by Brock Beard

LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief

Kyle Sieg picked up the 2nd last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career in Saturday’s NASCAR XFINITY Series Championship Race at the Phoenix Raceway when his #38 JW Sports Cards Ford fell out due to a vibration after he completed 14 of 202 laps.

The finish, which came in Sieg’s 50th series start, was his second of the season and second in a row. In the XFINITY Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 21st for the #38, the 141st from a vibration, and the 167th for Ford. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 57th for the #38, the 215th from a vibration, and the 1,027th for Ford.

With the last-place finish, Sieg also claimed the 2023 LASTCAR XFINITY Series Championship, taking it from Parker Kligerman (who finished 16th) in the final race. In his post-race interview, the fact surprised Sieg, and for good reason – it was only his second last-place finish of the year, and the only time he’d led the standings all season.

Following his last-place finish last week in Martinsville, Sieg was one of 13 drivers in contention to take the title from Kligerman by taking the 38th spot. This time around, he’d drive the #38 for his family’s RSS Racing team, moving Joe Graf, Jr. to the #28 in place of C.J. McLaughlin. While McLaughlin wasn’t entered after his 13th-place run last Saturday, he was at the track helping the team. Sieg carried sponsorship from JW Sports Cards, plus a logo for Arizona’s The Taco Spot, which also happened to be the associate sponsor for Chris Hacker’s last-place Truck Series entry on Friday.

In practice, Kyle ranked 31st of the 40 entrants, then improved in qualifying, securing the 22nd starting spot with a lap of 130.383mph (27.611 seconds). The two teams that missed the show each experienced different struggles. 

Brad Perez picked up the open seat at CHK Racing to drive the #74 Lerner & Rowe Injury Lawyers Chevrolet. Multiple repairs and adjustments led to Perez taking just nine laps in practice – his first ever on the track – yet still managed to outpace three drivers. In three separate runs, his car bottomed out hard across a drain cover in the garage, trailing sparks and at one point causing debris to come off the splitter. A herculean effort by both Harmon’s team, Josh Williams, and his DGM Racing crew followed, allowing the team to replace the splitter. But in qualifying, the car broke loose in Turn 2 and slapped the outside wall, leaving him with no posted time. 

The other DNQ was Alpha Prime Racing’s #44 team, which had several qualifying issues over the summer. Daniel Dye was expected to make his third series start in the Champion Container Chevrolet, completing a double-duty effort with the Truck Series. But he was not cleared to race following a hard Turn 1 crash with Bayley Currey and Stefan Parsons. Fellow Alpha Prime driver Leland Honeyman got the call at two in the morning, but his first lap on the Phoenix track wasn’t enough to make the show.

Securing the 38th and final starting spot was LASTCAR title contender Anthony Alfredo, whose #78 RTIC Chevrolet didn’t take a lap in qualifying due to an engine change. Alfredo’s car sat at the exit of the XFINITY garage for several minutes before joining the rest of the field on the grid. An even later arrival was Blaine Perkins’ #02 Gratis Chevrolet – another LASTCAR challenger – which was pushed to its 32nd spot on the grid as the Championship Four were being introduced to the crowd. Like Alfredo, Perkins would incur a tail-end penalty – his for unapproved adjustments. 

The field addressed the starter’s stand with Alfredo still in the final row on the outside of Graf. Down the backstretch on Lap 1, Alfredo cleared Graf, putting the #28 back in last place. On Lap 2, Timmy Hill slipped to 37th in the #66 Angry Crab Shack Ford, and further ahead, Stefan Parsons had damage to the upper nose of his #4 Jupiter Rings Buffalo Sauce Chevrolet. Moments later, Playoff contender Justin Allgaier spun his #7 BRANDT Chevrolet from 5th while banging doors with John Hunter Nemechek. Allgaier promptly took last, avoiding serious damage as he continued some distance back of the field. He then pitted along with Graf, Hill, the damaged Parsons, and Brennan Poole’s #6 KST CPA Chevrolet. During the stops, Graf’s crew struggled with the left-rear wheel, Parsons’ crew added tape to the right side of the hood, and Hill was caught speeding in Section 16. The last spot fell to Parsons on Lap 6 after he made a second stop, which now made him the frontrunner for the LASTCAR title.

The race restarted on Lap 8, but Parsons had barely reached the stripe when trouble broke out in front of him. Kyle Sieg restarted 20th, but exiting Turn 1 was bumped by Kaz Grala’s #26 Ruedebusch Toyota. Sieg’s Ford slid sideways, then struck the outside wall with the right-rear corner of his car, drawing the race’s second caution. Sieg took last the next time by as he drove down pit road. The crew set to work on the pushed-in right-rear and applied tape to the buckled decklid which was pointed upward at the base of the rear windscreen. Kyle peeled out of his stall with a piece of the right-rear bodywork still dangling, then made a second stop on Lap 10. He twice stabbed the throttle three times before returning to the track, still with the debris hanging loose. NASCAR then called him back for a third stop to have the piece removed, which was done. He returned to the track on Lap 16, and despite a right-rear tire rub still cleared minimum speed on Lap 20. 

With the clock cleared, Sieg returned to pit road on Lap 23 for additional repairs. Three laps later, he backed up, then nearly entered the Cup garage before he was stopped by the official at the garage’s half-closed gate. He then backed up pit road and used the previous entrance to enter the XFINITY garage. By Lap 35, the team’s work had slowed, and NASCAR officials were there to retrieve their equipment. A member of the crew exclaimed his frustration with Kaz Grala’s contact, blaming series director Wayne Auton for allowing in drivers who race without respect. NASCAR didn’t declare Sieg out of the race until Lap 60, citing a vibration as his reason out.

Sieg stopped short at the closed entrance to the Cup garage.

Finishing 37th was Derek Kraus, whose #11 Western States Flooring Chevrolet crashed against the outside wall through Turns 3 and 4 just moments before the end of Stage 2. Taking 36th was J.J. Yeley, whose unique fan sponsorship from Fan Controlled put him behind the wheel of the #08 Fan Controlled / Safelite Ford. Decals for four contest winners were printed twice as large as they should have been, so they were arranged around the hood logo instead of in a row near the nose. Unfortunately, Yeley’s car was bumped into a spin by Friday’s last-place finisher Chris Hacker, putting him into the inside backstretch wall and out of the race. Hacker didn’t run much further before smoke in the cockpit forced multiple unscheduled stops, then a hard left turn into the garage area. Connor Mosack rounded out the Bottom Five after his #24 Toyota Outfitters Toyota struck the Turn 3 wall with 18 laps to go in regulation.

While the official results indicate these were the only retirees, 33rd-place Stefan Parsons continued to struggle after his early nose damage. While running laps down, he made a late-race pit stop and stalled the car. The crew gave him a push, but when it didn’t work, they pushed him back to his stall. A second attempt was made, but the result was the same. By the third attempt, the race was nearly over. His car was still stalled at the entrance to the XFINITY garage when the checkered flag fell, the engine again struggling to fire. The crew ended up pushing him in the rest of the way moments before the rest of the field followed him.

Rajah Caruth runs 14th in first start for Hendrick Motorsports

A few weeks ago, news broke that Hendrick Motorsports would enter a pair of drivers for one-off starts in their #17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet – a car that had previously been exclusively for Hendrick Motorsports’ Cup Series drivers. While Boris Said’s attempt at one more NASCAR start fell short due to mechanical issues in qualifying at the Charlotte “Roval,” there was still anticipation for Rajah Caruth’s one-off in the Phoenix finale. After closing out GMS Racing’s final season the previous night with teammates Grant Enfinger and Daniel Dye, Caruth would close a double-duty weekend in the #17 following 18 previous XFINITY starts for Tommy Joe Martins at Alpha Prime Racing. He ran 17th in practice and qualified 13th – more than enough to make the field.

Amidst a large crowd of fans and well-wishers, including Rick Hendrick who took photos with him on the grid, I was able to talk to Caruth before the start of the race. “The car’s really good,” he said. “I just feel a lot of gratitude for this opportunity and I'll just do my best to make the most of it.” 

I also asked Caruth about the photo that was tweeted of him buying Hendrick merchandise at a track’s souvenir hauler shortly after the announcement. “I got a bunch of hats. I like flat bill hats. And - well actually, that's all I got that time. And well actually, that's all I got that time. But I’ve got a lot of diecast at home, so I didn't get more.”

As to his expectations, he said, “I just want to be at the end. I know the car is good. And if I use my head, I'll be there at the end. To be respectful of the Championship Four guys, right? Because when I'm in that spot one day, I want to receive that same respect. Just execute the day and be there at the end.” 

While Caruth came up just short of his first career top-ten finish, his 14th-place showing stands as the second-best of his career, trailing only his 12th-place finishes for Alpha Prime in the last two fall races at Martinsville.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This marked the first last-place finish for the #38 in a XFINITY Series race at Phoenix. It’s also the first for the number in any XFINITY Series race since November 2, 2019 – just over four years ago – when J.J. Yeley’s unsponsored #38 RSS Racing Chevrolet had electrical issues after 3 laps of the O'Reilly Auto Parts 300 at Texas.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

38) #38-Kyle Sieg / 14 laps / vibration

37) #11-Derek Kraus / 84 laps / crash

36) #08-J.J. Yeley / 101 laps / crash

35) #53-Chris Hacker / 178 laps / suspension

34) #24-Connor Mosack / 180 laps / crash

2023 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP - FINAL

1st) SS-Green Light Racing (4)

2nd) Alpha Prime Racing, Emerling-Gase Motorsports, Motorsports Business Management (3)

3rd) Big Machine Racing, CHK Racing, DGM Racing, JD Motorsports, RSS Racing (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 - FINAL

1st) Chevrolet (23)

2nd) Ford (6)

3rd) Toyota (4)

2023 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP – FINAL