TRUCKS: Jayson Alexander’s last-minute series debut ends with early wreck in Milwaukee
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
PHOTO: Jayson Alexander's Twitter/X Account, @Jaysona86
Jayson Alexander picked up the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career in Sunday’s LiUNA! 175 at the Milwaukee Mile when his #21 CWR LLC Ford crashed after 44 of 175 laps.
The finish came in Alexander’s series debut. In the Truck Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 11th for the #21, the 126th for Ford, and the 196th from a crash. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 40th for the #21, the 1,046th for Ford, and the 1,390th from a crash.
At just 21 years old, the newcomer from Apex, North Carolina has already built an impressive resume. According to his website, he studies Business Administration at the University of Charlotte, is a NCAA Division One athlete in lacrosse, and is both an Army ROTC Cadet for the UNCC 49er Battalion and a member of the North Carolina National Guard. On the track, he’s made the jump from eSports to late models and ARCA, where he's made three starts with Andy Hillenburg’s team Fast Track Racing. Just last week, Alexander earned a series-best 13th-place run at Michigan, overcoming both mechanical troubles and a burn he suffered from a malfunctioning helmet. Now he’s focused on realizing a lifelong goal – to compete in NASCAR national competition.
Alexander’s series debut came together at nearly the last minute. The opportunity came with Floridian Motorsports, the latest in a series of teams has Carl Long helped build and operate. Business owner Scott Osteen is the listed owner of the #21, which began the year in Daytona with Mason Maggio as driver. Maggio failed to qualify that weekend, but since gave the team five of its six starts, beginning with a team-best 24th in Atlanta. Sage Karam also finished 33rd with the team at Pocono. For Milwaukee, Maggio moved to the Reaume Brothers to drive the #22 Flitz Polish Ford, leaving the seat open for a returning Blake Lothian. But sponsorship issues prevented Lothian from securing the ride, presenting an opportunity for Alexander.
According to MRN, Alexander received word of the ride just days before track activities, and wasn’t approved until 10 minutes into practice. He also had to borrow Timmy Hill’s firesuit due to an issue with the one he had. In the infield, Alexander wore his hat with sponsor Constant Contact, which bore the number 11 for his ARCA entry. The company joined CWR LLC and Map Retirement as his sponsors for Sunday.
Despite losing some of his practice time, Alexander ran 36th of the 37 entries, 1.492 seconds faster than the slowest entry of a returning Norm Benning in his own #6 MDIA Inc Chevrolet. Alexander increased this gap to 1.692 seconds in qualifying, locking him into the 36th and final starting spot with a lap of 32.345 seconds (112.970mph). Benning became the lone DNQ. On Sunday, two tail-end penalties for unapproved adjustments further shuffled the order, involving both 8th-place starter Rajah Caruth in the #71 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet and 35th-place starter Justin S. Carroll in the #90 Carroll’s Automotive / Duratain Toyota.
When the race began, Carroll held down the 36th spot, showing 3.746 seconds back of the lead behind Thad Moffitt’s #46 Petty’s Garage Chevrolet (3.413), the other penalized driver of Rajah Caruth (3.406), and Alexander now 33rd (3.229). Alexander dropped to last by the end of Lap 1, showing 5.921 seconds back of the lead and 0.263 behind Carroll. The gap grew to 0.646 on Lap 3, 0.710 on Lap 4, and 1.007 by Lap 7, when he was 15.762 seconds back of the lead. Further ahead, that same lap saw Bayley Currey suffer left-front damage. Battling for 12th with Taylor Gray in the #17 JBL Toyota and Matt Crafton in the #88 Ideal Door / Menards Ford, the three trucks came together, bouncing Gray’s right-rear off Currey’s left-front. Currey continued with cosmetic damage to the side of his truck until Lap 10, when he cut down a left-front tire and swung wide in Turn 4, forcing him to pit from 15th. The crew then struggled to get the jack under his truck, dropping him two laps down by the time he returned to the track on Lap 14.
Meanwhile, polesitter and race leader Ty Majeski was making quick work of the tail end of the field, often passing multiple trucks at a time. On Lap 19, when Alexander finally caught 34th-place Carroll, both were quickly lapped by Majeski entering Turn 3, taking away the “Lucky Dog” from Currey. On Lap 22, Majeski did the same to Mason Maggio, whose #22 was alongside Spencer Boyd’s #76 CampCowboy.org Chevrolet, and again on Lap 24, when he caught the race for 29th between Lawless Alan in the #33 AUTOChargit Ford and Dexter Bean in the #02 Badger Environmental Chevrolet.
As the race stayed under green, Alexander fell onto the same lap as Currey, allowing Currey to drop Alexander to last on Lap 48. A moment later, Alexander got loose entering Turn 3 and slapped the outside wall, drawing the first caution of the afternoon. After sitting on the track for several moments, he re-fired the truck after the rescue crews arrived on Lap 49. But after making it to pit road, he pulled behind the wall, done for the afternoon. FS1’s leaderboard showed Alexander out of the race by Lap 64.
The only other driver to fall out of the race was Lawless Alan, already multiple laps down when he pulled down pit road in the final ten laps. Carroll took 34th with Moffitt in 32nd. Between them was Matthew Gould, who along with Alexander was making his NASCAR national series debut. The son of crew chief Phil Gould, Matthew finished six laps down in Al Niece’s #44 Chevrolet.
Layne Riggs scores first career victory
Despite the dominance of both Ty Majeski and Christian Eckes, who combined to lead 116 of the 175 laps, Layne Riggs broke through with his first career victory in his 23rd series start, his #38 Zorn Compressor & Equipment Ford leading 53 laps and beating Majeski by 1.547 seconds. The son of NASCAR veteran Scott Riggs, who scored his first Truck Series victory 23 years ago at Martinsville, Layne was also the only non-Playoff driver to finish in the first nine spots.
LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the first last-place finish for the #21 in a Truck Series race since February 19, 2021, when Zane Smith crashed after 35 laps around the Daytona Infield Road Course. The number hadn’t finished last in a Truck Series race at Milwaukee since June 20, 2009, when Nick Tucker’s #21 Stock Car Steel & Aluminum Dodge had brake issues after 3 laps.
*Alexander is the second-straight Truck Series driver to finish last in their series debut, following Jerry Bohlman at Richmond.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
36) #21-Jayson Alexander / 45 laps / crash
35) #33-Lawless Alan / 162 laps / running
34) #90-Justin S. Carroll / 167 laps / running
33) #44-Matthew Gould / 169 laps / running
32) #46-Thad Moffitt / 169 laps / running
2024 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Young’s Motorsports (4)
2nd) TRICON Garage (2)
3rd) Bret Holmes Racing, Faction 46, Floridian Motorsports, Freedom Racing Enterprises, 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 (10)
2nd) Toyota (4)
3rd) Ford (3)
2024 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
