TRUCKS: Crash damage during Nashville night shift hands Tyler Reif first career last-place finish
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
PHOTO: Steve Taranto, @STaranto92
Tyler Reif picked up the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career in Friday’s Allegiance 200 at the Nashville Superspeedway when his #42 Comprehensive Logistics Chevrolet crashed after 55 of 150 laps.
The finish came in Reif’s seventh series start. In the Truck Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 7th for the #42, the 209th from a crash, and the 467th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 45th for the #42, the 1,460th from a crash, and the, 2,044th for Chevrolet.
At just 19 years old, Reif has already made impressive progress through the ranks of stock car racing. In 2023, he won in only his third career start in the ARCA Menards Series West, getting past Landen Lewis on the final lap around Phoenix. This kicked off his first of two back-to-back runner-up championship seasons, each within 36 points of Sean Hingorani, and earned two more wins at Shasta Speedway and Tri-City Raceway. Last fall, he returned to Phoenix for his Truck Series debut, driving the part-time #41 entry for Niece Motorsports. Again, he impressed, qualifying 13th and finishing 9th. The run earned him a part-time effort with Niece in the #42 where he's finished 17th in Atlanta, 16th in St. Petersburg (where he was then hospitalized for heat exhaustion), and a 14th in his most recent start in Watkins Glen.
For Nashville, Reif carried primary sponsorship from Comprehensive Logistics, a company that specializes in warehouse management logistics. His was one of 38 drivers entered for 36 starting spots in Friday’s race. He began the weekend ranked just 32nd with a best lap of 30.786 seconds (155.525mph), though that practice session was cut short by rain. Precipitation also meddled with qualifying, where he had barely taken time as the 25th truck on track before weather cancelled the rest of the session. Sent home were Jonathan Shafer, who put up a fast enough time to get Motorsports Business Managements’ #69 Ford into the field, only to be sent home along with Toni Breidinger in Rackley-W.A.R.’s part-time second entry, the #27 Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers Chevrolet. The same metric put Reif in the 14th spot.
After further delays to dry the track, the 36th truck to roll off pit road was Daniel Dye, who was starting a new four-race deal in the McAnally-Hilgemann Racing team’s part-time fifth entry, the #20 Champion Containers Chevrolet. He’d be joined by both 33rd-place starter Mini Tyrrell, who required unapproved adjustments to his #14 Ram’s Race for the Seat RAM after splitter damage suffered in practice, and 19th-place Andrews Perez de Lara, who had so many issues in inspection that he was sent to a backup #44 Acceptance Insurance Chevrolet. Perez de Lara would also have to serve a pass-through penalty after taking the green flag, and talked with his crew about how to approach it. The team expected he would run faster than both 34th-place Clayton Green in the #2 The Turner Company Ford and 35th-place Caleb Costner in the #93 Lickety Lew’s / Michael Waltrip Brewing Chevrolet, and his spotter told other teams in the back he’d be serving the penalty.
Prior to the start, there was some confusion between NASCAR and the teams whether Perez de Lara or Tyrrell lined up behind Costner. When the green flag dropped, Perez de Lara was last across the stripe, 3.624 seconds back of the lead to 35th-place Tyrrell’s 3.491, 34th-place Dye at a 3.436 and Costner up to 33rd at 3.345. Perez de Lara then slowed and came down pit road as the field crossed the stripe to complete Lap 1. This meant Perez de Lara crossed the line on pit road, showing 16.034 seconds bac of the lead. By Lap 3, when he returned to the track, the #44 had lost a lap to race leader Layne Riggs, who was already 20 truck-lengths ahead of him. The 35th spot was now held by Derek Lemke, husband of Natalie Decker, who landed the ride in the #22 Merkts Ford after Decker decided to leave the series at Dover. Over the next few laps, Lemke engaged in a battle for 34th with Costner, who he caught and passed by Lap 9.
By Lap 20, Perez de Lara was no longer the only truck off the lead lap as leader Riggs had lapped 35th-place Costner, 34th-place Lemke, and 33rd-place Spencer Boyd in the #76 Tohatsu Chevrolet. Perez de Lara then caught Costner in traffic on Lap 22, putting the #93 into last place. By then, Riggs had lapped another two drivers in 32nd-place Clayton Green and 31st-place Frankie Muniz in the #33 Lakeside Construction Ford. Meanwhile, Costner shouted over his radio, “Get on the fucking radio!” He’d had a near-disaster on the frontstretch when the battle for 6th raced past him at the stripe, Chandler Smith in the #38 Matheus Lumber Ford and Ben Rhodes in the #99 Nashville Stampede Ford speeding past on both sides. Further ahead, the battle for 34th intensified between Lemke and Boyd, who raced each other into Turn 3. On Lap 39, Costner lost a second lap to the leaders, and 35th-place Boyd lost his second lap to Riggs on Lap 45 coming to the end of Stage 1. By then, Perez de Lara had climbed to the 31st spot, but remained a lap down with everyone 23rd on back.
Under the Stage 1 caution, Green lost power on the #2, forcing pit road to stay closed another lap so he could receive a push back to his stall, which was Stall 2 at the Turn 1 side, one spot behind that of Rajah Caruth and the #7 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet originally slated to be driven by Kyle Busch. Green took over last on Lap 50 as the crew jacked up the right side and changed the battery. Green also was asked if he shut off the alternator switch. He ended up having to shout back at the team because the visor was open on his helmet. Repairs forced Green to miss the Lap 55 restart, and he would incur penalties for both pitting too soon and improper fueling during his stop. He was still on pit road and receiving right-side tires when the next caution fell on Lap 56.
Heading into Turn 3, Reif was running about the 15th spot and challenging a pack of traffic in the high lane. Entering the corner, his truck broke free, nearly collecting Stefan Parsons’ #4 TCBUS.com Chevrolet as he slammed the outside wall squarely with the rear bumper. Under the ensuing caution, Reif’s crew noted there was too much damage to the rear of the truck to be repaired and said, “We’re done – put a tire on it and let’s take it to the garage.” On Lap 58, Reif pulled behind the wall and headed to the team’s hauler. "I'm sorry, guys, I got loose in dirty air,” said Reif. “Just pulled me right around.” By then, Green was back on track, showing nine laps down in last place. Green’s crew said the rest of the night would be about learning, the goal being to bring the truck back in one piece. The first thing Green did was climb out of last place, dropping Reif to there on Lap 66. FS1’s leaderboard didn’t show Reif officially out until Lap 93, by which pint Green climbed out of the Bottom Five for a 29th-place finish.
Taking the 35th spot was Carson Ferguson, whose second Truck Series start in the #25 Nothing Stops Nashville RAM ended when he spun out in Turn 2 and crashed hard, damaging both ends of his truck. Rounding out the Bottom Five were three others collected in a multi-truck incident: 34th-place Jesse Love, making a rare Truck Series start in the #77 Delaware Life Chevrolet, then 33rd-place Tanner Gray in the #15 Place of Hope Toyota and 32nd-place Jake Garcia in the #98 Curb Records Ford.
Daniel Dye rallies from the back to the front
After starting 36th on the grid, Daniel Dye rallied into the Top 10 on two separate occasions, spending about one-third the race distance running 10th or better. He crossed the finish line 10th, marking his best finish since he took 7th at Homestead in 2024.
LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the first last-place finish for the #42 in a Truck Series race at Nashville. The number hadn’t finished last in a Truck Series race since October 26, 2024, when Matt Mills’ #42 Utilitra / J.F. Electric Chevrolet was wrecked out by Conner Jones after 74 laps at Homestead.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
36) #42-Tyler Reif / 55 laps / crash
35) #25-Carson Ferguson / 59 laps / crash
34) #77-Jesse Love / 70 laps / crash
33) #15-Tanner Gray / 72 laps / crash
32) #98-Jake Garcia / 75 laps / crash
2026 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Team Reaume (3)
2nd) Niece Motorsports, ThorSport Racing (2)
3rd) Front Row Motorsports, Halmar Friesen Racing, McAnally-Hilgemann Racing, Motorsports Business Management (1)
2026 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Ford (7)
2nd) Chevrolet (3)
3rd) Toyota (1)
2026 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
