FEATURE: Norm Benning thanks Al Niece for the opportunity after he falls short qualifying for Phoenix finale

With just minutes before the start of Truck Series qualifying for the 2021 season finale, the Lucas Oil 150 at Phoenix, most of the field had been pushed onto pit road. Most, that is, except a white Chevrolet parked in the shade of AM Racing’s large hauler. The truck with a bold #6 on the doors was still on jack stands with a crew of no more than six working underneath, particularly on the splitter. Among them was Charlie Langenstein, who that same weekend would work his final weekend with the closing StarCom Racing. There was a mallet on the ground, someone’s phone on the deck lid, and a NASCAR official watching everything closely.

It wasn’t great timing on my part to have had that be the moment I’d walk up to the Norm Benning Racing crew with a sticker in hand, but I was determined. The Cup race at Martinsville hadn’t even ended when the team contacted me about getting a LASTCAR.info sticker on the passenger side b-post. A quick print job by the Jukebox sticker company got the 6-inch-square sticker in my mailbox before my brother and I drove out on Thursday, and 11 hours of driving later, I was there to deliver it to the crew. One of them pointed to Norm’s hauler at the other end of the garage, but I met my contact Jack on his way back. He checked with the official before carefully applying the sticker, and even took the time to photograph me standing by the truck before returning to work.

Of all the seasons through which the 69-year-old veteran from Pennsylvania has raced, 2021 may have been Benning’s most difficult yet. At Kansas, the pickup truck with which he towed his small hauler to the track was stolen, stranding his crew in the garage until a friend could pick them up. While the truck was recovered, it was seriously damaged, and there still more races to run. The truck made it to Gateway, where NASCAR no longer allowed him to run an older nose on his #6, and prevented him from qualifying. Through it all, he still made 13 starts, but five times was parked for not maintaining minimum speed, often with vigorous objections from the driver.

But Phoenix promised to be a different story. Benning wasn’t running his own black #6, but a white Chevrolet prepared in the Niece Motorsports shop. The chassis, built in April 2015, was entered alongside Al Niece’s four trucks for Ryan Truex, Carson Hocevar, Dean Thompson, and Lawless Alan. Three of those four teams had struggled for most of this year while Hocevar made a bid at the Championship Four that fell just short the previous week in Martinsville. Benning brought his crew, transporter, and tools to the track – parked next to Niece’s hauler inside Turn 2. The result was perhaps the best truck Benning had ever driven since he first competed in the series in 2002, and the first time he’d received so much support from a multi-truck team. Niece’s logo was on the tailgate.

There were a couple noticeable details to Benning’s truck. The driver’s name on the rear glass was not pre-printed, but cobbled together from strips of white tape. Just like at Daytona, the rear decklid was covered in underdog “bones” with handwritten names of supporters (a promotion I’d joined before being offered the sponsorship). Among these well-wishers was Kathy Beshears, whose decal was placed beneath a photo of her late father U.S. Navy veteran Stephen Beshears, who died in 2012. In addition to returning sponsors Poppy Packs and Race City Sports Memorabilia, primary backer MDF A Sign Co. had also placed his logo in reflective decals on the truck, anticipating a race under the lights. While the company’s logos have only appeared more recently on the #6, the Florida-based business had been backing Benning since his early years in the series, running the same ketchup-red #57 as his famous Eldora Last Chance Qualifier in 2013.

Benning needed every ounce of speed from his new ride if he hoped to start the race. Phoenix was one of the series’ few races with an actual qualifying session, and 41 teams had answered the call to attempt a reduced 36-truck field. The effort was helped before Friday practice even started as both Spencer Davis Motorsports and Peck Motorsports had withdrawn, meaning just three entries would fail to qualify. Still not a guarantee, but the odds had somewhat improved. They needed to. In practice, Benning ranked just 37th of the 39 drivers who clocked at least one lap. After 29 laps on the oval, he was still 2.238 seconds off the pole. Thus, the crew worked feverishly until there was no time left. After issues in technical inspection, there was even less time to be had.

Benning drew 17th in the qualifying order, between fellow owner-drivers Dawson Cram in the #41 Be Water Chevrolet and Jordan Anderson in the #3 Lucas Oil / Bommarito.com Chevrolet. But when it came to Benning’s turn, the truck wouldn’t fire. Other trucks had stalled momentarily as the driver accelerated off pit road, but it was clear something else had happened. Two crew members came up to the driver’s window to help while NASCAR officials waved Anderson out of line to make his run. Benning tried to start the truck again, the starter chirping to no avail. NASCAR waved Hailie Deegan by. Then the engine fired, and the crew walked away. But then it stalled again, and Deegan left for her lap. Finally, the engine fired again, and before Ben Rhodes could be moved around him, Benning was off. 

On his first lap, Benning broke loose, and crossed the line with the engine sounding flat. He tried to make it up on the second, but it was no good. His time of 29.277 second (122.963mph) was slowest of the session, out of the field with Cram and Jennifer Jo Cobb.

The crew walked dejectedly through the infield and back to the entrance of Turn 3, where the qualified trucks parked perpendicular to the pit wall. When I got there, the small group stood together next to a pit box, each on the verge of tears. I decided against doing an interview right away, and told the team how much I appreciated getting the site’s logo on their truck. Benning began to describe that the kill switch was accidentally triggered. At that point, I began to perform the interview.

WHAT HAPPENED ON THE QUALIFYING LAP?

“Yeah, Ilmor figured it out - there was a problem,” said Benning of the kill switch trip. “They said there was also a problem with the main - it was hanging up, so it wouldn't start. They figured it out. We just - this is a brand new truck and it just wasn't set up for this racetrack. We tried to do what we could in 50 minutes (of practice). I overdrove it going into (Turn) 1 there and it just slid right up the track and you're hanging on at that point, but I ruined both laps by doing it. I boiled the right rear tire off driving it sideways. It's a shame. We came out here to race. We have (ABC, A) Sign Company on here and different people. I want to thank Al Niece for what he did. He was a huge help. But we just - the truck wasn't set up for here.

HOW DID THE TRUCK HANDLE IN PRACTICE?

“It went from wrecking loose to too tight to wrecking loose. We just couldn't fix it in 15 minutes. We tried and we gained on it, but not enough. Then I said the driver overdrove it - I was doing everything but wrecking. I'm gonna get everything I can out of it. But it was a little too far and it ruined the second lap.”

TELL ME HOW THIS DEAL CAME TOGETHER.

"Al Niece approached me. He's a great guy. And he really, really wanted to help me. I don't know what happened. They had - they decided to bring four trucks here and they were having their issues, so it just snowballed. We had a truck that needed some engineers or something and just didn't happen. They had their hands full. But I can't thank Al Niece enough. . .Like I said, Al's great, just had some issues in inspection and got us behind on everything else we needed to do. Long way to drive. . .I'm just really disappointed right now. I thought I had a great truck.”

Racing is a cruel business, particularly for those drivers and teams on the back half of the grid. It takes a special breed of competitor to persist against such adversity. While Benning may not have been able to start the season finale, it was an honor to be aboard, if only for qualifying. Norm would also like to personally thank Al Niece for the opportunity to drive his truck. The team’s plans for 2022 are still coming together, and we will see the result when Daytona arrives next February.

INTERVIEW: Chris Hacker among new drivers with unique stories in the Truck Series

Following the Truck Series finale in Phoenix, I caught up to Chris Hacker, the last-place finisher of the Truck race at Las Vegas. The Phoenix race saw him secure a last-minute ride with Reaume Brothers Racing in the #33, a team that had no driver listed on the preliminary entry list. Hacker brought sponsorship from Dropout Kings and qualified the truck 31st on the grid – the last driver in on speed. He finished 27th with the truck in one piece.

HOW WAS THE RACE TONIGHT?

Yeah, it was it was pretty interesting. We were fighting the truck in practice. We were tight on exit. And then we made a major adjustment which made us super loose on exit. So we kind of went into qualifying blind, but luckily we just made the line, we were able to make it in the race. Still kind of struggling with the same problem - was tight on entry and loose on exits. So, you know, it was pretty good overall. Josh (Reaume), he called me out here to get him into the race and finish the race in one piece. And so I did that job correctly. And so I can't be mad. It's a it was a good way to end the season. We're gonna hang out a little bit in the offseason and then hopefully come back harder next year.

TELL ME MORE ABOUT THIS DEAL COMING TOGETHER WITH REAUME

So I drove back to Charlotte. I believe it was Saturday night after Martinsville. And on the way back, I was "Hey, Nate (PR for Hacker and Joe Graf, Jr.), I'm trying to figure out if I should fly home or not" because I live in Indiana currently. And he was like, "Nah - fly home. Don't worry about it. We're gonna focus on next year, yada, yada, yada." And it was like, I think 10 A.M. on Monday, I was at work. And I got a call from Nate. And he was like, "Yo, can you make it out to Phoenix?" And I was like, "Well, why?" Because at first I thought he was wanting me to watch and stuff, and this was a pretty long haul just to watch. So I asked why. And he was like, "Josh needs a driver." And I was like, "Yeah, if you need me out there, I'll be out there." So we made a little joke on Twitter of the 330 likes, because I was running the 33. So that was just a little fun between me and the Reaume Brothers team. But yeah, Josh, he's just a great guy. He, he believes a lot in me, and I can't be more thankful for that. He's helped me learn a lot so far. And hopefully we can definitely put some together next year with all these great teams.

TELL ME ABOUT YOUR WORK WITH UBPN?

