CUP: Though PRISM’s #66 Loses Title Defense, Bliss Scores Final 43rd of 2010

Mike Bliss picked up the 6th last-place finish of his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career in Sunday’s Ford 400 at the Homestead-Miami Speedway when his unsponsored #66 PRISM Motorsports Toyota fell out with electrical problems after completing 10 of the race’s 267 laps.

With still-unconfirmed rumors abound that the Phil Parsons-owned team - and defending LASTCAR Sprint Cup Owner’s Champions - would be folding up in the offseason, PRISM did not bring the #55 to the track for the second time in three races. Despite the struggles the #66 team in particular has faced in qualifying this year, Bliss put the car solidly in the 30th spot at a speed of 174.831 mph, besting six “go-or-go-homers.” LASTCAR Champion Joe Nemechek would start next to him on the inside of Row 15.

On Friday, second-ranked Michael McDowell’s #46 Whitney Motorsports entry failed to qualify for the fourth time in the last five races despite once again carrying sufficient sponsorship to run the whole race. Patrick Carpentier and the Latitude 43 Motorsports team also missed the show, and the former Roush-Fenway team ends its first season without recording a single last-place finish.

On race day, Bliss went behind the wall during the opening green flag run, followed by J.J. Yeley after Tommy Baldwin’s plain white Chevrolet stayed out to lead during the Lap 19 caution for David Reutimann’s tire failure. Although Joe Nemechek had returning sponsorship from England’s Stove Works, non-profit organization B.R.A.K.E.S., and the EAA Young Eagles youth aviation program, his #87 Toyota still went behind the wall after 29 laps. Landon Cassill’s exit in the partially-sponsored Empire Steel Buildings #64 made it four retirees in the first 35 laps.

Toyota leaves this 2010 Cup season with 28 of the year’s 36 last-place finishes. The top four teams in the Owner’s Championship rankings scored 21 of them.

Although NEMCO’s #87 has claimed the Owner’s Championship with 7 last-place finishes in 2010, not including Jeff Fuller’s 43rd-place finishes in the NEMCO #97 at Talladega and the Gatorade Duels, PRISM’s two teams earned a combined 10 last-place finishes this season. Last year, defending LASTCAR Driver’s Champion Dave Blaney scored 8 last-place finishes during a full season in PRISM’s #66.

CUP STATS AND FACTS
*It was Bliss’ first last-place finish since 2009, when his #09 Miccosukee Resorts & Gaming Dodge fell out with an engine failure 11 laps into the 2009 Pepsi 500 at Fontana. It was the Bliss’ third of three last-place finishes for Phoenix Racing that season.
*The #66 had not finished last in a Cup race at Homestead since the inaugural event in 1999, the Pennzoil 400 presented by K-Mart, where Darrell Waltrip’s Big K-Mart / Route 66 Ford left the race after 85 laps with handling woes.
*A Cup driver had not finished last due to electrical woes since the Pepsi Max 400 at Fontana, six races ago, where Jason Leffler gave PRISM Motorsports what had been its most recent last-place finish.

CUP LAPS COMPLETED STATS
*Unlike those in the Nationwide and Truck Series, this year’s group of Sprint Cup last-placers includes just 5 drivers who completed less than 10 laps: Robby Gordon in the spring Atlanta race (3 laps), Max Papis in the June Michigan race (8), Dave Blaney at Daytona in July (4), Jeff Fuller at Talladega last month (2), and Brendan Gaughan last week at Phoenix (1). Setting those five aside, Cup last-placers have completed an average of 41.1 laps. Comparing all 36, Cup last-placers completed 1292 of the 10778 laps, roughly 11.99% of the season total.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #66-Mike Bliss / 10 laps / electrical
42) #36-J.J. Yeley / 25 laps / brakes / led 1 lap
41) #87-Joe Nemechek / 29 laps / transmission
40) #64-Landon Cassill / 35 laps / vibration
39) #20-Joey Logano / 166 laps / crash

LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP - FINAL STANDINGS
1st) Joe Nemechek (7)
2nd) Dave Blaney, Michael McDowell (5)
3rd) Max Papis (4)
4th) Aric Almirola, Jason Leffler (2)
5th) Mike Bliss, Landon Cassill, Jeff Fuller, Robby Gordon, Denny Hamlin, Brendan Gaughan, Bobby Labonte, Johnny Sauter, Reed Sorenson, Scott Speed, J.J. Yeley (1)

LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP - FINAL STANDINGS
1st) #87-NEMCO Motorsports (7)
2nd) #66-PRISM Motorsports (6)
3rd) #13-Germain Racing, #55-PRISM Motorsports (4)
4th) #36-Tommy Baldwin Racing, #09-Phoenix Racing (3)
5th) #32-Braun Racing (2)
6th) #7-Robby Gordon Motorsports, #11-Joe Gibbs Racing, #46-Whitney Motorsports, #64-Gunselman Motorsports, #71-TRG Motorsports, #82-Team Red Bull, #97-NEMCO Motorsports (1)

N’WIDE: Green, #36 Team Finish 2010 Season Two Last-Place Finishes Short of Both LASTCAR Titles After Edging Setzer Again at Homestead

Jeff Green picked up the 16th last-place finish of his NASCAR Nationwide Series career in Saturday’s Ford 300 at the Homestead-Miami Speedway when his unsponsored #36 TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet fell out with a vibration after completing 2 of the race’s 200 laps.

The finish moves Green to within eight finishes of tying all-time Nationwide Series leader Jeff Fuller and ties Green for 9th in the all-time rankings with Todd Bodine, G.C. Spencer, and Darrell Waltrip.

Green fell just short of having to use his Past Champion’s Provisional in qualifying, putting up a 33rd-fastest speed of 166.328 mph that made him the second-slowest “go-or-go-home” driver to make the race. 43rd-place starter Brian Keselowski took the final starting spot in his the #92 campaigned by LASTCAR Nationwide Series Driver’s Champion Dennis Setzer. Setzer made the field as a late-week post-entry in Keselowski’s #96 and was just able to edge Green for the 32nd spot.

When the race began, four drivers fell out in the first 19 laps, beginning with Green just over two laps into the race. Setzer came in the next lap, followed three circuits later by Richmond and Road America last-placer Kevin Lepage in the #56 and, at the 19-lap mark, by Dover last-placer David Gilliland for D’Hont-Humphrey Motorsports.

Just one year after D’Hont-Humphrey dominated the LASTCAR Nationwide Series season under the MSRP Motorsports banner, coming within one finish of NEMCO Motorsports’ single-season record of 13 last-place finishes, both the #90 and #91 have only scored a single finish each. Now, the single-season record belongs to both NEMCO and K-Automotive Motorsports, whose #26, #92, and #96 combined to earn 13 last-place finishes of their own in 2010.

Despite the #36 team running just 14 races in 2010, and not starting their year until Gateway in July, both Green and the #36 still came within two finishes of tying 2010 LASTCAR Nationwide Champions Dennis Setzer and the #92 K-Automotive team. The #36 was instrumental in not only preventing K-Automotive from breaking NEMCO’s single-season owner’s record, but also in keeping Dennis Setzer one finish behind Jeff Fuller’s single-season driver’s record of 11 last-place finishes: all five of Setzer’s most recent 42nd-place finishes since Iowa in July came when the #36 finished last.

