chevrolet car #90 was to be sponsored by Axele.com, which most recently backed Garrett Smithley’s #53 for Ware at Indianapolis. However, with 41 drivers entered and his team the newest, Keller will have to wait another week to make his debut.

TODAY IN LASTCAR HISTORY (July 15, 1967): Elmer Gilliam picked up the first last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career. The finish came at the two-tenths of a mile paved oval in Islip, New York when his #06 1965 Dodge fell out with steering issues after 2 laps of the Islip 300. Gilliam was driving for longtime owner-driver Neil “Soapy” Castles in the last of his four series starts. His best finish came in his debut two years earlier in Valdosta, Georgia, taking 20th driving for Elmo Langley. Unfortunately, that race was also an early exit as he followed Jimmy Helms to the garage area, putting Gilliam in the next-to-last spot.

ARCA: Scott Melton first of three crash victims at Kentucky

IMAGE: FOX Sports 1

by William Soquet
LASTCAR.info Guest Contributor

Scott Melton finished last for the second time in his ARCA Menards Series career in Saturday’s General Tire 150 at Kentucky Speedway when his #69 Melton McFadden Insurance Agency Toyota crashed out after completing 16 of the race’s 100 laps.

The finish came in his sixteenth series start, and was his first since Lucas Oil Raceway in 2018, 26 races ago.

Scott Melton is an insurance salesman from Rockford, Michigan, a small town outside of Grand Rapids. He started his racing career in four-cylinder cars, and later bought a steel-body ARCA car from Bill Kimmel in 2018. He debuted that car at Berlin and ran it once more at Lucas Oil Raceway in 2018 before making a formal alliance with Kimmel Racing and announcing a half-season slate for 2019. That schedule focused on mostly tracks 1.5 miles and larger, and Melton nabbed top-ten finishes at Michigan and Chicagoland. Before the season started, Melton appeared to be on his way out of ARCA, putting equipment up for sale on RacingJunk.com and appearing primed for one last Daytona appearance before settling into a weekly super late model racing slate at Berlin. However, with Berlin closed for the pandemic, Melton has run four of six races in the #69 so far in 2020, including three of four post-hiatus. It seems as though sticking around has been worth it, as his worst finish before Kentucky was 11th.

Kentucky has not hosted the ARCA Menards Series since 2017. Like Pocono Raceway, the track allows drivers younger than 18 to race on it, providing that they have met certain requirements. That led to entries from eventual race winner Ty Gibbs and fellow sixteen-year-old Sam Mayer. Those were two of seventeen total entries for the field. Tim Richmond, featured in last week's article, was missing again from the entry list with Don Thompson taking his place in the #06. Dick Doheny and Willie Mullins returned to Fast Track Racing. Jason Kitzmiller and Derek Griffith returned in their partial schedules, and Ryan Repko and Tanner Gray continued part-time schedules in full-time entries. DGR-Crosley finally announced that Thad Moffitt would contest “most races” for the team, including Kentucky.

All 17 cars took time in practice, and Mayer led the group with a lap of 30.199 seconds. Brad Smith was at the bottom of the chart, running a best lap of 43.237 seconds. After hosting qualifying at Lucas Oil Raceway last week, ARCA went back to no qualifying this weekend, setting the lineup by a rulebook procedure. Jason Kitzmiller wound up with the last starting spot, alone in Row 9. Ahead of him would be Smith and Mayer, the bookends from practice starting next to each other in Row 8.
Coming to the green, a pair of white cars were visibly distant from the rest of the field. Those were the cars of Doheny and Thompson, giving courtesy as to not hold up faster cars like Mayer as they drove up through the field. Thompson was the first to go a lap down and was at least two laps down by Lap 10.

While Fox Sports did not have a camera that caught Melton’s crash, by all indications it appears as though the car just got tight off of turn two and slapped the outside retaining wall. After evaluating front suspension damage in the pits, the crew surrendered another borderline-top ten run and retired for the day.

Don Thompson pulled into the garage during the ensuing caution. Thad Moffitt was the next car to retire; he suffered much the same fate as Melton when his car snapped loose in turn two and backed into the wall. Hailie Deegan tangled with Drew Dollar on the ensuing restart and that damage was terminal, too. Doheny rounded out the Bottom Five as the last car running, 19 laps down.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
17) #69-Scott Melton / 16 laps / crash
16) #06-Don Thompson / 19 laps / unknown
15) #46-Thad Moffitt / 70 laps / crash
14) #4-Hailie Deegan / 77 laps / crash
13) #12-Dick Doheny / 81 laps / running

2020 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES OWNERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Wayne Peterson Racing (2)
2nd) DGR-Crosley, Fast Track Racing, Kimmel Racing, Reeves Racing (1)

2020 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP

CUP: Ryan Preece last for a second-straight race after Timmy Hill, MBM crew fight to get the #66 back on track

PHOTO: Getty Images, JTG-Daugherty Racing

Ryan Preece picked up the 3rd last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career in Sunday’s Quaker State 400 presented by Walmart at the Kentucky Speedway when his #37 Kingsford Chevrolet fell out with transmission issues after 159 of 267 laps.

The finish, which came in Preece’s 58th series start, was his third of the year and second in a row. In the Cup Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 41st for the #37, the 79th from transmission issues, and the 787th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 47th for the #37, the 162nd for a transmission, and the 1,725th for Chevrolet.

Following his last-place run at Indianapolis, Preece arrived in Kentucky with longtime JTG-Daugherty Racing sponsor Kingsford Charcoal on his #37 Chevrolet. In his only previous Cup start at the track last year, he finished 21st in a field of 36. But in his most recent of three XFINITY starts there in 2017, he finished a strong 4th for Joe Gibbs Racing. He drew the 32nd starting spot for Sunday’s race.

Drawing the 38th spot was Timmy Hill in Motorsports Business Management’s #66 RoofClaim.com Toyota. He’d be joined at the rear by two top drivers whose cars each twice failed inspection – 9th-place starter Martin Truex, Jr. in the #19 Auto Owners Insurance Toyota and 17th-place Matt Kenseth in the #42 Clover Chevrolet. When the field addressed itself to the starter’s stand, however, Truex and Kenseth lined up 29th and 31st, respectively. Hill moved up to Kenseth’s outside in 32nd followed by Daniel Suarez (#96), Quin Houff (#00), Josh Bilicki (#77), Garrett Smithley (#53), and Joey Gase (#51). Smithley had drawn the best starting spot of the group, slated to take the green in 25th. As it stood, Smithley’s #53 Victory Lane Quick Oil Change Chevrolet was 37th across the stripe with Gase’s #51 Donate Life Center / Pro Master Ford behind him in last place.

The field managed to complete the first lap without incident, and Gase set to work racing Smithley. At the end of 2 laps, however, Gase had fallen 1.187 seconds back of his teammate, the gap widening to 3.130 seconds after the fifth circuit. On Lap 14, Gase became the first driver to lose a lap, followed soon after by Smithley and Hill. But on Lap 21, just before the competition caution, Gase’s lap times improved with a 31.90, his best of the race so far.

Under the Lap 25 competition caution, Hill and Bilicki stayed out to take the wave-around, putting Smithley and Gase into a battle for the Lucky Dog. On Lap 31, Hill dropped Smithley to last, but Smithley got back by the following circuit. Gase’s lap times then continued to improve, and he was soon catching Smithley for 37th. This pass was made on Lap 48, after both drivers had lost a second lap to the leaders.

On Lap 54, Hill dropped to last place after he and Bilicki pitted following their gamble on the wave-around. Both dropped to four laps down, but Hill was in worse shape. His lap times were below those of Gase, and he wasn’t catching the Spire Motorsports entry of Bilicki. On Lap 69, Hill suddenly slowed on the track, reporting his dash had shut off and he was down on power. Believing it to be an issue with one or both batteries, he coasted down pit road. The crew checked the batteries and sent him back out on Lap 75, 12 laps down. The caution to end Stage 1 came out moments later.

Hill’s electrical issues continued, however, and the team brought him to the garage area on Lap 106. During this time, the MBM crew had prepared a backup alternator and ECU, and also brought the team laptop to program the new unit. Once in the garage, the team found the engine had lost the alternator belt, and they had to grab a replacement belt off the replacement engine. The team got the belt, but Hill said the car was acting as though it was running on just one of the two batteries. Unfortunately, the crew couldn’t find a suitable replacement battery on the Cup hauler, and concluded it was left on the departed XFINITY hauler by mistake. The team then struggled to re-fire the engine, and finally did on Lap 149. That time by, Hill returned to the track 54 laps down, but still in the running.

It wasn’t until around Lap 160 that Preece entered the last-place battle. The team looked over the car during a pit stop, bringing so many men over the wall that they incurred a penalty from NASCAR to be served if he returned to the track. Instead, he went to the garage. There, Preece still had difficulty putting the car in third gear, similar to the issue that hampered Ryan Blaney’s performance after his shifter popped out of gear in the early laps. Unlike Blaney, Preece’s issue proved terminal. On Lap 167, someone on Preece’s crew said “we’re done for the day.” NASCAR confirmed the team was out with transmission issues on Lap 175. It wasn’t until Lap 217 that Hill passed Preece for 37th. Around Lap 228, Hill would also exit with the same electrical issues.

A last-minute addition to the Bottom Five was John Hunter Nemechek, whose #38 Yanmar Ford crashed out on Lap 245, just as the otherwise placid race began to heat up. Nemechek made it back to pit road, but the heavy damage to the right side and rear of the car ended his run. Gase took 34th, two laps ahead of 35th-place Houff in the #00 Creek Enterprise Chevrolet.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*The 159 laps completed by Preece set a new record for the most completed by a Cup Series last-place finisher at Kentucky, besting the mark of 110 set by B.J, McLeod last year.
*This marked the first time a Cup Series driver finished last at Kentucky due to transmission issues since June 30, 2013, when it happened to Scott Riggs’ #44 No Label Watches Ford after 6 laps.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
38) #37-Ryan Preece / 159 laps / transmission
37) #66-Timmy Hill / 170 laps / electrical
36) #38-John Hunter Nemechek / 248 laps / crash
35) #00-Quin Houff / 255 laps / running
34) #51-Joey Gase / 257 laps / running

2020 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) JTG-Daugherty Racing (4)
2nd) Motorsports Business Management (3)
3rd) Hendrick Motorsports, Rick Ware Racing (2)
4th) B.J. McLeod Motorsports, Chip Ganassi Racing, Front Row Motorsports, Leavine Family Racing, Penske Racing, StarCom Racing (1)

2020 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (11)
2nd) Toyota (4)
3rd) Ford (2)

2020 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP