PHOTO: Live Fast Motorsports, @teamlivefast
SEASON IN REVIEW
Wauchula, Florida driver B.J. McLeod picked up his second LASTCAR Cup Series Championship in 2022, scoring four last-place finishes in twenty-nine races during a thirty-six race season.
The 2022 season marked McLeod’s seventh in Cup competition and his second as both team co-owner of his Cup entry, the #78 at Live Fast Motorsports, in addition to his longtime XFINITY program, B.J. McLeod Motorsports. The season, which marked the introduction of NASCAR’s radical new “NextGen” spec car, saw McLeod set a new single-season mark of twenty-nine starts. But a series of crashes and mechanical issues saw his Live Fast effort struggle. The lone highlight came at Daytona on August 28, where he earned his second-consecutive Top Ten in the 400-miler, this time a career-best 7th.
Many of McLeod’s series-leading last-place finishes were the result of quirks with NASCAR’s new NextGen car – quirks that smaller teams like his couldn’t repair as quickly as other teams. The first of McLeod’s series-leading four last-place finishes came at Martinsville on April 9th, where his #78 Epilepsy Foundation Ford struggled with a persistent issue in the steering rack, ultimately making him the only retiree from the race. At Kansas on May 15th, McLeod became the first Cup driver to finish last in a points race due to “chassis” issues. That race saw McLeod’s #78 General Formulations Ford lose a left-rear tire and spin, causing damage to the undertray that affected the airflow underneath the car.
The other two last-place runs came from multi-car crashes in consecutive weeks. At Atlanta’s newly reconfigured 1.5-mile “superspeedway” on July 10th, site of McLeod’s 100th Cup start, his #78 Blaster Ford lost control, collecting Chris Buescher’s Ford and Ty Dillon’s Chevrolet. The following round at New Hampshire on July 17th saw McLeod as the victim, where this time Ty Dillon spun after contact from Justin Haley, sending him spinning up the track off Turn 2. McLeod was following Alex Bowman when both were caught up in the ensuing pileup, putting the #78 MyMochi Ford in last based on track position. While McLeod didn’t finish last for the season’s remaining second half, his team scored two other finishes with “road course ringers” – one with Andy Lally, who had suspension issues at the Circuit of the Americas on March 27th, and Kyle Tilley, whose steering issues cut short his run at Watkins Glen on August 21st.
McLeod secured his second LASTCAR Cup Series Championship in Martinsville’s fall race on October 30th, the season’s next-to-last race.
OTHER LASTCAR HEADLINES
NASCAR’s Busch Clash moved to the field of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on February 6th, where a power steering failure – not a crash – determined last-place in the 23-car main event. That issue befell Denny Hamlin in his #11 FedEx Toyota, his second-straight last-place finish in an exhibition event.
On April 3rd at Richmond, Greg Biffle picked up his first last-place finish since 2008 with suspension issues on the NY Racing Team’s #44 Norfolk State University Chevrolet. The 2022 season saw Biffle make his first Cup starts since 2016, though after Richmond he didn’t make any others for the rest of the season. Biffle took last from Kurt Busch, who was in the garage for 100 laps after he lost fuel pressure on Lap 6. Busch ended up gaining two spots after he returned.
The first of Austin Cindric’s two last-place finishes in 2022 came at Dover on May 2nd, where his “Crash Clock” expired just as his #2 Freightliner Ford left pit road following damage in an early incident. Ryan Preece also had his clock expire at Charlotte on May 29th, leaving his #15 Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford suffered left-rear suspension damage early in the Coca-Cola 600.
On July 24th at Pocono, Josh Bilicki appeared headed toward his second career last-place finish as Denny Hamlin’s #11 FedEx Toyota beat teammate Kyle Busch’s #18 M&M’s Toyota for the victory. But in post-race inspection, both Hamlin and Busch were disqualified for illegal tape placed on the nose of their cars, handing the win to Chase Elliott. It marked the first time that 1st and 2nd-place finishers of a Cup race were disqualified since December 11, 1955, when Joe Weatherly and Jim Reed were docked for engine issues at West Palm Beach, Florida. Brad Keselowski became the season’s other disqualification on October 30th, when his 4th-place finishing #6 Kohler Ford failed minimum weight.
The August 28th race at Daytona saw just 37 cars take the green flag – the smallest field for a Cup points race at Daytona since 1967 – and many of those cars were eliminated in a massive Turn 1 pileup after a sudden rain storm sprung up in the final laps. Taking last was Kyle Larson, whose #5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet started on pole after qualifying was rained out. He was the first Daytona polesitter to finish last since 1983, and the first of five consecutive active Cup champions to finish last: Chase Elliott followed at Darlington on September 4th, then Kevin Harvick at Kansas on September 11th, Martin Truex, Jr. at Bristol on September 17th, and Kyle Busch at Texas on September 25th.
The season’s most controversial last-place finish came on October 16th at Las Vegas, where a hard race between Bubba Wallace in the #45 McDonald’s Toyota and Kyle Larson in the #5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet came to blows off Turn 4. Wallace bounced off the outside wall, then hooked Larson in the left-rear, triggering a wreck that also collected Playoff contender Christopher Bell. Wallace then confronted Larson in the infield, leading to Wallace’s one-race suspension for the following week in Homestead.
Wallace was also involved in the most competitive last-place battle at Bristol on September 17th, where he and teammate Ty Gibbs both returned to the race after mechanical issues. Both did so after engine trouble for Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Kyle Busch and Martin Truex, Jr., plus crash damage by fellow Playoff contender Ryan Blaney. While Blaney was able to continue along with Gibbs and Wallace, Truex and Busch were done for the night. While Wallace climbed to 29th and Blaney to 30th, Gibbs only passed Truex before falling out a second time, putting Truex in last but staying behind Busch.
Nine drivers scored their first Cup Series last-place finishes in 2022: Noah Gragson at Atlanta on March 20th, Andy Lally at the Circuit of the Americas on March 27th, Tyler Reddick on April 24th, Austin Cindric on May 1st, Loris Hezemans on July 3rd at Road America, Ty Gibbs at Richmond on August 14th, Kyle Tilley at Watkins Glen on August 21st, Daniil Kvyat at the Charlotte “Roval” on October 9th (the Formula One veteran also the first Russia-born driver to finish last in a Cup race), and Chase Briscoe at Homestead on October 23rd. Briscoe’s was his first in a combined 184 Cup, XFINITY, and Truck Series starts.
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
1st) B.J. McLeod (4)
2nd) Austin Cindric, Kyle Busch, Ty Gibbs, Corey LaJoie, Kyle Larson, Bubba Wallace (2)
3rd) Justin Allgaier, Aric Almirola, Christopher Bell, Greg Biffle, Alex Bowman, Chase Briscoe, Landon Cassill, Ross Chastain, Chase Elliott, Noah Gragson, Kevin Harvick, Loris Hezemans, Brad Keselowski, Daniil Kvyat, Andy Lally, Ryan Preece, Tyler Reddick, Daniel Suarez, Kyle Tilley, Martin Truex, Jr. (1)
