PREVIEW: Entry lists for Phoenix championship weekend show surprising depth
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
IMAGE: Team AmeriVet, @TeamAmeriVet
Friday, November 8, 2024 (8:00 P.M. ET, FS1)
TRUCKS Race 23 of 23
Championship Race
Craftsman Truck Series Championship at Phoenix
2023 Last-Place Finisher: Chris Hacker
CHAMPIONSHIP FOUR
#9-Grant Enfinger
#11-Corey Heim
#19-Christian Eckes
#98-Ty Majeski
LASTCAR CHAMPIONSHIP
Mason Massey remains the only two-time last-place finisher in the 2024 season. Although Massey is not entered in tonight’s race, he will win the title unless Thad Moffitt, Spencer Boyd, Bayley Currey, Matt Mills, or Conner Jones finishes last in the Phoenix finale. Justin S. Carroll could also have taken the title with a last-place finish, but isn’t entered in the race and is thus eliminated. Also eliminated is Marco Andretti, who even with a last-place finish in this race would lose a bottom-fifteen tiebreaker of 13-6, and has since been swapped out of the #04 (see below).
ENTRY LIST
There are 35 drivers entered for 36 spots, meaning all will qualify.
MISSING: #6-Norm Benning Racing
Norm Benning is not making the trip to Phoenix this week following a last-place finish in Martinsville due to brake issues. He’s already looking ahead to Daytona next February, when he’ll be driving the former Henderson Motorsports entry he raced in Talladega.
DRIVER CHANGE: #7-Spire Motorsports
Connor Mosack takes the place of 12th-place Martinsville finisher Connor Zilisch, who will instead run tomorrow’s XFINITY Series race (see below). Mosack returns to the series for the first time since his career-best 3rd-place showing in Homestead, his first top-five finish in ten series starts.
MISSING: #16-Hattori Racing Enterprises
The Hattori team will not be running this weekend following Landen Lewis’ 35th-place finish in Martinsville.
DRIVER CHANGE: #22-Reaume Brothers Racing
Keith McGee returns for the first time since Talladega, when he finished 26th as the last-minute substitute for Bryan Dauzat at FDNY Racing. He once again drives for the Reaume team which failed to qualify before that driver swap, again sponsored by Nugget Trap. He takes the place of Clayton Green, who finished 24th in Martinsville.
RETURNING / DRIVER CHANGE: #27-Reaume Brothers Racing
Preparing for his first full-time effort in the Truck Series in 2025, Frankie Muniz races at his home track. This time, he drives the Reaume team’s part-time #27 entry which withdrew with Josh Reaume himself the listed driver last week at Martinsville and hasn’t raced since Stephen Mallozzi’s 35th-place run in Pocono.
DRIVER CHANGE: #44-Niece Motorsports
Stefan Parsons returns to the site of his second series start in 2018, this time in Al Niece’s part-time #44 entry with Parsons’ popsells.com sponsorship, last run when he finished 8th in Talladega for Henderson Motorsports. Parsons takes the place of Matthew Gould, whose own second series start last week in Martinsville yielded a 27th-place finish.
RETURNING: #46-Young’s Motorsports
Making a surprising return to the series is Thad Moffitt, who we haven’t seen run a Truck Series race since he last drove for this Young’s team at Milwaukee on August 25th. After Tyler Tomassi and Justin Mondeik traded rides in the truck, most recently in Homestead, Moffitt is back with Pristine Auction as sponsor, and is again in contention for the LASTCAR title.
DRIVER CHANGE: #66-ThorSport Racing
Also returning is Conner Jones, back from his one-race suspension for his wrecking of Matt Mills at Homestead. Last Friday, the #66 came home 22nd in the hands of Johnny Sauter, who came over from the Hattori team in an unexpected reunion with the ThorSport team. Jones finished 34th in this race last year.
MISSING: #81-McAnally Hilgemann Racing
Corey Day is not entered this week after his 18th-place showing in Martinsville in this part-time MHR truck.
MISSING: #90-Terry Carroll Motorsports
Also not entered is Justin S. Carroll, who finished 25th in Martinsville for his family’s team.
DRIVER CHANGE: #02-Young’s Motorsports
Another Phoenix area native joins the action tonight as Nathan Byrd brings Sonesta as sponsor to the Young’s #02, taking the place of 34th-place Martinsville finisher Dylan Lupton. Byrd makes his third series start and first since Homestead, where he finished 29th.
RETURNING: #04-Roper Racing
Marco Andretti had been the listed driver to attempt tonight’s race for the Roper team, but by Wednesday, that changed to Andres Perez, who makes his second series start. Perez impressed in his series debut earlier this year at Gateway, where he finished 9th for Spire Motorsports. Andretti made the most recent start in the #04 at Homestead, taking 30th.
CUP INVADERS: None
Saturday, November 9, 2024 (6:00 P.M. ET, USA)
XFINITY Race 33 of 33
Championship Race
XFINITY Series Championship at Phoenix
2023 Last-Place Finisher: Kyle Sieg
CHAMPIONSHIP FOUR
#7-Justin Allgaier
#16-A.J. Allmendinger
#21-Austin Hill
#00-Cole Custer
LASTCAR CHAMPIONSHIP
Sam Mayer leads the LASTCAR XFINITY Series Championship standings, but only by a single bottom-five finish over Dawson Cram. This means Mayer can take the title with a bottom-five finish, so long as Matt DiBenedetto, Patrick Emerling, or Riley Herbst doesn’t finish last. If Mayer finishes in the Bottom Ten and Cram finishes in the Bottom Five, and the other contenders don’t finish in last, Cram will win the bottom-fifteen tiebreaker, 19-13. DiBenedetto, Emerling, and Herbst can only take the title with a last-place finish. Kyle Weatherman and Akinori Ogata were also in contention, but are eliminated as neither are entered.
ENTRY LIST
There are 38 drivers entered for 38 spots, so all will qualify.
RETURNING: #10-Kaulig Racing
Daniel Dye pulls double-duty this weekend for his first XFINITY start since his solid 12th-place performance in Las Vegas. Champion Container, one of Dye’s sponsors from the Truck Series, closes out his ten-race deal with Kaulig for 2024.
DRIVER CHANGE: #26-Sam Hunt Racing
The last time Jeffrey Earnhardt ran a XFINITY Series race was under the lights at Bristol, where he qualified an impressive 6th, only to be eliminated in a crash that left him a disappointing 35th. Earnhardt returns for his sixth series start of the year, taking the place of 31st-place Martinsville finisher Bubba Pollard.
DRIVER CHANGE: #35-Joey Gase Motorsports
Last Saturday, the Gase team fought all evening to get Carson Ware’s car on track, ultimately completing just enough laps to claw their way from last to 37th. This week, team owner Gase takes the wheel as he continues to promote his support for organ donation through Donate Life.
DRIVER CHANGE: #45-Alpha Prime Racing
Like Dye, Stefan Parsons will run double-duty, taking the place of 32nd-place Martinsville finisher Garrett Smithley in the Alpha Prime #45. Parsons carries sponsorship from Prime Bites Mini Muffins, another product from team co-owner Caesar Bacarella’s line of products. Smithley moves to Joey Gase’s second car, the #53, taking the place of 22nd-place Martinsville finisher Mason Maggio. The driver of the #53 was listed as “TBA” until midweek.
MISSING: #50-Pardus Racing
Preston Pardus will not make the trip to Phoenix after a 24th-place showing in a rare oval track start in Martinsville.
MISSING: #74-Mike Harmon Racing
Also not attempting tomorrow’s race is the Harmon team, which last week finished 34th after Logan Bearden had mid-race brake trouble. The team was this race’s sole DNQ last year after Brad Perez’ wreck in qualifying.
RETURNING: #88-JR Motorsports
Connor Zilisch’s aforementioned return to the XFINITY Series sees him carry sponsorship from Jarrett 25 Years on the part-time JRM car. Zilisch last ran in this series at Homestead, taking 12th.
DRIVER CHANGE: #91-DGM Racing
Rita’s Ice is the listed sponsor for Josh Bilicki, who returns to the series for the first time since his 8th-place showing for JGR on the Charlotte “Roval.” He takes the place of Myatt Snider, the 10th-place finisher in Martinsville, driving Mario Gosselin’s #91 Chevrolet.
CUP INVADERS: None
Sunday, November 10, 2024 (3:00 P.M. ET, NBC)
CUP Race 36 of 36
Championship Race
Cup Series Championship at Phoenix
2023 Last-Place Finisher: Christopher Bell
CHAMPIONSHIP FOUR
#12-Ryan Blaney
#22-Joey Logano
#24-William Byron
#45-Tyler Reddick
LASTCAR CHAMPIONSHIP
Ryan Blaney, also a member of the Championship Four, also leads the LASTCAR Cup Series standings, and is in position to become the first driver to win both a NASCAR and LASTCAR title in the same year. The scenario is straightforward – if Josh Berry or J.J. Yeley don’t finish last on Sunday, Blaney is champion.
ENTRY LIST
Thanks to a late entry, there are 40 drivers for as many spots for just the sixth time in 36 races, and the first time since Talladega, five races ago.
DRIVER CHANGE: #16-Kaulig Racing
Derek Kraus returns to the Cup Series for the first time since Gateway, when he finished 30th in this same Kaulig entry, and makes his second Phoenix start in the series after a 35th-place run due to a late-race crash in the spring. This time, he takes the place of Shane van Gisbergen, who finished 12th in Martinsville.
PAINT SCHEME: #19-Joe Gibbs Racing
For the final race of Martin Truex, Jr.’s full-time career, he runs a throwback to his first Cup ride at Atlanta on October 31, 2004, when he finished 37th in a field of 43 – and Kyle Busch scored his first last-place finish. As Busch faces the possibility of his first winless Cup season since 2005, Truex also looks to end this phase of his career on a high note.
RETURNING: #44-NY Racing Team
J.J. Yeley and the Johnathan Cohen team return for the first time since their late-race crash in Homestead left them in last place – and within striking distance of Ryan Blaney for the 2024 LASTCAR title.
RETURNING: #50-Team AmeriVet
A late entry that brought this list from 39 to 40 cars is that of double-duty competitor Jeb Burton, who heralds the return of Team AmeriVet since the reorganized former “The Money Team Racing” reappeared in the Coca-Cola 600 with Ty Dillon driving to a 36th-place finish. This time, Luxedo is the sponsor for Burton’s first Cup start since April 13, 2019, when he finished 31st at Richmond for Rick Ware, making these his first laps in the NextGen car.
DRIVER CHANGE: #66-Motorsports Business Management
Chad Finchum takes the place of last-place Martinsville finisher Josh Bilicki, and this time the car is entirely backed by 2ONE Pouches without Coble Enterprises’ logo on the hood. This will be just the ninth Cup start of Finchum’s career and his third of the year, his most since 2020. He last raced at Homestead, taking 37th.
RETURNING: #84-Legacy Motor Club
Jimmie Johnson will close out what has been another frustrating part-time effort in the NextGen car, returning to the championship race at Phoenix for the first time since his last start for Hendrick Motorsports in 2020. Carvana rejoins him as sponsor for his 698th series start and first since a 28th-place showing in Las Vegas.
TODAY IN LASTCAR HISTORY (November 8, 1970): Larry Baumel picked up the 2nd last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career in the Georgia 500 at the Middle Georgia Raceway when his #68 Auto Lad 1969 Ford lost the engine after 4 laps. Baumel, a river from Wisconsin, made 45 Cup Series starts driving for owner Allan Schlauer with a best finish of 9th in that fall’s race at Dover.
