PREVIEW: New and returning teams add extra intrigue to stacked Charlotte weekend
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
PHOTO: Willy Auchmoody, @willyauch16
Saturday, May 24, 2024 (8:30 P.M. ET, FS1)
TRUCKS Race 11 of 23
North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Charlotte
2023 Last-Place Finisher: Keith McGee
ENTRY LIST
There are 38 drivers entered for 36 spots, meaning two will fail to qualify.
DRIVER CHANGE: #1-TRICON Garage
After last Saturday’s Truck Series race in North Wilkesboro saw Brenden “Butterbean” Queen steal the show with an impressive charge from 26th on the grid to finish 4th, Brett Moffitt returns to the #1 entry at TRICON for his 95th career Truck Series start, his first since a 5th-place run of his own earlier this month in Kansas. Destiny Homes is the listed sponsor.
DRIVER CHANGE: #7-Spire Motorsports
Connor Mosack seeks his fifth series start and first of his own since Kansas, where he qualified a career-best 5th and finished 30th. Taking the place of Sammy Smith, who rebounded from a changing lanes penalty on the start to finish 5th, Mosack seeks his to improve on his own series-best finish of 19th earlier this year at Las Vegas.
RETURNING: #10-Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing
Jennifer Jo Cobb is still another driver back in action for the first time since Kansas, seeking her 10th series start at Charlotte. Cobb last started this race in 2021, when she finished 30th. Her track-best finish of 16th took place in 2014.
MISSING: #14-Trey Hutchens Racing
After a combination of transmission and shock issues left him in last place at North Wilkesboro, Trey Hutchens is not entered this week.
MISSING: #16-Hattori Racing Enterprises
Also missing the race is the Hattori team, which was washed out of their first attempt of 2024 with Aric Almirola as the listed driver. As it happens, Almirola has also been pulled from this week’s XFINITY Series race (see below).
RETURNING: #20-Young’s Motorsports
Memphis Villareal is back in the Truck Series for the first time since the first-lap accident at Texas which left him in 33rd place. He again drives for the part-time Young’s Motorsports entry, and carries returning sponsor Laredo Trailer Supply.
RETURNING: #21-Floridian Motorsports
NEW TEAM: #67-Motorsports Business Management
Welcome back to the Floridian team, which was last entered in Bristol, where Mason Maggio finished 29th, six laps down. Maggio will again run the #21, this time sponsored by US Off Market Real Estate Deals. While Carl Long at Motorsports Business Management was part of the Floridian effort earlier this year, MBM will this week field their own truck – the #67 Toyota – driven by Jeffrey Earnhardt with sponsorship from Forgotten Coast K9. Long hasn’t entered a truck since Derek White’s 27th-plae finish at Homestead on November 14, 2014. The #67 hasn’t started a Truck Series race since November 4, 2005, when Steve Park finished 16th in Texas.
DRIVER CHANGE: #22-Reaume Brothers Racing
Last year at this race, Keith McGee was preparing to step away from NASCAR and return home to Alaska. He’s since made another seven series attempts and five starts, most recently a 28th-place finish in Texas. He this week takes the place of Josh Reaume, who ran 33rd last week in North Wilkesboro.
MISSING: #26-Rackley-W.A.R.
The Rackley team has not entered their second truck following Dawson Sutton’s 28th-place run in North Wilkesboro, his series debut.
DRIVER CHANGE: #45-Niece Motorsports
Kaden Honeycutt returns to the Truck Series for the first time since his career-best 4th-place performance in Kansas, and works with the same Al Niece team. He takes the place of Cup regular Ross Chastain, who finished 15th in North Wilkesboro. Saturday will mark Honeycutt’s 25th series start.
NEW TEAM / WITHDREW: #53-Gator Mountaineer Racing
Much like at Daytona, Ryan Huff slips into the Truck Series entry list at the eleventh hour, this time running a new #53 entry instead of his family’s #36. Huff failed to qualify for the season opener. UPDATE: This team has reportedly withdrawn.
MISSING: #90-Terry Carroll Motorsports
Justin S. Carroll is not entered after he withdrew before the race at North Wilkesboro.
MISSING: #04-Roper Racing
The Roper team has also not made the trip to Charlotte following Clayton Green’s 34th-placce finish in North Wilkesboro.
CUP INVADERS: None
Saturday, May 25, 2024 (1:00 P.M. ET, FS1)
XFINITY Race 12 of 33
BetMGM 300 at Charlotte
2023 Last-Place Finisher: Parker Kligerman
ENTRY LIST
There are 40 drivers entered for 38 spots, meaning two will fail to qualify.
DRIVER CHANGE: #14-SS-Green Light Racing
J.J. Yeley will make his 390th series start on Saturday and his fifth of the season, his first since early contact from Dawson Cram led to a crash that put him in last place. That came driving for Joey Gase’s team, whereas this week he reunites with Bobby Dotter’s for the first time since his season-best 19th in Phoenix. Yeley takes the place of David Starr, whose 24th-palce run in Darlington equaled his season-best from Talladega.
DRIVER CHANGE: #17-Hendrick Motorsports
Leading the four-driver onslaught of Cup Series invaders this Saturday is Chase Elliott, who takes the place of 11th-place Darlington finisher William Byron in the #17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet. Elliott’s most recent XFINITY race was last year at Pocono, where he finished 3rd.
DRIVER CHANGE: #20-Joe Gibbs Racing
Per a “team decision,” 5th-place Darlington finisher Aric Almirola was swapped out midweek and replaced by Ty Gibbs, who will pull double-duty with Sunday’s Cup race. Gibbs most recently made a XFINITY start at COTA, where he finished 24th after starting 3rd.
DRIVER CHANGE: #26-Sam Hunt Racing
Dean Thompson makes his XFINITY debut and will also run triple-duty with both ARCA and his full-time Truck entry. He takes the place of 23rd-place Darlington finisher John Hunter Nemechek in the #26 with MCM Transportation as sponsor.
NEW TEAM: #30-Rette Jones Racing
After 44 starts in ARCA and another seven in the Truck Series, Mark Rette fields a XFINITY Series entry for the first time, fielding the #30 Ford entry with Auto Parts Centres as sponsor. With no Owner Points to rely upon, this “go-or-go-home” entry will be driven by Cup regular Noah Gragson. This would be Gragson’s first XFINITY start since the 2022 championship race at Phoenix, when he last raced for JR Motorsports.
RETURNING: #33-Richard Childress Racing
Kyle Busch makes his first XFINITY Series start of the season and first in the division since last fall at Darlington, when he ran 9th for Kaulig Racing. This time Busch drives RCR’s #33 entry with sponsorship from BetMGM and Rebel Bourbon. Busch seeks his 10th XFINITY start at Charlotte and first since 2020. RCR’s #33 hasn’t started a XFINITY Series race since November 18, 2017, when Brandon Jones finished 14th.
DRIVER CHANGE: #35-Joey Gase Racing
Akinori Ogata seeks his ninth series start and second of the year, his first since brake issues left him in last place at Martinsville. The YKK App returns as sponsor for Ogata, who takes the place of 26th-place Darlington finisher Chad Finchum.
RETURNING: #74-Mike Harmon Racing
While the preliminary entry list showed “TBA” for the diver, Mike Harmon Racing had already announced that Jade Buford had joined the team, which plans to complete the rest of the 2024 season beginning with this weekend. Buford, whose last XFINITY start was last spring at Talladega, when he finished 36th, will carry sponsorship from Frog Alley Brewing Company. The team’s only two attempts this season saw the team fail to qualify with Stanton Barrett at Daytona and Ryan Vargas at Martinsville.
MISSING: #88-JR Motorsports
Carson Kvapil is not among this week’s entrants after he began his new part-time schedule in JRM’s #88 saw him finish 19th in Darlington. Kvapil’s next race will be in Loudon next month.
DRIVER CHANGE: #92-DGM Racing
Natalie Decker brings in another new sponsor in Bikini Zone for her 12th series start and first since a solid 18th-place finish in this year’s Daytona opener. Decker takes the place of Josh Bilicki, the 22nd-place finisher in Darlington, who has since announced a part-time schedule in Joe Gibbs Racing’s #19 beginning later this season.
CUP INVADERS: #17-Chase Elliott, #20-Ty Gibbs, #30-Noah Gragson, #33-Kyle Busch
Sunday, May 26, 2024 (6:00 P.M. ET, FOX)
CUP Race 14 of 36
Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte
2023 Last-Place Finisher: Jimmie Johnson
ENTRY LIST
For only the second time all year and the first time since the Daytona 500, there will be 40 drivers entered for a full field, meaning all will qualify. Sunday will be the first Cup race with a 40-car starting grid – other than the Daytona 500 – since October 24, 2021 at Kansas.
TEAM UPDATE: #5-Hendrick Motorsports
Weather permitting, Kyle Larson will attempt to become the first Cup driver to complete “The Double” since Kurt Busch ten years ago, and runs a special paint scheme integrating McLaren’s “Papaya Orange” into his H1100 / HendrickCars.com paint scheme.
DRIVER CHANGE: #16-Kaulig Racing
Shane van Gisbergen will make his fifth series start and first since Talladega, when he finished in the 28th spot. WeatherTech returns to sponsor the #16 as he takes the place of Derek Kraus, the 29th-place finisher last time out in Darlington.
RETURNING: #44-NY Racing Team
This Sunday’s 40-car field is thanks to multiple single-car “open” teams joining the lineup. First of these is Jonathan Cohen’s #44 entry, which last took the green flag earlier this season at Las Vegas. Yeley finished 34th that day, and on Sunday will make his 380th series start. C&D Investments sponsors the #44 car’s hood while Chevrolet logos adorn the quarter-panels.
NEW TEAM: #50-Team AmeriVet
After branding their effort as The Money Team failed to attract consistent sponsorship, Floyd Mayweather is not part of this return of the #50 Chevrolet. With backing from AmeriVet Securities, the remaining partners from TMT rejoin for the first time since COTA last year, when Conor Daly finished 36th of 39 starters. This time, the driver is Ty Dillon (not TBA, as originally listed), who last time out in Teas finished a strong 16th with the Kaulig team. As of this writing, the #50 has no sponsorship on the quarter-panels.
RETURNING: #66-Motorsports Business Management
The latest addition to the Cup entry list is Carl Long’s team, which this week has joined forces with Live Fast Motorsports to put B.J. McLeod behind the wheel of the #66. McLeod will drive a car from the MBM shop, but with the Live Fast crew and equipment supporting the effort. Truan Equipment Rental, based in Knoxville, Tennessee, is the sponsor. David Starr had originally been listed as the driver, but was swapped out due to a scheduling conflict involving Starr’s driving school in Texas.
RETURNING: #84-Legacy Motor Club
Jimmie Johnson looks to rebound from both his last-place run in his most recent start at Kansas, and the Legacy Motor Club hopes to as well after a 2023 Coca-Cola 600 which saw all three of their cars in the garage for several laps. AdventHealth is again the listed sponsor of Johnson’s #84, returning to the site of the driver’s 600 wins in 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2014.
TODAY IN LASTCAR HISTORY (May 24, 1953): Virgil Livengood picked up the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career in a 200-lap race at the half-mile Powell Motor Speedway dirt track in Columbus, Ohio when his #66 1953 Oldsmobile lost the engine after 7 laps. This was the first Cup Series last-place finish for the #66, which leads the Cup Series among car numbers with 66 last-place finishes.
