XFINITY: After others struggle with mechanical issues, Dean Thompson is collected in early Phoenix pileup
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
PHOTO: Sam Hunt Racing, @Team_SHR26
Dean Thompson picked up the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career in Saturday’s GOVX 200 at the Phoenix Raceway when his #26 MCM Transportation Toyota was collected in a multi-car accident after 61 of 208 laps.
The finish came in Thompson’s sixth series start. In the XFINITY Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 17th for the #26, the 167th for Toyota, and the 407th from a crash. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 49th for the #26, the 418th for Toyota, and the 1,410th from a crash.
It was at this same Phoenix track that Thompson made his Truck Series debut, finishing 21st in a Chevrolet for Niece Motorsports. He then embarked on his rookie campaign with Niece in 2022, then for the following two seasons switched to TRICON Garage’s stout Toyotas. While still pursuing an elusive first victory, he’s been in contention many times, but on his strongest days often found himself collected in an accident. He picked up five DNFs in 2022, ten in 2023, then another five last year. Despite this, he’s steadily improved his overall points rank each year, earning a career-best 3rd at Charlotte in 2023, then matching it at Talladega. He then led the first four laps of his Truck Series career last spring at Atlanta.
Last spring at Charlotte saw Thompson make his XFINITY Series debut with Sam Hunt Racing. Fuel pump issues held him back, leaving him 34th at the finish, but he rebounded with a 20th-place lead-lap finish his next time out in Talladega. This year, he embarks on his first full-time XFINITY season in SHR’s flagship #26. In the season opener, he was immediately rewarded with a new career-best finish – an 8th. And though an early flat tire left him stopped on the track in Atlanta, leaving him 35th, he took home 18th last Saturday in COTA.
For Phoenix, Thompson reunited with sponsor MCM Transportation, which backed both his most recent Truck Series start in last fall’s Phoenix finale and his XFINITY Series debut in Charlotte. He continued to show speed, running 16th in opening practice, then improving to 12th in qualifying with a lap of 27.693 seconds (129.997mph).
With 38 drivers entered for as many starting spot, everyone made the show, including last-place qualifier Greg Van Alst, back behind the wheel of the #35 Prescott Tire Pros Chevrolet fielded by Joey Gase Motorsports with Scott Osteen. But moments later, as 30th-place starter Ryan Sieg’s team pushed his #39 Sci Aps Ford into his garage stall, the splitter snagged a raised concrete patch between two slabs. What seemed like a minor incident chipped the concrete edge and caused significant damage to the splitter, forcing both the RSS Racing team and other Ford programs to scramble in preparing their flat-black backup car. In less than two hours, the team was ready, and would incur a tail-end penalty as a result. He’d line up last on the outside line behind William Sawalich, whose team had a faulty fuel pump on his 6th-place #18 Soundgear Toyota. Trailing the inside line was Matt DiBenedetto, whose engine change on the #99 Viking Motorsports Chevrolet caused him to surrender the 31st starting spot.
When the green flag dropped, Sieg was last across the stripe, showing 3.230 seconds back of the lead to DiBenedetto’s 3.177. By the end of Lap 1, the spot fell to Van Alst’s teammate Joey Gase in the #35 NFPA / Donate Life Arizona Chevrolet, 4.379 seconds back of the lead. On Lap 3, Gase dropped Van Alst back to the spot, now 5.867 behind the leader. That gap increased to nearly a second by Lap 5. Around Lap 7, Thomas Annunziata made an unscheduled stop after losing power on his #70 Bayshore / Ashurst Honey Chevrolet. The Cope Family Racing crew looked over the oil pump belt, then determined the car had power but no ignition. Now multiple laps down in last place, Annunziata was then pushed backwards into the garage on Lap 18. DiBenedetto then made an unscheduled stop on Lap 21, but continued in 37th, now showing 2 laps down. On Lap 27, Annunziata re-fired the engine and rejoined the race under green, showing 21 laps down.
Back on track, Van Alst was still in 36th and had fallen a second lap down by Lap 44. Two laps later, the caution fell to end Stage 1. Still holding at 21 laps down, Annunziata reported his car was “crazy tight,” but “don’t want to lose lateral grip either.” The team prepared adjustments and told their driver to focus on learning how to race these cars on an oval track.
Next to find trouble was Anthony Alfredo, who fell off the lead lap during an extended pit stop for his #42 Dude Wipes Chevrolet. He attempted to rejoin the field for the restart, but then said, “Something just broke broke.” The team told him to pull into the garage area, but the car stalled midway down pit road, drawing the caution just moments after the restart. While the team said Alfredo wasn’t leaking fluid, the driver smelled something and the crew later revealed he left some gear oil in his stall. By Lap 58, Alfredo received a push through Turns 1 and 2, then drove himself behind the wall on the backstretch. “Every time I try to pop-start it, it’s like it wants to run but it won’t.” In the garage, the team removed Alfredo’s rear axles and discussed a possible issue with the rear gear, which was locking up.
On Lap 62, Ryan Ellis joined Alfredo in the garage, the DGM Racing x JIM crew scrambling to get a replacement alternator and battery for the #71 Rolling Plains Construction Chevrolet. The next time by, Ellis was three laps down in 36th to Alfredo’s nine laps down in 37th with Annunziata still on track in last place, 21 down. This is when trouble broke out in Turn 3.
Heading into the corner, Austin Hill was running the low lane in a tight battle near the lead. Hill misjudged the apex and slammed the edge of the SAFER barrier with the left side of his #21 Bennett Transportation Chevrolet. The impact deflected Hill’s car to the right, hooking Sheldon Creed’s #00 Pit Boss Ford into a spin. Thompson was among those trying to escape the wreck to the inside. But near corner exit, Thompson was bumped by Connor Zilisch’s #88 Roto-Rooter Chevrolet. This impact sent Thompson on the same trajectory as Hill, sending him sliding into the nose of Hill and the outside wall. Creed made it to pit road, but both Hill’s and Thompson’s cars were soon towed to the garage area.
Back in the garage, Alfredo’s crew bolted on the rear tires on Lap 66, and the #42 rejoined the race around Lap 70. At the time, Alfredo was in 37th, 14 laps down to the leaders and within five of catching 36th-place Ellis. On Lap 75, Alfredo made up this gap and climbed past Ellis into 36th. But on Lap 79, Ellis re-fired the engine, then returned to the track on Lap 79. By then, the now 37th-place Ellis was 20 laps down running just in front of the leaders. He was barely a lap ahead of Annunziata, who had made up nearly his entire deficit to Ellis. But this entire group was now quickly catching the DNFs of both Hill and Thompson. Ellis caught and passed the pair on Lap 84, followed by Annunziata on Lap 85, dropping Thompson to last and Hill to 37th. Creed, meanwhile, had completed just three more laps after the wreck before his race also ended, putting him 36th.
Annunziata ended up finishing 34th with Ellis 33rd and Alfredo 32nd. Taking the 35th spot was Dawson Cram, whose #74 Save22.net Chevrolet was looking for additional sponsorship coming into the race. Cram broke loose in Turn 3, then apparently while heading to pit road cut down a right-rear tire, sending him into the wall between Turns 1 and 2.
Sieg rallies into Top Five
Ryan Sieg’s backup car overcame a slow pit stop to charge to 4th at the finish, prevailing in a last-lap, last-corner pass to the inside of a dominant Justin Allgaier in Saturday’s overtime finish. It was Sieg’s first top-five finish of the 2025 season, and his first in 24 XFINITY starts at Phoenix. His previous track-best finish of 10th came almost six years to the day on March 9, 2019.
LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the first last-place finish for the #26 in a XFINITY Series race at Phoenix.
*Thompson’s 61 laps ties Stefan Parsons’ mark from last November for the third-most laps completed by a XFINITY driver at Phoenix. The record of 152 laps remains with Dillon Bassett, set on November 5, 2022.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
38) #26-Dean Thompson / 61 laps / crash
37) #21-Austin Hill / 61 laps / crash
36) #00-Sheldon Creed / 64 laps / crash
35) #74-Dawson Cram / 144 laps / crash
34) #70-Thomas Annunziata / 185 laps / running
2025 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Joe Gibbs Racing, Kaulig Racing, Sam Hunt Racing, SS-Green Light Racing (1)
2025 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet, Toyota (2)
2025 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
