PREVIEW: Atlanta weekend begins with multiple drivers making their first Truck start of the season

PHOTO: @TRICONGarage

by Brock Beard

LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief

Saturday, March 18, 2023 (2:00 P.M. ET, FS1)

TRUCKS Race 3 of 23

Fr8 208 at Atlanta

2022 Last-Place Finisher: Hailie Deegan

ENTRY LIST

There are 36 drivers entered for as many spots in the Truck Series field as they kick off a Saturday double-header on the Atlanta superspeedway.

DRIVER CHANGE: #1-Tricon Garage

On Wednesday, it was revealed that Layne Riggs would make his series debut, replacing 17th-place Las Vegas finisher Kaz Grala. This will be just the fourth start of Riggs’ career following a successful three-race stint in the second Halmar Friesen Racing entry last year, when he finished no worse than 19th after a sterling 7th-place debut at IRP.

DRIVER CHANGE: #20-Young’s Motorsports

After his XFINITY Series debut at Las Vegas came up short, Maggio returns to the Truck Series for his own 2023 debut, following a four-race stint for the Reaume Brothers where he ran no better than 27th, which was his series debut at Gateway. This time, Maggio drives Randy Young’s #20 entry, taking the place of 26th-place Vegas finisher Matt Mills.

DRIVER SWAP: #22-AM Racing

DRIVER CHANGE: #34-Reaume Brothers Racing

As with Tricon’s #1, the driver for the Reaume effort’s #34 wasn’t announced until midweek with Keith McGee returning to the Truck Series for the first time since last November’s Phoenix finale, where he and Armani Williams tangled in an early wreck. McGee takes the place of Josh Reaume himself, who moves back to the #22 for the first time since Daytona. Max Gutierrez is not entered after his emotional 21st-place return in Vegas.

RETURNING: #30-On Point Motorsports

For weeks, Ryan Vargas has been counting down to this, his first-ever Truck Series start, and has since changed his points declaration from XFINITY to Truck Series for 2023. With returning sponsorship from Leargas Security, who backed his XFINITY effort with CHK Racing at Daytona, Vargas will pilot the On Point effort, which we last saw in this year’s Daytona opener. That night, Chris Hacker finished 25th.

DRIVER CHANGE: #41-Niece Motorsports

Joining Vargas in the move from the XFINITY Series is Bayley Currey, who this week parted ways with JD Motorsports’ #4 team (see below). While Currey’s future plans are still coming together, he had already landed this ride in a fast Al Niece Chevrolet with Unishippers as sponsor. While Currey is still another driver making his first Truck Series start of the season, this is his 34th series start overall. Last year, he made three starts in Niece’s #44 with a season-best 15th at Bristol.

DRIVER CHANGE: #46-G2G Racing

In just 13 career Truck Series starts, Akinori Ogata has made more starts at Atlanta and Phoenix than any other track with three apiece. He breaks the tie this week with G2G Racing, taking the place of 33rd-place Vegas finisher Brennan Poole in the #46 Kyowa-Eidemiller Precision Toyota. Ogata is still another driver making his first Truck start of the season. His last in the division came last spring in Darlington, where he and Poole traded last place for much of the night.

DRIVER CHANGE: #51-Kyle Busch Motorsports

Following his win in the Truck Series race in Vegas, Kyle Busch will not run this week, and hands the wheel back to Jack Wood. Wood looks to bounce back from a disappointing run in Daytona where he finished 27th after a 3rd-place qualifying run.

CUP INVADERS: None

Saturday, March 18, 2023 (5:00 P.M. ET, FS1)

XFINITY Race 5 of 33

Raptor King of Tough 250 at Atlanta

2022 Last-Place Finisher: Jade Buford

ENTRY LIST

There are 39 drivers entered for 38 spots, meaning one will fail to qualify.

DRIVER SWAP: #4-JD Motorsports

DRIVER CHANGE: #91-DGM Racing

STILL MISSING: #99-B.J. McLeod Motorsports

On Monday came news that Bayley Currey had parted ways with JD Motorsports, putting Garrett Smithley into the #4 car for 14 races. It’s a reunion for Smithley, who drove JDM’s #0 entry nearly full-time from 2016 through 2019. This switch came after a report at Phoenix that Smithley had agreed to drive more races for DGM Racing, whose #91 team he joined last week in place of Josh Bilicki. That #91 will be driven this week by Chad Chastain with Protect Your Melon as sponsor. Speaking of Smithley, the #99 entry he ran at Las Vegas is not entered this week after it was withdrawn for Phoenix.

DRIVER CHANGE: #10-Kaulig Racing

Kyle Busch is likewise not running Saturday’s XFINITY race following a 9th after a last-lap near-spin in Phoenix, but another Cup driver will in Kaulig Racing’s own Justin Haley. This will be Haley’s first XFINITY start on the reconfigured Atlanta track, where he ran a strong 11th and 7th in last year’s two Cup races.

NEW TEAM / WITHDREW: #42-Alpha Prime Racing

DRIVER CHANGE: #66-Motorsports Business Management

A planned fourth Alpha Prime Chevrolet for Caesar Bacarella was revealed as the #66 – not the #42 that had already been withdrawn on Monday. This would put Bacarella in place of Timmy Hill, who had been entered in MBM’s #66 Ford after his substitution for Brian Weber in Phoenix. Bacarella himself had most recently entered this year’s Daytona opener, but he was sidelined by illness and replaced by Stefan Parsons. Bacarella’s pink-and-yellow machine is sponsored by Prime Bites Protein Brownies.

DRIVER CHANGE: #45-Alpha Prime Racing

Rejoining the Alpha Prime team for the first time since last fall’s run on the Charlotte “Roval” is open-wheeler Sage Karam. It was in this race last year that Karam finished fifth in Stage 2 before a late-race wreck dropped him to 32nd in the running order. This week, he takes the place of Leland Honeyman, whose double-duty effort with ARCA in Phoenix yielded a 27th-place showing.

CUP INVADERS: #10-Justin Haley

Sunday, March 19, 2023 (3:00 P.M. ET, FOX)

CUP Race 5 of 36

Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta

2022 Last-Place Finisher: Noah Gragson

ENTRY LIST

There are 36 drivers entered for 40 spots in Sunday’s Cup field, marking the fourth consecutive short field in five races this season.

DRIVER CHANGE: #15-Rick Ware Racing

DRIVER SWAP: #38-Front Row Motorsports

Following Zane Smith’s 31st-place finish in FRM’ #38 entry, one spot ahead of Todd Gilliland in RWR’s #15, Gilliland returns to the #38. This opens the #15 for a returning J.J. Yeley, who finished 33rd his last time out in Las Vegas.

TODAY IN LASTCAR HISTORY (March 16, 1997): Ed Spencer III picked up the first last-place finish of his NASCAR Busch Grand National Series career in the Las Vegas 300 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway when his #2 Zippo Chevrolet had transmission issues after 2 laps. This was the fifth of six series starts for Spencer, son of Cup veteran Jimmy Spencer.

ARCA: Power steering sidelines Monroe in West Series’ lone combo race

PHOTO: Christian, @TheLowkeyGenius

by Ben Schneider

LASTCAR.info Staff Writer

Tim Monroe finished last for the 4th time in his ARCA Menards Series career (as well as the first time in his ARCA Menards Series West career) in Friday’s General Tire 150 at Phoenix Raceway when his No. 10 Fast Track Racing Ford fell out with power steering issues after completing 23 of 160 laps.

The finish came in Monroe’s 20th career ARCA start.

Debuting in the series in 2020, Monroe ran more than half of the 2022 ARCA Menards Series season, making 13 starts for Fast Track and one for Ryan Huff’s No. 36 team. While most of Monroe’s starts have consisted of “start-and-park” entries, he did score a strong seventh-place finish on the lead lap at DuQuoin last season to go with an eighth and a sixth at Springfield and DuQuoin respectively in 2021. His first last-place finish in ARCA came at Lebanon in 2020, followed by two more at Talladega and at Indianapolis Raceway Park in 2022.

In all, 32 cars appeared on the initial entry list for Phoenix, though only 31 ended up taking part in the race. The lone DNS from Phoenix was Monroe’s Fast Track teammate Bryce Haugeberg. Haugeberg’s No. 11 Ford placed 26th in practice with a best lap of 30.662 seconds; however, he contacted the wall after losing the rear end in Turn 4, damaging his car beyond repair. Because Haugeberg did not take the green flag, Monroe will be credited with this week’s last-place finish just as Hunter Deshautelle was at Daytona after Andrés Pérez de Lara’s DNS.

In qualifying, 28 of the 31 remaining cars recorded a lap time, the slowest of which was Brad Smith, whose No. 48 Copraya.com Ford clocked in at 32.553 seconds. Monroe ended up one row ahead of Smith on the grid, placing 26th on the timing charts with a time of 31.880 seconds.

Several minor incidents slowed the pace early on, including spins for Frankie Muniz, Tyler Reif, and A.J. Moyer, all of whom were able to continue in the race with minimal - if any - damage. After completing 23 laps, Monroe pulled behind the wall to become the race’s first retirement, followed by Brad Smith and R.J. Smotherman, who each completed 26 circuits before falling out with clutch and drivetrain issues respectively. Rounding out the Bottom Five were Jack Wood and Jesse Love, who were taken out in an accident involving Love’s Venturini Motorsports teammate Conner Jones, who was able to continue on and finish seventh.

On a more serious note, driver D.L. Wilson, driving a third Fast Track Racing car, would also encounter misfortune towards the end of the race when he was caught up in a crash involving Christian Rose. Entering Turn 3 on Lap 147, Leland Honeyman Jr. sent Toni Breidinger up the track and into the wall. As the pack looked to avoid Breidinger, Rose hit Wilson, sending them both into the barrier. Wilson sustained a sternum injury in the crash as well as three broken ribs and a concussion. Per team owner Andy Hillenburg on Twitter, he was released from the hospital Sunday evening and is expected to make a full recovery.

At the front of the field, 16-year-old Joe Gibbs Racing development driver William Sawalich took pole position in his ARCA debut, but a spin on a late-race restart denied him of the win. It was 15-year-old Tyler Reif who capitalized on this opportunity, recovering from his own spin earlier in the race to pass Landen Lewis on the final lap. The younger brother of two-time ARCA West race winner Tanner Reif, Tyler’s victory came in only his third career ARCA West start and his first under ARCA’s national tour.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

31) #11-Tim Monroe / 23 laps / power steering

30) #48-Brad Smith / 26 laps / clutch

29) #46-R.J. Smotherman / 26 laps / drivetrain

28) #6-Jack Wood / 80 laps / crash

27) #20-Jesse Love / 83 laps / crash

2023 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES MANUFACTURERS CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet, Ford (1)

2023 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES OWNERS CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Brother-in-Law Motorsports, Fast Track Racing (1)

2023 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP

2023 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES WEST MANUFACTURERS CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Ford (1)

2023 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES WEST OWNERS CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Fast Track Racing (1)

2023 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES WEST DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP

CUP: Handling issues and a faulty fuel pump shorten B.J. McLeod’s race at Phoenix

PHOTO: Jonathan Fjeld, @Jonathan_Fjeld

by Brock Beard

LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief

B.J. McLeod picked up the 10th last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career in Sunday’s United Rentals Work United 500 at Phoenix Raceway when his #78 Superior Logistics Services Chevrolet fell out with fuel pump issues after 50 of 317 laps.

The finish, which came in McLeod’s 118th series start, was his first of the season and first in a Cup Series points race since July 17, 2022 at Loudon, 20 races ago. In the Cup Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 20th for the fuel pump, the 31st for the #78, and the 833rd for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 34th for the fuel pump, the 46th for the #78, and the 1,874th for Chevrolet.

After a difficult 2022 campaign where McLeod secured the LASTCAR Cup Series Championship, his Live Fast Motorsports team has made the manufacturer change from Ford to Chevrolet and continue to seek improvement. As discussed in our interview at Fontana, after fighting a suspension issue in the Clash at the Coliseum, his Daytona 500 entry showed impressive speed. In qualifying, his lone entry ranked ahead of both rivals at Rick Ware Racing and the duo at Spire Motorsports. But in the race, a fuel pump failure sent him behind the wall for several laps, limiting him to a 30th-place finish. He improved at Fontana, running on the lead lap until the final moments to take 24th, then ran 32nd last week in Las Vegas. All three times he finished under power.

McLeod's car being pushed to the garage.
IMAGE: NASCAR Drive

For Phoenix, McLeod welcomed back sponsorship from Superior Logistics Services, marking the third time since 2021 the company had backed his #78. The race also marked the debut of NASCAR’s new short track and road course aero package, featuring fewer flanges on the rear diffuser and a two-inch rear spoiler. With this package, McLeod began the race weekend with the slowest lap of the 36 entrants in practice, though the field was so close that he was just 0.052 off the next-slowest car of Cody Ware in the #51 Biohaven / Jacob Companies Ford. McLeod and Ware were also slowest in their respective qualifying groups with McLeod timing in at 127.687mph (28.194 seconds) during Group B. This ranked McLeod 33rd and Ware last, the two split by Zane Smith in the #38 Wellcare Ford and Ty Dillon in the #77 Mutoh Chevrolet. 

On race day, Smith’s #38 was the only car to incur a pre-race penalty, his for unapproved adjustments. As the field approached the line, Smith was behind Ty Dillon on the inside line with Ware holding the last spot in the high lane. As the green flag dropped, Ware got a massive run up high, passing Dillon and pulling to McLeod’s high side through Turns 1 and 2, forming a three-wide battle with Dillon in the low lane. Smith couldn’t find his way through, and took over last spot at the stripe, 3.92 seconds back of the lead. But by then, Smith had pulled alongside Dillon, the pair 0.080 apart at the stripe, and Smith reached 34th by Lap 4. By then, both Smith and Dillon had caught and passed McLeod, who was 6.148 back of the lead and 0.135 back of Dillon.

By Lap 6, Dillon had dropped Ware to 35th place, and McLeod locked onto his rear bumper through Turns 1 and 2. During this run, McLeod stayed in touch with Ware, but McLeod wasn’t happy with his car, saying on Lap 12 it was both free in and off the corner. On Lap 16, he said “Just so you know it’s doing that weird hopping shit it did at the Coliseum,” referencing the strange suspension issue diagnosed at the shop. Three circuits later, both Ware and McLeod had dropped 1.412 seconds back of 34th place, then held by Todd Gilliland in the second Rick Ware Racing entry, the #15 OTR Mobile Ford. The two were around three seconds back of the pack on Lap 29, when the leaders put both McLeod and Ware a lap down. 

McLeod's car stopped in the garage area.
IMAGE: NASCAR Drive

On Lap 39, McLeod pulled to Ware’s inside at the stripe, but Ware got another fast run up high to defend the 35th spot. The next time by, McLeod’s crew discussed making adjustments on their next stop, but the driver said “It’ll take more than one fucking stop” to fix it. By then, he’d nearly wrecked three times, and felt like something was wrong with the car’s balance. Then on Lap 53, McLeod lost fuel pressure. After letting several cars pull by, McLeod pulled to the apron and made it to pit road. He tried recycling the onboard computer, but the car wouldn’t re-fire. “Push it behind the wall,” he said. “No fuel pressure.” As the crew pushed the car backward to the nearest opening, the fuel pressure returned to 90 pounds, but the car still wouldn’t fire. Behind the wall on Lap 57, McLeod said he wouldn’t return to the track until the issue was resolved.

The Live Fast crew stopped McLeod’s car just behind pit wall in the XFINITY garage near Turn 3 and looked under the hood. “At this point, it’s probably just better to park it,” he said, “I just have no interest riding around 15 laps down.” He also said this appeared to be the same fuel pump issue he had from Daytona where it “works when it feels like it.” Unlike the fuel pump cable issues from the last two XFINITY races, the crew diagnosed this as an issue with the relay, and looked to get a replacement. But there remained the issue of the car’s handling, which the crew described as “evil” as it bounced on the rear shocks. On Lap 70, the crew replaced the fuel pump relay, but it still wouldn’t fire. “We’re done – we can’t get it to start,” said the team on Lap 75. McLeod climbed out, and on Lap 81, the car was pushed through the Cup garage to the hauler. The car arrived at the hauler on Lap 87, NASCAR declared him out on Lap 91, and the on-board camera was shut off by Lap 101.

McLeod's car arrives at the team's hauler.
IMAGE: NASCAR Drive

McLeod was the race’s only retiree, and even 35th-place wasn’t settled until the race’s final laps. With just ten laps to go, Harrison Burton’s #21 DEX Imaging Ford broke loose on the frontstretch and spun, either caused by or resulting in a shredded right-front tire. The race-altering caution ultimately pushed the finish toward a “green-white-checkered” finish, during which Burton slipped to 35th, one lap back of Ware. Aric Almirola took 33rd, his #10 Go Bowling Ford clearing the “Crash Clock” after a Lap 138 incident where the right-front rim failed and separated from the tire. Gilliland rounded out the Bottom Five, one lap ahead of Almirola.

Finishing a surprising 10th was Josh Berry, who was making just his second Cup start of the season as Chase Ellott’s relief driver. Just days after it was confirmed he would run the remaining oval races until Elliott’s return, Berry joined his three Hendrick Motorsports teammates in the Top Ten. Berry’s previous series-best was just 26th, which came with Spire Motorsports at Michigan in 2021.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This marked the first last-place finish for the #78 in a Cup race at Phoenix since November 13, 2016, when Martin Truex, Jr.’s #78 Furniture Row / Denver Mattress Toyota crashed after 258 laps. It was Truex’s third-straight election year where he’d finished last in that event.

*McLeod is the first last-place finisher of a Cup race at Phoenix to finish last due to the fuel pump.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

36) #78-B.J. McLeod / 50 laps / fuel pump

35) #21-Harrison Burton / 310 laps / running

34) #51-Cody Ware / 311 laps / running

33) #10-Aric Almirola / 313 laps / running

32) #15-Todd Gilliland / 314 laps / running

2023 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Kaulig Racing, Live Fast Motorsports, Penske Racing, Spire Motorsports (1)

2023 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet (3)

2nd) Ford (1)

2023 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

XFINITY: CHK Racing exhausts every option to keep Dawson Cram on track at Phoenix

PHOTO: Jonathan Fjeld, @Jonathan_Fjeld

by Brock Beard

LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief

Dawson Cram scored the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career in Saturday’s United Rentals 200 at the Phoenix Raceway when his #74 Lerner & Rowe Injury Lawyers Chevrolet fell out with fuel pump issues after 99 of 200 laps.

The finish came in Cram’s fourth series start. In the XFINITY Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 7th from fuel pump issues, the 16th for the #74, and the 611th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 33rd for the fuel pump, the 56th for the #74, and the 1,873rd for Chevrolet.

Dawson “DK” Cram from San Diego has been racing since he was five, and after scoring 13 wins in Bandoleros began his ascent into NASCAR’s top three ranks. He’s made occasional appearances since 2018, when the now 16-year-old Cram finished 17th in his Truck Series debut at Martinsville driving for Beaver Motorsports. He improved there the next year, taking 13th for Josh Reaume. During the tumultuous 2020 campaign, he and his family would ultimately enter their own truck under Cram Racing Enterprises, and the #41 made eight starts. This included a controversial incident in the Phoenix finale, where his spin coming to the white flag forced an overtime restart. The series title then slipped from Brett Moffitt’s grasp and was picked up by Sheldon Creed.

In 2021, Cram made his XFINITY Series debut for Mike Harmon Racing, taking home a 35th-place finish in Loudon.  He then made a pair of starts last year, taking 30th for Emerling-Gase Motorsports in the fall race at Darlington, then 31st in his return to Championship Weekend in Phoenix when he drove for Motorsports Business Management (MBM). In all three races, Cram finished under power, and in two of them was within four laps of the leader. This was not forgotten this past weekend, when Cram reunited with the Harmon team, now rebranded as Clayton Harmon Keller Racing, or CHK Racing. Coming into Phoenix, CHK’s #74 had yet to make a start with Ryan Vargas, though a combination of mechanical issues and cancelled qualifying sessions meant Las Vegas was Vargas’ only attempt.

Cram was one of 40 drivers entered to close out this year’s “West Coast Swing,” a list trimmed to 39 after B.J. McLeod Motorsports withdrew their #99 entry as Garrett Smithley took Josh Bilicki’s place in DGM Racing’s #91 DozerWinchParts.com Chevrolet. Needing to beat just one car to make the show, Cram impressed with the 26th-best lap in practice, then picked up another tenth in qualifying to secure 29th with a lap of 125.931mph (28.587 seconds). The lone team sent home was MBM, which hired Brian Weber to make his first XFINITY start since May 18, 2003 at Nazareth. When Weber’s #66 LastOptionBed.com Ford struggled for speed in practice, at one point bumped by John Hunter Nemechek, Timmy Hill took over. But the #66 was too tight in qualifying, and Hill came just short of making the show. Curiously, the car Hill drove was the very same one Cram qualified into last fall’s Phoenix race.

Starting 38th and last was Parker Kligerman, who was sent to a backup car after an incident in his #48 Big Machine Racing Spiked Coolers Chevrolet, preventing him from turning a qualifying lap. Kligerman incurred a redundant tail-end penalty along with Cup regular Kyle Busch, who for a second-straight race would run Kaulig Racing’s #10 LA Golf Chevrolet. This time around, Busch had an issue with the fuel regulator in practice, and the subsequent repairs prevented him from completing a lap in qualifying. Also docked for a pre-race penalty was 31st-place Jeffrey Earnhardt for unapproved adjustments on his #44 Gas POS / BZ Mart Chevrolet. Bayley Currey incurred no penalty for a Turn 1 incident on his qualifying lap which secured him 32nd in the #4 Mikes Weather Page / Firman Chevrolet.

After the command to fire engines on Saturday, Cram pulled his #74 into his pit stall for an issue that would soon plague the rest of his afternoon. He returned after the first pace lap, and NASCAR told him to pull into the high lane to make up the lap. Cram slotted into the final spot in line, and off Turn 2 coming to the green flag, Kyle Busch pulled to the inside line to join him. 

Cram returns to the track after his first fuel pump
cable was replaced.
PHOTO: Aaron Clay, @ABCracing54

When the race started, Busch pulled to the low line in a three-wide battle beneath Cram and Garrett Smithley’s #91. Busch bumped doors with Cram, who bounced off Smithley. Smithley dropped to last on Lap 2 with smoke coming off his car and a noticeable tire mark on the driver’s door. Smithley continued onward, and drew within one-tenth of Cram by Lap 5. On Lap 6, both Cram and Smithley passed Patrick Emerling, who for the first time took 38th in the #53 Sci Aps Chevrolet. Fighting a loose condition all around the track, Emerling quickly lost touch with the drivers ahead of him, falling 0.925 back of Smithley on Lap 8, then 1.385 on Lap 10.

On Lap 15, Cram pulled down pit road under green. “Push it to the garage,” said the CHK crew. “We can fix it.” As the crew pushed Cram behind the wall, NASCAR informed the team that Cram owed a penalty if he came back out for speeding in Section 1. After discussions about the camshaft and carburetor, the crew discovered the fuel pump cable had broken – the same issue that ultimately left Joey Gase last the previous round in Las Vegas. This led the CHK team to check with the Emerling-Gase Motorsports team for a replacement cable. The cable was found on Lap 34, and work began on Lap 37. Even though bolting on the cable required the use of a different-sized nut from an air cleaner, the crew managed to complete repairs by Lap 43, when Cram returned to the track 30 laps down. Cram remained on the apron as he came up to speed during the final two laps of Stage 1.

By Lap 47, the CHK crew confirmed Cram’s cable broke in exactly the same place as Gase’s in Las Vegas, which had been photographed by the team after the race. In the meantime, the crew kept their driver in the race.  “It's not over yet,” they said to Cram on Lap 51. “It's gonna get crazy. Now what, so what? We've got a lot of racing left to do.” Multiple cautions throughout the race meant Cram couldn’t serve his pass-through penalty for speeding in Section 1 back on Lap 15, so on Lap 53, he instead went to the tail end of the longest line. 

On the ensuing run, Cram showed consistent speed, running laps better than others in the Bottom Five. “We're better than the couple cars in front of us,” the team told Cram on Lap 70, “Just no sense in passing them.” That same lap saw Connor Mosack spin his #24 Toyota Racing Development Toyota during a tight battle with Riley Herbst, sending Mosack driver’s side first into the outside wall. Mosack’s crew managed to clear both fenders, keeping him on the lead lap, and soon cleared the “Crash Clock.” Also clearing the clock was Josh Williams, whose #92 Call 811 / Alloy Employer Chevrolet skid into the wall trying to avoid Mosack’s wreck.

Low attrition and frequent cautions allowed Cram to earn back a few of his laps with the Lucky Dog, bringing him from 30 laps down to only 27 on Lap 85. By then, Cram was suffering brake pedal fade, and reported he “lacked all right-side grip” and that it wouldn’t turn. This same caution – the second for a spin by Josh Berry – also saved new 37th-place runner John Hunter Nemechek in the #20 Safeway / Albertson’s Toyota. Following another similar incident from Las Vegas, Nemechek pulled to the apron just before the starting line, forcing a pass-through penalty that dropped him to 37th, still on the lead lap, but six seconds back of the car in 36th. The caution allowed Nemechek to make up that gap, and he’d ultimately climb as high as 2nd before another he settled back in 6th at the finish.

By Lap 96, Cram had made up four laps from the Lucky Dog and was now 26 laps behind the leaders. During a stop that time by, here was some delay in getting the lug nuts tight on one of his tires, though he managed not to go another lap down. “Doin’ a great job, bud, a very smart race,” said Cram’s crew on Lap 118. But on Lap 125, Cram reported he was losing fuel pressure once more, and the crew told him to go back to the garage for a second time. Again, Cram incurred a penalty in the process, an was told on Lap 129 that he’d owe a pass-through if he came back out. By Lap 134, the CHK crew discovered their backup fuel pump cable had also failed, and they would need a second to return to the track. By then, Cram was 40 laps down with around 60 to go, and no one else was out of the race.

That is, until Lap 139, when Gray Gaulding’s #08 Panini NFT Ford apparently lost a right-front tire going into Turn 1 and slapped the outside wall. Gaulding climbed from the car a few moments later, and his car was towed to the garage, done for the day. “I’m signing off,” said someone on his SS-Green Light Racing crew. “Sorry about the bad luck.” With that, Cram’s crew sought out the SS-Green Light hauler for a second replacement cable, saying this was their last shot at returning to the track. At the time, they were just 38 laps back of Gaulding, but time was running out. On Lap 144, the answer came: “Boys, we’re out of fuel cables to borrow.” With that, Cram climbed from his car in the garage, done for the day. “Good job out there, nothing you could do about it.” NASCAR confirmed Cram was out on Lap 161.

Behind 37th-place Gaulding, Justin Allgaier took 36th after his #7 Hello Water Chevrolet was damaged in a Turn 4 stack-up triggered by his JR Motorsports teammate Brandon Jones. Blaine Perkins took 35th after late-race suspension issues on his #07 Swift Chevrolet while Kaz Grala’s #26 Fire Department Coffee Toyota rounded out the Bottom Five.

Alfredo impresses with late-race charge in McLeod #78

Turning in an impressive run on Saturday was Anthony Alfredo in B.J. McLeod Motorsports’ #78 Ticket Smarter Chevrolet. After starting 25th on the grid, Alfredo worked strategy to restart 2nd in the final laps of Stage 2. He managed to hang on to finish 6th in the stage, then after a spin spent much of Stage 3 climbing back into the Top 20. With just nine laps to go, he moved from 20th to 17th, then 15th with four laps remaining. He then did battle with Parker Kligerman for 14th, the pair trading the position until the final lap, where Alfredo inched ahead by just 0.015 second at the stripe. This marks Alfredo’s season-best run – his third Top 20 in a row – and comes one year after he missed the start of this very race with mechanical issues. It also came just days after news that Alfredo will make a few Cup starts in McLeod’s #78 – Alfredo’s first in the series since his Cup rookie run for Front Row Motorsports in 2021.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This marked the first last-place finish for the #74 in a XFINITY Series race at Phoenix.

*The 99 laps completed by Cram are third-most among Phoenix XFINITY Series last-place finishers, trailing only the 139 completed by Phil Parsons on November 6, 1999, and the track record 152 by Dillon Bassett just last November.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

38) #74-Dawson Cram / 99 laps / fuel pump

37) #08-Gray Gaulding / 137 laps / crash

36) #7-Justin Allgaier / 178 laps / crash / led 20 laps

35) #07-Blaine Perkins / 192 laps / suspension

34) #26-Kaz Grala / 199 laps / running

2023 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) CHK Racing, Emerling-Gase Motorsports, JD Motorsports, SS-Green Light Racing (1)

2023 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet (2)

2nd) Ford, Toyota (1)

2023 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

PREVIEW: Team-sharing efforts begin to take effect in Phoenix

Brian Weber's entry as he attempts his first XFINITY start since 2003.
PHOTO: @MBMMotorsports

by Brock Beard

LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief

Saturday, March 11, 2023 (4:30 P.M. ET)

XFINITY Race 4 of 33

United Rentals 200 at Phoenix

2022 Last-Place Finisher: Riley Herbst

ENTRY LIST

There are 39 drivers entered for 38 spots, meaning just one will be sent home after qualifying.

DRIVER CHANGE: #19-Joe Gibbs Racing

DRIVER CHANGE: #28-RSS Racing

DRIVER SWAP: #38-RSS Racing

Following his first two of five starts with Joe Gibbs Racing, which yielded an 11th in Fontana and a 15th in Las Vegas, Joe Graf, Jr. goes back to RSS Racing for the first time since his 7th-place effort in Daytona. This time, he drives the #38 in place of Kyle Sieg, who moves to the RSS team’s #28 in place of Alex Labbe, who’s not entered. Taking Graf’s place in the #19 this week is Ryan Truex, who will make his 85th series start and his first since Atlanta last July, when he ran 3rd for JGR’s #18 team. Toyota Genuine Parts is listed as Truex’s sponsor.

DRIVER CHANGE: #24-Sam Hunt Racing

Making just his third career XFINITY start is Connor Mosack, who finished 28th for Gibbs in his debut at Portland last year, then took 15th with Sam Hunt Racing at Watkins Glen. Mosack again drives for Hunt, this time in the #24 entry driven the last two rounds by Cup regular Tyler Reddick. As with Truex, his Supra carries only manufacturer-themed sponsorship, his from Toyota Racing Development.

DRIVER CHANGE: #45-Alpha Prime Racing

Phoenix will mark the XFINITY Series debut of Arizona native Leland Honeyman, who finished 29th in his Truck Series debut at Bristol last fall for Young’s Motorsports. Taking the place of Rajah Caruth, who led the Alpha Prime trio at Vegas with a 26th-place finish, Honeyman carries sponsorship from Klean Freak Body Wipes, which will also back his ARCA West entry for Friday's support race.

DRIVER CHANGE: #66-Motorsports Business Management

New York native Brian Weber hasn’t started a XFINITY Series race since May 18, 2003, when he finished 27th at the now-derelict Nazareth Speedway in his #84 Platinum One Master Card Chevrolet. He hasn’t started a race in NASCAR’s top three series since November 9, 2012, when he took to the same Phoenix track in Mike Harmon’s Truck Series entry and finished 26th. But, so long as he qualifies, Weber will make his 21st series start. He carries sponsorship from LastOptionBed.com, a company that sells purpose-built air mattresses for travelers stranded in airports. He will run the same chassis Dawson Cram qualified with at Phoenix last fall.

DRIVER CHANGE: #74-CHK Racing

Speaking of the Harmon team, Dawson Cram looks to give CHK Racing their first start of 2023, taking the place of Ryan Vargas in the Lerner & Rowe Injury Attorneys Chevrolet. Cram has only three XFINITY Series starts on his resume, most recently last fall at this same Phoenix track, where he ran 31st for Carl Long.

DRIVER SWAP: #91-DGM Racing

WITHDREW: #99-B.J. McLeod Motorsports

After a power steering issue left him multiple laps down in his first start of the year at Las Vegas, his B.J. McLeod #99 entry is not entered this week, withdrawn with no driver listed. Before the withdrawal, Smithley had already been moved to Mario Gosselin’s #91 entry in place of Josh Bilicki, who’s not entered after a 31st-place run in Vegas.

CUP INVADERS: #10-Kyle Busch

Sunday, March 12, 2023 (3:30 P.M. ET)

CUP Race 4 of 36

United Rentals Work United 500 at Phoenix

2022 Last-Place Finisher: Corey LaJoie

ENTRY LIST

The 36 Chartered entries remain the only cars on the Cup Series entry list. This marks the third consecutive short field in four races this year, following a 40-car starting grid in the Daytona 500.

DRIVER CHANGE: #9-Hendrick Motorsports

After Josh Berry finished 29th in his last-minute relief duty for an injured Chase Elliott in Las Vegas, the Hendrick team waited until Tuesday to confirm their plans moving forward. With Elliott in physical therapy and expected to be out around six weeks, Berry will continue to run on the ovals, including this weekend. Taking the controls at COTA will be endurance racing champion Jordan Taylor, who had already been working with Hendrick on their upcoming Garage 56 entry for the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

DRIVER SWAP: #15-Rick Ware Racing

DRIVER CHANGE: #38-Front Row Motorsports

Phoenix also marks the first of five races where Zane Smith will run Front Row Motorsports’ #38 in place of Todd Gilliland, this week carrying Wellcare as sponsor. This will be Smith’s third career Cup start following a 13th-place showing in FRM’s #36 entry in Daytona, and will come at the site of his Truck Series championship-clinching run last fall. Gilliland will retain his full-season status this year as Sunday will see him make his first of five starts for Rick Ware Racing, taking the place of J.J. Yeley, who’s not entered after a 33rd-place run in Vegas.

Saturday, March 18, 2023

TRUCKS Race 3 of 23

Fr8 208 at Atlanta

2022 Last-Place Finisher: Hailie Deegan

The Truck Series takes the week off and will rejoin the circuit for the superspeedway in Atlanta.

TODAY IN LASTCAR HISTORY (March 9, 2003): Larry Foyt picks up the first last-place finish of his NASCAR Winston Cup Series in the Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 at Atlanta when his #14 Harrah’s Dodge lost the engine after 104 laps. This was Foyt’s first of two last-place finishes during his difficult rookie season.