All told, when combining Mark Smith’s #36 and all three K-Automotive Motorsports teams, these two organizations racked up 22 of the season’s 35 last-place finishes, a rate of nearly two finishes by one of those teams for every three races.

N’WIDE STATS AND FACTS
*This marked the third straight Nationwide Series race where the last-place finisher fell out because of a vibration. The only other time a vibration sent the first car behind the wall this season was back in February, when Dennis Setzer’s #96 scored driver and team’s first last-place finish of the season back at the Sam’s Town 300 at Las Vegas.
*Neither Green nor the #36 had ever before finished last in a Nationwide Series race at Homestead.

N’WIDE LAPS COMPLETED STATS
*Just three last-place finishers in the entire 2010 Nationwide Series season completed more than nine laps: Danny O’Quinn, Jr. at Nashville in April (33 laps), Michael Annett at Talladega (20), and Dennis Setzer at Darlington (11). Omitting these three races, a Nationwide last-placer has completed an average of just 3.16 laps. Even when all 35 are included, Nationwide last-placers have completed just 154 of the 6489 laps run this season, roughly 2.4% of the season total.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #36-Jeff Green / 2 laps / vibration
42) #96-Dennis Setzer / 3 laps / brakes
41) #56-Kevin Lepage / 6 laps / rear gear
40) #91-David Gilliland / 19 laps / vibration
39) #04-Jeremy Clements / 22 laps / crash

LASTCAR N'WIDE SERIES DRIVER CHAMPIONSHIP - FINAL STANDINGS
1st) Dennis Setzer (10)
2nd) Jeff Green (8)
3rd) Mark Green, Kevin Lepage (2)
4th) Willie Allen, Michael Annett, Johnny Borneman III, Matt Carter, Johnny Chapman, David Gilliland, Kevin Hamlin, Jennifer Jo Cobb, Brian Keselowski, Parker Kligerman, Justin Marks, Danny O'Quinn, Jr., Chrissy Wallace (1)

LASTCAR N’WIDE SERIES DRIVER CHAMPIONSHIP - FINAL STANDINGS
1st) #92-K-Automotive Motorsports (11)
2nd) #36-Mark Smith (9)
3rd) #15-Germain Racing, #26-K-Automotive Motorsports, #27-Curb Motorsports, #41-Rick Ware, #43-Curb Motorsports, #49-Jay Robinson, Inc., #56-John McNelly, #70-Mary Louise Miller, #82-MacDonald Motorsports, #83-John Borneman, Jr., #90-D'Hont Humphrey Motorsports, #91-D'Hont Humphrey Motorsports, #96-K-Automotive Motorsports, #04-Johnny Davis Motorsports, #05-Wayne Day (1)

TRUCKS: Sieg Claims 2010 Owner’s Title For His #93 Team After Early Exit at Homestead

Shane Sieg picked up the 3rd last-place finish of his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career in Friday’s Ford 200 at the Homestead-Miami Speedway when his #93 S&W Towing Chevrolet fell out with electrical problems after completing 8 of the race’s 134 laps.

In doing so, Sieg claimed the 2010 LASTCAR Owner’s Championship for his #93 team by tying Team Gill Racing’s #95 with six finishes apiece, breaking the tie with 18 bottom-five finishes to Gill’s 11. Part-time driver Mike Garvey clinched the Driver’s Championship at Texas, two races ago.

Garvey was initially listed as driver of the #93 at Homestead, but it was Sieg who qualified the truck 33rd in the field at a speed of 159.419 mph. Team Gill Racing never entered its #95. During the opening green flag run, Sieg pulled behind the wall as one of only three trucks that failed to finish the race. 35th-place Mario Gosselin lost the engine after 45 laps while Talladega last-placer John Jackson, in Gosselin’s team truck, was involved in a very hard crash at pit entrance on Lap 112.

TRUCK STATS AND FACTS
*The finish was Sieg’s second of the 2010 season, joining his 36th-place run in the Kroger 250 at Martinsville back in April. That race, where Sieg went behind the wall after 3 laps in the #93, was also the last time a Truck Series last-placer fell out with electrical problems.
*This marked the third straight year that Chevrolet finished last in the Truck Series finale at Homestead, joining Mike Garvey and Kevin Lepage.
*The #93 had never before finished last in a Truck Series race at Homestead.

LAPS COMPLETED STATS
*Just three Truck Series last-placers completed more than 9 laps in the 2010 season: G.R. Smith at Nashville (27 laps), Jason White at Bristol (28) and Mike Garvey at Martinsville (27). Omitting these three, the average last-place finisher has completed 3.91 laps. When all 25 are considered, the Truck Series last-placers of 2010 have combined to complete 168 of the season’s 3884 laps, roughly 4.3% of the season total.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
36) #93-Shane Sieg / 8 laps / electrical
35) #12-Mario Gosselin / 45 laps / engine
34) #72-John Jackson / 108 laps / crash
33) #6-Derek White / 128 laps / running
32) #57-Norm Benning / 129 laps / running

LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP - FINAL STANDINGS
1st) Mike Garvey (4)
2nd) Tim Andrews, Carl Long, Johanna Long, Shane Sieg, J.C. Stout (2)
3rd) Landon Cassill, Johnny Chapman, Mike Harmon, John Jackson, Chris Jones, Narain Karthikeyan, Chris Lafferty, Butch Miller, Dillon Oliver, G.R. Smith, Jason White (1)

LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP - FINAL STANDINGS
1st) #93-Shane Sieg, #95-Danny Gill (6)
3rd) #20-Donald Long, #72-Mario Gosselin, #89-Chris Lafferty (2)
4th) #16-Rick Ware, #23-Steve Urvan, #50-Mark Beaver, #60-Jeff Wyler, #87-Rick Jones, #98-Duke Thorson, #07-Ken Smith (1)

CUP: Gaughan Gets First 43rd In Cup Return At Phoenix; Nemechek Claims 2nd LASTCAR Title After #87, #46 Fail To Qualify

Brendan Gaughan picked up the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career in Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 500 at the Phoenix International Raceway when his #71 South Point Hotel and Casino Chevrolet was involved in a single-car accident on Lap 2 of the 312-lap race. The finish came in Gaughan’s 37th series start.

It’s been a difficult 2010 season for TRG Motorsports. Bad luck and only sporatic sponsorship from TaxSlayer.com culminated in 2000 Cup Champion Bobby Labonte leaving the team at mid-season with only a handful of one-off appearances by the Texan since then. With drivers Mike Bliss, Andy Lally, and Landon Cassill aboard, the team was forced to park its #71 Chevrolets early in nearly a dozen races, most recently at Fontana last month, where Lally came home 36th.

As the team sank to 35th in Owner Points, however, the team has attracted just enough sponsorship to run these final races with returning drivers like Hermie Sadler and Chad McCumbee taking the controls. With the 36th-ranked Front Row Motorsports #38 team falling from Top 35 contention in recent weeks, TRG brought on Brendan Gaughan for Sunday’s Phoenix race with his family’s casino business footing the bill for another full-race run.

Locked-into the field on points, Gaughan did not have to worry about his struggles in qualifying and placed the #71 back in 41st spot at a speed of 132.197 mph. The race would be Gaughan’s first Sprint Cup start since the 2004 Ford 400 at Homestead, where he concluded his rookie season, and his first time in a Cup machine at all since he relieved Mike Bliss in the 2005 Pocono 500. Unfortunately, Gaughan would not be able to discover what his #71 could do.

Just after the first lap of Sunday’s race was completed, Gaughan’s right-front tire exploded entering turn one, sending the #71 hard into the outside wall. The Truck Series veteran was unhurt, but the car was wounded so badly that it could not negotiate the Phoenix track’s doglegged backstretch and had to drive through the dirt instead. Repairs proved impossible for the TRG team and the group was forced to call it a day. 42nd-place Brad Keselowski faced a similar fate less than 60 laps later when his right-front tire also failed in turn one, ending his day.

CUP STATS AND FACTS
*Although this was Gaughan’s first last-place finish in Cup competition, he has three other last-place runs in his 162-race Camping World Truck Series career: an early crash in the 2005 O’Reilly 200 presented by Valvoline MaxLife at Bristol, an engine failure in the 2006 racetickets.com 200 at Fontana, and another crash after the opening lap of the 2007 AAA Insurance 200. All three of these finishes came while driving his family-owned #77 Dodge.
*Gaughan is also the third driver to finish last in a Cup race at Phoenix after completing just the opening lap: Kenny Wallace, in Team III Racing’s unsponsored #24 Pontiac, had steering problems in his Cup debut at the 1991 Pyroil 500K. The next year, Rick Carelli quit the 1992 Pyroil 500K, parking his unsponsored #37 Marshall Chesrown Chevrolet following injuries sustained in a grinding Southwest Tour Series crash the previous day.
*No Cup driver has finished last after completing just the opening lap since 2007, when J.J. Yeley’s #18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet was involved in a multi-car accident in the 2007 Samsung 500 at Texas.
*The #71 and Kevin Buckler’s Cup team scored their most recent last-place finish in 2009, when Bobby Labonte was involved in a multi-car accident six laps into the 2009 Price Chopper 400 at Kansas.
*The #71 had never before finished last in a Cup race at Phoenix.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #71-Brendan Gaughan / 1 lap / crash
42) #12-Brad Keselowski / 58 laps / crash
41) #81-Terry Labonte / 190 laps / electrical
40) #64-Landon Cassill / 191 laps / rear gear
39) #55-Mike Bliss / 193 laps / overheating

2010 LASTCAR SPRINT CUP DRIVER’S CHAMPION: JOE NEMECHEK
Joe Nemechek clinched his second career LASTCAR Sprint Cup Driver’s Championship at Phoenix. Ironically, but he did so without even starting Sunday’s race. As reported last week, Nemechek needed one more bottom-five finish to clinch the Driver’s Championship as he had just two more bottom-five finishes than second-ranked Michael McDowell. Both drivers attempted to qualify for the Phoenix race last Friday with Nemechek in his self-owned #87 England’s Stove Works Toyota and McDowell in Dusty Whitney’s #46 Super Pawn Chevrolet.

However, both drivers failed to qualify for the race as two of the three teams that missed the show. McDowell turned in the slowest lap time of all and was the first car knocked-out of the field. With two cars left to qualify, Nemechek was on the bubble behind Jason Leffler in PRISM Motorsports’ #66. This allowed J.J. Yeley, in Latitude 43 Motorsports’ #26, to bump Nemechek out of the race, and Casey Mears’ #13 GEICO Toyota bumped-out Leffler.

Thus, with one race remaining in the season, McDowell is now mathematically unable to tie Nemechek for the most last-place finishes in 2010, giving Nemechek the title. Nemechek’s previous LASTCAR title run came in 2008, when he scored three last-place finishes in his final season driving Furniture Row Racing’s #78. The Florida driver clinched that championship on a “bottom-five” tiebreaker, besting A.J. Allmendinger’s 6 with his season total of 9.

LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Joe Nemechek (7)
2nd) Dave Blaney, Michael McDowell (5)
3rd) Max Papis (4)
4th) Aric Almirola, Jason Leffler (2)
5th) Landon Cassill, Jeff Fuller, Robby Gordon, Denny Hamlin, Brendan Gaughan, Bobby Labonte, Johnny Sauter, Reed Sorenson, Scott Speed, J.J. Yeley (1)

LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) #87-NEMCO Motorsports (7)
2nd) #66-PRISM Motorsports (5)
3rd) #13-Germain Racing, #55-PRISM Motorsports (4)
4th) #36-Tommy Baldwin Racing, #09-Phoenix Racing (3)
5th) #32-Braun Racing (2)
6th) #7-Robby Gordon Motorsports, #11-Joe Gibbs Racing, #46-Whitney Motorsports, #64-Gunselman Motorsports, #71-TRG Motorsports, #82-Team Red Bull, #97-NEMCO Motorsports (1)

N’WIDE: Green Bests 2010 Champion Setzer After Early Vibration At Phoenix

Jeff Green picked up the 15th last-place finish of his NASCAR Nationwide Series career in Saturday’s Wypall 200 Powered by Kimberly-Clark at the Phoenix International Raceway when his unsponsored #36 Tri-Star Motorsports Chevrolet fell out with a vibration after completing 2 of the race’s 200 laps.

The finish moved Green into sole possession of 10th in the all-time LASTCAR standings and closed him within nine finishes of Jeff Fuller for the all-time Nationwide Series lead.

Green rebounded from his DNQ at Texas last week to qualify a solid 21st for Saturday’s race, ranking him fourth among the “go-or-go-home” teams that made the field. Of the six teams that failed to qualify, the only one with a last-place finish in 2010 was the #82 MacDonald Motorsports entry, driven this time by Chase Miller.

As has been the case for much of this season’s second half, Green and 2010 LASTCAR Nationwide Series Champion Dennis Setzer finished solidly in the bottom five. This time, Green edged Setzer by a single lap during the opening green-flag run to lock up his seventh finish of the 2010 season. Setzer’s owner, Brian Keselowski, followed Setzer to the garage and came home 41st in his #26.

Next week in the Homestead finale, Green will again be in Mark Smith’s #36, but Brian Keselowski will drive in place of Setzer in the Owner’s Championship-winning #92. K-Automotive’s #26 will instead be driven by Sam Hornish, Jr. with an eye at a full race run, thanks to sponsorship from Alliance.

N’WIDE STATS AND FACTS
*Neither Jeff Green, nor the #36, had ever before finished last in a Nationwide Series race at Phoenix.
*It’s the third time a vibration caused a driver to finish last in a Nationwide Series race at Phoenix: the previous two were Tracy Hines’ unsponsored #14 Fitz-Bradshaw Racing Dodge in the 2006 Bashas’ Supermarkets 200 and Danny O’Quinn, Jr.’s unsponsored #35 Team Rensi Motorsports Ford in the 2008 Hefty Odor Block 200.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #36-Jeff Green / 2 laps / vibration
42) #92-Dennis Setzer / 3 laps / vibration
41) #26-Brian Keselowski / 3 laps / oil pressure
40) #34-Charles Lewandoski / 15 laps / transmission
39) #91-David Gilliland / 20 laps / electrical

LASTCAR N'WIDE SERIES DRIVER CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Dennis Setzer (10)
2nd) Jeff Green (7)
3rd) Mark Green, Kevin Lepage (2)
4th) Willie Allen, Michael Annett, Johnny Borneman III, Matt Carter, Johnny Chapman, David Gilliland, Kevin Hamlin, Jennifer Jo Cobb, Brian Keselowski, Parker Kligerman, Justin Marks, Danny O'Quinn, Jr., Chrissy Wallace (1)

LASTCAR N’WIDE SERIES DRIVER CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) #92-K-Automotive Motorsports (11)
2nd) #36-Mark Smith (8)
3rd) #15-Germain Racing, #26-K-Automotive Motorsports, #27-Curb Motorsports, #41-Rick Ware, #43-Curb Motorsports, #49-Jay Robinson, Inc., #56-John McNelly, #70-Mary Louise Miller, #82-MacDonald Motorsports, #83-John Borneman, Jr., #90-D'Hont Humphrey Motorsports, #91-D'Hont Humphrey Motorsports, #96-K-Automotive Motorsports, #04-Johnny Davis Motorsports, #05-Wayne Day (1)

TRUCKS: Miller’s Axle Leaves Him 36th At Phoenix; LASTCAR Owner’s Title Goes To Homestead

Butch Miller picked up the 6th last-place finish of his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career in Friday’s Lucas Oil 150 at the Phoenix International Raceway when his #07 ASI Limited Toyota fell out with an axle problem after completing 8 of the race’s 150 laps.

Owner Ken Smith’s #07 has qualified for all 24 races run so far in the 2010 season, switching between drivers Sean Murphy, Donny Lia, Tony Jackson, Jr., John King, and Miller. Despite the team’s frequent driver changes and switching manufacturers between Chevrolet, Dodge, and Toyota, the team has scored three top-15 finishes with a best of 13th at Daytona and Michigan. Like other underfunded organizations, however, the team has had to park its trucks early during the latter part of the season, most often with Miller behind the wheel.

Miller qualified 30th for Friday’s race at a speed of 126.280 mph. With 36 trucks on the entry list for as many starting spots, no drivers were sent home after qualifying. However, eight laps into the race, he was already behind the wall. Last-place starter Chris Lafferty and his #89 followed six laps later when his Chevrolet pounded the turn four wall on Lap 17.

TRUCK STATS AND FACTS
*It was Miller’s first last-place finish in the Truck Series since 2008, when his #0 ASI Limited Chevrolet also finished last at Phoenix after a grinding multi-truck wreck occurred on the opening lap of the 2008 Lucas Oil 150. All five of Miller’s previous last-place finishes in the Truck Series came during that same season.
*The #07 had not finished last in a Truck Series race since 2005, when Jack Bailey’s City of Cincinnati Chevrolet was taken in out in a crash after 2 laps of the 2005 Silverado 350K at Texas.
*No truck had finished last because of an axle failure since 2009, when Brandon Knupp’s #08 Tiwi Chevrolet fell out 5 laps into the 2009 Heluva Good! 200 at New Hampshire.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
36) #07-Butch Miller / 8 laps / axle
35) #89-Chris Lafferty / 14 laps / crash
34) #12-Mario Gosselin / 30 laps / overheating
33) #93-Shane Sieg / 36 laps / overheating
32) #23-Jason White / 53 laps / engine

LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES OWNER’S TITLE IN GARVEY’S HANDS AT HOMESTEAD
As reported last week, Team Gill Racing’s #95 did not enter the Phoenix race and was thus unable to clinch the 2010 LASTCAR Truck Series Owner’s Championship. The second-ranked #93 team, driven for most of this season by 2010 LASTCAR Driver’s Champion Mike Garvey, was raced by owner Shane Sieg to a 33rd-place finish.

For next week’s Homestead finale, Gill’s #95 is once again not on the 38-truck entry list, but Garvey will return to drive Sieg’s #93. Thus, if Garvey finishes last at Homestead, the #93 and the #95 teams will be tied with six finishes apiece, but the #93 will win the title with 18 bottom-fives to the #95's 11.

LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Mike Garvey (4)
2nd) Tim Andrews, Carl Long, Johanna Long, J.C. Stout (2)
3rd) Landon Cassill, Johnny Chapman, Mike Harmon, John Jackson, Chris Jones, Narain Karthikeyan, Chris Lafferty, Butch Miller, Dillon Oliver, Shane Sieg, G.R. Smith, Jason White (1)

LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) #95-Danny Gill (6)
2nd) #93-Shane Sieg (5)
3rd) #20-Donald Long, #72-Mario Gosselin, #89-Chris Lafferty (2)
4th) #16-Rick Ware, #23-Steve Urvan, #50-Mark Beaver, #60-Jeff Wyler, #87-Rick Jones, #98-Duke Thorson, #07-Ken Smith (1)

CUP: Nemechek One Bottom-Five Away From 2nd LASTCAR Cup Title After Engine Blows Early At Texas; NEMCO’s #87 Takes Owner’s Title

Joe Nemechek picked up the 24th last-place finish of his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career in Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 at the Texas Motor Speedway when his #87 HostGator.com Toyota fell out with an engine failure after completing 12 of the race’s 334 laps.

The finish was Nemechek’s 30th between all three of NASCAR’s top divisions, moving him into sole possession of 4th in the all-time LASTCAR standings and within two finishes of the late J.D. McDuffie for 3rd.

One week after Nemechek led the opening lap at Talladega last Sunday, sponsor HostGator.com re-upped for the Texas race, giving the veteran two consecutive weeks of full Cup sponsorship for the first time since he brought NEMCO back into the series in 2009. On Friday, he ran an aggressive 190.121 mph qualifying lap that locked him into the field in 34th as the fourth-fastest go-or-go-homer, more than enough to beat the six teams that failed to make the field. Nemechek also showed remarkable driving skill by maintaining control when his right-front tire drove through the infield grass entering the quad-oval, kicking up a huge cloud of dirt.

On race day, Nemechek slipped to 42nd on Lap 3, but was moving to 39th on Lap 9 when defending LASTCAR Champion Dave Blaney fell to 43rd. Blaney, returning to Front Row Motorsports to drive the team’s #37 A&W Ford, was overheating in the early laps. Before Blaney could pit, however, Nemechek’s engine suddenly exploded in turn one on Lap 11, sending his #87 sliding up the track and into the outside wall. Nemechek was uninjured in the incident and limped his Toyota onto pit road, then to the garage, under the ensuing caution. Blaney earned the Lucky Dog under the yellow, but blew his own engine 12 laps after the restart and went to the garage, joined two laps later by teammate Travis Kvapil in the #34. All three cars did not return to the race.

Nemechek did not quite clinch his second LASTCAR Sprint Cup Driver’s Championship at Texas, however, as one driver still stands in his way:

NEMECHEK AND MCDOWELL BOTH STILL IN CONTENTION FOR 2010 LASTCAR SPRINT CUP DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP; DEFENDING CHAMPION BLANEY ELIMINATED
With two races to go, Nemechek now has a two-finish lead on both Dave Blaney and Michael McDowell, who can still mathematically tie Nemechek’s seven last-place finishes in 2010 with a two-race sweep. However, in reality, this year’s battle for the LASTCAR Sprint Cup Driver’s Championship has become a two-horse race between Nemechek and McDowell.

The reason is that, as of now, Nemechek has 23 bottom-five finishes to McDowell’s 22 and Blaney’s 18. This means that McDowell could claim this year’s championship if he finishes last at Phoenix and Homestead while Nemechek finishes 38th or better (outside the bottom five) in both of those races, giving him 24 bottom-fives to Nemechek’s 23. Blaney, while still capable of tying Nemechek on finishes, has been eliminated from championship contention as he can only rack up 20 by Homestead.

