ARCA: Christian Eckes’ championship hopes take bigger hit at Talladega

PHOTO: @VenturiniMotor

by William Soquet
LASTCAR.info Guest Contributor

Christian Eckes finished last for the 1st time in his ARCA Menards Series career in Saturday’s General Tire 200 at Talladega Superspeedway when his #15 JBL Audio / Venturini Motorsports Toyota crashed out after 39 of 76 laps. The finish came in Eckes’ 30th series start.

The Middletown, New York driver has become one of the most well-known prospects in stock car racing over the past year. His Toyota Racing Development deal has seen him prominently featured in TRD’s ARCA program with Venturini Motorsports, collecting wins at Salem, Springfield and IRP last year. He also debuted with Kyle Busch Motorsports in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series last year, scoring three top-ten finishes in four starts last year, as well as an impressive Daytona performance before being taken out by a crash to begin this year.

This 2019 season promised to be even better. He would run his first full-time ARCA season after turning eighteen over the winter and make more Truck starts for KBM. Very early on, however, wrinkles appeared in his season. Two weeks ago, Eckes missed the ARCA race at Salem Speedway due to a reported esophageal tear due to food poisioning. Harrison Burton relieved him, and while Eckes still participated in practice and remained eligible for ARCA’s loyalty points, the points hit of not competing was enough to bring his championship hopes down a bit. He still stood well inside the Top Ten, however, and remained confident that his #15 could in fact claim the trophy at the end of the year.

Meanwhile, the Talladega entry list was dishearteningly low for an ARCA race. Only 26 cars made the trip to Alabama, including Con Nicolopoulos back in the Wayne Peterson Racing #06, Ed Pompa and DL Wilson back with Fast Track Racing, Thomas Praytor and Max Force Racing making their first series start since this race a year ago, and superspeedway ringers Andy Seuss, Bryan Dauzat, C.J. McLaughlin, Sean Corr, Natalie Decker, Thad Moffitt, Gus Dean, Todd Gilliland and Grant Quinlan. Brandon McReynolds and Bobby Gerhart also continued part-time schedules that never really get fully decided until they are done. The entry list exemplified the divide that ARCA is seeing in 2019 - one core group for the superspeedways and large intermediates, and a totally separate group on only the short tracks.

Brad Smith anchored practice with a lap of 56.4 seconds, although he was within a second of four other cars – Nicolopoulos, Tommy Vigh Jr., Wilson and Scott Melton, back in the Kimmel Racing #69 entry. Smith moved up to 24th during qualifying, bypassing Vigh and Nicolopoulos.

The FS1 broadcast showed two dark-colored cars drop back immediately at the drop of the green. Sure enough, those were the last two starters, Vigh and Nicolopoulos. Nicolopoulos held last until Lap 9, when Brandon McReynolds drove down pit road for engine flutters. McReynolds emerged a couple laps down, shotgun on the field for the time being. With no cautions, McReynolds was in last until Lap 25, when he overtook Nicolopoulos for the spot. Less than five laps later, Natalie Decker pitted for a fuel pickup issue, and she eventually dropped to last while her #54 team put the hood up on pit road.

Decker held last for ten laps until, as green-flag stops were underway, Thad Moffitt and Eckes spun, with Eckes nosing into the outside wall after Moffitt slowed down and chopped in front of the #15 trying to get to pit road. Both cars were able to drive to pit road, where Eckes dropped the window net in his pit stall, becoming the first car to retire from the race. Moffitt, whose car was previously smoking, made two more laps before retiring with an oil leak. Vigh was next out; his Extreme Kleaner car bounced off the SAFER barrier at pit road exit after 48 laps. Decker was the last car running, four laps down. Nicolopoulos rounded out the Bottom Five, his Wayne Peterson Racing machine was also four laps down at the conclusion of the event.

As for Eckes, his last-place finish dropped him down to seventh in the point standings, 180 points behind teammate Michael Self for the lead. The gap is still by no means insurmountable throughout the remaining sixteen races, but the mistakes for the #15 team need to become few and far between.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
26) #15-Christian Eckes / 39 laps / crash
25) #46-Thad Mofitt / 41 laps / oil leak
24) #10-Tommy Vigh Jr. / 48 laps / crash
23) #54-Natalie Decker / 72 laps / running
22) #06-Con Nicolopoulos / 72 laps / running

2019 LASTCAR ARCA OWNERS CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Brad Smith Motorsports, Kimmel Racing, Mullins Racing, Venturini Motorsports (1)

2019 LASTCAR ARCA MANUFACTURERS CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Ford (3)
2nd) Toyota (1)

2019 LASTCAR ARCA DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP

CUP: Wreck not of his doing ties Michael McDowell with Joe Nemechek for Cup Series last-place record

PHOTO: Christian Koelle, @KoelleChristina, Frontstretch.com

Michael McDowell picked up the 33rd last-place finish of his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career in Sunday’s GEICO 500 at the Talladega Superspeedway when his #34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford was collected in a multi-car accident after 10 of 188 laps.

The finish, which came in McDowell’s 295th series start, was his series-leading third of the 2019 season and first since Phoenix, six races ago. In the Cup Series last-place ranking, it was the 34th for the #34, the 580th from a crash, and the 691st for Ford. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 46th for the #34, the 950th for Ford, and the 1,177th from a crash.

With the finish, McDowell has now tied Joe Nemechek for the most last-place finishes in Cup Series history. Nemechek has had sole position of that record since March 30, 2014.

Since his last feature on LASTCAR, McDowell had finished 24th or worse in every race but one – a strong 15th in Texas. Two weeks ago in Richmond, he suffered a hard crash midway through the race, and would have finished last for a third time in 2019 had Kyle Larson not wrecked in the same corner more than 100 laps earlier. Talladega held the promise of a return to form for both driver and team, who together started the year with a 5th-place finish in the Daytona 500. But in his last four Talladega starts, he’d finished no better than 30th, including a last-place run just last fall.

McDowell showed some strong speed early, ranking 4th in opening practice, just seven-thousandths off Kurt Busch’s top speed of 202.671mph. After NASCAR made further adjustments to the rear spoilers to reduce speeds in Happy Hour, the #34 ranked just 30th overall. The rollercoaster continued into Saturday’s qualifying session, where he stood 7th in Round 1 and made Round 2, where he anchored the group with a speed of 190.563mph (50.251 seconds). The run put him 12th on the starting grid.

Starting 40th and last on Sunday was Cody Ware, back in father Rick’s #51 Jacob Companies Ford for the first time since a frustrating last-place finish in Martinsville (LINK). Ware would incur a redundant tail-end penalty, one of eight for unapproved adjustments. Joining him at the rear were Ryan Newman, Denny Hamlin, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Kyle Busch, Martin Truex, Jr., Erik Jones, and Reed Sorenson. Also falling back was Brendan Gaughan, who required a driver change. On Saturday, Gaughan attended his child’s First Communion and had Tyler Reddick qualify his #62 Beard Oil / South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet in 29th. Reddick, Saturday’s XFINITY winner, handed back the wheel on Sunday.

When the race began, Gaughan and Ware were in the final two spots, and Gaughan took the last spot. By Lap 4, the spot fell to Ross Chastain, driving Premium Motorsports’ #15 Low T Centers Chevrolet. Two circuits later, Stanton Barrett took over the spot in his return to the Cup Series for the first time since the Roval last fall. Barrett’s #52 Huski Chocolate Chevrolet quickly set to work on Reed Sorenson’s unsponsored #27 Chevrolet, Chastain’s teammate at Premium. Coming to start Lap 10, Barrett had worked past Sorenson, who now held last, but stayed in the tire tracks of #52. The next time by, trouble brought the last-place battle to an abrupt end.

It happened at the front of the pack. Bubba Wallace had a strong start, charging from 28th on the grid into the Top 5 in just ten laps. As his #43 World Wide Technology Chevrolet crossed the stripe, he gave a bump to his friend Ryan Blaney in the #12 Menards / Knauf Ford. The rapid closing rate of the new aero package forced Wallace to back off, and both Blaney and Wallace fought to keep control. While Blaney managed to keep going, Wallace clipped the apron and spun up the track – directly into McDowell’s path. Towing along teammate Matt Tifft as the two made a bid for the lead, both were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Wallace collided with McDowell, and a pan behind the splitter came out, lodging itself in the nose of Tifft’s #36 Surface Sunscreen / Tunity Ford. Behind them, Denny Hamlin, Clint Bowyer, and Kevin Harvick were also collected in a secondary crash.

Under the ensuing yellow, McDowell and Wallace were towed behind the wall. At first, it was Ryan Newman who was classified last for damage incurred behind the left-front wheel on his #6 Acorns Ford. The position then changed to Kevin Harvick, who managed to keep his #4 Busch Beer Flannel Ford rolling after contact from his teammate Clint Bowyer. Harvick returned to attempt another lap, and thus passed both McDowell and Wallace to take 38th before his own car stalled on the apron, done for the day. Tifft’s crew, unable to remove the pan from the #36, also turned a lap before they exited the race. The Bottom Five was filled by Denny Hamlin, who returned to action with heavy damage to the right-front corner. After 80 completed laps, the #11 FedEx Express Toyota fell off the pace on the backstretch, then pulled behind the wall.

Hamlin and Harvick picked up their first Bottom Fives of 2019.

The underdog of the day was very nearly Justin Haley, who impressed in his Cup Series debut. Nine months after a controversial yellow-line rule penalty cost him an XFINITY Series win at Daytona, Haley was selected to drive for Spire Motorsports, a team which had finished no better than 22nd all season. Carrying his sponsorship from the Fraternal Order of Eagles, and racing on his 20th birthday, Haley made his way into the Top 10 in Stage 1, where he finished 11th. He remained in and around the Top 20 through the first part of Stage 3, where he lost a lap, then caught on to the tail end of the group. The strong run ended when he was collected in a pileup triggered by Aric Almirola and Chris Buescher. Haley finished 32nd.

Instead, the top underdog became Brendan Gaughan, who worked his way from last on the grid to lead five laps and finish 8th. It was Gaughan’s first top-ten finish at Talladega since his career-best 4th in 2004 and his first in any Cup race since July 1, 2017, one of his first starts for Mark Beard.

Corey LaJoie matched his career-best 11th in that same July Daytona race, this time driving Go FAS Racing’s #32 Schluter Systems Ford. He’d never finished better than 27th in his prior Talladega starts. Four of LaJoie’s five best Cup finishes have now come on NASCAR’s two fastest superspeedways.

Also turning heads was Reed Sorenson, who earned the Lucky Dog on Lap 133 and finished 18th. It marked the first time Sorenson finished inside the Top 20 of a Cup race since October 19, 2014, also at Talladega, when he drove for Tommy Baldwin Racing.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked McDowell’s second-straight last-place finish at Talladega. Last October, he turned the second-most laps of any Cup last-placer at this track.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
40) #34-Michael McDowell / 10 laps / crash
39) #43-Bubba Wallace / 10 laps / crash
38) #4-Kevin Harvick / 11 laps / crash
37) #36-Matt Tifft / 11 laps / crash
36) #11-Denny Hamlin / 80 laps / crash

2019 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Front Row Motorsports (3)
2nd) Chip Ganassi Racing, Stewart-Haas Racing (2)
3rd) Germain Racing, Motorsports Business Management, Rick Ware Racing (1)

2019 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Ford (5)
2nd) Chevrolet (4)
3rd) Toyota (1)

2019 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

XFINITY: Joey Gase out early; Gray Gaulding nearly scores first XFINITY Series victory

PHOTO: @JoeyGaseRacing

Joey Gase picked up the 5th last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career in Saturday’s Money Lion 300 at the Talladega Superspeedway when his #35 Donate Life / RegisterMe.org lost the engine after 35 of 113 laps.

The finish, which came in Gase’s 217th series start, was his second of the season and first since Las Vegas, six races ago. In XFINITY Series last-place history, it was the 5th for car #35, the 125th for Toyota, and the 256th from an engine problem. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 30th for the #35, the 313th for Toyota, and the 1,067th from engine trouble.

Talladega marked the first time Gase would drive Toyota’s new Supra body since Las Vegas, when he finished last following a crash with a spinning Donald Theetge. In the five races since, Gase has driven last year’s Toyota Camry body instead, and finished no better than 23rd, but no worse than 27th, completing all but 33 laps in that span. As in many of his starts, Gase’s #35 would carry sponsorship from the Donate Life organ and tissue donor initiative. This time around, the car would carry a new baby blue scheme with the Alabama chapter of Donate Life on the hood and the organization’s RegisterMe.org website on the quarter-panels.

Gase began the Talladega weekend 19th of the 35 drivers who attempted opening practice, then was one of the only thirteen drivers to attempt Happy Hour, ranking 9th overall. He qualified a respectable 27th of the 37 entrants, timing in at 182.762mph (52.399 seconds). At the site of his career-best 5th place finish for Jimmy Means in 2015, Gase would have his second-best starting spot at the track behind an 18th for Go FAS Racing just last year.

Starting 37th on Saturday was Gase’s teammate Chad Finchum. Finchum had been moved from his traditional #42 Toyota to the #13 as Max Tullman rejoined the circuit with new sponsorship from Top Tier. Finchum’s new ride, sponsored by attorney and MBM business partner James Carter, Esq., appeared to be the same grey #42 that John Jackson raced in Daytona, this time with a “13” on a large circle covering each door number.

On race day, Finchum was joined at the rear by three other drivers. Daytona last-placer Stephen Leicht’s #01 Flex Gliue Chevrolet timed in 20th, but was sent back for unapproved adjustments. John Hunter Nemechek gave up a 15th-place starting spot due to a right-rear tire change on the #23 Fire Alarm Services Chevrolet. Third of the group was Cody Ware, who unexpectedly pulled double-duty when he became driver of B.J. McLeod Motorsports’ #99 Toyota. The #99 was originally entered for D.J. Kennington with sponsorship from Lordco, but by opening practice, both driver and sponsor were not with the car. Since Ware practiced and qualified the car, it was unapproved adjustments, and not a driver change, that was reason for the penalty. On top of everything else, Ware pulled onto the apron in qualifying and spun in Turn 1, nearly hitting the outside wall.

Coming to the green flag, Ware, Leicht, and Nemechek had already moved up a few spots as four more cars dropped to the rear. B.J. McLeod dropped from 25th in JD Motorsports’ #15 Chevrolet, Matt Mills from 26th in the #5 J.F. Electric Toyota, Mills’ teammate Vinnie Miller from 29th in the #78 Pit Viper Toyota, and 31st-place Mike Harmon in the #74 Woobies Shoes Chevrolet. While Mills and Miller lined up in the final two spots for the green, Harmon slipped to last by Lap 4.

The first car to lose a lap was Brandon Jones, who drew the first caution on Lap 7. Heading through the tri-oval, Jones’ #19 1st Foundation Toyota was locked in a battle for 8th when he lost control in the inside lane and spun down to the apron, avoiding contact. Jones remained the last-place runner at the end of Stage 1 on Lap 26, at which point he earned the Lucky Dog.

On the Lap 32 restart, Jones made quick work of the back of the field, dropping B.J. McLeod to the last spot. Three laps later, McLeod was still running in last, 6 seconds back of the lead, when Gase pulled into the garage with engine woes. Two laps earlier, Gase had been running in the 29th spot. Gase was followed one lap later by Finchum, out with gear problems on the #13.

Finishing 35th was Jeff Green, who along with his RSS Racing teammates had acquired full-race sponsorship for the race. Green qualified 21st in his C2 Freight Resources Chevrolet, but made only 52 laps before the engine let go. Ray Black, Jr. finished 34th, his #07 Isokern Fireplaces & Chimneys / Scuba Life Chevrolet out with crash damage after he abruptly drove down pit road on Lap 66. Rounding out the group was Green’s teammate Josh Bilicki, whose new-look #93 CMR Construction & Roofing Chevrolet broke the transmission. Incidentally, Racing-reference.info didn't show Bilicki's name on the official results, showing a "null" placeholder until late afternoon.

Saturday’s win very nearly went to a resurgent Gray Gaulding, who enjoyed the finest run of his young career. Gaulding’s #08 Panini / NASCAR Racing Experience Chevrolet timed in 8th, backing up his strong qualifying showing from Daytona, and finished 5th in Stage 1. When the race restarted with just two laps to go, Gaulding had worked his way to 6th, surrounded by the Cup-backed efforts of Christopher Bell, Chase Briscoe, and Brandon Jones. In those two laps, Gaulding raced past all of them and had caught leader Tyler Reddick, who had to throw some daring blocks to keep Gaulding at bay. Gaulding, too, worked both lanes, successfully defending a career-best 2nd-place finish. Gaulding had finished no better than 12th in 17 prior XFINITY starts and has finished worse than 17th just once all season.

Gaulding’s performance nearly earned team owner Bobby Dotter his first win as an owner. Though Dotter took his own checkered flag in an XFINITY race at the New River Valley Speedway on May 2, 1992 (driving for Ed Reizen), his best finish as an owner had been only 5th, which he earned as an owner-driver at Hickory and Myrtle Beach in 1995, then again fielding Andy Lally’s road course car at Mid-Ohio two years ago.

Also rebounding was Josh Williams in DGM Racing’s #36 Star Tron / Star Brite / General Formulations Chevrolet. Just two weeks ago in Richmond, Williams was out of the #36 after a sponsorship fell through. The driver was put in DGM’s unsponsored #92 Chevrolet, which didn’t qualify for the race. Back at the track with added backing from the Star Tron brand, Williams ran as high as 5th in the early laps and finished 8th, his first top-ten finish in his 37th series start.

Chris Cockrum squeezed into the Top 10 those final two laps, snatching away 10th for not only a career-best in the series, but his first finish better than 21st in 17 XFINITY Series starts. The strong run for Cockrum’s #17 Advanced Communication Group Chevrolet was a feather in the cap for team owner Rick Ware, who has fought to make the #17 a full-time effort in 2019 with the help of drivers Bayley Currey and Kyle Weatherman.

Like Gaulding, Brandon Brown continued his strong 2019 campaign despite a continued lack of funding, and like Williams, did so after having to hand over his ride to another driver in Richmond. Having overcome a penalty for locking bumpers with John Hunter Nemechek, Brown lined up 7th on the final restart, just one spot behind Gaulding, but was shaken out and finished 15th. Despite this, Brown extended his streak of finishing no worse than 23rd in any race this season, and has turned all but 16 laps.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the first XFINITY Series last-place finish for the #35 at Talladega.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
38) #35-Joey Gase / 35 laps / engine
37) #13-Chad Finchum / 36 laps / gear
36) #38-Jeff Green / 52 laps / engine
35) #07-Ray Black, Jr. / 56 laps / crash
34) #93-Josh Bilicki / 86 laps / transmission

2019 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Motorsports Business Management (4)
2nd) RSS Racing (2)
3rd) DGM Racing, JD Motorsports, Rick Ware Racing (1)

2019 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (5)
2nd) Toyota (4)

2019 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

PREVIEW: At Talladega, small XFINITY teams land big sponsors while a team and driver make their Cup debuts

PHOTO: The Decal Source

Saturday, April 27, 2019
XFINITY Race 9 of 33
Money Lion 300 at Talladega
2018 Last-Place Finisher: Spencer Boyd

ENTRY LIST
The preliminary entry list had just 36 drivers entered to fill the 38-car field in Saturday’s race in Talladega, the fifth short field of 2019. Had Mike Harmon not joined late Tuesday, bringing the list to 37, it would have been the fewest XFINITY Series cars to take the green flag in a race since July 17, 1999, when D.J. Hoelzle trailed a 35-car show in Myrtle Beach. Even with Harmon's addition, this remains the second-smallest XFINITY field at Talladega, trailing only the 36-car show in the inaugural Fram Filter 500k on July 25, 1992.

DRIVER CHANGE: #4-JD Motorsports
DRIVER CHANGE: #10-Kaulig Racing
Continuing his streak of running every Cup, XFINITY, and Truck Series race, Ross Chastain rejoins the Kaulig effort, looking for more after his victory in Stage 2 back in Daytona. He takes the place of Elliott Sadler, 12th two weeks ago in Richmond, and not entered this week. Taking Chastain’s spot in JD Motorsports’ #4 Chevrolet is Landon Cassill, who also runs double-duty with his Cup effort in StarCom Racing’s #00 Chevrolet.

DRIVER CHANGE: #8-JR Motorsports
Defending Truck Series champion Brett Moffitt makes just his third career XFINITY Series start and first in the series on a track other than Iowa, where he ran 9th in 2012 and 11th in 2017. He also drives for his third different XFINITY Series team, taking the place of Richmond’s 8th-placer Zane Smith in JR Motorsports’ #8 ISM Connect Chevrolet.

DRIVER SWAP: #13-Motorsports Business Management
DRIVER SWAP: #42-Motorsports Business Management
DRIVER SWAP: #66-Motorsports Business Management
Max Tullman reunites with Carl Long’s XFINITY Series team this week, rejoining the circuit for the first time since a 28th-place run in Daytona driving MBM’s #13. This time, he runs the #42 with sponsorship from Top Tier and Pit Viper. Tullman’s effort bumps Chad Finchum from the #42 to the #13, and Finchum moves Timmy Hill from the #13 to the #66. Not entered is Colin Garrett, 26th at Richmond in the #66 that Hill drives Saturday.

DRIVER CHANGE: #15-JD Motorsports
DRIVER CHANGE: #99-B.J. McLeod Motorsports
B.J. McLeod moves from his own #99, which he piloted to a 30th-place finish in Richmond, to the #15, taking the place of Tyler Matthews, 24th on the short track, and not entered on Saturday. The move opens the #99 for a returning D.J. Kennington, who like Tullman returns to the XFINITY Series for the first time since Daytona. Again sponsored by Lordco Auto Parts, Kennington ran 33rd in this year’s season opener. UPDATE: Kennington's name was later pulled from the entry list, along with the Lordco sponsorship. Cody Ware ultimately drove the unsponsored machine.

DRIVER CHANGE: #17-Rick Ware Racing
Chris Cockrum is another returning plate-track driver in the field, looking to improve on his 31st-place showing in Daytona. He takes the place of Kyle Weatherman, who with Bayley Currey have kept the #17 in the field in all but one XFINITY Series race this season. Weatherman ended a streak of three consecutive DNFs with finishes of 28th at Bristol and 32nd at Richmond.

DRIVER CHANGE: #18-Joe Gibbs Racing
Back to double-duty this weekend is Jeffrey Earnhardt, who’s back in the XFINITY Series for the first time since an 8th-place run in Texas. Earnhardt, who brings XCI Racing to Cup on Sunday (see below), will on Saturday run the #18 for the first time since his season-best 6th in Atlanta. He takes the place of Riley Herbst, 9th at Richmond.

MISSING: #21-Richard Childress Racing
MISSING: #89-Shepherd Racing Ventures
Two weeks ago, Kaz Grala and RCR’s #21 team made it into Richmond’s starting lineup after Morgan Shepherd withdrew, leading to a 14th-place finish for Grala. This time around, both Shepherd and Grala are not entered. It’s just the second race Shepherd hasn’t entered, following Daytona.

DRIVER CHANGE: #36-DGM Racing
MISSING: #92-DGM Racing
After a sponsor fell through for him in Richmond, StarTron RV care products increased their backing of Josh Williams at Talladega, where he’ll not only return to the #36, but run a colorful new paint scheme. The Mario Gosselin team has not entered the #92 team that Williams failed to qualify at Richmond.

TEAM UPDATE: #74-Mike Harmon Racing
Mike Harmon wasn’t on the preliminary entry list, but was added by Tuesday evening. Harmon led a lap in this race last year, his first at Talladega since 2001, and finished 33rd.

PAINT SCHEME: #78-B.J. McLeod Motorsports
Another new paint scheme this week belongs to Vinnie Miller, who shares Max Tullman’s sponsorship from Pit Viper on his green #78. Miller finished 17th in this race last year while driving for JD Motorsports.

DRIVER CHANGE: #86-Brandonbilt Motorsports
Two weeks ago, Brandon Brown’s one-off for RSS Racing, a swap with Josh Bilicki to keep Brown in the Playoff hunt, yielded a strong 20th-place finish. Brown now returns to his Brandonbilt team for his first Talladega start. He takes the place of Mason Diaz, who lost an engine in his own one-off, finishing 36th.

DRIVER CHANGE: #90-DGM Racing
Alex Labbe is listed in the #90 this week, two weeks after Dillon Bassett’s 15th-place debut in the series. It will be Labbe’s third XFINITY start of 2019, following a 19th in Atlanta and 31st at Bristol. He ran 24th in his lone Talladega start last year.

DRIVER CHANGE: #93-RSS Racing
As in recent years, all three RSS Racing cars all fully-sponsored on the plate tracks, including Josh Bilicki, who returns to the #93 in place of Brandon Brown. Bilicki, who ran 28th here for JP Motorsports last year, carries sponsorship from CMR Construction & Roofing, Ryan Sieg has Alabama Soda & Abrasive Blasting on the #39, and Jeff Green’s #38 sees a returning C2 Freight Resources.

CUP INVADERS: None

Sunday, April 28, 2019
CUP Race 10 of 36
GEICO 500 at Talladega
2018 Last-Place Finisher: Kyle Larson

ENTRY LIST
For the first time since the Daytona 500, nine races ago, there will be a 40-car field for Sunday’s race. Exactly 40 teams are entered, meaning none will be sent home after qualifying.

RETURNING: #27-Premium Motorsports
Reed Sorenson returns to Cup competition for the first time since he equaled his season-best 34th-place finish at Texas. He will again drive Premium Motorsports’ #27 Chevrolet, this week sponsored by longtime team sponsor Low T Centers.

DRIVER CHANGE: #51-Rick Ware Racing
Last fall, Talladega saw Cody Ware finish under power in a Cup race for the first time. This week, he takes the place of Jeb Burton, 31st in Richmond, and will make his first Cup start since last month’s last-place run in Martinsville.

DRIVER CHANGE: #52-Rick Ware Racing
Last year on the Roval, Stanton Barrett took his first green flag as a Cup driver since the 2008 qualifiers at Daytona. Unfortunately, the day ended after just 11 laps with a wreck in the Tums Heartburn Turn. This week, Barrett returns to the Cup Series, taking the place of Bayley Currey, who isn’t entered in either the Cup or XFINITY race this weekend. Barrett will make his first Cup start at Talladega, carrying sponsorship from Huski Chocolate.

RETURNING: #62-Beard Motorsports
Plate racing sees the return of Brendan Gaughan and the Mark Beard team. Gaughan finished 23rd in this year’s Daytona 500, collected in one of the night’s last pileups. He finished 22nd in this race last year, and ran 12th in the fall.

MISSING: #66-Motorsports Business Management
Carl Long’s team will focus on the XFINITY Series this weekend, two weeks after Joey Gase’s ride in the Sam Bass tribute car yielded a 33rd-place finish.

DRIVER CHANGE: #77-Spire Motorsports
Making his Cup debut this week is Justin Haley, who was one yellow-line penalty away from securing his first XFINITY Series win last July in Daytona. As in his previous XFINITY and Truck Series efforts, Haley will carry sponsorship from the Fraternal Order of Eagles. He takes the pace of Quin Houff, who ran 34th in Richmond.

NEW TEAM: #81-XCI Racing
After just one XFINITY start at Texas earlier this month, the Joe Gibbs Racing-affiliated XCI Racing makes the jump to Cup racing for the first time this weekend. Then as now, the driver is Jeffrey Earnhardt, who will be sponsored by team backer Xtreme Concepts, Inc. It will mark the first Cup start for car #81 since April 21, 2013, when Elliott Sadler drove a different Gibbs car to a 40th-place finish (out of 43) at Kansas.

RETURNING: #96-Gaunt Brothers Racing
Also returning are the Gaunt Brothers and Talladega Truck Series winner Parker Kligerman. It will be the first start for both driver and team since Texas, when Kligerman drove to a 27th-place finish. As at Daytona, the car will be sponsored by Toyota itself, this time the 40th anniversary of Toyota Racing Development.

Friday, May 3, 2019
TRUCKS Race 6 of 23
JEGS 200 at Dover
2018 Last-Place Finisher: Todd Peck

The Truck Series returns next Friday as the circuit heads north to “The Monster Mile.”

LASTCAR STAT OF THE WEEK
Today in LASTCAR history (April 25, 1992): Jason Keller picks up the first last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career when his #54 Kel Racing Buick overheated after 34 laps of the Nestle Chilled Beverages 300 at the Lanier (Georgia) Speedway. The win went to Bobby Labonte, the defending series champion at the time. Keller was making just the second of his 519 career XFINITY starts across two decades, following a 29th-place run in the previous year’s race at Lanier.

PREVIEW: NASCAR takes the Easter weekend off ahead of Talladega

Saturday, April 27, 2019
XFINITY Race 9 of 33
Money Lion 300 at Talladega
2018 Last-Place Finisher: Spencer Boyd

Sunday, April 28, 2019
CUP Race 10 of 36
GEICO 500 at Talladega
2018 Last-Place Finisher: Kyle Larson

Friday, May 3, 2019
TRUCKS Race 6 of 23
JEGS 200 at Dover
2018 Last-Place Finisher: Todd Peck

NASCAR’s top three series take the week off for Easter break. Cup and XFINITY return to action next Saturday in Talladega, followed by Trucks in a triple-header in Dover.

LASTCAR STAT OF THE WEEK
Today in LASTCAR history (April 18, 1960): In a race won by the late Glen Wood, Junior Johnson finishes last at historic Bowman Gray Stadium after his #14 1959 Chevrolet loses the engine after 2 laps. The last-place finish, the 8th of Johnson’s career, tied him with Jimmie Lewallen for the most in the Cup series at that time. Johnson would take the Cup Series last-place record with his 9th on November 30 of that year and would hold the record for nearly a decade. He was ultimately passed by owner-driver G.C. Spencer, who tied him on October 4, 1970 and passed him on April 16, 1972.

ARCA: Oil pump issues sideline Brad Smith in historically short ARCA race

PHOTO: @DriverBradSmith

by William Soquet
LASTCAR.info Guest Contributor

Brad Smith finished last for the 14th time in his ARCA Menards Series career in Sunday’s rain-shortened Kentuckiana Ford Dealers 200 at Salem Speedway when his #48 Copraya.com Website Ford finished only 1 of 101 laps before retiring with oil pump issues.

The finish came in Smith’s 331st series start and was his first since the 2018 season-finale at Kansas Speedway, three races ago.

The Brad Smith team has returned for the 2019 season in much the same fashion as it did in 2018 – at Daytona, the team had a red composite-body Chevrolet, but at Five Flags, the team returned to the white steel-bodied Ford that became synonymous with the team last year. Smith later said in a radio interview that he owns two composite bodies, which will come in handy when the series hits its summer intermediate swing.

A month between short track races did little to boost the car count for the series, which featured 20 cars at Five Flags Speedway. The same amount of cars were listed on the preliminary entry list, but only nineteen participated in on-track activity. Will Kimmel, set to pilot a second entry for his Kimmel Racing team, withdrew. The short-track brigade was in full force, however, as powerhouses Chandler Smith, Carson Hocevar, Sam Mayer, Corey Heim and Ty Gibbs stayed in their rides.

Tommy Vigh Jr. returned to the #10 car in a full-season effort, as team owner Andy Hillenburg confirmed on Twitter over the weekend. Mike Basham again piloted the #69 for Kimmel Racing, and the Basham family patriarch, Darrell, made his first appearance of 2019 in a home race for the team, sporting his familiar #34. Richard Doheny and Morgen Baird filled out the second and third Fast Track Racing entries, and newly-elected politician Alex Clubb brought his #03 for the first of six planned starts in 2019.

Young hot shoe Gibbs led practice with a lap of just over 17 seconds, pacing a relatively close practice session. Smith’s completed lap took over a minute, but among cars that ran laps at full speed, Darrell Basham was last with a lap of nearly 19.7 seconds, about 2.5 seconds off of Gibbs’ fast time. Smith was not able to set a time in qualifying, as oil pump issues were beginning to hamper the team’s efforts. Clubb was the slowest car on track during qualifying, trailing the field with a lap of just over 20 seconds.

At the beginning of the race, Harrison Burton had to drop to the rear as a replacement driver for Christian Eckes, who was ill for the race. As the #15 car drove through the back of the pack relatively quickly, the racing also came fast among the backmarker cars. While ARCA’s live commentary noted that Smith went to the garage after four laps, official timing and scoring listed the 48 off after only one.

Worked yesterday to fix our oil pump issues but they came up to bite us today. We'll be ready for Talladega in two weeks!#RememberHarvey&Tweet #StrangeStrong#DriverBradSmith#HyltonMotorsports#4DecadesOfARCARacing #ARCARacing #ARCA #GeneralTire #Menards#BradFansBESTFans pic.twitter.com/6Af26ciKOZ

— Brad Smith (@DriverBradSmith) April 14, 2019

Doheny pulled behind the wall after three laps, and the younger Basham followed soon after, turning in after eight circuits. Morgen Baird lasted over thirty laps before his Fast Track Racing machine fell out of the race. The last Bottom Five spot, however, was up for grabs for a while during the race. Clubb, Tim Richmond and Darrell Basham were racing on the same lap for an extended period of time, with Clubb eventually falling three laps behind the other two cars. He stayed there as the last car running until the race was called for rain after 101 of 200 laps.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
19) #48-Brad Smith / 1 lap / oil pump
18) #1-Richard Doheny / 3 laps / brakes
17) #69-Mike Basham / 8 laps / clutch
16) #11-Morgen Baird / 34 laps / radio
16) #03-Alex Clubb / 90 laps / running

2019 LASTCAR ARCA OWNERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Brad Smith Motorsports, Kimmel Racing, Mullins Racing (1)

2019 LASTCAR ARCA MANUFACTURERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Ford (3)

2019 LASTCAR ARCA DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP

CUP: Larson’s disastrous 2019 continues with hard crash in Richmond

PHOTO: FOX Sports

Kyle Larson picked up the 6th last-place finish of his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career in Saturday’s Toyota Owners 400 at the Richmond Raceway when his #42 McDonald’s Chevrolet was involved in a single-car accident after 125 of 400 laps.

The finish, which happened in Larson’s 192nd series start, was his second of the season, his first since Texas, two races ago. In the Cup Series last-place rankings, it was the 24th for car #42, the 579th from a crash, and the 760th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 35th for the #42, the 1,176th from a crash, and the 1,653rd for Chevrolet.

Larson came to Richmond in need of a turnaround. His last-place run in Texas dropped him from 11th to 12th in the series standings, and marked his third consecutive finish outside the Top 10. Things went no better at Bristol, where a year after nearly winning the Food City 500 in a late-race shoving match with Kyle Busch, finished a disappointing 19th after a late spin. Now 14th in the standings, Larson was still one to watch on the 0.75-mile short track. In ten previous Richmond starts, Larson had finished no worse than 16th, winning in the fall of 2017 and finishing 7th in both races last year.

Driving the same McDonald’s paint scheme with which he nearly won the second race of the season in Atlanta, Larson was fastest in Friday’s opening practice session, ran 2nd to teammate Kurt Busch in Round 1 of qualifying, then took 14th in Round 2. He then advanced four more positions on Saturday after four drivers ahead of Larson failed pre-race inspection: outside-polesitter Erik Jones (#20 DeWalt Toyota), 7th-place Chase Elliott (#9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet), 9th-place Daniel Suarez (#41 Haas Automation Ford), and 10th-place Jimmie Johnson (#48 Ally Chevrolet).

The inspection failures caused last place to change hands before the race even started. As of Friday, the spot originally belonged to Ross Chastain, whose #15 Rim Ryderz Chevrolet was the only car to not take time in Round 1. That changed when Jones, Elliott, Suarez, and Johnson ended up slotted in behind him on the starting grid. Four other drivers also failed the same pre-race inspection, meaning nine drivers would have no listed qualifying speed: 15th-place Aric Almirola (#10 Smithfield “Get Grilling” Ford), 18th-place Denny Hamlin (#11 FedEx Ground Toyota), 20th-place Matt Tifft (#36 The Pete Store Ford), and 36th-place Joey Gase (#66 Eternal Fan / Sam Bass Tribute Toyota).

The result of all this moved Chastain up from last to 29th with Hamlin, highest of the disallowed drivers in Owner Points, taking 30th. Taking the 37th and final spot was Gase, whose Motorsports Business Management entry was covered completely in the artwork of the late motorsports artist Sam Bass. On the starting grid Saturday, Gase’s team elected to install two different radios in the #66. After the command, the car then stopped briefly at the end of pit road and was nearly passed by the leaders before he caught up to the tail end of the second pack. Team owner Carl Long joked with Gase during the brief four-wide salute the field gave the crowd, waiting for someone to say “green, green, green” on the radio.

When the field sorted itself out for a start, Chastain fell back to the rear, regaining his 37th starting spot from Gase. Joining him in his trip to the rear was 28th-place starter Quin Houff, back in Spire Motorsports’ #77 Falci Adaptive Motorsports Chevrolet. Houff lined up to Gase’s outside with Chastain rolling behind the pair, and the group stayed in that formation as the green flag waved.

On the break, Chastain was already advancing on Houff, who had fallen behind Gase into 36th. Houff was thus 37th as the field crossed the starting line for the first time, and would hold the spot for the first quarter of the race. Despite several issues with speed in recent weeks, Gase’s #66 managed to pull away from Houff, building a full straightaway’s advantage over the #77. On Lap 14, race leader Kevin Harvick was within sight of Houff, and heading into Turn 3 on the 15th circuit, he pulled to his outside and put Houff the first car one lap down. Houff lost a second lap on the 34th circuit, and on the Lap 40 competition caution reported his car was an “8” on a scale of 1-10 in terms of tightness.

Houff took the restart with a new spring rubber in the right-rear, but soon reported his car was chattering. He lost a third lap by the 65th circuit, a fourth on Lap 89, and at the end of Stage 1 on Lap 100 reported his front tires were completely worn out. Gase didn’t get away from Houff as easily on the Lap 111 restart as cars began racing side-by-side in front of the #66. Three laps later, the spotter reported smoke from a car further up and a possible caution. The source turned out to be Kyle Larson.

Shortly after the restart for Stage 2, Larson was in the middle of a tight battle for position. Heading into Turn 3, he made contact with Daniel Hemric, whose #8 Baas Pro Shops / Tracker Boats Chevrolet was trying to make a move to his inside. The contact caused a serious fender rub on Larson’s left-rear, and the #42 fought to keep control in the high lane. Still under green and with a constant stream of traffic to his inside, Larson struggled to make it to pit road, returning to the track laps down in 31st. The issue seemed resolved until Lap 127, when another tire blew on the Larson machine, sending him spinning into the outside wall. The car slammed the fence with the driver’s side, causing heavy damage to the left-rear and left-front.

Larson managed to drive his car to pit road under caution. While the crew instructed him to pull into his pit stall, the driver said “going to the trailer – it’s destroyed” and made a left-hand turn directly into the garage area. Just like Aric Almirola last week at Bristol, the decision eliminated Larson from the race under the “Crash Clock” damaged vehicle policy. Larson took last from Houff on Lap 132, and was unavailable on RaceView by Lap 134. Curiously, with the finish, Larson now has more Cup Series last-place finishes (6) than wins (5).

The only other DNF fell to Michael McDowell, who suffered a hard Turn 1 crash of his own on Lap 243. McDowell cut down a tire and slammed the wall with the driver’s side of his #34 Dockside Logistics Ford, and was reportedly frustrated with track safety crews for not giving him enough room to drive back to pit road. Out of the car, McDowell was effectively out of the race.

The only other driver to spend an extended period of time in the garage on Saturday was Landon Cassill, whose #00 Superior Essex Chevrolet pulled behind the wall during Stage 2 and spent more than 70 laps. The team’s Twitter reported a fuel pressure issue, and the crew managed to get the #00 back on the track for the finish, leaving them the final car running. Rounding out the Bottom Five were Houff and Gase, each one lap apart from the other from the race’s early stages. Houff earned his first Bottom Five of 2019.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked just the second time car #42 finished last in a Cup Series race at Richmond. The only other time occurred on September 10, 1994, when Kyle Petty’s Mello Yello Pontiac broke the oil pump after 22 laps of the Miller Genuine Draft 400. It was Petty’s only last-place finish in the Mello Yello colors, and came in his fourth and final season with the brand.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
37) #42-Kyle Larson / 125 laps / crash
36) #34-Michael McDowell / 240 laps / crash
35) #00-Landon Cassill / 322 laps / running
34) #77-Quin Houff / 386 laps / running
33) #66-Joey Gase / 387 laps / running

2019 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chip Ganassi Racing, Front Row Motorsports, Stewart-Haas Racing (2)
2nd) Germain Racing, Motorsports Business Management, Rick Ware Racing (1)

2019 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet, Ford (4)
2nd) Toyota (1)

2019 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

XFINITY: Jeff Green prevails in Richmond last-place battle with Timmy Hill

PHOTO: Rubbin's Racin' Forums

Jeff Green picked up the 116th last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career in Friday’s ToyotaCare 250 at the Richmond Raceway when his unsponsored #38 RSS Racing Chevrolet fell out with engine trouble after 10 of 250 laps.

The finish, which came in Green’s 521st series start, was his second of the season and first since Texas, two races ago. In the XFINITY Series last-place rankings, it was the 16th for car #38, the 255th from engine trouble, and the 524th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 49th for the #38, the 1,066th from engine trouble, and the 1,652nd for Chevrolet.

With the finish, Green retakes the lead in the LASTCAR XFINITY Series Championship on a bottom-five tiebreaker with John Jackson, 6-2.

Green arrived in Richmond after he was involved in a rare accident the week before at Bristol. Driving RSS Racing’s “start-and-park” #38 Chevrolet, Green busted a radiator hose on Lap 40, sending his car sliding up the gradient banking. Caught in the crossfire was 12th-place qualifier Ross Chastain, whose favorite #4 Chevrolet from the JD Motorsports camp was destroyed in the ensuing pileup. Green pulled behind the wall along with Chastain, the passenger-side door on his own car nearly torn off by the impact.

Both drivers were uninjured in the mishap, yet each were left scrambling to get their cars ready for Richmond, less than a week away. There, Green would again be teamed with Ryan Sieg, who welcomed returning sponsorship from Larry’s Hard Lemonade on his #39 Chevrolet, and Brandon Brown in the #93. Brown, who came into Richmond 14th in the series standings, had climbed out of his #86 Brandonbilt Motorsports entry after Mason Diaz signed to drive in a one-off, bringing with him sponsorship from Solid Rock Carriers. To keep Brown in the Playoff hunt, RSS Racing elected to put him in the #93, replacing Josh Bilicki. The #93 would also carry associate sponsorship from both W.G. Speaks and Carrier, as well as the familiar Coastal Carolina University logo seen on Brown’s #86.

Green started the weekend slowest of the RSS Racing trio, placing 32nd in practice while Sieg and Brown ran 20th and 21st. Qualifying was rained out, securing Green the 31st spot on points and sending home Josh Williams, swapped into DGM Racing’s part-time car #92 after a sponsorship deal fell through. Nearly sent home was Kaz Grala, who was making just his second attempt of the season in Richard Childress Racing’s #21 Hot Scream Chevrolet. However, a deal was worked out between RCR and Morgan Shepherd, owner-driver of the #89 Visone RV Chevrolet. Although Shepherd was locked-into the field by the rain, he withdrew as part of the arrangement, giving Grala the 38th and final starting spot. Grala would capitalize on the opportunity, challenging for the lead late before finishing 14th.

When the race stared, Grala jumped from 38th to 34th on the first lap, shuffling Timmy Hill to last. Hill, who enjoyed a strong 17th-place run in Motorsports Business Management’s #66 at Bristol, was swapped into MBM’s #13 Richie Anderson Memorial / CrashClaimsR.us Toyota, replacing Bristol last-placer John Jackson. The #13 picked up a vibration from the early laps, and Hill pitted after just two laps to change tires. From listening to the team’s radio, the crew apparently did so in the garage area, as Hill lost 11 laps and had to drive around the pace car to return to the track. By the time Hill rejoined the race on Lap 14, Green had been in the garage for four laps. On Lap 23, Hill passed Green, only to return to pit road four circuits later, again citing the vibration. Beliving the issue to be in the wheel bearings, Hill also exited the race.

Finishing 36th was Mason Diaz, whose night in Brandon Brown’s #86 ended when the harmonic balancer came loose, stopping him in Turn 2 on Lap 65. Brown would go on to finish 20th, earning the Lucky Dog at the midway point and finishing on the lead lap. Jeremy Clements finished 35th, an unscheduled stop late in Stage 2 followed by a spectacular engine failure as he headed down the backstretch. Rounding out the group was Chad Finchum, Hill’s teammate in the #42 Smithbilt Homes Toyota. The MBM crew worked hard on Finchum’s brake issue before finally calling it a night in the final laps. Finchum and Diaz scored their first Bottom Fives of 2019.

Meanwhile, Ryan Sieg’s strong start to 2019 continued with a sterling 5th-place finish, a run that caught the eye of crew chief Chad Knaus, broadcasting from the booth for FS1. Ross Chastain, running a backup car following his tangle with Green in Bristol, came just short of finishing 10th when Justin Haley squeezed by him on the final lap. Elliott Sadler, Haley’s teammate, finished 12th in his return to the XFINITY Series with Kaulig Racing. Making his seriee debut, Dillon Bassett matched his brother's career-best 15th-place finish from Texas and earned some screen time of his own in DGM’s #90 Bassett Gutters & More Chevrolet. And Gray Gaulding continued his strong start, running as high as 6th on old tires before settling into 17th, his sixth finish of 17th or better this season.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*While this was Jeff Green’s ninth last-place run in an XFINITY race at Richmond, it marked the first time in series history that car #38 finished last at the track.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
38) #38-Jeff Green / 10 laps / engine
37) #13-Timmy Hill / 15 laps / vibration
36) #86-Mason Diaz / 63 laps / engine
35) #51-Jeremy Clements / 112 laps / engine
34) #42-Chad Finchum / 119 laps / brakes

2019 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Motorsports Business Management (3)
2nd) RSS Racing (2)
3rd) DGM Racing, JD Motorsports, Rick Ware Racing (1)

2019 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (5)
2nd) Toyota (3)

2019 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

PREVIEW: Three newcomers, a returning veteran, and a tribute to Sam Bass add color to Richmond lineups

PHOTO: @1eternalfan

Friday, April 12, 2019
XFINITY Race 8 of 33
ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond
2018 Last-Place Finisher: Jeff Green

ENTRY LIST
There are 40 drivers entered for 38 spots, meaning that two teams will miss the show.

RETURNING: #10-Kaulig Racing
Welcome back Elliott Sadler, who four months after retiring from NASCAR competition will attempt Friday’s race at his home track. Sadler drives the second Kaulig Racing car, a car we last saw finish 4th in Las Vegas with Austin Dillon behind the wheel. Sadler has yet to score a victory in his 31 XFINITY starts at Richmond, but has finished no worse than 7th in each of his last six series starts here.

DRIVER CHANGE: #13-Motorsports Business Management
DRIVER CHANGE: #66-Motorsports Business Management
Carl Long shuffles his driver lineup again this week, moving Timmy Hill from the #66 he steered to an impressive 17th-place run in Bristol to the #13 that finished last with John Jackson. While the preliminary entry list did not show a replacement for Hill in the #66, it has since been confirmed that Colin Garrett will drive with sponsorship from Racing For Heroes. The 18-year-old Garrett, currently 4th in the K&N Pro Series East standings, seeks his first XFINITY Series start, and the opportunity to do so at his home track.

DRIVER CHANGE: #15-JD Motorsports
Set to make his XFINITY Series debut this week is Tyler Matthews, who made three Truck Series starts for MDM Motorsports and Copp Motorsports, most recently a last-place run in Kentucky last summer. Matthews takes the place of B.J. McLeod, who moves back to his own #99 team this week (see below).

DRIVER CHANGE: #18-Joe Gibbs Racing
Riley Herbst returns to the XFINITY Series for the first time since his series debut last summer at Iowa, where he ran 6th. Then as now, he drives the #18 from the Joe Gibbs Racing stables, taking the place of Bristol’s 10th-place finisher Harrison Burton. Monster Energy will sponsor the Herbst effort.

RETURNING: #21-Richard Childress Racing
After a frustrating end to his first XFINITY start for Richard Childress Racing, Kaz Grala is back for his second race of the season in the Hot Scream #21 Chevrolet. Grala finished 30th in his lone series start at Richmond in this race last year, one of his last before the JGL Racing team closed its doors.

DRIVER CHANGE: #36-DGM Racing
DRIVER CHANGE: #90-DGM Racing
RETURNING: #92-DGM Racing
Mario Gosselin’s team shakes up their lineup this week, and in so doing brings their third car, the #92 Chevrolet, back to the circuit for the first time since a DNQ in last year’s Homestead finale. Then as now, Josh Williams will drive the #92, moving over from his most frequent ride in the #36. According to Jayski, the reason for the change is funding as sponsor All Sports Coffee defaulted on payment. In Williams' place in the #36 is a returning Donald Theetge, who we last saw collected in an accident in Las Vegas a month ago. The #90 which Theetge drove in Vegas will instead go to Dillon Bassett, brother of Ronnie Bassett, Jr., who made a pair of starts for DGM this spring. Dillon, who won in just his eighth K&N Pro Series East race at the Motordrome Speedway in 2015, was 8th in the series standings the last two years.

DRIVER CHANGE: #86-Brandonbilt Motorsports
After a strong start to the 2019 season with an unsponsored car, placing him 14th in the series standings 180 markers out of the lead, Brandon Brown will not drive the #86 this week. As announced earlier this spring, Mason Diaz will return to the site of his XFINITY Series debut last September, when he ran 19th for DGM Racing. Solid Rock Carriers continues their sponsorship of Diaz with the #86 team.

DRIVER CHANGE: #93-RSS Racing
It wasn't until Wednesday that Brandon Brown landed a ride in Friday's race. Brown will keep his Playoff run alive thanks to Josh Bilicki, who steps aside to let Brown run the #93.

DRIVER CHANGE: #99-B.J. McLeod Motorsports
With Tyler Matthews driving his car #15 for JD Motorsports, B.J. McLeod moves to his own #99, taking the place of Tommy Joe Martins, 26th in Bristol. McLeod himself ran 18th in the #15 last Saturday.

Saturday, April 13, 2019
CUP Race 9 of 36
Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond
2018 Last-Place Finisher: Reed Sorenson

ENTRY LIST
There are 37 drivers entered for 40 spots, marking the eighth consecutive short field in 2019. It’s the fewest starters for a Cup race at Richmond since March 6, 1994, when 37 drivers took the green flag – after 46 cars attempted to qualify. Among those sent home from that race was Loy Allen, Jr., his first of 12 DNQs that season, and just two weeks after starting from the pole in the Daytona 500.

MISSING: #27-Premium Motorsports
The #27 Chevrolet that Jay Robinson’s team withdrew along with Reed Sorenson at Bristol is not entered this week in Richmond.

DRIVER CHANGE: #51-Rick Ware Racing
For the second straight week, Cody Ware was on the preliminary entry list as driver of the #51 but has been swapped out. Jeb Burton returns to the Ware team for the first time since he drove the #52 at Martinsville. He takes the place of Gray Gaulding, who ran 36th after engine trouble in Bristol.

DRIVER CHANGE & PAINT SCHEME: #66-Motorsports Business Management
Easily the most head-turning paint scheme this weekend will belong to Joey Gase, who returns to action for the first time since Fontana as driver of Carl Long’s Cup car. After approval by NASCAR, the #66 Eternal Fan Toyota will be covered with the artwork of the late Sam Bass, the prolific motorsports artist who passed away on the eve of this year’s Daytona 500. Much of the artwork displayed on Gase’s ride is from Bass’ many program covers used at the Richmond Raceway, including his iconic debut of the Stavola Brothers’ Miller High Life paint schemes for Bobby Allison and Bobby Hillin, Jr., the first Cup paint schemes Bass designed in 1988.

SPONSOR UPDATE: #00-StarCom Racing
Superior Essex, a brand that in recent years has sponsored many of J.J. Yeley’s racing efforts, will rejoin Derrike Cope’s team as sponsor for the first time since last year’s spring Bristol race. Landon Cassill, 26th in Bristol, remains the driver.

Friday, May 3, 2019
TRUCKS Race 6 of 23
JEGS 200 at Dover
2018 Last-Place Finisher: Todd Peck

We’re now less than a month away from the return of the Truck Series in Dover. Among the expected entrants is Hill Racing’s #56, which Timmy Hill qualified on time for the team’s debut in Martinsville.

LASTCAR STAT OF THE WEEK
Today in LASTCAR history (April 11, 1998): Dennis Setzer picks up the first last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career in the Galaxy Food Centers 300, the 42nd and final XFINITY race held on the historic Hickory Motor Speedway. Setzer was making a one-off start for team owner James Finch in the #4 Lance Snacks Chevrolet, a car driven for much of the year by Jeff Purvis. After qualifying 15th in the field of 31, Setzer was collected in a multi-car pileup after 59 laps. Later that month, Setzer would make his Cup Series debut in a second car from the Bill Elliott Racing stables. His #89 McDonald’s McRib Ford Thunderbird ran 19th in the DieHard 500 at Talladega.

CUP: Left turn into Bristol garage area seals last-place finish for Aric Almirola

PHOTO: @StewartHaasRcng

Aric Almirola picked up the 11th last-place finish of his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career in Sunday’s Food City 500 at the Bristol Motor Speedway when his #10 SHAZAM! / Smithfield Ford was eliminated with crash damage after 3 of 500 laps.

The finish, which came in Almirola’s 288th series start, was his first since July 30, 2017 at Pocono, 59 races ago. In the Cup Series last-place rankings, it was the 34th for the #10, the 578th from a crash, and the 690th for Ford. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 122nd for the #10, the 949th for Ford, and the 1,175th from a crash.

The veteran Almirola experienced his most recent last-place finish in one of his first starts since he returned from the most serious accident of his Cup career. A back injury suffered at Kansas sidelined the Florida native for seven races. The 2017 campaign was also his sixth and final driving for Richard Petty Enterprises, and Almirola’s sponsorship from Smithfield followed him to Stewart-Haas Racing’s #10 Ford for 2018, a ride vacated by a retiring Danica Patrick.

The move to SHR paid off immediately. Almirola came within two corners of winning the Daytona 500, came close again at Chicagoland, Loudon, and Dover, then finally broke through in Talladega’s Playoff race. The win brought Almirola within three spots of making the Championship 4 at Phoenix, and he finished a career-best 5th in the series standings with 17 top-ten finishes and just two DNFs.

Almirola arrived in Bristol on a hot streak. One week after he was collected in the night’s biggest crash during the Daytona 500, the Smithfield Ford won the pole at Atlanta and finished 8th, kicking off a streak of six consecutive top-ten finishes. His season-best finish came at Phoenix, now set to be the 2020 season finale for the Cup Series, and he started outside-pole at Martinsville. It was on the short track that Almirola debuted a new maroon paint scheme promoting the upcoming DC Comics film “Shazam!” The scheme would run again at Bristol, the Sunday following the film’s U.S. release.

Almirola began the weekend 11th in the opening practice, then jumped to second-fastest to Ryan Blaney in Round 1 of qualifying. He dropped one spot to third in Round 2, edged by eventual polesitter Chase Elliott. This put the #10 Ford in the third and final round, where he ran the most laps of anyone in the session – six – and clocked in 6th with a speed of 130.602mph (14.692 seconds).

Almirola was one of just 37 drivers to arrive in Bristol, marking the smallest Cup field at the track since March 31, 1996, a running of the Food City 500 that had 43 entrants. Securing the final starting spot was Ross Chastain, who continued his streak of starting every Cup, XFINITY, and Truck Series race in 2019. Following a crash on Saturday with Jeff Green that left him 33rd in the Alsco 300, Chastain would drive Sunday in Premium Motorsports’ #15 Rim Ryderz Chevrolet. Chastain’s car would be the only official Jay Robinson entry in the race (though Spire Motorsports’ #77 operates out of their shop) – the #27, to be driven by Reed Sorenson, was withdrawn earlier in the week.

Prior to the start of the race, Chastain was joined at the back by 30th-place starter Ryan Preece, who was sent to a backup #47 Kroger Chevrolet after, as Lee Spencer tweeted Saturday, a track bar mount ripped out of the primary during Happy Hour. Also sent to the rear was 13th-place Kevin Harvick, whose #4 Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford failed pre-race inspection three times. In addition to starting in the rear, Harvick’s team engineer was ejected from the track, and the #4 would have to make a pass-through penalty at the start of the race. That start would prove critical to Harvick – and Almirola.

When the race began, Harvick, Preece, and Chastain were ahead of new last-place starter Timmy Hill, who was swapped in for Joey Gase in a deep blue #66 Toyota from Carl Long’s team Motorsports Business Management. As the leaders completed Lap 1, Harvick made a move down to pit road on the backstretch, taking over last as he fell of the lead lap. Just seconds later, two separate accidents slowed the action, preventing Harvick from taking the Lucky Dog. After two laps, outside-polesitter William Byron in the #24 Axalta Chevrolet slid up the track in Turns 1 and 2, making contact with Almirola. Almirola nearly regained control before the right side slapped the fence. At almost the same instant on the same backstretch, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.’s #17 Sunny D Ford rear-ended a slowing Kyle Busch in the #18 Skittles Toyota, and Busch’s rear clip was pushed in by a passing Ryan Preece.

The two incidents sent Almirola, Stenhouse, and Busch to pit road, where they briefly traded last place, and all three incurred tail-end penalties for pitting when pit road was closed. Harvick was also further hampered by a loose wheel which forced an additional stop. Almirola took the last spot on Lap 5, and after an extended stop, the crew found the lower control arm was bent, needing further repairs. Almirola returned to the track, only to drag out a jack stand which had to be retrieved in Turn 1. He then entered the garage through the opening just past the first pit stall on the frontstretch. With the car parked next to an outbuilding, the crew set to work on the right-front suspension, only to be told that they were now out of the race. Under NASCAR’s “Crash Clock,” or Damaged Vehicle Policy, the trip to the garage for crash damage without turning a lap above minimum speed meant their day was done. On Lap 14, someone on the crew argued that the #10 was reported behind the wall due to a mechanical issue and not crash damage. However, NASCAR’s ruling stood, and Almirola was listed as out due to a crash, similar to Joey Logano last summer at Watkins Glen. SHR’s Twitter reported that Almirola’s steering was damaged too severely to be repaired. On Lap 27, Almirola’s car disappeared on RaceView.

The rest of the Bottom Five was filled by a series of mechanical issues:

In 36th place went Gray Gaulding, making his 50th Cup start and first since last fall at Richmond. Driving Rick Ware Racing’s flagship #51 Jacob Companies Chevrolet (originally entered with Cody Ware as driver), Gaulding pulled behind the wall with engine woes, saying he had the car “wide open and it’s not going anywhere.” After a trip to the garage on Lap 146, the team called it a day on Lap 168.

In 35th was Timmy Hill, who reported his #66 Toyota was getting looser in the middle of the corner, and that none of the team’s changes were fixing the issue. Hill pulled behind the wall around Lap 227, then returned to action by Lap 268, only to fall out with suspension issues soon after.

Corey LaJoie took 34th, having crunched the nose of his #32 Dude Wipes Ford in the Lap 38 incident that spun Chase Elliott out of the lead down the frontstretch. After another door-rubbing match with Kyle Busch while leaving pit road, LaJoie later retired with crash damage after completing just over half distance.

Rounding out the Bottom Five was Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., who like LaJoie destroyed the nose of his car when he rear-ended the slowing Kyle Busch on Lap 2. Stenhouse was then plagued with a persistent overheating issue, and the crew expressed concern over losing it on the track. “Don’t melt this engine down,” he was told, “If it’s running hot, bring it down and we’ll cool it down.” Stenhouse did this, pitting on Lap 130, then pulling behind the team’s transporter. He returned to action on Lap 177, 46 laps down, then made at least one more extended stay in the garage during Stage 2. He finished the last car under power, a full 105 laps back of the leaders.

For Stenhouse, Gaulding, and Almirola, Sunday marked their first Bottom Five of 2019.

A handful of underdogs turned heads with strong runs on Sunday. Ty Dillon stayed out on old tires and waged a spirited three-lap war with Clint Bowyer for the win in Stage 1. After blows were traded, Dillon’s #13 GIECO Chevrolet in the high lane edged out Bowyer, handing the youngster his first stage victory. Dillon finished 15th, three spots behind 12th-place Matt DiBenedetto, who ran as high as 6th, matching his career-best run in this same race in 2016. Only a late caution and final pit stop kept him from a possible Top 5. Chris Buescher was also running exceedingly well, flirting with a Top 5 of his own before his #37 Bush’s Beans Chevrolet made an unscheduled stop with just 41 laps remaining.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the first time car #10 finished last in a Cup Series race at Bristol since August 26, 1995, when Ricky Rudd’s #10 Tide Ford crashed after 138 laps of the Goody’s 500. This was the same race that saw Dale Earnhardt tangle with Terry Labonte across the finish line.
*It had been even longer since the #10 finished last in the Bristol spring race – April 8, 1990, when Derrike Cope’s #10 Purolator Chevrolet wrecked out after 56 laps of the Valleydale 500. This was also a historic Bristol race which saw Davey Allison edge Mark Martin by eight inches in a photo finish, as well as a post-race confrontation between Sterling Marlin and Ricky Rudd.
*Almriola’s sixth-place starting spot was also the fourth-best starting position by a Cup Series last-place finisher at Bristol. The record remains with none other than nine-time Bristol winner Rusty Wallace, who started outside-pole before a crash on August 24, 1991.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
37) #10-Aric Almirola / 3 laps / crash
36) #51-Gray Gaulding / 142 laps / engine
35) #66-Timmy Hill / 239 laps / suspension
34) #32-Corey LaJoie / 308 laps / crash
33) #17-Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. / 395 laps / running

2019 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Front Row Motorsports, Stewart-Haas Racing (2)
2nd) Chip Ganassi Racing, Germain Racing, Motorsports Business Management, Rick Ware Racing (1)

2019 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Ford (4)
2nd) Chevrolet (3)
3rd) Toyota (1)

2019 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

XFINITY: John Jackson's tribute car struggles with speed, suspension at Bristol

PHOTO: FS1, screencap by David PeQueen

John Jackson picked up the 5th last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career in Saturday’s Alsco 300 at the Bristol Motor Speedway when his #13 CrashClaimsR.us / Richie Anderson 1962-2019 Toyota fell out with suspension issues after 9 of 300 laps.

The finish, which came in Jackson’s 32nd series start, was his second of the season and first since Atlanta, five rounds ago. In the XFINITY Series last-place rankings, it was the 7th for car #13, the 16th from suspension issues, and the 124th by a Toyota. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 30th for the #13, the 40th from suspension woes, and the 312th for Toyota.

The finish also moved Jackson into the 2019 LASTCAR XFINITY Series lead, taking the spot from Jeff Green.

Bristol would see Jackson make his fourth XFINITY start of the season, and only his second since the last-place run in Atlanta (following a 30th in Fontana). As the team had since Daytona, both Jackson’s #13 and Motorsports Business Management teammate Timmy Hill’s #66 would be old Toyota Camrys, as would Joey Gase in the #35. Only MBM’s fourth car, the #42 Amana Toyota driven by Chad Finchum, would use the new Supra body. Jackson, Hill, and Gase would also run in honor of the late Richie Anderson, a racer who passed away on March 30, as all three would run large hood decals with Anderson's picture.

With 37 drivers entered for 38 spots, all four MBM cars were guaranteed starting spots, regardless of speed. For Jackson, speed was indeed lacking. After skipping the weekend’s opening practice, he anchored the charts in Happy Hour, his fastest of twelve laps a mere 111.773mph (17.167 seconds), nearly 1.7 seconds off the lead. Jackson ended up losing a little speed in qualifying, turning in the slowest completed lap of Round 1 with a 111.119mph (17.268 seconds). The spot placed him 35th on the grid.

Starting behind Jackson were 36th-place Stephen Leicht, last-placer in Daytona, in JD Motorsports’ #01 Food City Chevrolet, and 37th-place Jeff Green, last week’s Texas last-placer. Four drivers joined them at the rear for pre-race penalties: engine changes for 27th-place starter Gase’s #35 and 16th-place starter Zane Smith in the #8 The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas Chevrolet, unapproved adjustments on Jeremy Clements’ #51 All South Electric Chevrolet, and a backup car for David Starr’s #52 Whataburger / Shoun Trucking Chevrolet. According to Starr’s Twitter, the primary car had sponsorship from Chasco but was damaged after something broke in the right-front of the car during opening practice, sending him into the wall and the team scrambling for a second car.

When the race started, Jackson fell to the 37th spot, and was the first to be lapped on the seventh circuit. Moments later, as NASCAR officials alerted the #13 needed to pick up his speed, Alex Labbe slowed on the apron and came to pit road. After starting 17th in Mario Gosselin’s #90 Auto Credit National / Auto-National.com Chevrolet, the stop also dropped him laps down. Jackson then pitted, only to pick up a commitment line infraction and pit a second time on Lap 15. This time around, Jackson pulled behind the wall, done for the day. Labbe also took a trip to the garage for nearly 90 laps, returning to action in Stage 2. Only then did Jackson fall to last. Labbe finished 31st.

During Jackson and Labbe’s issues, both Josh Bilicki in the unsponsored #93 RSS Racing Chevrolet and Morgan Shepherd in the #89 VisoneRV Chevrolet pulled into the garage with an ignition and water pump issue, respectively. Jeff Gren’s day ended on Lap 40, when he lost a radiator hose in Turns 1 and 2, spraying water on the track. Green’s #38 slid into Ross Chastain, who had qualified a strong 12th in the #4 Food City Chevrolet. The crash tore the passenger side door panel from Green’s car and destroyed the rear clip of Chastain’s machine, taking both cars from the race.

Two other MBM cars had fine runs on Saturday. Hill finished in 17th, hanging on to a lead lap run until Lap 35 and remaining in the Top 20 for nearly the entire race. It was Hill’s best series finish since last summer at Daytona, and his best in 12 series starts at Bristol. His previous best at Bristol was a 21st in the spring of 2014. Hill finished two whole laps ahead of Finchum’s #42 Supra, whose 20th-place finish was second-best of 2019 behind his 19th at Phoenix. Finchum managed this despite slowing suddenly in Turn 4 during the final laps. Gase in the third MBM car finished 27th.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the first time car #13 has finished last in an XFINITY Series race at Bristol, and the first time an XFINITY last-placer at Bristol fell out with suspension issues.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
37) #13-John Jackson / 9 laps / suspension
36) #93-Josh Bilicki / 12 laps / ignition
35) #89-Morgan Shepherd / 13 laps / water pump
34) #38-Jeff Green / 40 laps / crash
33) #4-Ross Chastain / 41 laps / crash

2019 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Motorsports Business Management (3)
2nd) DGM Racing, JD Motorsports, Rick Ware Racing, RSS Racing (1)

2019 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (4)
2nd) Toyota (3)

2019 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

PREVIEW: Cup field at Bristol the smallest since 1996

PHOTO: @mattdracing

Saturday, April 6, 2019
XFINITY Race 7 of 33
Alsco 300 at Bristol
2018 Last-Place Finisher: Jeremy Clements

ENTRY LIST
There are 37 drivers for 38 spots in this Saturday’s return to Thunder Valley, the fourth short field in seven races this season.

PAINT SCHEME: #2-Richard Childress Racing
Tyler Reddick carries a distinctive new look on his Chevrolet this week as Dolly Parton and her Dollywood amusement park in nearby Pigeon Forge are the sponsors this week on a pink-and-white paint scheme. Reddick arrives in Bristol as the points leader on the heels of three consecutive top-five finishes, including a season-best runner-up last week in Texas.

DRIVER CHANGE: #8-JR Motorsports
Zane Smith returns to the XFINITY Series for the first time since his 24th-place finish in his series debut at Las Vegas, taking the place of Texas 5th-place finisher Jeb Burton. The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas is again listed as the sponsor for his Chevrolet.

MISSING: #12-Penske Racing
With no Cup drivers entered in Saturday’s “Dash 4 Cash” race, Brad Keselowski and the #12 Penske Racing entry are not entered. Keselowski finished 36th last week after an early crash.

DRIVER CHANGE: #13-Motorsports Business Management
DRIVER CHANGE: #66-Motorsports Business Management
Carl Long’s MBM team swaps drivers this week with Timmy Hill moving from the #13 to the #66, taking the place of his brother Tyler Hill, who ran 28th in Texas. Taking Timmy’s place in the #13 is John Jackson, who we last saw run a season-best 30th in Fontana.

DRIVER CHANGE: #17-Rick Ware Racing
For the first time since Daytona, Bayley Currey will not be the driver of Rick Ware’s #17 Chevrolet. Currey, who failed to qualify last week in Texas, will remain in Ware’s #52 Chevrolet on the Cup side. In Currey’s place in the #17 will be Kyle Weatherman, who drove two Cup races for Ware and another seven last year for StarCom Racing. Interestingly, this will be Weatherman’s first XFINITY Series start. UPDATE: East Carolina University, which had signed with Ware in the past to be on the team's #51 Cup car, will be on the #17.

DRIVER CHANGE: #18-Joe Gibbs Racing
Saturday will also see Harrison Burton’s first XFINITY Series start, taking the place of Kyle Busch in the #18 Toyota. DEX Imaging, Burton’s sponsor for his 2017 K&N East Series Championship, backs the effort. Burton won the East race here in 2017, and finished 18th in his lone Truck Series start at Bristol.

MISSING: #21-Richard Childress Racing
Last week's strong run for Kaz Grala ended with a swipe at the Texas wall with five laps to go, leaving him 18th. Bristol is not a scheduled start for both driver and team, and neither are entered this Saturday.

SPONSOR UPDATE: #36-DGM Racing
Peg Leg Porker barbecue of Nashville tweeted yesterday they will be backing Josh Williams, four years after sponsor and driver met, and one week after Williams' career-best 14th-place run in Texas. Peg Leg specializes in barbecue, bourbon, and a recent concoction that mixes Mountain Dew into a new sauce.

MISSING: #81-XCI Racing
Jeffrey Earnhardt and the XCI Racing entry are not in the race after finishing 8th in the team’s debut in Texas.

DRIVER CHANGE: #90-DGM Racing
Alex Labbe rejoins Mario Gosselin’s team for the first time since a 19th-place finish in Atlanta earlier this year. He takes the place of Ronnie Bassett, Jr., who earned a career-best 15th in just his second series start at Texas. Labbe finished 11th and 23rd in the two Bristol races last year.

Sunday, April 7, 2019
CUP Race 8 of 36
Food City 500 at Bristol
2018 Last-Place Finisher: Ross Chastain

ENTRY LIST
Following Premium Motorsports’ withdrawal of the #27 to be driven by Reed Sorenson, there are 37 drivers entered for 40 spots. This marks the seventh-straight short Cup field in 2019, and the fewest starters in a Cup race at Bristol since March 31, 1996 – a race that had 43 entrants.

PAINT SCHEME: #4-Stewart-Haas Racing
For the first time since October 31, 2010 at Talladega, when they sponsored Elliott Sadler, Hunt Brothers Pizza will by the primary sponsor on a Cup Series entry. The pairing continues Hunt's longtime partnership with Kevin Harvick, who the company previously sponsored in both the XFINITY and Truck Series.

WITHDREW: #27-Premium Motorsports
Reed Sorenson and the #27 team were both on the preliminary entry list, but are not making the trip to Bristol, one week after a 34th-place finish at Texas.

DRIVER CHANGE: #51-Rick Ware Racing
Cody Ware rejoins the #51 team for the first time since a difficult afternoon in Martinsville, and will make his first Cup start at Bristol. The team came home 31st last week in Texas with B.J. McLeod. UPDATE: As of Thursday, Gray Gaulding will drive this car, pulling double duty in his first Cup start since last fall at Richmond in the Ware #52.

DRIVER CHANGE: #66-Motorsports Business Management
While Timmy Hill is running the XFINITY race for MBM, Joey Gase will run double-duty this weekend in his return to the #66 Cup team. Hill finished 38th in last week’s Cup race. Gase has not started a Cup race at Bristol since the summer of 2017, when he ran 34th for BK Racing. UPDATE: Timmy Hill will drive the #66 this Sunday and run double duty. Gase will only run XFINITY on Saturday.

DRIVER CHANGE: #77-Spire Motorsports
Quin Houff returns to the Cup Series for the first time since his series debut at Phoenix, taking the place of Texas 32nd-place finisher Garrett Smithley. Houff earned a 15th-place run at Bristol during his only XFINITY start here in 2017, driving for Precision Performance Motorsports. The sponsor will be FALCI Adaptive Motorsports, the current effort of former Furniture Row Racing team owner Barney Visser.

PAINT SCHEME: #95-Leavine Family Racing
Matt DiBenedetto's Toyota carries a new look this week as it promotes the new online NASCAR Heat Pro League.

MISSING: #96-Gaunt Brothers Racing
Only Carl Long’s team flies the flag for open teams this week. Parker Kligerman and the Gaunt Brothers team are not headed to Tennessee. Kligerman ran 27th last week in Texas.

MISSING: #97-Obaika Racing
Also not entered is Victor Obaika’s #97, which was withdrawn prior to last week’s action in Texas.

Friday, May 3, 2019
TRUCKS Race 6 of 23
JEGS 200 at Dover
2018 Last-Place Finisher: Todd Peck

The wait is on as the Truck Series takes the next month off, returning to lead off a triple-header in Dover.

LASTCAR STAT OF THE WEEK

Bobby Hamilton rolls off the grid in the 1993 Food City 500.
PHOTO: ESPN, Video posted on YouTube by BigTNASCAR

Today in LASTCAR history (April 4, 1993): The tragic Food City 500 run the Sunday following the passing of Alan Kulwicki saw Rusty Wallace win in dominant fashion, completing a Polish Victory Lap in honor of his fallen competitor. The early laps also saw the late Bobby Hamilton score the first last-place finish of his Cup career when the engine let go on his #68 Country Time Ford after 27 laps. Hamilton, who was released by TriStar Motorsports two races later, would not finish last in Cup again until the 2000 Daytona 500.