PREVIEW: At Martinsville, Truck Series newcomers seek their fortune while Casey Mears reappears in Cup
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
IMAGE: Garage 66 & MBM Motorsports, @MBMMotorsports
Friday, March 28, 2025 (Green Flag 7:50 P.M. ET, FS1)
TRUCKS Race 5 of 25
The Boys & Girls Club of the Blue Ridge 200 at Martinsville
2024 Last-Place Finisher: Blake Lothian
ENTRY LIST
There are 35 drivers entered for 36 spots, meaning all will qualify for the fourth straight short field in five races this season.
DRIVER CHANGE: #1-TRICON Garage
Lawless Alan makes his first Truck Series start of the season, his first in the series since a 30th-place showing for the Reaume team last fall in Phoenix, where he also finished 4th in his most recent ARCA start this spring. This time, he teams up with TRICON Garage in the “all-star” #1, taking the place of 12th-place Homestead finisher Brandon Jones.
DRIVER CHANGE: #2-Reaume Brothers Racing
Martinsville will once again see multiple drivers attempt their NASCAR national series debuts. Among these is ARCA regular Cody Dennison, who finished a season-best 16th at Phoenix this spring. After driving for Andy Hillenburg at Fast Track Racing, Dennison takes the place of Stephen Mallozzi in the Reaume #2. This ends Mallozzi’s streak of back-to-back last-place finishes, but the #2 team enters this race with three in a row.
RETURNING: #6-Norm Benning Racing
Norm Benning returns to action for the first time since Daytona, where a 16th-place finish left him wanting more out of the night. The short field secures Benning his 18th career Truck Series tart at Martinsville, and only his second since 2020. Last fall, brake issues forced him out of the race after just 17 laps.
MISSING: #20-Young’s Motorsports
Not among this week’s entrants is Stefan Parsons, who finished a solid 18th last week in Homestead.
DRIVER CHANGE: #22-Reaume Brothers Racing
As with teammate Cody Dennison in the #2, the Reaume #22 had “TBA” in the driver’s column at first publication. Taking the place of 30th-place Homestead finisher Keith McGee is Alan Waller, who seeks his NASCAR national series debut.
DRIVER CHANGE: #44-Niece Motorsports
Matthew Gould returns for only his third series start, following a 33rd-place finish in his series debut last summer at Milwaukee, then a 27th at this Martinsville track last fall. He again drives the Niece #44, taking the place of 6th-place Homestead finisher Ross Chastain.
MISSING: #63-Akinori Performance
Akinori Ogata is not among this week’s entrants after his new team came home 32nd in its debut at Homestead.
DRIVER CHANGE: #66-ThorSport Racing
Third-generation racer Luke Baldwin, the 18-year-old who won last year’s SMART Modified Tour championship, continues the legacy of his father, former Cup Series team owner and crew chief Tommy Baldwin, Jr., and grandfather Tom Baldwin, himself a star in the modified ranks. Baldwin takes the place of Luke Fenhaus, who finished 20th in this ThorSport entry at Homestead. Mohawk continues its sponsorship of the Baldwin family tonight.
DRIVER CHANGE: #67-Freedom Racing Enterprises
After Michel Disdier’s multi-colored truck came home 31st in Homestead, Spencer Boyd is fielding his second entry once again. This time, the driver is Ryan Roulette, who this past February finished an impressive 9th driving for Michael Maples in ARCA’s Daytona opener. This marks the North Dakota native’s first NASCAR start. The Veterans of Foreign Wars sponsor the #67.
RETURNING: #84-Cook Racing Technologies
Bruce Cook’s team returns to the Truck Series field for the first time since the 2023 opener at Daytona, where Clay Greenfield finished in 34th. This time, the driver is Patrick Staropoli, who will pull double-duty with Saturday’s XFINITY Series race and Sam Hunt Racing’s #24 (see below). Staropoli will make only his second series start – his first since November 18, 2016, when he finished 31st for SS-Green Light Racing. SYFOVRE is the listed sponsor for the #84 Toyota.
RETURNING: #90-Terry Carroll Motorsports
Justin S. Carroll returns to action for the first time since his 28th-place finish due to engine issues in Atlanta was followed by a cancelled Las Vegas run due to transporter issues compounded by bad weather. Carroll made both Truck Series races at Martinsville last year, taking 32nd in the spring and a track-best 25th last fall.
DRIVER CHANGE: #07-Spire Motorsports
After last Friday’s race, where Kyle Larson rebounded from a spin to take the win at Homestead, his Hendrick teammate William Byron – not only a two-time Daytona 500 winner, but a past winner of a Cup race at Martinsville – will this week take the wheel of the HendrickCars.com Chevrolet.
