Blaney Ties Cope’s Season Record After Crashing Out At Bristol

Dave Blaney picked up the 11th last-place finish of his career in Saturday night’s Sharpie 500 at the Bristol Motor Speedway when his unsponsored #66 Prism Motorsports Toyota fell out with crash damage after completing 8 of the race’s 500 laps.

Coming into Saturday’s race, Blaney and team appeared to have one of the fastest cars in the field. Blaney was 8th fastest in Friday’s first practice session, 16th fastest in Happy Hour, and qualified an impressive 4th at a speed of 123.970 mph. However, trouble found him early in Saturday’s race. While running 5th on lap 3, his Toyota pushed in turns one and two, then was bumped by Joey Logano on the backstretch, bouncing his car hard off the outside wall. Blaney stuggled to hold on, having also suffered damage to his left-front fender, then came to pit road just before Logano crashed to bring out the first caution on lap 11. By then, Blaney was behind the wall and out of the race.

By scoring his sixth last-place finish of 2009, Blaney has now tied the all-time record for most last-place finishes by a driver in a single NASCAR Sprint Cup Season, set by Derrike Cope in 2006. Blaney has also finished last in both Bristol races this season: he spun from 2nd early in the Food City 500 and parked it soon after. Two other drivers have accomplished this feat: Richard D. Brown finished last in both Bristol races in 1972 and Ronnie Thomas did the same in 1987.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #66-Dave Blaney / 8 laps / crash
42) #37-Tony Raines / 27 laps / transmission
41) #87-Joe Nemechek / 48 laps / wheel bearing
40) #08-Terry Labonte / 244 laps / rear end
39) #71-David Gilliland / 354 laps / crash

2009 RANKINGS
1st) Dave Blaney (6)
2nd) Mike Bliss, Patrick Carpentier, David Gilliland, Joe Nemechek, Tony Raines (2)
3rd) Tony Ave, Todd Bodine, P.J. Jones, Matt Kenseth, Bobby Labonte, Joey Logano, Mark Martin, Mike Wallace (1)

Labonte Edges Blaney For Last When Engine Fails at Michigan

Bobby Labonte picked up the 9th last-place finish of his career in Sunday’s Carfax 400 at the Michigan International Speedway when his #96 DLP Ford fell out with engine problems after completing 18 of the race’s 200 laps.

The 2000 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion, Bobby Labonte’s inaugural season with Yates Racing’s cooperative with Hall of Fame Racing has been marred by several poor finishes. Aside from a strong fifth-place finish in last March’s Shelby 427 at Las Vegas, Labonte has finished in the top 15 just one other time, in the rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600 at the Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Coming into Michigan last week, Labonte was 27th in points. He qualified 33rd with a speed of 183.290 mph.

In the opening laps of Sunday’s race, Labonte’s Ford was off the pace, struggling with an engine miss that kept him in the back. When rain brought out the first caution on lap 7, Labonte came down pit road early for the crew to check his car. David Gilliland’s #71 went behind the wall that same lap, just before the red flag stopped the race for 19 minutes. When the race resumed, Labonte’s hood was up on pit road, his crew changing the spark plugs. The race restarted on lap 12 and, on lap 19, last-place leader Dave Blaney went behind the wall. Gilliland returned to the track, 9 laps down, by lap 26, and Labonte came back on the track on lap 30. Still running in last, Labonte had hardly completed 18 laps when he pulled behind the wall a second time with a blown engine. Though he tied Blaney’s 18 laps completed, Labonte remained the last-place finisher of the race.

The race marked Labonte’s first last-place finish since he drove the flagship #43 for Petty Enterprises in the 2007 Goody’s Cool Orange 500 at Martinsville. The #96 had not finished last since then-rookie Andy Houston crashed out Cal Wells’ McDonald’s Ford just one lap into the 2001 Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis. The Hall of Fame Racing team, which once owned the #96 team in its entirety, had never before finished last. For Yates Racing, their most recent last-place finish came with road racer Marc Goosens when his #90 CitiFinancial Ford wrecked in the 2006 AMD at the Glen at Watkins Glen.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #96-Bobby Labonte / 18 laps / engine
42) #66-Dave Blaney / 18 laps / overheating
41) #36-Mike Skinner / 33 laps / vibration
40) #71-David Gilliland / 39 laps / vibration
39) #87-Joe Nemechek / 40 laps / electrical

2009 RANKINGS
1st) Dave Blaney (5)
2nd) Mike Bliss, Patrick Carpentier, David Gilliland, Joe Nemechek, Tony Raines (2)
3rd) Tony Ave, Todd Bodine, P.J. Jones, Matt Kenseth, Bobby Labonte, Joey Logano, Mark Martin, Mike Wallace (1)

Ave Gets 43rd When Transmission Fails at the Glen

Tony Ave picked up the 1st last-place finish of his career in Monday’s Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at the Glen at Watkins Glen International when his #37 Long John Silver’s Dodge fell out with transmission problems after completing 8 of the race’s 90 laps.

One of the so-called “road ringers,” Ave had only made one previous Sprint Cup Series start, also at Watkins Glen, where he finished 31st in 2004 driving for Stan Hover. In Friday’s qualifying session, Ave squeezed his way into the show in thrilling fashion. Throughout his timed lap, Ave flirted with Joe Nemechek’s speed of 119.770 mph, running parts of the course both faster and slower than Nemechek. Off the final corner, Ave’s car was not quite fast enough, but a burst of straightaway speed allowed him to beat Nemechek’s time by one hundredth of a second at a speed of 119.787 mph. Nemechek, who lost valuable practice time after an engine failure, joined Brian Simo and David Gilliland as the three drivers to miss the show. Ave started 43rd. However, transmission problems in Monday’s race forced Ave behind the wall, beating 2009 leader Dave Blaney by three laps.

It was the second last-place finish for Front Row Motorsports’ #37 in 2009, the other coming with Tony Raines in June’s Lifelock 400 at Michigan. Ave is the first driver to finish last because of transmission failures this season, the sixth to have started last, and, along with David Gilliland and Joey Logano, is now the third driver to finish last for the first time in 2009. Neither Front Row Motorsports nor the #37 had ever finished last at Watkins Glen.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #37-Tony Ave / 8 laps / transmission
42) #66-Dave Blaney / 11 laps / brakes
41) #04-P.J. Jones / 13 laps / overheating
40) #26-Jamie McMurray / 58 laps / engine
39) #88-Dale Earnhardt, Jr. / 60 laps / running

2009 RANKINGS
1st) Dave Blaney (5)
2nd) Mike Bliss, Patrick Carpentier, David Gilliland, Joe Nemechek, Tony Raines (2)
3rd) Tony Ave, Todd Bodine, P.J. Jones, Matt Kenseth, Joey Logano, Mark Martin, Mike Wallace (1)

Wallace Parked In Gunselman Team’s Return At Pocono

Mike Wallace picked up the 8th last-place finish of his career in Monday’s Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 at the Pocono Raceway when his #64 Air Combat USA / Fred’s Hometown Discount Stores Toyota was parked after completing 13 of the race’s 200 laps.

The second of the Wallace brothers, Mike had failed to make five NASCAR Sprint Cup races in 2009. The first came when Wallace narrowly missed making the Daytona 500 while driving Kevin Buckler’s #71. Wallace was replaced by David Gilliland the following week. Wallace did not make another Sprint Cup attempt until Todd Bodine left Larry Gunselman’s #64 team coming into June’s Autism Speaks 400 at Dover. At that point, Bodine and the Gunselman team had qualified for only three races in 2009, the most recent being the Goody’s Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville, where Bodine finished last. Bodine’s departure forced Gunselman to withdraw from Dover while Mike Wallace was brought on to drive in the following week’s Pocono 500 at Pocono. Unfortunately, mother nature was not on Wallace’s side. Qualifying was rained-out not only at Pocono, but the team’s next two attempts at Loudon and Daytona, and Wallace failed to qualify for all three as a result. In between these three races came Michigan and Sonoma, and though qualifying was not rained out, the Gunselman team did not enter either event. Wallace and Gunselman’s absence continued when they were the fastest car not to make the race at Chicago, and the team withdrew again at Indianapolis.

When Wallace and Gunselman returned to Pocono for the Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500, qualifying was rained-out once again, but this time only 43 cars were on the entry list. Wallace and Gunselman were on the list and they secured the 42nd starting spot. After skipping two races, failing to qualify five times, and withdrawing seven more times in the fourteen races since Martinsville, the Gunselman team was set to make its fourth Sprint Cup start of 2009. Early in Monday’s race, it appeared Tony Raines would secure his third last-place finish of 2009 when he went behind the wall on lap 13. That same lap, Wallace was forced behind the wall because Gunselman’s team did not have a pit crew. Raines returned to the track 21 laps down and, after completing four more laps, dropped Wallace to 43rd. Only then did Raines end his race, putting him 42nd.

It is Wallace’s first last-place finish since he drove for Morgan-McClure when the timing chain failed on his Lucas Oil Products Chevrolet in the 2005 UAW-GM Quality 500 at the Lowe’s Motor Speedway. The #64 had never before finished last in a NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Pocono. It is also only the second time in NASCAR Sprint Cup history that a car finished last because they were parked by NASCAR. The only other time was when Joe Ruttman, then driving for James Finch, also did not have a pit crew when he started the 2004 Subway 400, the last Sprint Cup race held at the old North Carolina (Rockingham) Speedway.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #64-Mike Wallace / 13 laps / parked
42) #37-Tony Raines / 17 laps / power steering
41) #71-David Gilliland / 24 laps / alternator
40) #66-Dave Blaney / 26 laps / overheating
39) #87-Joe Nemechek / 30 laps / ignition

2009 RANKINGS
1st) Dave Blaney (5)
2nd) Mike Bliss, Patrick Carpentier, David Gilliland, Joe Nemechek, Tony Raines (2)
3rd) Todd Bodine, P.J. Jones, Matt Kenseth, Joey Logano, Mark Martin, Mike Wallace (1)