PREVIEW: Josh Bilicki’s triple-header and Alex Labbe’s top-15 streak among the entry list storylines at the Charlotte “Roval”
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
PHOTO: Niece Motorsports, @NieceMotorsport
Friday, October 3, 2025 (Green Flag 3:53 P.M. ET, FS1)
TRUCKS Race 22 of 25
Round of 8: Race 1 of 3
Ecosave 250 at the Charlotte “Roval”
2024 Last-Place Finisher: Inaugural Event
ENTRY LIST
There are 36 drivers entered for 36 spots in Friday’s first Truck Series race at the Charlotte “Roval,” so all will qualify.
DRIVER CHANGE: #2-Reaume Brothers Racing
Leading off the road course specialists joining the action for the first Truck Series race on the “Roval” is Carter Fartuch, the Skip Barber Racing School instructor who made his series debut at COTA last year, finishing 21st in the Reaume Brothers’ #22 Ford. This week, he takes the place of 35th-place Loudon finisher Stephen Mallozzi.
MISSING: #6-Norm Benning Racing
Norm Benning is not among this week’s entrants following his 34th-place run at Loudon, where he was black-flagged for not maintaining minimum speed.
DRIVER CHANGE: #7-Spire Motorsports
Pulling double-duty with Saturday’s XFINITY Series race is Connor Zilisch, who surprisingly has not yet won in any of his seven previous Truck Series starts, most recently his 8th-place finish at Watkins Glen this past summer. He famously nearly won his series debut at COTA last year, overdriving the first corner after winning the pole, then coming back to finish 4th. He’ll drive with the same team as that day, piloting Spire’s #7 in place of Patrick Emerling, who finished 28th after a crash in Loudon.
DRIVER CHANGE: #16-McAnally Hilgemann Racing
Kris Wright and his F.N.B. Corporation sponsorship are back in NASCAR for the first time since the closing days of Our Motorsports’ XFINITY program earlier this year. For both today and in Talladega, Wright will pilot the #16 at the McAnally team. Christian Eckes has run this entry in its debut at Richmond, taking 12th, and in its second and most recent start in Loudon, taking 9th.
DRIVER CHANGE: #20-Young’s Motorsports
Nearly a decade after he so impressed Kevin Harvick during their battle in the K&N West Series race at Sonoma, Will Rodgers is still yet to become a regular competitor in NASCAR – even with other road racing talents like Shane van Gisbergen and Connor Zilisch. After making his first XFINITY Series start in three years at Sonoma, taking 16th for Cope Family Racing, he makes his first Truck start since July 29, 2023 at Richmond, and only the sixth of his career. He takes the place of Mason Massey, who finished 19th in Loudon.
DRIVER CHANGE: #22-Reaume Brothers Racing
Team owner Josh Reaume returns to the driver’s seat of the #22, taking the place of 20th-place Loudon finisher Blake Lothian. This will be Reaume’s seventh start of the season and first sine Bristol, when he took 28th.
DRIVER CHANGE: #33-Reaume Brothers Racing
While Frankie Muniz tweeted that he anticipates making some late-season starts following his wrist injury, he will not be competing in today’s race. The ride goes to Mason Maggio, marking his fifth start of the season and first since Bristol, when he raced the same truck to a 31st-place finish. He takes the place of Tyler Tomassi, who wrecked in the late stages of the Loudon race and finished 27th.
DRIVER CHANGE: #41-Niece Motorsports
Setting out to compete in all three races on the “Roval” this weekend is Josh Bilicki, who kicks off his bid in Al Niece’s #41, driven to a 31st-place finish by Conner Jones at Loudon. Carrying sponsorship from Circle B Diecast and the names of several supporters on the rear decklid, Bilicki makes only his second series start of 2025, his first since a strong 7th in Niece’s #44 at Lime Rock Park.
RETURNING: #56-Hill Motorsports
Timmy Hill will also rejoin the circuit this week, marking his seventh series start of 2025 and first since his season-best 8th-place performance in Darlington. Hill had also competed on one of this year’s previous road course races in Lime Rock Park, taking 25th. He’s also made four starts in both Cup and XFINITY on the Charlotte “Roval.”
