The finish, which came in his 7th career start. In the SCRL Tim Hortons Canadian Series, it's the 2nd for car #21 and the 2nd for gearbox issues. Across all the series in the SCRL, it's the 14th for the #21 and the 6th due to gearbox issues.
For Collins it would be the second ever series he would compete in after signing up for Season 1 of the SCRL Snap-On Tools Whelen Southern Series as it wasn't until the series 4th ever race at Caraway that he would pick up his first, and so far, only career win. Collins finished 23rd in the series first race at CTMP, 19th at ICAR, 18th at CTMP Oval, 22nd at Delaware, 13th at Motoplex and 32nd at Edmonton.
On race day, Collins would roll off the field starting 10th while starting last was the #90 Veloce / Battery Expert Dodge of Marko Tellez. Tellez's stay in the final spot was only for two turns as the #02 Leland / BDI / PartSource Ford of Jay Jefferson fell back to last by the time the field had completed the first lap. Jefferson would remain in the final spot till the 8th lap when the #23 Tim Hortons Dodge of Sylas Nixey fell back to last during a round of pit stops. Jefferson would remain in final spot till the next caution and as the cars circled around the track behind the pace car, Collins, who was running in 9th, began to smoke as he quickly pulled into the pits and into his stall. The crew looked under the hood and found that the gearbox was broken, and there wouldn't be enough time to repair it, so Collins's car was retired by the start of the 14th lap, his first ever last-place finish of his career.
Finishing 26th and 25th was the #23 of Sylas Nixey and the #69 Lake Excavating Dodge of Ty Dent, as the two drivers got together on the pits as the contact caused Nixey to flip over. Both cars would be knocked out and done for the day. 24th was the #89 Keltic Ford / Nova Construction Ford of Ryan Rush, who suffered a broken camshaft with tweleve laps to go. Rounding out the Bottom Five was two-time last-place finisher and SCRLASTCAR Championship points leader the #36 VR Victoriaville Dodge of Carter Joey, who limped across the line two laps behind the race leaders after being caught up in two early cautions.
SCRLASTCAR STATISTICS
*This was the first time the #21 has finished last at Saskatoon.
*This is the first time the #21 has finished last in the SCRL Tim Hortons Canadian Series since the Pre-Season 1 Crown Jewel 200 at the Cayuga International Speedway when Amir Allen-Park was involved in a multi-car crash after completing 10 of the 20 laps; 19 races ago.
*Collins is just the second driver to finish last in the Canadian Series due to a gearbox. The only other occasion came on March 18, 2017, when Kyle Mests's #42 Legendary Motorcar Chevrolet fell out after 3 laps of the Kawartha 250 at the Kawartha Speedway; 7 races ago.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
27) #21-Mitchell Collins / 10 laps / gearbox
26) #23-Sylas Nixey / 11 laps / crash
25) #69-Ty Dent / 13 laps / crash
24) #89-Ryan Rush / 18 laps / camshaft
23) #36-Carter Joey / 28 laps / running
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