TRUCKS: Clayton Green the first Truck Series driver with three consecutive last-place finishes since 2016
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
PHOTO: Steven Taranto, @STaranto92
Clayton Green picked up the 3rd last-place finish of his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career in Thursday’s UNOH 200 at the Bristol Motor Speedway when his unsponsored #2 Reaume Brothers Racing Ford fell out with transmission issues after 9 of 250 laps.
The finish, which came in Green’s seventh series start, was his third of the year and third in a row. In the Truck Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 7th for the #2, the 44th for transmission issues, and the 138th for Ford. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 43rd for the #2, the 180th from the transmission, and the 1,076th for Ford.
Following his early exits at both Richmond and Darlington, Green continued his efforts with the Reaume team. This time, he swapped back to the team’s #2, availing the #22 for team owner Josh Reaume in place of teammate Stephen Mallozzi. A fan contest determined which of four paint schemes Reaume would run for sponsor Aerial Titans, each a tribute to the lives lost in the 9/11 attacks. The winning scheme, the “Freedom Flyer,” won with 71.5% of the vote. Mason Maggio, continuing his relief driver duties for an injured Frankie Muniz, would also run a colorful new scheme for sponsor Denssi Energy Pouches. But Green would run an unsponsored black truck with white numbers.
The Reaume trio were among the 37 entrants contesting 36 spots on the starting grid. Green ranked 36th in practice with a lap of 17.498 seconds (109.658mph), outpacing only Caleb Costner in Mike Harmon Racing’s #74 Ironside Forestry Toyota at 18.218 seconds (105.324mph). In qualifying, Green squeaked into the field with the second-slowest lap of the session at 17.219 seconds (111.435mph). Ironically, Costner’s slowest lap of 18.192 seconds (105.475mph) secured him the 36th and final starting spot, sending home 34th-ranked Clay Greenfield, who struggled during his timed lap in the patriotic #95 Backyard Blues Pools Chevrolet.
Prior to the start, the lone driver sent to the back of the field was 15th-place qualifier Brent Crews for unapproved adjustments on his #1 JBL Toyota. Not penalized was 27th-place Conner Jones, who spun his #41 Crowe Equipment, Inc. Chevrolet during practice. When the race started, Crews jumped to the 33rd spot, only for the caution to fall by the end of Lap 1. Heading into Turn 4, 7th-place qualifier Layne Riggs spun his #34 Love’s RV Stop Ford while racing Corey Day’s HendrickCars.com Chevrolet. Riggs recovered in time to cross the stripe 34th, 9.777 seconds back of the lead, ahead of both 35th-place Norm Benning in the #6 MDIA Inc. Chevrolet (10.013 seconds back of the lead) and last-place Costner (12.043). Riggs took last as he came down pit road for tires and minor repairs. By the Lap 6 restart, Riggs was in 35th ahead of Costner, and from there began his climb through the field.
Back under green, Costner lost touch with the tail end of the field, and on Lap 7 was 11.012 seconds back of the lead with Green now 35th behind Benning, 8.590 behind. By Lap 9, Green dropped 10.129 seconds back of the lead to Costner’s 11.012, and by Lap 10, both Green and Costner had lost a lap to the leaders. By Lap 11, Green had taken the last spot from Costner as he pulled behind the wall on the backstretch. The team discussed an issue with the transmission, the driver reporting that second gear didn’t feel right, giving bad readings on the gauges. Around Lap 15, the lapped Costner also came to pit road, and Benning was off the lead lap by the 18th circuit. NASCAR.com had no live scanner audio for Costner’s truck to discern his issue, though the results indicated he failed to maintain minimum speed.
On Lap 22, Benning was on pit road, apparently also called in for running below minimum speed. The crew worked on the right-rear, then according to the team, NASCAR officials told them to change four tires. On Lap 25, Costner returned to the track seven laps down and climbed to 34th ahead of Benning, but on Lap 26 pulled into the garage, rolling past Green’s truck which had its hood open. Benning returned to the track around Lap 29, only to be handed a pass-through penalty for a commitment line violation. Benning didn’t serve the penalty through Lap 33, when NASCAR issued the black flag with white cross to stop scoring the #6. Benning served his penalty, only to receive a second commitment line violation. When NASCAR reported this to Benning’s team, they said the truck still wasn’t running minimum speed and ordered the #6 to the garage. Benning came in on Lap 39, hoping to return to the track, but his crew said they were done for the night. By then, Benning had completed two laps more than Costner, taking 34th.
On Lap 58, the NASCAR official in the garage reported that Costner and Benning were both out for “minimum speed,” reflected in the results as “too slow.” After a pause, the official was about to give another report on Green, but the tower official told him to stand by as Stage 1 was about to end on Lap 66. It wasn’t until Lap 86, shortly after the start of Stage 2, that the tower asked for the follow-up report. The garage official responded with “2 out, transmission,” declaring the bottom three finishers out of the race.
Taking the 33rd spot was polesitter Jake Garcia, who after leading 14 laps and winning Stage 1 was sidelined by power steering issues, costing him 31 laps. He returned to the track and finished under power, but climbed no further. The only other retiree was NASCAR Pinty’s Series driver Treyten Lapcevich, making his series debut in Young’s Motorsports’ #02 Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship Chevrolet. According to the team’s social media, Lapcevich went behind the wall for damage to the wheel studs, but was ultimately listed out due to power steering problems.
After spinning on the opening lap, Layne Riggs climbed from 35th to 9th by the end of Stage 1, 2nd at the end of Stage 2, and led the final 110 laps on his way to a convincing victory.
Andres Perez de Lara scores first top-ten finish with Niece
Distinguishing himself on Thursday night was Andres Perez de Lara, who finished 8th in the #44 Telcel Chevrolet. Perez de Lara scored his fourth career top-ten finish and first since he parted ways with Spire Motorsports and took the controls of Niece Motorsports’ #44. This track has been kind to the young driver, who finished in the Top Ten in all three of his ARCA Menards Series starts at the rack, including a 3rd in 2023.
LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This completes a season sweep by the Reaume Brothers’ #2 entry at Bristol, following Stephen Mallozzi’s exit after 4 laps here in April.
*Green is the first Truck Series driver to score three consecutive last-place finishes since September 24, 2016, when Caleb Roark scored his third of four straight last-place runs at New Hampshire. The Truck Series returns to Loudon next week, where Green could tie Roark’s record.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
36) #2-Clayton Green / 9 laps / transmission
35) #74-Caleb Costner / 19 laps / too slow
34) #6-Norm Benning / 21 laps / too slow
33) #13-Jake Garcia / 219 laps / running / led 14 laps / won stage 1
32) #02-Treyten Lapcevich / 227 laps / power steering
2025 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Reaume Brothers Racing (9)
2nd) Norm Benning Racing (3)
3rd) Front Row Motorsports (2)
4th) FDNY Racing, Freedom Racing Enterprises, Halmar Friesen Racing, Henderson Motorsports, Niece Motorsports, Spire Motorsports (1)
2025 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Ford (11)
2nd) Chevrolet (8)
3rd) Toyota (1)
2025 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
