XFINITY: Dawson Cram’s brake pedal goes to the floor on Lap 2 at Pocono
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
PHOTO: Matt Miller, @MGMiller17
Dawson Cram picked up the 2nd last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career in Saturday’s Explore The Pocono Mountains 225 at the Pocono Raceway when his #74 Frog Alley Brewing / 10 Mill Vodka Chevrolet crashed after completing 1 of 90 laps.
The finish, which came in Cram’s 26th series start, was his first of the season and first in a XFINITY Series race since March 11, 2023 at Phoenix, 48 races ago . In the XFINITY Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 18th for the #74, the 396th from a crash, and the 645th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 58th for the #74, the 1,383rd from a crash, and the 1,951st for Chevrolet.
Fans may best know Cram for his wreck with Joey Gase earlier this year at Richmond, after which Gase threw his rear bumper panel at Cram’s passing car. They may know that the 25th-place finish Cram earned that day was his best of the season to that point, a mark he’s since improved with a pair of 22nd-place showings at Charlotte and Iowa. These runs came driving for Johnny Davis at JD Motorsports, where he and Garrett Smithley have mostly competed on the ovals. He earned the ride after last fall’s Phoenix finale, where his 19th-place finish for SS-Green Light Racing remains his career-best.
The preliminary entry list for Pocono showed Cram back in JD Motorsports’ #4 after both Ty Dillon and Thomas Annunziata failed to qualify last Saturday on the Chicago Street Course. But by midweek, Cram was moved to Mike Harmon Racing’s #74 in place of Jade Buford. It was then revealed that Thomas Annunziata would drive the #4, and that JDM would withdraw the #6 entry originally listed for Garrett Smithley. The withdrawal meant the 38 remaining entries would all start Saturday’s race. Of these, Cram ranked 33rd in practice despite running just three laps, the fewest in the session. He then ranked 36th in qualifying with a lap of 56.569 seconds (159.098mph).
This was not Cram’s first start for Harmon. In fact, prior to this season, seven of his first 12 career starts came in Harmon’s #74, including his 35th-place series debut at Loudon in 2021. This season has seen the underfunded team struggle even more in qualifying. After Stanton Barrett failed to qualify for the season opener in Daytona, Harmon joined forces with Jordan Anderson Racing to field the #32 in four races. Anderson, Sage Karam, and Ryan Vargas drove Harmon’s car with Anderson’s team numbers, but finished no better than 36th in those starts. Harmon returned in Charlotte, announcing that Jade Buford would drive the #74. But Buford was one of only two DNQs for Charlotte, the only one in Nashville, and rain prevented him from even turning a lap in Loudon. This led to Saturday’s race, and Cram’s reunion with the team.
Cram would run the same paint scheme from the Harmon team’s last three attempts, which thanks to the small entry list would see its newest sponsor finally turn laps in a race. Frog Alley Brewing in Schenectady, New York, which added the line “Froggystyle” on the car’s TV panel, promoted their new distilling company 10 Mill Vodka. Among at least four other backers was Save 22, a foundation combatting suicide among first responders and veterans, which has been on Harmon’s car every year since 2018.
Annunziata was the first of the two drivers Cram outpaced in qualifying. The other was 38th-place Stephen Mallozzi, who secured his first XFINITY Series start after testing setups for Reaume Brothers Racing in the early laps of Friday’s Truck Series race. Mallozzi’s #35 GreatPoconoHomes.com Chevrolet, fielded by Joey Gase Motorsports, was joined by four drivers who incurred pre-race unapproved adjustments penalties: 4th-place Taylor Gray in the #19 Operation 300 Toyota, 14th-place Josh Berry in the #15 VIVA Tequila Seltzer Ford, 19th-place Jesse Love in the #2 Whelen Chevrolet, and 34th-place Ryan Truex in the #20 Certified Collision Center Toyota. Also docked was Brennan Poole, whose #44 Members 1st Chevrolet would have to serve a pass-through penalty after the start due to an unapproved adjustment made after he went through tech inspection on Friday.
When the race started, Taylor Gray was running highest of the penalized drivers, ranking 29th, with Poole in 35th, preparing to serve his pass-through penalty. Behind him were Cram and Mallozzi. Now in last place was Annunziata, who was more than six full seconds behind Mallozzi at the line. The rest of the order was as follows:
29) 19-Taylor Gray 2.363
30) 28-Kyle Sieg 2.413
31) 15-Josh Berry 2.548
32) 29-Blaine Perkins 2.602
33) 20-Ryan Truex 2.696
34) 2-Jesse Love 2.728
35) 44-Brennan Poole 2.952
36) 74-Dawson Cram 2.961
37) 35-Stephen Mallozzi 3.253
38) 4-Thomas Annunziata 9.897
PHOTO: Zachary Leffler, @Zeffler9
Coming around to complete the first lap, Poole ducked down pit road to serve his pass-through. But Annunziata was so far behind that, at the stripe, the #4 remained in last place, 38.282 seconds behind the leader and 24.590 behind Poole. The now 37th-place Poole was 13.692 behind the leader and another 7.253 behind Mallozzi. But just about one half-second ahead of Mallozzi, Cram’s brake pedal went to the floor. The driver turned hard to the left, sending his car skating back up the track. Mallozzi’s gap allowed him to safely pass as Cram backed hard into the wall with the left-rear, drawing the first caution of the day. Cram climbed from the car without serious injury, immediately taking over last place as Poole and Annunziata caught up with the pack. The car was then towed into the garage just past the exit of pit road, and was loaded in the Harmon team’s small black trailer.
PHOTO: Anthony Liquori, @DaleJr_Fan9585
Finishing 37th was Josh Bilicki, who suffered an electrical issue on his #92 Rita’s Ice Chevrolet that sent him behind the wall shortly after the Lap 7 restart. Ryan Ellis took 36th after his #43 Sweetwater Construction Corporation Chevrolet was swept up in a multi-car pileup in Turn 1 that destroyed the nose of his car. Mallozzi’s run in the #35 yielded a 35th-place finish when his engine soured coming off Turn 1, leaving him stranded on the apron. Rounding out the group was Blaine Perkins, whose #29 AutoParkIt.com Ford suffered right-front fender damage in an earlier crash, then dropped off the pace in Turn 2 shortly after Mallozzi stalled.
LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the first last-place finish for the #74 in a XFINITY Series race at Pocono.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
38) #74-Dawson Cram / 1 lap / crash
37) #92-Josh Bilicki / 8 laps / electrical
36) #43-Ryan Ellis / 47 laps / crash
35) #35-Stephen Mallozzi / 68 laps / engine
34) #29-Blaine Perkins / 72 laps / suspension
2024 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Joey Gase Motorsports, JR Motorsports (3)
2nd) DGM Racing, Jordan Anderson Racing, SS-Green Light Racing (2)
3rd) Alpha Prime Racing, Joe Gibbs Racing, Kaulig Racing, Mike Harmon Racing, Motorsports Business Management, RSS Racing, Stewart-Haas Racing (1)
2024 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (13)
2nd) Ford, Toyota (3)
2024 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
