PHOTO: Colby Evans, @StartAndParkCar
SEASON IN REVIEW
Phoenix, Arizona driver J.J. Yeley picked up his first LASTCAR XFINITY Series Championship in 2019, scoring five last-place finishes in fifteen starts during a thirty-three race season. In so doing, he scored RSS Racing’s third consecutive LASTCAR XFINITY title.
Since he first competed in Cup, XFINITY, and Truck Series competition in 2004, Yeley has become one of the sport’s most prolific journeyman drivers in recent years. The USAC open-wheel champion began as a development driver for Joe Gibbs Racing. In 2006, he finished a career-best 5th in the series standings and nearly took the win at Kentucky, losing out to first-time winner David Gilliland. By then, he’d taken over for Bobby Labonte as driver of Gibbs’ flagship #18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet in Cup. Aside from a runner-up finish in the 2007 Coca-Cola 600, success didn’t come there, however, and after 2008 when he was moved to the Gibbs’ expansion team Hall of Fame Racing, he’s driven for a variety of start-up and underfunded teams in all three series. On the XFINITY side, he’s gone from a partial schedule for Phoenix Racing to “start-and-parking” for The Motorsports Group, then turning in some strong performances as a full-timer for both JGL Racing and TriStar Motorsports.
In 2018, Yeley started to drive for RSS Racing, joining Ryan Sieg and Jeff Green. The ride offered him an opportunity to tap into all of his prior experiences in the series – running near full-time, but going back and forth between full-race efforts and “start-and-park” showings. In thirty-one starts, Yeley failed to finish twenty times, but also ran a season-best eleventh in both Talladega and Las Vegas.
Coming into the 2019 season, it looked as though Yeley wouldn’t have much of a presence in the XFINITY Series as Josh Bilicki joined the team in his place. Coming into the summer, Jeff Green had a lead, but not a lock on his third-straight LASTCAR XFINITY Series title and his eighth overall. Green scored two last-place finishes at Texas on March 30 and Richmond on April 12, but in July had the most bottom-five and bottom-ten finishes, leading Bilicki by five and three, respectively. But Green reported he was stepping out of the car after Kentucky on July 12, allowing him to undergo rotator cuff surgery. Green remained trackside with the team for the rest of the season.
Green’s exit allowed Yeley to rejoin the team two races later at Iowa on July 27, where he once again drove the #38 Chevrolet. Yeley finished last that day, out with ignition problems after 5 laps. Four races later, he scored his second at Road America, citing electrical issues after two laps. Another two races after came suspension issues at Indianapolis after 7 laps, the finish that already gave Yeley the lead from Green. He added on another at the Charlotte Roval on September 28, but this time not a “start-and-park.” Driving a one-off for B.J. McLeod, Yeley’s #78 BringYourBible.org Toyota rear-ended Garrett Smithley on the first lap, ultimately taking him out of the race after David Starr returned from his own early exit. Yeley secured the title three races after this with a fifth finish at Texas on November 2, back in the #38, and out after 3 laps with electrical issues.
OTHER LASTCAR HEADLINES
Fifteen of the thirty-three races saw a driver score the first last-place finish of his XFINITY Series career. No less than four of these were due to disqualification, again due to NASCAR’s decision to bring back stiffer penalties for post-race technical infractions. The first of these was handed down to Christopher Bell, whose #20 Rheem Toyota finished 3rd at Chicagoland on June 29, only to be too low in the front and too high in the rear. This was the first XFINITY disqualification since 2005, when Johnny Sauter was snagged at Texas. The next disqualification occurred in the following race on July 5, where A.J. Allmendinger’s 3rd-place finishing #10 Cornerstone Produce Group Chevrolet in a Kaulig Racing podium sweep failed a vacuum test. On August 31, Denny Hamlin became the first race winner of the season to be disqualified when he earned his sixth win in twelve series starts at Darlington, only to have his #18 Sport Clips Toyota match Bell’s penalty – too low in the left-front, too high in the right-rear. Rounding out the group was Ryan Sieg, who on September 14 at Las Vegas was handed his first last-place finish in his 195th series start after his #39 Lombard Brothers Gaming Chevrolet was found to be too low.
On March 16, Caesar Bacarella scored his first last-place finish for Mario Gosselin’s DGM Racing. Following a practice crash, Bacarella drove a backup #52 Whataburger Chevrolet owned by Jimmy Means, a taped #90 placed over each door and the roof. Bacarella ran just one lap before he exited with a vibration. The Means team would also bring back their #53 to NASCAR for the first time since the 1992 Cup season. The race was Mid-Ohio on August 10, where Max Tullman scored his first last-place run after a loss of fuel pressure in the blue Chevrolet.
On October 19, Ryan Truex finished last after a blown engine on his #8 Marquis Hot Tubs Chevrolet after just four laps at Kansas. At the time, Truex had exactly three last-place finishes in NASCAR’s top three series – one in each of the series. At the time, he was the 35th driver to finish last in at least one Cup, XFINITY, and Truck Series points race.
At Phoenix on November 9, Landon Cassill picked up his first last-place finish in his 132nd series start. At the time, he was driving for owner-driver Morgan Shepherd, who was bringing Cassill aboard to guarantee his #89 Visone RV Chevrolet qualified for the race. However, the team couldn’t afford tires for the Phoenix race, and when a right-rear tire went down on the track, the team had no choice but to call it an afternoon. One week later, a longtime supporter paid for several sets of fresh tires in the Homestead finale, where Cassill recovered nicely to finish 15th. It was the third-best finish ever for Shepherd’s team since he restarted his XFINITY program in 2007.
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
1st) J.J. Yeley (5)
2nd) A.J. Allmendinger, Josh Bilicki, Joey Gase, Jeff Green, John Jackson (2)
3rd) Jairo Avila, Jr., Caesar Bacarella, Dillon Bassett, Christopher Bell, Ray Black, Jr., Harrison Burton, Landon Cassill, Bayley Currey, Mason Diaz, Bobby Dale Earnhardt, Chad Finchum, Denny Hamlin, Brandon Jones, Stephen Leicht, Carl Long, Mike Marlar, Ryan Sieg, Ryan Truex, Max Tullman (1)
