O’REILLY: Stack-up eliminates Mason Maggio before he can take the green flag
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
The damaged Maggio pulling away after the stack-up on the initial start. (SCREENSHOT: from footage taken by Steven Taranto, @STaranto92)
Mason Maggio picked up the 2nd last-place finish of his NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series career in Saturday’s United Rentals 300 at the Daytona International Speedway when his #91 Success Unlocked Chevrolet was collected in a multi-car accident coming to the green flag, preventing him from completing any of the 120 laps.
The finish, which came in Maggio’s 21st series start, was his first of the season and first in an O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race since April 12, 2025 at Bristol, 25 races ago. In the O’Reilly last-place rankings, it was the 34th for the #91, the 415th from a crash, and the 680th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 60th for the #91, the 1,443rd from a crash, and the 2,024th for Chevrolet.
Since he was last featured on this website, Maggio completed his most races of any previous O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season – 12 of the 33 rounds. Two weeks after his frustrating outing in Bristol, he joined forces with Carl Long at Motorsports Business Management and made the show by just one-thousandth of a second. The 22nd-place finish was Maggio’s second-best finish of the year and his only one for Long. He ran nearly all his remaining starts with Joey Gase Motorsports with Scott Osteen, including a season-best 15th in the summer race at Daytona. The following superspeedway race in Talladega saw him drive for Mario Gosselin at DGM Racing x JIM, where he matched his 22nd-place showing from the spring.
This season, Maggio has landed a part-time deal with DGM. As announced last December, his season debut would come in Saturday’s race at his home track in Daytona. He’d run a white-and-pink car bearing logos for “Success Unlimited,” a motivational docu-series on entrepreneurship hosted by company founder Trixy Castro. The show jumped on board Maggio’s car to promote the launch of their program on April 2nd, including a promo code MASON24 offering fans exclusive early access.
Maggio was one of 42 entrants to attempt Saturday’s 38-car starting lineup. His team retained its 30th-place rank in Owner Points from last season, meaning he wouldn’t be one of the “go-or-go-home” drivers needing to make the field on speed. Given his performance leading up to the race, it wouldn’t have been a problem if he had to depend on his speed. He ranked 21st in practice with a lap of 49.626 second s(181.357mph), then matched that 21st-place rank in qualifying with a speed of 49.838 seconds (180.585mph).
Sent home after qualifying were Garrett Smithley in the #0 Knight Fire Protection Chevrolet, two of Joey Gase’s three cars with David Starr in the #53 Apex Wireless Chevrolet and Gase himself in the #55 Stripes TV Chevrolet, plus Anthony Alfredo in Viking Motorsports’ new second entry, the #96 Dude Wipes Chevrolet. Continuing a frustrating SpeedWeeks where a technical infraction cost him a spot in Thursday’s Daytona 500, Alfredo did work out a deal with Alpha Prime Racing to make Saturday’s race. He’d take the place of 26th-place starter Caesar Bacarella in the #4 Protein Rice Treats Chevrolet. Alfredo’s added decals from Dude Wipes resulted in a humorous melding of sponsorships.
Securing the 38th and final starting spot was Carson Ware, whose #30 Costa Oil Chevrolet was the only car to not turn a lap in qualifying, the result of engine issues. The newly reorganized Barrett-Cope Racing team sill made the show, having acquired the Owner Points from the same Richard Childress Racing #2 entry that carried Jesse Love to last year’s driver’s championship. Unapproved adjustments resulted in a redundant tail-end penalty for Ware, the same listed reason for 24th-place Harrison Burton in the #24 Dead On Tools Toyota, 27th-place Parker Retzlaff in the #99 FUNKAWAY Chevrolet, and 36th-place Kyle Sieg in the #28 Hiami Hooch Chevrolet, and. Alfredo would also drop to the rear for his driver change.
After the start was delayed by an extra lap, the field of 38 addressed the green flag, only for trouble to break out right away. The field started to stack-up around mid-pack as those cars exited the Restart Zone, still well before reaching the starting line. At the time, Maggio was on the inside line behind 19th-place starter #38 Firman Generators Chevrolet of Patrick Emerling. When the stack-up happened, Maggio slammed into the back of Emerling, causing Emerling to swerve onto the apron. Maggio was then struck in the back by the #5 of 23rd-place Luke Fenhaus in the #5 Jobber / dun-rite / ICS Ford. Also incurring damage were Brennan Poole’s #44 ROMA Chevrolet and Jeremy Clements’ #51 All South Electric / One Stop Chevrolet, both trapped behind Fenhaus and ended up spinning into the infield grass. As the caution soon fell, both Poole and Clements didn’t record an interval behind the leader for several seconds. At the time, the penalized Retzlaff was the last car in line by intervals, showing 6.970 seconds back of the lead, followed by alfredo (5.467) and Ware (5.034). Maggio, who crossed the line 2.765 seconds behind the leader as he crossed the stripe, was the only car trailing smoke as he pulled to the apron into Turn 1. He soon stopped between Turns 1 and 2, where he climbed out, done for the night.
