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

J.J. Yeley picked up the 14th last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career in Saturday’s BetRivers 200 at Dover Motor Speedway when his #35 Bryant Adkins Toyota was collected in a multi-car accident after 4 of 208 laps.

The finish, which came in Yeley’s 389th series start, was his first of the season and first since October 22, 2022 at Homestead, 45 races ago. In the XFINITY Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 19th for the #35, the 163rd for Toyota, and the 393rd from a crash. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 33rd for the #35, the 408th for Toyota, and the 1,373rd from a crash.

Just last week in Talladega, Joey Gase found himself in position to claim his first career XFINITY Series victory. Returning to where he gave NASCAR veteran Jimmy Means his first career top-five finish in 2015, Gase clawed his way to 2nd entering the tri-oval. But contact hooked him into the infield grass, tearing away the splitter and sending him tumbling to 18th. It was the latest in a series of frustrating incidents, including Akinori Ogata’s last-place run at Martinsville due to brake issues. The most famous incident was his wreck after contact from Dawson Cram at Richmond, which led to Gase throwing his rear bumper cover at Cram’s car. As of this writing, Gase is auctioning off the famous bumper, whose lead bid sits at $3,000.

For Dover, Gase had no driver listed for an unsponsored and undecorated black Toyota. He soon partnered with J.J. Yeley – his first attempt with the team – and the car carried yellow number decals as the next #35. Still without a primary sponsor, a few associated backers had joined on the lower quarter-panels, including longtime Gase supporter Eternal Fan, plus Mobil 1 and Campbell Electric, LLC of Pipersville, Pennsylvania. He turned in a solid 27th-fastest lap of the 39 teams who practiced, then qualified 33rd as the last car in on speed at 151.356mph (23.785 seconds). It was Yeley’s first start since the spring race at Phoenix. The only DNQ was the #66 Garrison Homes Ford of Motorsports Business Management driver Chad Finchum, who made significant gains between practice and qualifying, only to miss the field by three-thousandths of a second.

On race day, Yeley’s car carried a new logo on the hood with the name Bryant Adkins. Due to repairs needed for a fuel pressure issue, Yeley would be one of six drivers incurring pre-race penalties for unapproved adjustments, sending him from 33rd to the tail end of the field. Also penalized were 19th-place Jeb Burton in the #27 Bommarito Automotive Group Chevrolet, 21st-place Anthony Alfredo in the #5 Dude Wipes Chevrolet, 34th-place Blaine Perkins in the #29 Ollie’s Ford, 35th-place Garrett Smithey in the #6 Heroes Haven Chevrolet, and the 38th and last-place qualifier Josh Williams in the #11 Alloy Employer Services Chevrolet. During the pace laps, NASCAR carefully organized the tail end of both lines. They directed Burton, Alfredo, Yeley, and Smithley to complete the inside line while Perkins and Williams completed the outside line. Still, coming to the green flag, Yeley dropped behind Smithley to trail the inside line, and 37th-place qualifier David Starr let Alfredo by his #14 ATS Alarm Tech Chevrolet.

When the green flag dropped, Yeley was last across the stripe, 3.749 seconds back of the lead, but climbed to 36th by Lap 3, when Smithley took over the spot, 0.163 behind Starr. Smithley then caught Starr on Lap 4, the pair of them 0.070 second apart in a side-by-side duel. Smithley had just cleared Starr, putting the #14 in last place, when trouble broke out on the frontstretch. The broadcast showed Yeley’s car with heavy rear end damage against the outside wall while Hailie Deegan’s #15 AirBox Ford careened off the inside barrier. Smithley thanked his spotter for negotiating him through the wreck, and the spotter said, “Yeah, that 15’s gonna cause a lot of wrecks today.”

Further accounts revealed it was Dawson Cram – the same driver involved in Gase’s Richmond wreck – who caused both Deegan and Yeley to crash. “Yeah, I’m fine,” said Yeley over the radio. “What a dumbass move from the 4 (Cram).” Yeley, who immediately took last from Starr and Smithley, said in his interview with Bob Pockrass that Cram was having trouble staying in his lane, and that “his racetrack awareness isn’t there.” Deegan had been dropping back in the early laps, and Cram made a move at that moment, triggering the wreck that sent Yeley into Deegan. Cram then tweeted computer data from the race showing him on Gase’s outside coming off Turn 4, then check up when Deegan and Yeley tangled in front of him. Unfortunately, FS1 failed to show a replay of what started the incident during their broadcast. Cram finished 29th, three laps down. Deegan took 31st, eight laps down.

Two of RSS Racing’s four entries then dropped out in separate incidents caused by fire. Ryan Sieg’s #39 Sci Aps Ford took 37th after fire erupted from behind both front fenders, forcing Sieg to jump out of his car before it stopped against the inside wall at Turn 2. Blaine Perkins’ own cockpit of the #29 Ollie’s Ford was also filled with smoke after 47 laps, drawing the next caution. Both were listed out with “engine” and “electrical” as their officially listed reasons. “Fire” has never been a listed reason out for a NASCAR XFINITY Series last-place finisher, and it hasn’t been the listed reason for a Cup last-place finisher since February 20, 1977 with Bobby Wawak in the Daytona 500.

Completing the Bottom Five were Corey Heim, who on the eve of his unexpected Cup debut for Legacy Motor Club lost the engine on his #26 Synergy Mobile Toyota, causing him to creep along the apron on the backstretch on his way to the pits. Taylor Gray was 34th after a late-race battle among the leaders sent his #19 Operation 300 Toyota bouncing off the outside wall, ending his race.

Carson Kvapil not the only surprise at Dover

Saturday very nearly saw a massive upset as Carson Kvapil, making just his second series start, led for 14 laps in his #88 Chevy Truck Season Chevrolet. He led the field at the end of regulation as a series of accidents pushed the race into overtime, and was only passed by eventual winner Ryan Truex coming back to the white flag. He still came home in 2nd, already besting his 5th-place debut in Martinsville.

Taking 8th was Kyle Weatherman, who was 2nd-fastest in opening practice on a strong afternoon for DGM Racing. Weatherman and his #91 DriveSmartWarranty.com Chevrolet once again tied his career-best finish. All four of his top-ten finishes were 8th-place finishes, dating back to his breakthrough run at Kentucky for Mike Harmon Racing in 2020. Weatherman’s teammate Kaden Honeycutt - making just his second series start - qualified a strong 18th in the #92 Drive Sober Arrive Alive Delaware Chevrolet, and ran as high as 10th before slipping to 23rd at the finish.

Anthony Alfredo continues his hot streak, finishing 9th in his #5 Dude Wipes Chevrolet for a third consecutive top-ten finish, not including his 6th-place run in last Sunday’s Cup race at Talladega. This proved particularly timely as Alfredo won the $100,000 “Dash 4 Cash” bonus.

Parker Retzlaff’s 10th-place run in the #31 Funkaway Chevrolet was his first top-ten finish since the series’ second round in Atlanta, and already marks his 11th series Top Ten in just 52 series starts.

Ryan Ellis in the #43 Costa Oil Chevrolet also rebounded from his late-race spin at Talladega to finish best of the Alpha Prime Racing team in 13th, two spots short of his season-best 11th in Daytona. Prior to Saturday, Ellis’ best XFINITY finish at Dover was a 20th two years ago – his only finish better than 25th.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This marked the first last-place finish for the #35 in a XFINITY Series race at Dover.

*Yeley has now scored 40 last-place finishes across NASCAR’s top three series, breaking a tie with Derrike Cope and Michael McDowell for the fourth-most all-time. Only Jeff Green (121), Joe Nemechek (48), and Morgan Shepherd (42) have more.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

38) #35-J.J. Yeley / 4 laps / crash

37) #39-Ryan Sieg / 25 laps / engine

36) #29-Blaine Perkins / 47 laps / electrical

35) #26-Corey Heim / 85 laps / engine

34) #19-Taylor Gray / 183 laps / crash

2024 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Joey Gase Motorsports, Jordan Anderson Racing, JR Motorsports (2)

2nd) DGM Racing, Kaulig Racing, Motorsports Business Management (1)

2024 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet (6)

2nd) Toyota (2)

3rd) Ford (1)

2024 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP