CUP: Chad Finchum’s first Cup start in more than two years ends all too soon

PHOTO: @MBMMotorsports

Chad Finchum picked up the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career in Sunday’s South Point 400 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway when his #49 LasVegas.net Toyota fell out with overheating issues after 19 of 268 laps.

The finish occurred in Finchum’s 2nd series start. In the Cup Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 30th for the #49, the 117th from overheating, and the 165th for Toyota. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 58th for the #49, the 176th for overheating problems, and the 347th for Toyota.

Las Vegas was significant for Finchum as it would mark his first Cup Series start since 2018, when he drove Motorsports Business Management’s #66 Concrete North / Smithbilt Homes Toyota to a 33rd-place finish at Bristol. After more than two years of steady improvements driving each of MBM’s three XFINITY entries, he was entered in this year’s Daytona 500, running alongside Timmy Hill in the #49 Garrison Homes Toyota. Unfortunately, Finchum’s first appearance in the Bluegreen Vacation Duels only yielded a 20th-place finish, and he missed the field.

In addition to Saturday’s XFINITY race, where he ran 35th in MBM’s “start-and-park” #66, Finchum would run Sunday in the same “throwback” scheme that Hill ran earlier this month at Darlington, though with a couple changes. LasVegas.net logos would be on the quarter-panels and the car number changed from Hill’s #66 to Finchum’s #49. The result marked the first time since May 11, 2019 that the Carl Long-owned team had two Cup cars in the field for a points-paying race. Finchum drew the 39th and final starting spot.

No teams dropped to the rear before the start, and Finchum crossed the stripe 3.85 seconds back of the lead, three-tenths back of Josh Bilicki in Rick Ware Racing’s #53 Dollar Loan Center Chevrolet. Finchum closed within one-tenth of Bilicki for the spot, but by Lap 4 reported that Bilicki was leaking fluid. The message was relayed to NASCAR, who didn’t observe any fluid and didn’t throw the caution. Meanwhile, Finchum dropped further back of Bilicki, from 1.109 seconds on Lap 6 to 1.446 seconds on Lap 9. Team radio for Finchum’s team wasn’t publicly available until Lap 12, when codes could be heard being punched into the scanner. By then, Finchum was being lapped, and the spotter was guiding him away from lapped traffic.

Then on Lap 14, Finchum suddenly radioed “engine’s coming down,” and he was urged to pit immediately. “It’s sputtering all over the track,” said the driver as the crew pulled tape off the grille. Finchum pulled back onto the track on Lap 16, by which point he lost his third lap as the leaders raced past him in the high lane. He merged into traffic, only for someone on the crew to shout “Fuck! Take it to the garage” on Lap 21. By Lap 23, NASCAR reported Finchum had pulled into the garage, and the team prepared to hook up the computer from teammate Timmy Hill’s #66 to diagnose an engine issue.

But then, no more than 15 seconds later, NASCAR reported “66 to the garage, mechanical.” Hill’s #66 CrashClaimsR.us Toyota had just joined his teammate in the garage, citing a right-side axle and driveplate issue. At the time, Hill was exactly one lap ahead of Finchum, both in the final two running positions. On Lap 28, Finchum was told “Chad, get out, we’re done,” and NASCAR confirmed Finchum was out on Lap 34. Hill’s team thought about waiting until the end of Stage 1 to return to action, but completed repairs on the axle on Lap 63, when their car returned to action 45 laps down. Hill only climbed to 37th before rear end trouble ended his night. The only car Hill passed was Tyler Reddick, whose #8 CAT Mining Chevrolet was involved in two incidents before he fell out with heavy right-front damage.

After reports of his car leaking in the early laps, Josh Bilicki finished 36th, out with suspension issues. Joey Gase, Bilicki’s teammate in the #51 Nevada Donate Life Ford, rounded out the Bottom Five as the final car under power.

Ill-timed cautions for the leaders brought several drivers into the mix for the lead, including Michael McDowell, Christopher Bell, Chris Buescher, John Hunter Nemechek, and Corey LaJoie. In the chaos that followed, only Buescher managed to defend his spot inside the Top 10, taking 9th in the #17 Sunny D Ford. The same sequence also led to the lead battle between Kurt Busch, who took the checkered flag ahead of Matt DiBenedetto. DiBenedetto finished 2nd in both Cup races at Las Vegas this year, tying his career-best runner-up finish from Bristol last summer.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This marked the first last-place finish for the #49 in a Cup Series race at Las Vegas since March 11, 2012, when J.J. Yeley’s #49 America Israel Racing Toyota, fielded by Jay Robinson and Troy Blakeney, dropped out after 39 laps with engine failure.

*This was also the first time a Cup Series last-place finisher at Las Vegas fell out due to overheating issues.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

39) #49-Chad Finchum / 19 laps / overheating

38) #8-Tyler Reddick / 157 laps / crash

37) #66-Timmy Hill / 160 laps / rear end

36) #53-Josh Bilicki / 227 laps / suspension

35) #51-Joey Gase / 256 laps / running

2020 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) JTG-Daugherty Racing (7)

2nd) Motorsports Business Management, Rick Ware Racing (5)

3rd) Chip Ganassi Racing, Hendrick Motorsports, Penske Racing (2)

4th) Beard Motorsports, B.J. McLeod Motorsports, Front Row Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, Leavine Family Racing, StarCom Racing, Tommy Baldwin Racing (1)

2020 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet (19)

2nd) Toyota (7)

3rd) Ford (4)

2020 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

XFINITY: Steering issue leaves Kyle Weatherman last, but Vinnie Miller has an even more frustrating night

PHOTO: @KyleWeatherman

Kyle Weatherman picked up the 2nd last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career in Saturday’s Alsco 300 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway when his #47 The Journey Home Project Chevrolet fell out with crash after 7 of 200 laps.

The finish, which came in Weatherman’s 27th series start, was his second of the season and first since Kentucky, 12 races ago. In the XFINITY Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 14th for the #47, the 337th from a crash, and the 556th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 51st for the #47, the 1,226th from a crash, and the 1,746th for Chevrolet.

Weatherman and his teammate Bayley Currey have continued to get the most out of Mike Harmon Racing’s equipment in 2020, even against several more obstacles. On the Daytona infield road course, the duo restarted on the front row late in the event, and despite a tangle in Turn 1 managed to take 14th and 17th at the finish. But days later, it was reported Weatherman’s car and hauler had been stolen in Kingsland, Georgia. This proved a serious setback for the MHR team as, though the road course car was only run a few times each year, it had the team’s best equipment on it. Despite multiple increases in the reward fund, as of this writing, the whereabouts of the hauler and equipment are still unknown.

Following the theft, Weatherman has only once finished inside the Top 20 since – a 20th two weeks ago in Richmond. Included in the difficult stretch was Darlington, where he was collected in an early wreck, halting his run in a special “throwback” scheme to resemble David Ragan’s Ford Fairline police car. Both Harmon teams struggled last week in Bristol, where suspension issues left Weatherman a disappointing 32nd while Currey’s 15th-place run was undone by a fractured truck arm, dropping him to 30th.

For Las Vegas, Weatherman tweeted his team did not have primary sponsorship and was actively helping the team seek new backers. Still, his #47 kept the logo for the late Charlie Daniels’ organization The Journey Home Project. The team also kept the quote by Daniels on the quarter-panels, which read, “Only two things protect America, the grace of Almighty God and the United States Military.” The car rolled off 33rd on Saturday.

Taking the 36th and final starting spot was Chad Finchum, who swapped back into Motorsports Business Management’s #66 CrashClaimsR.us Toyota for the first time since Road America. Expected to be a “start-and-park” effort, a last-place finish by Finchum would be the fourth in a row for the MBM team. No other teams dropped to the tail end for pre-race penalties, and Finchum followed Vinnie Miller in the #99 Koolbox Toyota.

When the race started, however, Miller immediately fell off the pace, complaining of brake issues. “Get fluid, get fluid,” said the #99 team, who immediately set to work on bleeding the brake system. The driver reported that the brakes stopped working whenever he opened the throttle. Around Lap 5, Miller returned to the track, where his teammate Matt Mills was struggling in the #5 J.F. Electric Chevrolet. NASCAR watched Mills for smoke in the early laps, and he made contact with the wall at least one time in the opening seven laps. As Mills lost a lap to the leaders, saying his car “took off” when he hit the wall, Miller came back up to speed, but said the brake issue had returned. “Pit box or hauler?” asked the driver. “Pit box,” said the team. With just two laps complete, Miller was still in last place and headed back to the garage area when the caution fell for the first time.

On Lap 7, Weatherman was running somewhere between 21st and 30th when he lost control in the tri-oval and spun to the apron. The car spun as it stopped against the inside wall, right in front of the exit for the pace car. With slight visible damage to the right-front corner and some scrapes to the passenger-side door, Weatherman climbed out, and the team reported a steering issue caused the spin. NASCAR had to run their backup pace car while Weatherman’s car was brought behind the wall, the first car out of the race.

Across the garage area, work continued on Miller’s #99, and the crew continued to have their driver pump and hold the pedal. On Lap 15, the driver fired the engine, and he pulled back onto the track on Lap 18, just as the caution fell for Austin Hill’s backstretch spin in the #61 Weins Canada Toyota. Miller had originally owed NASCAR a pass-through penalty once he got back up to speed, but Hill’s caution changed that to tail-end of the longest line. Thus, on Lap 20, Miller finally completed his third lap. But, again, the brakes began to fail, and moments after dropping Weatherman to last on Lap 25, he prepared to return to the garage. He did so on Lap 26, just one lap after Finchum pulled into the garage. Finchum then returned to the track on Lap 38 while Miller, trying to return himself, was blocked-in by a parked buggy. 

Miller pulled back onto the track on Lap 48, only for the cycle to begin anew. The pedal went to the floor on Lap 54, and he went to the garage on Lap 56, just moments after Finchum made his own second trip to the garage. On Lap 63, Finchum was confirmed out by NASCAR due to suspension issues, but since Miller didn’t return until Lap 93, it wasn’t until Lap 113 that the #99 finally climbed to 34th ahead of Finchum. This, too, was followed by more adversity as on Lap 121, he was flagged by NASCAR for not meeting minimum speed. The team said they needed to pick up four-tenths a lap, but the driver said the car was too loose. By then, he was a full 80 laps down with 75 to go. The team made adjustments, but on Lap 130, he was black-flagged again and instructed that his night was done. He pulled behind the wall on Lap 132, leaving him 34th.

Rounding out the Bottom Five were Jeffrey Earnhardt, who finished 44 laps down in Johnny Davis’ #0 Chevrolet, which debuted new sponsorship from Forever Lawn. Alex Labbe took 32nd when his #36 Can-Am Chevrolet lost power down the backstretch, ultimately drawing the final caution with 12 laps to go.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This marked the first last-place finish for the #47 in an XFINITY Series race at Las Vegas.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

36) #47-Kyle Weatherman / 7 laps / crash

35) #66-Chad Finchum / 36 laps / suspension

34) #99-Vinnie Miller / 51 laps / too slow

33) #0-Jeffrey Earnhardt / 166 laps / running

32) #36-Alex Labbe / 179 laps / electrical

2020 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Motorsports Business Management (8)

2nd) Joe Gibbs Racing, Mike Harmon Racing (3)

3rd) JD Motorsports, Jimmy Means Racing, JR Motorsports, Shepherd Racing Ventures, SS-Green Light Racing (2)

4th) B.J. McLeod Motorsports, Jeremy Clements Racing, Kaulig Racing (1)

2020 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet (16)

2nd) Toyota (11)

2020 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

TRUCKS: After not receiving medical clearance, Natalie Decker the first NASCAR driver to be classified last due to fatigue

PHOTO: @NieceMotorsport

Natalie Decker picked up the 2nd last-place finish of her NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoor Truck Series career in Friday’s World of Westgate 200 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway when her #44 Ruedebusch Development Chevrolet didn’t complete any of the 134 laps as the driver was listed out due to fatigue.

The finish, which came in what was credited as Decker’s 31st series start, was her first of the season and first since the February 15, 2019 opener at Daytona, 40 races ago. In the Truck Series’ last-place rankings, it was the first due to fatigue, the 7th for the #44, and the 395th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 1st from fatigue, the 61st for the #44, and the 1,745th for Chevrolet.

UPDATE (October 5): Racing-reference.info has since re-classified the reason for Decker's last-place finish as "did not start," which would be the 3rd for the Truck Series and 44th across NASCAR's top three series. However, as of this writing, NASCAR's official race results from their statistical services do not reflect this change. Thus, the statistics have not yet been changed.

It’s been a difficult climb for the 23-year-old Decker as she’s tried to find her footing in the Truck Series. Her first last-place finish came in her debut, a setback after a solid ARCA campaign in 2018 where she started the year on the pole at Daytona and earned her first of two career-best 5th-place finishes on her way to 7th in the standings. Driving for DGR-Crosley, Decker’s best finish in 2019 was a 13th, which curiously also came at Las Vegas.

This year, Decker has scaled back to a part-time effort in the Truck Series, sharing Al Niece’s #44 ride with Jeb Burton, Ross Chastain, and Bayley Currey. The season got off to a much better start – at Daytona, she equaled her career-best 5th from ARCA with another 5th-place showing – the best-ever for a female Truck Series competitor. But in the 11 starts that followed, she’d finished no better than 20th. 

On September 14, Decker tweeted that she was born with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis – the same condition suffered by fellow Truck Series competitor Todd Peck – and had just recently been diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis. In addition to the stiffness and swelling in her joints, she also listed fatigue among her symptoms. This was just months after she’d been sidelined from racing at Pocono due to a medical emergency stemming from her gallbladder surgery last December. Bayley Currey took over for her that day and finished in 16th.

For Friday’s race, Decker was slated to take the green flag in 22nd, but during the pace laps, a NASCAR Official and several crew members were seen pushing the #44 behind the wall with no driver behind the wheel. It was reported that Decker had not been medically cleared to start the race, and since the truck had both cleared pre-race inspection and been gridded, the entry would be immediately credited with a last-place finish. As of this writing, it is not yet clear what exact medical condition sidelined Decker for the race, nor why the team was unable to obtain a relief driver in time. The only other report indicated she was checked and released from the infield care center.

The moment caused Decker to immediately take over last place from Tim Viens, who was slated to roll off in last place in the #83 CMI Motorsports Chevrolet. Ultimately, Viens only climbed to 33rd before he was flagged off the track for not maintaining minimum speed. The two trucks he passed were Dawson Cram, who suffered crash damage on his #41 Chevrolet in the early laps, and Jennifer Jo Cobb, who ended up 34th after an oil tank rupture on her #10 Fastener Supply Company Chevrolet. Rounding out the group was Jordan Anderson, whose new-look #3 Bommarito.com / Sefton Steel Chevrolet broke a track bar in the late stages.

Decker's truck pushed behind the wall before the start
IMAGE: @FS1

While this did mark the first occasion that “fatigue” was the listed reason out for the last-place finisher of a NASCAR top-three division points race, the reason has not been an uncommon reason for a DNF. In the 1992 Pepsi 400 at Daytona, brutal heat combined with an opening 108-lap green-flag run led to three drivers falling out for that reason – Eddie Bierschwale, Bobby Gerhart, and Richard Petty. Bierschwale actually took a turn driving in relief of Petty, but also didn’t run more than a handful of laps before he exited a second time. The group finished 36th, 37th, and 38th in a 40-car field where Dale Earnhardt finished last with engine failure. More recently – in fact, just last year – both Cup drivers Cody Ware (Sonoma) and Josh Bilicki (Bristol Night Race) fell out due to similar illnesses that arose during the race, each with their DNF listed as “fatigue.”

Friday was not, however, the first time in NASCAR’s top three series that a driver was classified last due to an illness. That significance goes to Larry LaMay, an accomplished Sportsman, Late Model, and ARCA competitor who went on to work with A.J. Foyt’s Winston Cup team in the late 1980s. Earlier in his career on September 12, 1976, LaMay made his Cup Series debut in the Capital City 400 at the Richmond Fairgrounds. Driving Don Robertson’s #23 Chevrolet sponsored by Schlitz beer, LaMay managed to complete just 87 of the day’s 400 laps before he dropped out of the race. The official results classified him out by “driver ill,” which to this date is the only time the reason has been used for a last-place finisher of any of NASCAR’s top three series. It’s somewhat surprising that NASCAR didn’t elect to use this option in their official results for Friday’s race.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This was the second-consecutive last-place finish for Niece Motorsports and the first for the #44 since Ross Chastain’s disqualification at Iowa on June 16, 2019. The number had never before finished last in a Truck Series race at Las Vegas.

*This marked the seventh time the last-place finisher of a Truck Series race at Las Vegas failed to complete even one lap of the event, and the third time in the last four years.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

36) #44-Natalie Decker / 0 laps / fatigue

35) #41-Dawson Cram / 16 laps / crash

34) #10-Jennifer Jo Cobb / 62 laps / oil tank

33) #83-Tim Viens / 69 laps / too slow

32) #3-Jordan Anderson / 85 laps / track bar

2020 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Reaume Brothers Racing (4)

2nd) Niece Motorsports (3)

3rd) Norm Benning Racing, ThorSport Racing (2)

4th) CMI Motorsports, DGR-Crosley, FDNY Racing, Halmar Friesen Racing, Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing, Spencer Davis Motorsports (1)

2020 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet (11)

2nd) Ford (4)

3rd) Toyota (3)

2020 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

PREVIEW: Cup and Truck Series races see part-time teams return to action in Las Vegas

IMAGE: @SMD_Racing

Friday, September 25, 2020

TRUCKS Race 18 of 23

Round of 10: Race 2 of 3 

World of Westgate 200 at Las Vegas

2019 Last-Place Finisher: John Hunter Nemechek

ENTRY LIST

There are 36 drivers entered for 38 spots, the same number that took the green last week in Bristol.

MISSING: #6-Norm Benning Racing

Not among the starters this week is Norm Benning, whose non-entry into Las Vegas’ spring race marked the only other time his #6 wasn’t on the list. Benning finished 34th in Bristol.

MISSING: #8-NEMCO Motorsports

Also not entered is NEMCO Motorsports, which ran 19th in their series return at Bristol with Camden Murphy behind the wheel. It’s unfortunate he’s not entered in Friday’s race as the only time he finished better than last week was in this same Las Vegas race three years ago, when he ran 17th for D.J. Copp.

MISSING: #9-CR7 Motorsports

Codie Rohrbaugh will not make the trip west after late-race brake issues left him 31st. This marks the first time the CR7 team hasn’t entered a race since they skipped both Dover and Gateway last month.

RETURNING: #11-Spencer Davis Motorsports

Spencer Davis will make his first series start since Dover, where he ran 16th, and looks to improve on his season-best 12th in the spring race at Vegas earlier this year.

DRIVER CHANGE: #24-GMS Racing

Last Thursday’s first-time winner Sam Mayer will not have a chance to go back-to-back this week as Chase Purdy will again drive the GMS #24 Chevrolet with Bama Buggies as sponsor. Purdy makes his first series start since the double-header at Kansas, where he ran 15th and 10th, the latter his season-best finish of four starts.

DRIVER CHANGE: #33-Reaume Brothers Racing

DRIVER SWAP: #00-Reaume Brothers Racing

Jesse Iwuji honors the life of Chadwick Boseman with a “Wakanda Forever” logo on the rear panel of Josh Reaume’s #33 Colonial Countertops Toyota. This will be Iwuji’s fourth start of the year and first since Michigan, where he ran a season-best 22nd. Iwuji takes the place of Reaume himself, who moves to the #00 in place of Josh Bilicki, who isn’t entered in Friday’s race.

DRIVER CHANGE: #40-Niece Motorsports

Ryan Truex will also make his first Truck Series start since Michigan, where he ran 19th, and again will campaign Al Niece’s #40 Chevrolet. He takes the place of Carson Hocevar, who ran 17th at Bristol, and will again carry sponsorship from Marquis.

DRIVER CHANGE: #41-Cram Racing Enterprises

Dawson Cram returns to his own #41 entry for the first time since Darlington, taking the place of Cody Erickson, who ran 30th last week in Bristol. This will mark Cram’s first-ever Truck Series start in Las Vegas.

DRIVER CHANGE: #42-Niece Motorsports

In addition to Ryan Truex, Al Niece’s two other trucks will be piloted by drivers from other racing disciplines. IndyCar competitor Conor Daly will make his first-ever Truck Series start when the green flag drops on Friday, taking the place of Ross Chastain in the #42 iRacing Chevrolet. This will be Daly’s second-ever NASCAR start, and first since his XFINITY debut at Road America, where he ran 31st.

DRIVER CHANGE: #45-Niece Motorsports

Driving the #45 will be a returning Travis Pastrana, whose three of his previous four Truck Series starts have all come at the Las Vegas track, starting with a career-best 15th in 2012. This will be Pastrana’s first start since the second round of the Kansas double-header this past summer, where he ran 22nd in Niece’s #40. Like Conor Daly, Pastrana will be sponsored by iRacing.

RETURNING: #49-CMI Motorsports

RETURNING: #83-CMI Motorsports

One week after both teams withdrew from the Bristol night race, Ray Ciccarelli will again pilot his #49 Chevrolet alongside Tim Viens in the #83.

DRIVER CHANGE: #56-Hill Motorsports

It’s once again Tyler Hill’s turn in the #56 Chevrolet, which has enjoyed a strong month so far at both Darlington and Richmond. Tyler makes his first start since Gateway, where he ran 21st, and will make his first series start at Las Vegas.

MISSING: #75-Henderson Motorsports

Parker Kligerman is not entered this week after he gave Charlie Henderson’s new-look #75 a strong 4th-place finish in Bristol.

CUP INVADERS: None

Saturday, September 26, 2020

XFINITY Race 27 of 33

Round of 12: Race 1 of 3

Alsco 300 at Las Vegas

2019 Last-Place Finisher: Ryan Sieg

ENTRY LIST

There are 36 drivers entered for 40 spots, the same number as last week.

SPONSOR UPDATE: #0-JD Motorsports

Jeffrey Earnhardt welcomes new backing from Forever Lawn on his #0 Chevrolet this week, swapping out the red-and-white Johnny Davis scheme for a new black-and-green look.

DRIVER CHANGE: #8-JR Motorsports

Daniel Hemric is back behind the wheel of the #8 this week, taking the place of Jeb Burton, who took the checkered flag in 9th at Bristol. South Point Hotel & Casino is the listed sponsor. Hemric looks to turn around a difficult summer stretch where he’s finished no better than 24th in four of his last five starts, including a last-place finish his most recent time out at Darlington.

DRIVER CHANGE: #61-Motorsports Business Management

DRIVER SWAP: #66-Motorsports Business Management

Austin Hill makes his fifth start of 2020 and first since Darlington, where he ran a season-best 9th. Carrying sponsorship from Weins Canada, Hill will also make his first XFINITY start at Las Vegas. This moves Chad Finchum from the #61 to the #66, taking the place of Stephen Leicht, who isn’t entered this week following a last-place run in Bristol.

SPONSOR UPDATE: #78-B.J. McLeod Motorsports

For the second time in as many weeks, Stefan Parsons has announced a new sponsorship deal for McLeod’s #78 Toyota. This time, Sokal Digital will sponsor Saturday’s effort.

SPONSOR UPDATE: #02-Our Motorsports

After running unsponsored last week in Bristol, the Chris Our team has sponsorship from Cape Cod Ready Mix for driver Brett Moffitt.

CUP INVADERS: None

Sunday, September 27, 2020

CUP Race 30 of 36

Round of 12: Race 1 of 3

South Point 400 at Las Vegas

2019 Last-Place Finisher: Kurt Busch

ENTRY LIST

There are 39 drivers entered for 40 spots, down one entry from last week.

MISSING: #7-Tommy Baldwin Racing

DRIVER CHANGE: #53-Rick Ware Racing

Tommy Baldwin has elected to not enter the #7 Chevrolet following a 39th-place finish last Saturday with a faulty fuel pump. Josh Bilicki, who drove the car that night, will run on Sunday in the Rick Ware #53, taking the place of James Davison, who’s not entered.

DRIVER CHANGE: #15-Rick Ware Racing

DRIVER SWAP: #77-Spire Motorsports

After a bizarre week where Brennan Poole was swapped out of the #15 at the last minute, putting J.J. Yeley in his car for the first time this year, Poole is again in the #15 with Goettl as sponsor. Yeley is also in the race this week, replacing Reed Sorenson in the #77. Sorenson isn’t entered.

RETURNING: #49-Motorsports Business Management

For the first time since the Daytona 500, Carl Long will field two Cup cars. He brings back the #49, which Chad Finchum attempted to qualify in February, only this time with LasVegas.net as sponsor on the same Phil Parsons “throwback” scheme Timmy Hill ran at Darlington. This will be only the second Cup start of Finchum’s career and first since April 16, 2018, when he finished 33rd for MBM at Bristol.

MISSING: #78-B.J. McLeod Motorsports

Not making the trip along with the TBR #7 is B.J. McLeod’s Cup effort, whose cars are also leased from Rick Ware Racing. Garrett Smithley is likewise not in Sunday’s field following a 32nd-place showing last Saturday.

TODAY IN LASTCAR HISTORY (September 25, 1995): World of Outlaws star Sammy Swindell picked up the second last-place finish of his Truck Series career in the Goody’s 150 at Martinsville when the rear end failed on his #38 Channellock Tools Ford after 13 laps, dropping out just one lap before Darrell Waltrip wrecked on the frontstretch, leaving him next-to-last. This occurred during Swindell’s only season in the Truck Series, where he scored a season-best 4th at Bristol and finished 12th in the standings.

ARCA: Wayne Peterson completes rare last-place sweep; several underdogs earn career-best finishes

PHOTO: @Arcafan06

by William Soquet

LASTCAR.info Guest Contributor

Wayne Peterson finished last for the 46th time in his ARCA Menards Series career in Saturday’s Toyota 200 at Winchester Speedway when his #0 GreatRailing.com Chevrolet retired after 2 of the race’s 200 laps.

The finish was Peterson’s second consecutive, and came in his 113th series start.

After his last-place finish at Bristol, Peterson made the journey to Winchester, Indiana, where he was also on the entry list. The 82-year-old was one of a mere fourteen drivers on the grid, which also included teammate Con Nicolopoulos. Bristol winner Sam Mayer and his GMS Racing team did not enter, as the Winchester event was not a part of the Sioux Chief Showdown. Chandler Smith also took the race off, although the Venturini Motorsports #20 car still ran, albeit with driver Jesse Love. Eric Caudell was a late add to the entry list, making the #7’s third appearance of 2020. Fast Track Racing was back to fielding three cars, with Mike Basham in the 10 car, Rick Clifton in the 11 car and Owen Smith in the 12 car.

As ARCA was the main attraction at Winchester, there was a full slate of practice and qualifying. Peterson turned three laps and was the slowest, clocking in a fastest lap of about 22 seconds. Unfortunately, this was about six seconds off Ty Gibbs’ fastest lap of just under 16 seconds. Qualifying was much the same story, with the top four cars breaking the sixteen-second barrier. Con Nicolopoulos was the slowest car to take a time in qualifying, running a lap of 19.3 seconds. However, Peterson did not take a time and was awarded the 14th position on the grid.

On the MAVTV broadcast, the final row was filled with two white-colored cars, presumably Nicolopoulos and Peterson. By lap seven, Peterson was listed as “out”, securing his second last-place finish of the year. Owen Smith ended his race after only four laps, finishing 13th. After spinning early in the race, Hailie Deegan found the outside wall on Lap 111 and retired from the resultant damage. Rick Clifton, after qualifying ninth, ran the whole race and finished 11th, 32 laps down. Nicolopoulos rounded out the Bottom Five with his first career top-ten finish, finishing 30 laps down in tenth.

Just outside the Bottom Five was Brad Smith, who claimed his first ARCA top-ten in his 363rd ARCA start. While that deservedly drew much attention on social media, two other career-bests highlighted underdog teams in the field. Eric Caudell joined Nicolopoulos and Smith in the top-ten for the first time, and Mike Basham finished seventh, his first time finishing higher than tenth in a strong home-state race.

With his second last-place finish of the season, Peterson moved into second place in the LASTCAR drivers’ standings. He made a late-season charge in 2019 to claim the drivers championship, and has more than enough time to do so in 2020, as well, with three races remaining on the schedule.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

14) #0-Wayne Peterson / 2 laps / valve spring

13) #12-Owen Smith / 4 laps / brakes

12) #4-Hailie Deegan / 109 laps / crash

11) #11-Rick Clifton / 168 laps / running

10) #06-Con Nicolopoulos / 170 laps / running

2020 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES MANUFACTURERS CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet (11)

2nd) Toyota (5)

3rd) Ford (1)

2020 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES OWNERS CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Fast Track Racing (8)

2nd) Wayne Peterson Racing (4)

3rd) Brother-In-Law Motorsports, DGR-Crosley, Kimmel Racing, Reeves Racing, Russ Lane Racing (1)

2020 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP

CUP: Difficult year for Stenhouse and JTG continues with Bristol crash

PHOTO: Jared C. Tilton, Getty Images

Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. picked up the 8th last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career in Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol when his #47 Kroger Chevrolet was involved in an accident after 28 of 500 laps.

The finish, which came in Stenhouse’s 285th series start, was his third of the season and first since Kansas, ten races ago. In the Cup Series’ last-place history, it was the 33rd for the #47, the 604th from a crash, and the 795th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 50th for the #47, the 1,225th from a crash, and the 1,744th for Chevrolet.

Stenhouse has continued to struggle with consistency in the 2020 season, at times impressing with strong finishes after a series of poor performances. Just after the last-place run in Kansas, he took 14th at Loudon, his best finish at the track in three years. After a 32nd-place finish in the first round of the Michigan double-header, he then took three consecutive finishes of 19th or better, capped by a 10th at Dover. He very nearly had another strong run last week at Richmond, working his way into the Top Ten during the early laps, but bad luck struck once more, leaving him 18th. For Bristol, Stenhouse would take 21st.

Rolling off 40th and last was Garrett Smithley in the #78 Major Appliance Chevrolet, signaling the return of B.J. McLeod’s Cup effort for the first time since the other concrete oval in Dover. He’d be joined at the rear by 27th-place Bubba Wallace in the #43 Cash App Chevrolet and 30th-place Corey LaJoie in the #32 Schluter Systems Ford for unapproved adjustments, a driver change in the #15 Thriv5 Chevrolet as 32nd-place J.J. Yeley took the place of Brennan Poole for the first time this year, and two technical infractions each for three of the four Joe Gibbs Racing teammates: 9th-place Kyle Busch in the #18 Skittles Toyota, 7th-place Denny Hamlin in the #11 FedEx Toyota, and 20th-place Erik Jones in the #20 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota.

Ultimately, at least one more driver would drop to the rear as James Davison surrendered 35th before the start in his #53 Racing For Heroes Ford. When the race started, Smithley was still back there with him behind the penalized starters, and pulled ahead of the #53 as the field crossed the stripe. By Lap 3, Davison had pulled ahead of his teammate Joey Gase in the #51 Bare Arms Gear Ford. Gase was soon a full ten seconds back of the leader, and by Lap 9 was swallowed up by the leaders as the first car one lap down. He lost another lap by the 16th circuit.

On Lap 18, Yeley took over last place after an apparent unscheduled pit stop, and he was seen pulling up from the apron to rejoin the pack. Initially shown four laps down, scoring reset to show his #15 three down, but the leaders soon caught and put him four down once more. He was on the verge of losing a fifth lap when the first caution fell on Lap 29.

Heading down the backstretch, Stenhouse was sizing up Jimmie Johnson’s #48 Ally Chevrolet in a battle for 16th while also working around the lapped Gase, who pulled to the high lane. Halfway down the straight, Johnson and Stenhouse made contact, hooking the #47 straight into the inside wall. The impact caused a fluid leak, and NASCAR told him to run the apron as he pulled into the garage. A small fire ignited behind the battered left-front, then went out by the time he reached the entrance. The car couldn’t turn, so he climbed out and the #47 was towed to the garage. Done for the night under the “Damaged Vehicle Policy,” Stenhouse took last from Yeley on Lap 33. NASCAR officially declared him out on Lap 55.

Taking 39th was Josh Bilicki, whose #7 Insurance King Chevrolet slowed abruptly, then pulled behind the wall on Lap 67, citing a loss of power. He pulled up to the Tommy Baldwin Racing hauler and the crew hooked up the computer, where they soon diagnosed a fuel pump issue. While the secondary pump was functioning, the primary was out, and on Lap 107, the team took the tires off the car and prepared to load up. NASCAR reported he was out on Lap 112, just as Reed Sorenson pulled behind the wall with a similar issue on the #77 BetterForYourHealth.com Chevrolet. Sorenson’s crew also hooked up the computer and managed to get him back on track around Lap 251. Sorenson was ultimately involved in one more accident before he fell out with the electrical issue, taking 36th.

The first of the two cars Sorenson passed before his retirement was William Byron, who rear-ended another car while running inside the Top 10, knocking his #24 Liberty University Chevrolet out of the race, and the Playoffs. Timmy Hill took 37th, citing steering issues on his #66 RoofClaim.com Toyota.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This marked the first last-place finish for the #47 in a Cup points race at Bristol.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

40) #47-Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. / 28 laps / crash

39) #7-Josh Bilicki / 53 laps / fuel pump

38) #24-William Byron / 232 laps / crash

37) #66-Timmy Hill / 313 laps / steering

36) #77-Reed Sorenson / 317 laps / electrical

2020 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) JTG-Daugherty Racing (7)

2nd) Rick Ware Racing (5)

3rd) Motorsports Business Management (4)

4th) Chip Ganassi Racing, Hendrick Motorsports, Penske Racing (2)

5th) Beard Motorsports, B.J. McLeod Motorsports, Front Row Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, Leavine Family Racing, StarCom Racing, Tommy Baldwin Racing (1)

2020 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet (19)

2nd) Toyota (6)

3rd) Ford (4)

2020 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

XFINITY: Bristol race hotly contested at both ends of the field as Stephen Leicht edges several drivers for last place

PHOTO: @StartAndParkCar

Stephen Leicht picked up the 8th last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career in Friday’s Food City 300 at the Bristol Motor Speedway when his #66 CrashClaimsR.us Toyota fell out with clutch issues after 11 of 300 laps.

The finish, which came in Leicht’s 154th series start, was his series-leading fourth in 2020 and his first since Kansas, nine races ago. In the XFINITY Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 9th for clutch issues, the 13th for the #66, and the 143rd for Toyota. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 69th from clutch problems, the 78th for the #66, and the 346th for Toyota.

In so doing, Leicht scored the third consecutive last-place finish for Motorsports Business Management in the XFINITY Series, one each with the team’s three drivers. Last week, Chad Finchum was disqualified in the first race while Timmy Hill exited early in the second.

Like his two teammates, Leicht has enjoyed some solid runs when not on “start-and-park” duty for MBM. Following the short race in Kansas, he finished 22nd and 21st in back-to-back road course races at Road America and the Daytona infield road course, backing up his 21st-place run on the Indianapolis Grand Prix Circuit in July. Just last week in Richmond, he matched his best oval finish of the year by taking 22nd on Saturday, matching his run in the first round of the Dover double-header. Leicht’s run was also a solid effort for the MBM team, who repaired an axle issue in the first Richmond race to recover in Race 2.

For Bristol, Leicht drew the 36th and final starting spot in Friday’s field, and would run the #66 for the first time since Darlington, where he ran a “throwback” scheme honoring MBM team owner Carl Long. In place of the Darlington car, Leicht would run the same gold-and-white Toyota Camry that Timmy Hill ran in both XFINITY races last week. While 22nd-place Bayley Currey incurred a tail-end penalty after his #74 Back The Blue Chevrolet was docked for unapproved adjustments, Leicht was still the last car across the stripe at the start, already trailing by open track. 

While Leicht would ultimately take the last spot, he did not go unchallenged. On Lap 5, Brett Moffitt made an unscheduled stop for a flat tire on his #02 Robert B. Our Co. Chevrolet and was back up to speed on the apron on Lap 8. Meanwhile, on Lap 6, Dexter Bean was given the black flag by NASCAR for a start violation, dropping his #90 Sleep Well / Alpha Prime Chevrolet off the lead lap. Thus, by Lap 10, Moffitt had taken over last place, two laps down, with Bean in 35th, one down. 

Also on the 10th circuit, race leader Ross Chastain got under the now 34th-place Leicht off Turn 4 and put him a lap down. The next time by, Kyle Weatherman made a pit stop in his #47 Honor And Sacrifice Chevrolet, also costing him laps to the leader. Trouble again found Moffitt on Lap 12 for a second flat tire, and this time he was penalized for taking on fuel before the Lap 40 competition caution. By Lap 14, Bean was now in last place, three laps down, with Weatherman two down in 35th and Moffitt also two down in 34th. Soon after this, Leicht, who was one down in 33rd, was first to pull behind the wall, and he took over last place for good on Lap 17.

Ultimately, just one of these challengers besides Leicht – Kyle Weatherman – ended up in the Bottom Five. Weatherman went behind the wall at least twice, both on Lap 64 and Lap 80, and ultimately ended up 32nd. In so doing, he first climbed past Myatt Snider, who went to the garage as late as Lap 68 and dropped out after completing just 31 laps in the #93 Superior Essex Chevrolet.

Completing the group were two drivers involved in a heavy crash. JD Motorsports teammates Jeffrey Earnhardt and B.J. McLeod made contact off Turn 4, putting McLeod’s #6 Chevrolet hard into the outside wall. The impact knocked McLeod into the path of one of the cars he owned – the #99 Koolbox Chevrolet of Vinnie Miller. The resulting collision ended both driver’s nights, though McLeod would be released from the care center and climbed atop his pit box to call the rest of the race. Tommy Joe Martins, whose #44 Gilreath Farms Red Angus Chevrolet spun into the inside wall during the aftermath, recovered to finish 24th.

The rest of the MBM team ran well in the race. Timmy Hill, driving another Toyota Camry sponsored by CrashClaimsR.us, earned four “Lucky Dogs” and finished 15th, his #13 the second car one lap down behind Ryan Sieg. Chad Finchum took 20th in a new-look paint scheme on his #61 with sponsorship from Garrison Homes and Toyota of Knoxville. Nearly joining the duo was Mike Harmon Racing’s Bayley Currey, who after his pre-race penalty was running 15th in the final 100 laps when something failed in the right-rear suspension, leaving him 30th.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the first last-place finish for the #66 in an XFINITY Series race at Bristol.
*This was also the first time an XFINITY Series driver finished last with clutch issues since November 17, 2018, when Vinnie Miller’s #78 JAS Expedited Trucking Chevrolet dropped out after 10 laps of the Ford EcoBoost 300 at Homestead.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
36) #66-Stephen Leicht / 11 laps / clutch
35) #93-Myatt Snider / 31 laps / engine
34) #6-B.J. McLeod / 61 laps / crash
33) #99-Vinnie Miller / 61 laps / crash
32) #47-Kyle Weatherman / 62 laps / suspension

2020 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Motorsports Business Management (8)
2nd) Joe Gibbs Racing (3)
3rd) JD Motorsports, Jimmy Means Racing, JR Motorsports, Mike Harmon Racing, Shepherd Racing Ventures, SS-Green Light Racing (2)
4th) B.J. McLeod Motorsports, Jeremy Clements Racing, Kaulig Racing (1)

2020 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (15)
2nd) Toyota (11)

2020 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

ARCA: After shoutout from Slugger Labbe, Wayne Peterson finishes last at Bristol

PHOTO: @Arcafan06

by William Soquet

LASTCAR.info Guest Contributor

Wayne Peterson finished last for the 45th time in his ARCA Menards Series career in Thursday’s Bush’s Beans 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway when his #0 GreatRailing.com Chevrolet retired after two of the race’s 200 laps.

The finish came in Peterson’s 112th series start, and was his first since Kansas in 2019, seventeen races ago.

Wayne Peterson, now 82 years of age, has continued to field one of the longest-running ARCA teams in 2020. The full-time #06 retained Tim Richmond as primary driver, with Con Nicolopoulos piloting the car in select events. Nicolopoulos has been, up until Bristol, the sole driver of the part-time #0 entry that ran at marquee events. The Wayne Peterson Racing team is the epitome of what it means to be ARCA: with funding that doesn’t stack up to Cup-affiliated teams like Joe Gibbs Racing, the team still shows up and competes at every single race on the schedule, including a tough Thursday-Saturday doubleheader this week at Bristol and Winchester. The group received a little extra recognition on Thursday from one of the most prominent figures in the garage:

Old school cool! @BMSupdates #It’sBristolBaby! pic.twitter.com/AiJfBbOsjc

— Slugger Labbe (@SluggerLabbe) September 17, 2020

In the first ARCA race at Bristol in 51 years, 27 cars answered the call. It was the largest car count for the East Series this year, and the second-largest car count for the national series. The regular East Series contingent included Parker Retzlaff, Nick Sanchez, Chase Cabre, Mason Diaz, Justin Carroll, Max McLaughlin and Chuck Buchanan Jr. Fast Track Racing filled its 10 and 11 cars with Mike Basham and Owen Smith, and let Chad Bryant Racing use the owner points of the 12 car for a second entry, used to field Kris Wright. Derek Griffith ran CBR’s trademark #22 car. A number of ARCA part-timers emerged, including Gus Dean and Win-Tron Racing, Kyle Sieg and his RSS Racing/Cook Racing Technologies car, and Dave Mader III with his team. Con Nicolopoulos took the place of Tim Richmond in Wayne Peterson Racing’s #06 car for this race. Rounding out the field was the only series debut entered, Max Gutierrez. Gutierrez’s #53 entry showed up with little to no fanfare. It was owned by Troy Williams, and the car was a former Mason Mitchell Motorsports and Vizion Motorsports chassis. 

Rain washed out the prospective practice on Thursday afternoon, but that had no bearing on the starting lineup, as it was released shortly after the entry list. Due to this being Troy Williams’ first attempt as an owner in 2020, Gutierrez was slated to start in the 27th and final spot. Buchanan later withdrew, citing rain as a factor. Additionally, the Chad Bryant Racing crew had trouble on the Kris Bryant car, as it would not fire until the one-to-go lap.

By the drop of the green, however, the 12 car had joined the field, and Peterson and Gutierrez were noticeably slow, with both stopping on track around lap three. Peterson was able to go to the garage, ending his race; Gutierrez was able to make repairs on pit road and continue on, eventually finishing 14th.

Brad Smith was the next car to retire, as a spin off the bumper of Ty Gibbs ended his evening. Mike Basham retired after 34 laps complete, and a hard crash into the outside wall landed Chandler Smith a Bottom Five finish only 71 laps into the race. It has been nothing short of a brutal recent stretch of races in the ARCA Menards Series for Smith, who had a bushel of problems at Lebanon as well. Owen Smith finished 22nd, the victim of a car that leaked fluid on the racetrack and took him out of the race.

By virtue of Peterson’s finish, Chevrolet clinched the 2020 LASTCAR ARCA Manufacturers’ Championship.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

26) #0-Wayne Peterson / 2 laps / unknown

25) #48-Brad Smith / 33 laps / unknown

24) #10-Mike Basham / 34 laps / unknown

23) #20-Chandler Smith / 71 laps / unknown

22) #11-Owen Smith / 97 laps / unknown

2020 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES MANUFACTURERS CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet (10)

2nd) Toyota (5)

3rd) Ford (1)

2020 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES OWNERS CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Fast Track Racing (8)

2nd) Wayne Peterson Racing (3)

3rd) Brother-In-Law Motorsports, DGR-Crosley, Kimmel Racing, Reeves Racing, Russ Lane Racing (1)

2020 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP

TRUCKS: Disappointing DQ negates Trevor Bayne’s sterling 5th-place run in Bristol

PHOTO: @NASCAR_Trucks

Trevor Bayne picked up the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series career in Thursday’s UNOH 200 Presented by Ohio Logistics at the Bristol Motor Speedway when his #45 Proceller8 Chevrolet finished 5th, but was disqualified after completing all 200 laps.

The finish came in Bayne’s 3rd series start. In the Truck Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 3rd disqualification, the 4th for the #45, and the 394th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 38th for the #45, the 39th by disqualification, and the 1,743rd for Chevrolet.

Josh Reaume picked up the 2nd last-place finish of his NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series career in Thursday’s UNOH 200 Presented by Ohio Logistics at the Bristol Motor Speedway when his #33 Colonial Countertops Toyota fell out with suspension failure after 9 of 200 laps.

The finish, which came in Reaume’s 46th series start, was his first of the season and first since March 29, 2019 at Texas, 35 races ago. In the Truck Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 8th for the #33, the 15th for suspension problems, and the 39th for Toyota. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 51st for the #33, the 45th for suspension issues, and the 346th for Toyota.

It was the subject of controversy when Al Niece announced that Trevor Bayne, the 2011 winner of the Daytona 500, had replaced newcomer Ty Majeski as the driver of the #45 Chevrolet, effective last week in Richmond. Ever since Majeski’s spectacular last-place finish in this year’s Daytona opener, the Niece team as a whole had been struggling after losing support from GMS Racing and their title contender Ross Chastain committing to full-time XFINITY competition. Through the season’s 15th race at Darlington, Majeski had two Top Tens with a best of 8th in Charlotte, but most often finished between 13th and 19th.

Bayne, meanwhile, had been out of NASCAR since late in the 2018 season, when Matt Kenseth closed out the season in his Cup ride with Roush-Fenway Racing. Bayne then opened Mahalo Coffee, a cafe in his native Knoxville, Tennessee, and seemed to have put his racing career behind him. That soon changed this past summer, when Niece tabbed Bayne to drive his #40 at Darlington, appropriately, for “Throwback Weekend.” Despite a 27th-place finish, the aforementioned news that he’d replace Majeski soon followed. Bayne ran 29th in Richmond, then looked ahead to his home track in Bristol, where he’d start 24th.

Following the withdrawal of both CMI Motorsports entries following a two-truck tangle between teammates at Richmond, 36 drivers rolled off on Thursday night. Taking last on the grid was NEMCO Motorsports, which returned to the circuit for the first time in five races. Driving the #8 Advanced Collision Chevrolet was Camden Murphy, who was making his first Truck Series start of the year and his first-ever at Bristol.

Prior to the start, Josh Reaume dropped from 29th to the tail end of the field, moving Murphy up a row. On Lap 4, the spot fell to Cody Erickson, who began losing laps. Erickson was making his first series start in over five years, and took the wheel of Dawson Cram’s #41 Magnum Contracting Chevrolet. Meanwhile, Reaume lost his first lap on the 6th circuit, at which point he ran 35th ahead of Erickson. Under the first caution for debris on Lap 8, Reaume pulled behind the wall, and Erickson returned before the end of Stage 1 to drop the #33 to last place. Reaume was declared out near the end of Stage 2.

Also declared out with Reaume was Norm Benning, who pulled his #6 H&H Transport Chevrolet behind the wall on Lap 50 after he lost his first lap around the seventh time by. Ultimately, he was declared out with suspension issues. Austin Wayne Self took 34th after he crossed the nose of Austin Hill heading into Turn 1, putting the #22 Go Texan / AM Technical Solutions Chevrolet into the outside wall. Stewart Friesen took 33rd after he lost power, then several laps, running on the apron for much of Stage 1 in his #52 Halmar “Racing To Beat Hunger” Toyota. He ended up on the same lap as Codie Rohrbaugh, who originally closed out the Bottom Five following brake issues on his #9 Pray For Joshua Chevrolet.

Bayne, meanwhile, turned in an impressive race. While he didn’t place in either of the two stages, he climbed into the Top 10 in the final laps and crossed the stripe in 5th – far and away the best finish of the year for the #45 team. But hours later, NASCAR Officials reported Bayne’s truck failed the height sticks in post-race inspection, resulting in an immediate disqualification. The DQ dropped Bayne to last behind Reaume and knocked Rohrbaugh back out of the Bottom Five.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This marked the first last-place finish by disqualification for the Truck Series at Bristol, and ties Ross Chastain’s DQ at Iowa last year - also in a Niece truck - for most laps complete by a DQ in the series.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

36) #45-Trevor Bayne / 200 laps / disqualified

35) #33-Josh Reaume / 9 laps / suspension

34) #6-Norm Benning / 38 laps / suspension

33) #22-Austin Wayne Self / 153 laps / crash

32) #52-Stewart Friesen / 167 laps / running

2020 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Reaume Brothers Racing (4)

2nd) Niece Motorsports, Norm Benning Racing, ThorSport Racing (2)

3rd) CMI Motorsports, DGR-Crosley, FDNY Racing, Halmar Friesen Racing, Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing, Spencer Davis Motorsports (1)

2020 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet (10)

2nd) Ford (4)

3rd) Toyota (3)

2020 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

PREVIEW: Only a few driver and team changes in store for Bristol weekend

Chad Finchum's #61 Toyota for Friday's XFINITY race.
IMAGE: @ChadFinchum

Thursday, September 17, 2020

TRUCKS Race 17 of 23

Round of 10: Race 1 of 3 

UNOH 200 Presented by Ohio Logistics at Bristol

2019 Last-Place Finisher: Jesse Little

ENTRY LIST

There are 36 drivers entered for 40 spots, the same number from last week in Richmond.

RETURNING: #8-NEMCO Motorsports

Bristol will see Monster Jam competitor Camden Murphy make his first NASCAR start of 2020, and the return of Joe Nemechek’s team for the first time since Mike Skeen ran the #8 on the Daytona infield road course. This will be Murphy’s first Truck Series start at Bristol.

MISSING: #17-DGR-Crosley

David Ragan was surprisingly not entered just one week after the David Gilliland-owned team acquired All Out Motorsports’ Owner Points to lock Ragan into the field. The All Out #7 is likewise not entered.

DRIVER SWAP: #33-Reaume Brothers Racing

DRIVER SWAP: #00-Reaume Brothers Racing

The two Joshs – Bilicki and Reaume – swap rides this week under the lights. Josh Bilicki will run the #00 for his first Truck Series start at Bristol while team owner Josh Reaume pilots the #33. Bilicki finished the best of the pair last week in Richmond, taking 25th ahead of his owner in 32nd.

DRIVER CHANGE: #41-Cram Racing Enterprises

Welcome back to Cody Erickson, who on Thursday will make his first Truck Series start since 2015 at Eldora, where he ran 25th for the Corr team. Magnum Contracting, one of his sponsors that night, will again back his effort in the #41, which last week ran 28th with Ryan Huff.

RETURNING: #42-Niece Motorsports

Ross Chastain will pull double-duty in both the Trucks and XFINITY this weekend as Al Niece has brought back his part-time third team for the first time since Mark Smith’s 36th-place run on the Daytona infield road course. Chastain will make his fifth series start at Bristol, where he has twice finished 3rd – once each in 2012 and 2019.

WITHDREW: #49-CMI Motorsports

WITHDREW: #83-CMI Motorsports

On Wednesday, the CMI team stated they would be withdrawing both entries this week – originally planned for Ray Ciccarelli in the #49 and Tim Viens in the #83 – following the damage suffered to the #49 last week in Richmond. In the meantime, the team plans to turn their focus to speedway races toward the end of the season, including Talladega.

RETURNING: #75-Henderson Motorsports

Parker Kligerman returns as Charlie Henderson will again enter the team’s home race, but this time carries a new JDR Graphics paint scheme with sponsorship from Luck’s Mixed Beans. Like Chastain, Kligerman has been strong at “Thunder Valley,” finishing no worse than 20th in all six of his previous starts with a best of 2nd in the same 2012 race where Chastain finished 3rd. He finished 13th in this race just last year.

CUP INVADERS: None

Friday, September 18, 2020

XFINITY Race 26 of 33

Regular Season Finale

Food City 300 at Bristol

2019 Last-Place Finisher: Mason Diaz

ENTRY LIST

There are 36 drivers entered for the regular season finale of the XFINITY Series, the same number of starters from last week in Richmond.

DRIVER SWAP: #13-Motorsports Business Management

DRIVER SWAP: #66-Motorsports Business Management

Two of the three MBM teammates will again swap rides this week as Timmy Hill drives the #13, putting Stephen Leicht back in the #66. Chad Finchum will remain in the #61 after his disqualification with that entry in the first round of the Richmond double-header.

DRIVER CHANGE: #21-Richard Childress Racing

Anthony Alfredo swaps back in for Kaz Grala, who finished 9th in both rounds of last week’s Richmond double-header. Carrying sponsorship from Death Wish Coffee, Alfredo will make his first short track start in his young XFINITY Series career and eyes a rebound after a disappointing early crash in Darlington.

DRIVER CHANGE: #78-B.J. McLeod Motorsports

Stefan Parsons announced this week a three-race deal with Springrates as primary sponsor, and will debut the deal this Friday, to be followed by both Texas and Martinsville this fall. Parsons takes the place of Mason Massey, who finished 21st last week in Richmond and hoisted himself out of last place after missing the start here in the spring.

DRIVER CHANGE: #07-SS-Green Light Racing

Gray Gaulding steps in for Joey Gase, who himself was a late swap for J.J. Yeley at Richmond, taking 20th and 23rd in the twin races that weekend. It will be Gaulding’s first start in the car since his season-best runner-up finish at Daytona last month, and comes one year after his track-best 6th-place finish in the 2019 Bristol race.

CUP INVADERS: None

Saturday, September 19, 2020

CUP Race 29 of 36

Round of 16: Race 3 of 3

Bass Pro Shops / NRA Night Race at Bristol

2019 Last-Place Finisher: Kevin Harvick

ENTRY LIST

There are 40 drivers entered in the first cutoff race of the Cup Series season, marking the first “full” field since the Daytona 400-miler three races ago, and only the 16th in 29 races this season.

RETURNING: #7-Tommy Baldwin Racing

Josh Bilicki returns to drive the #7 with Insurance King as sponsor, running double-duty with the Truck Series. The TBR team didn’t run last week at Richmond, and last turned laps at Darlington, where Bilicki took 32nd under the lights.

DRIVER SWAP: #15-Rick Wae Racing

DRIVER CHANGE: #27-Rick Ware Racing

Gray Gaulding will also pull double-duty - his with the XFINITY Series - as he takes the place of J.J. Yeley, 34th in Richmond. Gaulding brings returning sponsorship from Panini America, and in six previous Bristol starts on the Cup side has yet to finish better than 29th. UPDATE: Yeley will run at Bristol in the #15 as on Thursday it was revealed Brennan Poole, unsponsored last week, would miss his first race of the year. Yeley's Thriv5 sponsor will follow him to the #15.

RETURNING: #78-B.J. McLeod Motorsports

Welcome back B.J. McLeod’s single-car effort, which hasn’t made a Cup start since the Dover double-header, where McLeod himself finished 38th and 31st. McLeod was also on his way to a strong Top 25 finish at this track in May before he was collected in a late accident, leaving him 28th. This time, Garrett Smithley will drive the car for the first time since Talladega, where he took 34th.

TODAY IN LASTCAR HISTORY (September 17, 1950): The Langhorne Speedway still stands as one of the most treacherous tracks on which NASCAR has ever competed – a one-mile unpaved near-perfect circle with hardly any straightaways. On this day in 1950, 48 drivers were entered, but at least three didn’t start, all likely due to accidents in the lead-up to the race. Credited with last place was Braddock, Pennsylvania native Dick Burns, whose 1950 Mercury joined John Meekins and Bill Harrison on the early ride home.

ARCA: Part-time fixture Clifton scores first last-place finish of career

PHOTO: Melrose Photography, thank you @StartAndParkCar and @nascarcatholic

by William Soquet

LASTCAR.info Guest Contributor

Rick Clifton finished last for the first time in his ARCA Menards Series career in Saturday’s Royal Truck & Trailer 200 at Toledo Speedway when his #11 Asheville Propane Ford retired with brake problems after completing three of the race’s 200 laps.

The finish came in Clifton’s 42nd career start.

The 66-year-old Rick Clifton is an eleven-year veteran of the ARCA Racing Series. He got his start with Andy Hillenburg’s Fast Track Racing in 2010, running two races with the team. Between Fast Track and James Hylton Motorsports, Clifton ran a few races a year, and made it to the finish in most of them. In 2015, he picked up backing from Ohio Ag Equipment and Asheville Propane, running a career-high seven races that year. The Ohio Ag Equipment sponsorship disappeared at the beginning of 2020, but like he has done in the past, Clifton is still running a partial schedule. He finished in the top ten for the first time at the first Toledo race this year, a small but important victory in his 40th career start.

The Royal Truck & Trailer 200 marked the first combination race for the ARCA Menards Series. Previously, the NASCAR K&N Pro Series had run combination events at tracks like Iowa Speedway and World Wide Technology at Gateway. However, in the shuffle of rescheduling this year, a new type of combination event was born: the ARCA Menards Series / ARCA Menards Series East Combination Race. As such, a number of East regular teams entered, as all drivers entered earned points for both the national and East Series. Rev Racing entered its drivers, Nick Sanchez and Chase Cabre; Parker Retzlaff and his Bruce Cook Technologies team entered; Venturini Motorsports entered their East Series driver, Mason Diaz; and the part-time family teams of the East, Justin Carroll and “Farmer Bob” Pawlowski, also entered. As for the regular national series teams, it was about the usual entry list. Noticeably absent again was Thad Moffitt, whose next confirmed race is at Memphis, and Chad Bryant Racing, who will return at Bristol with Kris Wright and Derek Griffith.

All 19 cars on the entry list participated in practice, where eventual race winner Sam Mayer topped the charts with a lap that clocked in at just over sixteen seconds. Clifton was last on the charts, three and a half seconds behind Mayer and eight-tenths of a second behind 18th-place Owen Smith. Qualifying was about the same story: Mayer got just under the sixteen-second mark and Clifton barely broke the nineteen-second barrier, although the lap still left him in last place.

At the drop of the green, the nearly-identical cars of Clifton and Smith trailed the field. Clifton held last place flag-to-flag, falling ten seconds back of the leaders by the time he exited the race on lap four. Two Smiths were next to retire, with Owen retiring after five laps and Brad ending his race after 41 laps. The last two spots in the Bottom Five were filled by crash victims. Chase Cabre had what looked like a tire go down, leading to an early exit after 55 laps. Drew Dollar claimed he got dumped by Parker Retzlaff and promised words for the Wisconsin driver after the race, although it is unclear if an exchange ever happened.

With the finish, Clifton clinched the 2020 LASTCAR ARCA Owners Championship for Fast Track Racing with the team’s eighth last-place finish of the year. Wayne Peterson Racing is currently in second with two. 

THE BOTTOM FIVE

19) #12-Rick Clifton / 3 laps / brakes

18) #11-Owen Smith / 5 laps / electrical

17) #48-Brad Smith / 41 laps / overheating

16) #4E-Chase Cabre / 55 laps / crash

15) #15-Drew Dollar / 86 laps / crash

2020 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES MANUFACTURERS CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet (9)

2nd) Toyota (5)

3rd) Ford (1)

2020 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES OWNERS CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Fast Track Racing (8)

2nd) Wayne Peterson Racing (2)

3rd) Brother-in-Law Motorsports, DGR-Crosley, Kimmel Racing, Reeves Racing, Russ Lane Racing (1)

2020 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP

CUP: Timmy Hill the first driver to, on the same day, finish last in two NASCAR points races at the same track with the same team, car number, and manufacturer

PHOTO: Jared C. Tilton, Getty Images

Timmy Hill picked up the 13th last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career in Saturday’s Federated Auto Parts 400 at the Richmond Raceway when his #66 CrashClaimsR.us Toyota fell out with rear hub issues after 100 of 400 laps.

The finish, which came in Hill’s 120th series start, was his 4th of the season and first since Martinsville, 17 races ago. In the Cup Series’ last-place history, it was the 2nd from a rear hub, the 60th for the #66, and the 164th for Toyota. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 2nd rear hub issue, the 77th for the #66, and the 345th for Toyota.

With the finish, Hill became the first driver in NASCAR history to finish last in any two Cup, XFINITY, or Truck Series points races held on the same day at the same track, while also running the same car number and manufacturer for the same team. He very nearly extended the record into Friday’s first round of the XFINITY double-header, holding last from his exit on Lap 5 until teammate Chad Finchum was disqualified.

The finish also gave Hill the lead in the 2020 LASTCAR Cup Series Championship with eight races to go, tying previous leader Ryan Preece and now prevailing on a bottom-five tiebreaker of 13-6.

Following his early exit with fuel pump issues during the Virginia Is For Racing Lovers 250 XFINITY race held that afternoon, Hill would roll off 37th in the field of 38. He would run the same black-and-white scheme with which he finished last at both Phoenix and Martinsville, though with main sponsor Pit Boss Grills replaced with attorney and MBM’s longtime backer James Carter, Esq., whose name was on the hood, and his website CrashClaimsR.us on the quarter-panels.

Starting 38th and last was Darlington last-placer James Davison, who this week carried sponsorship from Cruz & Associates on his #53 Ford. Davison’s last-place finish the previous Sunday was the third in a row for Rick Ware Racing, and one more finish by he or his three teammates would tie JTG-Daugherty’s streak of four from this past summer. Kyle Busch incurred a tail-end penalty, dropping his #18 M&M’s Toyota from 6th on the grid to the back of the pack, though it’s unlikely he spent much time in last place as he was 32nd by the end of Lap 1, keeping Davison in last.

On Lap 3, Davison passed his teammate Joey Gase to last, putting the #51 Donate Life Virginia Ford to last place. Gase reported his car was “really tight,” but managed to stay within shouting distance of Davison through the opening run. On Lap 22, just when Austin Dillon took the lead from Kevin Harvick, the #3 made Gase the first car one lap down, passing him low in Turn 1. He remained last under the competition caution, when the team relayed his lap time range from 23.85 to 24.90.

On Lap 36, the “choose cone” moved Gase ahead of Reed Sorenson in the #77 BetterForYourHealth.com Chevrolet, but Sorenson got back by on Lap 40. Seven circuits later, Gase’s crew had issues hearing their driver over the radio, and on Lap 51 they were advised they might be leaking oil. The driver who raised the concern was Timmy Hill, who relayed the message to NASCAR moments earlier. Gase’s crew didn’t think they were leaking anything, and were cleared by NASCAR soon after. However, Ryan Preece then reported someone was leaking oil soon after, and Gase’s team decided to check their car for leaks on the next stop.

Next to take last place at the end of Stage 1 was Quin Houff, whose #00 Trucker Appreciation Chevrolet first took the spot on Lap 84. Houff then moved past Sorenson, whose pit crew crew jumped over the wall too soon. Sorenson re-passed Houff on Lap 91, and the #00 was still running last on Lap 103 when NASCAR reported “66 to the garage, mechanical.” The next time by, Hill, who was running 37th at the time, took last from Houff in the garage area.

Hill reported he felt like “only one wheel is turning,” and the crew wondered if a faulty locker was to blame. He also reported there was a bad smell in his car. By Lap 119, with the #66 now on jack stands, the crew said they needed to change the gear, but also discovered issues with the hub and the left-rear axle. On Lap 128, the crew was looking for a new left-rear axle, and tried to match the one on the right-rear. There was very little radio traffic on the publicly-available channel until Lap 176, when NASCAR reported “66 out, rear hub.” As with Talladega, the issue seemed to revolve around the left-rear hub, making this and Matt Kenseth’s last-place run on the superspeedway the only two last-place finishes because of a left-rear hub. The team had still been working, but with so few laps remaining and no one else in the garage, there wasn’t enough time to get back out.

Hill was the only driver to fail to finish, and without any cautions for incidents, the rest of the field finished within 15 laps of the leader. Davison took 37th, two laps behind both Sorenson and Gase. Finishing one further lap ahead was J.J. Yeley, who again ran his 1997 Kenny Irwin, Jr. “throwback” scheme from Darlington, though this time with Thriv5 on the hood in place of Jacob Industries.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This marked the first last-place finish for the #66 in a Cup Series race at Richmond since September 12, 2009, when Dave Blaney’s unsponsored #66 PRISM Motorsports Toyota fell out with brake trouble after 36 laps of the Chevy Rock ‘n Roll 400.

*Hill is also the first driver to finish last in a Cup race at Richmond specifically because of a failure of any of the four hubs.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

38) #66-Timmy Hill / 100 laps / rear hub

37) #53-James Davison / 385 laps / running

36) #77-Reed Sorenson / 387 laps / running

35) #51-Joey Gase / 387 laps / running

34) #27-J.J. Yeley / 388 laps / running

2020 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) JTG-Daugherty Racing (6)

2nd) Rick Ware Racing (5)

2nd) Motorsports Business Management (4)

3rd) Chip Ganassi Racing, Hendrick Motorsports, Penske Racing (2)

4th) Beard Motorsports, B.J. McLeod Motorsports, Front Row Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, Leavine Family Racing, StarCom Racing, Tommy Baldwin Racing (1)

2020 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet (18)

2nd) Toyota (6)

3rd) Ford (4)

2020 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

XFINITY: Timmy Hill unable to avoid last place in second Richmond race; Matt Mills backs up 13th-place finish

PHOTO: Motorsports Business Management Facebook, thanks @StartAndParkCar

Timmy Hill picked up the 4th last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career in Saturday’s Virginia Is For Racing Lovers 250 at the Richmond Raceway when his #66 CrashClaimsR.us Toyota fell out with fuel pump issues after 56 of 250 laps.

The finish, which came in Hill’s 206th series start, was his second of the season and first since August 22, the opening round of the Dover double-header, five races ago. In the XFINITY Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 5th from a fuel pump issue, the 12th for the #66, and the 142nd for Toyota. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 30th from a fuel pump, the 76th for the #66, and the 344th for Toyota.

It has continued to be the best of times and worst of times for the popular underdog from Maryland. Since his most recent last-place run in the XFINITY Series, he steered a Joe Gibbs Racing engine into the lead pack at Daytona, only to drop from contention after a tire went down under green. Mechanical gremlins have continued to plague his Cup effort with Motorsports Business Management, including an engine failure at Dover and overheating issues just last week in Darlington. But it’s been his Truck Series effort that has turned some of the strongest runs of the year. After a 9th-place finish at Darlington, running a paint scheme honoring he and brother Tyler’s father Jerry Hill, he finished 9th once more to start the Richmond weekend on Thursday.

For the XFINITY double-header at Richmond, Hill would drive MBM’s #66 Toyota, a team that has most often been on “start-and-park” duty in 2020. Hill, along with teammates Chad Finchum and Stephen Leicht, have combined to finish just two races this year under power in the #66 – the season-opener in Daytona and the Indianapolis road course.

On Friday night, Hill appeared to have his second last-place finish in four races when he pulled off the track in the early laps, but Finchum inherited the spot after failing post-race inspection. Despite the change, the matrix still placed Finchum’s #61 in 33rd ahead of both Leicht’s #13 and Hill’s #66, as well as Vinnie Miller in the #99 Koolbox Chevrolet. Hill would thus roll off 36th and last, a field reduced by one as Kyle Busch was not entered. Finchum would end up joining Hill at the tail end, however, as he incurred a pre-race penalty for changing engines. Myatt Snider would also surrender 27th after a crash sent him to a backup #93 Superior Essex Chevrolet.

In the race itself, Hill lost a lap by the 30th circuit, but by Lap 43 climbed past Snider’s backup car into 35th place. He only stayed in the race just past the competition caution before pulling behind the wall. Incidentally, NASCAR.com's online leaderboard showed Hill a total of 5,728.810 seconds behind the leader when the checkered flag dropped.

Hitting the "refresh" button after the race on NASCAR.com's online leaderboard
briefly showed the intervals back to last place in seconds.

Colby Howard, whose #15 Project Hope Foundation Chevrolet stopped in Turn 4 the night before, slowed there again on Saturday after hitting the wall. This put him out of the race, and he eventually dropped to 35th. Riley Herbst took 34th after his #18 Monster Energy Toyota crossed the nose of Brandon Brown entering Turn 1, leaving him with significant damage to the right-rear. These three were the day’s only DNFs. Rounding out the Bottom Five were Jesse Little, six laps down in the #4 JD Motorsports Chevrolet, and one lap behind Vinnie Miller’s #99.

The same B.J. McLeod Motorsports team that fielded Miller’s 32nd-place finisher also enjoyed a strong weekend with teammate Matt Mills. Mills finished 13th on Friday, took 3rd on the grid for Saturday, and finished 13th once again, achieving some well-earned television time with Jeff Burton giving him encouragement. These two runs are now tied for Mills’ second-best ever XFINITY Series finishes, trailing only his 10th-place run on the Daytona oval last month.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This marked the third consecutive last-place finish for Motorsports Business Management in an XFINITY race at Richmond, dating back to September 20, 2019 with Mike Marlar.

*This was the first XFINITY Series last-place finish by reason of a “fuel pump” since November 4, 2017, when John Jackson's #13 Dodge (also fielded by MBM) fell out after 7 laps of the O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge at Texas.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

36) #66-Timmy Hill / 56 laps / fuel pump

35) #15-Colby Howard / 140 laps / crash

34) #18-Riley Herbst / 227 laps / crash

33) #4-Jesse Little / 244 laps / running

32) #99-Vinnie Miller / 245 laps / running

2020 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Motorsports Business Management (7)

2nd) Joe Gibbs Racing (3)

3rd) JD Motorsports, Jimmy Means Racing, JR Motorsports, Mike Harmon Racing, Shepherd Racing Ventures, SS-Green Light Racing (2)

4th) B.J. McLeod Motorsports, Jeremy Clements Racing, Kaulig Racing (1)

2020 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet (15)

2nd) Toyota (10)

2020 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP