by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief

Martin Truex, Jr. picked up the 11th last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career in Sunday’s Cook Out 400 at the Richmond Raceway when his #19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota lost the engine after 250 of 408 laps.

The finish, which came in Truex’s 680th series start, was his first of the season and first in a Cup Series race since September 10, 2023 at Kansas, 31 races ago (LINK). In the Cup Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 49th for the #19, the 191st for Toyota, and the 722nd from engine issues. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 86th for the #19, the 414th for Toyota, and the 1,144th from the engine.

This past June, after several rumors in recent years, Truex confirmed he would retire from full-time Cup Series competition at the end of this season. His #19 would be awarded to Chase Briscoe, one of the four drivers displaced by the impending closure of Stewart-Haas Racing. Entering the two-week Olympic break following the Brickyard 400, Truex remained the highest-ranked winless driver in the Playoff standings. But with 12 winners in the first 22 races, the possibility of being bumped – as he was in 2021 – remains. His 8th-place finish at Pocono was his only finish better than 24th since Nashville, and he hasn’t scored a Top Five since Kansas in May.

Truex looked like a favorite to end his winless drought on Sunday, particularly after a 4th-place run in the spring race at a track where he has three wins. He was 4th-fastest in practice, ranked 3rd in Qualifying Round 1B with a lap of 22.548 seconds (119.745mph), then jumped to outside-pole in Round 2 with a lap of 22.916 seconds (117.822mph), just 0.066 second short of teammate Denny Hamlin.

Securing the 37th and final starting spot was Parker Retzlaff, one of two full-time XFINITY Series competitors for Jordan Anderson Racing, who was making his Cup Series debut. Needing to run at least one smaller track before his upcoming start with Beard Motorsports in Daytona, Retzlaff picked up a ride with Motorsports Business Management, and carried sponsorship from XInsurance on the team’s #66 Ford. No teams incurred pre-race penalties, including Bubba Wallace, whose #23 Leidos Toyota had radio issues on pit road. Thus, Retzlaff – driving the only “open” entry in the field – remained by himself in the 19th and final row.

When the green flag dropped, Retzlaff crossed the stripe 3.125 seconds back of the lead and 0.111 behind 36th-place starter Justin Haley in the #51 Pinnacle Home Improvement Ford. By the end of Lap 1, he was now 0.326 second behind new 36th-place runner John Hunter Nemechek in the #42 Pye-Barker Fire & Safety Toyota and 4.054 back of the lead. Retzlaff closed to within 0.207 on Lap 3, then remained 0.294 behind on Lap 6, when the spot fell back to Haley. By Lap 9, Haley pulled alongside his teammate Riley Herbst in the #15 Monster Energy Zero Sugar Ford, the battle for 35th separated by just 0.013 second with Retzlaff another 0.481 back.

The gap continued to fluctuate between four and six-tenths of a second until Lap 20, when Daniel Hemric slipped to 36th in the #31 Cirkul Chevrolet. The next time by, Retzlaff pulled alongside Hemric, coming within five-thousandths of a second of taking the spot before Hemric pulled out another half-second advantage by Lap 23. While still staying in touch with the cars in front of him, Retzlaff was still losing time to the leader, 21.405 back on Lap 28, then 23.174 on Lap 36. On Lap 45, race leaders Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell were racing side-by-side for position when they caught Retzlaff and passed him to the right in Turns 1 and 2. By then, Retzlaff reported he was experiencing brake shake through the steering wheel, but the spotter said he didn’t notice any red glow from the brakes. He also couldn’t hear the spotter, who had to speak slowly to be heard. Carl Long suggested making a further adjustment on the brake bias before their next stop. By the end of Stage 1 on Lap 71, Retzlaff had dialed in four rounds on the rear brakes. This helped some of the shake, but he still felt the steering wheel pull out of his hands.

During the pit stops under caution, Ty Dillon briefly took over the spot in his #16 Chevy Accessories Chevrolet, but Dillon dropped Retzlaff to last again on the Lap 81 restart. By Lap 118, he was a second lap down, just before a round of green-flag stops began. With some teams trying the new softer “option” tire compound along with the regular “primary” tire, the spot changed hands once more. On Lap 123, Harrison Burton took the spot after pitting his #21 DEX Imaging Ford. “Right now, there’s only a handful on reds (options),” said Burton’s spotter. “So when we catch them, we need to go.” On Lap 132, Burton dropped Herbst to last place after the #15 pitted with teammate Haley. Ty Dillon pitted by Lap 149, when he took the spot, followed by Nemechek on Lap 153 and Retzlaff once more on Lap 156.

Just as Retzlaff reassumed the last spot, Corey LaJoie incurred a penalty for one of his crew members tossing equipment. This, combined with a bent toe link suffered while battling Michael McDowell for the “Lucky Dog” at the end of Stage 1, dropped him onto the same lap as Retzlaff when he served his penalty on Lap 161. Retzlaff remained in the spot through the end of Stage 2 on Lap 232. By then, he was four laps down, and still reporting a bad brake shake on corner entry. He also needed further adjustments as the car was tight on entry and loose on exit. Just moments after the race restarted on Lap 241, the last-place battle took its most surprising turn.

Up to this point, Martin Truex, Jr. had yet to lead, but entering the race’s second half was still on the lead lap in the 14th position. Just after the restart, Truex radioed his car was “blowing up,” then on Lap 250 slowed down the backstretch and dove onto pit road. The crew lifted the hood, where smoke poured from beneath the hood. By Lap 253, Truex’s crew pushed the car behind the wall, where members of both his and Denny Hamlin’s crew briefly looked under the hood. By Lap 257, when Truex had taken last place from Retzlaff, the crew pushed the car to the garage area. On Lap 293, NASCAR confirmed his #19 as the first car out of the race.

Truex remains the highest-ranked winless driver in the standings, but with Austin Dillon’s win now finds himself 14th, 78 markers above the bubble with three races to go until the Playoffs.

Retzlaff passed just one more car by the finish, climbing to 35th, six laps down. That car belonged to Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., who with just two laps to go in his #47 Kroger / General Mills Box Top Chevrolet collided with Ryan Preece’s #41 Mohawk Northeast Ford, sending Stenhouse hard into the outside wall. LaJoie and Herbst completed the Bottom Five.

Hocevar matches career-best finish

Carson Hocevar in the #77 Delaware Life Chevrolet tied his season-best 8th-place finish at Gateway with his first top-ten finish since that race. This is his third Top Ten of his first full Cup Series season.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*The only previous last-place finish for the #19 in a Cup Series race at Richmond came on April 27, 2013, when Mike Bliss’ #19 G-Oil Toyota, then fielded by Humphrey-Smith Motorsports, fell out after 17 laps due to brake issues.

*Truex is the first outside-polesitter to finish last in a Cup race at Richmond since September 11, 1993, when Ernie Irvan’s #28 Texaco / Havoline Ford lost the engine after 57 laps.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

37) #19-Martin Truex, Jr. / 250 laps / engine

36) #47-Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. / 397 laps / crash

35) #66-Parker Retzlaff / 402 laps / running

34) #7-Corey LaJoie / 404 laps / running

33) #15-Riley Herbst / 405 laps / running

2024 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Joe Gibbs Racing, Kaulig Racing, Motorsports Business Management, Spire Motorsports, Stewart-Haas Racing (3)

2nd) Penske Racing (2)

3rd) Hendrick Motorsports, Legacy Motor Club, RFK Racing, Richard Childress Racing, Rick Ware Racing (1)

2024 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Ford (10)

2nd) Chevrolet (8)

3rd) Toyota (4)

2024 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP