XFINITY: Sudden rear gear failure at the end of Stage 2 puts Thomas Annunziata last at Martinsville
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
PHOTO: Steven Taranto, @STaranto92
Thomas Annunziata picked up the 2nd last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career in Saturday’s IAA and Ritchie Bros. 250 at the Martinsville Speedway when his #70 Wilhelmina Chevrolet had rear gear issues after 120 of 253 laps.
The finish, which came in Annunziata’s 18th series start, was his second of the year and first since Las Vegas, two races ago. In the XFINITY Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 10th for the #70, the 22nd from rear gear issues, and the 678th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 40th for the #70, the 56th from the rear gear, and the 2,020th for Chevrolet.
With the finish, Annunziata becomes one of only five drivers to score two last-place finishes in 2025, thrusting him into the battle for the 2025 LASTCAR XFINITY Series Championship. However, as of this writing, Annunziata is not expected to run next week since teammate Leland Honeyman, Jr. is likely to drive the #70 in next Saturday’s championship race at Phoenix. Parker Retzlaff remains the leader, but still in contention for the title are Daniel Dye, Christian Eckes, Justin Bonsignore, William Sawalich, and Anthony Alfredo.
In these closing weeks of his shared ride with Leland Honeyman, Jr. at Cope Family Racing, Honeyman took the wheel last Saturday in Talladega. There, he overcame a damaged left-front fender to challenge for the lead, only to be shaken out on the last lap for an 8th-place finish. Annunziata would return for Saturday’s race on the Martinsville short track, where he’d struggled in the spring. That day, he dropped to the rear for unapproved adjustments, tangled with Harrison Burton, and finished 31st, four laps down.
This week, Annunziata and the Cope team welcomed new sponsorship from modeling agency Wilhelmina, unveiling a Ryan Daley-designed black-and-white scheme with reflective silver door numbers. The car carried the name “Hollywood” on the roof rails.
Annunziata was one of 39 drivers entered to attempt Saturday’s 38-car field. In practice, he ranked just 35th with a speed of 20.835 seconds (90.886mph). He then made a big improvement in qualifying with a lap 20.076 seconds (94.322mph), good enough for 20th on the starting grid. The lone team sent home was that of Preston Pardus, whose jack-o’-lantern painted #50 Chinchor Electric Inc. Chevrolet locked-up the left-front tire on both timed laps. With Halloween approaching next Friday, Pardus’ car was one of six cars with special paint schemes for the holiday, all of them Chevrolet teams.
Pardus still turned the 37th-best lap in qualifying at 20.470 seconds (92.506mph), outpacing 38th-place Takuma Koga, making his XFINITY Series oval debut in the #35 Macnica Toyota, road racer Austin Green in the #32 Overplay Chevrolet, and surprisingly, Connor Zilisch. Zilisch’s #88 WeatherTech Chevrolet was the only car to not turn a lap in qualifying after a spin in practice resulted in damage to the left-front fender, requiring repairs. Those repairs incurred Zilisch a redundant tail-end penalty along with 29th-place Anthony Alfredo for a left-rear brake fire on his #42 Routh ID Tag Chevrolet.
When the green flag dropped, Zilisch was last across the stripe, 4.873 seconds back of the lead and just under two-tenths behind the now 37th-place Koga (4.687). By the end of Lap 1, the positions were reversed, with Zilisch up to 37th and Koga now last, 5.778 seconds back of the lead. During this run, Koga’s spotter relayed brief messages in both Japanese and English, telling him to watch his entry into the corner, then pull up to the outside wall at corner exit. This kept Koga within three-tenths of Mason Maggio, his teammate at Joey Gase Motorsports with Scott Osteen, in the #53 Piedmont Triad Insurance Ford. That gap remained the same until Lap 25, when then-leader Harrison Burton pulled to his outside to put him the first car one lap down. Koga was soon shown in the high lane off Turn 2 as Carson Kvapil worked his way past.
By the time the first caution fell on Lap 32 for Myatt Snider’s spin in the #91 SourBoys Chevrolet, 37th-place Maggio had also gone a lap down along with 36th-place Josh Williams in the #45 Call811.com Chevrolet. As Williams got his lap back under the “Free Pass,” Snider lost a lap during his spin, dropping him to 37th. Koga discussed adjustments with his team, saying his car was tight. The crew suggested he adjust the brake bias as his front rotors were already glowing red. On Lap 38, the lapped Snider took last from Koga, then was instructed by his spotter to choose the top lane, saying, “I don’t like that 35.” On the Lap 39 restart, Snider quickly dropped Koga back to last, and with Maggio taking the wave-around, Snider moved into the Free Pass position.
The next caution fell soon after on Lap 46, when Connor Mosack spun the #99 Viking Motorsports Chevrolet in Turns 3 and 4, putting Snider back on the lead lap. Like Snider, Mosack took the last spot under caution, taking the position on Lap 51, and Austin Green’s #32 was also shown a lap down in 37th, moving Koga into the Free Pass position in 36th. But Koga incurred a “Choose Cone” violation, moving him to the tail end behind Mosack and back to last place on Lap 54. Green beat Mosack for the Free Pass when Stage 1 ended on Lap 61, leaving only Mosack and Koga as the two drivers off the lead lap. Koga took on four tires, only to incur a second “Choose Cone” violation that this time put him a second lap down.
On Lap 86, soon after the restart to begin Stage 2, Koga’s team told him to give his brakes a rest. During this run, Koga sound aggravated on the radio, though his voice also sounded muffled compared to his team. Jeb Burton’s spin on Lap 92 drew the fourth caution of the day, putting Mosack back on the lead lap, meaning Koga was the only driver off the lead lap, but still two laps down. On Lap 95, after Mosack earned his lap back, Annunziata briefly held 37th before multiple drivers incurred penalties on pit road. Among these was Playoff contender Jesse Love, whose #2 Whelen Chevrolet was sent to the back for equipment interference stemming from a wheel rolling into an adjoining stall during his stop. Soon after the Lap 99 restart, the CW broadcast showed a replay of a near collision between Koga and Love after the Koga clipped the curb in Turn 1 then slid into Love’s path.
The race stayed green for the rest of Stage 2, during which Josh Williams was again in danger of losing a lap in 37th, now 17.213 seconds back of the lead on Lap 117. If Williams or any other driver lost a lap before the caution, Koga wouldn’t earn back one of his two lost laps. Meanwhile, Annunziata had climbed from 37th to around the 26th position, racing ahead of Daniel Dye’s #10 Champion Container Chevrolet and Jeremy Clements’ #51 Spartan Waste Fox Sports 98.3 Chevrolet. On Lap 120, seconds before the Stage 2 caution fell, Annunziata’s car suddenly erupted in smoke and slowed in front of Dye, who rammed the rear of Annunziata’s car. As Clements swerved left to avoid Dye, the fluid from Annunziata’s car ignited and flared out from behind Dye’s car before the two separated. Annunziata slowed and made it to pit road, but didn’t lose a lap before the caution fell, giving Koga the Free Pass.
On pit road, the Cope Family Racing team found the issue was terminal. According to Annunziata, he had “a major vibration, started to get worse, and it just blew.” The rear gear had failed in spectacular fashion, damage the team couldn’t repair. Annunziata was disappointed, but the crew was quick to point out how much his race craft had improved on the track compared to the spring race, that he’d also climbed into the Top 30. Annunziata took last from Koga on Lap 124, then was given a tow back to Garage Stall 12 on the backstretch by Lap 132. NASCAR declared him out on Lap 167.
Thomas Annunziata's car is the first one behind the wall tonight after the contents of the 70's motor were apparently ejected
— Steven Taranto (@STaranto92) October 26, 2025
All 38 cars that started this race were still running at halfway. No more. pic.twitter.com/ZW9JeU5nZv
Koga’s issues continued. On Lap 135, he was caught speeding on pit road. Then on Lap 160, the Gase crew pushed the #35 backwards up pit road and into the garage. The driver smelled fuel, but the team wasn’t sure if something was wrong. Now several laps down, the team said they’d return to the track, but only under caution. Four more cautions fell after this point, but Koga didn’t return, taking 37th with carburetor problems after he was declared out with 47 to go.
One who did return was Clements, who had a right-front brake fire that sent him behind the wall on Lap 181. The brake fluid reservoir was empty, and the fire reignited in the garage, but the Clements team called for a replacement pair of brake pads at their stall. They managed to get the #51 back on track with 49 laps to go. Already ahead of both Annunziata and Koga, Clements passed two cars involved in a stack-up on Lap 193 – the #44 Toxic Waste Chevrolet of Brennan Poole, whose “Crash Clock” expired, and Brenden Queen, whose #11 Campers Inn RV Chevrolet led 19 laps and finished 3rd and 2nd in the first two stages. Clements reached 34th by the checkered flag, completing the Bottom Five.
Thompson continues impressive season; Bonsignore earns career-best run as relief driver
Lost among all the Playoff point battles, including Connor Zilisch’s rally from last to a 9th-place finish, two drivers outside the Playoffs also distinguished themselves. Dean Thompson continued his resurgent season with Sam Hunt Racing by taking 8th in the #26 Thompson Pipe Group Toyota, his eighth top-ten finish of the season and fourth in the last 12 races. Thompson now stands 16th in the overall standings, among the best of those outside the Playoff qualifiers.
Also turning heads was Justin Bonsignore, who unexpectedly ran double-duty with Thursday’s NASCAR Modified race. Bonsignore had been slated to run this race in the #19, but was swapped out for Aric Almirola after his win in Las Vegas to make a push for the Owner’s Championship. But the Joe Gibbs Racing team brought Bonsignore back into the field after William Sawalich was sidelined for concussion-like symptoms following a hard crash last Saturday in Talladega. While in good spirits and watching from the pit box, Sawaliich saw Bonsignore finish 10th in his #18 Soundgear Toyota. It was not only a career-best finish for Bonsignore, but came at the end of a season where he finished 25th or worse in half of his eight starts, including two last-place finishes.
LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the first last-place finish for the #70 in a XFINITY Series race at Martinsville.
*This was the first time a XFINITY Series last-place finisher at Martinsville fell out with rear gear trouble since October 30, 2021, when Tommy Joe Martins’ #44 Chevrolet dropped out after 36 laps.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
38) #70-Thomas Annunziata / 120 laps / rear gear
37) #35-Takuma Koga / 149 laps / carburetor
36) #44-Brennan Poole / 195 laps / dvp
35) #11-Brenden Queen / 197 laps / crash / led 19 laps
34) #51-Jeremy Clements / 226 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) Cope Family Racing, JR Motorsports, Sam Hunt Racing (2)
5th) DGM Racing x JIM, Haas Factory Team, 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 (24)
2nd) Toyota (6)
3rd) Ford (2)
2025 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
