CUP: Brutal crash at Phoenix hands Ty Gibbs first last-place finish for #54 since 2003
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
PHOTO: Luis Torres, @TheLTFiles
Ty Gibbs picked up the 3rd last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career in Sunday’s Cup Series Championship at Phoenix Raceway when his #54 Monster Energy Toyota crashed after he completed 1 of 312 laps.
The finish, which came in Gibbs’ 87th series start, was his first of the season and first in a Cup Series race since October 2, 2022 at Talladega, 77 races ago. In the Cup Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 15th for the #54, the 192nd for Toyota, and the 680th from a crash. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 22nd for the #54, the 416th for Toyota, and the 1,404th from a crash.
Still very early into his career, Gibbs has already experienced both the very best and worst at the Phoenix track. It was here two years ago that he drove to a convincing championship-clinching win in the XFINITY Series race, only to hours later face the sudden and tragic loss of his father Coy. This past March, Gibbs and his three teammates at JGR dominated the spring Cup race at Phoenix – each leading 55 or more laps before Christopher Bell took the win. But as Gibbs remained winless in his sophomore season, his three teammates were each eliminated from Playoff contention. The cruelest cut of all came last Sunday in Martinsville, where allegations of race manipulation led to NASCAR making a judgment call that left Bell – the last eligible JGR driver – out of the Championship Four.
This past weekend, Gibbs showed impressive speed, ranking 7th in practice, then 4th in Qualifying Round 1A with a lap of 26.709 seconds (134.786mph). This advanced him to Round 2, where he secured 6th on the rid with a lap of 26.811 seconds (134.273mph).
Securing the 40th and final starting spot was Jeb Burton, back in a Cup car for the first time since April 13, 2019. This time, he’d complete a double-duty weekend with the XFINITY Series driving for Team AmeriVet, the former The Money Team Racing operation, which made their debut race at the Coca-Cola 600 with Ty Dillon. This time, for Veteran’s Day weekend, the #50 was a late entry, bringing the entry list to a full 40 cars for only the sixth time all year. The car, sponsored by Luxedo, reportedly still had the team’s Charlotte setup, and Burton struggled for both speed and handling in practice. The team also failed inspection four times, which resulted in a series of penalties. On top of the ejection of a crew member and loss of pit selection, they wouldn’t be allowed to qualify, and would have to serve a stop-and-go penalty after the start. This assured them of the last spot on the grid on Sunday.
During the pace laps, Burton went over the stop-and-go protocol with his team, and already had misgivings about the car’s handling. He also elected to lag back at the start, taking the green flag several carlengths back of 39th-place Josh Berry, his #4 Texas A&M University Ford repaired after a spin in qualifying, as Berry battled Chad Finchum’s #66 2ONE Pouches Ford. By the end of Lap 1, Berry had climbed to 37th, passing both Finchum and the #44 Mammoth Nation Chevrolet of J.J. Yeley. But Burton had hardly crossed the stripe in 40th, 5.532 seconds back of the lead and 0.236 behind Finchum, when trouble broke out near the front.
On that same first lap, Gibbs found himself stuck in the high lane entering Turns 3 and 4, then appeared to glance off the outside wall in heavy traffic. Still fighting around the 12th spot at the dogleg, his car suddenly cut right and slammed the outside wall hard enough to lift the rear of the car. Under the ensuing caution, Gibbs tried to get rolling again, but his car wedged itself against the barrier entering Turn 1. Gibbs climbed from the car and was soon checked and released from the infield care center, done for the day. Gibbs took last from Burton immediately, then was declared out by NASCAR on Lap 25. The car’s onboard camera remained on until Lap 38.
PHOTO: Stephen Stumpf, @stephen_stumpf
At the moment the caution came out for Gibbs, Burton was trying to complete his stop-and-go penalty. But NASCAR told him it didn’t count as the penalty had to be served under green. So on Lap 9, just after the restart, Burton came down pit road and completed his stop-and-go, dropping him a lap off the pace on Lap 13. He went on to finish 38th, beating the race’s only other retiree. On Lap 250, Zane Smith suffered a brake failure on his #71 Focused Health Chevrolet and smashed into the Turn 1 wall, ending his day. Completing the Bottom Five were Ryan Preece, who suffered a broken right-rear toe link and lost multiple laps in the pits. Preece’s #41 HaasTooling.com Ford crossed the finish line on the same lap as 36th-place Chad Finchum in the #66 2ONE Pouches Ford.
Blaney nearly pulls unprecedented sweep of NASCAR and LASTCAR championships
Gibbs’ last-place finish secured the 2024 LASTCAR Cup Series Championship for Ryan Blaney, the season’s only three-time last-place finisher, in his #12 Menards / Richmond Water Heaters Ford. Intriguingly, Blaney was also a clear threat to win the race and hoist his second-straight NASCAR Cup Series trophy. If he did, he’d become the first driver in NASCAR history to clinch both a NASCAR and LASTCAR title in the same year. In the final laps, Blaney made a valiant bid to catch teammate Joey Logano for the lead, only to come just 0.330 second short of the improbable championship sweep. Blaney still completed the first father-son LASTCAR championship sweep in NASCAR history, joining father Dave who won in 2009.
LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the fourth time a Cup Series last-place finisher at Phoenix only completed one lap. On November 3, 1991, Kenny Wallace had steering issues on his #24 Team III Racing Pontiac. On November 1, 1992, Rick Carelli fell out with handling issues on his #37 Chesrown Chevrolet after he was injured in a Southwest Tour Series race at the track the previous day. Most recently, Brendan Gaughan wrecked his #71 South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet on November 14, 2010. No driver has failed to complete at least one lap of a Cup race at Phoenix.
*This also marked the first last-place finish for the #54 in a Cup Series race since August 17, 2003, when Todd Bodine’s #54 National Guard Ford was involved in a spectacular two-car accident with Kenny Wallace after 62 laps at Michigan. The number had never before finished last in a Cup race at Phoenix.
*Toyota now breaks its tie with Pontiac to claim the fourth-most last-place finishes in Cup Series history with 192.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
40) #54-Ty Gibbs / 1 lap / crash
39) #71-Zane Smith / 247 laps / crash
38) #50-Jeb Burton / 294 laps / running
37) #41-Ryan Preece / 302 laps / running
36) #66-Chad Finchum / 302 laps / running
2024 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP - FINAL
1st) Stewart-Haas Racing (5)
2nd) Joe Gibbs Racing, Motorsports Business Management, Penske Racing (4)
3rd) Kaulig Racing, Spire Motorsports (3)
4th) Hendrick Motorsports, NY Racing Team, Richard Childress Racing, Rick Ware Racing, Trackhouse Racing (2)
5th) Front Row Motorsports, Legacy Motor Club, RFK Racing (1)
2024 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP - FINAL
1st) Ford (17)
2nd) Chevrolet (14)
3rd) Toyota (5)
2024 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP - FINAL
