TRUCKS: Spencer Boyd scores first last-place finish for #76 since 1995
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
PHOTO: Zach Leffler, @Zeffler9
Spencer Boyd picked up the 5th last-place finish of his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career in Friday’s CRC Brakleen 175 at the Pocono Raceway when his #76 Erickson Manufacturing Chevrolet fell out with hub issues after 5 of 70 laps.
The finish, which came in Boyd’s 122nd series start, was his first of the season and first in a Truck Series race since October 22, 2022 at Homestead, 38 races ago. In the Truck Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 1st for a hub issue, the 2nd for the #76, and the 447th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 7th from the hub, the 11th for the #76, and the 1,950th for Chevrolet.
After a difficult past couple seasons with Young’s Motorsports, Spencer Boyd embarked on team ownership, announcing in January the formation of Freedom Racing Enterprises. Co-owned by Chris Miller of Freedom Warranty and boasting Jeff Hammond as general manager, the patriotic team would run the #76, just as Boyd had during his lone XFINITY Series full-time effort for SS-Green Light Racing in 2019.
In their Daytona debut, Boyd survived to score a sterling 5th-place finish, climbing from a distant 31st on the starting grid. This was his first top-five performance in the series since his upset win at Talladega five years ago. In the weeks since, Boyd has finished no better than 19th, which he earned at Darlington, but he has significantly cut down his DNFs from the last couple years. Coming into Pocono, he had finished all 13 races under power and completed all but 39 of the season’s 2,011 laps run so far. He’s also engaged, proposing to his girlfriend Amanda in June.
Boyd was among the 36 drivers and teams who arrived in Pocono, and he ranked 31st in practice. With qualifying cancelled by rain, the metric placed him 23rd on the starting grid. His latest in a series of sponsors was Erickson Manufacturing, based on the other side of the border in Ontario. The black-and-red truck was also backed G3 Construction, Tenikle, PrimeWeld, Tristate Laser Cleaning, CSI Asphalt, and Bestpass, Inc.
Securing the 36th and final starting spot was Justin S. Carroll, who this time ran a black paint scheme on his family’s #90 Carroll’s Automotive / Duratain Toyota. A redundant unapproved adjustments penalty would keep the #90 in last. Also docked for the same reason was 34th-place starter Bryan Dauzat for red tape applied to the nose of the #28 FDNY Racing Chevrolet after an on-track accident. Layne Riggs, set to start 17th in the #38 Infinity Communications Group Ford, would also drop to the rear. His primary truck lost control entering Turn 1, then slammed the inside wall, sending him to a backup.
Coming to the green flag, Riggs, Dauzat, and Carroll all rolled off ahead of Stephen Mallozzi, who after entering race week without a ride landed efforts in both the Truck Series and XFINITY Series events. On the Truck side, Mallozzi took the place of Keith McGee in the #27 Nuggettrap.com Ford, which crossed the stripe by itself, 5.465 seconds back of the lead behind 35th-place Carroll, 3.548 behind the leader and four-tenths back of 34th-place Dauzat. By the start of Lap 2, Mallozzi was even further back, 14.358 behind the lead and 6.104 behind Carroll.
That time by, Bayley Currey pitted his #41 DQS Chevrolet, which dropped him to 35th on Lap 3, then to last on Lap 4. By then, Currey’s team expressed frustration, saying they may have changed tires when none of them were going flat. Back up to speed, he was 50.56 seconds back of the lead and 23.072 behind the now 35th-place Mallozzi, who was still 27.488 behind the leader. Currey closed to 18.188 back of Mallozzi on Lap 5, when his spotter told him Boyd was pulling down pit road, dropping the #76 back to 34th. “I about wrecked in the Tunnel Turn,” said Boyd as he pitted. “It won’t steer.” The crew looked behind the left-front, then immediately found an issue with the hub and brakes. On Lap 7, Boyd and crew looked for the nearest entrance to the garage, where the crew set to work near the Adam Petty Garage building. By Lap 9, as Mallozzi made a stop, Boyd’s crew directed him to bring the truck to the hauler for further repairs.
On Lap 14, as the leaders lapped the now 33rd-place Carroll heading into Turn 2, someone on Boyd’s team told the crew to not break down the pit box as they were still working on the truck. Still working on Lap 31, they said not to turn in their remaining tires. But on Lap 42, NASCAR declared Boyd out due to a hub failure. Declared out with him was Mallozzi, who returned to the track after his Lap 9 stop, then pulled in after completing 22 laps. Soon after, he tweeted that he was helping the Reaume team with some setups, then pulled in as he didn’t want to damage the truck. Mallozzi was listed out due to transmission issues.
Dauzat took home 34th, making it to the final six-lap sprint to the finish after multiple rain delays, only to be wrecked by Zane Smith on the approach to Turn 2 with three laps to go. The caution didn’t fall, and the #28 made it back to pit road, five laps shot of the race distance. Sage Karam lost a lap in the middle stages when his Floridian Motorsports entry, backed by race sponsor CRC Brakleen, started smoking entering Turn 1. He finished three laps down in 33rd, one lap behind 32nd-place Lawless Alan in the #33 AUTODockIt Ford. Bayley Currey, who briefly took last after his Lap 1 stop, recovered to finish on the lead lap in 17th.
Matt Mills and Bret Holmes finish strong among the raindrops
Early in the race, Matt Mills made a bid for the lead entering Turn 1 on a restart, and he came home 11th in Niece Motorsports’ #42 J.F. Electric / Utilitra Chevrolet. This marks Mills fourth finish of 11th or better in the last five races, including a strong 4th in Charlotte. Finishing one spot behind him on Friday was Bret Holmes, who clawed his way from 32nd to 12th at the finish in his #32 Best Value Carriers Chevrolet. Making his 50th series start, Holmes rebounded from a last-place finish in the most recent Nashville race to earn his best run since another 12th in Las Vegas.
LASTCAR STATISTICS
*The only other time the #76 finished last in a Truck Series race was on October 7, 1995, when NASCAR Southwest Tour driver Dennis Dyer dropped out with handling issues on the opening lap of the Subway 100 at Sears Point. Dyer’s entry was a backup Papa John’s Pizza Chevrolet to DEI’s Ron Hornaday, Jr., who won that day from the pole in the #16. Dyer’s was not the only renumbered backup truck to fill the field, joined by the #4 1-800-COLLECT Ford of Boris Said (teammate to Joe Ruttman’s #84), Bob Strait in the #12 Ultra Custom Wheels Ford (teamed with Mike Bliss’ #2), and Bill Cooper’s #31 GM Goodwrench Service Chevrolet (teamed with Mike Skinner’s #3). All four trailed the field in their own pack coming to the green, and all pulled off the track in the first four laps.
The #76 of Dennis Dyer (center-right) coming to the green at Sears Point. (SCREENSHOT: TNN, video posted by Michael McIntyre)
THE BOTTOM FIVE
36) #76-Spencer Boyd / 5 laps / hub
35) #27-Stephen Mallozzi / 22 laps / transmission
34) #28-Bryan Dauzat / 65 laps / crash
33) #21-Sage Karam / 67 laps / running
32) #33-Lawless Alan / 68 laps / running
2024 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) TRICON Garage, Young’s Motorsports (2)
2nd) Bret Holmes Racing, Faction 46, 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 (8)
2nd) Toyota (4)
3rd) Ford (2)
2024 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
