XFINITY: Mason Maggio and Gase team recover from practice crash, only to wreck again just seconds after the green flag
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
Maggio’s crew at work after the practice crash. (PHOTO: Joey Gase Motorsports, @J_G_Motorsports)
Mason Maggio picked up the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career in Saturday’s SciAps 300 at the Bristol Motor Speedway when his #53 Ace Hardware Rock Hill Chevrolet crashed after 2 of 300 laps.
The finish came in Maggio’s 12th series start. In the XFINITY Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 7th for the #53, the 409th from a crash, and the 660th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 32nd for the #53, the 1414th from a crash, and the 1,984th for Chevrolet.
Maggio enters his fourth season as a part-time competitor, nine years after he got his start racing go-karts at age 11. According to his profile at Floridian Motorsports, he cut his teeth on the Legends circuit, earning multiple championships in his native Florida, then two more titles at Atlanta Motor Speedway. By 2021, he was the top rookie in Limited Late Models at Hickory, then scored multiple wins in the Carolina Pro Late Model Series in 2022.
That same 2022 season saw Maggio make his Truck Series debut at Gateway, where he finished 27th for Reaume Brothers Racing. After another three starts that fall, he made six more for Reaume in 2023, earning a season-best 20th in Nashville. In 2024, Maggio made seven of his 11 Truck Series starts for Floridian Motorsports, the latest in a series of new teams Carl Long has helped build. Driving team owner Scott Osteen’s #21 with support from Long, Maggio earned a new career-best 18th-place finish in Talladega. He then improved on that finish just this year, taking 15th in a one-off at the Daytona opener for Hettinger Racing.
Along the way, Maggio has developed a part-time XFINITY Series career. He made his first five XFINITY starts in 2023, driving for veteran car owners Carl Long, Bobby Dotter, and Rod Sieg. After finishing no better than 30th, he broke through in 2024 with an 18th-place run at Atlanta, then later a 22nd-place showing in Martinsville. Both finishes came with Joey Gase Motorsports, who this year welcomes Floridian Motorsports’ Scott Osteen as co-owner. Maggio’s first three starts under this partnership – each in the team’s second entry, the #53 – have seen him finish no better than 25th, which came in the chaotic Martinsville event two weeks ago.
For Bristol, Maggio carried sponsorship from Ace Hardware’s franchise in Rock Hill, South Carolina, a frequent backer of both his XFINITY and Truck Series efforts. The primary backer of his flat black Chevrolet was LT Delivery of Kansas City, which picked up space on the hood and the rear quarter-panels.
Maggio’s was one of 40 drivers entered to attempt the 38-car field, a list cut to 39 after Mike Harmon Racing withdrew Dawson Cram’s #74 Chevrolet to focus on next Saturday’s return to Rockingham Speedway. This resulted in a war of attrition for the final spot in the field, to be settled between Maggio and Tyler Tomassi. Tomassi, who finished 21st in Friday’s Truck Series race, sought his XFINITY debut for none other than Carl Long, whose #66 Ford carried sponsorship from NASCAR YouTuber Elly Productions. But halfway through Group 1 practice, Tomassi suffered a part failure that put him into the wall. Later in the session, Maggio had an issue of his own in Turns 3 and 4, stuffing him into the fence. It appeared both teams would miss both qualifying and the race – Maggio 35th in practice ahead of last-place Tomassi. But Maggio took the 38th and final spot based on Owner Points, sending Tomassi home. Gase rallied his team to get the car ready for the green flag. The car rolled onto the grid with hours of repairs and several strips of tape on the lower edge of the hood.
The repairs incurred Maggio a redundant tail-end penalty for Saturday’s race, joined by penalties for unapproved adjustments to 9th-place Parker Retzlaff in the #4 Suave Chevrolet and 22nd-place Christian Eckes in the #16 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet. Maggio then thanked his crew over the radio for their hard work. The plan was to feel the car out for a few laps, but make sure to keep up the pace as polesitter Kyle Larson was certain to catch the tail end of the field quickly.
When the green flag dropped, Maggio remained in the back, 4.226 seconds back of the lead, and at the end of Lap 1 was 5.208 back of the lead to Retzlaff’s 5.106. Retzlaff then made quick work of Maggio’s teammate Greg Van Alst in the #35 Phil’s Heating and Air Chevrolet, which Maggio was catching on Lap 2. But coming off Turn 2, something failed in the front of the car again, sending Maggio hard into the outside wall at corner exit. “Something broke in the right-front again goddammit!” said the driver. He pulled to the apron and tried to enter the garage area, but the car wouldn’t turn and ended up stopped against an orange barrier behind the protective sand barrels. The crew discussed a possible spindle issue as they loaded up, done for the day.
A brutal crash on Lap 74 eliminated the next two contenders. Coming off Turn 4, Sheldon Creed’s #00 Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Ford spun after a bump from Dean Thompson’s #26 Thompson Pipe Group Toyota. Creed’s car stopped perpendicular to the wall at corner exit, where it was nearly struck by four passing cars. According to his interview, Brennan Poole couldn’t see Creed ahead of him, and was already on the gas when he cut hard to the left in his #44 Macc Door Systems Chevrolet. The right-side door of Poole’s car struck the left-front of Creed, destroying both cars and ripping away so much of Poole’s right-side bodywork that the right-rear wheel and suspension was also torn away. Both drivers were uninjured, though Poole had to catch his breath after impact.
Taking 35th ahead of both Poole and Creed was Alex Labbe, whose #07 Brian King Roofing Chevrolet suffered a power steering issue near the midway point. William Sawalich completed the group when, while running inside the Top 10, he rear-ended Connor Zilisch’s #88 Axalta / clicklane Chevrolet, which had slowed behind a spinning Mason Massey in the #45 TruShine Car Wash Chevrolet. Sawalich ruptured the radiator in the impact, and climbed from his car on pit road. Sawalich now takes the lead in the 2025 LASTCAR XFINITY Series standings.
Sam Hunt Racing earns first double-Top Ten since 2023
After the incident with Sheldon Creed, Dean Thompson went on to finish 10th in his #26, joining teammate Corey Heim’s #24 Upper Deck Toyota in the 8th spot – Sam Hunt Racing’s first double-top-ten finish since Road America on July 29, 2023, when Sage Karam took 4th and Kaz Grala finished 7th.
LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the first last-place finish for the #53 in a XFINITY Series race since June 15, 2024, when Glen Reen’s #53 Eternal Fan / Save-a-Lot Food Stores Chevrolet had carburetor issues after 20 laps around Iowa. The number had never before finished last in a XFINITY race at Bristol.
*While Maggio completed just two laps before he fell out of Saturday’s race, 12 other XFINITY Series races at Bristol saw the last-place finisher run even fewer laps, including three who didn’t complete a single lap – most recently March 22, 2003 by Brian Weber, who had brake issues on his #84 www.brianweberandassociates.com Chevrolet.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
38) #53-Mason Maggio / 2 laps / crash
37) #00-Sheldon Creed / 73 laps / crash
36) #44-Brennan Poole / 74 laps / crash
35) #07-Alex Labbe / 141 laps / power steering
34) #18-William Sawalich / 211 laps / crash
2025 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Joe Gibbs Racing, Kaulig Racing (2)
2nd) Joey Gase Motorsports with Scott Osteen, Our Motorsports, Sam Hunt Racing, SS-Green Light Racing, Young’s Motorsports (1)
2025 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (6)
2nd) Toyota (3)
2025 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