There's organization called UBPN, and they stand for United Brachial Plexus Network. If you're not aware, brachial plexus is nerve damage, pretty much. Mine happened to be from birth. It can (also) happen in motorcycle accidents, stuff like that. But long story short about me - at first, I could only move my fingertips, and then they took nerves out of my calves and ankles and put it in my wrist and my shoulder. So now I have about 50% range of movement in my left arm. UBPN is an organization that spreads awareness about it. And I've done a couple fundraisers for them, trying to raise money for kids. They have a camp every year that all these kids with the nerve damage injury can get together and learn about each other. Weird thing about me is I will put my deodorant on with my right hand on both arms. So when I do it on my right arm, it kind of looks like a chicken wing. And I learned that other kids did that too when I was out there at one point. So we just we just try to raise money just to help some the kids that can't afford it out there. So they can just be able to experience some time with with kids that are just like them pretty much.

HOW CHALLENGING WAS THAT CONDITION IN YOUR RACING CAREER?

It's hard to explain with driving because I have had this my whole life. So, it's the normal for me, I guess you could say. There were some problems growing up. I started running late models when I was 13, and I was really small at the time and so we had to have a different servo in the power steering so I could turn easier pretty much than the average person. So that was kind of a struggle growing up. But now obviously, I don't look like an adult, but I'm pretty much an adult now. So I've kind of been hitting the gym a lot building my muscles, and it hasn't been a problem since then. But my arm will lay on the rib part of the seat, and sometimes they'll like get my pinky going numb because they'll kind of like stop the blood flow a little bit, but we always worked through it, play everything by ear and just keep on keeping on.

PLANS FOR THE NEXT FEW YEARS?

Right now, we're definitely looking to do a lot more races next year. I'm obviously still learning. This is the only track I've actually been to twice in my NASCAR career. So obviously still learning. We're pretty sure we can definitely get a half season (in Trucks) for next year, wrapped up before the beginning of next year. If we can get a full season, that'd be great. We've just got to figure out how to get the races sold. We've got to find some great partners who are willing to put their faith in me and stuff like that. But in five years, hopefully I'm winning XFINITY championships by then (laughs). . .It definitely makes me a more well-rounded driver being able to work with a bunch of different teams right now. Next year, I definitely do want to focus on just working with one team, trying to build a connection and trust between each other. So I'm not sure if I'm going to be hopping around in the seat next year. But yeah, I'm just gonna play everything by ear.

ARCA WEST: Pedroncelli goes three-in-a-row as Love claims championship in dramatic finale

ALL PHOTOS: Brock Beard

by Ben Schneider

LASTCAR.info Guest Contributor

Paul Pedroncelli finished last for the 5th time in his ARCA Menards Series West career in Saturday’s Arizona Lottery 100 at Phoenix Raceway when his #31 Pedroncelli Mobile Bottling Chevrolet suffered brake issues after two laps.

The finish was Pedroncelli’s third in a row and fifth in the last six races.

While his son P.J. emerged as a surprise contender for the ARCA West championship this season, Paul ran a second entry for the Pedroncelli family’s operation at every race this season except the season-opener at Phoenix. Paul primarily appeared in a “start-and-park” role, only running the full distance at Irwindale and the road courses at Sonoma and Portland. He clinched the LASTCAR ARCA Menards Series West Driver's Championship a race earlier at Roseville and ended the season as the only driver with more than one last-place finish.

Prior to the start of Saturday's race, 32nd-place starter Ryan Roulette stalled his #77 Jan's / Bellator Recruiting / Proper Patriot Toyota and was pushed by a tow truck down pit road. Roulette's car fired, stalled again, then fired once more, and along with last-place starter Travis Milburn in the #08 Kart Idaho Toyota caught up to the tail end of the field just before the green.

On Lap 1, Pedroncelli's #31 dropped back to 33rd behind Roulette with Milburn catching him. On Lap 2, he was joined by P.J., who had lost spots after a spin. Pedroncelli, who wore a plain gray driver's uniform on race day, pulled behind the wall on Lap 3 using the first garage entrance off Turn 2 shared with the Truck Series. He parked his car behind a passenger car at the ARCA garage entrance, then quickly headed toward pit road through the XFINITY Series garage. When asked what put him behind the wall, he indicated a vibration, and made a gesture of his hands on a shaking steering wheel.

Following Pedroncelli up the order were Travis Milburn, whose Toyota dropped out with transmission issues after 43 laps. Eric Nascimento retired with crash damage after completing 65 laps, and 2021 LASTCAR ARCA West Championship runner-up Josh Fanopolous pulled out for the same reason after 77 laps. The final car running at the finish was Portland last-place finisher Caleb Costner, who completed 86 laps to round out the Bottom Five.

Going into Phoenix, seven drivers were mathematically eligible for the championship. Jesse Love led the standings ahead of P.J. Pedroncelli, Jake Drew, Joey Iest, and Cole Moore, with those five drivers separated by a mere six points. Trevor Huddleston and Todd Souza were each more of a longshot for the title, with fifteen and twenty-six point deficits to Love respectively.

Pedoncelli pulls behind the wall in the early laps.

Several strong part-time and one-off entries stole the top positions from the championship contenders. Ty Gibbs returned to the West Series after winning the season-opener, bookending the season with Phoenix victories as he led every lap. The highest-finishing championship contender was Moore in tenth, followed by Drew in eleventh.

As Drew crossed the start-finish line, it appeared that he would win the championship by one point, as Love had begun the final lap of the race in fifteenth place. Drew entered the race three points behind Love, and, with a four-point swing, appeared set to take the title away from Love. However, on the final lap, Drew’s teammate Huddleston appeared to lift off the throttle, allowing Love a path around him for fourteenth. With the points tied, Love’s two race wins gave him the tiebreaker over Drew’s zero, allowing the Bill McAnally Racing driver to defend his 2020 championship.

The last-minute swing in deciding the title reminded some fans of the 2008 Formula 1 Brazilian Grand Prix, in which Lewis Hamilton won the championship by a single point after passing Timo Glock for fifth place on the last lap, stealing the title from race winner Felipe Massa.

For BMR, the championship was the team’s eleventh in West Series history, as well as their third in a row and sixth in the last seven seasons. While his 2022 plans are not yet set in stone, Love intends on running as many ARCA races as possible with Toyota.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

34) #31-Paul Pedroncelli / 2 laps / brakes

33) #78-Travis Milburn / 43 laps / transmission

32) #4-Eric Nascimento / 65 laps / crash

31) #21-Josh Fanopolous / 77 laps / crash

30) #08-Caleb Costner / 86 laps / running

2021 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES WEST MANUFACTURERS CHAMPIONSHIP - FINAL

1st) Chevrolet (8)

2nd) Toyota (1)

3rd) Ford (0)

2021 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES WEST OWNERS CHAMPIONSHIP - FINAL

1st) Pedroncelli Racing (5)

2nd) Young’s Motorsports, Rodd Racing, Kart Idaho Racing, Performance P-1 Motorsports (1)

2021 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES WEST DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP - FINAL

CUP: Early crash means early offseason for Bubba Wallace; Joey Gase secures LASTCAR championship

PHOTO: Brock Beard

Bubba Wallace picked up the 2nd last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career in Sunday’s Cup Series Championship Race at the Phoenix Raceway when his #23 Door Dash Toyota was involved in a two-car accident after 5 of 312 laps.

The finish, which came in Wallace’s 148th series start, was his first of the season and first since June 3, 2018 at Pocono, 130 races ago. In the Cup Series last-place rankings, it was the 37th for the #23, the 173rd for Toyota, and the 624th from a crash. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 69th for the #23, the 368th for Toyota, and the 1,280th from a crash.

Coming into this season, there was no Cup Series team more anticipated than 23XI Racing, co-founded by Denny Hamlin and NBA legend Michael Jordan. Combined with the Toyota Racing Development backing from the shuttered Leavine Family Racing and the Charter from the closed Germain Racing was Bubba Wallace, who parted ways with Richard Petty Motorsports after three full seasons. The team’s sponsorship spots were quickly filled with McDonald’s, Columbia Sportswear, Dr. Pepper, Root Insurance, and Door Dash.

Expectations soared during SpeedWeeks, where Wallace made a bid for the lead in his qualifying race and was among the leaders on the final lap of the Daytona 500 before he was collected in the final-lap pileup entering Turn 3. Driver and team continued to excel on the superspeedways, leading 16 laps in the spring race at Talladega and finishing runner-up for the Playoff cutoff race in Daytona after the disqualification of 2nd-place Chris Buescher. Then came the season’s biggest moment in October’s return to Talladega, where Wallace fought his way to the lead with rain approaching. When the race was called, Wallace’s maiden victory was one of several firsts: the first for sponsor McDonald’s since 1994, the first for longtime crew chief Robert “Bootie” Barker, and the first for an African-American Cup driver since Hall of Fame owner-driver Wendell Scott in 1963.

Other than Talladega, arguably the second-best overall race for 23XI took place at Phoenix in March. With then-crew chief Mike Wheeler, Wallace led four laps and raced up to 7th and passed Kevin Harvick during the final stage. It was Wheeler’s gamble to stay out on old tires that dropped the #23 back in the order, though they still managed to salvage a 16th-place finish. While out of the championship hunt for his return to Phoenix, there was the possibility of another strong run to close out the year.

Wallace began the Phoenix weekend with the 13th-fastest time among the 39 entrants in Friday’s lone practice session, clocking in at 133.615mph (26.943 seconds). He improved to a 135.008mph lap (26.665), but the rest of the field also picked up speed, leaving him 25th in the starting lineup.

