O’REILLY: Point swaps, sudden exits, and scoring issues all result in Dawson Cram finishing last after the opening lap in Texas
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
PHOTO: Dawson Cram, @dawsoncram41
Dawson Cram picked up the 5th last-place finish of his NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series career in Saturday’s Andy’s Frozen Custard 340 at the Texas Motor Speedway when his unsponsored #35 Joey Gase Motorsports with Scott Osteen Chevrolet lost the engine after he completed 1 of 200 laps.
The finish, which came in Cram’s 44th series start, was his first of the season and first since August 2, 2025 at Iowa, 23 races ago. In the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series rankings, it was the 22nd for the #35, the 292nd from the engine, and the 689th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 40th for the #35, the 1,162nd from the engine, and the 2,040th for Chevrolet.
This past week saw some intriguing maneuvering by smaller teams to best position themselves in the point standings. Among those involved were Cram and the Mike Harmon Racing team, which this season qualified for four of their first seven attempts, Ironically, their best run of the season has been their lone DNF, which took place in Kansas. There, Harmon gambled that other teams would drop out early, so he only had one set of sticker tires on hand and a deal to get 20-lap scuffs from Sam Hunt Racing. The gamble paid off handsomely – in the first 37 laps, Parker Retzlaff, Luke Baldwin, and Austin Hill all fell out of the race, and Harmon secured tires from each. Cram fought his way into the Top 20 before he dropped a cylinder, taking him out of the race past the halfway point.
Among the teams providing tires that night was Hettinger Racing, which for the last few weeks has been the lone Ford team in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series. Despite a strong 11th-place finish by J.J. Yeley last Saturday in Talladega, the Hettinger team didn’t field their #5. Word then came that Joey Gase acquired Hettinger’s Owner Points to bring back his #53 entry, which hadn’t run since David Starr failed to qualify that car in Daytona. With Starr entered in the #53 Clean Burn Chevrolet alongside Gase himself in the #55 Stripes TV Chevrolet, attention turned to Gase’s other full-time car, the #35, which had no driver listed for Texas following Natalie Decker’s drive in Talladega.
A deal was then worked out with Mike Harmon Racing, which had already entered Cram in the race in the team’s #74. Cram’s black Chevrolet was renumbered the #35 using a number font similar to Harmon’s instead of Gase’s – red numbers on the door and white on the roof. While this technically meant Harmon withdrew his #74, Cram would still be running Harmon’s car that was listed under Gase’s Owner Points. Harmon had done this before, most recently in early 2024, when his #74 was fielded as Jordan Anderson Racing’s #32 in several races.
The overall entry list reduction by one car meant the remaining 38 entrants were all guaranteed starting spots in the field. In opening practice, Cram ranked just 36th, but ahead of both Gase cars, earning a best time of 31.127 seconds (173.483mph). He was third on track to qualify, where he earned the 31st starting spot with a lap of 29.982 seconds (180.108mph), again ranking ahead of both Gase cars, who took 35th and 36th.
Securing the 38th and final starting spot was Ryan Ellis, whose #02 Eclipse Claims Consulting Chevrolet was ranked lowest of the two teams who didn’t turn a lap in qualifying, joined by 37th-place Lavar Scott in the #45 Urban Affairs Coalition Chevrolet. Ellis had a mechanical issue late in the practice session while Scott’s team changed engines, handing both tail-end penalties along with 9th-place qualifier Ryan Sieg, whose team performed unapproved adjustments on his #39 SciAps / GEMORO Chevrolet. When the engines fired, there was some delay in both Scott and Ellis getting ready along with the #53 of Starr.
When the green flag dropped, Scott was classified last based on intervals, showing 3.449 seconds back of the lead to 37th-place Ellis’ 3.369 and 35th-place Ryan Sieg at a 3.332. Ellis had been warned by his team to watch for drivers losing control in the high lane entering Turns 1 and 3. It’s likely others around him received similar messages as the final few cars had already fallen back of the field by open track, which turned out to be the right strategy as trouble did break out. Halfway between Turns 1 and 2, Taylor Gray’s #54 Operation 300 Toyota was losing spots in the high lane when he was bumped by Carson Kvapil’s #9 Arby’s Chevrolet to his inside, causing Gray to spin along with William Sawalich, whose #18 Soundgear Toyota spun to Kvapil’s left. Jeb Burton suffered left-front damage to his #27 State Water Heaters Chevrolet as he squeezed past Sawalich. Barely a second later, 6th-place running Corey Day’s #17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet snapped loose in the high lane and clobbered the outside wall. Cram was among those tip-toeing past the wrecked cars on the apron of the backstretch, but ended up joining them on pit road despite no visible damage or smoke from his car.
Cram’s No. 35 (the second car on the apron at camera right) rolls past the Lap 1 accident scene. SCREENSHOT: TheCW
For a third-straight race, a first-lap accident jumbled up the running order at the tail end of the field. The spot first fell to Jeb Burton, who returned to the track 75.396 seconds back of the lead after repairs to his left-front corner. “There’s no way we ca race like this,” he said. On Lap 3, Cram inherited the spot, and both he and Day were each shown one lap down. On Lap 4, NASCAR reported Cram heading to the garage with a mechanical issue, meaning he could return to the race if team fixed that issue. Day returned to the track that same lap, now two laps down, only to incur a penalty for too many crew members over the wall. Jeb Burton received a pit road speeding penalty the next time by. Soon after, Day’s “Crash Clock” expired, and the #17 was brought behind the wall and parked behind the team hauler. Day was interviewed on Lap 20 after he was released from the infield care center while Cram was declared out by NASCAR on Lap 33, citing engine trouble. This changed Cram’s status from “off” to “out.”
Soon after the Lap 7 restart, another wreck in Turn 2 occurred when Josh Williams’ #92 Optum Chevrolet bumped Austin Green’s #87 3Dimensional.com Chevrolet into a spin, causing Green to collide with a passing Mason Maggio in the #91 Success Unlocked Chevrolet. Maggio nearly collided with the pace car as he re-fired his engine and veered into traffic. Williams and Green remained on the lead lap while Maggio lost four laps to repair his missing rear bumper cover, dropping him to 36th. Maggio then cleared minimum speed along with Jeb Burton, and the race continued until still another wreck on Lap 18, where Brad Perez was turned head-on into the outside wall, destroying his #42 Weiss Sand & Clay Chevrolet that wound up 36th. Also collected was a damaged Green, who this time ripped the splitter from his Chevrolet in the infield grass, ending his race in 35th. Rajah Caruth didn’t complete the Bottom Five until the final laps, when he spun into the inside wall on the backstretch, ending his day 35th in the #32 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet.
Scoring issues for the final two spots, showing Day in 37th but with one fewer lap completed. (SCREENSHOT: NASCAR.com)
During all of this, there was a scoring dispute as to who was actually running in last place, which came down to Dawson Cram and Corey Day. TheCW’s leaderboard showed Day in 38th and Cram in 37th, which remained the same until the end of the broadcast. Meanwhile, NASCAR.com’s leaderboard showed Cram in 38th and Day in 37th, even though for every completed lap, Day was credited with losing it before Cram, keeping Day one lap behind Cram. When the race ended, Cram was classified last showing 198 laps down to Day 199 laps behind, seeming to indicate Cram completed two laps to Day’s one. The site’s “raw feed” page also showed Cram in last and pointed out both drivers were each credited with just one completed lap. This was confirmed by the published results, which showed Cram in last place, out with his engine issues, and Day eliminated in 37th under the “Damaged Vehicle Policy” (DVP).
NASCAR.com’s raw feed showing Cram in last and both he and Day completing 1 lap each.
LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the first last-place finish for the #35 in an O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Texas.
*Cram is the fifth driver to finish last at Texas after completing just one lap and the first since November 5, 2016, when Jeff Green had brake issues on his #10 TriStar Motorsports Toyota. Three other times, the last-place finisher at Texas failed to complete the opening lap, most recently Sam Mayer’s first-lap crash in his #1 Accelerate Pros Talent Chevrolet on September 23, 2023.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
38) #35-Dawson Cram / 1 lap / engine
37) #17-Corey Day / 1 lap / dvp
36) #42-Brad Perez / 17 laps / crash
35) #87-Austin Green / 17 laps / crash
34) #32-Rajah Caruth / 180 laps / crash / led 2 laps
2026 LASTCAR O’REILLY AUTO PARTS SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) DGM Racing x JIM, Joey Gase Motorsports with Scott Osteen, Young’s Motorsports (2)
2nd) AM Racing, Haas Factory Team, Hettinger Racing, JR Motorsports, RSS Racing, SS-Green Light Racing (1)
2026 LASTCAR O’REILLY AUTO PARTS SERIES MANUFACTURER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (9)
2nd) Ford (3)
2026 LASTCAR O’REILLY AUTO PARTS SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