CUP INVADER: #07-William Byron
Saturday, March 29, 2025 (Green Flag 5:10 P.M. ET, CW)
XFINITY Race 7 of 33
Marine Corps 250 at Martinsville
2024 Last-Place Finisher: Akinori Ogata
ENTRY LIST
There are 40 drivers entered for 38 spots in Saturday’s race, so two teams will fail to qualify.
DRIVER CHANGE: #17-Hendrick Motorsports
Pulling double-duty with Friday’s Truck Series race is Corey Day, who takes the place of 4th-place Homestead finisher Kyle Larson. This will be Day’s XFINITY Series debut after six Truck Series starts coming into tonight with a best finish of 15th last time out at Homestead.
DRIVER CHANGE: #19-Joe Gibbs Racing
Meanwhile in JGR’s “all-star” #19 entry, Phoenix winner Aric Almirola returns to the driver’s seat in place of 16th-place Homestead finisher Justin Bonsignore. Almirola swept both wins at Martinsville last year and seeks his third in a row.
DRIVER CHANGE: #24-Sam Hunt Racing
Patrick Staropoli’s double-duty weekend concludes as he takes the place of 37th-place Homestead finisher Corey Heim, who was plagued by electrical issues in both Trucks and XFINITY last week. This will be Staropoli’s XFINITY Series debut.
DRIVER CHANGE: #35-Joey Gase Motorsports with Scott Osteen
Greg Van Alst rejoins the Gase team for the fourth time this year, his first XFINITY race since a 35th-place showing in Las Vegas. Gase drove in his place at Homestead, taking home 29th. Van Alst finished 26th in his first XFINITY start at Martinsville last fall, when he drove for SS-Green Light Racing.
RETURNING: #66-MBM Motorsports
Tyler Tomassi makes his XFINITY Series debut in the first series start of the year for Carl Long’s team. Tomassi made his first two Truck Series starts last fall, finishing 31st at IRP and 34th at Bristol. Tomassi carries sponsorship from FNF Family of Companies on his #66 Ford.
DRIVER CHANGE: #70-Cope Family Racing
Thomas Annunziata swaps back into the Cope #70 entry, looking for a fresh start after a DNQ in COTA and early mechanical issues at Phoenix that left him 34th. He takes the place of Leland Honeyman, Jr., who at Homestead took 7th in Stage 1 before mid-race issues left him 34th.
DRIVER CHANGE: #07-SS-Green Light Racing
Carson Ware seeks his second series start of the season, his first since a 32nd-place finish at Atlanta driving for Mike Harmon Racing. As Dawson Cram runs the #74 with Realty.com continuing as sponsor, Ware takes the place of 33rd-place Homestead finisher Patrick Emerling. Costa Oil, which continues to sponsor Ryan Ellis, has extended its backing to Ware’s ride this weekend.
Sunday, March 30, 2025 (Green Flag 3:11 P.M. ET, FS1)
CUP Race 7 of 36
Cook Out 400 at Martinsville
2024 Last-Place Finisher: David Starr
ENTRY LIST
There are 38 drivers entered for 40 spots, marking the sixth short field in seven races this season.
MISSING: #44-NY Racing Team
J.J. Yeley is not among this week’s entrants after he finished 35th at Homestead.
RETURNING: #50-Team AmeriVet
We last saw Burt Myers take his battle with Tim Brown into the Last Chance Qualifier at the Clash in Bowman Gray. Myers wrecked that night after he lost control entering Turn 1 – an incident that was at first blamed on Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. The AmeriVet team returns for the first time since, this time putting Myers into his first Cup points-paying race.
RETURNING: #66-Garage 66
Welcome back Casey Mears, who will make his 490th career Cup start – his first since a crash midway through the 2019 Daytona 500 left him in last place. This time, he drives Carl Long’s Cup car in his first-ever start in a NextGen car. Mears was supposed to be sponsored by goHitchGo, but that deal fell through. Taking their place is both Canter Power Systems and Coble Enterprises with the already scheduled associate backing from Acrisure and Mosby’s Towing & Transport.
TODAY IN LASTCAR HISTORY (March 28, 1992): Tim Fedewa picked up the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR Busch Grand National Series career in the Mark III Vans 200 at Darlington when his #55 D-R Racing Ford lost the engine after 12 laps. The finish came in Fedewa’s series debut, his first of 333 series starts through the year 2005.