Wallace after colliding with the wall.
PHOTO: Dominic Aragon, TheRacingExperts.com

Taking 39th and last was Timmy Hill, the only driver to not take time in qualifying. In this final race for NASCAR’s “Gen-6” chassis, Motorsports Business Management entered two Cup cars, putting newly crowned 2021 LASTCAR XFINITY Series Champion David Starr in the #13 Bob Menery / Ripper Magoo Toyota and defending LASTCAR Cup Series Champion Hill in the #66 Coble Enterprise / Darn Transport Toyota.

Hill’s chassis was the same one which struggled with various mechanical issues at Nashville, Las Vegas, and Kansas. While Starr qualified 36th ahead of the Rick Ware Racing entries of Josh Bilicki and Garrett Smithley, Hill had incurred a pre-race tail-end penalty for unapproved adjustments and elected not to turn a lap. While the session was ongoing, the #66 was on jack stands in its garage stall, the right-front wheel removed. When Hill’s XFINITY entry for MBM failed to make Saturday’s race (where Starr again qualified), Sunday would be Hill’s only start of the weekend. 

The only other driver sent to the rear before the race - also for unapproved adjustments - was Josh Bilicki, a loss of just two spots from his scheduled 37th-place spot in the #52 Boom Mobile Ford. But during the pace laps, it was both Hill and 34th-place Joey Gase in the #53 Donate Life Arizona Chevrolet that dropped to the back, likely after indexing their wheels. The two sped to catch up to the tail of the field, and Hill was again last as they came down pit road to check their speeds. 

When the race started, Hill remained in last place, about one car length behind the field, and Starr fell to 38th soon after. Through Lap 5, Hill was losing even more ground, around two seconds back of the next car in line when his spotter told him to go low in Turns 3 and 4. Entering the corner, Wallace was racing on the outside of a three-wide battle with Corey LaJoie’s #7 Schluter Systems Chevrolet on his left-rear wheel, and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.’s #47 Honey Nut Cheerios Chevrolet closing behind LaJoie. Heading into the corner, Stenhouse appeared to get in the back of LaJoie, sending him skating up the track into Wallace, who spun and backed hard into the outside wall. Wallace’s car stopped on the apron, and the driver climbed out, done for the day. “She was rolling,” said someone on Wallace’s channel.

Wallace’s car was towed to the garage through the entrance by the dogleg, and reached the hauler on Lap 15. The rear clip was pushed down, and the left-rear tire was flat. On Lap 24, team PR confirmed with me that Wallace had left the track after he was checked and released from the infield care center. Marty Snider at NBC had been first to the hauler, but left after he was apparently told the same. NASCAR confirmed Wallace was out on Lap 25, though the first radio message was cut off. Around this time, Wallace tweeted "Off season" with a twin beer glass emoji.

Wallace towed to the garage.
PHOTO: LASTBRO

On Lap 39, as the 23XI crew cut away the rear of Wallace’s car and prepared to load up, Timmy Hill’s car passed by and pulled into his garage stall. Hill had continued to struggle for speed, falling off the lead lap, citing a serious tight condition. The crew brought out the jack stands and looked under the passenger side, then prepared to return to the race for another run on Lap 61. Hill’s starter failed, and he needed a push-start to get rolling again, which he did on Lap 67. Now 33 laps down, Hill reported his car was even tighter than before, believing they’d have to park if the race stayed green. The team planned to turn three rounds in the track bar, but on Lap 91, Hill reported he was coming back to the garage. He pulled behind the wall, and on Lap 98 was declared out by NASCAR.

Finishing 37th was Quin Houff, in what was the 164th and final Cup start for StarCom Racing. Houff, the defending last-place finisher of the race, drove the #00 Creek Enterprises Chevrolet, a car repaired from Texas. The Martinsville car – sponsored by Sim Seats – was also repaired following Houff’s tangle with Josh Bilicki, and would remain on the hauler as the backup. In the race, Houff lost at least four laps early, then on Lap 129 blew a right-front tire, sending him into the Turn 4 wall. The car was behind the wall soon after, and Derrike and Elyshia Cope left the track while the team finished loading.

Two more single-car accidents eliminated Stenhouse and the #14 HighPoint.com Ford of Chase Briscoe, completing the Bottom Five.

Joey Gase – 2021 LASTCAR Cup Series Champion

With Wallace’s last-place finish, Joey Gase secured the 2021 LASTCAR Cup Series Championship, prevailing in a four-way tie for the lead with fellow three-time last-place finishers Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Aric Almirola, and Kurt Busch. Gase completed the season with eight Bottom Fives, coming ahead of Stenhouse, Almirola, and Busch’s four. Gase never led the standings until just last week, when he finished last at Martinsville. At Phoenix, he finished the race under power, nine laps down in 29th, second of the four Rick Ware Racing entries. This was Gase’s best finish since last month in Talladega, when he ran 25th.

Gase also happens to be the most recent driver to finish last in the #23 during a Cup race before Wallace on Sunday, which occurred at Darlington on September 2, 2018.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This was the first last-place finish for 23XI Racing, and the first for the #23 in a Cup race at Phoenix.

*Wallace’s five completed laps set a new record for fewest by a last-place finisher of a Cup race at Phoenix. The previous record was set on November 15, 2009, when Tony Raines ran 6 laps before electrical issues on his #37 Long John Silver’s Dodge for Front Row Motorsports. 

THE BOTTOM FIVE

39) #23-Bubba Wallace / 5 laps / crash

38) #66-Timmy Hill / 57 laps / handling

37) #00-Quin Houff / 122 laps / crash

36) #47-Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. / 140 laps / crash

35) #14-Chase Briscoe / 153 laps / crash

2021 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP - FINAL

1st) Rick Ware Racing (7)

2nd) JTG-Daugherty Racing, Motorsports Business Management, Spire Motorsports, Stewart-Haas Racing (4)

3rd) Chip Ganassi Racing, Roush-Fenway Racing (3)

4th) Front Row Motorsports (2)

5th) 23XI Racing, Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, StarCom Racing (1)

2021 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP - FINAL

1st) Chevrolet (19)

2nd) Ford (11)

3rd) Toyota (6)

2021 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP - FINAL

XFINITY: Last-place battle turns into a confrontation after Jeffrey Earnhardt and Joe Graf, Jr. crash out early in Phoenix finale

ALL PHOTOS: Brock Beard

Jeffrey Earnhardt picked up the 4th last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career in Saturday’s XFINITY Series Championship Race at the Phoenix Raceway when his #0 Forever Lawn Chevrolet crashed after 57 of 204 laps.

The finish, which came in Earnhardt’s 131st series start, was his first of the season and first since July 4, 2020 at the Indianapolis Grand Prix Circuit, 53 races ago. In the XFINITY Series last-place rankings, it was the 22nd for the #0, the 359th from a crash, and the 585th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 90th for the #0, the 1,279th from a crash, and the 1,818th for Chevrolet.

Late last year, artificial turf company Forever Lawn signed with Jeffrey Earnhardt and Johnny Davis’ #0 team. The “Black-And-Green Grass Machine” debuted with a 33rd-place finish in Las Vegas, the first round of a three-race deal that expanded to most of the 2021 campaign. Despite a more stable amount of sponsorship, it’s remained a struggle for both Earnhardt and team. His best finish of the year was an 18th at Dover, where he came home two laps down, and three DNQs with five DNFs – four due to accidents – left him a distant 25th in the standings heading into the finale. 

With 42 drivers entered to attempt a 36-car field, the return of qualifying presented another challenge for smaller teams to even take the green flag. Earnhardt ran a solid 24th in the lone practice session with a lap of 127.231mph (28.295 seconds), and while he picked up in qualifying with a best of 128.374mph (28.043), he was in danger of missing the show. The last qualifier of the day was Harrison Burton, whose Joe Gibbs Racing-backed #20 Dex Imaging Toyota was sure to knock Earnhardt out of the field. But Burton had been penalized for a tire-related infraction in pre-race inspection, handing him a tail-end penalty for the start. Following this, Burton put up the slowest lap by far at 114.851mph (31.345 seconds), around three seconds off the pace, which locked Earnhardt into the race.

The six teams who missed the show were Landon Cassill in the #4 Voyager Chevrolet, Stephen Leicht in the #13 Jani-King / Sharelife Vacations Toyota, the #90 Mini Doge Chevrolet of Spencer Boyd, the #61 Coble Enterprises Toyota of Timmy Hill, Joey Gase in Jimmy Means’ nearly undecorated #52 Donate Life Texas Chevrolet, and Ryan Ellis in the #74 Beard Vet Coffee Chevrolet. Ellis had been swapped in for Gray Gaulding on Tuesday or Wednesday, thus eliminating Gaulding from contention in the 2021 LASTCAR XFINITY Series Championship. While Ellis and team struggled to find speed, three veteran representatives of Beard Vet Coffee still filmed multiple promotional videos with the car and took turns sitting in the driver’s seat.

When the field rolled off during the pace laps, two other drivers incurred pre-race penalties along with Harrison Burton. J.J. Yeley had wrecked in opening practice after an apparent brake failure, destroying the right side of his #07 Firman Power Equipment Chevrolet. With several representatives of the sponsor at the track, Yeley and the SS-Green Light Racing crew prepared the backup, which was the car Yeley ran 16th with last week in Martinsville. New number and sponsor decals were applied, changing it from the #17 to the #07, and Yeley put the car in the field, taking 29th.

Also sent to the back was LASTCAR Championship leader David Starr in the #66 Whataburger Toyota. Starr nearly joined his two Motorsports Business Management teammates after a litany of problems, starting with ignition trouble in the qualifying line that put them on the 5-minute clock. Then the tachometer broke off the dash, and when team owner Carl Long reached in to reattach it, NASCAR deemed that repair an unapproved adjustment, incurring the penalty. Despite the distraction, Starr pulled onto the track and on his first timed lap locked himself in, taking 27th on the grid. 

