by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
PHOTO: Jonathan Fjeld, @Jonathan_Fjeld
J.J. Yeley picked up the 19th last-place finish of his NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series career in Saturday’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Championship Race at the Homestead-Miami Speedway when his #38 Firman Power Equipment Ford fell out with a wheel bearing issue after he completed 58 of 200 laps.
The finish, which came in Yeley’s 405th series start, was his fifth of the season and first since October 11, 2026 at Charlotte, four races ago. In the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series rankings, it was the 1st for a wheel bearing issue, the 29th for the #38, and the 184th for Ford. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 4th from a wheel bearing, the 71st for the #38, and the 1,113th for Ford.
With the finish, Yeley secured his second LASTCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Championship and first since 2019. He earned five last-place finishes, the most by an O’Reilly driver since he scored that 2019 title. He also ties Joe Nemechek for the second-most last-place finishes across NASCAR’s top three divisions with 48.
Curiously, Yeley wasn’t slated to run Saturday’s race. His focus was on Sunday’s Cup Series event, where he’d make his 400th series start driving a special Turkey Drive paint scheme for John Cohen’s NY Racing Team. The RSS #38 Ford, which Yeley last ran in his last-place showing at Charlotte, was originally set for Patrick Emerling, who brought his sponsor Firman Power Equipment from a rough race last week in Martinsville where he spun multiple times. But with his wife expecting their third child at any moment, Emerling elected to return home. Yeley was first reported to drive the #38 for practice, but would ultimately qualify and race the car.
As one of 38 drivers entered for as many starting spots, Yeley was assured his place in the field, and his chance to compete against LASTCAR title challenger Dawson Cram in the #47 FUKU Energy Drink Chevrolet for the last-place championship. Yeley arrived in Florida as the LASTCAR leader with four last-place finishes, but three-time last-placer Cram had more Bottom Fives and Bottom Tens, giving him the advantage if his own last-place run forced a tie.
Emerling ran the #38 car in practice, ranking 36th of 38 with a lap of 35.278 seconds (153.070mph). Yeley, set to be the second driver on track for qualifying, improved to 26th on the grid with a lap of 34.345 seconds (157.228mph), an improvement of nearly one full second from practice. Yeley also qualified 38th for Sunday’s Cup race in the #44 PCNY Turkey Drive Chevrolet, clocking in at 33.674 seconds (160.361mph).
Securing the 38th and final starting spot was Cram, whose #47 clocked in the slowest lap of the session at 34.916 seconds (154.657mph), 1.338 seconds off Sheldon Creed’s pole, but just 0.054 off the next-slowest car of Garrett Smithley in the #0 StubHub Chevrolet. “It’s not been easy, but we’re here,” said Cram to his team during the pace laps. With no drivers having incurred pre-race penalties, Cram remained in the last spot at the start, crossing the line 4.020 seconds back of the lead, alongside 37th-place Smithley at a 4.016. At the end of Lap 1, Cram was now 5.676 seconds back of the lead, and a half-second back of new 37th-place runner Preston Pardus in the #50 Chinchor Electric, Inc. Chevrolet.
On Lap 4, Kyle Sieg plummeted from 5.994 seconds back of the lead as he came to pit road with a flat tire. “Put a gauge on it right now,” said the team as they sent Sieg back on track in last place, the only driver one lap down. “Well, isn’t this the story of our year?” asked Sieg. “Big time,” said his team. At the time, Cram was still on the lead lap, now in 37th, but still 12.517 seconds back of the lead. Yeley, whose car didn’t show up on NASCAR.com’s leaderboard, indicated a blank spot in the 27th position.
Then on Lap 8, Chase contender Corey Day’s #17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet was battling Rajah Caruth’s near-identical #88 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet in the Top 10. Day pulled to Caruth’s inside, then made an aggressive move to the right to complete the pass. But Day wasn’t quite cleared by his spotter, and ended up tipping the right-rear of his car across the left-front of Caruth’s steering him across Caruth’s nose and into the wall entering Turn 3. While Caruth pulled away with fender damage, Day slid down the banking and became stuck in the infield grass, where his right-front wheel was blocked by the right-front splitter bar. Under the caution that gave Sieg his lap back, Day was towed to pit road, taking last on Lap 10. The tow truck couldn’t drop him off in the teams stall, Pit Stall No. 34 on the Turn 4 side, so the truck pulled Day’s car down to the Turn 1 side, then into the “Damaged Vehicle Policy” Zone behind the wall. By then, Day was already three laps down, and his crew was scrambling down nearly the entire length of the frontstretch to meet him there. “Check my steering – that’s the problem, I think,” said Day.
Day’s crew continued their work on Lap 14, when the race restarted. By then, Cram had dropped back to the 37th spot, 3.260 seconds back of the lead, and the unlapped Kyle Sieg now ran 34th. On Lap 24, Day returned to the track with the right-front fender cut away, his car showing 16 laps down and on the verge of 17. His first completed lap after repairs was clocked at 963.194 seconds, or about 16 minutes, and on Lap 27 he cleared minimum speed. “I still feel like it’s on the splitter,” said Day, who couldn’t come in for another stop until his crew ran back the entire length of pit road to Pit Stall No. 34. On Lap 31, the leaders caught and lapped 37th-place Smithley, taking the Lucky Dog away from Day, then began their march through the tail end of the field. By Lap 41, Yeley had fought his way to 25th, but while battling 24th-place Jeremy Clements in the #51 Fly & Form / Alliance Driveaway / All South Electric Chevrolet was caught and lapped by the leaders, who threaded the needle between them.
By Lap 46, when the caution fell to end Stage 1, the Lucky Dog went to 22nd-place running Jeb Burton in the #27 FasTrack Auto Transport Chevrolet. At the time, Yeley was running in 25th with Cram back in 34th, and Day remained in last, showing 17 laps down. Under the yellow, Yeley told him to take the wave-around, putting him back on the lead lap in 23rd, then drop to the back of the field, “then be done.” This was the first indication that Yeley would park the car, even with Emerling’s sponsorship aboard, as it had been during a full-race effort the week before. Yeley also remarked that he saved his tires during Stage 1, so he hoped he didn’t have the bad tire wear of teammate Ryan Sieg, nor the tire failure of brother Kyle. On Lap 52, last-place Day lost another lap, shown 18 laps down, with Cram back in 36th. The next time by, Yeley’s crew said, “We’re going (to restart) at (Lap) 53, so 57-58, we’re coming in.”
When the race restarted on Lap 54, both Yeley and Cram had dropped to the tail end of the field, Yeley behind by open track as the field came to the green flag. The now 23rd-place Yeley had dropped a full 12 seconds back of the leader by Lap 57, and the team made sure to let him know what lap he was on. On Lap 58, with their car now 17.20 seconds back of the lead and dropping fast, Yeley’s team staged themselves in the garage. On Lap 59, Yeley was coming down pit road, where the crew told him to pass the starting line. They directed him to the entrance at Turn 1, which appeared to be the same opening through which Day’s car had been towed, just in front of Pit Stall No. 4 for Justin Allgaier. “That’s good right there, J.J.,” said the team on Lap 61. On Lap 64, NASCAR declared Yeley out of the race, allowing Day to climb past him into 37th on Lap 80.
Day ended up finishing 34th, rounding out the Bottom Five. The first two drivers he passed were 37th-place Smithley, who pulled behind the wall on Lap 75, then 36th-place Mason Maggio, whose #91 Flitz Polish Chevrolet joined Smithley and Yeley in the garage on Lap 101. Both were declared out on Lap 106. He finally passed Cram, who after feeling a possible wheel weight issue or broken shock dropped out in the final 50 laps. Day took the checkered flag 15 laps behind the 33rd-place running car of Dean Thompson.
Kyle Sieg and Will Rodgers finish the year strong at Homestead
After the early cut tire that put him in last place during Stage 1, Kyle Sieg made the most of getting his lap back, coming home in the 11th spot as the final car on the lead lap, one spot ahead of brother Ryan. One spot behind Ryan came Will Rodgers, who on the day of his announced promotion to Big Machine Racing’s #48 finished 13th in the #53 Driving Good Health Chevrolet. Rodgers finished just one spot short of tying his career-best 12th-place run at Mid-Ohio back in 2019. Dr. Patrick Staropoli, who Rodgers will replace next season, ran as high as 12th in the closing stages before a flat tire in the closing stages dropped him to 17th.
LASTCAR STATISTICS
*Yeley is the first O’Reilly Auto Parts Series driver to be classified out due to a wheel bearing issue.
*This marked the first last-place finish for the #38 in an O’Reilly race at Homestead since October 26, 2024, when Matt DiBenedetto’s run in RSS Racing’s #38 NBCF Ford lost the engine after 56 laps.
*Yeley most recently finished last in an O’Reilly race at Homestead on October 22, 2022, when his #66 WorkPro Breast Cancer Awareness Ford crashed after 3 laps.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
38) #38-J.J. Yeley / 58 laps / wheel bearing
37) #0-Garrett Smithley / 71 laps / rear end
36) #91-Mason Maggio / 95 laps / engine
35) #47-Dawson Cram / 149 laps / suspension
34) #17-Corey Day / 175 laps / running
2026 LASTCAR O’REILLY AUTO PARTS SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP - FINAL
1st) RSS Racing (8)
2nd) JR Motorsports, Mike Harmon Racing, Young’s Motorsports (3)
3rd) DGM Racing x JIM, Joey Gase Motorsports with Scott Osteen, Jordan Anderson Racing Bommarito Autosport (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 - FINAL
1st) Chevrolet (21)
2nd) Ford (9)
3rd) Toyota (2)
2026 LASTCAR O’REILLY AUTO PARTS SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP - FINAL
