[2017] PCC LASTCAR

TRUCKS: Bishop Takes Last In PCC Return



Nick Bishop finished last for the first time in his PCC Trucks Series career in the season-opening PCC Trucks Round of Oregon when his #33 West Texas Capital GMC fell out in a crash after 6 of 43 laps.

The finish came in Bishop's first series start, and was the first last-place finish for Triple Threat Motorsports.

The 37-year-old native of Chattanooga, Tennessee, Bishop's father John is a co-founder of the Bishop's Chicken chain of chicken restaurants. Bishop was once one of the hottest prospects in the garage, having finished no worse than third in the first three PCC Lites seasons. He then moved up to the PCC Cup Series for a five-year stint, winning six times in the process. After a dismal 2010 season which ended early due to a back injury suffered at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Bishop stepped away to focus on the family business. For the next six years, Bishop made only occasional starts in NAAC and SCRA, never running more than four races a year. In 2016, Bishop expressed interest in competing in the PCC Cup Series, and signed on with start-up team Jazz Motorsports to attempt the over-capacity events. He would fail to qualify for both Mansfield and Cleveland, but the desire to compete was still there. Bishop found a full-time ride once again for 2017 with the struggling CircleTrack Racing team in the PCC Lites Series, returning to the series he won the championship in 2004.

Meanwhile, in the PCC Trucks Series garage, start-up team Triple Threat Motorsports was searching for a driver. Owned by investment banker Scott Tanner and an affiliate of PCC Cup Series team Johnson Racing, Triple Threat Motorsports' stated goal is to give drivers the chance at a "Triple Threat", or to achieve a win in all three PCC National Series. With most of the other drivers with both Lites and Cup wins in Australia and several others wanting to specifically run ovals, options were looking thin for Tanner and Triple Threat Motorsports. Enter Nick Bishop, who signed a three-race deal to start the season with the team and "shake off the rust," in his own words.

In qualifying, Bishop turned the 24th fastest lap of 32, 1.279 seconds adrift of polesitter Vinnie Lebouef. Starting 32nd and last in the race would be 2016 PCC Trucks LASTCAR Champion John Kirkpatrick, whose qualifying time was 6.653 seconds off of the polesitter.

When the green flag dropped, Kirkpatrick was last across the stripe. Over the next few laps, the gap between Kirkpatrick and the rest of the field would widen by several seconds a lap. It was at this point that officials warned Kirkpatrick that he was near minimum speed, and while Kirkpatrick flirted with failing to meet minimum speed throughout the entire race he somehow never failed to do so.

Meanwhile, Nick Bishop had worked his way up to 20th and was chasing down Jeff Hanson in the #18 Charlestown Chiefs Chevrolet. The truck was driving "pretty good, just a bit snug in the technical parts," and Bishop reported that "we've got a harsh tone in the motor, should I pit?" on Lap 4. "Stay out this time, if it keeps up we'll have you come in," said the crew. At the start of Lap 5 on the front straight, Bishop's truck erupted in a cloud of smoke and he pulled the truck off the track just past Turn 1, ending his day. Interestingly, instead of reporting the retirement cause as "engine", the crew cited crash damage from hitting a curb as their reason for retirement.

Finishing 31st was polesitter Vinnie Lebouef, whose truck developed a fuel leak from the top-5 on Lap 21 that the crew was unable to fix. Jack Hanson's run was derailed by an engine failure on Lap 24, leaving his #16 Charlestown Chiefs Chevrolet 30th. John Kirkpatrick's struggles left him 29th, four laps down but still running. Rounding out the Bottom Five was Rich Roy, who required a tow out of the sand trap after contact with the #17 of Steve Hanson.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

32) #33-Nick Bishop / 6 laps / Accident
31) #333-Vinnie Lebouef / 21 laps / Fuel Leak / led 4 laps / polesitter
30) #16-Jack Hanson / 24 laps / Piston
29) #3-John Kirkpatrick / 39 laps / Running
28) #29-Rich Roy / 40 laps / Running

2017 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Triple Threat Motorsports (1)

2017 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) GMC (1)

2017 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Nick Bishop (1)

LITES: Crawford Last in First Lites Race Since 2014, Engine Issues Prevalent



Will Crawford finished last for the first time in his PCC Lites Series career in the season-opening PCC Lites Round of Oregon when his #73 Lokring Technology Yugo fell out with header issues after 4 of 48 laps.

The finish came in Crawford's eighth series start, and was the first last-place finish for Cleveland Speed Inc. in the Lites Series.

An experienced late model competitor, Hot Springs, Arkansas resident Will Crawford made his debut in the PCC Lites Series in 2014, running the full schedule for Johnson Racing's Lites team. Crawford was teammates with both Dustin Oliver and Sam Burkhart, now both in the PCC Cup Series. In his rookie year, Crawford had many strong showings, including a 2nd-place at Indianapolis Raceway Park, but failed to outperform his more experienced teammates. At the end of the year when new PCC Lites regulations required teams to downsize to two-car operations, Crawford's team was on the chopping block.

Not all was lost for Crawford however, as a move to the PCC Trucks Series was on the cards. Longtime PCC Cup Series team Cleveland Speed Inc. reorganized itself as a Truck team for the 2016 season and aligned themselves with the Johnson Racing development ladder. This enabled the team to receive manufacturer's support and pose a threat for the win every week. Crawford and Cleveland Speed Inc. were a force to be reckoned with on weekends where everything went right. He proved his worth by winning four races, more than any other driver, but failed to find consistency week-in and week-out. Crawford's reputation was also tarnished after an incident at the Chicago Speedrome, where he caused an intentional collision on the final lap battling for the lead which earned him a one-race suspension. Ultimately, despite leading three times as many laps as the nearest competitor he would finish the year sixth in points. For 2017, Cleveland Speed Inc. would be promoted to the PCC Lites Series by virtue of Team Charter transfer from Sam Brown Racing, and Crawford would return to the series where he made his PCC National Series debut.

In qualifying, Crawford turned the 14th fastest lap of 40 entered, 0.963 seconds off of polesitter Jeff Fisher. Starting 40th and last in the race would be debutante Ruben Martinez Jr. driving the #3 Pemex Yugo for Golden Eagle Motorsports, who had an engine let go during his qualifying lap. He would lining up alongside Fisher's teammate Kelly Thomas, who had her motor go sour on her during her qualifying lap as well.

When the green flag dropped, Martinez Jr. was last across the stripe, but by the end of Lap 1 had worked his way around Daniel Bouchard in the #972 VIA Rail Canada Yugo, dropping him to last. Both Bouchard and his teammate Ryan Pritchard, driving for Genesis Engineering, struggled for speed through all the weekend's sessions. The next lap, Bouchard would get into the #89 Bishop's Chicken Yugo of Nick Bishop, sending him into the inside wall. Bishop's damage was minimal and he would continue on, but would fall to last just behind Bouchard.

Meanwhile, Crawford had held station in 14th place, but had reported that, "something sounded off with the motor... a rattling and vibration." At the start of Lap 3, his motor let go while down the front stretch, and his day would end.

The Bottom Five filled rather quickly following Crawford's retirement. The lap after Crawford's retirement, Mason Yokoyama in his #376 Bush's Chicken Yugo made contact with Matt Beck and spun coming onto the front stretch in front of the field, collecting Patrick O'Hannigan and several others. Yokoyama and O'Hannigan would be the only two to drop out from this incident. Alex Pausington retired from the race on Lap 6 after his car went up in smoke, and Jack Dempsey rounded out the Bottom Five on Lap 9 when his car experience an engine failure.

Heavy attrition meant that only fourteen cars finished under power. Many teams and drivers expressed concern at the new engine package proved by Zastava this year, calling the engines provided "shoddy," "ticking time-bombs," and among other things, "absolute garbage." Representatives from Zastava responded to requests for comment, stating that "we at Zastava strive to provide the best equipment for great American racing series," and that "a fix will be weeks away at the earliest."

THE BOTTOM FIVE

40) #73-Will Crawford / 4 laps / Header
39) #376-Mason Yokoyama / 5 laps / Piston
38) #11-Patrick O'Hannigan / 5 laps / Retired
37) #18-John Kirkpatrick / 6 laps / Accident
36) #41-Jack Dempsey / 9 laps / Accident

2017 LASTCAR LITES SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Cleveland Speed Inc. (1)

2017 LASTCAR LITES SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Will Crawford (1)

CUP: Fitzwater Last on Hometown Debut



Zachary Fitzwater finished last for the first time in his PCC Cup Series career in the season-opening PCC Cup Round of Australia when his #81 Big W Chevrolet SS fell out in a crash after 1 of 67 laps.

The finish came in Fitzwater's first series start, and was the fifth last-place finish for Australian Motorsports in the Cup Series.

Hailing from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, Zachary Fitzwater has made sporadic appearances in the PCC Cup Series since 2014. Attempting to qualify for the over-capacity races was a challenge for Fitzwater and his family team Fitzwater Australia Racing, and both attempts to qualify for the Round of Mansfield in 2014 and 2016 resulted in DNQs. Fitzwater and his family team experienced more success in the newly-formed PCC Trucks Series in 2016 however, and he finished 11th in points at the end of the year with two second-place results as his best showings. Come 2017, and PCC Cup Series mainstay Australian Motorsports was looking to fill their third seat. Australian Motorsports and Fitzwater Australia Racing ended up doing a driver swap, with Fitzwater making the unprecedented jump from PCC Trucks to PCC Cup, and 2016 PCC Cup Series driver Louis Jones making the drop down to PCC Trucks to assist Fitzwater Australia Racing in developing the team.

In qualifying, Fitzwater turned the 37th fastest lap of 46 entered, 2.887 seconds off of polesitter Ike Durbin. Starting 46th and last in the race would be fellow debutante Chase Mayer driving the #4 Allstate Saturn for Manticore Engineering, who had struggled to find pace all weekend after making the even more-unprecedented jump from Late Models straight to the Cup Series.

At the drop of the green flag, 45th-place starter Ryan Matthews was the last across the stripe, but had passed Chase Mayer for 45th going into the first turn. Chase Mayer continued to hold last as the field made their way around the street course until the race's first incident occurred coming out of Turn 5.

Teammates Barney Ward and Damon Jones were running side-by-side in 32nd and 33rd coming out of Turn 5 when Jones' car snapped to the left on corner exit, perhaps having put down too much power. Jones shot left into his teammate Ward, putting both cars into the outer wall. Ward's car lifted off the ground onto just one wheel, then slid across the track in front of Zachary Fitzwater, who had worked his way up to 34th position. Fitzwater was unable to avoid the sliding Ward, and slammed into the rear end of Ward's car with his front end. Fitzwater would limp back to the pits, but the team reported that the radiator had been punctured and retire the car due to the crash damage sustained in the Lap 1 incident. All other drivers involved would continue on.

The Bottom Five was filled by the halfway point of the race. Finishing 45th was Tom Wilson in his #31 TW@ Internet Cafes Chevrolet SS, who had worked his way from a 43rd starting spot after issues in qualifying to 27th by Lap 14 when he got hooked by his teammate Alex Phillips into the Turn 7 tire barriers after a failed pass on Barry Juveno. Phillips was apologetic after the incident, saying that "[I] just got it all wrong going into that sequence and should have backed out, but now we've got two wrecked race cars." Finishing 44th and 43rd were Frank Azzaretto and Jerry Myatt, who in two consecutive laps were both punted into the inner wall exiting Turn 5 by cars attempting to pass. Rounding out the Bottom Five was James Beverley, who was rear-ended by Israel Bruce and shoved into the run-off in Turn 5, where his car slammed into the retaining wall.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

46) #81-Zachary Fitzwater / 1 laps / Retired
45) #31-Tom Wilson / 14 laps / Retired
44) #36-Frank Azzaretto / 22 laps / Retired
43) #969-Jerry Myatt / 23 laps / Retired
42) #27-James Beverley / 32 laps / Accident

2017 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Australian Motorsports (1)

2017 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (1)

2017 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Zachary Fitzwater (1)

CUP: Underweight car negates solid run for Kyle McWulla



Kyle McWulla finished last for the first time in his PCC Cup Series career in the PCC Cup Round of South Korea when his #52 RifRafz Saar finished 6th, only to be disqualified after completing 249 of 250 laps.

The finish came in McWulla's 17th series start, and was the ninth last-place finish for Paloma Autosport in the Cup Series.

Chase Mayer finished last for the first time in his PCC Cup Series career in the PCC Cup Round of South Korea when his #4 Allstate Saturn Aura fell out in a crash after 45 of 250 laps.

The finish came in Mayer's second series start, and was the sixth last-place finish for Manticore Engineering in the Cup Series.

Coming from just a stone's throw away from the PCC Cup Series' proverbial backyard, Parma, Ohio's Kyle McWulla has competed on and off in the PCC Cup Series since 2011. Attempting to run the full schedule with his family team, MCC Motorsports, McWulla only qualified for the Round of Mansfield that year, crashing out early on. Influenced by his inability to qualify at the highest level of stock car competition, McWulla and MCC Motorsports moved to the PCC Lites Series for 2012 and despite not winning a race McWulla took the 2012 PCC Lites Series championship by one point over Johnson Racing development driver Alex Phillips to become the series' first winless champion. McWulla also made a return to the PCC Cup Series for two races in a substitute role, filling in at Xenos Enterprises while primary driver Andrew Tammerzan recovered from a poisoning attempt. With this success, McWulla inked a deal to join Paloma Autosports in 2014, replacing the departing Brian Gallagher. McWulla found success, standing on the podium at Phoenix, but results were sporadic and McWulla was demoted to a test driver role for 2016. He would run five races substituting for an injured Lenny Jacobs that season, finishing a best of 4th in the Round of Germany. With Lenny Jacobs departing for Prototype racing at the end of the 2016 season, McWulla once again got the call up to a primary race seat for the 2017 season.

In qualifying, McWulla turned the 10th fastest lap of 46 entered, just .084 off of polesitter Barry Juveno. Starting 46th and last in the race for the second race in a row would be original last-place finisher Chase Mayer driving the #4 Allstate Saturn for Manticore Engineering, who was once again struggling to find pace throughout the weekend.

At the drop of the green flag, last-place starter Chase Mayer would be last across the stripe, and through the first five laps of the race would slowly begin to lose touch with 45th-place starter Barney Ward, losing about three tenths each lap. Chase Mayer would hold onto last place until Lap 6, when 21st-place starter Preston Bell would report an oil leak on his #75 Walmart/Wells Fargo Tonare. Bell would pull the car down pit road and the crew would fix the issue in due time. Bell would fall three laps down in the pits, and would remain last until Lap 46.

After a restart for a Casey Lester spin on Lap 41, Vincenzo Fochesato was running in 30th place, one lap down when Jacob Eichholtz in the #96 Facade Mercedes-Benz threw his car into Turn 1, pushing Fochesato up the track into Justin King in the #62 Yellowline Trucking Lenard. Fochesato and King would make contact, then Eichholtz made contact with the right rear of Fochesato and the #41 of Greg Woodard, spinning Woodard down the backstretch and sending Fochesato up the track. Fochesato collided with the #33 Dempster Gasnier of Ben Worthington who was passing on the high side, and spun heading into Turn 3. Fochesato was then hit by Andy Lambert, then in the driver's side by Ryan Matthews, sending the #87 rolling down the track. Enter Chase Mayer, who was running near the back of the field. He attempted to slow down, but got pinched between the damaged car of Ryan Matthews and the oncoming #36 Red Bull Toyota of Frank Azzaretto. The impact of the three cars would damage the C-Pillar of Mayer, causing him to drop out of the race. Preston Bell, who managed to avoid the accident, would pass Chase Mayer on the next lap, dropping him to last.

The Bottom Five was filled within the next ten laps. Originally finishing 45th was Nicholas Korodovos in his #39 The Boring Company Juneau AMX-5, who had dropped out with suspension issues under the previous caution from 6th place. 44th was Vincenzo Fochesato, who was unable to get his car refired after flipping down the Turn 3 banking. Six laps later on the next restart, Barney Ward would be turned by Ramsey Coqinner going into Turn 3 on lap 53, causing Ward to back up the track into the path of Joe Craig. Craig hit the outside wall and got two tires off the ground, then came down on top of Barney Ward's roof, ending his day. Sapphire Anderson, who was running behind the two cars, clipped the rear end of Ward, damaging the right front wheel taking her out of the race.

Things then changed after the race, when PCC officials reported Kyle McWulla had been disqualified for being underweight. This negated a strong race where McWulla led 21 laps in a mostly unsponsored car. Instead, McWulla took 46th with Mayer moved to the 45th spot, bumping Sapphire Anderson out of the Bottom Five.

Round of Australia last-place finisher Zachary Fitzwater improved on his Australia performance by finishing 36th, out of the race with crash damage after completing 97 of 250 laps.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

46) #52-Kyle McWulla / 249 laps / disqualified / led 21 laps
45) #4-Chase Mayer / 45 laps / Accident
44) #39-Nicholas Korodovos / 45 laps / Suspension
43) #87-Vincenzo Fochesato / 46 laps / Accident
42) #97-Barney Ward / 52 laps / Accident

2017 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Australian Motorsports, Paloma Autosport (1)


2017 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet, Saar (1)

2017 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Zachary Fitzwater, Kyle McWulla (1)