However, if Nemechek finishes bottom-five either this week at Phoenix or next week at Homestead while McDowell bottom-fives in both, tying the two with 24 bottom-fives apiece, Nemechek will clinch the championship even if McDowell finishes last in both races. This is because Nemechek currently has an insurmountable lead on bottom-ten finishes: 29 to McDowell’s 23.

A bottom-ten tiebreaker would be a highly unusual event: no LASTCAR Cup championship has been this close since Jeff Gordon’s rookie season in 1993, where he took the LASTCAR Driver’s title by beating Bob Schacht’s two last-place finishes and three bottom-fives with six bottom-tens to Schacht’s three.

2010 LASTCAR SPRINT CUP OWNER’S CHAMPION: #87-NEMCO MOTORSPORTS
Ironically, the Owner’s Championship has now officially been clinched by Nemechek’s #87 team, NEMCO Motorsports. Although the second-ranked #66 PRISM Motorsports team can also still tie NEMCO’s seven last-place finishes with 43rd-place runs at Phoenix and Homestead, NEMCO’s #87 already has an insurmountable lead in bottom-five finishes: 23 to PRISM’s 18.

PHOENIX ENTRY LIST PREVIEW
For the first time in 2010, PRISM Motorsports scaled back to a single-car operation at Texas, only fielding the team’s #66 car with Mike Bliss stepping in for Johnny Sauter. The car qualified for the first time since Fontana and finished 39th after Bliss stayed out to lead a lap under the second caution on Lap 42. This weekend, both PRISM’s #55 and #66 will attempt to qualify with Bliss back in the #55 and Jason Leffler in the #66. As has been the case for much of PRISM’s existence, neither team has any sponsorship.

Joe Nemechek is also listed without a sponsor for the Phoenix race, whereas Michael McDowell, his Driver’s Championship contender, has funding from a company named “Super Pawn.” Dave Blaney, the defending LASTCAR champion, will return to Tommy Baldwin’s #36 following J.J. Yeley’s failed qualifying attempt at Texas; Baldwin’s Chevrolet is also currently without sponsorship.

CUP STATS AND FACTS
*Nemechek and the #87 had never finished last in a Cup race at the Texas Motor Speedway. The number had also never finished last in any of the eight Cup races held at the old Texas World Speedway in College Station.
*Despite the track’s high speeds, no driver had finished last in a Cup race at Texas because of an engine failure since 2007, when David Reutimann’s #00 Burger King Toyota lost the motor 90 laps into the 2007 Dickies 500.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #87-Joe Nemechek / 12 laps / engine
42) #37-Dave Blaney / 23 laps / overheating
41) #34-Travis Kvapil / 25 laps / overheating
40) #09-Landon Cassill / 35 laps / vibration
39) #66-Mike Bliss / 45 laps / rear gear / led 1 lap

LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Joe Nemechek (7)
2nd) Dave Blaney, Michael McDowell (5)
3rd) Max Papis (4)
4th) Aric Almirola, Jason Leffler (2)
5th) Landon Cassill, Jeff Fuller, Robby Gordon, Denny Hamlin, Bobby Labonte, Johnny Sauter, Reed Sorenson, Scott Speed, J.J. Yeley (1)

LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) #87-NEMCO Motorsports (7)
2nd) #66-PRISM Motorsports (5)
3rd) #13-Germain Racing, #55-PRISM Motorsports (4)
4th) #36-Tommy Baldwin Racing, #09-Phoenix Racing (3)
5th) #32-Braun Racing (2)
6th) #7-Robby Gordon Motorsports, #11-Joe Gibbs Racing, #46-Whitney Motorsports, #64-Gunselman Motorsports, #82-Team Red Bull, #97-NEMCO Motorsports (1)

N’WIDE: 2010 Champion Setzer And K-Automotive Near 2004 Records After Green Fails To Qualify 2nd-Ranked #36 at Texas

Dennis Setzer picked up the 12th last-place finish of his NASCAR Nationwide Series career in Saturday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge at the Texas Motor Speedway when his unsponsored #92 K-Automotive Motorsports Dodge fell out with a vibration after completing 3 of the race’s 205 laps.

The finish moved Setzer into a four-way tie for 4th in the all-time Nationwide Series standings, tying Johnny Chapman, Tommy Houston, and Brad Teague. Only Jeff Fuller, Jeff Green, and Ed Berrier have more.

Setzer qualified 15th at a speed of 187.396 mph, but was just the fifth-fastest “go-or-go-home” driver in a very competitive qualifying session for the underfunded teams. Fastest of the group was James Buescher’s #30, who rocketed to the pole in his first Nationwide Series start for Turner Motorsports, followed by David Gilliland’s 8th-place run in D’Hont-Humphrey Motorsports’ #91. Eight teams failed to qualify, including the 2nd-ranked LASTCAR duo of Jeff Green and Mark Smith’s #36, back together for the first time since Charlotte last month, and Gilliland’s teammate Danny O’Quinn, Jr. in D’Hont-Humphrey’s #90.

When the race itself unfolded, however, Setzer’s unsponsored ride was still the first to call it quits, earning the team its first last-place finish since the Kroger 200 at ORP, 13 races ago. Also among the bottom five was Gilliland, forced to park his 8th-fastest car after just 20 laps, and two-time 2010 Truck Series last-placer Tim Andrews in Rick Russell’s #79. Buescher, the polesitter, struggled as well, crashing on lap 44 after he led the opening four circuits, leaving his #30 just outside the bottom five in a disappointing 37th.

This weekend at Phoenix, Setzer will again attempt to qualify K-Automotive’s #92, putting both driver and team in contention to beat two all-time LASTCAR Nationwide Series single-season records before the year is out:

N’WIDE STATS AND FACTS
*Setzer’s 10 last-place finishes in 2010 is just one finish shy of tying the record for the most by a single driver in any of NASCAR’s top three divisions, the mark of 11 finishes set by all-time LASTCAR Nationwide leader Jeff Fuller in 2004.
*K-Automotive Motorsports (#26, #92, #96) now has a combined 13 last-place finishes in 2010, tying NEMCO Motorsports’ all-time Nationwide Series single-season record amassed between Fuller and Joe Nemechek in 2004 (#7, #87, #88). All 10 of Setzer’s finishes came with the team while Johnny Chapman, Parker Kligerman, and owner Brian Keselowski each scored one apiece.
*The #92 swept both last-place finishes at Texas in 2010, the first track it has swept this season. Looking ahead, Setzer finished last at Phoenix in the spring and could potentially sweep there as well when the series returns there next week.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #92-Dennis Setzer / 3 laps / vibration
42) #52-Kevin Lepage / 12 laps / ignition
41) #07-Danny Efland / 12 laps / engine
40) #91-David Gilliland / 20 laps / electrical
39) #79-Tim Andrews / 31 laps / electrical

LASTCAR N'WIDE SERIES DRIVER CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Dennis Setzer (10)
2nd) Jeff Green (6)
3rd) Mark Green, Kevin Lepage (2)
4th) Willie Allen, Michael Annett, Johnny Borneman III, Matt Carter, Johnny Chapman, David Gilliland, Kevin Hamlin, Jennifer Jo Cobb, Brian Keselowski, Parker Kligerman, Justin Marks, Danny O'Quinn, Jr., Chrissy Wallace (1)

LASTCAR N’WIDE SERIES DRIVER CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) #92-K-Automotive Motorsports (11)
2nd) #36-Mark Smith (7)
3rd) #15-Germain Racing, #26-K-Automotive Motorsports, #27-Curb Motorsports, #41-Rick Ware, #43-Curb Motorsports, #49-Jay Robinson, Inc., #56-John McNelly, #70-Mary Louise Miller, #82-MacDonald Motorsports, #83-John Borneman, Jr., #90-D'Hont Humphrey Motorsports, #91-D'Hont Humphrey Motorsports, #96-K-Automotive Motorsports, #04-Johnny Davis Motorsports, #05-Wayne Day (1)

TRUCKS: Long Wrecks After Green-Flag Scramble; Garvey Gets Driver’s Title

Johanna Long picked up the 2nd last-place finish of her NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career in Friday’s Winstar World Casino 350K at the Texas Motor Speedway when her #20 Panhandle Grading and Paving Toyota was involved in a two-truck accident on lap 2 of the 147-lap race.

