TRUCKS: Bret Holmes’ first last-place finish continues his struggles at Nashville

Jun 28

by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief

Bret Holmes picked up the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career in Friday’s Rackley Roofing 200 at the Nashville Superspeedway when his #32 Golden Eagle Chevrolet fell out with crash damage after 10 of 150 laps.

The finish came in Holmes’ 49th series start. In the Truck Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 5th for the #32, the 194th from a crash, and the 446th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 44th for the #32, the 1,381st from a crash, and the 1,947th for Chevrolet.

It was at Nashville – the fairgrounds track, not the superspeedway – where Holmes made his ARCA national series debut on April 9, 2016. With current Truck Series full-timer Grant Enfinger as crew chief, Holmes started outside-pole to new Joe Gibbs Racing hire Chase Briscoe and came home 5th behind current XFINITY regular Josh Williams, who scored his first ARCA win. Holmes’ own first win came four years later at Kansas, the same year he was crowned series champion in 2020.

The 2021 season saw Holmes make the jump to the Truck Series, where he finished 37th in his series debut at Las Vegas. Just one year later, his #32 was first to reach the checkered flag at Talladega, but the caution flew an instant earlier, handing the win to Matt DiBenedetto. Last season, Holmes attempted to run the full season for the first time, though for many races his team ran without a primary sponsor. But after a 16th-place finish in his return to Talladega, he didn’t enter the final two rounds of the season so he could prepare for 2024.

This year, his second attempt to run the full season, has seen Holmes show marked improvement. After a 4th-place finish in the Daytona opener, he took 11th in Atlanta and 12th in Las Vegas, moving him to 8th in points. But he’s since finished in the Top 20 just three more times, most recently a 14th in Charlotte, dropping him back to 19th in the standings.

According to Mark Kristl at Frontstretch.com, Holmes expressed reservations about his chances at the Nashville track, knowing that he’d struggled there in the past. Indeed, his lone DNQ of both 2021 and 2022 came at the track, and last year saw him qualify only to crash and finish in 34th. He’d already faced adversity in Friday’s preliminary events, ranking 13th of the 39 entrants in opening practice, but managing just 30th in qualifying with a lap of 31.291 seconds (153.015mph).

Meanwhile, as the Faction 46 team unloaded an unsponsored blue #46 Chevrolet, the name on the roof rail was XFINITY Series part-timer Dawson Cram, not Thad Moffitt. Moffitt reported that he was unable to race on Friday due to “circumstances out of my control,” but expected to return as soon as the next round in Pocono. One day before driving JD Motorsports’ #4 Chevrolet, Cram earned a solid 24th on the starting grid.

While both Holmes and Cram made the show, the three DNQs were Keith McGee in the Reaume Brothers’ #27 Nuggettrap.com Ford, Justin S. Carroll in the #90 Carrol’s Automotive / Duratain Toyota, and the #28 FDNY Racing Chevrolet of Bryan Dauzat, who was unable to give team owner Jim Rosenblum his first Nashville start since 2002. Per Colby Evans, the FDNY truck was their superspeedway truck previously raced at Daytona.

Taking the 36th and final starting spot was Matt Mills, who was unable to turn a qualifying lap due to power steering issues on the #42 J.F. Electric / Utilitra Chevrolet. The next three trucks in front of him also didn’t turn laps due to various issues. Taking 35th was Ty Dillon, whose #25 Rackley Roofing Chevrolet had issues with a hung throttle, and like Mills didn’t attempt a qualifying lap. Tanner Gray lined up 34th after his #15 Dead On Tools Toyota made some slight contact with the wall. While Gray’s crew completed repairs, which constituted an unapproved adjustments penalty, Nick Sanchez’ 33rd-place entry was sent scrambling. On his qualifying lap, Sanchez broke loose in Turn 2 and smacked the outside wall, damaging his primary #2 Gainbridge Chevrolet. With just two hours until the race, Sanchez’ crew unloaded a flat black backup truck and got it ready just in time. Sanchez’ backup truck also incurred him a tail-end penalty, a group that also included Timmy Hill for a transmission change on the 25th-place #56 Coble Enterprises / UNITS Toyota.

When the green flag dropped, the final five spots went to the penalized Timmy Hill (32nd, 3.107 seconds back of the lead) ahead of Tanner Gray (33rd, 3.137), Matt Mills (34th, 3.398), Nick Sanchez (35th, 3.548), and new last-place starter Ty Dillon (36h, 3.645 seconds). On the break, Dillon remained in last place through the first half of the lap and heading into Turn 3. At corner entry, 28th-place starter Mason Maggio’s #21 US Off Market Real Estate Deals Ford got the in rear of Dean Thompson’s #5 Assured Partners Toyota, sending Thompson into a spin. Caught between Thompson and the wall was Mason Massey, whose #02 Brunt Chevrolet bounced off the outside wall. To the inside, Timmy Hill’s #56 was spun off the nose of a looping Akinori Ogata in the #20 Hirotec Chevrolet, creating a narrow gap through which Nick Sanchez threaded his backup #2. Somehow, Holmes was also involved, his #32 facing the wrong way with the left-rear against the outside wall.

Thompson was first to pit road, revealing damaged right-side tires and some damage to the right-rear, dropping him to the last spot on Lap 2. He crossed the stripe 62.892 seconds back of the leader, a full 42.146 behind the now 35th-place Hill. Thompson returned to the track on the lead lap, and on Lap 3 was 51.948 behind the lead, 31.202 behind Hill with Holmes now 34th. Thompson had made at least two stops by Lap 4, when he was 73.119 behind the leader, 25.848 behind Hill. By Lap 5, Thompson was on pit road again for tape along the seam connecting his rear decklid to the right-rear, still showing 39.643 behind the leader and 22.107 behind the now 35th-place Massey. Thompson’s crew said the toe was still knocked-out, so they had to be careful on the restart. Still under caution on Lap 6, he was again catching the tail end of the field, 76.089 behind the lead, 17.757 behind the 35th place. Thompson then moved ahead of Tanner Gray on Lap 7, putting the #15 back in 36th for the Lap 8 restart. At that point, Gray was 4.663 seconds behind the leader, 0.176 behind the 35th-place Thompson, whose damage caused him a terrible push.

Gray only held last for a moment as, on Lap 9, Holmes’ damaged #32 broke loose in Turn 2 and backed hard into the outside wall. Under the ensuing caution, Holmes continued to limp around the track with the rear of his truck pushed in, dropping him to last on Lap 10. “I think we’re done,” said the team. “There’s too much stuff dragging to fix.” Once Holmes made it to pit road, the crew discovered the track bar was pushed into the fuel cell, signaling the end of their race. Thompson, too, made another stop under this yellow, briefly putting the #5 back in last on Lap 11 before he returned to the track, then served a penalty for pitting on a closed pit road. As Thompson continued, he dropped Holmes to last once more on Lap 12. The next restart was called off to allow Holmes’ crew to push their truck backwards into the nearest garage entrance, which was done on Lap 13. Holmes was evaluated and released from the infield care center by Lap 41.

Mason Maggio suffered left-front nose damage to his #21 after bumping Thompson into Turn 3 on Lap 1, and received additional repairs on Lap 13 as Holmes was pushed behind the wall. On Lap 48, Maggio was seven laps down when he pulled behind the wall with suspension issues. Carl Long, whose Motorsports Business Management team has helped the Floridian Motorsports team get its start, stayed in touch with the crew, but this led to a series of frustrating misunderstandings.

At first, someone on the crew radioed the left-front camber shims fell out, and indicated it would be a quick repair. Long had Maggio stay in the truck as NASCAR listed this as a mechanical issue. By Lap 60, a crew member couldn’t find a part to complete the repair, and said if they couldn’t find it, they should park. For a moment, the crew thought this message was from NASCAR, but this was soon cleared up. On Lap 63, the crew said the chassis was bent too much to reassemble the suspension, and other members would repeat the same thing. Then on Lap 71, Long said “We have full sponsorship and a lot of people here, and being in the garage area is not good.” By then, Maggio had climbed out of the truck, and there was some confusion about calling him back to the truck. Then there were further questions about if the suspension could be forced back together. But on Lap 85, Long radioed, “Let’s just park it. . .Tell NASCAR we’re done.” The crew responded saying that Maggio was ready to get back into the truck, to which Long shouted, “Park it! Are we clear?” Maggio was listed out due to mechanical issues.

Taking the 34th spot was Taylor Gray, whose #17 Caden Ingram Foundation Toyota was running 8th when he was bumped into a spin by Ben Rhodes on a restart, sending his truck careening across the track and into the wall. The 33rd spot went to Kaden Honeycutt, who was running four seconds back of the leader in 3rd when on Lap 28, NASCAR first reported smoke coming off his #45 AutoVentive / Precision Chevrolet. Honeycutt continued until Lap 38, when he pulled behind the wall for repairs. He returned, climbing from 35th to 33rd at the checkered flag. Mason Massey’s damaged #02 rounded out the Bottom Five, eliminated with brake issues.

While Eckes dominates, Dye and Mills earn strong finishes

After missing out on qualifying, 36th-place starter Matt Mills recovered to finish in the 8th spot, his second top-ten finish in the last three races, following his career-best 4th in Charlotte. This occurred on the same night that Daniel Dye finished a career-best 2nd in the #43 NAPA Nightvision Chevrolet, having finished 5th and 4th in the two stages. This was also his first Top Five in his 36th career Truck Series start.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This marked the first last-place finish for the #32 in a Truck Series race since October 31, 2015, when Justin (then J.J.) Haley’s #32 Great Clips Chevrolet crashed after 119 laps around Martinsville.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

36) #32-Bret Holmes / 10 laps / crash

35) #21-Mason Maggio / 40 laps / mechanical

34) #17-Taylor Gray / 53 laps / crash

33) #45-Kaden Honeycutt / 84 laps / running

32) #02-Mason Massey / 94 laps / brakes

2024 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) TRICON Garage, Young’s Motorsports (2)

2nd) Bret Holmes Racing, Faction 46, Front Row Motorsports, Hill Motorsports, McAnally-Hilgemann Racing, Spire Motorsports, Terry Carroll Motorsports, ThorSport Racing, Trey Hutchens Racing (1)

2024 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet (7)

2nd) Toyota (4)

3rd) Ford (2)

2024 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP