TRUCKS: Flat tire at Nazareth gives rookie Matthew Hubert first career last-place finish

Matthew Hubert picked up the 1st last place finish of his SCRL Rainbow Dash Truck Series career in the NAPA Autocare 200 at the Nazareth Speedway when his #45 Acxiom Ford completed 17 of the 20 laps under power.

The finish came in his 15th career series start. In the Truck Series's last-place rankings, it was the 33rd for running at the finish and 1st for the #45. Across SCRL's top three series, it was the 123rd for running at the finish and the 4th for #45.

Hubert was one of seventeen drivers that were making their Rainbow Dash Truck Series debuts, as well as one of a record nineteen drivers competing for Rookie of the Year, choosing to sign to drive for Morgan-Dollar Motorsports as a teammate to Sebastian Torres. Hubert's first race would show the talent the driver had, starting 11th, he would climb up the running order and would finish 9th in his debut. Another 9th at Phoenix in the following round would be followed by his worse finish of the season, a 10th, at Evergreen before scoring his first career win by beating his teammate at Mesa Marin. Four races in with four Top 5's and a win it looked like it was going to be a history making season for Hubert, but after scoring his first win, he would struggle to maintain the momentum with finishes of 21st at Martinsville, 14th at Memphis, 12th at Pikes Peak, and 17th at I-70 before scoring his first Top ten since his win at Mesa Marin by finishing 3rd at Bristol. A 21st at Texas, 25th at Portland and a 28th at Watkins Glen would be followed by a 7th at the Milwaukee Mile before finishing 8th in the last round at Nashville.

The entry list for the ninth time this season would the usual 36 entries. In qualifying, Texas last-place finisher Samet Ozkan would score his first career series pole, posting a time of 31.905 seconds. Hubert's truck would struggle in qualifying around the one mile track, posting a time of 32.295 seconds, 0.390 seconds behind Ozkan's time, placing him 25th on the starting line up. The #98 Porter-Cable Power Tools Ford of Al Lagasee would be the last to get in on speed, posting a time of 32.531 seconds, who was 0.626 seconds behind Ozkan's lap time.

On race day, Lagasee was determined to not finish last for the first time in his career as he would quickly knock the #32 Miller Brothers Garage Dodge of Juniper Skunktaur into last, who would trail for the first lap. Skunktaur would knock the #29 Mopar Performance Dodge of Skyler Taylor into last as Taylor would trail for two laps before knocking the #14 Circle Bar Motel & RV Park Ford of Michael Brown into last on Lap 4. Brown would then knock Lagasee back to last, who would trail for two circuits before knocking Brown back to last for the second time on Lap 7. Brown would trail for two laps himself before knocking Juniper back to last on Lap 9, before Lagasee assumed the final spot once again on Lap 10 and appeared he was going to trail for the remainder of the race until on Lap 16, Hubert, who had lost nine positions since the race began, slowed in Turn 1 as the other drivers passed, limping back to pit road he would lose two laps and then a third on pit road before being sent back out on the track. With no cautions coming out, Hubert would be the only driver to not finish on the same lap as the race leaders.

The remaining Bottom Five were: 35th the aforementioned #98 of Al Lagasee, 34th the #14 of Michael Brown, the #60 CAT Rental Stores Chevrolet and 32nd was the #32 of Juniper Skunktaur.

SCRLASTCAR STATISTICS
*This is the first time the #45 has finished last in a Truck Series race as well at Nazareth.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
36) #45-Matthew Hubert / 17 laps / running
35) #98-Al Lagasee / 20 laps / running
34) #14-Michael Brown / 20 laps / running
33) #60-Christian Russel / 20 laps / running
32) #32-Juniper Skunktaur / 20 laps / running

S5 SCRLASTCAR Rainbow Dash Truck Series Driver's Championship