PREVIEW: Several interesting returns and partnerships further down the entry lists at Daytona and Milwaukee
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
IMAGE: Joey Gase Motorsports, @JoeyGaseRacing, @J_G_Motorsports
Friday, August 23, 2024 (7:30 P.M. ET, USA)
XFINITY Race 22 of 33
Wawa 250 Powered by Coca-Cola at Daytona
2023 Last-Place Finisher: Alex Guenette
ENTRY LIST
There are 38 drivers entered for 38 spots, so all entrants will qualify.
MISSING: #10-Kaulig Racing
Back at Richmond, Daniel Dye squeaked into this year’s Truck Series Playoffs with an 8th-place finish, his sixth top-ten finish of the year. With the Playoff opener coming this Sunday in Milwaukee, Dye will not run Friday’s XFINITY race for the Kaulig team with which he finished 34th in Michigan after he was caught up in a Turn 1 pileup.
DRIVER CHANGE: #14-SS-Green Light Racing
Welcome back C.J. McLaughlin, who hasn’t been entered in a XFINITY Series race since his DNQ for Viking Motorsports at Phoenix, and hasn’t started one since his season-best 33rd-place showing in Las Vegas, site of only his second start of the season. Carrying sponsorship from Main Street Auto, McLaughlin this time lands at SS-Green Light Racing, taking the place of 25th-place Michigan finisher Logan Bearden.
DRIVER CHANGE: #15-AM Racing
For the third time in as many races – and after TBA was listed under the name category – there’s another driver’s name atop the roof rail of the former Hailie Deegan entry. This time, it’s Gus Dean, this year’s Daytona ARCA 200 winner, who makes his first NASCAR national series start since February 12, 2021, when he finished 34th for Hill Motorsports in the Truck Series opener. This will be Dean’s first XFINITY Series start after 26 races in the Truck Series. He takes the place of current Truck Series full-timer Lawless Alan, who at Michigan finished 5th in Stage 1 and was battling amongst the leaders when he wrecked in Turn 1.
DRIVER CHANGE: #19-Joe Gibbs Racing
Making his 128th series start, and only his second of the year following a 17th-place finish at Indianapolis is Joe Graf, Jr. Graf has failed to finish six of his nine series starts at Daytona, including a season sweep of last place in 2020, when he drove for SS-Green Light Racing. This time, he drives the “all-star” JGR car at the track for the first time, and carries sponsorship from the upcoming Ronald Reagan biopic, starring Dennis Quaid. The same sponsor will adorn Ty Gibbs’ #54 Toyota in Saturday’s Cup race. Graf takes the place of Taylor Gray, who like Daniel Dye will instead focus on Sunday’s Playoff opener in the Truck Series. Gray finished 8th last week in Michigan.
DRIVER CHANGE: #20-Joe Gibbs Racing
Still another returning figure is Dover winner Ryan Truex, who takes the place of 3rd-place Michigan finisher John Hunter Nemechek in JGR’s #20 Toyota. Truex carries sponsorship from the Certified Collision Center, which backed his seventh and most recent series start in 2024 back at Pocono, where he finished 19th. This is his first start in Daytona’s summer XFINITY race since 2018, when he finished 13th for Kaulig Racing.
MISSING: #30-Rette Jones Racing
Noah Gragson is not among the entrants this week following his 6th-place showing in Michigan for the Rette effort.
RETURNING: #32-Jordan Anderson Racing
Jordan Anderson is back with legendary crew chief turned broadcaster Larry McReynolds atop the pit box to call the shots for his #32 Chevrolet, sponsored by new backer Volpi Foods. This will be Anderson’s fourth start of the year and 24th of his career, his first since a 31st-place showing at Talladega following a late-race crash. It also happens to be the first start for the #32 entry since the Chicago Street Race, where Austin Green and the Peterson Racing Group completed a successful three-race stint with a 10th-place finish.
DRIVER CHANGE: #35-Joey Gase Motorsports
DRIVER SWAP: #53-Joey Gase Motorsports
Joey Gase will again field two cars this week, but this time moves over to the #53 in place of ARCA competitor Morgen Baird, who wound up the lone DNQ last week in Michigan. This opens the #35 for a returning Akinori Ogata and his sponsorship from YKK. This would be the ninth series start for Ogata and just his second of the year, following a last-place finish in Martinsville after early brake issues. Gase, on the other hand, will pull double-duty with Saturday’s Cup Series race (see below).
RETURNING: #74-Mike Harmon Racing
As with the AM Racing #15, the #74 was show without a driver when the preliminary entry list was posted. The team’s social media seem to indicate the ride will go to Tim Viens, who has not started a XFINITY Series race since his fourth and most recent start in this same race in 2021. That night, Viens also drove Harmon’s #74 and came home on the lead lap in 29th.
MISSING: #88-JR Motorsports
Carson Kvapil will not be among this weekend’s entrants following his 26th-place finish at Michigan following his last-lap spin on the backstretch after leading 25 of the 128 laps.
CUP INVADERS: None
Saturday, August 24, 2024 (7:30 P.M. ET, NBC)
CUP Race 25 of 36
Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona
2023 Last-Place Finisher: Brennan Poole
ENTRY LIST
For only the fourth time this year and the first time since the Chicago Street race, five races ago, there will be a “full” field of 40 entries for as many spots in Saturday’s Cup race.
TEAM UPDATE: #3-Richard Childress Racing
This week, the National Motorsports Appeals Panel upheld nearly all of Austin Dillon’s penalties stemming from his win in Richmond, including his revoked place in the Playoffs. The lone adjustment was the penalty to spotter Brandon Benesch, which was reduced to one race, allowing Benesch to return to the scoring stand this Saturday. On Monday, RCR will appeal the remaining penalties to the National Motorsports Final Appeals Officer.
TEAM UPDATE: #11-Joe Gibbs Racing
Another catastrophic penalty was revealed late Wednesday after Toyota Racing Development mistakenly disassembled and rebuilt Denny Hamlin’s race-winning engine from Bristol this past spring, violating NASCAR’s engine seal requirements. In addition to crew chief Chris Habehart’s $100,000 fine, Hamlin and team are docked 75 driver and owner points, plus 10 playoff points.
DRIVER CHANGE: #16-Kaulig Racing
Shane van Gisbergen returns to the Cup Series for the first time since his disappointing last-place finish at the Chicago Street Course, once again taking the place of 30th-place Michigan finisher A.J. Allmendinger in the #16 Chevrolet. Carrying sponsorship from Safety Culture, van Gisbergen is the first of four drivers pulling double-duty with Friday’s XFINITY Series race. It will also be van Gisbergen’s first Cup start on the Daytona track, where he finished a solid 12th in February’s XFINITY opener.
RETURNING: #33-Richard Childress Racing
Next among the double-duty entrants is superspeedway standout Austin Hill, who brings sponsor United Rentals back to RCR’s part-time #33 entry. This will be Hill’s 10th series start and the first for the #33 since Indianapolis, where Ty Dillon finished 19th.
RETURNING: #44-NY Racing Team
The aforementioned Joey Gase has teamed up with Johnathan Cohen at the NY Racing Team, piloting a neon striped #44 Chevrolet sponsored by the National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA). This will be Gase’s 91st Cup Series start and first since the 2021 season finale at Phoenix, where he secured the LASTCAR Cup Series Championship with a 29th-place finish for Rick Ware Racing. This means these will be Gase’s first laps in NASCAR’s NextGen car.
RETURNING: #62-Beard Motorsports
Another intriguing double-duty effort involves Parker Retzlaff, cleared to make his Cup superspeedway debut after his 35th-place Cup debut for Motorsports Business Management earlier this month at Richmond. This time, Retzlaff will drive for Beard Motorsports, bringing his XFINITY sponsor Funkaway on board. Retzlaff finished a strong 3rd in this year’s XFINITY opener with Jordan Anderson Racing.
RETURNING: #78-Live Fast Motorsports
One to watch will be the fourth “open” entry of B.J. McLeod, who electrified the crowd at Daytona during his race-long battle in the Gatorade Duels, then again at Talladega, where he charged to the lead and paced the field for five laps. This time around, McLeod has a sponsor in Power Slap, and will pilot the Live Fast #78 entry for the first time since that Talladega race.
Sunday, August 25, 2024 (4:00 P.M. ET, FS1)
TRUCKS Race 17 of 23
Round of 10: Race 1 of 3
LiUNA! 175 at the Milwaukee Mile
2023 Last-Place Finisher: Josh Bilicki
ENTRY LIST
The Truck Series begins their Playoffs at the Milwaukee Mile with 37 drivers entered for 36 spots, meaning one will fail to qualify.
RETURNING: #6-Norm Benning Racing
Welcome back Norm Benning, who returns to the Truck Series for the first time since his DNQ at Pocono last year. He immediately faces a challenge in qualifying as the lone “go-or-go-homer,” piloting his own #6 Chevrolet with MDIA as sponsor. As he continues to prepare to drive a Charlie Henderson truck in the upcoming race at Talladega, Benning seeks his second Milwaukee start. His only other start came in the June 20, 2009 event that was the series’ last stop there until just last year.
DRIVER CHANGE: #7-Spire Motorsports
One XFINITY Series driver who is planning on making the trip north to Milwaukee is JR Motorsports’ Sammy Smith, who will take the place of Connor Zilisch, whose late race crash left him 29th in Richmond. Carrying sponsorship from Golden Harvest, Smith seeks his fifth series start and fourth of the year, following three finishes of no worse than 8th on the short tracks in Martinsville, North Wilkesboro, and IRP.
MISSING: #14-Trey Hutchens Racing
Trey Hutchens will not be among the entrants at Milwaukee after his was the lone DNQ at Richmond.
MISSING: #20-Young’s Motorsports
Also missing is Richmond last-place finisher Jerry Bohlman, who struggled to maintain pace in that event after his team’s Owner Points secured him his series debut.
DRIVER CHANGES: #21-Floridian Motorsports
DRIVER SWAP: #22-Reaume Brothers Racing
Blake Lothian was originally set to seek his fourth series start and second of the season, his first since piloting Randy Young’s #20 to a 34th-place finish in Martinsville. This time, he moved to Floridian Motorsports with continued support from Carl Long. But due to sponsorship issues on Wednesday, Lothian is out of the #21, making way for the first NASCAR attempt for Jayson Alexander. The 21-year-old member of the North Carolina Army National Guard has three ARCA Menards Series starts with Andy Hillenburg. This includes a career-best 13th just last week in Michigan, where he overcame both a loose oil line in practice and 2nd degree burns from a faulty helmet hose. Alexander takes the place of 28th-place Richmond finisher Mason Maggio, who slides over to the Reaume Brothers’ #22 entry in place of 34th-place Richmond runner Keith McGee. Maggio seeks his first series starts at Milwaukee.
MISSING: #27-Reaume Brothers Racing
The Reaume team will not field their part-time #27 entry this week after it was withdrawn at Richmond with no driver listed.
RETURNING: #44-Niece Motorsports
Matthew Gould, son of longtime Niece Motorsports crew chief Phil Gould, will attempt his Truck Series debut in Niece’s returning part-time #44 Chevrolet. The 18-year-old Gould made his ARCA Menards Series debut at this same Milwaukee track two years ago, where he finished a strong 10th in Niece equipment. He’s also a regular competitor in late models, logging laps and earning wins at Hickory Motor Speedway.
MISSING: #75-Henderson Motorsports
Stefan Parsons and the Charlie Henderson team have not entered this week’s race following a strong 11th-place showing in Richmond. Parsons also did not compete in this race last year.
DRIVER CHANGE: #91-McAnally Hilgemann Racing
After Connor Hall earned a remarkable 10th-place finish in his Truck Series debut at Richmond, the #91 returns to Jack Wood this Sunday with sponsorship from the High Fives Foundation and GoPro. Wood has likewise never competed in a Truck Series race at Milwaukee.
DRIVER CHANGE: #02-Young’s Motorsports
One year after trying to qualify his own entry into the Milwaukee race, Dexter Bean has teamed up with Randy Young, taking the place of 26th-place Richmond finisher Mason Massey. Massey tweeted on Monday that he would not be racing “because of things out of the control of myself and Youngs Motorsports.” Bean and his Badger Environmental sponsorship look for a solid finish. Like Benning, Bean competed in the same 2009 race at the track, earning a 17th-place finish for current XFINITY Series team owner Mario Gosselin. This same #02 entry finished last in this race last year with Josh Bilicki.
RETURNING: #04-Roper Racing
Completing a stout entry list for the Truck Series is a returning Marco Andretti, who in the IndyCar Series alone has nine starts at Milwaukee from 2006 through 2015 with a best finish of 5th in his track debut. Running double-duty with ARCA at the same track, Andretti seeks his sixth Truck Series start and first since IRP, where he finished 25th in this same Roper Racing entry. Group 1001 and Roper sponsor CarQuest back the team’s Chevrolet.
CUP INVADERS: None
TODAY IN LASTCAR HISTORY (August 23, 1986): Kyle Petty picked up the 4th last-place finish of his NASCAR Winston Cup Series career when his #7 7-Eleven Ford lost the engine after 9 laps of the Busch 500 at Bristol. This was Petty’s only last-place finish he scored while driving for the Wood Brothers.
