CUP: B.J. McLeod clinches third LASTCAR title after car overheats on hot Martinsville track

PHOTO: @teamlivefast

by Brock Beard

LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief

B.J. McLeod picked up the 14th last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career in Sunday’s XFINITY 500 at the Martinsville Speedway when his #78 Falk’d Up Garage Chevrolet fell out with overheating issues after 147 of 500 laps.

The finish, which came in McLeod’s 136th series start, was his fifth of the season and first since Darlington, eight races ago. In the Cup Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 36th for the #78, the 119th from overheating, and the 850th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 51st for the #78, the 180th from overheating, and the 1,921st for Chevrolet.

With the finish, McLeod has secured his third LASTCAR Cup Series Championship with one race still to go. His only two remaining challengers were brothers Ty Dillon and Austin Dillon. Ty could have taken the lead from McLeod with a last-place run on Sunday, but McLeod would have been able to respond in Phoenix.

Just days after the team’s most recent last-place finish in Darlington, the Live Fast Motorsports team announced that they had sold their Charter to Spire Motorsports, which would expand from two to three entries. As the team prepares to scale back to a part-time “open” entry in 2024, the team has continued to fight near the back of the pack. Live Fast gave Sheldon Creed his first Cup start at Kansas, yielding a 29th-place finish. McLeod finished 22nd in Texas coming home on the lead lap. And on the Charlotte “Roval,” Josh Bilicki was battling inside the Top 20 before contact from Corey LaJoie left him 26th.

For Martinsville, the team carried a special Halloween-themed paint scheme featuring McLeod himself. Joining a returning Superior Logistics Services, Inc. as sponsor was the YouTube channel Falk’d Up Garage.

With only the 36 Chartered entries arriving at the track once more, McLeod was slowest in both practice and qualifying, securing the last spot on the grid with a lap of 91.660mph (20.659 seconds) in Qualifying Round 1A. The field remained so close that he was just two-hundredths of a second slower than 35th-place J.J. Yeley in the #15 IFCJ.org Ford and just over a half-second off the pole.

No drivers incurred pre-race penalties, so McLeod and Yeley rolled off side-by-side in the final row. When the race started on an unseasonably hot afternoon, McLeod’s outside line got a better start, pulling him 4.086 seconds back of the lead at the stripe ahead of 33rd-place starter Ryan Newman in the #51 Biohaven / Jacob Companies Ford (4.118 seconds) and the now last-place Yeley (4.331). Newman dropped McLeod back to 35th by Lap 3, when the #78 was now locked in a side-by-side battle with Yeley. That time by, the gap from McLeod to the last-place Yeley was 0.075 second, then 0.095 on Lap 4 and 0.041 on Lap 5. Yeley finally cleared McLeod on Lap 7, opening a gap of 0.244.

On Lap 12, McLeod maintained a half-second gap behind Yeley and began to report on his water temperature, citing it at 270 degrees. “Everything feels fine,” said the driver. On Lap 21, McLeod pulled to within 0.355 second of Yeley, then cut it to 0.211 on Lap 22. But now, the leaders had caught them both, and McLeod and Yeley were the first to be lapped on the 28th and 29th circuits. In traffic, McLeod reported his car was now “free in, tight center, free off.” The positions remained unchanged until the first caution on Lap 104.

Heading through Turns 1 and 2, the battle for 22nd turned physical. Holding the spot was last week’s last-place finisher Harrison Burton in the #21 Motorcraft / Quick Lane Ford, who had a mirrorful of Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.’s #47 Kroger / Reese’s Chevrolet. As Stenhouse moved by, Burton cut in front of an approaching Alex Bowman in the #48 Ally Chevrolet, who then bumped his way under Burton as Austin Dillon closed from behind in the #3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet. As Bowman banged doors with Burton, a stack-up ensued where Dillon spun Bowman, then hooked Burton into a spin. Squeezing past was then-leader Denny Hamlin before Corey LaJoie’s #7 Gainbridge Chevrolet locked the brakes behind a stopped Burton. All involved drivers escaped with little damage, though each were first shown one lap down. Under caution, Burton took last on Lap 106, followed by McLeod on Lap 107, then Burton on Lap 108, Bowman on Lap 109, and Burton on Lap 111. The race restarted the next time by with Burton last in line, at which point NASCAR declared all cars had met minimum speed. 

With the end of Stage 1 fast approaching, Burton set after Bowman. Both were now the only two cars off the lead lap, and now fighting for the Lucky Dog. Burton caught Bowman by Lap 123, but five laps later, leader Hamlin caught and passed 34th-place McLeod, putting him a lap down. By the end of Stage 1 on Lap 131, Hamlin had also lapped 33rd-place Carson Hocevar in the #42 Sunseeker Resort Chevrolet and, coming off Turn 4 the final time, 32nd-place Yeley in the #15. This gave Yeley the Lucky Dog, putting him back on the lead lap.

This stage caution saw McLeod retake last place on Lap 136, the crew clearing rubber off the grille as they continued to track a overheating issue. Scoring showed Bowman in last on Lap 138, then McLeod again on Lap 139 just before the Lap 141 restart. Right when the field went green, Kyle Busch made an unscheduled stop for a flat left-front tire on his #8 BetMGM Chevrolet, immediately taking last again from McLeod. Busch quickly returned to the track, and by Lap 147 had caught and passed McLeod, climbing to 35th. 

Then on Lap 149, McLeod made a sudden turn into the garage at the entrance of Turn 3. “I don’t want to oil the track down,” said McLeod, reporting the water was now at 385 degrees. “See you at Phoenix.” With the car parked behind the team’s hauler, McLeod’s camera was shut off on Lap 156, then was declared out by NASCAR on Lap 180.

McLeod's car shortly after pulling into the garage. SCREENSHOT: NASCAR Drive

Yeley finished 35th after a frustrating series of events led to his car being towed behind the wall prematurely. It began on Lap 273, when entering Turn 3, Joey Logano spun 3rd-place running Ty Gibbs’ #54 Monster Energy Toyota, which was then struck by Daniel Suarez’ #99 Jockey Outdoors by Luke Bryan Chevrolet that had been pushed by Brad Keselowski’s #6 King’s Hawaiian Ford. Yeley was among those involved, though he only suffered flat tires. While Suarez’ car was allowed to drive around the track with broken toe links, Yeley was told be track officials to climb from his car, ending his race. Yeley fell to 35th with Suarez only completing three more laps in 34th. Keselowski continued with nose damage, then briefly caught fire on pit road, only to return to the track in the final four laps. Completing the group was Bowman, who took the checkered flag four laps down. 

Burton rallies, Gilliland finishes 10th

After competing for last place early in the event, Harrison Burton rebounded nicely to take home a 15th-place finish – his best run since an 8th at Pocono. The fall race at Martinsville seems to suit the newcomer well, one year after he finished 11th in the 2022 running.

Sunday’s race also saw Todd Gilliland pick up the sixth top-ten finish of his career and first since Talladega in the spring when he crossed the line in 10th in the #38 Quincy Compressor Ford. Gilliland scored his first career Truck Series victory at the track in 2019.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This marked McLeod’s second last-place finish in a Cup race at Martinsville, following April 9, 2022 where handling issues were to blame after 132 laps.

*This was the first Cup last-place finisher at Martinsville to finish last due to overheating issues since October 26, 2014, when Clay Rogers’ #93 Burger King Toyota dropped out after 25 laps.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

36) #78-B.J. McLeod / 147 laps / overheating

35) #15-J.J. Yeley / 271 laps / crash

34) #99-Daniel Suarez / 274 laps / dvp

33) #6-Brad Keselowski / 305 laps / running

32) #48-Alex Bowman / 496 laps / running

2023 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Live Fast Motorsports (5)

2nd) Joe Gibbs Racing, Richard Childress Racing, Rick Ware Racing, Spire Motorsports (4)

3rd) Legacy Motor Club, Penske Racing (3)

4th) Stewart-Haas Racing (2)

5th) Front Row Motorsports, Hendrick Motorsports, Kaulig Racing, Trackhouse Racing, Wood Brothers Racing (1)

2023 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet (19)

2nd) Ford (11)

3rd) Toyota (4)

2023 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP