CUP: Power steering and electrical issues cut short Josh Bilicki’s afternoon in Bristol
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
PHOTO: Garage 66 & MBM Motorsports, @MBMMotorsports
Josh Bilicki scored the 3rd last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career in Sunday’s Food City 500 at the Bristol Motor Speedway when his #66 Manscaped Ford fell out with electrical issues after 193 of 500 laps.
The finish, which came in Bilicki’s 102nd series start, was his first of the season and first in a Cup Series race since November 3, 2024 at Martinsville, 10 races ago. In the Cup Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 45th from electrical issues, the 70th for the #66, and the 757th for Ford. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 95th for the #66, the 143rd for electrical problems, and the 1,062nd for Ford.
Bristol marked Bilicki’s first Cup start since the last-place run in Martinsville, and came after Carl Long rebranded the Cup portion of MBM Motorsports to Garage 66. The road racer has since run the majority of this season’s XFINITY Series schedule for DGM Racing, which itself went through a rebrand after merging with Jesse Iwuji Motorsports. Bilicki’s best run of the season came in the Daytona opener, where he took home 14th, and he’s finished under power in all six of his series starts this year.
Bilicki wouldn’t run Saturday’s XFINITY race at Bristol – his ride in DGM x JIM’s #91 went to C.J. McLaughlin, who finished 33rd. Long’s XFINITY team also found itself the lone DNQ from that race after Tyler Tomassi hit the wall in practice. In opening practice, Bilicki ranked 38th of the 39 entrants, his top lap of 15.630 seconds (122.764mph) besting last-place Ty Dillon’s #10 Okuma Chevrolet by just 0.067 second. He then turned the slowest lap in qualifying with a lap of 16.348 seconds (117.372mph).
For the race, Bilicki carried returning sponsorship from Manscaped body grooming products, which backed Carl Long’s Cup team in four races in 2020. This time, the company came on board in conjunction with an awareness campaign for the Testicular Cancer Society. He was joined at the tail end by 32nd-place John Hunter Nemechek in the #42 Dollar Tree Toyota and 38th-place Joey Logano in the #22 Shell / Pennzoil Ford, both for unapproved adjustments. Logano’s came after he snapped loose in Turn 2 during his qualifying lap, striking the wall with the right-rear of his car. Bilicki also had issues during the pit speed calibration lap as Long caught him speeding in two sections due to malfunctioning dashboard lights. Bilicki elected to play it safe and stay at 3500rpm on pit road.
Bilicki on track during the early laps. (PHOTO: Cameron Tracey, @conrail_1)
Amidst fears of the same extreme tire wear from the 2024 running of this race, the opening laps saw the entire field remain tightly bunched in near single-file formation. Bilicki was last across the stripe, 3.730 seconds back of the lead, with Logano trailing the high line and Corey LaJoie’s #01 Schluter Systems Ford in front of Bilicki. By Lap 3, he was 4.927 back of the lead, then on Lap 6 dropped Shane Van Gisbergen to last in the #88 Safety Culture Chevrolet. That time by, Van Gisbergen was about 5.7 seconds back of the lead, and Bilicki soon passed Cody Ware to put his #51 Arby’s Ford back to 37th, then on Lap 10 climbed to 36th ahead of the #43 AdventHealth Toyota of Erik Jones. On Lap 13, Van Gisbergen closed from 7 seconds to 6.830 back of Ware as Jones dropped Bilicki back to 37th. Van Gisbergen’s crew said he was running comparable laps to the leader, but the driver had concerns about his right-front tire. On Lap 24, Van Gisbergen remained in 39th, but had pulled even closer to the lead, now just 6.261 behind. He caught and passed Ware on Lap 27, then remained 7.216 back of the lead on Lap 33. By then, Ware’s team was telling him to pick up the pace and try to get around Van Gisbergen “if he’s not gonna do anything.”
Then on Lap 42, as the leaders began to pick up their pace, Ware and Van Gisbergen sped past Bilicki, dropping the #66 to last one more, now 9.444 back of the lead. From there, the gap grew steadily to 11.435 on Lap 50, 13.426 on Lap 55, and 15.214 on Lap 59 before race leader Kyle Larson put him a lap down on Lap 61, rushing pat on Bilicki’s inside in Turns 3 and 4. Bilicki was two laps down by Lap 96, then was lapped by Larson a third time on Lap 113 as the two headed down the backstretch into Turn 3. Under the Lap 126 caution to end Stage 1, Bilicki radioed he was “a little snug at the 5/8ths mark, but free on top,” and said a “small stumble in the motor” was messing up his rhythm. Long decided to stick with only air pressure adjustments for his stop. Long relayed that he had good tire wear, “the left sides look brand new,” with only slightly more wear on the right sides. He estimated the tires could have been run another 25-30 laps.
Bilicki (center) is lapped by Larson. (PHOTO: Cameron Tracey, @conrail_1)
On the Lap 143 restart to begin Stage 2, Bilicki was again behind Van Gisbergen, who incurred a pit road speeding penalty along with lead-lap driver Kyle Busch in 24th. Shortly after the restart, Bilicki was told by his team he’d run his fastest lap of the race. But on Lap 152, Bilicki reported his brakes were vibrating, so Long told him to first shut off the fans, then adjust the brake bias to the rear. He lost a fourth lap on Lap 166, then on Lap 179 reported the brakes were shaking even worse. The second caution fell that same time by, this time after Van Gisbergen lost control in Turn 2 and spun Ware to his outside. Ware maintained control, but Van Gisbergen stalled, costing him more time as he came down pit road. The extended stop dropped Van Gisbergen down a fifth lap, putting him last on Lap 181. He returned to the track on Lap 182, only to incur two penalties for pitting too soon and a commitment line violation. He then pulled behind the wall on Lap 184, where the crew discovered the left-front control arm was bent. He’d spend much of the middle stages with the hood up in the “Damaged Vehicle Policy” zone.
Shane Van Gisbergen’s #88 receives repairs on pit road. (PHOTO: Cameron Tracey, @conrail_1)
On the Lap 189 restart, Ware cleared minimum speed, and Van Gisbergen’s crew said they’d make a stop in their stall when they’d return to the track. On Lap 200, Bilicki dropped off the pace and made an unscheduled stop which soon dropped him more than 10 laps down. By Lap 214, his crew pushed him behind the wall using the entrance at Turn 1, parking next to a hauler. At the time, Bilicki was just 17 laps ahead of Van Gisbergen, whose own crew was still hard at work, knowing their driver would have to serve his two penalties if the #88 returned to the track. On Lap 231, Long relayed that Bilicki’s helmet blower stopped working, and soon discovered a leak in the power steering pump. The team removed a rear wheel to examine the leak. Meanwhile, Van Gisbergen returned to the track on Lap 251, made a stop, then after serving his penalty was shown 75 laps down in last place.
Josh Bilicki receives repairs on pit road around Lap 200. (PHOTO: Cameron Tracey, @conrail_1)
Then, on Lap 256, someone on Bilicki’s channel said, “We’re done.” According to the team, the air conditioning box had shorted out, causing electrical issues that compromised the cooling system. At the same time, a seal gave out in the power steering rack, causing fluid to blow out under pressure. While discussing the issues, Long said he’d look into a new power steering system for future Bristol races as the team struggled with the same issue in 2024. On Lap 269, Van Gisbergen dropped Bilicki to last just as NASCAR declared the #66 the first car out of the race. Just five laps later, Van Gisbergen pulled into the garage a second time just five laps later, this time with a steering issue of his own. He steered the wheel back and forth, concerned about a sloppy sensation as he made a turn. The crew continued to work until 57 laps to go, when they pushed the #88 to the team hauler, done for the afternoon with suspension issues.
Bilicki’s car pushed to the garage at the Turn 1 entrance. (PHOTO: Cameron Tracey, @conrail_1)
Taking the 36th spot was polesitter Alex Bowman, the only other driver to lead on a day teammate Kyle Larson won with 411 laps led. Bowman radioed his engine was starting to blow around Lap 300, and NASCAR noted the smoke from his pipes. He continued until around Lap 363, when he pulled behind the wall, and was declared out on Lap 386. His was the third and final DNF of the afternoon. Ware took 36th, seven laps down, and on the same lap as a trailing Todd Gilliland in the #34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford.
Haley and Hocevar impress amid Larson’s dominance
While their third teammate Michael McDowell struggled off the lead lap from the early stages, Spire Motorsports drivers Justin Haley and Carson Hocevar both threatened for top-five finishes for much of the afternoon. Haley’s #7 Nations Guard Chevrolet climbed as high as 2nd on Lap 50 and finished 3rd in Stage 1, earning him screen time on the FS1 broadcast. Hocevar finished 5th in Stage 1, moved to 4th by the end of Stage 2, and was running 3rd when his #77 Chili’s Ride the ‘Dente Chevrolet fell off the jack on his final stop, delaying the change of his left-rear wheel. Both drivers finished off the lead lap with Hocevar in 11th and Haley in 13th.
LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the first last-place finish for the #66 in a Cup race at Bristol since March 20, 2011, when Michael McDowell’s #66 HP Racing Toyota lost the brakes after 35 laps (LINK).
*The 193 laps Bilicki completed were the 13th-most by a Cup Series last-place finisher at Bristol, just one ahead of Zane Smith’s mark of 192 in this race last year. The record remains 373 laps, set by Jamie McMurray on March 16, 2008.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
39) #66-Josh Bilicki / 193 laps / electrical
38) #88-Shane van Gisbergen / 208 laps / suspension
37) #48-Alex Bowman / 343 laps / engine / led 39 laps
36) #51-Cody Ware / 493 laps / running
35) #34-Todd Gilliland / 493 laps / running
2025 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) 23XI Racing, Garage 66, Kaulig Racing, NY Racing Team, Penske Racing, RFK Racing, Rick Ware Racing, Spire Motorsports, Trackhouse Racing (1)
2025 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet, Ford (4)
2nd) Toyota (1)
2025 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
