CUP: Josh Bilicki completes third-most laps of any Cup last-place finisher at Bristol
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
PHOTO: Motorsports Business Management / Garage 66, @MBMMotorsports
Josh Bilicki picked up the 4th last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career in Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway when his #66 Flair Spirits Ford fell out with suspension issues after he completed 338 of 500 laps.
The finish, which came in Bilicki’s 110th series start, was his first of the season and first in a Cup Series race since April 13, 2025 – also at Bristol – 56 races ago. In the Cup Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 17th due to the suspension, the 74th for the #66, the 775th ford Ford. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 61st from the suspension, and the 1,106th for Ford.
Saturday marked just the third Cup start of Bilicki’s 2026 season following finishes of 34th in Watkins Glen and 35th at Richmond, though he’d also been entered for the round in Chicagoland before sponsorship issues led to a withdrawal. There would be no such sponsorship problems on Saturday as the Garage 66 effort landed backing from Flair Spirits, the vodka, bourbon, and gin label of 16-time wrestling world champion “The Nature Boy,” Ric Flair. Announced on July 15th, Bilicki’s scheme featured Flair on the hood, and the wrestler would be among the celebrities attending the festivities in Bristol.
The weekend would also see Bilicki run double-duty as he continued his full-time O’Reilly Auto Parts Series ride in Bobby Dotter’s #07 Chevrolet for SS-Green Light Racing. His sponsorship from Mando was most recently carried at Atlanta, where he earned his season-best 12th-place showing in July. On the short track, he started the weekend 38th of the 39 entrants with a best lap of 16.722 seconds (114.747mph), would have taken to the track 12th in qualifying before the session was cancelled, and ended up lining up 28th. In the race, he was three laps down by Lap 99, but climbed from 37th to finish 31st.
On the Cup side, Bilicki’s #66 was the only “open” entry among the 37 teams in the Cup Series garage. He would have been the first driver on track for qualifying, but both that session and practice were cancelled. There would instead be a competition caution on Lap 40.
With no drivers incurring tail-end penalties for pre-race issues, Bilicki remained in the 37th spot when the green flag dropped, 3.625 seconds back of the lead. By the end o ff Lap 1, he was held up behind the #38 Aaron’s Rent to Own Ford of Zane Smith, still sore after his hard crash last Sunday in Gateway, and one of his Front Row Motorsports teammates in Noah Gragson in the #4 Rush Truck Centers / Cummins Ford. By Lap 4, both Fords had worked their way past Ty Dillon, whose #10 Grizzly Nicotine Pouches Chevrolet dropped to the 36th spot, directly in Bilicki’s path. Bilicki, now 6.818 seconds back of the lead on Lap 6, reported his car was “pretty loose (on) entry,” then “got a lot of brake shake.” Still, by Lap 9, he’d closed right onto Dillon’s rear bumper. That time by, Bilicki’s crew said he was running comparable lap times to the six cars running ahead of him.
Still, Bilicki was losing ground to the fast-approaching leaders. On Lap 13, he was 12.989 back of then-leader Kyle Larson, then 14.440 on Lap 15, when he was four-tenths back of 36th-place Dillon. On Lap 18, Larson got under Bilicki through Turns 1 and 2, putting the Flair Spirits machine the first car one lap down. Dillon was lapped on Lap 20 followed by 35th-place Josh Berry on Lap 25 in the #21 Wurth Ford. By Lap 30, there was about one corner’s worth of distance between Bilicki and Dillon, a space quickly filled by lead-lap cars moving past. By Lap 35, that traffic had migrated to the high lane. When the competition caution finally fell on Lap 41, Bilicki remained one lap down, saying he was tight in the center and sliding the left-front, but added that these were only minor handling issues. Under the ensuing caution, Ty Dillon briefly took last on Lap 46 after a lengthy stop for a reported hole in the nose of his car. Dillon reported readings on his water temperature and pressure as he returned to the track, then dropped Bilicki back to last on Lap 47.
When the race restarted on Lap 49, Bilicki remained at the tail end of the field behind new 36th-place runner Cody Ware in the #51 Rocket Doctor Chevrolet. Just ahead of both of them was 33rd-place Tyler Reddick, the early season point leader, whose #45 SiriusXM Toyota remained mired in lapped traffic for several laps.
