PREVIEW: Nashville sees many drivers return to action for the first time in weeks
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
PHOTO: Akinori Ogata, @AkinoriOgata
Friday, May 30, 2025 (Green Flag 8:21 P.M. ET, FS1)
TRUCKS Race 12 of 25
Rackley Roofing 200 at Nashville
2024 Last-Place Finisher: Bret Holmes
ENTRY LIST
There are 32 drivers entered for 36 spots, so all will qualify. This marks the 11th straight short field for the Truck Series after 36 took the green in Daytona.
DRIVER CHANGE: #1-TRICON Garage
William Sawalich will run double-duty with the XFINITY Series for the first time since his 22nd-place run in this same TRICON Garage entry back in Las Vegas. Sawalich’s 20th series start will come in place of Brandon Jones, whose own double-duty effort in Charlotte saw him start with a 10th-place finish.
DRIVER CHANGE: #2-Reaume Brothers Racing
Clayton Green returns to the Truck Series for the first time since last fall at Martinsville, where he finished 24th in Josh Reaume’s #22. It was just his second series start at the time, his first since a 34th-place showing in North Wilkesboro that spring. This week, he makes his first speedway start in place of Cody Dennison, who took 29th in Charlotte.
DRIVER CHANGE: #7-Spire Motorsports
DRIVER SWAP: #07-Spire Motorsports
Another double-duty driver this week is Corey Day, who returns to the #7 for his 10th series start, his first since a 22nd-place showing in Rockingham. This week, he takes the place of Kyle Busch, an unremarkable 5th in Charlotte, who this week will run his own double-duty effort with Cup in Spire’s #07, replacing 15th-place Charlotte finisher B.J. McLeod.
DRIVER CHANGE: #22-Reaume Brothers Racing
The other Reaume effort will this week go to Tyler Tomassi, who we last saw in North Wilkesboro this year, where suspension issues left him 31st of 34 starters. This week, he takes the place of 28th-place Charlotte finisher Mason Maggio, who this week focuses on his XFINITY effort with Joey Gase’s team (see below).
DRIVER CHANGE: #44-Niece Motorsports
Bayley Currey returns to his #44 entry for the first time since Kansas, where he came home in 26th. This week, he takes the place of Charlotte runner-up Ross Chastain, who went on to win Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600. Chastain will still run double-duty, this time with XFINITY (see below). Currey finished 5th in this race two years ago, when he started on the outside-pole.
MISSING: #56-Hill Motorsports
Timmy Hill will not make the trip to Nashville after he finished 19th in his 500th career NASCAR start last Friday.
RETURNING: #63-Akinori Performance
Back in action this week is Akinori Ogata, who debuted his new Truck Series team at Homestead and finished in 32nd, ten laps down. This week, his #63 carries a slightly different paint schemes with blue doors instead of white, and returning sponsors from Kyowa Industrial and YKK AP.
MISSING: #75-Henderson Motorsports
Parker Kligerman and Charlie Henderson’s team will not run this week following a 14th-place run in Charlotte. Kligerman has four Nashville starts in the Truck Series, but none since 2022, when he finished 20th in Henderson’s truck.
MISSING: #90-Terry Carroll Motorsports
Justin S. Carroll is not entered after his team again had issues with pace in Charlotte, ultimately dropping out with suspension issues after 75 laps.
DRIVER CHANGE: #02-Young’s Motorsports
The “Byrdman” Nathan Byrd is another driver returning to the Truck Series after an extended absence, his also dating back to Kansas, where he ran 29th. He takes the place of Stefan Parsons, who finished 22nd last week in Charlotte.
CUP INVADERS: #07-Kyle Busch
Saturday, May 31, 2025 (Green Flag 7:40 P.M. ET, CW)
XFINITY Race 14 of 33
Tennessee Lottery 250 at Nashville
2024 Last-Place Finisher: Patrick Emerling
ENTRY LIST
There are 40 drivers entered for 38 spots, so two will fail to qualify.
MISSING: #3-Richard Childress Racing
Austin Dillon will not run this Saturday’s race after a 13th-place finish in a one-off at Charlotte last week.
RETURNING: #9-JR Motorsports
Last Sunday’s winner Ross Chastain returns to the XFINITY Series for the third time this year, his first since a 4th-place run in Darlington. He again drives the now part-time JRM entry with Acceptance Insurance as sponsor.
DRIVER CHANGE: #14-SS-Green Light Racing
Logan Bearden seeks his 9th career XFINITY Series start and first of the season after he drove for four different teams last season. He most recently finished 34th at Martinsville last fall, where he incurred his only DNF after brake issues on Mike Harmon’s #74. This time, he reunites with Bobby Dotter for the first time since last summer at Michigan, and welcomes new backer T3 Vodka. Bearden takes the place of Garrett Smithley, who finished 26th in Charlotte.
DRIVER CHANGE: #17-Hendrick Motorsports
Corey Day’s double-duty effort concludes with his return to Hendrick’s #17 for the first time since Texas, where he finished 16th. He takes the place of Cup Series regular William Byron, who won last Saturday after a tight battle with Connor Zilisch.
DRIVER CHANGE: #19-Joe Gibbs Racing
Phoenix winner Aric Almirola returns to the XFINITY Series for the first time since his 33rd-place finish at Talladega following a late-race crash. The former Cup Series regular the place of current Cup regular Chase Briscoe, who finished 23rd in Charlotte.
RETURNING: #24-Sam Hunt Racing
Jeffrey Earnhardt returns for only his second series start of 2025, his first since Talladega, where crash damage left him in 32nd. He again brings back SHR’s #24 entry which hasn’t run in the series since. Earnhardt carries sponsorship from K9Grass, an intriguing backer since he’s previously been sponsored by both iK9 and ForeverLawn.
DRIVER CHANGE: #35-Joey Gase Motorsports with Scott Osteen
Last summer, Glen Reen’s planned XFINITY Series debut for Loudon was moved up to Iowa, where he rounded out the 38-car field with early carburetor issues. After a 28th-place run in Loudon where he finished on the lead lap, Reen now seeks his first start since. He takes the place of Carson Ware, who failed to qualify last week in Charlotte.
DRIVER CHANGE: #45-Alpha Prime Racing
Mason Massey rejoins the XFINITY Series for the first time since his season-best 21st-place showing in Texas. He takes the place of Brad Perez, who struggled with a persistent electrical issue and a flat tire that left him a distant 35th in Charlotte.
TEAM UPDATE: #53-Joey Gase Motorsports with Scott Osteen
While the preliminary entry list showed “TBA” for the driver of the second Gase entry, it has since been confirmed that Mason Maggio will drive, taking the place of 28th-place Charlotte finisher J.J. Yeley. Maggio’s 15th series start will be his first since a 26th-place showing in Texas.
DRIVER CHANGE: #70-Cope Family Racing
The Cope team will again swap between its two drivers as Thomas Annunziata drives the #70 for the first time since Rockingham, where he finished 29th after late-race suspension issues. Annunziata, who makes his 10th career start this weekend, takes the place of 32nd-place Leland Honeyman, Jr.
MISSING: #74-Mike Harmon Racing
The Mike Harmon team is not among this week’s entrants after Dawson Cram failed to qualify in Charlotte by a slim margin. Harmon’s effort hasn’t qualified for a race since this year’s fifth round in Las Vegas. Charlotte marked their sixth DNQ of the season and fifth in their last six attempts, not counting their withdrawal from Bristol.
DRIVER CHANGE: #91-DGM Racing x JIM
Myatt Snider and his Tree Top sponsorship return to the XFINITY Series grid this week as they take the place of 29th-place Charlotte finisher C.J. McLaughlin. Snider last started a XFINITY race at Martinsville this past spring, where one of the night’s many wrecks left him in 33rd.
CUP INVADERS: #9-Ross Chastain
Sunday, June 1, 2025 (Green Flag 7:19 P.M. ET, PRIME)
CUP Race 14 of 36
Cracker Barrell 400 at Nashville
2024 Last-Place Finisher: Chad Finchum
ENTRY LIST
There are 39 drivers entered for 40 spots, so all will qualify. Last Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 remains just the second “full” field of at least 40 starters in 14 races this season.
DRIVER CHANGE: #44-NY Racing Team
Last week at Charlotte saw a driver other than J.J. Yeley pilot Jonathan Cohen’s #44 Chevrolet for just the second time since 2024, that being Joey Gase’s 20th-place run in Daytona last August. This time, the driver was Derek Kraus, who finished 20 laps down, but under power in the 32nd spot. Yeley rejoins the team this week for his announced sponsor Fanatics Sportsbook, which will also back him for this year’s championship race in Phoenix.
DRIVER CHANGE: #66-Garage 66
Another revealed sponsorship deal is completed this Sunday as Aires rejoins driver Chad Finchum, who finished last with the brand in the All-Star Open at North Wilkesboro - and was last in this race in 2024. This time, HVAC company Cooper & Hunter joins as an associate backer on the quarter-panels of his white-and-gray #66. Bilicki takes the place of Josh Bilicki, who finished 33rd in Charlotte after losing fuel pressure in the closing laps.
RETURNING: #67-23XI Racing
Corey Heim will run double-duty with Friday’s Truck Series race, looking to follow-up an impressive season debut at Kansas where he came home in 13th. Chief’s is the listed sponsor of his #67.
MISSING: #84-Legacy Motor Club
Jimmie Johnson will not race this weekend after his landmark 700th career Cup start ended with crash damage in the garage area, but he also assured the media that start will not be his last. Those plans are still to be announced.
MISSING: #87-Trackhouse Racing
Also to be determined are the future Cup plans for Connor Zilisch, who finished 23rd in his only other scheduled Cup start this year in the Red Bull sponsored Trackhouse entry. In the meantime, Zilisch will focus on his full-time XFINITY effort at JRM.
TODAY IN LASTCAR HISTORY (May 30, 1953): J.L. Justice picked up the first last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career in the Raleigh 300 at the one-mile Raleigh (North Carolina) Speedway when his #74 1950 Ford fell out after 9 laps. Making his second of three career Cup starts after a 31st earlier that year at Martinsville, Justice started and finished last in a 49-car field. His last start was that September’s Southern 500, where he finished 40th of 59 after overheating issues at 217 laps.