The early laps of Saturday’s race featured a competitive battle for the 36th spot. Burton started in the final row on Yeley’s inside, but by the backstretch on Lap 1, the two were locked in a three-wide battle with Joe Graf, Jr. in the #17 Model Electronics Chevrolet. Graf and Yeley pulled past Starr by Lap 2, when Burton tried to get under the #66 entering Turn 3. Burton completed the pass the next time by, but Starr was now bearing down on Graf for 35th. 

Starr pulled to the outside of Graf on Lap 5 and passed both he and Ryan Vargas in the #6 Swann Communications Chevrolet. Once Starr passed Vargas, the #6 fell into the clutches of Graf, who passed Vargas on Lap 8. Graf then pulled away from Vargas as Starr began to climb through the field, catching and passing Tommy Joe Martins in the #44 AAN Adjusters Chevrolet. Saturday would be the final race the #44 ran under the Martins Motorsports banner before its 2022 reorganization into Alpha Prime Racing. Despite an unscheduled stop with eight laps to go while running 20th, Martins managed to finish 24th.

Back on Lap 13, Martins was running back in the pack, trying to pass Matt Mills into Turn 3 in a race for 34th with Graf and Vargas trailing them both. Vargas reeled in Graf on the 15th circuit and tried to make a move into Turn 3, but Graf held him off. It wasn’t until Lap 16 that Jeffrey Earnhardt entered the battle as Graf caught him in a new race for 34th. First Graf, then Vargas passed Earnhardt, who took over the spot on Lap 17. Vargas opened the gap over Earnhardt by the 19th lap, and race leader Austin Cindric lapped Earnhardt the next time by, followed soon by Vargas. Now buried in lead-lap traffic, Vargas again opened up the advantage on Earnhardt, growing to a second by Lap 27. Vargas, meanwhile, caught new 34th-place runner Matt Mills on Lap 42. With Stage 1 running caution-free, Earnhardt was about to be lapped a second time just before the Lap 45 yellow, but managed to stay in front of the leaders. 

Under the Stage 1 caution, LASTCAR contender Bayley Currey took over last on Lap 49 following his pit stop in the #15 KSDT CPA Chevrolet. During the same caution, Graf was running a few spots up, but started to slow down the backstretch, dropping to the tail end of the line and taking over last by the Lap 52 restart. 

Earnhardt (far right) waiting for Graf after
Graf's car (far left) was towed to the garage.
(CLICK TO ENLARGE)

Back under green, Mills nearly wrecked during another three-wide battle into Turn 3. While catching his car, Mills dropped to the last car in line, but was still ranked ahead of Graf. Graf then dropped Vargas to last again on Lap 56. He was still classified last on Lap 60, when Earnhardt spun halfway down the backstretch and nosed into the inside wall, drawing the second caution of the night and first for an incident. Earnhardt climbed from his car, done for the night, and took over last place soon after. Earnhardt’s car was towed rather quickly to the garage by Lap 70, where it was parked perpendicular to the JD Motorsports hauler near the second garage entrance. Both front fenders were pushed in and the left-rear tire was flat. The driver returned from the infield care center, followed by several supporters wearing Forever Lawn t-shirts, and I asked the driver what happened.

“Just racing around Joe Graf. Been going on all year,” he said. “You can buy equipment, but you can't buy talent. He can't race like an idiot. I mean, we shouldn't have been back there racing around him - we should have been a little better than that anyway. But it's just unfortunate for the Forever Lawn guys. We wanted to end the season strong and all the guys at JD Motorsports worked real hard. Just a kid who has no respect for anyone else, but himself.”

I asked if other drivers were racing too aggressively. “I mean, everyone's racing hard - it's the last race of the season. We all want to run good - I get it. But we're racing for, like, 30th, I don't know. Joe Graf's always a problem on the track just about any time we're racing with him. But everyone's just hungry, wants to have a good finish. And unfortunately, we got caught up in Joe Graf's mess.”

As fate would have it, Graf would be involved in a second accident, tangling with Sage Karam’s #31 Montage Mountain Chevrolet in Turns 1 and 2 on Lap 99. Graf’s car suffered serious damage to both ends, also done for the day, and arrived in the garage area on Lap 104. Graf’s hauler was just three away from Earnhardt’s, but the tow truck actually dropped the #17 well within sight of the #0 hauler. Thus, when Graf returned from the infield care center to examine his car, it only took Earnhardt a few steps to confront him. 

After the two exchanged words, I asked Graf what was discussed. “I don't know - he's (Earnhardt’s) just upset racing three-wide off Turn 2 there. I thought him and the 47 (Kyle Weatherman) got into it, he came down and wasn't clear, but I don't know, just hard racing three wide off of two at Phoenix.”

I also asked Graf about Earnhardt’s claim it was an ongoing problem. “I don't know why that would be an ongoing thing. I know we had words last year at some point. I thought we moved on from that and everything was good. I certainly didn't mean to wreck him. I have no problem with Jeffrey. I think we usually race pretty good - he might have other ideas, but it is what it is. Move on to next season.”

I then asked Earnhardt what he thought of Graf’s response. “The kid didn't even know he wrecked me. That's how bad he is. He's so bad, he don't even know he's screwed up. Like I said, daddy can keep buying him all the equipment he wants, but can't buy talent. He'll always suck and never realize how bad he is.”

Earnhardt and Graf finished 36th and 35th, respectively. Taking 34th was Stefan Parsons, whose #99 Rich Mar Florist / Springrates Chevrolet was towed to the garage after the engine let go. Jade Buford took 33rd when his early spin in the #48 Big Machine Spiked Coolers Chevrolet was followed by a late-race tangle with Josh Williams in the #92 Josh Williams Hospital Tour Chevrolet. Williams had significant damage to the passenger side of his car and was also eliminated, leaving him 32nd. 

Daniel Hemric shatters “oh-fer” streak in most dramatic way possible

The race – and championship – was won by Daniel Hemric, who after 208 combined Cup, XFINITY, and Truck Series starts without a single win broke through in dramatic fashion, prevailing in a bumper-banging photo finish with defending series champion Austin Cindric. Hemric’s two last-place finishes – one each in Cup and XFINITY – pale in comparison to his 10 runner-up finishes in XFINITY alone. Congratulations to Hemric on his victory.

David Starr clinches 2021 LASTCAR XFINITY Series Championship

Earnhardt’s last-place finish locked up the 2021 LASTCAR XFINITY Series Championship for David Starr, the only driver with three last-place runs this season. After briefly holding last place in the early laps, Starr began a determined march up to 21st at the finish, crossing the line on the lead lap. I caught up with Starr after the race.

“The most important part for us would have been to make the race - that was important,” he said. “And so that's really what we worked on yesterday in practice. We made about four or five runs and had the wrong air pressures in the tires. Then Carl put more camber in the right front for two laps to make it cut better in the center of the corner. So qualifying, the car would cut, and you'd get back to the gas quicker. Unfortunately, for the race, when the race started, when you lean that tire in and put more camber in, it wears out the inside of the tire. So as you run, the car gets worse. And usually when you run, you want the car to get better. So we were dealing with cording the right-front really bad. And they went to working on the race car from a handling standpoint. And they just kept working and working him and we just kept digging. You know, 21st is not what we want, but. . .the guys did a great job trying to put what we needed in the car to make it a long run car.”

Starr also commented on the challenges he and his team have faced this year, particularly with mechanical issues.

“That's one of the things I really tell my team to work hard on because mechanical failures - you've got to pay attention to the details. Losing engines and stuff like that. You're not a powerhouse team, you don't have all the money in the world, but you still gotta focus on details and watch everything. I'm okay finishing 16th, 15th, 17th, 19th, 20th - I'm okay with that as long as we've maxed out everything we had. When we finish in last, that hurts my feelings. That's what I don't like. It's just the circumstances. It's not what we work every day for but I'll take it.”

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This marked Earnhardt’s second last-place finish in a XFINITY race at Phoenix, following a November 8, 2014 race where, while also driving for Johnny Davis, his #4 JD Motorsports Chevrolet lost the engine on the opening lap of the DAV 200 Honoring America’s Veterans.

*This marked the first last-place run for the #0 in a XFINITY Series race since August 27, 2016, when Garrett Smithley crashed after 2 laps of the Road America 180 at Road America. The number had never before finished last in a XFINITY race at Phoenix.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

36) #0-Jeffrey Earnhardt / 57 laps / crash

35) #17-Joe Graf, Jr. / 97 laps / crash

34) #99-Stefan Parsons / 123 laps / engine

33) #48-Jade Buford / 193 laps / crash

32) #92-Josh Williams / 194 laps / crash

2021 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP - FINAL

1st) B.J. McLeod Motorsports (5)

2nd) Mike Harmon Racing (4) 

3rd) JD Motorsports, Motorsports Business Management (3)

4th) DGM Racing, Jimmy Means Racing, Joe Gibbs Racing, JR Motorsports, Our Motorsports, RSS Racing / Reaume Brothers Racing (2)

5th) Brandonbilt Motorsports, Martins Motorsports / Alpha Prime Racing, Sam Hunt Racing, Rick Ware Racing / SS-Green Light Racing, SS-Green Light Racing, Stewart-Haas Racing (1)

2021 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP - FINAL

1st) Chevrolet (24)

2nd) Toyota (8)

3rd) Ford (1)

2021 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP - FINAL