Mosack Finishes 18th in Richmond Finale
Venue: Richmond Raceway
FINISH: 18th
Start: 16th
Stage 1: 15th
Stage 2: 16th
Laps Led: 0
NCTS Point Standings Position: 15th
Connor Mosack, driver of the No. 81 Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Chevrolet Silverado RST battled a huge amount of adversity in Friday night’s event at Richmond Raceway that led him to an 18th-place result in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series (NCTS) regular season finale. Mosack laid down a solid qualifying lap that saw him starting 14th for the 250 lap event. On the start, the Charlotte, N.C. native forced his way through the field up to 11th as he reported to the No. 81 team that he started to feel a bad vibration in his race truck and settled into the 13th position. By lap 30, the run picked up and the driver of the No. 81 Chevrolet was running top five lap speeds. The field started to spread out on the green-flag run and Mosack was battling to stay on the lead lap but fell short to finish out Stage One 15th in line.
The young driver reported to his crew that he was super tight off the throttle, killing his speed and he needs to be more free through the center. Crew chief Blake Bainbridge called the No. 81 down pit road under the stage break for four fresh tires, fuel and a trackbar adjustment to send Mosack out 17th to start Stage Two. 20 laps into the stage, a gaggle of cautions arose as the driver of the No. 81 was yet again, fighting to stay on the lead lap. A lap 108 caution allowed Mosack to come down pit road the second time by for four Goodyear stickers, a top-off on race fuel and a few adjustments to help the handling on the No. 81 truck. With 17 laps to go, Mosack restarted 16th one lap down, trying to find track position to race for the lucky dog at the next yellow flag which came at the stage end with a 15th-place finish and back on the lead lap.
The driver reported he felt way better in the center on that run but needs security back on entry. Restarting 16th for the closing stage with 100 laps to go in the eero 250, Mosack took charge on his quest to the front. Green-flag pit stops started to cycle and Bainbridge (Blake, crew chief) called the young driver down pit road on lap 176 for four tires and fuel and sent him on his way. By lap 180, Mosack was cruising back through the top 20 until an unfortunate spin occurred in front of the young driver as he made it out just barely clear with a right-front tire rub from contact. Strategy was in play to come down pit road second time around until the driver of the No. 81 reported he felt the right-rear was going down. This forced the team to pit for right side tires, fuel and trackbar adjustment and then come back around for left-side tires.
The series of unfortunate events for the No. 81 team forced them into battle for the remainder of the race and relegated them to an 18th-place finish at Richmond. With seven races remaining in the 2025 NCTS season, Mosack holds the 15th position in the point standings and will take the week off to regroup and come back at Darlington, ready to take on The Lady In Black.
Connor Mosack Quote:
“Super rough night overall for the No. 81 team and I am disappointed in the fact that this team did not get the finish they deserved. It is so hard to get caught back up here at Richmond and the battles to get back on the lead lap are so crucial. Frustrating night for sure but we will capitalize on everything we learned here in Richmond and get ready to head to Darlington to hopefully be in contention for that first victory.”
