PHOTO: Brock Beard
SEASON IN REVIEW
Mooresville, North Carolina driver Jeffrey Earnhardt picked up his first LASTCAR Cup Series Championship in 2017, scoring five last-place finishes in thirty-four starts during a thirty-six race season. Earnhardt claimed the title by two finishes over rookie driver Cody Ware. The first of Ware’s three last-place finishes came in his series debut at Atlanta, where he trailed the 2,500th NASCAR Cup race ever run.
The son Dale Earnhardt, Jr.’s step-brother Kerry, Jeffrey Earnhardt was competing in his third Cup Series season. He transitioned from the XFINITY Series to Cup in 2015, just after he was released by Johnny Davis’ team JD Motorsports, with whom he earned 18th in the 2014 series standings. On September 12, 2015, Earnhardt finished 40th of 43 starters in his Cup debut at Richmond. That night, he drove for Archie St. Hilaire’s team Go FAS Racing, with whom he’d run most of the 2016 season. His best finish of that year came in the fall race at Charlotte, where he ran 26th. But, with Matt DiBenedetto coming aboard to run for Hilaire full-time, Earnhardt was shopping for another ride.
Earnhardt found a home with The Motorsports Group (TMG), which was in the process of merging with Joe Falk’s team Circle Sport. Circle Sport, which had fielded the #33 Chevrolet in previous seasons, had in 2016 leased its charter to Leavine Family Racing. When the lease ran out, a deal was struck for Curtis Key’s team, which had earned the previous year’s LASTCAR Cup Series title with Josh Wise after a difficult debut as an “open team.” As a result of the merger, the car’s number was changed from #30 to #33, and the single-car effort prepared to run in the Daytona 500. Carrying sponsorship from Starter, which backed a handful of Earnhardt’s other Cup efforts with BK Racing, Earnhardt challenged for a Top 20 finish before a late crash left him 26th.
On March 19, the Cup Series arrived in Phoenix, where Earnhardt debuted new sponsorship from NiceRide Apparel. Unfortunately, the car broke a transmission after just nine laps, handing Earnhardt his first Cup Series last-place finish in his 28th series start. He’d go back-to-back the next week at Fontana on March 26 when Derrike Cope returned to the track with just 33 laps to go after an extended stay in the garage, dropping Earnhardt and the blown engine on his #33 K1Speed Chevrolet to 39th. His third finish came on April 9 at Texas, where Superior Logistics and the Chris Kyle Memorial backed the effort, this time after a crash in the Turn 1 wall. Number four came in the Coca-Cola 600, where something let go in the back of his #33 Towne Bank Chevrolet in Turn 4, dropping fluid on the track. The incident, which happened as he was being lapped, ended up collecting race Brad Keselowski and Chase Elliott.
Earnhardt would not finish last again for nearly three months, during which time the re-christened Circle Sport with The Motorsports Group picked up their biggest sponsor yet. At Dover, one week after the last-place run at Charlotte, Earnhardt rolled out in a new green-and-white #33 with sponsorship from the Hulu streaming video service. The sponsor immediately paid dividends as Earnhardt ran 27th at “The Monster Mile,” nearly besting his performance in the Daytona 500. The team didn’t finish last for their fifth and final time until August 19 at Bristol, where they were innocent victims, collected in a crash between Austin Dillon and Kasey Kahne. It was his only last-place finish in the Hulu car.
One of the most spirited last-place battles Earnhardt was involved in came at Michigan on June 18. Earnhardt fell to last on Lap 111 of 200, and soon found himself on the same lap as Reed Sorenson in the #15 Corrigan Oil Chevrolet. The two remained in each other’s sights for much of the rest of the race, trading the spot frequently. Sorenson drafted past Earnhardt on Lap 128, and Earnhardt got by again on Lap 150. A spinning Ryan Sieg challenged for the spot, then passed them both, leaving them to battle once more on Lap 170. It was only when Chris Buescher lost an additional lap for a mechanical issue with 14 laps to go, then a late crash by Danica Patrick (see below), that both drivers were lifted from the final two positions. Earnhardt finished 35th, Sorenson 34th, both still on the same lap.
Earnhardt finished the season 37th in the driver standings. He ran the most races of any season in his Cup career – 34 of 36 – as road ringer Boris Said closed out his career by driving in his place at Sonoma and Watkins Glen. Though it all, Earnhardt took the LASTCAR title virtually uncontested. His second last-place finish at Fontana took the lead from Corey LaJoie, and he held it for the rest of the season.
It was the second consecutive LASTCAR Cup Series title for Curtis Key, the first back-to-back titles for a single owner since 2013, when Michael McDowell earned his third in a row for Phil Parsons.
OTHER LASTCAR HEADLINES
The 2017 LASTCAR Cup Series season saw several bizarre and unique last-place battles. At least some were due to NASCAR’s new five-minute “Crash Clock” rule instituted for Monster Energy’s first year as title sponsor. Crash damage could only be repaired on pit road by tape, and the car had to reach minimum speed within five minutes. No more than six men could work on the car, and if the driver climbed out, his car was unable to move, or he drove his wrecked car to the garage, his day was over. Only mechanical issues could be worked on in the garage.
Heading into Kentucky on July 8, a triple-header weekend with the Trucks and XFINITY in town, both races saw the last-place finishers fail to complete a single lap (Norm Benning in Trucks, Brandon Jones in XFINITY). On the Cup side, rookie Gray Gaulding was shaking down his new ride with Premium Motorsports in the #55 #CheckIt4Andretti Toyota. Gaulding took the green 39th in the 40-car field, then ducked onto pit road, where the crew looked under the car, investigating a rear end problem. The crew then instructed Gaulding to make a slow lap around the track and duck into the garage. When Gaulding did this, he was still not credited with completing a single lap. If the repairs were unsuccessful, it would mark the first time in NASCAR history that three races in one weekend had a car fail to complete a single lap. The Premium Motorsports crew got Gaulding back out there on Lap 57, ending the record bid. Gaulding would ultimately finish 35th while Jimmie Johnson’s crash left him last.
At Pocono on July 30, a multi-car accident on the opening lap cast doubt as to who would finish last. Among those involved in the Turn 3 wreck were Aric Almirola, whose #43 Smithfield Ford rear-ended another car, and Matt DiBenedetto, whose #32 Dick Stevens Jerky & Trail Mix Ford dug its splitter into the grass, tearing up the front valence. DiBenedetto pulled onto pit road, stopping in a stall that was six stalls away from the start/finish line. Almirola tried to follow DiBenedetto, but the #43 was smoking badly, forcing him to abandon it in the middle of pit lane behind the #32. Both cars were brought to the garage, eliminated under NASCAR’s new “Crash Clock” rule – Almirola on Lap 2, then DiBenedetto on Lap 3. Whether Almirola or DiBenedetto would be credited with last place depended on a number of contradicting factors, including (1) who followed who into the garage, (2) whether the car was driven into the garage or towed, and (3) failing that, which of the two drivers qualified worse. In the end, Almirola was credited with last, even though he was pulled to the garage ahead of DiBenedetto. The reason was Almirola’s car was towed, meaning that the distance traveled to the garage area opening did not count. This proved crucial since this particular opening was at the same spot as the start/finish line. DiBenedetto, unlike Almirola, drove his car to this spot, crediting him with one lap complete to Almirola’s zero. It became one of the closest last-place battles in NASCAR history.
On the weekend of August 12 and 13, three of NASCAR’s all-time last-place record holders competed against one another at two completely different tracks. It began on August 12 at Michigan, where Joe Nemechek fell out of Saturday’s Truck Series race with a vibration after 2 laps. This allowed him to break a tie with Morgan Shepherd for the second-most last-place finishes in NASCAR history, the 40th of his career. Minutes after the race, the green flag flew in the XFINITY Series race at Mid-Ohio, where Shepherd fell victim to a first-lap mechanical issue, then retired with handling problems. This allowed him to re-tie Nemechek for second in the all-time last-place standings. Finally, Sunday’s Cup race at Michigan saw Derrike Cope lose an engine, handing him his first Cup Series last-place finish since 2006. This allowed Cope to gain the one-finish ground he’d lost to both Nemechek and Shepherd the day before. Ultimately, both Nemechek and Cope would finish last once more in 2017, but remained second through fourth in the all-time LASTCAR standings.
The Chicagoland Speedway continued its reputation for a complete lack of attrition in 2017 with its third-consecutive Cup race without a single DNF. Finishing last in the September 17 running was XFINITY Series regular Ray Black, Jr., who ended up 16 laps down in his Cup debut.
The final months of the season focused on the #Appreci88ion Tour as Dale Earnhardt, Jr., the sport’s most popular driver, announced he would be retiring from full-time Cup racing. By November, it was also reported that 2003 NASCAR Cup Series Champion Matt Kenseth didn’t have a full-time ride lined-up for 2018, citing a lack of top-flite rides and his being replaced by Erik Jones. Also scaling back was Danica Patrick, who lost her ride with Stewart Haas Racing due to lack of sponsorship. All three drivers ended up finishing last exactly once in the 2017 season. Earnhardt’s came at Watkins Glen on August 6, his engine failure the only DNF of the race. Kenseth’s came in the Daytona 500, where he’d won twice, a multi-car accident handing him just his third last-place finish and his first since 2009. Patrick’s came at Michigan on June 18, where she was collected in a multi-car accident with just ten laps to go.
The year 2017 also saw the very best and very worst for the Cup Series’ small teams. In the second year of the new Charter system, fully half of the season’s races – 18 of 36 – had fields of fewer than 40 cars, up dramatically from just four the year before. The fewest cars were at Watkins Glen in August and Michigan in June, each presenting just 37. Tommy Baldwin Racing closed its doors, merged with Premium Motorsports, while just two new start-up teams joined the circuit after the Daytona 500, each running a partial schedule: Motorsports Business Management (#66) and StarCom Racing (#00).
Meanwhile, the Cup Series title went to Martin Truex, Jr., whose team, Furniture Row Racing of Denver, Colorado, had won the 2008 LASTCAR Cup title with Joe Nemechek.
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
1st) Jeffrey Earnhardt (5)
2nd) Cody Ware (3)
3rd) Derrike Cope, Erik Jones, Corey LaJoie, Ryan Newman, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. (2)
4th) A.J. Allmendinger, Aric Almirola, Ray Black, Jr., Clint Bowyer, Chris Buescher, Landon Cassill, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Joey Gase, Gray Gaulding, Timmy Hill, Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, Kyle Larson, Justin Marks, Jamie McMurray, Danica Patrick, Ryan Sieg, Reed Sorenson (1)