Saturday’s race was slowed for three cautions including three more large multi-car accidents and multiple mechanical issues. Taking 37th was Giovanni Ruggiero, only a few hours removed from his ARCA win earlier in the day, after his #19 First Auto Group Toyota was collected in an accident off Turn 4 at the end of Stage 1. Collected in the same accident was Nick Sanchez, whose first race for AM Racing ended three laps later in the #26 Better Compute Works Inc. Ford. Dean Thompson suffered suspension issues on his #26 Thompson Pipe Group Toyota, taking 35th, while Josh Williams lost the engine on his #92 Optum Chevrolet.
Those who escape chaos take strong finishes behind a dominant Austin Hill
In the RSS Racing team’s return to Chevrolet, Ryan Sieg overcame both a flat tire under green, then damage sustained in a Lap 93 pileup by earning the Lucky Dog and charging to a 3rd-place finish, tied for his best-ever finish in an O’Reilly race at Daytona along with the 2014 and 2016 summer races. Sieg drafted up to runner-up Justin Allgaier, then battled door-to-door with Jordan Anderson for the 3rd spot as both crossed the line. Anderson took 4th in his #32 Easycare Chevrolet, continuing a string of strong runs in the season-opening O’Reilly and Truck Series races by tying his career-best in 2024.
In his debut race for Young’s Motorsports, Ryan Ellis picked up just the second top-ten finish of his career with a new career-best 6th-place showing in the #02 Tablo TV Chevrolet. Two spots behind Ellis in 8th came Blaine Perkins in the #31 WERNER Chevrolet, who after finishing 5th and 10th in the two stages earned his best-ever finish at Daytona, besting his previous mark of three 14th-place finishes. Rajah Caruth overcame two separate incidents to finish 10th in Hendrick Motorsports’ #88 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, marking his first career top-ten finish in his 23rd series start. Caruth’s previous best was a pair of 12th-place finishes in Martinsville.
Further back, Brennan Poole recovered from the first-lap tangle to charge all the way to 2nd on the final overtime finish. But when setting up a pass on race leader Austin Hil, contact from Justin Allgaier knocked Poole sideways, dropping him to 12th. He ended up finishing between last-minute teammate Anthony Alfredo, who overcame damage of his own to take 12th, and 13th-place Patrick Emerling, who was rear-ended by Mason Maggio at the start. Combined with Ryan Sieg’s 3rd-place showing and brother Kyle Sieg taking 15th, all three RSS Racing Chevrolets finished in the Top 15. Last-place starter Carson Ware also made it to the checkered flag, taking 19th in the #30 Costa Oil Chevrolet for a new career-best in only Ware’s 18th series start.
Chrissy Wallace after her first-lap wreck in Daytona, 2010. (SCREENSHOT: ESPN, upload by Voti)
LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the first time the last-place finisher of the season-opening O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Daytona failed to complete the opening lap since February 13, 2010, when Chrissy Wallace’s #41 Fuel Doctor FD-47 Chevrolet, fielded by Rick Ware Racing, crashed coming off Turn 4 to complete the first lap. Her wrecked car spun to a stop at the entrance of pit road, short of the starting line. More recently, Akinori Ogata wrecked entering Turn 3 on the opening lap of the summer race on August 23, 2024.
*This marked the first time the #91 finished last in an O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Daytona since this race two years ago on February 19, 2024, when Kyle Weatherman’s turn in DGM’s #91 ended after 22 laps due to a crash.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
38) #91-Mason Maggio / 0 laps / crash
37) #19-Giovanni Ruggiero / 29 laps / crash
36) #25-Nick Sanchez / 32 laps / crash
35) #26-Dean Thompson / 68 laps / suspension
34) #92-Josh Williams / 77 laps / engine
2026 LASTCAR O’REILLY AUTO PARTS SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) DGM Racing x JIM (1)
2026 LASTCAR O’REILLY AUTO PARTS SERIES MANUFACTURER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (1)
2026 LASTCAR O’REILLY AUTO PARTS SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
