by Brock Beard

LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief

Brett Moffitt picked up the 4th last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career in Saturday’s Drive for the Cure 250 presents by Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina at the Charlotte Motor Speedway “Roval” when his #25 Superior Pools & Spas Ford fell out with ignition issues after 40 of 67 laps.

The finish, which came in Moffitt’s 113th series start, was his first of the season and first in a XFINITY Series race since October 10, 2020 – also at the Charlotte “Roval” – 99 races ago. In the XFINITY Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 8th for the #25, the 42nd for ignition trouble, and the 164th for Ford. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 50th for the #25, the 111th for ignition, and the 1,022nd for Ford.

This season has seen Brett Moffitt’s career take another interesting turn. After three seasons driving for Our Motorsports, he signed with AM Racing, which in December 2022 signed him to drive for an all-new XFINITY program. As part of their move from the Truck Series, leaving behind the #22 to be picked up by Reaume Brothers Racing, AM Racing switched from Chevrolet to Ford, acquiring Roush Yates Engines and Stewart-Haas Racing cars with SHR’s technical support, plus Kevin Cywinski as team principal. At Fontana, in Moffitt’s second-ever start with the team, he finished 9th, then three rounds later in Atlanta took 6th, the first two of nine top-ten runs that kept the team on the verge of Playoff contention. The team’s season-best 4th came on the Chicago Street Course.

With this uptick in performance came more success for both driver and team. On the driver front, Moffitt was entered in his first Truck Series start of the season last week at Talladega. He’d drive a second Front Row Motorsports entry, its paint scheme reminiscent of the Cup Series ride with which he claimed Rookie of the Year in 2015. Moffitt won that race, leading 22 laps and making a dramatic last-lap pass on Christian Eckes. This was soon followed by news that AM Racing would expand their XFINITY program in 2024, bringing aboard Hailie Deegan as Moffitt’s teammate in the #15.

At the “Roval,” Moffitt would also debut new sponsorship from Superior Pools & Spas. The car ran 17th in opening practice, then qualified 27th with a lap of 99.683mph (83.786 seconds).

In all, 42 drivers were entered to attempt the 38-car field, and the unforgiving infield road course soon whittled down the field. First of the four to miss the field was Boris Said, who literally received an early Christmas present from Rick Hendrick, putting him behind the wheel of the #17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet. Said was on record that this was by far the best NASCAR entry he’d yet raced. But on the track, a sluggish 34th-place practice speed signaled the rear end on his car was failing. The issue grew worse in qualifying, cancelling the final round due to the lengthy cleanup. 

Also sent home was Preston Pardus, who had a fuel pickup issue on his family’s #50 Chinchor Electric Inc. Chevrolet. Devin Jones’ DNQ resulted from engine issues that left him last in practice, nearly 19 seconds slower than the next car, that couldn’t be fixed in time to qualify CHK Racing’s #74 Verinext / HPE Chevrolet. Jones was attempting to make his first XFINITY start since 2017. Finally came Andy Lally, who was 20th-fastest in what was to be the first NASCAR start for Trans-Am TA2 team Peterson Racing Group. But in qualifying, Lally came just 0.084 second short of getting the #87 Peterson Racing / 3Dimensional.com Chevrolet into the field.

Securing the 38th and final starting spot was John Hunter Nemechek, already set to advance to the Round of 8 after his seventh win of the season in Texas. Nemechek’s crew spotted an oil leak which was caused by overfilling and decided against taking a lap. Nemechek incurred a redundant tail-end penalty for unapproved adjustments, joined by 15th-place Jeremy Clements in the #51 Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet Chevrolet, a black-and-silver Dale Earnhardt throwback, 25th-place Ryan Sieg in the Sci Aps Ford, 33rd-place Josh Williams in the #92 Alloy Employer / Call 811 Chevrolet, 34th-place Conor Daily in the #53 National Fire Protection Association Chevrolet, 36th-place Kyle Sieg in the #28 RSS Racing Ford.

When the race began, the 38th spot fell to Kyle Sieg, who crossed the stripe 8.477 seconds back of the lead, still working his way through the final chicane as the leaders entered Turn 1. Just in front of him was John Hunter Nemechek, the original 38th-place qualifier, who was 8.213 seconds behind the leader. By the end of Lap 1, both had passed Alex Guenette, Conor Daly’s teammate at Emerling-Gase Motorsports, who recovered from a spin in qualifying to secure the 37th starting spot in the #35 National Fire Protection Association Toyota. Heading down the backstretch on Lap 2, Guenette’s spotter alerted him to a car slowing on the apron.

This slowing car belonged to Moffitt, whose #25 shut down when he switched on the fans. An electrical issue was to blame, and he made it to pit road under green, taking over last place on Lap 3. With the team’s electrical kit still in the team’s hauler, the crew couldn’t make the repair on pit road and pushed him to the garage on Lap 4. In the process of going to the garage, Moffitt completed his second lap. Repairs were finished by Lap 9, when the crew discussed the proper way to navigate through the garage and return to the track. This was done on Lap 10, and Moffitt returned to action seven laps down. Despite a spin and stop-and-go incurred by Rajah Caruth in the #44 Circle Chevrolet, then a few green-flag stops, no one else lost a lap before the Stage 1 caution fell on Lap 21. Thus, Moffitt earned back one of his laps, putting him six laps down. By running top-ten lap speeds, Moffitt had managed to avoid losing another lap during the run.

On Lap 26, shortly after the restart, 25th-place runner Ryan Ellis was smoking down the backstretch after reported contact from Sage Karam’s #66 Custom Patch Hats Ford pushed in the right-rear corner of Ellis’ #43 Southern Elevator Chevrolet. Ellis’ crew didn’t think the damage was enough to cut down the tire, but the driver became increasingly concerned as he slipped to 36th before pitting on Lap 28. The crew made quick repairs, choosing between the saws-all and merely pushing it in and bear-bond, then sent him back on the track. By Lap 34, those repairs fell off the car, but didn’t draw the caution. 

What did draw a yellow on Lap 38 was Conor Daly’s #53, which cut a left-rear tire in Turn 14, putting him into the oval’s Turn 4 wall. Daly cut the chicane and slowed to a stop just before the yellow. Ellis fell just short of earning the Lucky Dog as Josh Williams’ #92, which lost power steering, had just been passed by the leader before Daly wrecked. Daly made it to pit road, where apparently the left-rear tire had to be cut away as it was wrapped around the bodywork. The crew also tried to diagnose a radio issue with either his helmet or ear mold as they couldn’t communicate with Daly. They sent him out with around two-and-a-half minutes left on the “Crash Clock,” but the car stalled and needed a push. He returned to action in 36th, on the same lap as Ellis, then dropped to 37th just before the restart. Daly cleared minimum speed on Lap 45, then set after Ellis in their battle for the Lucky Dog.

On Lap 47, Moffitt was still running six laps down in last place when the driver reported an issue with the car. He soon recognized the smell of rear gear grease, and came down pit road the next time by. The crew looked under the hood and saw smoke coming from the overflow, also hearing a clicking sound from the engine. “I’ve had enough for today,” said Moffitt. The crew responded, saying “Yeah, that’s it, we’re done. Push it to the garage.” They didn’t want Moffitt to drive it back there or risk causing further damage to the engine. Moffitt went behind the wall on Lap 49, done for the day. While electrical issues first put him behind the wall on Lap 4, the results listed ignition failure as his reason out.

Ellis got his lap back, only to be eliminated with late-race crash damage when he bounced off the wall approaching the backstretch chicane, leaving him 36th. He finished just ahead of Justin Allgaier, whose #7 BRANDT / BRANDT Foundation Chevrolet restarted on the front row alongside Jeb Burton’s #27 Fly Alliance / Puryear Chevrolet on Lap 61. But heading into the first corner, Burton slid into Allgaier, putting both into the wall. Burton managed to finish 34th, one lap down with damage, but Allgaier’s day was done, putting him 37th. Conor Daly finished 35th, still under power at the finish.

Three-wide Playoff battle at the stripe features another strong run for Grala

Caught in the middle of the battle for the final Playoff spot between Parker Kligerman and Daniel Hemric was Kaz Grala, whose #26 CRUSH Strawberry Lemonade Toyota came out the other side with a strong 5th-place finish, his seventh career top-five finish and first since Richmond in the spring, where he tied his career-best 4th.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This marked the first XFINITY last-place finish for the #25 since Mach 19, 2011, when Kelly Bires’ #25 Team Rensi Motorsports Ford fell out with handling issues after 2 laps of the Scotts EZ-Seed 300 at Bristol. The number had never finished last on the Charlotte “Roval.”

*This finish marked the 164th for Ford, tying the manufacturer with Pontiac for the second-most in series history. Chevrolet holds the lead with 631, as of this writing.

*Moffitt is the first driver to finish last in a XFINITY Series race due to ignition trouble since July 27, 2019, when J.J. Yeley’s #38 RSS Racing Chevrolet fell out after 5 laps at Iowa.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

38) #25-Brett Moffitt / 40 laps / ignition

37) #7-Justin Allgaier / 60 laps / crash

36) #43-Ryan Ellis / 63 laps / crash

35) #53-Conor Daly / 66 laps / running

34) #27-Jeb Burton / 66 laps / running

2023 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) SS-Green Light Racing (4)

2nd) Alpha Prime Racing (3)

3rd) Big Machine Racing, CHK Racing, DGM Racing, Emerling-Gase Motorsports, JD Motorsports, Motorsports Business Management (2)

4th) AM Racing, B.J. McLeod Motorsports, Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, Jordan Anderson Racing, JR Motorsports, Kaulig Racing, Our Motorsports, Sam Hunt Racing, Stewart-Haas Racing (1)

2023 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet (22)

2nd) Toyota (4)

3rd) Ford (3)

2023 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP