O’REILLY: Jake Finch makes a huge save in qualifying, but a restart ends his night in Phoenix

Oct 17

by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief

Jake Finch picked up the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series career in Saturday’s Timberland PRO 200 at the Phoenix Raceway when his #9 Chevy Cares Chevrolet lost the engine after he completed 54 of 200 laps.

The finish came in Finch’s sixth series start. In the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series rankings, it was the 17th for the #9, the 296th from an engine, and the 699th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 65th for the #9, the 1,172nd from the engine, and the 2,066th for Chevrolet.

The arrival of Jake Finch in NASCAR also signals the latest rebirth of Phoenix Racing, owned by his father James Finch. When I was compiling research for my “Rise of the Field Fillers” episode on the Phoenix team in the fall of 2020, the younger Finch was just starting his racing career, preparing for a Snowball Derby run in 2021. In 2022, Finch finished 7th in his ARCA Menards Series debut at Pocono, won his first ARCA East race at Dover in 2023, then claimed the ARCA race at Talladega in 2024. While driving for Billy Venturini in many of those races, he often carried the logo for his father’s Phoenix Construction firm and race team.

Finch has not yet started a race in the Craftsman Truck Series, and instead made his O’Reilly debut last summer at Dover, where he steered Rick Hendrick’s #17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet to a lead-lap finish in 17th. He’s since landed a part-time effort in the “all-star” #9 entry at JR Motorsports, where he improved from a 30th-place team debut in Atlanta to an 11th just last month in Bristol. But last week at Charlotte was a setback as a spin and subsequent suspension damage left him in the 31st spot.

At Phoenix, Finch was one of 38 drivers entered for as many starting spots in Saturday’s field. This time, he’d run a new pink-and-white paint scheme to mark Breast Cancer Awareness Month through Chevrolet’s partnership with the American Cancer Society and their fundraising walk, Making Strides Against Breast Cancer. In opening practice, Finch ranked 28th with a best lap of 28.778 seconds (125.096mph). The tenth car on track for qualifying, Finch made an incredible save off Turn 4, where he twice prevented his car from spinning across the line. He still managed to rank 29th on the starting grid with a speed of 28.519 seconds (126.232mph).

Securing the 38th and final starting spot was Joey Gase, who after a strong 15th-place run last Sunday in Charlotte had his Phoenix sponsor fall through on Tuesday. He ultimately gained sponsorship from Hoover A and Oshman Aviation, only to develop a mechanical issue after he ran 13 laps in practice, ranking hi 33rd. He was one of four drivers to not take a lap in qualifying, and along with 36th-place Harrison Burton in the #24 Klutch Kares Toyota was still receiving repairs within an hour of Saturday’s green flag. Burton was sent to a backup car after the right-front of his primary ignited. One spot ahead in 35th, Sam Mayer blew an engine, forcing a late change on his #41 Starkey Chevrolet. An engine change was also needed for Brad Perez, who was likewise unable to take a qualifying lap in his #42 Santiam Rentals Chevrolet, placing him 37th.

Prior to the start, Mayer, Gase, Burton, and Perez all incurred redundant tail-end penalties along with 34th-place Garrett Smithley, whose #0 Dozer Winch Parts Chevrolet ran the slowest completed lap of the session with a time of 28.912 seconds (124.516mph).

When the green flag dropped, Gase remained in the 38th and final starting spot, 3.587 seconds back of the lead to 37th-place Perez at 3.415. By Lap 3, Smithley took over the spot, 5.329 seconds back of the lead, as Gase now battled Dawson Cram in the #47 Hoods Home Center Chevrolet. The next lap on Lap 4, Smithley pulled alongside Gase, the two separated by less than three-hundredths of a second, and on Lap 5, both dropped Cram to last, now 7.341 behind. As Smithley was told he was running faster than the cars ahead of him, including Lavar Scott, who fell to 36th in the #45 Bender Extender Chevrolet, Cram remained within three-tenths of Smithley, even though Cram’s car was running extremely loose. Cram’s persistence paid off on Lap 11, when he drew alongside Smithley, who tried to pass him back, but fell nearly two-tenths back on Lap 12 as the new last-place runner.

Over the next few laps, Cram built up a gap over Smithley, told that his car would get tighter during a long run. Smithley, on the other hand, was now running so loose that he was noticeably slow through the center of the corner. By Lap 13, he was six-tenths back of Cram, then 1.1 seconds behind on Lap 18. As Smithley got even looser off the corner, darkening clouds moved across the track from the south, and it started to drizzle. On Lap 23, when he was just about to lose a lap to the leaders, Smithley called, “Dude, it is POURING rain in Turn 2!” An instant later, Smithley caught and passed Cram, who just as suddenly lost a lap to the leaders on Lap 24. Cram was having brake issues, saying the pedal had gone to the floor and wouldn’t pump up again. Fortunately, the rain drew the caution before Smithley could be lapped, giving Cram his lap back. But now Cram’s team had to decide how to handle their brake problem and whether to change to wet-weather tires. By Lap 29, Cram said he was able to pump up the brakes a little, which told the team it probably wasn’t a leak. That time by, Ryan Sieg took the last spot as his #39 SciAps Chevrolet was one of only four cars to make a pit stop, joined by Ryan Ellis, Andrew Patterson, and Smithley. Cram then retook last on Lap 30 after his own stop, and the crew discussed getting more brake fluid from one of the teams near them on pit road.

The Lap 32 restart came on a damp track with few cars in the field having taken on wet-weather tires. Cram, advised to watch for how slick painted spots on the track would be, took the green 5.968 seconds back of the lead, 1.8 behind 37th-place Patterson. He drew to within four-tenths of Patterson by Lap 34, then on Lap 36 was warned that Brandon Jones was plummeting to the tail end of the field. Jones took on wet-weather tires for his #20 Menards / Monster Energy Toyota, but slowed so much as the tires deteriorated on the drying track that he was last on Lap 37. Two laps later, Jones was joined by Connor Mosack, whose debut race for SPS Racing saw them also on wet-weather tires at the wrong time, leaving him 37th, three seconds back of Cram and eight-tenths ahead of Jones. With the laps winding down to end Stage 1, Jones set after Mosack in what both expected would be the battle for the Lucky Dog. On Lap 43, both went a lap down, and by Lap 44, Jones dropped Mosack to last. Jones held off Mosack by the Lap 46 caution and got his lap back.

Under this caution, and only moments after he finished 2nd in Stage 1, Sheldon Creed lost power on his #00 Ollie’s Chevrolet. He needed a push from teammate Mayer down the backstretch, then a wrecker to get to pit road. The crew looked under the hood for what appeared to be a fuel or electrical issue, but may have been a triggered kill switch. Creed denied hitting the switch, but ended up losing three laps after a nearly five-minute pit stop. Creed took last on Lap 51 and returned to action on Lap 52, only to incur a penalty for too many crew members over the wall. Cram, now the last driver on the lead lap in 36th, also incurred a penalty for speeding on pit road.

Creed took the Lap 55 restart and was immediately warned by his spotter of a car “blowing up” in front of him. This was Finch, whose #9 suddenly lost power and pulled onto the apron, headed back to pit road. NASCAR deemed the track clear and didn’t throw the caution as Finch made it back to his pit stall, which was Stall No. 18 on the Turn 1 side. Finch dropped to 35th on Lap 56, then took last place on Lap 59, when he fell four laps down, one lap back of Creed. Finch remarked that something happened when he came up through the gears on the restart, causing his car to shut off. The crew pushed him behind the wall, and was ultimately declared out by NASCAR on Lap 85.

Cram finished 37th, falling out just past the halfway point – not because of his early brake issues, but the fuel pump. Brakes were the reason out for Josh Bilicki, who took 36th in the #07 SnowEX Chevrolet, while a flat right-front tire after a spin resulted in a shredded fender for 35th-place Brennan Poole, whose #44 Frontline Fire Protection Ford finished three laps down in 35th. Rounding out the Bottom Five was Leland Honeyman, Jr., who after another Bottom Five run in the Truck Series race was also three down in DGM Racing x JIM’s #91 DPR Construction Chevrolet.

Thompson and Patterson sneak in strong finishes

Back at the front, Dean Thompson turned in a strong 7th-place finish in the #26 MCM Transportation Toyota after a 10th-place run in Stage 2. His was his fifth top-ten finish of the year and second in the last four races. This came after he’d been excluded from both simulator testing and competition meetings following the news in August that he’d pilot a new third entry for Haas Factory Team in 2027. Thompson’s season-best remains his 6th-place run this past spring in Talladega, where the series returns next week. Further back, it was another strong run for Jordan Anderson’s #32 team. One week after Carson Brown’s 5th-place run in Charlotte, Andrew Patterson clawed his way from the back of the field to 14th in the #32 Winsupply Chevrolet. This ties Patterson’s career-best 14th-place showing in San Diego this past June.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This marked the first last-place finish for the #9 in an O’Reilly race since July 19, 2025, when Ross Chastain had rear gear issues on his #9 Acceptance Insurance Chevrolet after 106 laps around Dover. The number had never finished last in an O’Reilly race at Phoenix.

*Finch is the first first-time last-place finisher of an O’Reilly race since June 13, 2026, when Corey Day scored his first at Pocono.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

38) #9-Jake Finch / 54 laps / engine

37) #47-Dawson Cram / 126 laps / fuel pump

36) #07-Josh Bilicki / 179 laps / brakes

35) #44-Brennan Poole / 197 laps / running

34) #91-Leland Honeyman, Jr. / 197 laps / running

2026 LASTCAR O’REILLY AUTO PARTS SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) RSS Racing (7)

2nd) Mike Harmon Racing (3)

3rd) DGM Racing x JIM, Joey Gase Motorsports with Scott Osteen, Jordan Anderson Racing Bommarito Autosport, JR Motorsports, Young’s Motorsports (2)

4th) AM Racing, Big Machine Racing, Haas Factory Team, Hendrick Motorsports, Hettinger Racing, Joe Gibbs Racing, Sam Hunt Racing, SS-Green Light Racing, Viking Motorsports (1)

2026 LASTCAR O’REILLY AUTO PARTS SERIES MANUFACTURER’S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet (19)

2nd) Ford (8)

3rd) Toyota (2)

2026 LASTCAR O’REILLY AUTO PARTS SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP