TRUCKS: Failing cool suit on a scorching North Wilkesboro track puts Donovan Strauss out of his Truck Series debut

Written By Brock Beard

by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief

PHOTO: Steven Taranto, @STaranto92

Donovan Strauss picked up the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career in Saturday’s Faith Fest 250 at the North Wilkesboro Speedway when his #4 Nightclubs Suck Chevrolet fell out with overheating issues after he completed 134 of 250 laps.

The finish came in Strauss’ series debut. In the Truck Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 10th for the #4, the 27th from overheating issues, and the 470th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 79th for the #4, the 185th from overheating, and the 2,055th for Chevrolet.

Like many other young drivers in today’s NASCAR, the 20-year-old Strauss cut his teeth in sim racing, earning his place in the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series driving for Williams eSports. He then made the jump to late models in the CARS Late Model Stock Tour, where he’s turned many laps on the North Wilkesboro track for AK Performance. It was then announced earlier this month that Strauss would make his first Truck Series attempt for Niece Motorsports in their part-time #4. He’d be sponsored by Nightclubs Suck, an athletic apparel company co-founded by Ty Martin and Clayton Wilson. The team’s press release indicated promo code “Strauss” would earn fans 15% off their online orders.

Strauss was one of 39 drivers originally entered to attempt Sunday’s field of 36, the largest entry list since the season opener in Daytona. But that list was trimmed down by midweek after Carl Long withdrew the #69 Ford for driver Jonathan Shafer, allowing Long and his Garage 66 effort to focus on Chad Fincuhum’s Cup effort at the track on Sunday. Of the 38 teams that remained, Strauss ranked 32nd in practice with a best lap of 19.244 seconds (116.920mph). His part-time effort placed him fifth in line for qualifying, and he again ranked 32nd with a lap of 19.221 seconds (117.059mph), ranking him fastest of the five teams relying on Owner Points.

The first of two drivers sent home was Timmy Hill, whose #56 Coble Enterprises Toyota was unable to complete a lap in qualifying due to an axle seal failure in practice. Curiously, Chandler Smith, who suffered the same issue in last week’s race at Lime Rock, went on to win on Saturday. Joining him on the early ride home was Landon Huffman, whose bid at a first Truck Series start since 2019 in Henderson Motorsports’ #75 Baldeagle.com Chevrolet saw him fall three-tenths short of bumping 31st-place Kasey Kleyn from his first Truck Series field in the #27 Thaemert Farms Chevrolet. Huffman and Hill had ranked 29th and 36th in practice, respectively. Huffman’s sponsor, which happened to be Cleetus McFarland’s homepage, joined as an associate backer for outside-polesitter Carson Hocevar in the #77 Delaware Life Chevrolet.

Securing the 36th and final starting spot was Frankie Muniz in the #33 Panini Ka-Vroom Ford, which was joined in the last row by one of his Team Reaume teammates in 35th-place Clayton Green in the #22 Badass Workbench Ford. On the break, Muniz got a jump ahead of Green, the #33 crossing the stripe 3.615 seconds back of the lead to Green’s 3.686. By the end of Lap 1, Green was 4.736 seconds back of the lead, then 5.481 on Lap 3 and 7.554 on Lap 5, but remained within two-tenths of Muniz. That gap grew to about three-tenths by Lap 8, and by Lap 11, he was 11.150 seconds behind the leader. Over the radio, Green expressed frustration with Muniz for taking his line away and cutting across his nose.

Strauss entered the last-place battle early when, on Lap 14, he lost control in heavy traffic and spun off Turn 2, his truck stopped on the backstretch. As Strauss pointed his truck the right way, Green and Muniz were still side-by-side, Muniz holding off Green in the high lane. Both immediately dropped Strauss to last place. Under yellow, as the team prepared for their first stop, Strauss appeared to have an issue with his cool shirt, and was instructed by his team about unplugging it. He held off on doing this as he came in for four tires and fuel, but it was a difficult start to a very warm afternoon. Strauss managed to stay on the lead lap, and took the Lap 20 restart 5.876 seconds back of the lead, now two-tenths behind the 35th-place Green. Strauss then caught and passed Green on Lap 22, putting the #22 back to 36th, 6.673 seconds back of the leaders.

On Lap 24, Nathan Nicholson, making his Truck Series oval track debut in Freedom Racing Enterprises’ #76 Freedom Warranty / Whelen Engineering Chevrolet, made an unscheduled green-flag stop. This stop dropped Nicholson to last place and cost him a lap to the leaders by the time he came back up to speed on Lap 26. By Lap 30, all three Reaume trucks were now nose-to-tail in 33rd, 34th, and 35th. Splitting 33rd-place Muniz from 35th-place Green was Luke Baldwin, who had pitted his #2 MoHawk Northwest Ford during the Strauss caution. On Lap 33, Nicholson lost a second lap to the leaders, and was told by his team to try and follow them to learn a better line around the track. They also verified that Nicholson had his brake fans turned on.

By Lap 43, Green in 35th and Baldwin in 34th were both lapped. By Lap 52, Strauss had climbed to 30th, but was now the last truck on the lead lap, and was soon lapped on the 53rd circuit, just after Layne Riggs took the lead from Carson Hocevar. On Lap 67, with just a few laps until the end of Stage 1, Nicholson continued to receive advice from his team about a better line around the track. He was only losing about a tenth in Turns 1 and 2, but was losing about three-tenths in Turns 3 and 4, so he was instructed to hold his truck against the white line. On Lap 70, Nicholson lifted, anticipating the end of Stage 1, but was urged to keep his foot in it. He did so just in time, holding off leader Riggs by about a trucklength, keeping him from losing a third lap.

During the Stage 1 caution, Nicholson apologized to his crew about a mistake on a previous restart, and told them he’d been dialing in more front brake during the run. He also asked for clarification about how much brakes he should use in Turns 3 and 4. When he pitted with the other lapped trucks, Nicholson also told his team his temperatures were running up to 250 degrees. “You’re two laps down, racing the 22 (Green),” said Nicholson’s crew. “There’s a shitpile that are 1 lap down.” After addressing the Choose Cone, Nicholson pulled to 35th on Lap 79, dropping Green back to last place.

On Lap 82, Stage 2 began with Green in last, his crew unable to pull SMT data since their computer froze. Ahead of him, 34th-place Muniz lost a second lap to the leaders, Green went down a third lap on Lap 110, and Nicholson lost his third lap on Lap 111. By then, Green had caught Nicholson, and the two were battling side-by-side for last place until 3rd-place Jake Garcia caught them both, separating the two trucks from one another. Moments later, the caution fell on Lap 119 when Baldwin spun his #2 coming off Turn 4, causing left-rear damage to his Ford. Baldwin fell two laps down after the incident, dropping him to last place on Lap 127 with Nicholson now 35th and Green in 34th. This put Baldwin in last place for the Lap 129 restart, and Green now clawed past Muniz to take 33rd.

Meanwhile, Strauss made a pit stop around Lap 134, where the crew diagnosed an overheating issue – not simply with the truck, but the driver. When Strauss’ cool suit failed in the early laps, the driver became exhausted by the hot water in the suit and had to receive medical attention for what he called “borderline heat stroke.” As of this writing, Strauss is continuing to recover and is rehydrating. During this, Strauss’ truck remained in its pit stall – Stall 33 between Turns 3 and 4 – and by Lap 138 had lost three laps, dropping him to last place behind Baldwin. Moments later on Lap 141, when the caution fell to end Stage 2, the team said, “Yeah, we’re done.” Strauss responded, “Thank you all – I enjoyed it while it lasted.” FS1’s cameras caught Strauss’ truck still sitting in its stall on Lap 145, and it wasn’t shown as “off” the track on the leaderboard until around Lap 157. By Lap 196, Strauss’ truck, parked behind the team’s hauler, was still the only starter in the garage area, and 35th-place Baldwin remained within three laps of the leader.

Next to find trouble was the #27 of Kasey Kleyn, who by Lap 208 had dropped to the 35th spot, now five laps down and behind Baldwin. The team had an electrical issue, but had difficulty tracking the specific problem. They first looked to see if the battery was loose, then someone else addressed the alternator. By Lap 218, they were 15 laps down and doubting they’d be able to return to the track. The team wanted to finish the race, giving Kleyn the laps necessary to be approved for more races. But the team didn’t want to risk tearing up the truck with no chance of gaining any positions. So, on Lap 228, their truck joined Strauss’ behind the wall. Both Kleyn and Strauss were not shown as “out” on FS1’s leaderboard until seven laps to go.

Dropping to 34th in the final stages was Nicholson, whose lapped truck may have collided with Tyler Reif’s equally damaged #42 AutoVentive / Precision Vehicle Logistics Chevrolet with three laps to go. While Reif managed to finish 12th despite significant nose damage to his truck, Nicholson nearly stopped in Turns 1 and 2 before he returned to pit road. This averted a caution, but ended Nicholson’s race just short of the checkered flag. Baldwin and Muniz rounded out the Bottom Five.

Van Gisbergen surprises as best of Cup regulars in North Wilkesboro

While one of four Cup Series regulars in Saturday’s field, it was nevertheless impressive to see road course ace Shane Van Gisbergen finish a career-best 3rd in only his fourth series start and third on an oval. Van Gisbergen managed his tires well as he inched his #71 Nations Guard Chevrolet toward the front, ultimately beating all three of the other Cup drivers in the field between Chase Elliott (who finished 7th), Christopher Bell (15th), and Carson Hocevar (27th). Van Gisbergen will start 8th on Sunday after qualifying was rained out.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This marked the first last-place run for the #4 in a Truck Series race since this February’s Daytona opener, where Cleetus McFarland wrecked his #4 Black Rifle Coffee Company Chevrolet after 5 laps. The number had never before finished last in a Truck Series race at North Wilkesboro.

*Strauss is the first driver to finish last with overheating issues in a Truck Series race since Conner Jones, who on September 19, 2024 scored his own first last-place finish at Bristol after 126 laps in his #66 TSport Ford.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

36) #4-Donovan Strauss / 134 laps / overheating

35) #27-Kasey Kleyn / 203 laps / electrical

34) #76-Nathan Nicholson / 242 laps / crash

33) #2-Luke Baldwin / 245 laps / running

32) #33-Frankie Muniz / 246 laps / running

2026 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Niece Motorsports (4)

2nd) Team Reaume (3)

3rd) ThorSport Racing (2)

4th) Front Row Motorsports, Halmar Friesen Racing, Kaulig RAM Racing, McAnally-Hilgemann Racing, Motorsports Business Management, Rackley-W.A.R. (1)

2026 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Ford (7)

2nd) Chevrolet (6)

3rd) RAM, Toyota (1)

2026 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

Brock Beard https://lastcar.info
Next

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