PREVIEW: Canadian newcomers in Trucks, double-duty rookies in Cup among Bristol storylines
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
Spencer Boyd races in memory of the victims of the 9/11 attacks in tonight’s race. (PHOTO: Freedom Racing Enterprises, @FreedomRacing76)
Thursday, September 11, 2025 (Green Flag 8:20 P.M. ET, FS1)
TRUCKS Race 20 of 25
Round of 10: Race 2 of 3
UNOH 200 presented by Ohio Logistics at Bristol
2024 Last-Place Finisher: Conner Jones
ENTRY LIST
There are 37 drivers entered for 36 spots, so one team will fail to qualify.
DRIVER CHANGE: #1-TRICON Garage
Brent Crews returns to the Truck Series for the first time since his 16th-place showing in Richmond, marking his fourth start on a short track in six races this season. Crew takes the place of Trevor Bayne, who took home 5th in the mot recent race in Darlington.
DRIVER SWAP: #2-Reaume Brothers Racing
DRIVER CHANGE: #22-Reaume Brothers Racing
TEAM UPDATE: #33-Reaume Brothers Racing
Josh Reaume seeks his sixth start of the season and first since Michigan, where he finished 25th. As in his previous four starts, Reaume will drive the #22, moving Darlington last-place finisher Clayton Green back to the #2 in place of 31st-place Stephen Mallozzi, who isn’t entered. The #33 will again be driven by Mason Maggio as Frankie Muniz continues his recovery from a wrist injury.
RETURNING: #6-Norm Benning Racing
Norm Benning rejoins the Truck Series circuit for the first time since IRP, where he finished 31st after mid-race handling issues, marking his seventh-straight DNF in eight starts in 2025. If he qualifies, this will be Benning’s 10th series start, where his track-best finish was 24th in 2015.
RETURNING: #35-Van Alst Motorsports
Greg Van Alst brings his own team back to the track for the first time since its debut at IRP, where he finished six laps down in 28th. Phil’s Heating and Air is the sponsor.
RETURNING: #41-Niece Motorsports
Conner Jones makes the 25th start of his career tonight, his third of the year and first since a 31st-place running at Pocono. This time, he drives the team’s part-time #41, which has just one other start this year – a 25th-place finish by Matthew Gould in Richmond. Crowe Equipment, Inc. is the sponsor for the last year’s last-place finisher of this race.
MISSING: #56-Hill Motorsports
Timmy Hill is not entered after his sterling 8th-place finish at Darlington.
RETURNING: #62-Halmar Friesen Racing
Two-time Oxford 250 winner Cole Butcher seeks his Truck Series debut tonight, looking to add to a year where he’s doubled his career total in wins running late models on the Appalachian Sucker Punch ASA STARS National Tour. Butcher brings his longtime sponsors Atlantic Tiltload and Top Construction, Ltd. to the second Halmar Friesen entry, the #62 we last saw at Watkins Glen where Wesley Slimp finished 12th.
RETURNING: #75-Henderson Motorsports
Two-time unofficial Daytona winner Parker Kligerman returns to the Truck Series for the first time since a 31st-place showing in Watkins Glen. It was there that Henderson team raced with heavy hearts following the passing of team owner Charlie Henderson, whose name will again be on the roof of Kligerman’s truck. On the other side of the roof, this #75 will also carry both the name of Morgan-McClure Motorsports team owner Larry McClure, who also died earlier this year. Both Henderson and McClure operated their teams in Abingdon, Virginia, not far from the Bristol track. Kligerman finished 14th here this past spring.
RETURNING: #95-GK Racing
Clay Greenfield and his GK Racing outfit return to the circuit for the first time since this year’s season opener in Daytona, where he qualified 9th but was eliminated in a mid-race crash, leaving him 33rd. Greenfield hasn’t started a Truck Series race at Bristol since 2021, when he drove Spencer Davis’ Toyota to a 23rd-place finish.
DRIVER CHANGE: #02-Young’s Motorsports
Joining fellow Canadian Cole Butcher on this week’s entry list as a driver attempting his series debut is Trayten Lapcevich, a competitor in the NASCAR Pinty’s Series, where he won the championship after a seven-win season in 2023. More recently, Lapcevich won in only his second ARCA Menards Series start at Berlin Raceway, where he won the pole and led every lap. Tonight, he takes the place of 27th-place Darlington finisher Nathan Byrd and carries sponsorship from the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship. His hood features the upcoming contest between Mike Perry and Jeremy Stephens on October 4th.
CUP INVADERS: None
Friday, September 12, 2025 (Green Flag 7:40 P.M. ET, CW)
XFINITY Race 27 of 33
Round of 12: Race 1 of 3
Food City 300 at Bristol
2024 Last-Place Finisher: Austin Green
ENTRY LIST
There are 39 drivers entered for 38 spots, so one team will fail to qualify.
RETURNING: #5-Alpha Prime Racing
It’s a four-car onslaught for the Alpha Prime team as the #5 returns for the first time since its debut last month in Daytona, and after the car was withdrawn from last week’s race in Gateway. As with the withdrawal, the driver is Stefan Parsons, marking only his second start of the year and first since a 19th-place showing in Watkins Glen. David’s Electric is the listed sponsor.
DRIVER CHANGE: #11-Kaulig Racing
The seventh different driver in the last seven races to drive the #11 entry for the Kaulig team is Brenden “Butterbean” Queen, who will make his XFINITY Series debut after four Truck Series starts, most recently his 16th-place showing for Spire Motorsports at IRP (his only Truck start of 2025). Queen takes the place of 7th-place Gateway finisher Daniel Hemric, who joined his two teammates in the Top Ten.
RETURNING: #24-Sam Hunt Racing
The return of Sam Hunt’s #24 entry for the first time since Portland, where Alon Day qualified 6th and finished 20th, sees Jeffrey Earnhardt make his first XFINITY race since his 19th-place showing in Nashville. Longtime backer ForeverLawn continues its partnership on Friday, where Earnhardt has yet to finish better than 12th in his 11 previous starts.
DRIVER CHANGE: #32-Jordan Anderson Racing
Austin Green returns in place of team owner and Gateway last-place finisher Jordan Anderson. Green himself looks to rebound from wreck in this race last year that put him in last place. Green’s last attempt at an oval was also his second and most recent DNQ in Talladega, and he finished 30th in his last oval start the week before in Rockingham. Green’s last five starts – all on road courses – have seen him finish no worse than 11th.
DRIVER CHANGE: #45-Alpha Prime Racing
TruShine Car Wash continues its sponsorship for the Alpha Prime #45 at Bristol, where this week Josh Williams takes the place of 19th-place Gateway finisher Lavar Scott. Williams made his most recent start in Portland, where he finished 23rd in his reunion with team owner Mario Goselin, and his last start for Alpha Prime took 34th under the lights at Daytona, the result of a late-race crash.
DRIVER CHANGE: #70-Cope Family Racing
Friday will mark the 55th series start for Leland Honeyman, Jr., his first since a 26th-place showing during a strong night last month in Daytona. He takes the place of 20th-place Gateway finisher Thomas Annunziata, and carries sponsorship from Ohio Logistics.
MISSING: #76-AM Racing
Kole Raz is not entered after early brake issues cost him multiple laps at Gateway, leaving him 34th in his series debut in the second AM Racing entry.
DRIVER CHANGE: #91-DGM Racing x JIM
Josh Bilicki returns to the Gosselin team’s #91 entry just in time for his 125th series start, his first sine an 18th-place run with the team last month in Daytona. Carrying sponsorship from Sugarlands Shine, Bilicki takes the place of 21st-place Gateway finisher Matt Mills, who this week focuses on his full-time entry in the Truck Series for Niece Motorsports.
DRIVER CHANGE: #07-SS-Green Light Racing
This week, Carson Ware announced new sponsorship from creatine supplement company CreaBitty as he returns to Bobby Dotter’s team for the first time since Martinsville, where he finished 30th with backing from Costa Oil. This time around, Ware takes the place of Nick Leitz, who came home 29th in Gateway.
CUP INVADERS: None
Saturday, September 13, 2025 (Green Flag 7:35 P.M. ET, USA)
CUP Race 29 of 36
Round of 16: Race 3 of 3
Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol
2024 Last-Place Finisher: Kaz Grala
ENTRY LIST
There are 39 drivers entered for 40 spots, marking the 24th short field in 29 races in 2025.
RETURNING: #33-Richard Childress Racing
Austin Hill pulls double-duty with the XFINITY Series on Saturday, marking his fourth Cup start of the year and first since a 30th-place showing last month in Daytona. This will be Hill’s first Cup start at Bristol, a track where he comes into this weekend with a single top-five finish in four XFINITY starts – a 3rd in 2022.
RETURNING: #66-Garage 66
Chad Finchum returns to his home track with sponsorship from Barger Precast, marking the first Cup start for team owner Carl Long since Timmy Hill’s 35th-place showing in the Southern 500. Finchum has also made another two starts in 2025, most recently a 35th in Nashville following a 37th-place run in Texas.
RETURNING: #67-23XI Racing
Another double-duty driver will be Corey Heim, who pairs Saturday’s race with his full-time effort tonight in Trucks. This marks his first Cup attempt since Richmond, when he finished 29th. He shares sponsorship from Robinhood with teammate Bubba Wallace – Heim’s will be a black car with yellow accents while Wallace’s will be the opposite. As with Austin Hill, this will be Heim’s first Cup start at Bristol.
TODAY IN LASTCAR HISTORY (September 11, 1955): C.H. Dingler picked up the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career in a 200-lap race at the Montgomery (Alabama) Speedway, a half-mile dirt track, when his #9 1953 Hudson fell out after 8 laps due to an issue with the gas tank. Dingler, an Alabama native, made 16 series starts with a best finish of 9th twice at Atlanta’s Lakewood Speedway in 1953 and 1954.