DRIVER CHANGE: #62-Halmar Friesen Racing
The second HFR entry remains on the entry list this week for a returning Wesley Slimp, who finished 33rd in a backup truck for his series debut at Lime Rock, then rallied to a 12th-place finish two rounds later in Watkins Glen. He takes the place of NASCAR Modified competitor Michael Christopher, Jr., who finished 13th in Loudon.
MISSING: #74-Mike Harmon Racing
As with Norm Benning, Caleb Costner and the Harmon team are not entered this week following early crash damage that left him in 33rd at Loudon.
DRIVER CHANGE: #02-Young’s Motorsports
While the preliminary entry list showed TBA in the driver’s column for the #02, 16-year-old Ben Maier will make his second series start in the truck, following his 18th-place showing in Lime Rock Park. Taking the place of Jayson Alexander, whose tangle with Caleb Costner left him in 33rd at Loudon, the Trans-Am competitor is sponsored by Top Liner.
CUP INVADERS: None
Saturday, October 4, 2025 (Green Flag 5:10 P.M. ET, CW)
XFINITY Race 29 of 33
Round of 12: Race 3 of 3
Blue Cross NC 250 at the Charlotte “Roval”
2024 Last-Place Finisher: Brennan Poole
ENTRY LIST
There are 42 drivers entered for 38 spots on Saturday, so four teams will fail to qualify.
RETURNING: #9-JR Motorsports
Pulling double-duty with today’s Truck Series race, where he competes full-time for McAnally Hilgemann Racing in the #81 is Connor Mosack, who pilots the same part-time JR Motorsports team which guided Daniel Suarez to his victory at Mexico City. Carrying sponsorship from CLT Wholesale, Mosack makes his 31st series start and third of the season, following a 26th on the Chicago Street Course and 33rd in Sonoma for SS-Green Light Racing.
DRIVER CHANGE: #11-Kaulig Racing
This past month in Gateway, Daniel Hemric made his season return to the XFINITY Series and turned in a strong 7th-place finish. Remaining among the rotating series of drivers in Kaulig’s #11 following the release of Josh Williams, Hemric rejoins the team on Saturday with three Cup starts and five XFINITY starts on the “Roval” on his resume. He takes the place of Brenden “Butterbean” Queen, who himself earned a strong top-ten performance in Kansas, finishing 9th.
DRIVER CHANGE: #17-Hendrick Motorsports
Corey Day returns to the XFINITY Series for the first time since his 17th-place showing in Bristol, taking the place of 18th-placce Kansas finisher Rajah Caruth, marking his eighth start of the season. His lone road course start of the year came in Sonoma, where he finished 24th.
DRIVER CHANGE: #19-Joe Gibbs Racing
Aric Almirola is back for the first time since he scored his second win of the season under the lights at Bristol, taking the place of 37th-place Kansas finisher Justin Bonsignore in JGR’s “all-star” #19 Toyota. Almirola has made six Cup starts on the Charlotte “Roval” with a best of 14th in 2019, and finished 9th in this race last year driving JGR’s #20.
DRIVER CHANGE: #24-Sam Hunt Racing
Kaz Grala returns to the XFINITY Series for the first time since his season-best 11th-place performance at Watkins Glen, again driving Sam Hunt’s part-time #24 entry. He takes the place of Patrick Staropoli, who finished 22nd in Kansas.
DRIVER CHANGE: #32-Jordan Anderson Racing
RETURNING: #87-Jordan Anderson Racing
Andrew Patterson, a crew member for Jordan Anderson Racing since 2020, has also dabbled in ARCA, and now gets his first opportunity at competing in the NASCAR XFINITY Series. Patterson takes the place of 29th-place Kansas finisher Austin Green, who moves to JAR’s part-time #87 entry which will need to qualify on time.
DRIVER CHANGE: #35-Joey Gase Motorsports with Scott Osteen
The “Roval” also marks the return of Austin J. Green, 20th in his series debut at Watkins Glen. He takes the place of Glen Reen, the lone DNQ in Kansas following a mechanical issue on Joey Gase’s #35 entry.
DRIVER SWAP: #45-Alpha Prime Racing
DRIVER CHANGE: #91-DGM Racing x JIM
The second leg of Josh Bilicki’s triple-header will come in Mario Gosselin’s #91 with returning sponsorship from Rita’s Italian Ice. Bilicki’s best of seven previous XFINITY starts on the “Roval” came last year, when he finished 8th for Joe Gibbs Racing, though he’s also finished 13th during the rain-swamped 2020 running while driving for B.J. McLeod. Bilicki takes the place of 24th-place Kansas finisher Josh Williams, who moves back to Alpha Prime’s #45 in place of 31st-place Mason Massey.
RETURNING: #50-Pardus Racing
Preston Pardus last competed in the XFINITY Series at Watkins Glen, where he steered SS-Green Light Racing’s #07 to a 34th-palce finish. His previous two starts of 2025 came with his family’s #50 team, most recently a 29th-place finish on the Chicago Street Course, where he qualified in 12th. Pardus Racing made its second-ever start on the “Roval” back in 2019, yielding a 27th-place finish.
DRIVER CHANGE: #53-Joey Gase Motorsports with Scott Osteen
The second Gase entry goes to a returning Sage Karam, marking his 35th series start and first sine transmission issues left him 36th in Sonoma. All four of Karam’s previous attempts in 2025 have come in this entry, including his DNQ on the Chicago Street Course. Unfortunately, he’s failed to finish all three of the other starts with a best of 33rd in Mexico City, where he crashed in the late stages.
DRIVER CHANGE: #70-Cope Family Racing
RETURNING: #92-DGM Racing x JIM
Both Cope Family Racing drives Thomas Annunziata and Leland Honeyman, Jr. will take a run at Saturday’s XFINITY Series race. Honeyman, who finished 21st in Kansas, moves to Mario Gosselin’s returning part-time entry, the #92, which last ran in Daytona two months ago for Natalie Decker’s 22nd-place finish. Annunziata will steer Cope’s #70, which he last ran at Gateway for a 20th-place finish. Last year on the “Roval,” Annunziata finished 34th after a crash in Joey Gase’s #35. Honeyman has run each of the last two XFINITY races on the track, including his infamous crash and 28th-place finish for Young’s Motorsports that led to an ill-timed caution for then-leader Parker Kligerman.
MISSING: #76-AM Racing
Kole Raz is not entered along with the second part-time AM Racing entry following a 35th-place finish in Kansas.
DRIVER CHANGE: #07-SS-Green Light Racing
Alex Labbe takes the place of Kansas last-place finisher Nick Leitz in the #07 for Bobby Dotter, marking his seventh start of the year and first since Portland, where a bad fuel pump left him next-to-last. Aside from A.J. Allmendinger’s near-perfect dominance of this race, Labbe posts a record at this track that’s nearly as incredible. In his seven previous XFINITY starts on the “Roval,” he’s finished no worse than 15th, took 4th in the rain-soaked 2020 race, and has completed all 469 laps of those events. Will this be the year he breaks through with a first career win?
CUP INVADERS: None
Sunday, October 5, 2025 (Green Flag 3:05 P.M. ET, USA)
CUP Race 32 of 36
Round of 12: Race 3 of 3
Bank of America ROVAL 400 at the Charlotte “Roval”
2024 Last-Place Finisher: Alex Bowman
ENTRY LIST
There are 37 drivers entered for 40 spots, marking the 27th short field in 32 races this season.
MISSING: #44-NY Racing Team
J.J. Yeley and the NY Racing Team are not among this week’s entrants following a 34th-place showing in Kansas.
RETURNING: #66-Garage 66
Josh Bilicki completes his triple-duty weekend with Carl Long’s single-car effort as the lone part-time “open” entry in the field. Bilicki most recently ran in Cup at Watkins Glen, where he finished a lap down in 37th. This will mark his sixth series start on the “Roval,” where his best finish was 26th in 2023 with Live Fast Motorsports. 66Trailers.com and Truan Equipment Company have joined as sponsors.
TODAY IN LASTCAR HISTORY (October 3, 1953): Victor Strassburg picked up the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career in the 200-lap race at the Bloomsburg (Pennsylvania) Fairgrounds dirt track when his 1952 Mercury fell out in the early laps. This 21-car field saw the only recorded Cup start for the driver from Niagara Falls, New York.
