CUP: Flat tire to blame for Cody Ware’s first last-place finish in nearly four years
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
PHOTO: Randy Klein, @randyjklein
Cody Ware picked up the 7th last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career in Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway when his #51 Evel Knievel / Parts Plus Ford crashed after 186 of 267 laps.
The finish, which came in Ware’s 111th series start, was his first of the season and first in a Cup Series race since August 15, 2021 at the Indianapolis Grand Prix Circuit, 125 races ago. In the Cup Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 33rd for the #51, the 684th from a crash, and the 756th for Ford. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 47th for the #51, the 1,059th for Ford, and the 1,413th from a crash.
Sunday marked Ware’s first last-place finish in NASCAR’s “NextGen” era, following his first bid at a full-season effort in 2021. He came just one start short of making all 36 races in 2022 – J.J. Yeley drove in his place at the Charlotte “Roval” – but that year also earned his first career top-ten finish in the Cup Series with a 6th in Daytona. Coming into this season, he’d run no more than nine races in each of the last two years, highlighted by another strong run at Daytona, this time a 4th behind first-time winner Harrison Burton and the Wood Brothers last August.
Last year saw Ware make his return to the series as Rick Ware Racing changed its driver lineup. They’d entered the 2024 campaign with the hiring of Justin Haley in the #51 and Kaz Grala in the #15, but Haley ended up reuniting with Spire Motorsports after a mid-season ride swap with Corey LaJoie, and Ware took over an increasing portion of Grala’s schedule in the #15. As the RWR team leased the #15 team’s charter to RFK Racing, LaJoie put his own money forward to enter RWR’s #01 entry in Daytona with Ware in the #51. While LaJoie contended for the lead, Ware finished 25th, then improved that season-best mark last week at Phoenix with a 24th.
For Las Vegas, Ware would bring back his Evel Knievel paint scheme run at the Vegas track last fall, though this time in his full-time #51 in place of the #15. In practice, he ranked 34th, then ran the slowest completed lap in qualifying to take 35th with a speed of 30.093 seconds (179.444mph).
Ware didn’t rank last of the 36 entries as Ryan Blaney’s #12 Menards / Pennzoil Ford didn’t complete a lap after he cut a tire and spun into the wall in opening practice. The team managed to complete repairs, but the repairs prevented Blaney from participating in qualifying and incurred him a redundant tail-end penalty. Also docked for unapproved adjustments were 13th-place Christopher Bell, seeking a fourth-consecutive victory in the #20 Interstate Batteries Toyota, plus 30th-place John Hunter Nemechek in the #42 Backstreet Boys Toyota, 31st-place Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. in the #47 Real American Beer Chevrolet, and 34th-place Riley Herbst in the #35 Sunny D Toyota.
When the field lined up for the start, Nemechek was in last place, starting to the outside of Stenhouse. Ahead of them in Row 17 were Blaney to the outside of Bell with Ware on the inside of Herbst further up in Row 16. When the green flag dropped, Stenhouse pulled ahead of Nemechek, keeping Nemechek in last place heading into Turn 1. Further ahead, Ware slid behind Herbst to take 32nd. This opened the inside line in Turn 3 as the penalized Bell got under Ware entering Turn 3, leading Blaney and Stenhouse past. The now 35th-place Ware reached the stripe, only for Nemechek to get under him in Turn 1 and clear him off Turn 2.
Now in 36th, Ware steadily lost touch with the leaders. On Lap 6, he was 7.569 seconds back of the lead, then 9.952 on Lap 8 and 13.742 on Lap 12, when he was just over a full second back of the now 35th-place Justin Haley in the #7 Gainbridge Chevrolet. By Lap 21, Ware was just under three seconds of new 35th-place runner Todd Gilliland in the #34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford. And heading down the backstretch on Lap 28, race leader Joey Logano rushed past in the high lane, putting Ware the first car one lap down.
By now, green flag stops were beginning – and so were the penalties. On Lap 33, the spot fell to Blaney, whose crew struggled for more than 30 seconds to change his right-front wheel. A lap later, as he returned to the track two laps down, the caution fell for a left-rear wheel that stopped on the apron of Turns 1 and 2. The wheel belonged to Chase Briscoe’s #19 Bass Pro Shops Spring Fishing Classic Toyota. Already two laps down, Briscoe took last on Lap 34 and incurred a two-lap penalty for the loose wheel. He returned to the track four laps down in last. Blaney now climbed to 34th as Denny Hamlin’s #11 Toyota was caught speeding, dropping him to 35th. Also joining them was Kyle Busch, whose #8 BetMGM Chevrolet was also caught speeding, then dropped to the tail end. This placed Busch near the now 33rd-place Ware, who earned the Lucky Dog for the Briscoe caution. Briscoe remained in last place through the end of Stage 1, which came on Lap 82.
The restart for Stage 2 came on Lap 89, and Ware’s car was slow getting up to speed into Turn 1, causing Briscoe to whistle past in the high lane. On Lap 90, the now 31st-place Ware had fallen 10.334 seconds back of the lead, a full six seconds back of 30th-place Haley. Meanwhile, Alex Bowman pulled his #48 Ally Chevrolet onto pit road for an unscheduled green-flag stop to address a vibration. He returned to the track on Lap 93 in 35th, around two laps down. Ware then made a pit stop around Lap 104 and retook 35th from Bowman, now two laps down. Soon after on Lap 108, Shane Van Gisbergen spun his #88 Red Bull Chevrolet down the backstretch. He limped to pit road with both right-side tires flat, then returned to the track in 34th ahead of Ware and Briscoe.
Next to find trouble was Busch, who on the Lap 113 restart was running 11th when he lost an unsecured right-rear wheel whose rim had been carved in half by the brakes, sending him into the outside wall. Busch lost the brakes in the incident, and the crew performed repairs on pit road. The only problem is, like Briscoe, he had to serve a two-lap penalty for the loose wheel, and the team performing repairs meant he had to re-enter pit road and serve the two-lap penalty once more. Busch returned to the track on Lap 117, already three laps down, and the crew decided to have him go to the garage. He took last on Lap 119, moments before he pulled into his stall in the Neon Garage. There, the crew replaced a control arm and repaired the brake system, having Busch pump the pedal. He finally returned to the track on Lap 148, where he stopped in his pit stall and served his two-lap penalty. This dropped him from 32 to 34 laps down, and he rejoined the race at the tail end of the field.
By this point, Van Gisbergen had cut down a second right-front tire on Lap 128, then during his stop incurred a penalty for too many crew members over the wall. When serving this penalty on Lap 135, he was then too fast entering Section 1 on pit road, forcing him back to the pits again. By then, the #88 was now eight laps down in 35th. Also joining them was Gilliland, whose #34 bounced off the wall exiting Turn 4 on Lap 147, then received repairs as Busch completed his two-lap penalty. Briscoe, now three laps down, had climbed to 34th. As for Busch, whose car’s right-rear skirt had torn away in the crash, making the car loose, he managed to clear minimum speed on Lap 155. He didn’t return to the garage for more repairs and remained in last place, 34 laps down.
Finally, on Lap 188, Ware was running by himself some distance ahead of the damaged cars of Gilliland and Busch. Heading into Turn 3, Ware’s right-rear tire blew, sending him spinning driver’s side first into the outside wall. The impact dislodged the right-front wheel from its suspension, causing further damage to the fender as the car slid to a stop on the apron. Ware climbed from his car without serious injury, and Gilliland got his lap back. Ware’s car was then dragged backwards into the first garage entrance on pit road, done for the afternoon. “Yeah, Billy, it's smoked,” said someone on the crew. “Left-front has become unhinged.” Ware’s onboard camera was shut off on Lap 194, and Busch dropped Ware to last on Lap 222.
Finishing 35th was Blaney, who misjudged how many cars were to his right on Lap 195 and pinched both Noah Gragson’s #4 Beef a Roo Ford and Bubba Wallace’s #23 U.S. Air Force Toyota into the wall, triggering a multi-car accident. Both Gragson and Wallace had strong runs up to that point – Wallace taking 4th in both stages and Gragson working his way into the Top Ten. After wrecking in practice, Blaney’s repaired car slammed the outside wall, sending him behind the wall and out of the race. Busch managed to climb to 33rd by the finish, passing Van Gisbergen, who suffered still another flat right-front tire and pulled behind the wall after 195 laps. Austin Dillon, his #3 Dow Mobility Science Chevrolet involved in the Blaney accident, managed to return to the track before Busch could pass him and came home eight laps ahead of his teammate in 32nd. Neither could quite catch Gragson, whose damaged car was eliminated after the right-front tire exploded on Lap 243, drawing the final caution of the day.
A trio of underdogs sweep the podium in Vegas
Taking the checkered flag on Sunday was Josh Berry, who scored his first Cup Series victory in only his 53rd series start and his fifth-ever for the Wood Brothers. Berry is now the fifth consecutive driver to win his first race for the Wood Brothers dating back to 2001, and now seeks to break the streak of this being his only victory for the team. Berry prevailed in a tight battle with Daniel Suarez, who after crashing in the last three races finished a season-best 2nd in his #99 Freeway Insurance Chevrolet. Completing the podium was the #60 Consumer Cellular Ford of Ryan Preece, who tied his career-best 3rd-place finish earned at Talladega back on April 28, 2019.
LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the first Cup Series last-place finish for both Cody Ware and the #51 at Las Vegas.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
36) #51-Cody Ware / 186 laps / crash
35) #12-Ryan Blaney / 194 laps / crash
34) #88-Shane Van Gisbergen / 195 laps / crash
33) #8-Kyle Busch / 232 laps / running / led 3 laps
32) #3-Austin Dillon / 240 laps / running
2025 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) 23XI Racing, Kaulig Racing, RFK Racing, Rick Ware Racing, Trackhouse Racing (1)
2025 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet, Ford (2)
2nd) Toyota (1)
2025 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