Further ahead, Ty Dillon was running in the 35th spot and challenging Zane Smith for the Lucky Dog. On Lap 63, he’d worked to the high side in Turns 1 and 2 when his car snapped loose, then slapped the wall with the right-rear and right-front. This nearly collected Dillon’s teammate A.J. Allmendinger, whose #16 Suburban Propane Chevrolet squeezed past to his inside while also battling Austin Hill’s #33 Rebel Bourbon Chevrolet. A split-second later, Bilicki also cleared the slowing Dillon on the approach to Turn 3, dropping Dillon to last place. Dillon then immediately dropped to the apron of Turns 1 and 2 and pulled into his pit stall on the backstretch at Stall No. 41, the second stall past the entrance. Dillon reported he’d broken a toe link, and the crew set to work. By Lap 60, when Dillon was now seven laps down, he’d shut off his engine. On Lap 83, the crew was down to three minutes left on the “Crash Clock,” after which they’d have to push the car to the garage to complete repairs. On Lap 89, when he was 25 laps down, they were down to their last minute. On Lap 92, with just seconds remaining, Dillon fired the engine and was rolling back down pit road.
On Lap 93, Erik Jones’ #43 Dollar Tree Toyota also broke loose off Turn 2 and slapped the wall with the right-rear corner. He limped through Turns 3 and 4, then spun off corner exit, drawing the second caution of the night. At the time, Ty Dillon was trying to clear minimum speed, and wasn’t sure if he met it yet. On Lap 96, he radioed that his car was “still broken,” but an instant later, NASCAR radioed he had cleared minimum speed. The team had already told him they’d go to the garage if the issue wasn’t fully fixed, so on Lap 97, he pulled behind the wall at the Turn 2 entrance next to the Goodyear hauler, then parked in the open space beneath the track’s suspended big screen display. As this happened, Jones was sitting in Pit Stall No. 14 near the finish line, where the crew completed their own toe link repair. Due in part to the caution, Jones’ issue was fixed quicker, costing him just nine laps, and he returned to the track in 36th place.
Meanwhile, Dillon’s repairs continued past the end of Stage 1 on Lap 127. On Lap 128, he was now shown 59 laps down. The crew had raised the hood, then lowered it again to apply large pieces of bear-bond on the nose and the top of the right-front fender. “We’ve still got a little while?” someone asked on his channel on Lap 131. “Yeah, this thing’s tore up pretty bad.” More bear-bond was added on Lap 140, and the car was still jacked up on its right side. Finally, on Lap 148, the crew bolted on the right-side tires, and on Lap 154, Dillon re-fired the engine and returned to the track through the exit entering Turn 1. His last completed lap was clocked at 1,544.322 seconds, or just under 26 minutes, and he was still in last place, now 87 laps down. Jones had received one of his laps back and was still 36th, shown eight laps back. All cars were again on track.
On Lap 161, Jones lost his ninth lap again, then a tenth on Lap 188. That time by, Dillon radioed his car was ”really loose in, really loose all the way through.” On Lap 202, race leader Ryan Blaney put Dillon an 88th lap down in Turn 3, then an 89th lap by Lap 240. By then, 36th-place Jones was 12 laps down and 35th-place Ware was shown six down. Around this time, Dillon’s spotter had him pull out of the way of faster traffic entering the corners, having him slow onto the apron for a moment before returning to the track. On Lap 249, Dillon radioed that his tires felt “like they have five pounds too much air pressure in them, all four – loose in and loose off.” Seconds later, Ware spun after he was trapped between Denny Hamlin’s #11 National Debt Relief Toyota and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.’s #47 Chef Boyardee Chevrolet, drawing the caution that ended Stage 2. Under this yellow, Dillon explained his initial accident occurred while trying to get his lap back, and the team told him not to worry about it.
