by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief

A.J. Allmendinger picked up the 3rd last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career in Saturday’s National Debt Relief 250 at the Martinsville Speedway when his #16 Amarr Chevrolet crashed after 13 of 250 laps.

The finish, which came in Allmendinger’s 130th series start, was his first of the season and first in a XFINITY Series race since August 3, 2019 at Watkins Glen, 177 races ago. In the XFINITY Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 16th for the #16, the 402nd from a crash, and the 653rd for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 41st for the #16, the 1,401st from a crash, and the 1,970th for Chevrolet.

Two races ago, Allmendinger prevailed in a dramatic late-race battle with Ryan Sieg to take the checkered flag in Las Vegas, securing him a spot in this year’s Championship Four – his first since 2021. It was his first win of what has been an inconsistent season, overshadowed by teammate Shane van Gisbergen and split with a part-time season in the Cup Series with the same Kaulig Racing team. As he again prepares to go full-time Cup racing in 2025, Allmendinger came home 10th in Homestead – his 17th top-ten finish of the year. But the spring race at Martinsville saw one of Allmendinger’s three DNFs this year, yielding a 36th-place finish.

Friday at Martinsville, Allmendinger began the weekend 16th of the 38 entrants in opening practice. He then qualified 11th with a lap of 20.026 seconds (94.557mph).

Securing the 38th and final starting spot was Ryan Sieg, whose #28 Sci Aps Ford had a brake line issue that prevented him from qualifying a car that ran a strong 9th in practice. He incurred a redundant tail-end penalty for the repair, joining the unapproved adjustments penalties handed to 15th-place starter William Sawalich for a water line issue on the #19 Starkey / Soundgear Toyota and 18th-place Parker Kligerman who also had brake problems on the #48 Big Machine Spiked Coolers Chevrolet.

When the green flag dropped, Sawalich was last into Turn 1, following both Sieg and the #14 CB Fabricating Ford of Greg Van Alst. Six cars ahead of him was Carson Ware, whose black-and-orange #35 Jacob Companies Chevrolet was already trailing Logan Bearden’s #74 Mike Harmon Racing Chevrolet by a few car lengths. Ware had engine issues in practice, where his was the slowest car of the session, and this continued into qualifying where he still ranked 33rd ahead of five other drivers. But early in the race, the engine was stumbling once more. On Lap 3, he was already coming down pit road, then pulled behind the wall for more repairs on Lap 5.

Meanwhile, Allmendinger was holding the inside lane of a tight battle for 10th position when he banged doors with Cole Custer’s #00 Haas Automation Ford as the two raced off Turn 2. The contact cut down Allmendinger’s right-front tire, which sent him straight into the Turn 3 wall, destroying the right-front of his car. Already assured his Playoff spot from the win in Las Vegas, Allmendinger went behind the wall, done for the day, and his interviews were already focused on Phoenix.

At the time, Ware was just ten laps behind Allmendinger in the running order with nearly all the race still to be run. If Ware could return for even a few laps, he’d climb out of last place, where the #35 team finished in the spring event with Akinori Ogata. On Lap 50, Ware’s crew reported, “We’re gonna try an get back out there shortly.” This was done on Lap 78, when he returned to the track 75 laps down. By this point, polesitter Parker Retzlaff had fallen out after he was shoved into Turn 1 on the Lap 53 restart, sending his #31 The Visual Pak Companies Chevrolet into the outside wall. Also out was Leland Honeyman, Jr., whose #42 QuixRX Chevrolet was on the “Crash Clock” after an early spin, then was prevented from reaching minimum speed when another caution forced a one-lap shootout to end Stage 1. Honeyman then climbed out when a fire broke out on his car’s dashboard, adding insult to injury. This gave Ware the chance to pass three cars if he turned about 54 of the remaining 172 laps.

Ware finally completed his fourth lap on Lap 81, then turned two more to bring his total to six, but the engine still misfired. On Lap 85, he returned to pit road and pulled into the garage, where he was parked behind Honeyman’s stopped car. For a moment, the team thought they wouldn’t be able to make repairs, but a NASCAR official confirmed they would. The team looked over the fuel pump this time, and sent him back out on Lap 122, when he completed his seventh lap of the race. But this time, he lost fuel pressure and the engine shut off, forcing him behind the wall again. By now, he was 115 laps down and just five from dropping Allmendinger to last place. A third attempt at returning to the race on Lap 170 was called off when he lost both fuel and oil pressure, bringing him within four laps of Allmendinger. But the Gase team continued to work. “Yup, we’re still trying,” said his team on Lap 190. Finally, on Lap 211 – with just 39 laps left in regulation – Ware returned to the race and completed his tenth circuit, a full 202 laps down.

By this point, the garage area was filling fast. Logan Bearden pulled the #74 behind the wall with flames pouring from behind his right-front wheel, sending him behind the wall for a quick spray from the fire extinguisher. William Sawalich’s #19 backed into the outside wall, then dropped out with suspension issues, declared out on Lap 213. And on Lap 211, the same lap Ware returned to the track, Garrett Smithley pulled his #45 Knight Fire Protection Chevrolet into the garage. Also laps down was Bubba Pollard, whose electrical problem put his #26 Sany Toyota behind the wall for 26 laps. With so few laps remaining, it was unlikely Ware would catch any of them by the checkered flag. The focus was entirely on Allmendinger, and on Lap 214, Ware finally passed him to reach 37th spot. Ware thanked his crew for their hard work, made another pit stop on Lap 224, and remained on track until just four laps to go. He pulled onto pit road, then appeared to stop at the garage entrance as the white flag flew. He took the checkered flag in 37th, 206 laps down. He was a full 31 laps ahead of Allmendinger and just nine behind 36th-place Retzlaff. Honeyman and Bearden completed the Bottom Five.

Mayer goes from one championship battle to another

While Allmendinger will still contest the XFINITY Series Championship in next Saturday’s season finale at Phoenix, Sam Mayer was in position to become the first driver to ever win a NASCAR and LASTCAR championship in the same season. The high attrition kept Mayer’s closest contestant, Dawson Cram, from taking the LASTCAR lead on a bottom-ten tiebreaker. Despite a wreck, Cram still crossed the line in 25th. But Mayer fell short of the Championship Four. On a late-race restart, he was inside the Top Ten when a stack-up led to him rear-ending another car, rupturing the radiator and sending him behind the wall with just 21 laps to go. Mayer remains the LASTCAR leader going into the finale, but Cram remains his closest contender.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This marked the first last-place finish for the #16 in a XFINITY Series race at Martinsville.

*This is Allmendinger’s first XFINITY last-place finish not due to a disqualification.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

38) #16-A.J. Allmendinger / 13 laps / crash

37) #35-Carson Ware / 44 laps / brakes

36) #31-Parker Retzlaff / 53 laps / crash / led 20 laps

35) #42-Leland Honeyman, Jr. / 56 laps / crash

34) #74-Logan Bearden / 162 laps / brakes

2024 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Joey Gase Motorsports, JR Motorsports (4)

2nd) DGM Racing, Jordan Anderson Racing, Kaulig Racing (3)

3rd) Alpha Prime Racing, AM Racing, Joe Gibbs Racing, Mike Harmon Racing, RSS Racing, SS-Green Light Racing, Stewart-Haas Racing (2)

4th) Motorsports Business Management (1)

2024 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet (21)

2nd) Ford (7)

3rd) Toyota (4)

2024 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP