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

Jack Wood picked up the 4th last-place finish of his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career in Friday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship Race at the Phoenix Raceway when his #91 Mongoose Chevrolet crashed after 58 of 150 laps.

The finish, which came in Wood’s 61st series start, was his first of the season and first in a Truck Series race since September 14, 2023 at Bristol, 26 races ago. In the Truck Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 3rd for the #91, the 198th from a crash, and the 454th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 59th for the #91, the 1,402nd from a crash, and the 1,971st for Chevrolet.

After the closure of Kyle Busch Motorsports, where Wood shared the team’s iconic #51 entry, the 2021 LASTCAR Truck Series Champion was picked up by the McAnally-Hilgemann Racing team to share another “all-star” truck, this time McAnally’s #91 Chevrolet. Wood would share the ride with Cup Series rookie Zane Smith, XFINITY Series veteran Ryan Reed, plus newcomers Vicente Salas, Connor Hall, and Corey Day. Wood’s portion of the season covered most of the year – 13 of the 23 races – with a season-best 12th in North Wilkesboro. He also showed speed in qualifying, taking 4th in Atlanta, 8th in Charlotte, and 10th in both Martinsville races.

For Phoenix, Wood welcomed back sponsorship from Mongoose Bicycles, which joined the team at Bristol. He began the weekend 16th of the 35 entrants in practice, then qualified a solid 21st with a lap of 26.802 seconds (134.318mph).

Securing the 35th and final starting spot was Lawless Alan, whose slowest overall qualifying lap of just 39,108 seconds (92.053mph) was due to a crash that sent him to a backup #33 AUTOParkIt Ford. As Brad Perez revealed on Twitter, this truck was chassis BKR 031, the same truck with which Perez made his Truck Series debut at COTA in 2022. This truck swap incurred Alan a redundant tail-end penalty, and with no other drivers docked, he crossed the line still in the 35th spot, 3.332 seconds back of the lead.

At the end of Lap 1, Alan was racing door-to-door with one of his Reaume Brothers Racing teammates, Keith McGee in the #22 NuggetTrap.com Ford. At the stripe, Alan inched ahead by just 0.021 second, 5.778 back of the lead. By Lap 5, Alan ha opened up an advantage of 0.530. McGee cut the gap to 0.348 on Lap 9, then kept it at 0.408 on Lap 12, when Alan was himself 1.424 seconds back of the third Reaume entry of Frankie Muniz, running 33rd in the #27 More Core Diamond Drilling Ford. McGee was the first to be lapped by Ty Majeski on the 15th circuit, followed soon by Alan. From there, McGee continued to gain ground on the #33 until Lap 26, when he dropped Alan back to last place in heavy traffic. Both were soon two laps down, the spotter impressed by Majeski’s speed.

During this run, Alan was trying different lines around the track, but was struggling off Turn 4. McGee was told he was overdriving Turn 3, costing him speed at corner exit. Neither would get a chance for adjustments until Lap 43, when Muniz – who had climbed to around 30th place – narrowly saved his #27 from spinning in Turn 3 after contact from William Sawalich’s #1 Starkey / Soundgear Toyota – only to nearly be struck by new leader Corey Heim. This yellow forced Stage 1 to end under caution, during which Alan came down pit road. “Pretty big swing here,” his team told him. “So just give ‘er hell.”

As the yellow continued, McGee made his stop with the other lapped trucks, dropping him back to last, followed on Lap 51 by Thad Moffitt in the #46 Pristine Auctions Chevrolet. Had Moffitt finished there, he would have taken the LASTCAR Truck Series Championship from Mason Massey, who like Moffitt hadn’t competed in a Truck Series race since August. But pit road penalties ensnared both Andres Perez de Lara in the #04 Group 1001 / CarQuest Chevrolet and Nathan Byrd in the #02 Sonesta Chevrolet previously raced by Massey. Byrd had a particularly lengthy pit stop which dropped him to last on Lap 52, nearly three laps down. As Byrd rejoined the race, his crew warned him about his tire wear, remarking, “70% wear on the lefts, 90% on the rights with cords on the inside of the right-front.” As he turned his attention to saving his right-front tire, Byrd then lost the last spot to Alan on Lap 54, just before the Lap 55 restart where the now 34th-place Muniz cleared minimum speed.

On Lap 56, Muniz had just taken the last spot, putting all three Reaume trucks in the final three positions for the second time in this race, when soon the caution fell once more.

On Lap 59, Wood was in a tight battle for 27th running on the inside of the #41 DQS Chevrolet of Bayley Currey – another LASTCAR championship contender – and Matt Crafton’s #88 Black Label Bacon / Menards Ford. Midway through the turn, Wood and Currey made contact, sending Wood skating up the track, where he clobbered the outside wall with the right-rear of his truck. Under the ensuing caution, Wood pulled to the apron and came down pit road with the rear clip shoved in against the fuel cell and bodywork hanging off the side of his truck. “We’re probably gonna be done here,” said his crew as Wood took last from Muniz on Lap 61. After a brief look at the truck, Wood drove to the garage, where the team told him to pull up behind the team’s hauler. NASCAR confirmed him out on Lap 80, moments after Wood was checked and released from the infield care center.

Muniz’ night soon ended on the Lap 99 restart, when Connor Mosack bounced his #7 Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Chevrolet off the Turn 2 wall, causing a stack-up that sent Tyler Ankrum’s #18 LiUNA! Chevrolet spinning through the back half of the field. In the ensuing pileup, Muniz’ truck struck another, rupturing the radiator and sending him skating into the inside wall. Ankrum finished 33rd, three laps ahead of Muniz at the time of the wreck, with William Sawalich’s #1 also eliminated after he was sent into the inside wall. Andres Perez de Lara was also collected, leaving him 31st in the final running order. A red flag for a lengthy cleanup was needed before the final 42 laps were completed.

Massey clinches LASTCAR Truck Series Championship without starting

While Ty Majeski went on to dominate the race’s closing stages, securing his first NASCAR Truck Series Championship, Wood’s last-place finish secured the LASTCAR title to Mason Massey. Connor Mosack, who triggered the night’s biggest wreck, managed to finish a strong 8th, besting both his teammates at Spire Motorsports. Dean Thompson suffered the same costly restart violation that caught his TRICON Garage teammate Corey Heim, but like Heim managed to recover – even after Thompson was then handed a speeding penalty in Section 16 while serving his pass-though. Thompson bounced back to finish on the lead lap in 15th. One spot behind Thompson came Brett Moffitt, who finished 16th in the second-ever race for start-up team Hettinger Racing in the #4 Victory Custom Trailers Chevrolet.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This marked only the third last-place finish for the #91 in the history of the Truck Series. The most recent was August 4, 2006, when Todd Shafer’s #91 Westerman Co. / Truck Insurance 4U Ford lost the engine after 36 laps around IRP. The only other occurrence was October 8, 1999, when Carl Long drove Thee Dixon’s #91 Mansion Motorsports Ford for 11 laps before an early crash at Louisville.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

35) #91-Jack Wood / 58 laps / crash

34) #27-Frankie Muniz / 95 laps / crash

33) #18-Tyler Ankrum / 98 laps / crash

32) #1-William Sawalich / 98 laps / crash

31) #04-Andres Perez de Lara / 99 laps / crash

2024 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP - FINAL

1st) Young’s Motorsports (4)

2nd) McAnally-Hilgemann Racing, ThorSport Racing, TRICON Garage (2)

3rd) Bret Holmes Racing, Faction 46, Floridian Motorsports, Freedom Racing Enterprises, Front Row Motorsports, Hill Motorsports, Niece Motorsports, Norm Benning Racing, Roper Racing, Spire Motorsports, Terry Carroll Motorsports, Trey Hutchens Racing (1)

2024 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP - FINAL

1st) Chevrolet (14)

2nd) Ford, Toyota (4)

2024 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP – FINAL