TRUCKS: The return of Tommy Regan and Jennifer Jo Cobb’s #0 Chevrolet fills short Texas field
 |
| PHOTO: @JenJoCobb |
The finish, which came in Regan’s fifth series start, was his first since his series debut at Iowa on July 11, 2014, when his #45 JD2 Squared / American Tactical Chevrolet had ignition issues on the opening lap of the American Ethanol 200 Presented by Enogen.
A native of Tracy, California (just 25 miles from LASTCAR headquarters), Regan was making his first Truck Series start since 2015, when he made his most recent start in Christopher Long’s #45 Chevrolet. His best finish came that year at Gateway, where he ran 24th despite electrical issues.
Just 26 drivers made the preliminary entry list for Friday’s 32-truck field, which if unchanged would have produced the shortest Truck Series field since the inaugural Sonoma event on October 7, 1995. Among those missing from the list were TJL Motorsports (#1) and Beaver Motorsports (#50), which then joined up by Friday with Jordan Anderson in the former and Josh Reaume in the latter. The list then shrank again from 28 back to 27 when Faith Motorsports withdrew Matt Mills’ #44 Chevrolet.
What got the field back to 28 starters was Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing, who for the first time since last fall at Las Vegas entered two trucks in the race. While Cobb would run an all-white #10 Chevrolet, her black-and-gray #0 entry would be driven by Regan. With field sizes becoming an issue in the Truck Series after the closure of Red Horse Racing, this could have dramatic LASTCAR implications in the races ahead – Cobb’s second entry claimed the last three consecutive LASTCAR titles with driver Caleb Roark.
Regan didn’t participate in the weekend’s first two practices, and anchored Happy Hour with the best of his five laps coming in at 152.810mph (more than six seconds slower than Christopher Bell’s fastest lap of 185.982mph). Regan turned in a faster lap in qualifying, shaving three seconds off with a speed of 161.156mph, but still would start 27th in the 28-truck field.
Starting last on Friday was the late Beaver Motorsports entry with Josh Reaume in the #50 Motorsports Safety Group Chevrolet. The official results credit Reaume with relying on Owner Points, though Racing-reference.info recorded his lap of just 130.394mph, more than 12 seconds slower than Noah Gragson’s pole lap. Next to fall to the rear was Austin Cindric, whose 9th-place #19 Draw-Tite / Reese Brands Ford wrecked in Turn 2 and was the first to lose a lap. Under that caution, Regan pulled behind the wall, done for the night. Cindric got his lap back, but fell out with crash damage after 28 laps, leaving him 25th.
27th on Friday went to Kevin Donahue, back in Mike Mittler’s #63 Chevrolet for the first time since his 21st-place run at Kansas. This time around, Donahue left the race after just nine laps, citing electrical issues on his unsponsored entry. 26th went to last-place starter Reaume, who cited engine trouble after the second caution of the night. On the other side of 25th-place Cindric was 24th-place Todd Peck, the current LASTCAR Truck Series leader, who had a vibration on D.J. Copp’s #83 Chevrolet.
LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the first last-place finish for the #0 since November 16, 2015, when three-time and defending LASTCAR Truck Series champion Caleb Roark’s own #0 Driven2Honor.org Chevrolet exited with electrical issues on the first lap of the Winstar World Casino And Resort 350, which was run on Texas Motor Speedway’s previous configuration.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
28) #0-Tommy Regan / 5 laps / electrical
27) #63-Kevin Donahue / 9 laps / electrical
26) #50-Josh Reaume / 12 laps / engine
25) #19-Austin Cindric / 28 laps / crash
24) #83-Todd Peck / 39 laps / vibration
2017 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Copp Motorsports (2)
2nd) Halmar Friesen Racing, Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing, MB Motorsports, MDM Motorsports, TJL Motorsports (1)
2017 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (7)
2017 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
