CUP: A.J. Allmendinger unable to follow two others out of the garage and back onto Dover track
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
PHOTO: Kaulig Racing, @KauligRacing
A.J. Allmendinger picked up the 13th last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career in Sunday’s Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at the Dover Motor Speedway when his #16 Campers Inn RV Chevrolet fell out with suspension issues after 221 of 407 laps.
The finish, which came in Allmendinger’s 467th series start, was his third of the season and first since Kansas, nine races ago. In the Cup Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 14th for suspension issues, the 23rd for the #16, and the 874th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 46th for the #16, the 55th due to the suspension, and the 2,001st for Chevrolet.
The finish also moved Allmendinger back into the lead in the 2025 LASTCAR Cup Series Championship, taking the top spot back from Riley Herbst.
Following his blown engine after just six laps around Kansas, Allmendinger rebounded with an impressive 4th in the longest race of the year, the Coca-Cola 600. In the seven races since, he’s finished inside the Top 20 in all but Pocono, where he took 21st. The recent road and street course double-header this month also rejuvenated the #16 team, where Allmendinger led two laps at Chicago and finished 6th, then qualified 5th at Sonoma where he ran fastest in practice. There, in an interview with our Ben Schneider, Allmendinger made clear he wasn’t interested in returning to IndyCar to attempt “The Double.”
At Dover, with practice and qualifying cancelled by rain, Allmendinger lined up 17th of the 37 entrants to start Sunday’s race.
Securing the 37th and final starting spot was J.J. Yeley in the NY Racing Team’s #44 Ultimate Tailgating RV Chevrolet. By mid-week, his was one of seven “open” entries in the field as the six combined entries of 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports each lost their Charters, pending further decisions in the teams’ ongoing antitrust case against NASCAR. With no pre-race penalties, Yeley’s car – instructed to pull to the tail end of the inside line – remained in the last spot. As the field drove through a haze on the backstretch caused by the track’s fireworks display, Yeley crossed the stripe 3.303 seconds back of the lead.
During TNT’s starting lineup animation, Yeley’s picture was incorrectly used a second time for Shane van Gisbergen, winner of the last two races. On Lap 3, Yeley was alerted that Van Gisbergen was falling back through the field from his 6th spot on the grid. Still, Yeley remained in last, 7.095 seconds back of the lead on Lap 4, then 8.844 on Lap 6, when he was told his car was fast on corner exit, but slow in the center. On Lap 9, Van Gisbergen dropped back to 28th, and on Lap 10 radioed “something’s broken in the front.” By Lap 11, Yeley had dropped Van Gisbergen to last, and the #88 Safety Culture Chevrolet pulled down pit road. NASCAR made sure to instruct the team not to take on fuel as a competition caution would come on Lap 35.
Van Gisbergen makes his unscheduled stop on Lap 11. (PHOTO: Matt Miller, @MGMiller17)
On Lap 14, Van Gisbergen returned to the track with fresh tires, but now four laps down to the leaders. As he came up to speed, the team told him he’d punctured a right-front tire in the opening laps, a tire which had just eight pounds of air pressure as he came in for the stop. The driver also reported he’d made contact during the early laps, but didn’t think it knocked down the tire. Back on track on Lap 28, Yeley climbed past Cody Ware’s #51 Mighty Fire Breaker Ford into 35th, then on Lap 29 took 34th from Todd Gilliland in the #34 Love’s Travel Stores Ford. Moments later on Lap 31, then-leader Chase Elliott lapped 36th-place Ware, taking the “Lucky Dog” spot from Van Gisbergen. The #88 crew told Van Gisbergen to stay in front of Elliott, which he did. When the competition caution fell on Lap 37, Ware earned the “Lucky Dog,” and Van Gisbergen remained four laps down.
On the Lap 43 restart, Van Gisbergen remained in last place, and Ware retook the 36th spot that was briefly held under yellow by Gilliland. By Lap 63, Van Gisbergen’s team remarked his car was tight, but also said, “We’re not way off – we’re just running on our own lap 32nd in line.” On Lap 74, the 36th-place Ware lost a lap again, followed by 35th-place Gilliland on Lap 79, 34th-place Yeley on Lap 81, and 33rd-place Cole Custer’s #41 Haas Tooling Ford on Lap 84. By Lap 90, Elliott caught and passed Van Gisbergen, passing him to the inside in Turns 1 and 2 to put the #88 a fifth lap down. Three laps later, Elliott had lapped up to 30th-place Daniel Suarez, whose #99 Jockey Infinite Cool Underwear Chevrolet held up Elliott in the final laps of Stage 2. By the time Elliott finally made it by on Lap 114, 2nd-place Christopher Bell and 3rd-place Denny Hamlin weren’t far behind Elliott’s rear bumper. Moments later, Erik Jones’ #43 Dollar Tree Toyota bounced off the outside wall in Turn 4, dropping him off the lead lap. Elliott then pulled under the other Legacy Motor Club car of John Hunter Nemechek, whose #42 Hertz Toyota held off to keep on the lead lap at the stripe.
Allmendinger’s first issue arose during this caution, when he limped around the final couple laps with a tire coming apart, leaving strands of rubber trailing from his Chevrolet. After coming in for his stop, Allmendinger’s other three tires were covered in large chunks of rubber that resembled cooled lava. Allmendinger to 28th, though still on the lead lap, keeping Van Gisbergen in last for the Lap 130 restart.
On Lap 147, Ware lost a third lap in the 36th spot. A replay by TNT showed him nearly clobber the wall in Turn 4 when his car slid up the track in front of leader Elliott, the result of a suspension adjustment that didn’t work. Ware then made a pit stop, dropping him five laps down onto the same lap as Van Gisbergen. “Get me out of this thing,” said Ware on Lap 155. “This is embarrassing.” On Lap 159, Van Gisbergen caught Ware on track as the #51 snapped loose in Turns 1 and 2, then did again in Turns 3 and 4, letting the #88 move past. Ware lost a sixth lap on Lap 161, and Van Gisbergen did by Lap 193. Van Gisbergen made a stop on Lap 195, dropping him back to last place behind Ware. Van Gisbergen’s fresh tires allowed him to catch and pass Ware on Lap 206, putting the #51 to last once more. “I know you’re working your as off and it’s not fun,” said his crew. “Just do what you can.”
Next to find trouble was Carson Hocevar, whose #77 Miner Docus Doors and More Chevrolet briefly led with some pit strategy early in Stage 2. Later in Stage 3, while racing under Christopher Bell off Turn 2, Hocevar snapped loose and slapped the outside wall, forcing him down pit road for an unscheduled stop. The team then directed him to the garage. On Lap 217, Hocevar backed up on pit road, then moved back forward toward the Turn 1 entrance, where he was first to pull into the “Damaged Vehicle Policy” zone. He took the last spot on Lap 220 as the crew worked under the hood. Soon after, Allmendinger pulled into the garage on Lap 227 as he’d lost his right-rear brakes, causing his pedal to go to the floor in the corner. Both were joined on Lap 229 by Ware, whose crew set to work on their worsening suspension issue.
The result was a three-way battle for last place as the crews of Hocevar, Allmendinger, and Ware set to work in adjoining stalls in the garage. By Lap 240, Hocevar was still last, showing 29 laps down; Ware held 36th, five laps ahead with 24 down; Allmendinger had 35th, 19 down. At first, radio communications seemed to indicate both Ware and Allmendinger were done for the day, though Hocevar’s had the least radio traffic of the three. But on Lap 250, Ware’s crew was adjusting the steering, and on Lap 252, when Ware’s crew jacked up the car on its left side, Allmendinger’s crew was preparing to return to the track.
On Lap 254, Ware’s crew dropped the hood and relayed a series of adjustments they made, undoing a shock adjustment and raising the car’s nose. This allowed Ware to be first to return to the track on Lap 256, when he was 39 laps down in 35th. Ware soon made up his four-lap gap to Allmendinger, reaching the 34th spot. Next to return to the track was Hocevar, who pulled back out on Lap 264, a full 51 laps down. Hocevar still owed a penalty for speeding in Section 1 when he came to the garage, then rejoined the field. On Lap 275, Hocevar finally climbed out of last place, dropping Allmendinger to last. While Allmendinger’s crew still had the hood up on their car, it was only four laps later on Lap 279 that NASCAR declared him out with suspension issues. That same time by, Ware returned to the garage a second time, and on Lap 284 was declared out with handling issues. However, a moment later, someone on Ware’s crew told NASCAR officials the reason out should be “suspension.” On Lap 290, Hocevar climbed to 35th. He made it no further, re-entering the garage again with 38 to go, done for the day.
The extreme heat and humidity that dominated the day eventually got to J.J. Yeley, who pulled his #44 off the track in the final 30 laps, citing fatigue. He took home 34th, one spot behind the #1 Moose Fraternity Chevrolet of Ross Chastain, whose wreck in Turn 2, the stall in the damp Turn 4 grass brought out a critical caution before a late-race rainstorm further delayed the finish.
Ty Dillon makes it to final round of bracket challenge
Meanwhile, Ty Dillon, Allmendinger’s Kaulig Racing teammate, finished 20th in his #10 Sea Best Chevrolet - one spot and one lap ahead of John Hunter Nemechek, his competitor in the semifinal round of this year’s Million Dollar Bracket Challenge. With the finish, Dillon - the 32nd-ranked seed - will face Ty Gibbs for the prize next Sunday at Indianapolis.
LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the first last-place finish for the #16 in a Cup Series race at Dover since September 17, 1989, when Larry Pearson’s #16 Chattanooga Chew Buick lost the engine after 1 lap.
*Allmendinger is the first Cup Series last-place finisher at Dover to fall out with suspension issues since June 6, 1971 – just the third-ever Cup race held at the track – when Larry Baumel’s #68 1969 Ford fell out after 9 laps.
*The 221 laps completed by Allmendinger is tied for the fourth-most completed by a Cup Series last-place finisher at Dover. The record remains 300 laps, set by Aric Almirola, occurred on May 16, 2021.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
37) #16-A.J. Allmendinger / 221 laps / suspension
36) #51-Cody Ware / 232 laps / handling (suspension)
35) #77-Carson Hocevar / 302 laps / handling / led 8 laps
34) #44-J.J. Yeley / 369 laps / fatigue
33) #1-Ross Chastain / 382 laps / crash
2025 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Kaulig Racing (3)
2nd) 23XI Racing, Hendrick Motorsports, Legacy Motor Club, Penske Racing (2)
3rd) Front Row Motorsports, Garage 66, Hyak Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, NY Racing Team, RFK Racing, Richard Childress Racing, Rick Ware Racing, Spire Motorsports, Trackhouse Racing (1)
2025 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (10)
2nd) Ford (6)
3rd) Toyota (5)
2025 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
