XFINITY: Early transmission woes hand Thomas Annunziata first series last-place finish for No. 70 since 2013
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
PHOTO: Luis Torres, @TheLTFiles
Thomas Annunziata picked up the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career in Saturday’s Focused Health 302 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway when his #70 Bayshore Mortgage Chevrolet fell out with transmission issues after 68 of 201 laps.
The finish came in Annunziata’s 17th series start. In the XFINITY Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 9th for the #70, the 56th from the transmission, and the 677th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 39th for the #70, the 182nd from transmission issues, and the 2,017th for Chevrolet.
Though a relative newcomer to NASCAR, Annunziata has been honing his skills since 2015, when he quickly developed into a championship go-kart racer, claiming three local titles and three national championships. He stayed focused on road course racing in the SCCA Spec Miata class – the same series that produced both Preston Pardus and Brad Perez, among others – then the Spec MX-5 Challenge Series. He then competed in TA2 competition in Trans-Am, where he first crossed paths with Derrike and Elyshia Cope at Nitro Motorsports.
Just last year, Annunziata turned his attention to stock car racing, where he immediately impressed in his ARCA national series debut at Daytona by finishing runner-up to Gus Dean in Jeff McClure’s #44 Nerd Focus Chevrolet, a car painted to resemble the iconic Mello Yello car of both Tom Cruise and Kyle Petty fame. He continued to excel on the road courses, taking 4th at Mid-Ohio, then 7th at Watkins Glen. Annunziata also holds the distinction of being the very last driver to race for veteran car owner Johnny Davis, finishing 28th at Pocono after a 34th-place debut in Sonoma. Three more starts followed with team owner Joey Gase.
This season, Annunziata has rejoined the Copes at their newest XFINITY Series team, Cope Family Racing, which runs the same #70 and similar paint scheme to Nitro’s Trans-Am program. Aside from a one-off by Will Rodgers at Sonoma, Annunziata has shared the ride with teammate Leland Honeyman, Jr., formerly of Young’s Motorsports, with each running roughly half the season. Entering Las Vegas, Annunziata had scored the team’s only two DNQs – ironically at COTA and just last week on the Charlotte “Roval” – but also scored his season-best 17th on the demanding Chicago Street Course, the team’s fifth-best finish overall.
Annunziata remained in the #70 for Las Vegas, where his was one of the 38 entrants for as many spots. He immediately showed impressive speed in practice, ranking 9th overall with a best lap of 30.788 seconds (175.393mph), just over two-tenths off the best lap of the session turned by Taylor Gray. Annunziata didn’t fare as well in qualifying, clocking in at 31.452 seconds (171.690mph), dropping to just 29th on the starting grid.
Securing the 38th and final starting spot was Ryan Ellis, whose #71 Classic Collision Chevrolet blew an engine at the end of practice and couldn’t get out to post a time. Also unable to register a time was Parker Retzlaff in the #4 Dr. Teal’s Chevrolet, who outranked Ellis based on Owner Points, securing 37th on the grid. Both incurred redundant tail-end penalties to keep them in the final row – Retzlaff for unapproved adjustments and Ellis for the engine change.
On the break, Ellis beat Retzlaff to the stripe, the #71 crossing the line 3.319 seconds back of the lead to Retzlaff’s 3.378. By the end of Lap 1, both had dispensed with 35th-place qualifier Mason Maggio, whose #35 Denssi Energy Pouches Ford dropped to last place, 4.011 back of the top spot. Maggio then briefly dropped to last Garrett Smithley in the #14 ThermoTech Chevrolet, who by Lap 3 made it past Maggio once more, putting the #35 in last. On Lap 4, Maggio ran 7.629 seconds back of the lead, and after battling Smithley fell a half-second behind the #14 on Lap 5. That gap steadily grew to just under a second on Lap 10, when Maggio was 15.796 seconds behind the leaders.
The first caution for debris on Lap 24 kept Maggio on the lead lap, by which point he was 34.290 seconds back of the lead and within six-tenths of new 37th-place runner Joey Gase, his teammate, in the #53 Nevada Donor Network Ford. But around Lap 35, Mason Massey rolled onto pit road, which according to Alpha Prime Racing’s Twitter account was due to the car shutting off and failing to restart. Repairs immediately dropped Massey to last as the first car off the lead lap. Around Lap 64, Massey returned to the track a full 28 laps down, but at nearly the same moment, another driver found trouble.
As Massey rejoined competition, Annunziata’s #70 slowed on track and eventually made it to the garage area, citing an issue with the transmission. On Lap 91, when the caution fell to end Stage 2, Massey found himself just a few laps from passing Annunziata for the 37th position. He accomplished this on Lap 98, and on Lap 101, NASCAR reported Annunziata the first driver out of the race. Massey only turned 16 more laps before he dropped out of the race in 37th, citing suspension issues. Taking 36th was Jeremy Clements for transmission problems of his own on the #51 Henderson Jet / Alliance Chevrolet. Completing the Bottom Five were Joey Gase’s #53 and the #07 FrontLine Optics Chevrolet of Nick Leitz, who finished five and three laps down, respectively.
LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the first last-place finish for the #70 in a XFINITY Series race since March 2, 2013, when Johanna Long’s #70 ForeTravel Motorcoach Chevrolet crashed after 2 laps around Phoenix. Long drove for ML Motorsports, which was later absorbed into the Cope family’s previous XFINITY team Cope Family Ventures. The ML team was founded by Mary Louise Miller, who died just two weeks ago at age 78.
*This also marked the first last-place finish for team owner Derrike Cope in the XFINITY Series since September 11, 2009, when Kevin Lepage’s #78 Derrike Cope, Inc. Dodge crashed without completing a lap around Richmond.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
38) #70-Thomas Annunziata / 68 laps / transmission
37) #45-Mason Massey / 84 laps / suspension
36) #51-Jeremy Clements / 146 laps / transmission
35) #53-Joey Gase / 196 laps / running
34) #07-Nick Leitz / 198 laps / running
2025 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Kaulig Racing (5)
2nd) Joe Gibbs Racing, SS-Green Light Racing (4)
3rd) Alpha Prime Racing (3)
4th) JR Motorsports, Sam Hunt Racing (2)
5th) Cope Family Racing, DGM Racing x JIM, Joey Gase Motorsports with Scott Osteen, Jordan Anderson Racing, Mike Harmon Racing, Our Motorsports, Pardus Racing, Richard Childress Racing, RSS Racing, Young’s Motorsports (1)
2025 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (23)
2nd) Toyota (6)
3rd) Ford (1)
2025 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
