by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
PHOTO: Steven Taranto, @STaranto92
Jake Finch picked up the 2nd last-place finish of his NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series career in Saturday’s The Progress Group 250 at Talladega Superspeedway when his #9 KOA Chevrolet crashed after 84 of 94 laps.
The finish, which came in Finch’s seventh series start, was his second of the year and second in a row. In the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series standings, it was the 18th for the #9, the 426th from a crash, and the 700th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 66th for the #9, the 1,478th from a crash, and the 2,069th for Chevrolet.
Following his last-place run last Saturday in Phoenix, Finch would again drive for JR Motorsports in Talladega, site of many memorable moments for his father James Finch and Phoenix Racing, including the team’s lone Cup Series win with Brad Keselowski in 2009. Again sharing one of his teammate’s sponsors, the younger Finch would this week pilot the KOA Campgrounds scheme on his #9, a sponsor most recently run by Connor Zilisch at Chicagoland in July. Without a scheduled practice session, Finch was the ninth driver on track for qualifying, where he ran fastest in Round 1 with a lap of 52.541 seconds (182.258mph), then in Round 2 earned the outside-pole with a lap of 52.437 seconds (182.619mph), just two-thousandths off polesitter Jesse Love.
Finch was among the 41 drivers entered to attempt Saturday’s field of 38, meaning three teams were sent home. The fastest car sent home was the #45 OptiWize 10-N-1 Ford of rookie Lavar Scott, whose roof hatch had come loose during his qualifying lap, costing him a spot by just six-thousandths of a second. Joining him on the early ride home were Carson Ware, whose #47 Chevrolet for Mike Harmon Racing ran a striking new paint scheme for sponsor LUBRI-LOY, plus a returning Patrick Emerling in RSS Racing’s part-time #38 Chevrolet, this week sponsored by Firman Power Equipment and Molrix.
Securing the 38th and final starting spot was Lee Pulliam, whose O’Reilly superspeedway debut began with the added challenge as the only driver to not take a timed lap in qualifying. Pulliam’s #87 Peterson Racing Group Chevrolet incurred a redundant tail-end penalty for needed unapproved adjustments, and would be joined at the back by 10th-place starter Corey Day, whose team needed to change engines after his #17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet was unable to post a time in Round 2.
When the green flag dropped, intervals indicated that other drivers had voluntarily fallen to the rear of the field for the start, further shuffling the order. The penalized Day crossed the stripe in 32nd, 3.058 seconds back of the lead, with 37th-place qualifier Garrett Smithley in the #0 The Kryder Law Group Chevrolet moved up to 33rd (3.132), then 15th-place qualifier Nick Leitz in the #42 Precision Measurements, Inc. Chevrolet holding 34th (3.349), followed by 35th-place Pulliam (3.379), followed by 21st-place qualifier Patrick Staropoli in the #48 Syfovre Chevrolet in 36th (3.664), 28th-place qualifier Joey Gase in the #55 FCL-X Chevrolet in 37th (3.720), and finally 18th-place qualifier Caesar Bacarella in Alpha Prime Racing’s #4 BJ’s Wholesale Club Chevrolet (4.016).
On the break, Bacarella’s car was already trailing the field by open track heading into Turn 1, but was reeling in the cars in front coming off Turn 2. At the stripe, he was 3.759 seconds back of the lead and two-tenths back of the now 37th-place Leitz with Pulliam up to 36th and Staropoli to 35th. Bacarella dropped Pulliam to last on Lap 3, then locked onto the bumper of Staropoli. Bacarella’s spotter relayed the leaders are “in a rush to get nowhere,” at which point Bacarella retook last on Lap 4 with Staropoli falling back with him to 37th. Staropoli dropped Leitz back to 37th on Lap 5. They were now the last two cars of a trailing pack of about 18 cars led by Ryan Sieg while the first 20 cars pulled away.
Bacarella’s gap to Leitz stayed at about two-tenths of a second for the next few laps, even though his car felt “darty.” His spotter told him to enter the corner at a shallower angle to maintain control until his first pit stop. By Lap 10, the second trailing pack had split again, now led by a 31st-place Pulliam, and Bacarella’s spotter said several cars were noticeably struggling with poor handling. By Lap 12, Leitz and Bacarella had started to lose touch with 36th-place Staropoli, who was now about one full second ahead of the pair. Bacarella remained locked onto Leitz’ bumper, and the pair fought to catch back up. During this run, Bacarella’s spotter asked him for water temperature readings, to which the driver said “15.” Fortunately, by Lap 16, the gap between the pair and Staropoli had stabilized, and they started to cut into the gap. On Lap 17, it was down to seven-tenths of a second, then back to two-tenths on Lap 20, when Bacarella was now 13.478 seconds back of the leader.
Back up front on Lap 21, the Viking Motorsports duo of Parker Retzlaff and Anthony Alfredo were setting up to pass Sam Mayer, who was leading in the inside line around the 5th position. Heading into Turn 3, Alfredo’s #96 Dude Wipes Dumpkin Spice Chevrolet was bump-drafting Retzlaff’s #99 Atlantic Bunkers Chevrolet, which was extremely loose at the time. Just before corner entry, Retzlaff’s car jumped sideways, then spun to the inside, blowing the left-rear tire in the process. Alfredo hooked the car to the right, avoiding the inside wall, but not the infield grass, through which he slid so far that he ended up on the apron in a cloud of dust. Still, NASCAR didn’t throw the caution, and Retzlaff limped his way back to pit road. Retzlaff immediately dropped to last place on Lap 22 and reported his car didn’t feel right. He took his time getting to the pits, which were fortunately on the Turn 4 side at Stall No. 38. He returned to the track on Lap 24, now two laps down, with a last completed lap of 174.176 seconds, or just under three minutes. Though he still felt a vibration in the corners, Retzlaff made it to the end of Stage 1. And with the rest of the field still on the lead lap, he got one of his laps back.
Under the Stage 1 caution, Retzlaff received two rounds down on the track bar to tighten his car. At the time, they were still on the “Damaged Vehicle Policy” – there wasn’t enough time between the spin and the end of Stage 1 to clear minimum speed – but this wasn’t an issue as he returned to the track and caught the tail end of the field on Lap 29. Several other drivers received handling adjustments, including frontrunner Austin Hill, who dropped to 37th after a track bar adjustment on his #21 Distributor Wire & Cable Chevrolet. Hill’s issues were then compounded by radio problems, which required both the changing of his wiring harness and then his helmet on separate stops. He remained on the lead lap for the Lap 31 restart, where Retzlaff was now one lap down.
Retzlaff’s team told him to ride around in hopes of receiving his other lap back at the end of the stage, where hopefully none of the other trailing cars would lose a lap. This was complicated on the restart, when he was suddenly in a three-wide battle with other cars who shook him out of line. Still, Retzlaff kept up the pace, and by Lap 35, the now 37th-place Bacarella was still within two-tenths of a second behind 36th-place Staropoli as the last two cars on the lead lap. Then on Lap 37, Bacarella started to lose touch with Staropoli, who was now four-tenths ahead, then seven-tenths on Lap 38, then a full second on Lap 39. During this time, Retzlaff went on the offensive, making sure he was caught up with the draft. Fortunately, Bacarella began reeling in Staropoli again, and by Lap 41, the two were two-tenths apart again. Retzlaff said his car was still a bit free, but still kept up the pace. Then Bacarella lost ground again, dropping four-tenths back of Staropoli on Lap 46 and eight-tenths on Lap 47. Once again, he made up the gap, and even quicker than before, leaping to 35th on Lap 48 ahead of now 36th-place Smithley and his 37th-place teammate Josh Bilicki in the #07 Mando Chevrolet. Bilicki, too, managed to keep within two-tenths of Smithley, and on Lap 51 remained 9.116 seconds back of the lead. With that, Retzlaff earned his second lap back and returned to the lead lap.
Under the Stage 2 caution, Retzlaff dropped Smithley to last place on Lap 54, then retook it on Lap 55 after he received further adjustments for his loose condition. On Lap 56, he climbed to 34th ahead of 35th-place Gase, 36th-place Leland Honeyman, Jr. in the #71 DPR Construction Chevrolet, 37th-place Jeb Burton in the #27 AJ Tank Lines Chevrolet, and new 38th-place runner Brennan Poole in the #44 CW & Sons Infrastructure Chevrolet. Poole’s crew told him to watch for a stack-up on the Lap 56 restart, at which point he dropped Honeyman to last place on Lap 57, now 3.114 seconds back of the lead and three-tenths back of 37th-place Poole. On Lap 58, Bacarella was briefly in last place when trouble broke out among the leaders. Heading out of the tri-oval, Taylor Gray’s #54 The Progress Group Toyota came down into Harrison Burton’s #24 Dead On Tools Toyota. Gray spun into the scattering traffic behind, which first sent Hill’s #21 around with Brandon Jones in the #20 Menards / Atlas Toyota. Further back, Poole and Honeyman collided, damaging the nose and right side of Honeyman’s car as it spun to the inside just past pit exit. For a moment, Bilicki was classified last before the spot went to Honeyman on Lap 59. Upset over the damage to the front of his car after he raced into the Top 10 during Stage 1, Honeyman made it to pit road for repairs and a flat right-front tire. He was joined in the pits by Gray, Hill, Jones, and Poole, lifting Bacarella to 33rd and Bilicki to 32nd. Gray lost a lap on Lap 60, dropping him to last behind a returning Honeyman in 37th, then Gray dropped Honeyman to last again on Lap 62. While Gray joined the rest of the field for the Lap 63 restart, Honeyman was still in the pits receiving further repairs to the damaged nose of his car. A later replay showed Honeyman had also accidentally hit his right-front tire carrier during a stop. The crew member wasn’t injured and continued with his work.
Bacarella pits during his challenging afternoon at Talladega. (PHOTO: Steven Taranto, @STaranto92)
On Lap 64, Honeyman finally returned to the track four laps down. His two previous laps between pit stops were clocked at 251.207 and 289.518 seconds, each just under five minutes. He cleared minimum speed on Lap 68, but with no one out of the race, was running by himself in an uncontested battle for last place. That started to change on Lap 69, when Bacarella ran over something with the left-rear and blew out the sidewall of his tire, sending him spinning through the grass exiting the tri-oval. Again, NASCAR didn’t throw the caution flag, and Bacarella limped around the entire track’s circumference to get back to the pits. He lost a lap by Lap 70, just before Honeyman lost a fifth lap to the leaders as they caught him entering Turn 1 on Lap 71. On Lap 73, he returned to the track in 37th, showing three laps down to last-place Honeyman’s five. Bacarella immediately incurred a blend-line violation, but was saved a moment later when the third caution of the race fell for debris in Turn 1. By then, Gray had sped past the struggling Bacarella into 36th, and he returned to the lead lap.
Back under green on Lap 79, all 38 cars were still on track, and the only lapped drivers were last-place Honeyman, still five down to 37th-place Bacarella with three. Then on Lap 84, Bacarella cut down another left-rear tire and slowed entering Turn 3, costing him a fourth lap to the leaders. The next time by, Hill cut down a right-front after he glanced off the Turn 4 wall, dropping him out of the lead pack and back to 36th. On Lap 85, Bacarella returned to the track five laps down and took last place from Honeyman. Hill’s own stop also cost him one lap, putting him in the Lucky Dog spot in 36th. Nervous about the flat tires, Bacarella’s crew told him to hug the yellow line around the track, and he lost a sixth lap to the leaders as he came up to speed.
But the very next lap on Lap 86, Finch found trouble of his own. Running near the middle of the lead pack, Finch’s car lost control and smacked the Turn 4 wall with the right side. “It got free in the last few laps, then it just came around,” he said. As Finch pulled to the apron, his car driving diagonally with at least one flat tire, NASCAR for a third time didn’t throw the caution. Finch pulled behind the wall, done for the day.
When this happened, there were now just seven laps to go in regulation with last-place Bacarella six laps down. This put Finch on track to pass Bacarella for last place with just a couple laps to go. But Bacarella pitted again for another flat right-rear on Lap 89, and was now eight laps down. At the time, Finch had just fallen to 37th and was four down, on the same lap as Honeyman, with five laps to go. On Lap 91, with three to go, Finch was just two laps ahead of Bacarella. And on Lap 93, just as Finch was one lap ahead of Bacarella, Bacarella said he was going to pull down pit road to stay out of the way of the leaders. This caused Bacarella to lose a ninth lap on Lap 93, keeping him one lap behind Finch. At the white flag, Bacarella was just leaving pit road with another driver. When he crossed the stripe, he was now on the same lap as Finch. Ahead of him, the leaders came around to take the checkered flag. Bacarella’s crew told their driver to take the checkers on track, which he did. This put Bacarella one lap ahead of Finch, causing the final last change of the day at the moment he crossed the stripe. The finish was so close that TheCW’s broadcast incorrectly showed Bacarella as the last-place finisher, and NASCAR.com’s leaderboard went from showing Finch nine to ten laps down after the finish.
By the narrowest of margins, Finch secured his second-straight O’Reilly last-place finish as the day’s only retiree. He came home one lap behind Bacarella and four behind Honeyman. Hill finished the race in 35th, two laps down at the checkers. Rounding out the Bottom Five as Brent Crews, the last car on the lead lap, in his #19 Yahoo! Toyota.
Perkins and Thompson break into Top Ten at Talladega
The race for the lead wasn’t nearly as exciting as that for last place as Sammy Smith pulled a weekend sweep with Friday’s Truck Series victory. But just behind, Blaine Perkins flew from 36th on the grid to earn a season-best 7th-place finish in his #31 Easycare Chevrolet, marking just his second top-ten finish of the year and first since he took 8th in the season opener in Daytona. It’s Perkins third top-ten finish at Talladega, site of his Stage 2 victory in 2021. One spot behind him in 8th came Dean Thompson, who narrowly averted disaster when his #26 Thompson Pipe Group Toyota snapped loose entering Turn 1, then was knocked straight in traffic.
LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the first last-place finish for the #9 in an O’Reilly race at Talladega.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
38) #9-Jake Finch / 84 laps / crash
37) #4-Caesar Bacarella / 85 laps / running
36) #71-Leland Honeyman, Jr. / 88 laps / running
35) #21-Austin Hill / 92 laps / running
34) #19-Brent Crews / 94 laps / running
2026 LASTCAR O’REILLY AUTO PARTS SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) RSS Racing (7)
2nd) JR Motorsports, Mike Harmon Racing (3)
3rd) DGM Racing x JIM, Joey Gase Motorsports with Scott Osteen, Jordan Anderson Racing Bommarito Autosport, 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 (20)
2nd) Ford (8)
3rd) Toyota (2)
2026 LASTCAR O’REILLY AUTO PARTS SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
