PREVIEW: Truck Series regulars join the action for Las Vegas XFINITY race
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
IMAGE: Rick Ware Racing, @RickWareRacing
Saturday, October 19, 2024 (3:00 P.M. ET, USA)
XFINITY Race 30 of 33
Round of 8: Race 1 of 3
Ambetter Health 302 at Las Vegas
2023 Last-Place Finisher: Patrick Emerling
ENTRY LIST
There are 38 drivers entered for 38 spots, so all will qualify.
RETURNING: #10-Kaulig Racing
With one more week until the return of the Truck Series in Homestead, Daniel Dye returns for his first XFINITY start since a 34th-place run in Kansas, again driving Kaulig Racing’s part-time third entry.
DRIVER CHANGE: #14-SS-Green Light Racing
J.J. Yeley is back for his seventh start of the year and first since Kansas, where he ran 20th for this same Bobby Dotter team. He takes the place of Nathan Byrd, who finished 25th last week on the Charlotte “Roval.” Yeley finished 11th in this race six years ago, and took 24th in this year’s spring race.
DRIVER CHANGE: #19-Joe Gibbs Racing
Josh Bilicki enjoyed a strong afternoon on the Roval, leading ten laps, claiming stage points in each round, and coming home 8th. Taking back the wheel this week is Taylor Gray, who’s just this week been announced as the full-time driver of the #54 XFINITY entry in 2025, which will have Ty Gibbs as the listed owner.
DRIVER CHANGE: #26-Sam Hunt Racing
Another returning Truck Series full-timer this week is Corey Heim, seeking his own first start since Kansas, where he claimed 31st with this same Sam Hunt Racing effort. Synergy Modular is the listed sponsor this week as Heim seeks his fourth top-five finish in only 13 series starts this year. He takes the place of Ed Jones, whose involvement in the big Roval pileup on Lap 33 left him 37th.
MISSING: #32-Jordan Anderson Racing / Peterson Racing Group
Not among this week’s entrants is the part-time third Jordan Anderson entry with which Austin Green drove to 2nd in the final laps, only for a ruptured radiator to send him behind the wall in the final ten laps, leaving him 30th at the checkered flag. Green is rumored to be attempting another oval track start at Martinsville in two weeks.
DRIVER CHANGE: #35-Joey Gase Motorsports
RETURNING: #53-Joey Gase Motorsports
Akinori Ogata is set to make his 10th series start and third of the year, his first since an opening-lap wreck swept him up in the summer race at Daytona, leaving him in last place. Ogata takes the place of 34th-place Roval finisher Thomas Annunziata, who himself crashed out after 52 laps due to an apparent brake failure on the #35. Team owner Joey Gase is also entered this week as the team brings back its second #53 entry – complete with JD Motorsports’ #6 team’s Owner Points – for the first time since Talladega earlier this month.
DRIVER CHANGE: #45-Alpha Prime Racing
Garrett Smithley carries the “Vet The Vote” paint scheme this week for his 20th start of the season and first since a 36th-place showing under the light at Bristol, when he drove for Joey Gase. This time, Smithley takes the place of Brad Perez, who earned a 26th-place finish in a nearly unsponsored car at the Roval.
DRIVER CHANGE: #50-Pardus Racing
Preston Pardus also challenged for a top-ten finish in the Roval before he slipped to 21st in the final running order. He and his family’s team are not among this week’s entries.
RETURNING: #74-Mike Harmon Racing
Fresh off his latest Whelen Euro race, now in the #11, Ryan Vargas revealed on Tuesday he is the “TBA” driver of a two-tone scheme with his longtime sponsor Critical Path Security on board. Vargas is still another driver to have last competed in the fall Kansas race, his run yielding a 29th-place run with the team.
MISSING: #88-JR Motorsports
Not among this week’s entrants is Connor Mosack, who finished 18th last week at the Roval.
DRIVER CHANGE: #91-DGM Racing
Kyle Weatherman returns to his regular ride with Mario Gosselin’s team, which he last ran in Talladega for a 31st-place finish. He takes the place of Alex Labbe, whose one-off on the Roval yielded a 14th-place finish.
DRIVER CHANGE: #07-SS-Green Light Racing
Also announced on Tuesday was the other “TBA,” listed to take the place of 29th-place Roval finisher Sage Karam in the #07. It’s a welcome back for Myatt Snider, who has remained a regular presence on pit road this season, where his only start was a 19th-place showing in Martinsville. Snider rejoins the Dotter team this week with sponsorship from BBPrintingCO.com.
CUP INVADERS: None
Sunday, October 20, 2024 (2:00 P.M. ET, NBC)
CUP Race 33 of 36
Round of 8: Race 1 of 3
South Point 400 at Las Vegas
2023 Last-Place Finisher: Carson Hocevar
ENTRY LIST
There are 37 drivers entered for 40 spots, making the 28th short field in 33 races in 2024.
MISSING: #13-Kaulig Racing
DRIVER SWAP: #16-Kaulig Racing
The Kaulig team isn’t entering the #13 team with which Shane Van Gisbergen won the pole and finished 7th last week in Charlotte. But Van Gisbergen will race this week, taking the place of 6th-place finisher A.J. Allmendinger in the “all-star” #16 entry. Van Gisbergen will this week carry returning sponsor Wendy’s, a flame-decorated paint scheme promoting their spicy chicken.
SPONSOR UPDATE: #14-Stewart-Haas Racing
Texas A&M University begins its late-season sponsorship deal with the Stewart-Haas team, backing Chase Briscoe’s #14. The university will also back teammate Josh Berry in the season finale at Phoenix.
DRIVER CHANGE: #15-Rick Ware Raing
Cody Ware returns for the first time since his 12th-place showing in Talladega for his ninth start of the season, and this week runs an Evel Knievel paint scheme with backing from Parts Plus and Pronto (as it happens, yesterday marked what would have been Knievel’s 86th birthday). Ware takes the place of Kaz Grala, who finished 27th last week on the Roval.
MISSING: #66-Motorsports Business Management
Carl Long’s MBM team is not among this week’s entries after a 29th-place finish by Josh Bilicki on the Roval.
RETURNING: #84-Legacy Motor Club
Jimmie Johnson returns with sponsorship from Dollar Tree and Family Dollar. Johnson has yet to finish better than 28th in his ten starts since the end of his full-time career in 2020, and most recently finished 36th in Kansas after he was collected in a Lap 1 crash.
Saturday, October 26, 2024
TRUCKS Race 21 of 23
Round of 8: Race 2 of 3
Truck Series 200 at Homestead
2023 Last-Place Finisher: Zane Smith
The Truck Series returns next week to begin the Homestead weekend.
TODAY IN LASTCAR HISTORY (October 18, 2003): Bryan Tyler of Parma, Michigan picked up the first last-place finish of his NASCAR Busch Series career in the Sams Town 250 Benefiting St. Jude at Memphis Motorsports Park when his #94 goracefan.com Chevrolet lost the engine without completing any of the 250 laps. This was Tyler’s seventh of nine career starts. His best finish of 23rd came at IRP earlier in that 2003 season.
