PHOTO: David PeQueen, @CarSDS2078
SEASON IN REVIEW
Phoenix, Arizona driver J.J. Yeley picked up his second LASTCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Championship in 2026, scoring five last-place finishes in twelve starts during a thirty-three race season.
Yeley was competing in his twenty-second O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season. He made his season debut with Young’s Motorsports, taking 28th at COTA, then was hired for the struggling Hettinger Racing team. This again put Yeley in a Ford, one which he finished 20th at Rockingham, then an 11th at Talladega before the team shut down. This signaled an unexpected reunion with Rod Sieg and RSS Racing.
It was with RSS, as one of the team’s several “start-and-park” drivers, that Yeley scored the 2019 LASTCAR XFINITY Series Championship with five last-place finishes, many times in the black #38 Chevrolet. Yeley and RSS had first rejoined at Daytona in February 2025, where they fell just short of qualifying another expansion entry, the #29, into the season opener. By 2026, the team had made the switch from Ford to Chevrolet, the result of their continuing technical alliance with Haas Factory Team, which also made the switch.
When Yeley made his first attempt for RSS at Charlotte on May 23rd, they were running a Ford. One week earlier at Dover, the team made the surprising choice to run a Ford alongside their two Chevrolets, and put Logan Bearden behind the wheel. Following the withdrawal of Mike Harmon’s team from the Dover race, Bearden’s kept the field at a full 38 starters, and only ran 30 laps before brake issues, signaling a return to “start-and-park” runs. At Charlotte, Yeley carried sponsorship from Caroling Land & Grading Solutions plus Mike Efaw, but fell out early in a rain-shortened event, citing fuel pump issues.
The next time out in Nashville on May 30th, site of Yeley’s 400th series start, he turned just 59 laps before rear end issues ended his race. He also led Lap 50 under the first caution, becoming the first last-place finisher of the season to lead at least one lap. Yeley’s second last-place run came six races later at Indianapolis on July 25th, this time falling out after 39 laps with fuel pump issues. Another five races later at Bristol on September 18th, it was the same story, though in those first 108 laps, he’d run competitive lap times and was still running on the lead lap when he pulled behind the wall with fuel pump issues. Two races later in the return to Charlotte on October 11th, he led twice for two laps in Stage 1 before he exited with water pump issues after 63 laps.
The last-place run in the second Charlotte race gave Yeley the lead in the LASTCAR standings with four races to go, taking it from Harmon’s driver Dawson Cram. Cram had continued to run part-time for Mike Harmon Racing, which at Chicagoland on July 4th debuted a new patriotic paint scheme as part of a new partnership with Team Stange. Included was sponsorship from cryptocurrency token Rare Earth Mineral Investments (REMI), but the sponsor was pulled after the company failed to provide insurance. Cram ended up finishing last on the 250th anniversary of the United States. It was already his second last-place run of the season, combined with an engine failure after one lap around Texas on May 2nd, which occurred during an eight-race stretch where Harmon changed car numbers to the #35 on his Denver Dirt Chevrolet in collaboration with Joey Gase Motorsports with Scott Osteen. Cram then scored his third last-place run at Gateway on September 12th, the result of a mechanical issue that prevented his #47 Hoods Home Center Chevrolet from even rolling off pit road on race day, but Yeley responded the very next week in Charlotte. In between, Cram nearly finished last at Las Vegas on October 3rd after a series of transmission and fuel cable issues, but was beaten by Brandon Jones, who was disqualified for a missing lug nut violation that also led to his hard crash in the #20 Menards / Nibco Toyota.
Heading into the season finale at Phoenix, Yeley had four last-place finishes to Cram’s three, but trailed on both bottom-five finishes (11-6) and bottom-ten finishes (14-6). Cram was entered in the season finale with sponsorship from FUKU Energy Drink, but Yeley was not, as he appeared focused on his 400th career Cup start with the NY Racing Team on Sunday. That changed after practice, when Patrick Emerling decided to return home in anticipation of the birth of his third child. This opened the seat of RSS’ #38, which this time had Emerling’s sponsorship from Firman Power Equipment. In the race, Yeley showed the same speed from Bristol, climbing up the order to stay on the lead lap. But after the end of Stage 1, he stayed in the back, and the crew told him to pull in when he reached a certain lap count. With that, he pulled behind the wall, securing not only the last-place finish and the LASTCAR title, but the first last-place run in O’Reilly Auto Parts Series history to have been listed out due to a wheel bearing.
OTHER LASTCAR HEADLINES
Just like Dawson Cram’s issues at both Texas and Gateway, many other last-place battles were settled very quickly in 2026. This began at the very moment the field came up to speed for the season opener in Daytona on February 14th, when Mason Maggio’s #91 Success Unlocked Chevrolet was pinned in a stack-up between the #38 Firman Power Equipment Chevrolet of Patrick Emerling and the #5 Jobber / Dun-Rite / ICS Ford. Maggio suffered so much damage to the nose of his car that he had to stop in Turns 1 and 2. David Starr suffered similar damage at the start of the race in Talladega on April 25th, but his #42 Breakthrough T1D Chevrolet managed to turn 14 laps before overheating issues.
On June 13th at Pocono, Corey Day picked up his first career last-place finish when his #17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet spun at the exit of Turn 1 and clobbered the inside wall. Two rounds later in Sonoma on June 27th, Brad Perez’ #55 Baker Family Wines / Refology Toyota lined up on the grid, but was immediately pushed to the garage after the command. The team needed to change engines, but their backup engine was missing parts, forcing them to end their race before it even started. Then at Atlanta on July 11th, Jeb Burton’s #27 AJ Transport Chevrolet had a clutch issue that sent him to pit road during the pace laps, then a right-rear brake caliper issue that ended his run.
The same year also produced a peculiarly intense race-long last-place battle at Talladega on October 17th, the result of cautions that weren’t thrown by NASCAR. While Caesar Bacarella struggled to keep pace in his #4 BJ’s Wholesale Club Chevrolet, he passed Parker Retzlaff on Lap 21 after his #99 Atlantic Bunkers Chevrolet was spun through the Turn 3 grass after contact from teammate Anthony Alfredo. Retzlaff returned to the race two laps down in time for the end of Stage 1, then rejoined the lead lap by the end of Stage 2. In the final stage, the last spot changed hands until it fell to Leland Honeyman, Jr., whose #71 DPR Construction Chevrolet suffered nose damage in a wreck. Honeyman lost four laps, but Bacarella suffered at least two flat tires and a pit penalty, costing him six laps. Then with nine laps to go, Jake Finch spun and crashed his #9 KOA Chevrolet in Turn 4, but still didn’t draw the yellow. Finch pulled into the garage, done for the day, and Bacarella started to close the gap. That advance also slowed as Bacarella made at least one trip down pit road in the final two laps, putting him on the same lap as Finch. When the checkered flag fell, Bacarella held last place. But when Bacarella took it, he dropped Finch to last.
The most visually spectacular last-place finish went to Carson Kvapil, whose #1 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet was awarded the pole at Kansas on April 18th after rain washed out qualifying. Then, after just one completed lap, he was hooked into a spin that sent him flipping down the backstretch.
A controversial last-place finish occurred at Iowa on August 8th, where Jesse Love lost 60 laps due to a transmission issue on his #2 Whelen Chevrolet. Love returned to the race to log laps, then just after the Lap 166 restart made an aggressive move under Carson Ware in Mike Harmon’s #47 YSS.org Chevrolet. Love ended up sliding into Ware, who he spun and backed into the outside wall. Ware, who had just bolted on fresh tires, ended up finishing in last place.
For the first time in series history, two brothers finished in the final two spots. This occurred on February 21st at Atlanta, where brothers Ryan Sieg in the #39 SciAps / SA Recycling Chevrolet and Kyle Sieg in the #28 Big House Construction Chevrolet were swept up in a multi-car wreck on Lap 5. While Sheldon Creed ended his 138-race winless streak that night, Ryan Sieg would end his 424-race streak at Daytona on August 28th, running the same #38 car number of LASTCAR champion Yeley on his Superior Integrity Services / SciAps Chevrolet.
The 2026 season saw Nick Sanchez score his first career last-place finish in his 46th career start, which came driving AM Racing’s #25 Paynuity / Travel Curious Ford at Las Vegas, not long before the team shut down. The next week at Darlington on March 21st, Alex Labbe got his first last-place run in five ears after crash damage on his #91 Berry’s Injection Molding Chevrolet. And the race after that saw Luke Baldwin finish last in his series debut after an apparent brake issue sent his #5 Victory Custom Trailers Ford into the outside wall at Martinsville.
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
1st) J.J. Yeley (5)
2nd) Dawson Cram (3)
3rd) Ryan Ellis, Jake Finch, Brad Perez, Kyle Sieg (2)
4th) Luke Baldwin, Harrison Burton, Jeb Burton, Corey Day, Daniel Dye, Austin J. Hill, Brandon Jones, Carson Kvapil, Alex Labbe, Mason Maggio, Sam Mayer, Parker Retzlaff, Nick Sanchez, Garrett Smithley, Patrick Staropoli, David Starr, Carson Ware (1)
