by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
PHOTO: Steven Taranto, @STaranto92
Conner Jones picked up the 2nd last-place finish of his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career in Friday’s Black’s Tire 200 presented by Down East Heating & Air Conditioning when his #4 Niece Chevrolet fell out with rear gear trouble after he completed 95 of 200 laps.
The finish, which came in Jones’ 33rd series start, was his first of the season and first in the series since September 19, 2024 at Bristol, 54 races ago. In the Truck Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 12th for the #4, the 19th from the rear gear, and the 474th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 58th for the rear gear, the 82nd for the #4, and the 2,071st for Chevrolet.
When Jones was last featured on this site, he was running a partial schedule in ThorSport’s #66 entry, during which he scored a career-best 11th-place finish in Charlotte. The year ended with a literal thud after he was suspended one race for wrecking Matt Mills midway through the race at Homestead, leaving Mills not only in last place, but in the hospital. Jones’ suspension was for this very fall Martinsville race, after which he ran 17th in the Phoenix finale, his last for ThorSport.
Jones has since continued a part-time effort with Al Niece’s team, starting with his series return during the 2025 weekend at North Wilkesboro, where he took 27th. Friday’s race marked Jones’ sixth series start of 2026, but his first in Niece’s part-time #4 entry, which finished last in the hands of Cleetus McFarland last Friday after an early multi-truck accident in Turn 2. Unlike McFarland, who boasted sponsorship from barbecue sauce company Blues Hog, Jones’ white-and-black #4 carried only Niece’s logos with associate backing from Precision Vehicle Logistics and J.F. Electric.
For Friday, Jones was one of exactly 36 drivers entered for as many starting spots, so all were guaranteed a place in the field for the penultimate race of 2026. Jones ranked 22nd in practice with a best lap of 20.290 seconds (93.327mph). His was the third truck on track for qualifying, during which he improved one spot to 21st with a lap of 19.929 seconds (95.017mph), just 0.380 second off the pole, earned by record breaker Tristan McKee, who bested Cole Custer’s mark as NASCAR’s youngest polesitter at 16 years, two months, and 27 days.
Securing the 36th and final starting spot was Jake Garcia, who during practice lost the brakes on his #98 Quanta Ford and clobbered the outside wall, causing significant damage to the rear and driver’s side. The crew unloaded and prepared his backup truck. Garcia was one of two drivers who were unable to complete a timed lap in qualifying. Also missing the session was Gavan Boschele, who after running a session-high 84 laps in practice had an oil leak that required repairs to his #1 American Land Partners Toyota. Boschele and Garcia rounded out the final row in the field, joined by two others for unapproved adjustments: 20th-place Brenden Queen, whose #12 Cummins RAM was on jack stands for a brake issue, and the #33 Vyper Ford of Frankie Muniz.
When the green flag dropped, it was Queen’s #12 which was last across the stripe, showing 5.357 seconds back of the lead behind now 35th-place Garcia’s 5.112. Holding the 34th spot, 4.888 behind the lead, was Tyler Tomassi, who thanks to the small entry list was able to secure Motorsports Business Management the first-ever start for their black #69 RAM. Sponsored by Tomassi Law LLC, TF56 Designs, and MAD RBT Energy, Tomassi was originally 10mph too slow during the start of his pit road speed test during the pace laps. He’d later have issues pressing his push-to-talk button on his radio as he entered the corners.
By the end of Lap 1, Queen had pulled alongside Tomassi, and the pair were now tied to the thousandth of a second, each 5.840 seconds back of the lead. By Lap 3, Tomassi was now last with Queen up to 34th. Tomassi dropped Queen to last again on Lap 4, then the next time by both dropped Josh Reaume to last in the #22 Gap Year at Lodestar Ford. By Lap 8, the now 35th-place Tomassi had opened up a half-second gap over Reaume. That interval grew to 1.1 seconds by Lap 13, though Reaume shaved off two-tenths by Lap 15. On Lap 17, Reaume was 18.688 seconds back of then-leader Layne Riggs, who on Lap 19 pulled to his inside at the stripe and put him the first truck one lap down. Tomassi lost a lap from 35th on Lap 21, followed by Justin S. Carroll, making his first start since Darlington in the spring, whose #90 Carroll’s Automotive Toyota was caught heading into Turn 2 on Lap 22.
Now caught up in lead-lap traffic, Reaume was told he and Tomassi were running about the same pace as each were good at opposite portions of the corners. Still, by Lap 37, Reaume’s spotter saw an opportunity for him to pull into the faster lane and race past Tomassi. Before he could, the first caution fell on Lap 38 after Muniz’ #33 was spun into the Turn 2 wall during a stack-up between Christian Eckes and Kayden Honeycutt. Now in last place, the lapped Muniz lost a second lap as he got going again, then reported his brake pedal felt soft. Reaume also called for adjustments, saying his truck was handling too free. Muniz continued pumping his brakes under yellow, only for the pedal to keep hitting the floor every few pumps. He made it to the pits and by Lap 41 lost a third lap before he returned to the track. Also having brake issues was Carroll, who fell to 35th, then lost his own third lap on Lap 43, putting him in last place. Carroll rejoined the field for the Lap 45 restart, now four laps down. During this run, Carroll also appeared to have Tomassi’s issue with the radio button as he kept opening the mic whenever he decelerated into the turns. Fortunately, the end of Stage 1 soon came on Lap 51, just as Riggs was about to put Carroll a fifth lap down.
Under this caution, Carroll decided to not take on fresh tires. He added his truck was “free in the rear and snug in the front,” an that this was most noticeable at the center-to-exit of each corner. He took the Lap 59 restart in last place, still four laps down, with 35th-place Muniz the only driver two down and 34th-place Reaume the last of multiple drivers one lap down. Carroll’s tire gamble didn’t pay off, and by Lap 77, he’d lost that fifth lap to the leaders. Muniz soon lost his third lap by Lap 88 with Tomassi now in 34th, two down.
Jones entered the last-place battle around Lap 96, when NASCAR was monitoring his #4 for smoke from a possible left-rear tire rub. By the time he pulled own pit road, one lap down in the 27th spot, the smoke had grown much worse, leaving a white cloud behind his truck. Pitted in Pit Stall No. 6, one of the last before the Turn 2 exit, Jones was directed to the garage by his crew for a closer look. There, they discovered a small fire beneath the truck which reportedly was from a failing gear. With the fire under control, NASCAR kept the race under green through the end of Stage 2 on Lap 101. Only then did they discover how much fluid Jones’ truck had left on pit road, requiring a lengthy cleanup. On Lap 102, Jones took last from Carroll. “It looks like the pinion just burned up,” said Jones’ team as they grabbed a jack. There was talk of a gear change, but by Lap 119, the crew was breaking down their pit box. He was declared out on Lap 130.
During Jones’ stay in the garage, the field was whittled down by several multi-truck incidents. On Lap 116, Tyler Reif’s spin in the #42 Utilitra / J.F. Electric Chevrolet triggered a deceptively large pileup in Turn 4 that damaged three of the RAM entries almost simultaneously, particularly Justin Haley’s #16 Grizzly Nicotine Pouches RAM, and shoved in the nose of Monty Tipton’s #2 Bare Bones Ford. Tipton ended up in 35th with Haley in 34th, Haley’s truck declared out on the same lap as Jones. Both were passed by Talladega winner Sammy Smith, whose #7 Alpha Craft Technologies Chevrolet fell to 35th after a truck arm failure. Smith returned to the track on Lap 124, showing 12 laps down with a last lap completed at 1,117.806 seconds (18 minutes, 30 seconds). Smith climbed no further than 33rd before he fell out. He came just 12 laps short of Carroll, whose own truck was heavily damaged in another pileup down the backstretch on Lap 148.
Tristan McKee continues to put Truck Series field on notice
As the championship battle intensified between series leaders Kayden Honeycutt and Layne Riggs, Tristan McKee wrote another impressive chapter in his young career. After his aforementioned record-setting pole, McKee finished 2nd to Riggs in both stages, led twice for 29 laps, and was still out front with 47 laps to go. Even after late-race contact with Honeycutt entering Turn 1, he defended a 5th-place finish in the #77 Zeigler Auto Group Chevrolet, tying his career-best run from Bristol just last month. Even with his prior late model experience at the track, it was a remarkable accomplishment that nearly saw him in victory lane. McKee has now both qualified in the Top 10 and finished in the Top 10 in all but one of his five career starts, having qualified no worse than 13th and finished no worse than 14th.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
36) #4-Conner Jones / 95 laps / rear gear
35) #2-Monty Tipton / 115 laps / crash
34) #16-Justin Haley / 119 laps / crash
33) #7-Sammy Smith / 129 laps / suspension
32) #90-Justin S. Carroll / 141 laps / crash
LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the second-straight Truck Series last-place finish for the #4 and the number’s first in a Truck Series race at Martinsville.
2026 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Team Reaume (7)
2nd) Niece Motorsports (6)
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 (10)
3rd) Toyota (2)
4th) RAM (1)
2026 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
As for the 2026 LASTCAR Truck Series Championship, the battle remains wide-open going into the season finale at Homestead. With none of the three season leaders in Friday’s field, and Jones well back in the order coming into the race, there are 13 drivers still eligible. Clayton Green holds the lead with just enough Bottom Fives and Bottom Tens that these 12 drivers’ only path to the title is to finish last at Homestead, though some might still lose if Green also finishes in the Bottom Five: Cleetus McFarland, Jackson Macenko, Kris Wright, Cole Butcher, Luke Baldwin, Corey LaJoie, Spencer Boyd, Christian Eckes, Stewart Friesen, Ben Rhodes, Conner Jones, and Dawson Sutton.
