by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
PHOTO: Steven Taranto, @STaranto92
Cleetus McFarland picked up the 2nd last-place finish of his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career in Friday’s Love’s RV Stop 225 at the Talladega Superspeedway when his #4 Blues Hog Chevrolet was involved in a multi-truck accident after 16 of 86 laps.
The finish, which came in McFarland’s third series start, was his second of the season and first since his debut at Daytona, 22 races ago. In the Truck Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 11th for the #4, the 214th from a crash, and the 1,477th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 81st for the #4, 1,477th from a crash, and the 2,068th for Chevrolet.
When he last competed at Talladega this past spring, the ever-popular YouTube star and owner of “The Freedom Factory” in Bradenton, Florida nearly pulled off his first ARCA victory. There, he battled for the lead with Gus Dean before both were passed in the tri-oval by a charging Andy Jankowiak. This career-best runner-up finish would be followed by his first pole at Michigan. But his NASCAR exploits have been much more of a struggle. After his early crash in his Truck debut at Daytona, he finished 32nd in his O’Reilly debut at Rockingham, where he spun out several times, then took 35th in Nashville. Friday’s race would see him return to the Truck Series for the first time since Michigan, where he came home on the lead lap in 25th.
For Talladega, McFarland debuted a new paint scheme for sponsor Blues Hog, which released a special “Champions’ Blend” flavor of its barbecue sauce to go with the effort. This marked the brand’s first sponsorship appearance in the Truck Series after they backed both Kyle Larson and Connor Zilisch in three O’Reilly races last season. The blue-and-white pinstriped Chevrolet carried the phrase “Stay Saucey” with bright red numbers, plus associate backing from Mobil 1 and J.F. Electric. And, as has been the case in his other stock car starts, he would carry a livestreamed on-board camera.
McFarland was one of 38 drivers entered to attempt Friday’s field of 36, meaning two teams would be sent home. Without a practice session for the weekend, he was the 14th driver on track for qualifying, where he clocked in a lap of 54.889 seconds (174.461mph), good enough for 24th on the grid.
Sent home were the two oldest drivers on the entry list. Norm Benning, age 74, brought back his white #6 Chevrolet from Daytona, which bore a special decal in honor of Henderson Motorsports crew member Tom Clavette, who passed in May. Despite stopping at the Henderson team’s shop to check the engine, then a ride to the track in Henderson’s hauler, Benning came up just over three-tenths short of securing a spot in the field. Sent home with him was 66-year-old Bryan Dauzat, who failed to qualify for his final career attempt in Jim Rosenblum’s #28 FDNY / O.B. Builders Chevrolet.
Securing the 36th and final starting spot was Brenden Queen, whose #12 Cummins RAM was the only truck to not turn a lap in qualifying. He’d be joined at the tail end of the field by 19th-place qualifier Thomas Annunziata, who incurred an unapproved adjustments penalty on TRICON Garage’s #5 Eat Clean Bro Toyota. When the green flag dropped, intervals to the final few trucks in line were slow to populate before Queen was shown around the 34th spot, 2.663 seconds back of the lead, ahead of original 35th-place qualifier Timmy Hill’s #56 Coble Enterprises Toyota (2.751) and new last-place runner Jason M. White, who surrendered 34th on the grid in Team Reaume’s #2 Mum Collective Ford (3.271).
At the end of Lap 1, White remained in the last spot, three-tenths back of the next truck ahead of him. On Lap 3, he caught and passed team owner Josh Reaume, whose #22 Aerial Titans Ford fell to 2.763 seconds back of the lead, two-tenths behind the 35th-place running Frankie Muniz, driving the #33 Morgan & Morgan Ford, the third Reaume entry. As Reaume closed on Muniz, the teammates were now forming up a trailing single-file draft on the inside line, soon joined by Spencer Boyd in the #76 Desnuda Organic Tequila Chevrolet. By Lap 5, this line of four trucks was a half-second behind 32nd-place Hill, and Reaume was 3.445 seconds back of the lead. Hill then caught and passed Clay Greenfield in the #95 Backyard Blues Pools Chevrolet, which by Lap 7 was now 32nd and falling into the clutches of Boyd.
On Lap 9, Muniz got off the throttle to let teammate White fall behind him, noting that White’s truck was “too darty” in the draft. This came to the surprise of Reaume, whose spotter was watching the front of the field at the time. Reaume managed to pull out of line quick enough to let White fall back to last place, and Reaume and spotter relayed what had happened. On Lap 10, White was now in last, 4.102 seconds back of the lead and two-tenths back of Reaume. By Lap 11, Greenfield in 32nd still led their trailing line, 3.531 seconds back of the lead to White’s 4.103. The next time by on Lap 12, White dropped Muniz to last place, 4.707 seconds back of the lead, with Boyd also dropping back into 35th, lifting White to 34th and Reaume to 33rd. The lap after, Reaume retook last as Muniz climbed to 34th past both Reaume and Boyd.
As Muniz set his sights on catching White, the first of a troubling series of tire failures occurred off Turn 4 when frontrunner Justin Haley’s #16 Grizzly Nicotine Pouches RAM fell off the pace in the high lane, nearly triggering a multi-truck pileup. Haley narrowly made it to the tail end of the field, then to pit road, dropping him to last place on Lap 14. Haley returned to the track, where his spotter was concerned the truck was now smoking, either from a fender rub or from debris on the apron of the track. Haley remained on the lead lap, 45.086 seconds back of the lead, just moments before Christian Eckes smacked the outside wall in the tri-oval with his #91 NAPA AccuFit Chevrolet. According to the team, this accident was either caused by a flat tire, or a truck in front of him picking up a flat. Eckes had so far to get back to the pits that he lost a lap to the leaders on Lap 16, then a second on Lap 17. But Eckes had barely made it to Pit Stall No. 14 on the Turn 1 side when trouble broke out in the corner.
Running 8th in the middle of a three-wide battle for position in Turn 1, Stewart Friesen’s #52 Halmar International Toyota suddenly slowed with another apparent flat tire. As the line behind him stacked up, Friesen’s truck hooked to the left. This sent Friesen into the right-rear of a passing Kris Wright, whose #81 Warranty Solutions Chevrolet was sent straight up the track into Corey LaJoie’s #10 Mopar RAM. Once Friesen’s truck hooked to the right again, the field was blocked, and a massive wreck unfolded. At the time, McFarland had dropped back to 27th, which gave him enough time to slow down and start pulling to the apron. Just past Turn 2, he was passing to the outside of Cory Roper in the #62 Drydene Toyota. He may not have entirely cleared Roper as McFarland felt someone bump his left-rear, sending him spinning to the left. Saying he knew would hit the wall, he took his hands off the wheel as his truck struck the inside wall head-on. “You have gotta be kidding me!” the driver said on the radio.
Listening to the spotter’s audio from the on-board footage, the spotter did warn McFarland that there was a truck to his inside at the time he pulled to the apron. However, the spotter also indicated he couldn’t hear the driver on the radio, so it was unclear if these messages were being relayed. It was also difficult to see McFarland’s truck from the spotter’s stand, so the spotter tried to have McFarland stay in the truck with the window net up. McFarland did hear his spotter after the crash, but soon climbed out, done for the day. The truck was towed behind the wall near where it came to rest, and the onboard camera stayed on for another eight minutes before it was shut off.
While McFarland was classified the lowest of all the drivers involved in the crash, he was still only in 35th place. The 36th spot remained with Eckes, whose crew had to stop repairing the right-front when the red flag came out. By then, their issues looked worse than expected. “The whole rotor’s gone,” said someone on his channel. Still, with so many drivers eliminated from the race, the plan was to get Eckes on track and complete at least another lap to gain several spots. Also, since Haley had managed to remain on the lead lap after his flat tire, Eckes would receive the Lucky Dog, getting back one of the now three laps he’d lost to the leaders. By then, Eckes reported he was getting the brake pedal back, and the team made further checks to make sure his brakes were functioning. When the red flag was lifted, he returned to the track with a last lap completed at 1,054.817 seconds (or about 17 minutes, 30 seconds). He got his lap back on Lap 20, which immediately thrust him from 36th to 29th place, dropping McFarland to last. Eckes would ultimately reach 21st by the checkered flag.
The rest of the Bottom Five was promptly filled by four of the other six drivers eliminated in the wreck: in 35th came Daniel Hemric in the #19 Motion Industries Chevrolet, then 34th-place Tony Stewart in the #25 RAM-sponsored RAM, 33rd-place LaJoie in the #10, and after Cole Butcher returned to the track in his #13 Atlantic Tilt Load Ford, which reached 29th at the finish, Wright’s #81 completed the group.
Austin Green nearly steals victory from teammate in series debut
In the sprint to the finish, and just days after he was released by the Peterson Racing Group in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, Austin Green finished a stunning 3rd in his Truck Series debut, driving the #77 Gunk Chevrolet that was teammate to race winner Sammy Smith. Just a few spots back in 7th, Brenden Queen went from missing qualifying to tying his season-best finish from Daytona for a third time in 2026. Spencer Boyd likewise rallied from as far back as 35th in the opening stages to come home in 9th, returning to the site of his 2019 win with his first top-ten finish since this same race two years ago. Two of the three Team Reaume entries also dodged the last-lap wreck to finish just outside the Top 10 as Frankie Muniz took 12th ahead of 13th-place Jason M. White. Rounding out the Top 15 was Clay Greenfield, whose #95 into the Top 10 in the closing stages before a flat tire of his own dropped him back in the order, this in his 75th series start.
LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the first last-place finish for the #4 in a Truck Series race at Talladega.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
36) #4-Cleetus McFarland / 16 laps / crash
35) #19-Daniel Hemric / 16 laps / crash
34) #25-Tony Stewart / 16 laps / crash
33) #10-Corey LaJoie / 16 laps / crash
32) #81-Kris Wright / 16 laps / crash
2026 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Team Reaume (7)
2nd) Niece Motorsports (5)
3rd) Halmar Friesen Racing, McAnally-Hilgemann Racing, ThorSport Racing (2)
4th) Freedom Racing Enterprises, Front Row Motorsports, Kaulig RAM Racing, Motorsports Business Management, Rackley-W.A.R. (1)
2026 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Ford (11)
2nd) Chevrolet (9)
3rd) Toyota (2)
4th) RAM (1)
2026 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