On Lap 262, Dillon took the restart surrounded by a different group of cars, including Shane Van Gisbergen’s #97 SuperFile Chevrolet to his outside. On Lap 292, Bilicki made an extended stop on pit road, where the crew raised the hood. The driver said his car was now “wrecking loose,” and he lost multiple laps for repairs. Dillon remained 89 laps down until Lap 300, when Blaney put him a 90th lap down, and he was 91 down by Lap 320. By then, Dillon was losing right-side grip, so he pitted on Lap 332, losing a 92nd lap in the process. After a delay as the crew worked on the left side of his car, Dillon returned to the track 94 laps down. By then, Bilicki had fallen to 36th, and was now showing 16 laps down, one lap behind now 35th-place Jones.
On Lap 349, Bilicki made his first trip to the garage area, where he parked in the exact spot Ty Dillon had used in the “Damaged Vehicle Policy Zone.” Bilicki said it felt like the rear of his car was steering it around the track. The crew jacked up the left side to check the toe shims, then looked to the right. The crew brought sticker tires and discovered a bent toe link. Bilicki was surprised, saying he grazed the wall but didn’t feel he hit it hard enough to affect the link. The crew then looked under the hood, causing the Ric Flair art to stare back through the windshield. On Lap 361, they checked the right sway bar. And by Lap 371, Carl Long radioed that they had changed everything back to the original setup. “If it drives like shit, bring it back,” he said. “If it’s okay, finish the race.” And so, on Lap 374, Bilicki pulled back on track at Turn 2, showing 42 laps down. Dillon remained last, now 95 laps behind. And again, all 37 starters were on track.
But Bilicki quickly returned to the garage on Lap 386, saying he was loose on entry and even looser off the corner. Long was confused, and stood with his crew in front of the car as they tried to think of something more to fix. Bilicki didn’t want to park the car, but also said on Lap 397, “I don’t want to go out there, be in the way, and fuck up the car.” A moment later, Long discovered an issue with the left-rear wheel that was preventing the wheel from locking against the hub. This ultimately became the reason their night ended. On Lap 403, Bilicki’s on-board camera shut off, and NASCAR declared him out on Lap 418. At the time, Dillon remained in last place and was now 97 laps down. He’d already cut into his deficit to Bilicki during his two trips to the garage, and finally dropped the #66 to last place on Lap 439. Dillon lost one more lap by the checkered flag to finish 36th, 98 laps down.
Finishing 35th was Alex Bowman, whose #48 Ally Chevrolet was part of a three-wide logjam with Cole Custer’s #41 Texas A&M University Chevrolet, which off Turn 4 collided around Ty Gibbs as his #54 M&M’s Kyle Busch Tribute Toyota was taking the lead from Carson Hocevar’s #77 Zeigler Auto Group Chevrolet. Bowman spun into the wall, was towed to the garage, and later declared out. Finishing just ahead of Bowman was Riley Herbst, whose #35 Monster Energy Toyota spun and suffered damage in a crash on Lap 397, then made a few more laps before he limped back onto pit road in the closing stages, taking 34th. Rounding out the Bottom Five was Ryan Blaney, the most dominant car of the night, whose #12 Wabash Ford was wrecked in a controversial battle for 2nd with Hocevar, then stalled on the apron. This was the wreck that led to Blaney’s fight with Hocevar on pit road after the checkered flag.
LASTCAR STATISTICS
*The 338 laps completed by Bilicki were the third-most of any Cup Series last-place finisher at Bristol. The record is still held by Jamie McMurray, whose #26 Crown Royal Ford turned 373 laps on March 16, 2008, followed by Justin Allgaier, whose #46 Pilot / Flying J / Battle at Bristol Chevrolet completed 354 laps on August 21, 2016.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
37) #66-Josh Bilicki / 338 laps / suspension
36) #10-Ty Dillon / 402 laps / running
35) #48-Alex Bowman / 428 laps / crash
34) #35-Riley Herbst / 432 laps / suspension
33) #12-Ryan Blaney / 457 laps / crash / led 202 laps / won stage 2
2026 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Trackhouse Racing (6)
2nd) Joe Gibbs Racing (4)
3rd) Hendrick Motorsports (3)
4th) 23XI Racing, Front Row Motorsports, Garage 66, Kaulig Racing, Live Fast Motorsports, RFK Racing (2)
5th) Rick Ware Racing, Spire Motorsports, Wood Brothers Racing (1)
2026 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (15)
2nd) Ford (7)
3rd) Toyota (5)
2026 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
