Throwback ARCA: Broken header just short of halfway at the Milwaukee Mile gives Riley Spurlytube his first ever ARCA last-place finish

Riley Spurlytube picked up the 1st last place finish of his SCRL Lucas Oil ARCA Racing Series career in the Season 1 Governor's Cup 200 at the Milwaukee Mile when his #15 RaceHard.com / Accelerade Toyota fell out with header problems after completing 19 of the 40 laps.

The finish came in his 16th career start.

Spurlytube, like every driver else in the field, was making their first attempt in the brand new ARCA series, and driving for legendary team owner Bill Venturini, Spurlytube had a lot of pressure on him, but a 18th place finish in his debut at Daytona looked take the pressure off because in just his second career start, Spurlytube would drive to victory in the next round at Atlanta and was awarded not only the trophy, but the famous "Big Bill Kiss" in victory lane from his owner to celebrate his first ever win for the team. However, after a great start to the season, Spurlytube would begin to struggle as a 26th at Charlotte would be followed by a 24th at Talladega, and while a 12th at Gateway would look to give the team some momentum, the string of bad finishes would continue with a 25th at Kentucky and a 38th at Pocono. A 14th at Michigan would be a brief sigh of relief but a 26th place finish in back-to-back races at Texas and the twisting road course in New Jersey, would be followed by a 18th at Iowa. A 35th place finish at Chicagoland would be followed by a 16th at ORP, a 31st at the second Pocono event and in the last round at Nashville, Spurlytube came just one lap short of trailing the field for the first time if it wasn't for Tayon Kennedy's crash on the backstretch.

On race day, Spurlytube rolled off starting in 29th while starting in the final spot was the #12 The Cove / Dolphins Awareness Dodge of Kelly Lee as for the first time in series history, drivers raced at the oldest track on the ARCA schedule, the famous Milwaukee Mile in Wisconsin. The 41 drivers would show respect and give each other room during the 40 lap event with surprisingly no cautions flying for any spins or wrecks. By the time the race had reached halfway, Spurlytube hadn't made much progress and just one lap shy of the halfway mark, Spurlytube's car had broken a header, as he would pull onto pit road and behind the wall, and while the car was looked over by his Venturini Motorsports team, the car was officially listed as "out" by the 23rd lap, the lone car to drop out of the race.

The remaining Bottom Five would all finish on the same lap as the race leaders: 40th was the #54 Costy's Energy Services Dodge of Benoit Lothaire-Irvine, 39th was the #2 ModSpace / Hixson-Belmont Ford of Jonathan Raines, 38th was Chicagoland last-place finisher the #48 Radon.com Ford of Truttle and 37th was the aforementioned #12 of Kelly Lee.

SCRLASTCAR STATISTICS
*This was the first time the #15 had finished last in a ARCA Series race as well as at Milwaukee Mile.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
41) #15-Riley Spurlytube / 19 laps / header
40) #54-Benoit Lothaire-Irvine / 40 laps / running
39) #2-Jonathan Raines / 40 laps / running
38) #48-Truttle / 40 laps / running
37) #12-Kelly Lee / 40 laps / running

SNOWBALL DERBY: Broken Header ends Amber Mayhew's night just 74 laps in the Snowball Derby

Amber Mayhew picked up the 1st last place finish of her career in Sunday's SCRL Snowball Derby at the Five Flags Speedway when her #22 unsponsored Chevrolet fell out with header issues after completing 74 of the 300 laps.

For the second time in the seven year history of the SCRL, it was decided by the SCRL officials that it would host the first ever SCRL Snowball Derby at the historic Five Flags Speedway. The Snowball Derby is a 300-lap super late model stock car race that is held annually at the Five Flags Speedway, a half-mile paved oval track in Pensacola, Florida, United States. After the qualifying and the Snowflake 100 was held on Saturday, the 31 car field was set for the Main Event on Sunday.

In Qualifying, Chase Abbott would win the pole with a time of 19.575 seconds while Amber would post a time of 20.004, 0.429 seconds behind Abbott's pole time, placing her 22nd and forcing her to compete in the Snowflake 100 and trying to transfer by finishing inside the Top 11. Amber was able to finish 7th in the Snowflake 100 qualifying race, placing her 27th on the starting grid. Starting last would be the #7 Graham Trucking Ford of John Autzen, the last car to transfer into the Snowball Derby by finishing 11th in the Snowflake 100.

Autzen would trail for only the first two turns before he would knock the #08 Midnite Motorsports Chevrolet of Blaine Saylor into last, a spot he would whole for the first two laps before knocking the #02 J.D. Byrider Dodge of Reeves Montgomery into last on Lap 3, a position he would hold for only one lap before he would knock the #94 Motorcraft Quicklube Ford of Joey Crockett into last on Lap 4. Crockett would be in last for just one laps before he knocked the #20 Duke Mayonaise / Kroger Ford of Brandon Mayhew into last on Lap 5. Mayhew would continue the trend as he was in last for one lap before knocking the #18 NOS Energy Drink Toyota of Cameron Hathaway into last on Lap 6, the next lap the #3 Team Realtree Chevrolet of Bam Bam Jones fell to last on Lap 7.

Jones would trail for one lap as well before he knocked the #44 Case IH Chevrolet of Fisher Miller into last on Lap 8. Miller would trail for two laps before he would knock Hathaway back into last on Lap 11 but Hathaway would trail for one lap once again before knocking Autzen back to last on Lap 12. Autzen would remain in last for two laps before knocking the #14 Keystone Light Beer Chevrolet of Chase Miller into last on Lap 15. Miller would trail for two laps before knocking Brandon back into last on Lap 18 as Mayhew would struggle in last for the next five laps before finally knocking Hathaway back to last again on Lap 24.

Hathaway would remain in last as on Lap 32 he would bring out the first caution of the night when he was spun out by Brandon just seconds in front of the race leaders, putting Hathaway as the first driver to lose a lap, but he wouldn't be the last for long as slow pit stops would put the #22 of Amber Mayhew into the battle for last when she took the final spot on Lap 36. Amber would remain in the final spot for just one lap as the car that had won this same race one year prior, the #112 ARP Chevrolet of Chakat Whitelion, would fall back to last on Lap 37. Whitelion, making hir first ever attempt in the three hundred lap event would remain there for just three laps before Chase Miller would be forced to make an unscheduled pit stop, falling to last on Lap 40. Miller's stay was only for two laps before he knocked Whitelion back to last on Lap 42 before regaining it again on Lap 44 during pit stops after the second caution had flown.
Miller would remain in last after the restart before Amber would regain it on Lap 50. Amber would once again stay in the final spot until Lap 59 when the #05 Joyner Traffic Engineers Toyota of Jonathan Lawson would enter the battle for last for the first time. Lawson would struggle around the track like many other drivers would, keeping last for the next twelve laps before knocking Chase back to last on Lap 72. Chase would remain in that spot until pit stops put Lawson back to last on Lap 75 as the field prepared to go back to racing after the event's fourth caution.

As the field took the green flag to restart the race on Lap 75, Amber, who was running in 29th at the time, began to smoke heavily as she pulled to the inside of the track as the rest of the field would get around her expect for Lawson, who was trapped behind her into the field made it into Turn 1 when Amber was able to get out of the racing groove. Stats showed that Amber suffered from engine failure as she limped back around to the pits before pulling behind the wall, taking last on Lap 76. The team would look over the car for the next ten minutes before giving up the fight, with a broken header listed as the cause of the engine's failure, with Amber being listed as "out" on Lap 80.

It would be another 84 laps before another spot in the Bottom Five would be filled, and when it was, it was a controversial one as the #9 Aaron's Ford of Austin Tyler, who at the time was running in 5th, was given the Black Flag on Lap 158 with the officials given the reason that Tyler, who had started 3rd on the restart, had in fact jumped the restart when the green flag came back out. Footage of the restart would show that Tyler in fact had not jumped the start, staying behind the race leaders and not crossing down into the inside line before the start/finish line, but the decision by the officials was fine, ending what could have been a career night for Tyler.

Rounding out the Bottom Five would be drivers who finished two laps behind the race leaders when the checkered flag waved; 28th was the aforementioned #112 of Chakat Whitelion and 27th was the #44 of Fisher Miller

SCRLASTCAR STATISTICS
*This was the first time the #22 has finished last in the Snowball Derby.
*This was the first time a driver has trailed the field due to "header" problems in the Snowball Derby.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
31) #22-Amber Mayhew / 74 laps / header
30) #9-Austin Tyler / 158 lap / disqualified
29) #05-Jonathan Lawson / 298 laps / running
28) #112-Chakat Whitelion / 298 laps / running
27) #44-Fisher Miller / 298 laps / running

Snowflake: Weston Roper scores his first career SCRL last-place finish and fails to transfer into the Snowball Derby

Weston Roper picked up the 1st last place finish of his SCRL Snowflake career in the Snowflake 100 at the Five Flags Speedway when his #53 unsponsored Chevrolet completed 97 of the 100 laps.

For the second time in the seven year history of the SCRL, the SCRL would be holding the Snowball Derby at the historic Five Flags Speedway. The Snowball Derby is a 300-lap super late model stock car race that is held annually at the Five Flags Speedway, a half-mile paved oval track in Pensacola, Florida, United States. The event had never come across the SCRL until 2020 when league driver AJ Jones suggested the offer of running another event, that being the first ever SCRL Chili Bowl event that will be coming in January. The talks would soon move over to holding another event, that being the Snowball Derby, and unlike many other leagues who do a version of the event, the SCRL decided that if they were going to hold it, it would be done right, and so the distance of the race would be the full 300 lap event.

For the second year in a row, 50 drivers would sign up for a change to compete in the event. The rules of the event stated that in qualifying the first 20 drivers would automatically lock themselves into the main event, while the remaining 30 drivers would battle in a qualifying race, known as the Snowflake 100, with the top 11 transferring to the main event. 

In qualifying, the debuting Chase Abbott would score his first ever pole in his first start with a time of 19.575 seconds, while Roper would struggle in qualifying, posting a time of 20.079, 0.504 seconds behind Abbott's pole winning time. Posting the slowest time in qualifying was the #57 Triad Racing Chevrolet of Hale Hyatt, who didn't get a chance to post a time, as he suffered a blown engine going into Turn 1 on his first lap, forcing him to try and make his way into the Snowball Derby by transferring in the Snowflake 100.

When the race started, Hyatt would trail for the first lap before knocking the #00 unsponsored Chevrolet of Allen Noel into last for the first time on Lap 2. Noel would trail for only one lap before he would knock the #01 Clarence's Steakhouse Chevrolet of David Byers into last on Lap 3. Byers would remain in last for two laps before knocking the #4 CAT Chevrolet of Brian Fox into last on Lap 5, with Fox trailing for two laps as well before knocking the #09 Fivestar Racecar Bodies Chevrolet of Chase Chryst into last on Lap 7, a position he would hold for two laps as well before knocking the #75 NAPA Chevrolet of Mike White into last on Lap 10.
White would struggle to gain any momentum as he remained in the final spot as the race entered Lap 20 before he would finally rebound and knocked Chryst back to last on Lap 23. Chryst would remain in the tire tracks of the field for the next four laps before knocking the #69 Norton Transport LLC. Chevrolet of Chakat Duskwatcher into the final spot on Lap 28. Duskwatcher, in hir first ever attempt at the Snowball Derby, would struggle around the track as shi drove around in the final spot over the next nineteen laps as leader Reeves Montgomery was right behind hir as Duskwatcher made a move for position and knocked Chryst back to last on Lap 50.

Just three laps later, Chryst would become the first driver to lose a lap when he was lapped by Montgomery on Lap 53, the same lap that Chryst would make a move on the backstretch and knocked White back to last on Lap 54. White's stay in the final lap as he would quickly rebound when green flag pit stops happened as Chryst would pit on Lap 59. Chryst would remain in the final spot for two laps before knocking the #2 Wilson Ford Parts Ford of AJ Jones into last on Lap 61, a position that Jones would hold for only two laps before Roper would enter the battle when his team had a long pit stop, losing two laps to the leaders during that time.

Roper would get back out on track two laps down, and with no cautions flying during the event, Roper would actually lose a third to the race leaders by the time the Checkered Flag waved, meaning that Roper would fail to make the field for the Snowball Derby.

Finishing in 29th was the #5 Durobyte Chevrolet of Ryan Prior, who was the only other driver to finish on the same lap as Roper, having lost three laps during the event as well, but finished a full half straightaway over Roper.

Finishing 28th was the aforementioned #2 of AJ Jones, who would lose two laps to the race leaders due to his slow stop, preventing him from competing in his second straight Snowball Derby.

The remaining Bottom Five would struggle and finished a full lap behind the race leaders; 27th was the #59 unsponsored Chevrolet of Owen Carvin and 26th was the #07 Chevrolet of Heath Wilton.

SCRLASTCAR STATISTICS
*This was the first time the #53 has finished last in the Snowflake 100.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
30) #53-Weston Roper / 97 laps / running
29) #5-Ryan Prior / 97 lap / running
28) #2-AJ Jones / 98 laps / running
27) #59-Owen Carvin / 99 laps / running
26) #07-Heath Wilton / 99 laps / running led 1 lap

Throwback TRUCKS: Crash shortly after mid-race at North Wilkesboro gives Nitahbk the first of two-last place finishes in the truck series

Nitahbk picked up the 1st last place finish of her SCRL Rainbow Dash Truck Series career in the Season 1 Lowe's 150 at the North Wilkesboro Speedway when her #61 Roush Performance Products Ford was involved in a multi-truck wreck after 24 of the 40 laps.

The finish came in her 17th career series start. 

Nitahbk had been a veteran in the SCRL before the truck series had even been made, having competed in the then ONL NASCAR Legends Series, having scored 7 career wins and was looking to bring that same success over to the trucks as she signed up to compete in a part-time schedule. She would forever write her name in the history books by winning the series first ever event by winning at Phoenix, before the team would decide to skip the next seven events, making their return at Bristol, where Nitahbk would finish 15th after being involved in several wrecks throughout the night. A 30th at Milwaukee, 34th at Colorado and a 8th at Heartland Park would follow before she would pick up career win number two at IRP. After choosing to miss the Flemington, the team returning at Richmond, where she would finish 20th before finishing 31st in the last round at Martinsville.

On race day, Nitahbk would roll off starting 26th while starting last was the #75 Spears Manufacturing Chevrolet of Zachary Fitzwater. The first twenty three laps around the 0.625 mile short track would be both calm and exciting, with no cautions flying and drivers giving each other space, but shortly after the halfway mark, that all changed and the battle for last was over. While battling for the 24th spot, the #20 Walker Evans Racing Dodge of Aidan Shepherd was spun out by two time last-place finisher the #32 Straight Arrow / Mane 'n Tail Ford Sebastian Torres, sending Shepherd's truck up the track and hitting the outside wall before sliding down the track right in front of Nitahbk, who had nowhere to go and slammed into Shepherd, destroying the front end of her truck while seconds later the #21 Ortho Lawn & Garden Care Ford of Chakat Whitelion ran into the back of her truck. While both drivers would be able to limp back around to complete another lap, both drivers would pull behind the wall, with Nitahbk being scored in the final spot.

The remaining Bottom Five would finish on the same lap as the race leaders; 38th was the #3 GM Goodwrench Service Chevrolet of Jay Jefferson, 37th was the #88 unsponsored Churchill Motorsports Ford of Luke Rainey and finishing 36th was the aforementioned #20 of Aidan Shepherd.

SCRLASTCAR STATISTICS
*This was the first time the #61 had finished last in a Truck Series race as well as at North Wilkesboro.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
40) #61-Nitahbk / 24 laps / crash
39) #21-Chakat Whitelion / 24 laps / crash
38) #3-Jay Jefferson / 40 laps / running
37) #88-Luke Rainey / 40 laps / running
36) #20-Aidan Shepherd / 40 laps / running

In this week's #SCRLASTCAR Throwback, Tony Newman is the only retiree at South Boston after late race crash

Tony Newman picked up the 1st last place finish of his SCRL Wrangler Jeans Busch Grand National Series career in the Season 1 Lowes 200 at the South Boston Speedway when his #01 Miller Lite Pontiac was involved in a multi-car crash after 28 of the 30 laps.

The finish came in his 19th start. 

Newman had already found success in the SCRL before signing up for the Busch Series, and he was looking to transfer that success over to the SCRL's second highest division. Newman's Busch career started off with a impressive 8th at Daytona, 11th at Richmond and Bristol, 15th at Martinsville before struggling for the first time with a 28th at Darlington. A 7th at the first Hickory event appeared to change things, but Newman would struggle to a 38th at the first South Boston event, 18th at Caraway, 13th at Richmond, 18th at Langley, 19th at Dover, 23rd at Hickory, 26th at Charlotte, 20th at Asheville, 26th at Hickory, 23rd at South Boston, 25th at Rockingham before finishing a series best 3rd in the last round at Caraway.

On race day, Newman rolled off starting 24th while starting last was two-time last-place finisher the #39 unsponsored Chevrolet of Hank Willis. The first twenty seven laps around the 0.357 mile short track would be calm, but the last two last would be chaos. Newman had dropped back to 41st by the 27th lap with race leader AJ Jones just a couple seconds away from lapping him while just in front of him the #14 Taylor Togs/Maxie's Vending Chevrolet of Evan Rudd made contact with the #10 Gibson Racing Pontiac of Chakat Whitelion, sending Whitelion into Newman at just same time Newman was trying to make a pass, sending Whitelion and Newman into the inside wall, with Newman slamming driver's door into the concrete wall before sliding up the track right in front of second Caraway last-place finisher the #22 A.G. Dillard Pontiac of Marcus Saatchi, as Saatchi would slam into the rear of Newman's car. Newman would limp back around to the pits before pulling into the garage, the only car to retire from the race.

The remaining Bottom Five would finish on the lead lap; 41st was the aforementioned #22 of Marcus Saatchi, 40th was the #10 of Chakat Whitelion, 39th was the #09 unsponsored Pontiac of Smith Regal and 38th was the #41 unsponsored Pontiac of Tim Randolph.

Newman would have to wait till Season 2 to get his first Busch Series win, that coming at Bristol where he led all 50 laps. Newman currently has 8 career wins in the SCRL and would finally win his first championship in Season 1 of the SCRL Sun Energy Whelen Euro Elite 1 Division.

SCRLASTCAR STATISTICS
*This was the first time the #01 had finished last in the Busch Series as well at South Boston.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
42) #01-Tony Newman / 28 laps / crash
41) #22-Marcus Saatchi / 30 laps / running
40) #10-Chakat Whitelion / 30 laps / running
39) #09-Smith Regal / 30 laps / running
38) #41-Tim Randolph / 30 laps / running