Carpentier Crashes Out At New Hampshire

Patrick Carpentier picked up the 3rd last-place finish of his career in Sunday’s rain-shortened Lenox Industrial Tools 301 at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway when his unsponsored #36 Tommy Baldwin Racing Toyota was involved in a single-car wreck on lap 14 of the 273-lap race.

Carpentier, the defending polesitter of the New Hampshire event, was making his return to the #36 for the first time since his last-place finish in the Pocono 500 three weeks before. On Friday, a track bar problem prevented him from competing in most of the opening practice session. Still, when rain washed out qualifying, Carpentier secured the 41st starting spot. Carpentier was hanging tough in Sunday’s race when, on lap 14, his brakes locked entering turn three, bouncing him off the outside wall and bringing out the first caution of the race. Carpentier was uninjured and, while the contact was not too severe, the #36 did not return to the track.

Carpentier is the fourth driver to finish last in a 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup point race because of a crash, the last being Dave Blaney’s early wreck in the Crown Royal Presents the Russ Friedman 400 at Richmond last month. With the second last-place finish for driver, number, and team in 2009, Carpentier now makes it a four-way tie for 2nd in the 2009 last-place standings behind overall leader Dave Blaney.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #36-Patrick Carpentier / 14 laps / crash
42) #66-Dave Blaney / 29 laps / overheating
41) #37-Tony Raines / 30 laps / electrical
40) #71-David Gilliland / 48 laps / electrical
39) #87-Joe Nemechek / 67 laps / transmission

2009 RANKINGS
1st) Dave Blaney (3)
2nd) Mike Bliss, Patrick Carpentier, David Gilliland, Tony Raines (2)
3rd) Todd Bodine, P.J. Jones, Matt Kenseth, Joey Logano, Mark Martin, Joe Nemechek (1)

P.J. Loses Power Steering at Sonoma

P.J. Jones picked up the 2nd last-place finish of his career in Sunday’s Toyota / Save Mart 350 at the Infineon Raceway when his #04 Jim Beam / Menard’s Toyota fell out with power steering problems after completing 2 of the race’s 113 laps.

Jones, a NASCAR Sprint Cup “road ringer” with 26 series starts coming into Sunday’s race, has worked closely with owner-driver Robby Gordon as a relief driver. Jones wasn’t tabbed as a “road ringer” for any of the other Sprint Cup teams coming into Sonoma, so Gordon fielded a second Toyota for Jones on Thursday. This made Jones a “post-entry,” that is, even if he qualified, Jones would not score any points in Sunday’s race because the entry was filed after the deadline had lapsed.

A wild qualifying session on Friday saw full-time rookie Scott Speed slide off course in Turn 10 and fellow road racer Brian Simo blow the engine during their qualifying laps. This made Jones’ lap of 91.425 mph good enough to beat five “go-or-go-home” drivers, including Speed and Simo, granting Jones the 37th starting spot. When the green flag waved on Sunday, Jones made an unscheduled stop right after completing the first lap. After some repairs, Jones returned to the track, only to slow in the Esses and go behind the wall, having lost his power steering. 2009 last-place finish leader Dave Blaney went behind the wall on the same lap, but the lap Jones lost put him one lap behind Blaney and, thus, became the last-place finisher.

It was the first last-place finish for Jones in almost five years, dating back to his first-ever last-place finish driving for Don Arnold in the 2004 Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono. In terms of laps completed, Jones has completed the fewest laps of any driver in any points race this season, besting Todd Bodine’s three laps completed in this spring’s Goody’s Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville. (That finish, however, is still the season record holder for fewest miles completed).

The race also marked the third time that the #04 has finished last in the 21 NASCAR Sprint Cup races held at the Infineon Raceway. The previous two last-place finishes occurred with ageless veteran Hershel McGriff behind the wheel in the 1990 and 1993 runnings. Jones and McGriff share a few other historical coincidences as a result of Sunday’s race. The 1993 event was McGriff’s final NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start and, until now, that race was also the last time the #04 had qualified for the NASCAR Sprint Cup race in Sonoma. This same weekend when Jones got the #04 back into the show, McGriff attempted his return to NASCAR competition by trying to qualify for the Bennett Lane Winery 200, a NASCAR Camping World West Series race, also held at Infineon.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #04-P.J. Jones / 2 laps / power steering
42) #66-Dave Blaney / 3 laps / rear end
41) #02-Brandon Ash / 94 laps / crash
40) #43-Reed Sorenson / 99 laps / running
39) #12-David Stremme / 101 laps / overheating

2009 RANKINGS
1st) Dave Blaney (3)
2nd) Mike Bliss, David Gilliland, Tony Raines (2)
3rd) Todd Bodine, Patrick Carpentier, P.J. Jones, Matt Kenseth, Joey Logano, Mark Martin, Joe Nemechek (1)

Raines Falls Out With Electrical Problems at Michigan

Tony Raines picked up the 5th last-place finish of his career in Sunday’s LifeLock 400 at the Michigan International Speedway when his #37 Long John Silver’s Dodge fell out with electrical problems after completing 17 of the race’s 200 laps.

Bob Jenkins’ Front Row Motorsports team has achieved modest success in 2009 with driver John Andretti keeping the team’s #34 in the top 35 in owner’s points. Journeyman Tony Raines has been the driver of Jenkins’ second car, the #37. On Friday, Raines qualified for his sixth race of 2009, his third behind the wheel of car #37, and started 41st with a speed of 184.535 mph. Andretti, in the other Jenkins car, qualified 10th to give the team its first top-10 start. On Sunday, Raines pulled behind the wall under green on lap 17 with electrical problems. Three other small teams pulled their cars behind the wall by lap 24.

The finish was Raines’ second last-place finish of the season, his first since the Subway Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix two months ago. It is the first last-place finish for owner Bob Jenkins in nearly a year, dating back to when Brian Simo’s #34 SoBe No Fear Ford fell out with transmission problems early in the 2008 Toyota / Save Mart 350 at the Infineon Raceway.

It is also the first last-place finish for the #37 since Mike Skinner’s Patron Tequila / BoSPOKER.net Dodge fell out with a rear end failure in the 2005 Dickies 500 at Texas and the first time the last-place finisher has fallen out with electrical problems since Aric Almirola’s #01 U.S. Army Chevrolet in the 2007 Subway 500 at Martinsville.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #37-Tony Raines / 17 laps / electrical
42) #87-Joe Nemechek / 20 laps / electrical
41) #09-Sterling Marlin / 23 laps / electrical
40) #66-Dave Blaney / 23 laps / engine
39) #44-A.J. Allmendinger / 144 laps / running

2009 RANKINGS
1st) Dave Blaney (3)
2nd) Mike Bliss, David Gilliland, Tony Raines (2)
3rd) Todd Bodine, Patrick Carpentier, Matt Kenseth, Joey Logano, Mark Martin, Joe Nemechek (1)

Carpentier Calls It A Day After Vibration at Pocono

Patrick Carpentier picked up the 2nd last-place finish of his career in Sunday’s Pocono 500 at the Pocono Raceway when his unsponsored #36 Tommy Baldwin Racing Toyota fell out with a vibration problem after completing 32 of the race’s 200 laps.

The Tommy Baldwin Racing team was one of the surprising stories of SpeedWeeks 2009 at Daytona when driver Scott Riggs raced the start-up team’s #36 into the Daytona 500. However, four DNQ’s in the eleven races after, combined with a lack of sponsorship, led to Riggs leaving the team after the Coca-Cola 600. After Mike Skinner raced the car at Dover, Patrick Carpentier was tabbed to drive for Baldwin at Pocono.

One of last year’s Rookie of the Year candidates, Carpentier had not made a NASCAR Sprint Cup start since last fall’s Camping World RV 400 at Kansas. He was released from the team after failing to qualify for the AMP Energy 500 at Talladega the following week. Qualifying was rained out at Pocono on Friday, and since Baldwin’s team had attempted all the races, Carpentier secured the 40th starting spot. Unfortunately, on lap 32, Carpentier went behind the wall with a vibration.

The finish was Carpentier’s first last-place finish since he crashed out in the big lap 230 pileup during the Crown Royal presents the Dan Lowry 400 at Richmond last May. It is the first last-place finish for Tommy Baldwin’s team and the first for #36 since Johnny Benson, Jr. lost the engine while driving Bill Davis Racing’s 360 OTC Toyota in the 2007 season finale, the Ford 400 at Homestead. Carpentier is the second last-place finisher to fall out with a vibration problem, the last being Mike Bliss in last month’s Coca-Cola 600.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #36-Patrick Carpentier / 32 laps / vibration
42) #71-David Gilliland / 34 laps / ignition
41) #87-Joe Nemechek / 36 laps / vibration
40) #66-Dave Blaney / 37 laps / vibration
39) #09-Sterling Marlin / 56 laps / fuel pump

2009 RANKINGS
1st) Dave Blaney (3)
2nd) Mike Bliss, David Gilliland (2)
3rd) Todd Bodine, Patrick Carpentier, Matt Kenseth, Joey Logano, Mark Martin, Joe Nemechek, Tony Raines (1)