The finish occurred in his 13th career series start. In the SCRL Busch Series, it's the 3rd for car #19 and the 1st for clutch issues. Across all the series in the SCRL, it's the 13th for the #19 and 7th for clutch issues.
Entering Season 3 of the Busch Series, Finn had never made a start in the SCRL but was looking to make a name for himself as he had worked a deal to run the entire season in a attempt to win a championship. Finn's first ever race wouldn't go to his liking as he was caught up in the second "Big One" at Daytona and finished 24th, but he would rebound very well in the very next event at Richmond, Smith would lead the final ten laps and scored his first ever SCRL sanctioned win. A 18th at Rockingham, 9th at Hickory, 18th at Martinsville, 15th at Darlington would be followed by back-to-back 6th place finishes at Orange County and Nashville. A 9th at Langley would be followed by a disappointing 37th place at the Milwaukee Mile, a 12th at Dover before finishing 30th in the last round at Charlotte.
The entry list for the eighth time this season would have both full and part-time drivers racing against each other as the series traveled to South Boston, Virginia in the series's first of three planned stops at the 0.357 mile short track in Season 3.
In qualifying, Al Lagasee won his second career busch pole with a lap time of 16.755 seconds. Smith would have a good result in qualifying, posting a time of 16.912, 0.157 seconds off Al's pole, placing him 7th overall. Starting last in the race would be Rockingham last-place finisher the #21 Chattanooga Chew Pontiac Derrick Edison, who along with Chakat Duskwatcher and Michael Creed, didn't post a time in qualifying, so Edison would be starting last on race day.
When the race began, Edison would trail for the first lap before knocking the #30 RC Cola Pontiac of Chakat Duskwatcher into last, a position shi would hold for two laps before knocking the #88 Service Specialties Pontiac of Rohan Marmot into last on Lap 4. Rohan was determined to not score his first last-place finish of his busch career and would knock Daytona last-place finisher the #00 Thomas Bros. Country Ham Oldsmobile of Jeremy Ickle into last on Lap 5. Ickle would remain in last for only one lap as he knocked the unsponsored #1 Lindy White Racing Pontiac of David Beyers into last on Lap 6, but his stay would also last only one lap as he knocked points leader the #5 Advance Auto Parts Buick of Chakat Whitelion to last on Lap 7. Whitelion would trail for two laps before knocking the #23 Miller High Life Oldsmobile of Samet Ozkan into last on Lap 10, a spot he would hold for two laps before knocking Martinsville last-place finisher the unsponsored #0 Applegate Racing Chevrolet of Sebastian LeNoble into last on Lap 12, a spot he would trail for two laps before knocking the #71 Taylor Togs / Maxie's Vending Pontiac of Muhammad Zain Abdullah into last on Lap 14, a position he would hold when the battle for last came to a sudden end.
While running in 2nd place trying to catch up to race leader Cassie Dent, Finn's car began to smoke as he came off Turn 2 and down the backstretch, with drivers swerving to miss him as Finn would slow up the #45 Luck Stone / Dryden Oil of Boston Jones before Finn pulled to the high side of the track and stalled in Turn 4, bringing out the race's lone caution of the day. Finn's car would be towed back to the garage, where the team would look over the car and discovered the clutch was broken, and with the race already inside ten laps to go, it was decided there wasn't enough time to send him back out, with the car being listed as "out" on Lap 22.
Rounding out the Bottom Five were drivers who finished on the same lap as the race leaders: 39th was the #13 D & D Tattooing Pontiac of Chakat Blackpaw, 38th was the aforementioned #0 of Sebastian LeNoble, 37th was the #22 Miller High Life Oldsmobile of Tyler Ferris and 36th was the #99 Nelson Building Supply Pontiac of Aaron Lewis.
SCRLASTCAR STATISTICS
*This is the first time the #19 has finished last in a Busch Series race at South Boston.
*This is the first time the #19 has trailed a Busch Series race since the Season 2 Goody's 200 at the Hickory Speedway when Nick Kennedy's #19 Gardiner's Auto Parts Pontiac was involved in a multi-car accident after 10 of the 20 laps; 27 races ago.
*This is the first "clutch" has caused a driver to finish last in a Busch Series race.
*This is the first time the #19 has finished last in a Busch Series race at South Boston.
*This is the first time the #19 has trailed a Busch Series race since the Season 2 Goody's 200 at the Hickory Speedway when Nick Kennedy's #19 Gardiner's Auto Parts Pontiac was involved in a multi-car accident after 10 of the 20 laps; 27 races ago.
*This is the first "clutch" has caused a driver to finish last in a Busch Series race.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
40) #19-Finn Smith / 19 laps / clutch
39) #13-Chakat Blackpaw / 30 laps / running
38) #0-Sebastian LeNoble / 30 laps / running
37) #22-Tyler Ferris / 30 laps / running
36) #99-Aaron Lewis / 30 laps / running
40) #19-Finn Smith / 19 laps / clutch
39) #13-Chakat Blackpaw / 30 laps / running
38) #0-Sebastian LeNoble / 30 laps / running
37) #22-Tyler Ferris / 30 laps / running
36) #99-Aaron Lewis / 30 laps / running
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