PHOTO: Live Fast Motorsports, @teamlivefast
SEASON IN REVIEW
Wauchula, Florida driver B.J. McLeod picked up his third LASTCAR Cup Series Championship in 2023, scoring five last-place finishes in twenty-three races during a thirty-six race season.
After a challenging 2022 campaign, McLeod’s Live Fast Motorsports team switched manufacturers from Ford to Chevrolet, seeking a more competitive season. However, as McLeod would report after the season, the team only ran competitive speeds after they fell off the lead lap in the early stages, which kept them near the back of the field. The mechanical troubles from a year earlier also persisted, putting him in LASTCAR contention once more.
McLeod’s first last-place run of the year came at Phoenix on March 12th, where his #78 Superior Logistics Services Chevrolet lost a lap due to handling issues, then lost fuel pressure on Lap 53. After several laps behind the wall, the team diagnosed the issue with the relay on the fuel pump and decided not to return to the race. The following round at Atlanta on March 19th saw McLeod continue his streak of strong runs at the track, holding fast to a lead-lap showing for most of the distance – only to again find trouble. After 188 of 325 laps, race leaders Kevin Harvick and Chris Buescher triggered a wreck that accordioned through the field, leading to McLeod wrecking further back. Both McLeod and Buescher were the only two to not continue, moving McLeods #78 B’laster Chevrolet into the LASTCAR lead.
McLeod’s third last-place run of 2023 didn’t come until July 30th at Richmond, but this time it was due to a complete lack of attrition. The five laps McLeod’s #78 Freedomworkshere.com Chevrolet lost during the race occurred on track without incident, and he was just one lap down to the next three cars in front of him. Regardless, he still ended up with the last-place run in what was the first Cup race with all starters still running since 2018 at Darlington. On September 3rd, The Darlington track itself saw McLeod once again nearly set a new distance record for last-place finishers, turning 210 of 367 laps before the engine let go on his #78 Affliction Chevrolet. At the time, McLeod was just 25 laps short of besting Greg Biffle’s last-place record from 2008, where he completed 234 laps before he too lost the engine.
The fifth and final last-place run took place in the penultimate round at Martinsville on October 29th, where he suddenly pulled behind the wall down the backstretch with overheating issues on his #78 Falk’d Up Garage Chevrolet. At the time, his water temperature held at 385 degrees, and the driver didn’t want to oil down the track. This last-place run also secured McLeod the LASTCAR title with one race still to be run, holding a two-finish lead over runner-up Ty Dillon in the #77 Chevrolet for Spire Motorsports. Curiously, it was to Spire that the Live Fast team had sold their Charter earlier in the year, scaling back to only the superspeedways and road courses for 2024. Team co-owner Matt Tifft also stepped away from the partnership to focus on his own return to racing.
OTHER LASTCAR HEADLINES
Championship runner-up Ty Dillon endured a frustrating season of his own in the #77, which began with a rare last-place record matched in the season opener at Daytona on February 19th. There, Dillon and his #77 Ferris Chevrolet became the first since Bob Schacht in 1992 to finish last in both his Thursday qualifying race and the Daytona 500 in the same year. For Dillon, followed by A.J. Allmendinger the next week in Fontana and Joey Logano the week after in Las Vegas, it was their first Cup Series last-place finishes since 2018.
Austin Dillon was still in mathematical contention for the LASTCAR title in the final weeks of the season after crashing the #3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet at Talladega on April 23rd – the first for the #3 in a Cup race at Talladega since 1992.
Charlotte’s 600-miler on May 29th saw perhaps the most disastrous afternoon for a single team when all three of Legacy Motor Club’s Chevrolets (formerly Petty-GMS Racing) were in the garage for separate issues at the same time. Last place fell to new team co-owner Jimmie Johnson, whose #84 Club Wyndham Chevrolet required additional repairs after clearing the “Crash Clock” following a spin. Johnson was soon joined by teammates Noah Gragson and Erik Jones, who both punctured their radiators after running over debris. Johnson and Gragson returned to the track, only for Johnson to cross Gragson’s nose and crash out of the race altogether.
On June 11th at Sonoma, Denny Hamlin’s #11 Sport Clips Toyota had won the pole, led 33 laps, and claimed a Stage 1 victory – only to make a costly mistake off Turn 12 that broke the toe link in his right-rear wheel. This resulted in Hamlin’s first last-place finish in a Cup points-paying race since 2014. His 33 laps led were the most of any Cup last-place finisher in 2023. Hamlin finished last a second time on the Charlotte “Roval” on October 8th, where his pit crew took just four seconds too long to repair his right-rear toe link on the #11 Mavis Tire & Brakes Toyota after a tangle with Mike Rockenfeller. Fortunately, Hamlin had earlier that race secured his spot in the next round of the Playoffs, where he’d ultimately be eliminated by a steering failure in Homestead.
Perhaps the most dramatic last-place battle occurred on the Indianapolis Grand Prix Circuit on August 13th. On Lap 2, Justin Haley wrecked his #31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet in Turn 6, drawing what turned out to be the race’s only caution. Haley cleared the “Crash Clock” and continued to log laps, ultimately coming home two laps down. But with two laps to go, Aric Almirola ran his #10 Ford out of fuel and stalled in front of then-leader Michael McDowell’s pit stall, which was just short of the finish line. Haley completed the distance on the track, and when he passed Almirola coming to the checkered flag, did just enough to drop the #10 to last place. McDowell won the race, only to finish last the following week after a disastrous series of miscues in Watkins Glen. McDowell’s only last-place run of 2023 extended his Cup Series record total to 36.
Down the stretch, disqualifications had both LASTCAR and Playoff implications. At Talladega on October 1st, Kevin Harvick for the second time all year came close to scoring a win in his final season. This time, his #4 Busch Light Camo Ford came just 0.012 second short of beating Ryan Blaney for the victory. But in post-race inspection, non-secured windshield fasteners were discovered on Harvick’s car, dropping him to last behind a wrecked Ross Chastain. Blaney then had his own disqualification at Las Vegas for a left-front shock measurement on his 6th-place finishing #12 Menards / Tarkett Ford. But NASCAR said the disqualification was due to an error on their part, rescinding the penalty and putting Carson Hocevar to last after his wreck in Legacy’s #42 Sunseeker Resort Chevrolet. Blaney would go on to win the Cup Series Championship at Phoenix, where for the first time in the “Elimination” format one of the Championship Four finished in last place. This time, the victim was Christopher Bell, who lost the brakes on his #20 Rheem - DeWalt Toyota entering Turn 3.
Only four drivers scored their first Cup Series last-place finishes in 2023: Brennan Poole’s came at Darlington on May 14th in a Bud Moore “throwback” scheme for Rick Ware Racing’s #15 Ford. This was on a weekend that saw him also finish last in the Truck Series race two days earlier - the first Cup-Trucks last-place sweep at the same track since 2012, when Scott Riggs did the same at Kentucky. Carson Hocevar’s one-race substitute for Corey LaJoie in the #7 Schluter Systems Chevrolet at Gateway on June 4th saw him charge to 16th before brake failure ended his run. XFINITY superspeedway standout Austin Hill’s came at Atlanta on July 9th, a crash that damaged his #62 Bennett Transportation / Beard Oil Chevrolet. And Harrison Burton earned his first in his 71st series start at Homestead on October 22nd, the result of overheating on his #21 DEX Imaging Ford.
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
1st) B.J. McLeod (5)
2nd) Ty Dillon (3)
3rd) Christopher Bell, Kyle Busch, Austin Dillon, Denny Hamlin, Carson Hocevar, Joey Logano, Brennan Poole (2)
4th) A.J. Allmendinger, Aric Almirola, Ryan Blaney, Alex Bowman, Harrison Burton, Noah Gragson, Kevin Harvick, Austin Hill, Jimmie Johnson, Michael McDowell, Ryan Newman, Daniel Suarez, Martin Truex, Jr., J.J. Yeley (1)
