O’REILLY: Ryan Ellis and Young’s Motorsports return to race after extensive repairs, but run out of time to gain spots
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
ALL PHOTOS: Luis Torres, @TheLTFiles
Ryan Ellis picked up the 7th last-place finish of his NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series career in Saturday’s GOVX 200 at the Phoenix Raceway when his #02 Demco Built to Move Chevrolet fell out with suspension issues after 13 of 200 laps.
The finish, which came in Ellis’ 168th series start, was his first of the season and first in an O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race since September 12, 2025 at Bristol, ten races ago. In the O’Reilly rankings, it was the 9th for the #02, the 27th from suspension issues, and the 683rd for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 36th for the #02, the 57th for the suspension, and the 2,029th for Chevrolet.
When Ellis was last featured here, he was closing out the season with Mario Gosselin’s DGM Racing x JIM program. Driving the #71 with which he started his racing career, it was with this team that Ellis earned his first career top-ten finish, taking a popular 8th-place finish in Charlotte. But aside from an 11th-place finish in the summer race at Daytona, the rest of the season was a struggle, leaving him a distant 28th in points. In late October, it was announced Ellis wouldn’t be returning to Gosselin’s team for 2026.
Just days after the championship race in November, Ellis landed a ride with Randy Young’s team, which would expand to two cars, putting him in the #02 alongside the team’s current #42, which has now been driven by a rotating cast of drivers. Ellis wouldn’t be a “go-or-go-home” entry, following the successful Owner Point transfer from Kaulig Racing’s shuttered #16 team, ranked 14th in 2025. From 32nd on the grid in this year’s Daytona opener, Ellis charged to a new career-best 6th, his second career top-ten performance, then took 22nd in Atlanta and 34th last Saturday in COTA.
For Phoenix, Ellis carried a black-red-and-white scheme for sponsor Demco, their slogan “Built to Move” referencing 60 years of manufacturing large-scale agricultural and automotive equipment. He began the weekend ranking 35th of the 40 entered drivers with a best lap of 28.964 seconds (124.292mph), the drew 12th in the qualifying order. But an issue with the rear end discovered during practice kept Ellis from taking his qualifying lap, putting him in the 38th and final starting spot. Sent home after qualifying were Josh Williams in the #92 Optum Chevrolet and Blake Lothian in the #35 The Texas Lawbook Chevrolet, the first and third cars to take time on Friday.
On race day, Ellis’ repairs incurred him a redundant tail-end penalty for unapproved adjustments, to be joined by teammate Nathan Byrd, originally lined up 32nd in the largely unsponsored #42 Chevrolet, and 12th-place Sam Mayer, who had power steering issues during practice on his #41 Audibel Chevrolet. Mayer recovered nicely on Saturday, finding his way to the lead for 11 laps before settling back in 5th.
When the green flag dropped, Ellis, Byrd, and Mayer had already climbed to 36th, 35th, and 33rd based on intervals. Two other drivers had fallen behind the trio as 37th-place Mason Maggio reclaimed the last spot on the outside line, 3.656 seconds back of the lead and two-tenths back of Ellis. Taking 38th now was Dawson Cram, who gave team owner Mike Harmon his first start of the season in the #74 Chevrolet. At the line, Cram was 3.818 seconds back of the lead, then 5.034 behind at the end of Lap 1 and 6.429 on the start of Lap 3. By Lap 6, Cram had fallen a half-second behind new 37th-place runner Austin J. Hill, the COTA last-place finisher, making his oval track debut in the Barrett-Cope Racing #30 sponsored by Southern Ohio Equipment and Ashurst American Honey.
Ellis trailing smoke in the early laps.
Around Lap 8, Cram was warned by his spotter that Ellis’ car was trailing smoke as he dropped back to 35th. NASCAR told their spotters to watch Ellis as he continued around the track, but they reported back no fluid on the track and didn’t order Ellis to pit road. When Ellis took last from Cram on Lap 9, the crew called him in and examined the car. “It’s the same – it’s the right-rear,” said someone on the team as the crew checked for fluid leaking from the hub. The team also said this was the same issue that kept them from making a qualifying lap. They decided to take him to the garage, but to do so, Ellis needed to drive slowly around the apron for another lap. He did this by Lap 14, when NASCAR reported he’d pulled off the track with mechanical issues. The team directed Ellis to the team’s hauler, where they set to work.
Meanwhile, Nick Sanchez had plummeted to 37th on Lap 15 after his #25 Ford shut off, then re-fired, costing him a lap as he made his own unscheduled stop. Sanchez’ AM Racing crew looked under the hood and sent him back out, now four laps down in 37th, only to incur a penalty for too many crew members over the wall. This put Sanchez five laps down, just as Cram lost a lap on track in 36th. Back behind the wall, Ellis’ crew discussed whether to replace the right-rear hub and the rear end. Nearly 20 laps down with no one else in the garage, the crew set to work, and radio traffic all but ceased.
The next update from Ellis’ team didn’t come until Lap 92, just at the end of Stage 2. The crew found an inner seal was bad, and was now getting replaced. At the time, Ellis was 83 laps down to 37th-place Cram at five down, the #02 still the only car in the garage. On Lap 104, Ellis’ crew said they were finishing up repairs, and on Lap 108 estimated they’d be done in five minutes. Ellis re-fired the engine on Lap 128, and by Lap 132 had returned to the track, a full 122 laps behind. But with the other 37 cars still on track, Ellis and crew soon found they couldn’t gain any more ground. After only five laps on track, he was behind the wall again. And on Lap 155, just after reporting they’d regroup in Las Vegas, NASCAR declared Ellis the first driver out of the race.
Another view of Ellis’ early smoke while leading Austin J. Hill in the #30.
Finishing 37th was William Sawalich, whose #18 Soundgear Toyota was collected in a multi-car accident triggered by teammate Brandon Jones, which caused Sawalich to rear-end the other Joe Gibbs Racing entry of polesitter Taylor Gray. Cram, Sanchez, and Hill completed the Bottom Five, all of them still on the track within eight laps of the leader at the checkered flag.
Caruth, Alfredo, and Clements run strong in Phoenix
In his reunion with Jordan Anderson Racing, this year to fill the gaps in his first full O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season with JR Motorsports, Rajah Caruth saved his car from clobbering the wall in qualifying, then piloted the #32 NASCAR 25 Chevrolet to an 8th-place finish, already his third top-ten finish in four races this season.
Two spots behind Caruth came Anthony Alfredo, who qualified a sterling 4th in Viking Motorsports’ new second team, battled in and among the leaders, and came home 10th in the #96 Dude Wipes Chevrolet. This time, the run occurred on a last-minute double-duty weekend, where he was tabbed by Hendrick Motorsports to drive in place of Alex Bowman, suffering from vertigo.
Taking 11th was Jeremy Clements, who entering Saturday hadn’t finished better than 29th all season, taking a much-needed finish in his #51 Alliance Driveway Solutions Chevrolet.
LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the first last-place finish for the #02 in an O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race since August 19, 2023, when Blaine Perkins’ #02 Gratis Chevrolet had transmission issues after 11 laps around Watkins Glen. The number had never before finished last in an O’Reilly race at Phoenix.
*This was the first time the last-place finisher of an O’Reilly race at Phoenix finished last with suspension issues since November 9, 2019, when Landon Cassill’s #89 Visone RV Chevrolet fell out after 11 laps.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
38) #02-Ryan Ellis / 13 laps / suspension
37) #18-William Sawalich / 173 laps / crash
36) #74-Dawson Cram / 192 laps / running
35) #25-Nick Sanchez / 193 laps / running
34) #30-Austin J. Hill / 195 laps / running
2026 LASTCAR O’REILLY AUTO PARTS SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) DGM Racing x JIM, Joey Gase Motorsports with Scott Osteen, RSS Racing, Young’s Motorsports (1)
2026 LASTCAR O’REILLY AUTO PARTS SERIES MANUFACTURER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (4)
2026 LASTCAR O’REILLY AUTO PARTS SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
