TRUCKS: Mason Massey prevails in a competitive last-place battle at COTA
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
PHOTO: Young’s Motorsports (@youngsmtrsports)
Mason Massey picked up the 2nd last-place finish of his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career in Saturday’s XPEL 225 at the Circuit of the Americas when his #02 RANDCO Chevrolet fell out with brake issues after 32 of 46 laps.
The finish, which occurred in Massey’s 19th series start, was his first of the season and first in a Truck Series race since October 12, 2019 at Talladega, 99 races ago. In the Truck Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 11th for the #02, the 30th from brake issues, and the 441st for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 34th for the #02, the 168th from brakes, and the 1,930th for Chevrolet.
Massey has gained valuable track time with many of NASCAR’s small teams. When he was last featured in a Truck Series article on this site, he was completing his first part-time campaign in NASCAR’s top three series, switching between three different team numbers at Reaume Brothers Racing. He then turned his attention to the XFINITY Series, gaining valuable experience with B.J. McLeod Motorsports, Rick Ware Racing, DGM Racing, and SS-Green Light Racing. In that time, his best track has been Loudon, where he’s finished 10th and 9th in his last two runnings. His career-best run was a 6th in the first XFINITY race on the reconfigured Atlanta Motor Speedway in 2022. In that time, Brunt Workwear and Anerson Power Services have been his most frequent sponsors.
Last year, Massey reunited with Reaume for the first part of the 2023 Truck Series season, yielding a strong 11th-place showing in Texas. He then joined Randy Young’s longtime team at Richmond, and while that night saw him finish just 34th, the two have since paired up for a full-time effort in 2024. Massey and his sponsors have since adorned the Young’s flagship #02, which through these first few races has run by itself as Young has entered the XFINITY Series with Leland Honeyman, Jr. as driver. In the first four races leading to COTA, Massey has finished under power each time, taking a season-best 20th in Atlanta and leading six laps in Las Vegas. Saturday would mark his first time in a Truck Series road course race, and he’d this time by joined by two teammates: Dale Quarterley in the #12 an Dyk Recycling Toyota, and Vicente Salas in the #20 Miaramar Financial Group Chevrolet.
With 35 trucks entered for 36 spots, all entrants made the show. Massey ranked 34th in practice as the slowest driver to complete a lap as Thad Moffitt’s power steering issues kept the #46 Induction Innovations Chevrolet off the track. He was also slowest in Qualifying Round 1A, ranking last of 17 trucks with a lap of 86.908mph (141.253 seconds) despite running a session-most five laps. He still ranked 32nd on the starting grid.
The last two starters both failed to turn a qualifying lap due to mechanical issues in practice. Joining Moffitt was Ben Rhodes, who had a spring came loose from his #99 TSPORT Trucks Ford, placing him 34th ahead of last-place Moffitt. Both Moffitt and Rhodes incurred redundant tail-end penalties for unapproved adjustments along with 15th-place Bayley Currey in the #41 AutoVentive / Precsion Chevrolet, 18th-place Ty Dillon in the #25 Rackley Roofing Chevrolet, 20th-place Lawless Alan in the #33 AUTOChargit Ford, 28th-place Marco Andretti in the #04 Group 1001 / CarQuest Chevrolet, and 29th-place Carter Fartuch in the #22 Skip Barber Racing School Ford. Also, 10th-place starter Christian Eckes was sent to the back for a transmission change on his #19 NAPA Auto Care Chevrolet.
Just before the start of the race, the penalized Lawless Alan had to make an unscheduled stop, and he returned to the track just as the leaders entered Turn 12 on their way to take the green flag. When the leaders crossed the stripe, Alan reached the line 44.187 seconds back of the lead and 41.121 behind the 34th-place truck. Out on the track, surprise polesitter Connor Zilisch overdrove the entrance to Turn 1 and locked the tires, ultimately causing a flat tire. Zilisch made a pit stop soon after Taylor Gray, who at the end of Lap 1 had to serve a pass-though for short-cutting the course in Turn 3. Neither Zilisch’s #7 Austin Hatcher Foundation Chevrolet nor Gray’s #17 JBL Toyota took the last spot. Instead, Lap 2 saw Spencer Boyd take over last in his #76 FR8 Factory Chevrolet.
On the chaotic first lap, while racing Rhodes’ #99, Boyd’s right-front collided with the driver’s door of Dale Quarterley’s #12. The impact – hard enough to push in Quarterley’s door – crushed the right-front fender on Boyd’s truck and damaged the steering. The team talked about bringing Boyd’s truck to the garage, but the driver wasn’t confident it could make the turn to do so. The crew managed to do this on Lap 4, allowing them to examine the right-front suspension, focusing on the tie rod and control arms. After servicing the power steering system, Boyd steered the wheel hard left and right, then returned to the track on Lap 5, three laps down. By that point, he was in a similar position to Lawless Alan at the start - on the tail end of his lap with the leaders in Turn 19 preparing to take the green. Zilisch’s own lengthy stop for repairs on the left-front corner ended on Lap 6, sending him back onto the track between one and two laps down in 34th. Quarterley held 33rd, his truck still 17.289 seconds back of 32nd-place Alan, but the #12 still cleared the “Crash Clock.”
On Lap 6, Layne Riggs’ #38 Love’s Travel Stops Ford lost power while pulling away from a Turn 20 wreck that failed to draw the caution flag, but did cause some damage to Vicente Salas’ #20, Marco Andretti’s #04, and Stewart Friesen’s #52 Halmar International Toyota. Riggs’ truck slowed on the hill to Turn 1, then backed up onto pit road, handing him a commitment line violation. He returned to the track only to slow again, dropping him two laps down into 32nd. Even then, he was still ahead of last-place Boyd and new 34th-place Thad Moffitt.
Moffitt’s #46 was among the many drivers caught for short-cutting the course, forcing him to serve a pass-through. On Lap 8, when race leader Corey Heim put Boyd a fourth lap down, Moffitt had stopped in his pit stall, just one lap ahead of Boyd. Moffitt had lost brake pressure, forcing the team to scramble for a new brake line. The crew went by the stalls for Niece Motorsports drivers Ross Chastain and Matt Mills for a replacement. The crew found a “dash-four” or “dash-390” and set to work fitting in the new line. Boyd lost another lap on track, keeping him in last place until Lap 10, when Moffitt took the spot. Moffitt’s crew added brake fluid on Lap 11, and the driver pumped the pedal on the 12th circuit. The crew changed all four tires and sent Moffitt back on track on Lap 13, seven laps down. The brakes felt much better, and with Stage 1 ending, Moffitt would be sent to the tail end instead of serving his still-owed pass-through penalty.
When Moffitt returned, Riggs was on pit road again, three laps down in 33rd, the crew trying to figure out why his truck kept shutting off. He also returned to the track on Lap 13, and said the issue sprung up whenever he was hard on the shifter. By then, Riggs was on the same lap as 32nd-place Daniel Dye, who lost time after pushing in the fender on his #43 NAPA Nightvision Chevrolet, and would eventually pass Dye on Lap 18. During this, Moffitt remained in last place, six laps down, with all 35 starters still on the track. Many more drivers were docked for short-cutting the course, and Marco Andretti made an unscheduled stop on a restart for what the team reported to be a loose left-rear mudflap. This dropped Andretti to 31st, the last truck on the lead lap, with the remaining four drivers multiple laps down.
After his own unscheduled stop before the start, Lawless Alan’s day took a bad turn on Lap 21 when he stalled after a two-truck spin with Daniel Dye’s lapped #43. Alan tried to get rolling again, but couldn’t, so NASCAR threw the day’s third caution flag. Alan lost a lap as he got a push and rejoined the field while Andretti, who had just been lapped moments before the yellow, earned the “Lucky Dog.” Alan’s team told him to take care of the truck, knowing it was unlikely anyone else would lose a lap by the impending end of Stage 2. Meanwhile, last-place runner Moffitt’s brake issues returned, forcing him to make a second extended stop on Lap 25. Moffitt’s Faction 46 crew saw no issues with the brake line, saying it had been tie-wrapped out of the way, and set to work bleeding the system again. When Moffitt returned to the track on Lap 26, Bret Holmes now dropped down the rankings as his unsponsored #32 Bret Holmes Racing Chevrolet fell four laps down by Lap 27, placing him 31st. A mechanical issue was to blame as the crew called for a 5/8” wrench. The crew changed two tires and dropped the hood, sending him back out four laps down in 34th. This was still not quite enough to take last place from Moffitt, who remained five laps down.
It wasn’t until the final ten laps that Mason Massey entered the last-place battle, pulling behind the wall and then to the hauler with brake issues. A lap later, he was joined by teammate Vicente Salas in the #20, citing transmission issues. Alan then drew his second caution of the day on Lap 39 when his #33 stopped on track for a second time, this time the result of a failing rear gear. Alan this time dropped the net and was pushed to the garage, leaving him 33rd at the finish. Moffitt managed to climb to 32nd by the finish. He came just one lap short of 31st-place Andretti, whose day ended in spectacular fashion when his entire rear suspension ripped free of his truck, leaving the rear wheels rolling into the grass at Turn 11. Boyd, Holmes, Dye, Riggs, and Quarterley finished just outside the Bottom Five, completing the Bottom Ten in that order.
Hawksworth impressive in NASCAR return
Making his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut – and his first NASCAR start since 2019 – former IndyCar Series driver Jack Hawksworth finished an impressive 6th in TRICON Garage’s #1 Mobil 1 Toyota. Building on his laps at the track in sports cars, Hawksworth led Lap 15 under green and also reached the finish despite damage to his right-front fender.
LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the first last-place finish for the #02 in a Truck Series race since August 27, 2023, when Josh Bilicki’s #02 Insurance King Chevrolet crashed after 9 laps around the Milwaukee Mile.
*This was also the third-straight last-place finish for Young’s Motorsports in the Truck Series race at COTA. In 2022, Sheldon Creed only completed 1 lap before drivetrain issues and Ed Jones failed to turn any laps in 2023, both while driving Young’s #20. That team finished next-to-last on Saturday in the hands of Vicente Salas.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
35) #02-Mason Massey / 32 laps / brakes
34) #20-Vicente Salas / 33 laps / transmission
33) #33-Lawless Alan / 34 laps / rear gear
32) #46-Thad Moffitt / 39 laps / running
31) #04-Marco Andretti / 40 laps / suspension
2024 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Faction 46, Front Row Motorsports, Hill Motorsports, Terry Carroll Motorsports, Young’s Motorsports (1)
2024 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet, Toyota (2)
2nd) Ford (1)
2024 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