Long qualified 9th for Friday’s race at a speed of 178.897 mph, earning her first top-10 run in just her sixth series start. Her speed was also fastest among those teams not locked-into Friday’s field, besting 13th-place Parker Kligerman in the Brad Keselowski-owned #29.

Unfortunately, when the race began, Long either missed a shift or spun the tires, stacking up the inside line behind her. Exiting the quad-oval, Ricky Carmichael dove through the grass to pass her and the two trucks made contact, cutting down Long’s left-rear tire. After wrestling her truck around the track, Long lost control in turn four and backed into the outside wall, ending her night. Justin Lofton also suffered damage in the wreck after he checked-up for the caution flag.

2010 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPION: MIKE GARVEY
With just two races left this season, Mike Garvey retains his two-finish lead in the Driver’s Standings and has thus officially clinched the 2010 LASTCAR Truck Series Driver’s Championship. Although all four of the second-ranked drivers can tie Garvey for the most last-place finishes in 2010 in the final two events this season, none of those drivers have more than four bottom-five finishes, far less than Garvey’s 13. It is Garvey’s first LASTCAR championship in any of the top three NASCAR divisions.

The 2010 Owner’s Championship, however, is still up for grabs between Team Gill Racing’s #95 and Shane Sieg’s #93, as Gill leads by a single finish. Ironically, Mike Garvey did not race at Texas in his driver’s title-clinching event - Sieg himself drove the truck to a 30th-place finish - and the #95 team did not enter the Texas race at all. If Sieg’s team can only tie Gill in the standings, the #93 team will still be able to clinch the Owner’s Championship: Sieg’s #93 already has 16 bottom-fives to Team Gill’s 11.

This Friday at Phoenix, Shane Sieg will again drive the #93. As of this writing, both Garvey and the #95 Team Gill Racing organization are absent from the 36-truck Entry List.

TRUCK STATS AND FACTS
*A truck had not finished last a Texas due to crash damage since 2006, when Kraig Kinser’s #46 Centrix Auto Finance Chevrolet fell out 55 laps into the 2006 Sam’s Town 400.
*This marks the first time the #20 had finished last in a Truck Series race at Texas.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
36) #20-Johnna Long / 1 lap / crash
35) #07-Butch Miller / 5 laps / engine
34) #16-Wes Burton / 17 laps / ignition
33) #11-Miguel Paludo / 52 laps / crash
32) #33-Ron Hornaday, Jr. / 52 laps / crash / led 1 lap

LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Mike Garvey (4)
2nd) Tim Andrews, Carl Long, Johanna Long, J.C. Stout (2)
3rd) Landon Cassill, Johnny Chapman, Mike Harmon, John Jackson, Chris Jones, Narain Karthikeyan, Chris Lafferty, Dillon Oliver, Shane Sieg, G.R. Smith, Jason White (1)

LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) #95-Danny Gill (6)
2nd) #93-Shane Sieg (5)
3rd) #20-Donald Long, #72-Mario Gosselin, #89-Chris Lafferty (2)
4th) #16-Rick Ware, #23-Steve Urvan, #50-Mark Beaver, #60-Jeff Wyler, #87-Rick Jones, #98-Duke Thorson (1)

CUP: Fuller Ties Nemechek For 4th All-Time After Early Talladega Exit

Jeff Fuller picked up the 5th last-place finish of his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career in Sunday’s AMP Energy Juice 500 at Talladega when his #97 HeatRedefined.com Toyota fell out with rear gear problems after completing 2 of the race’s 188 laps. Fuller is now tied with Joe Nemechek for 4th in the all-time LASTCAR standings with 29 total last-place finishes across all three of NASCAR’s top divisions. Only Derrike Cope, Morgan Shepherd, and the late J.D. McDuffie have more.

Fuller, a longtime teammate of Nemechek in both the Nationwide Series, began aiding Nemechek’s Cup operation in 2010 at the restrictor plate tracks. In February, Fuller and his #97 Toyota finished last in the Gatorade Duels once Nemechek had successfully qualified his #87 into the big show. Fuller and the #97 returned for another attempt at Talladega, but withdrew before rain washed out qualifying. After missing the July event at Daytona, also set by points after time trials were washed out, Fuller returned to Talladega, where a sunny weekend welcomed the Sprint Cup Series.

Fuller did not get on the track during Friday’s first practice session, joining Johnny Sauter and PRISM Motorsports’ 2009 LASTCAR Champion #66 team in the garage, then ran 32nd in Happy Hour after only three timed laps. The next day, however, Fuller and Nemechek ramped up their “go-or-go-home” qualifying setups and stole the show by qualifying inside the Top 15: Fuller was 13th at a speed of 183.406 mph while Nemechek equaled his strong 4th starting spot from the 2008 Coke Zero 400 at Daytona with his second top-10 start of 2010. It would be Fuller’s first points-paying Cup start in five years, dating back to the 2005 MBNA RacePoints 400 at Dover. Sauter’s #66 was the slowest of the three cars that missed Sunday's race.

Although both Nemechek and Fuller had sponsorship, the team had already decided to have Fuller’s England’s Stove Works Toyota pull behind the wall in the early laps so that Nemechek’s Gator.com machine ran the entire race. As a result, Fuller fell to the rear before the start along with defending LASTCAR Cup Driver’s Champion Dave Blaney, who started an equally-impressive 7th in Tommy Baldwin’s unsponsored #36. When the race started, Fuller had already lost the draft, and he pulled behind the wall by Lap 2. Blaney followed suit 10 circuits later.

Nemechek, meanwhile, hustled his #87 up to the front, leading the opening lap of the race before getting shuffled back into the middle of the lead pack. He lost a lap in the early green-flag run, then used pit strategy to get back into the same sequence as the leaders. Unfortunately, with 8 laps to go, Nemechek blew a right-front tire, dropping enough metal debris in turns three and four to draw the next-to-last caution of the race. He avoided contact with the wall, however, and finished 27th.

Michael Waltrip, who brought Aaron’s sponsorship to PRISM Motorsports #55 for both Talladega races, repeated his promising run in the spring when he contended for the lead on a few occasions, even pacing the field for three laps. However, like Nemechek, Waltrip suffered bad luck in the final 10 laps of the race. Coming to the white flag, he tangled with Scott Speed, A.J. Allmendinger, and Tony Stewart in the tri-oval, sending him spinning out of the Top 20. Waltrip came home 28th, one spot behind Nemechek, when the field froze.

Still, Sunday marked the first time in 2010 that either of the two cars from PRISM and NEMCO had finished a race under power.

With three races to go, Nemechek and NEMCO’s #87 still hold one-finish leads in both the LASTCAR Driver’s and Owner’s Championship Standings. However, this weekend at Texas, Dave Blaney is returning to Front Row Motorsports’ #37 and Michael McDowell is still running with sponsorship from Cash America, whereas Nemechek does not have sufficient sponsorship to run the distance in this week’s race. The Owner’s title may be locked up soon as well: PRISM Motorsports’ #66, second in the rankings, has continued to struggle in qualifying: Johnny Sauter will again attempt to get the car into the field on Friday.

CUP STATS AND FACTS
*Fuller had not finished last in a Cup race since his most recent start in the series in 2005, when his #34 Ravi Pit Crew Wear Chevrolet fell out with a vibration after completing 15 laps of the 2005 MBNA RacePoints 400 at Dover.
*The #97 had also not finished last in a Cup race since 2005, when Kurt Busch’s Smirnoff Ice / Irwin Ford fell out with crash damage after 26 laps of the wreck-filled 2005 Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte. The number had never before finished last in a Cup race at Talladega.
*This was the second straight year a NEMCO Toyota finished last in the fall race at Talladega: Joe Nemechek was involved in a two-car accident with Paul Menard after 4 laps of last year’s AMP Energy 500.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #97-Jeff Fuller / 2 laps / rear gear
42) #36-Dave Blaney / 12 laps / transmission
41) #31-Jeff Burton / 133 laps / crash / led 11 laps
40) #26-Bill Elliott / 140 laps / crash
39) #88-Dale Earnhardt, Jr. / 163 laps / running / led 24 laps

LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Joe Nemechek (6)
2nd) Dave Blaney, Michael McDowell (5)
3rd) Max Papis (4)
4th) Aric Almirola, Jason Leffler (2)
5th) Landon Cassill, Jeff Fuller, Robby Gordon, Denny Hamlin, Bobby Labonte, Johnny Sauter, Reed Sorenson, Scott Speed, J.J. Yeley (1)

LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) #87-NEMCO Motorsports (6)
2nd) #66-PRISM Motorsports (5)
3rd) #13-Germain Racing, #55-PRISM Motorsports (4)
4th) #36-Tommy Baldwin Racing, #09-Phoenix Racing (3)
5th) #32-Braun Racing (2)
6th) #7-Robby Gordon Motorsports, #11-Joe Gibbs Racing, #46-Whitney Motorsports, #64-Gunselman Motorsports, #82-Team Red Bull, #97-NEMCO Motorsports (1)

TRUCKS: Jackson Finishes Last At Talladega While #93, #95 Get TV Time

John Jackson picked up the 3rd last-place finish of his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career in Saturday’s Mountain Dew 250 Fueled By Fred’s at Talladega when his #72 James Carter Attorney / SponsorTheTruck.com Chevrolet fell out with oil pressure problems after completing 5 of the race’s 95 laps.

The Scottish teammate to Mario Gosselin qualified for his 3rd start of 2010 in the 33rd spot at a speed of 172.494 mph. No teams were sent home after time trials as only 34 trucks, including Jackson’s, were on the initial entry list: Dominick Casola’s #00 and Jerick Johnson’s #24 filed post-entries late last week to fill the final two spots, timing in 35th and 36th.

Early in Saturday’s race, it appeared Norm Benning was on the way to scoring his first last-place finish of 2010 (and fourth of his career) when his #57 truck stalled in the early going and spent several laps in the garage area. However, he was back on track several laps down by the time both Jackson’s #72 and Johnson’s #24 had pulled behind the wall. Jackson edged Johnson for 35th by a single lap, and Benning’s return eventually slipped the #72 team to the final finishing position. Jackson’s teammate and owner Mario Gosselin was knocked-out by an engine failure on Lap 18, leaving him 34th at race’s end.

Meanwhile, in the LASTCAR championship hunt, both the top teams in the LASTCAR Owner’s Standings enjoyed solid performances. Driver’s Standings leader Mike Garvey, in Shane Sieg’s #93, finished on the lead lap in 12th, far better than the team’s previous season-best finish of 25th at ORP. Team Gill Racing tabbed ARCA standout Grant Enfinger to drive the second-ranked #95, which sped into the Top 10 in the closing stages of the race. Unfortunately, while running 7th with three laps remaining, Enfinger triggered a multi-car melee in turn one that ended his race, leaving him 22nd. The run was still the team’s best 2010 performance since Johnny Benson’s 8th-place finish at the Daytona season opener.

With three races to go and Team Gill’s #95 continuing to change drivers, time is running out for Truck Series drivers and teams to challenge Garvey and the #93 team for the division’s 2010 LASTCAR Driver’s and Owner’s Championships. Garvey and the #93 are currently on this week’s 38-truck entry list at Texas, but the #95 team has not entered. Among the second-ranked drivers, only Carl Long has a ride for the race in owner Daisy Ramirez’s #01 Koma Unwind Chevrolet. Barring further changes to the list and a 35th or better finish by Long, Garvey could clinch the Driver’s Championship at Texas, thanks to his series-leading 13 bottom-five finishes.

TRUCK STATS AND FACTS
*Jackson had not finished last since 2009, when his #72 DGM Racing / Sponsor TheTruck.com Chevrolet, also owned by Gosselin, fell out with transmission problems after 2 laps of the 2009 Copart 200 at Gateway. It was the first of two consecutive last-place finishes at Gateway by the #72 team: Johnny Champman followed suit after one lap of this year’s CampingWorld.com 200.
*This was the first time in Truck Series history that a driver had finished last with “oil pressure” as the listed problem.
*Neither Jackson nor the #72 had ever before finished last in a Truck race at Talladega.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
36) #72-John Jackson / 5 laps / oil pressure
35) #24-Jerick Johnson / 6 laps / electrical
34) #12-Mario Gosselin / 18 laps / engine
33) #7-Justin Lofton / 22 laps / crash
32) #6-Jeffrey Earnhardt / 22 laps / crash

LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Mike Garvey (4)
2nd) Tim Andrews, Carl Long, J.C. Stout (2)
3rd) Landon Cassill, Johnny Chapman, Mike Harmon, John Jackson, Chris Jones, Narain Karthikeyan, Chris Lafferty, Johanna Long, Dillon Oliver, Shane Sieg, G.R. Smith, Jason White (1)

LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) #95-Danny Gill (6)
2nd) #93-Shane Sieg (5)
3rd) #72-Mario Gosselin, #89-Chris Lafferty (2)
4th) #16-Rick Ware, #20-Donald Long, #23-Steve Urvan, #50-Mark Beaver, #60-Jeff Wyler, #87-Rick Jones, #98-Duke Thorson (1)

CUP: Labonte Last After Cassill Stretches Gunselman Car At Martinsville

Bobby Labonte picked up the 11th last-place finish of his NASCAR Sprint Cup career in Sunday’s Tums Fast Relief 500 at the Martinsville Speedway when his #09 C&J Energy Services Chevrolet fell out with overheating problems after completing 197 of the race’s 500 laps.

Last week at Charlotte, Labonte finished 22nd in the first Cup race for Stavola-Labonte Racing, co-owned by Bobby’s brother Terry. Martinsville would see the 2000 champion return to Phoenix Racing, which Labonte joined on a part-time basis following his departure from TRG Motorsports earlier this year.

Hopes were high for a good performance on the short track as Phoenix Racing’s #09 would have full primary sponsorship for just the second time in 2010 (the first since Daytona in July, where Coke Zero came aboard). Last month, C&J Energy Services, based in the Labonte family’s hometown of Corpus Christi, Texas, had signed on to fund a handful of 2010 races. Phoenix Racing would also have a Hendrick engine at their disposal for the Martinsville weekend.

The new silver-and-black Chevrolet qualified 23rd for Sunday’s race at a speed of 96.190 mph. The #09 was also 8th-fastest in Saturday’s morning practice, during which he turned in the second-fastest 10-lap run, trailing only A.J. Allmendinger.

Early in Sunday’s race, current LASTCAR Sprint Cup Driver’s Championship leader Joe Nemechek fell to 43rd, followed by J.J. Yeley, who qualified Dusty Whitney’s #81 for the second time this season. Nemechek carried returning sponsorship from England’s Stove Works and Yeley inherited Red Line Oil from teammate Michael McDowell, who failed to qualify his #46, but it was still unclear whether either car would be able to run the entire race. This was also a concern for Landon Cassill, who was the first driver to go behind the wall when his Larry Gunselman-owned #64 slowed on Lap 22.

Mechanical problems then plagued Front Row Motorsports teammates Travis Kvapil in the #38 and David Gilliland in the #37, who both spent time in the garage area after the first caution came on Lap 48. Gilliland spent more time behind the wall than Kvapil and fell to 42nd, both teams listed as “off the track” by the time defending LASTCAR Champion Dave Blaney pulled the #36 behind the wall around Lap 78. However, as the race neared the 100-lap mark, none of these teams had officially left the race, and Nemechek and Yeley stayed out of the garage altogether.

Meanwhile, Bobby Labonte struggled just outside the Top 30. On Lap 133, he tangled with Ken Schrader and Marcos Ambrose during an ill-timed three-wide battle off turn two, but avoided serious damage. By Lap 166, Gilliland, Cassill, and Blaney had all taken turns returning to the track with Gilliland and Cassill still in the bottom two positions, each more than 100 laps behind the leaders.

By the time the eighth caution fell on Lap 210, Bobby Labonte had gone behind the wall, K.O.’d by an overheating engine. With Labonte the first officially retiree from the race in 38th with all five of the cars trailing him either laps down or “off,” the goal for those teams became running enough laps to beat Labonte. This combatants were not only Cassill, Gilliland, and Blaney, but also Regan Smith and Clint Bowyer, who were logging laps following separate mid-race crashes:

THE BOTTOM FIVE - LAP 234
43) #64-Landon Cassill / -122 laps
42) #37-David Gilliland / -113 laps
41) #36-Dave Blaney / -57 laps
40) #78-Regan Smith / -52 laps
39) #33-Clint Bowyer / -49 laps

As the race wound down, no driver and team fought harder to pass Labonte than Landon Cassill and “The Gunselman Gang’s” #64, who remained in 43rd for much of the entire race. Once the team learned of Labonte’s exit, the Gunselman crew fought to keep their car in one piece for as long as possible. In doing so, the team would go on to run more laps than it had since Todd Bodine ran 227 laps during the team’s Las Vegas debut last year. Unfortunately for the #64 team, their efforts were hampered by an electrical glitch that kept shutting the car off randomly, forcing two extended stays behind the wall after Labonte withdrew. The second stop came after Lap 312, when Labonte had slipped to 42nd, and by then, the team was struggling to find another set of tires. On Lap 349, Cassill returned to the race 167 laps down, the team knowing they were just 13 laps from passing Labonte. At last, on Lap 362, the team succeeded, and a Lap 366 radio transmission said “Next time by, get the hell outta here.” Cassill finished 42nd, the team unable to run the car another 60 laps to pass 41st-place Joe Nemechek, who by then had long fallen out with Yeley and Casey Mears.

Nemechek and NEMCO Motorsports remain the leaders in the LASTCAR Cup Driver’s and Owner’s Championships for 2010. At this point, their nearest competitors are running out of time:

In the Driver’s Championship, Michael McDowell has secured enough sponsorship from Red Line Oil and Cash America to run the distance in all four of this season’s remaining races; Whitney’s primary car will not have to “start-and-park” for the rest of 2010. Dave Blaney will only be running partial races for Tommy Baldwin part-time, pending any future starts for Front Row Motorsports. J.J. Yeley will run two of those races in the #36, splitting time with one more start at Phoenix in Whitney’s #81.

In the Owner’s Championship, both PRISM Motorsports cars failed to qualify for the Martinsville race, and the team’s #66 and #55 remain one and two finishes, respectively, short of tying Nemechek for the lead. This Sunday at Talladega, PRISM’s #55 will receive full funding from Aaron’s for the second time in 2010 as Michael Waltrip looks to follow-up his promising April run with the team. There is no new information regarding sponsorship for PRISM’s #66, but the team’s struggles in qualifying may undermine the team’s Owner’s Title defense.

CUP STATS AND FACTS
*The finish was Phoenix Racing’s 3rd in 2010 and its first since Aric Almirola was felled by a vibration 23 laps into this year’s Shelby American at Las Vegas. Interestingly, Sunday saw Almirola make his first Cup race since the spring race at Martinsville, having returned to replace the released Kasey Kahne in the Budweiser Ford. Almirola finished 21st on Sunday after finishing 41st in the spring.
*It was Labonte’s first last-place finish in just over a year, dating back to when his #71 Mahindra Tractors Chevrolet was involved in a multi-car crash after 6 laps of the 2009 Price Chopper 400 at Kansas.
*Labonte had not finished last in a Cup race at Martinsville since 2007, when his #43 Cheerios Dodge finished under power, 235 laps down, in the 2007 Goody’s Cool Orange 500.
*The #09 had not finished last in a Cup race at Martinsville since 2004, when Joe Ruttman’s Miccosukee Dodge lost the brakes two laps into the 2004 Advance Auto Parts 500.
*The 197 laps Labonte completed were the most by a last placer since 2008, when Kurt Busch’s #2 Miller Lite Dodge crashed after completing 207 of the 267 laps that made up the 2008 Ford 400 at Homestead.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #09-Bobby Labonte / 197 laps / overheating
42) #64-Landon Cassill / 200 laps / brakes
41) #87-Joe Nemechek / 264 laps / brakes
40) #13-Casey Mears / 271 laps / electrical
39) #81-J.J. Yeley / 282 laps / brakes

LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Joe Nemechek (6)
2nd) Dave Blaney, Michael McDowell (5)
3rd) Max Papis (4)
4th) Aric Almirola, Jason Leffler (2)
5th) Landon Cassill, Robby Gordon, Denny Hamlin, Bobby Labonte, Johnny Sauter, Reed Sorenson, Scott Speed, J.J. Yeley (1)

LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) #87-NEMCO Motorsports (6)
2nd) #66-PRISM Motorsports (5)
3rd) #13-Germain Racing, #55-PRISM Motorsports (4)
4th) #36-Tommy Baldwin Racing, #09-Phoenix Racing (3)
5th) #32-Braun Racing (2)
6th) #7-Robby Gordon Motorsports, #11-Joe Gibbs Racing, #46-Whitney Motorsports, #64-Gunselman Motorsports, #82-Team Red Bull (1)

N’WIDE: Hamlin 43rd In TriStar’s #36, But Driver’s Title Belongs To Setzer

Kevin Hamlin picked up the 4th last-place finish of his NASCAR Nationwide Series career in Saturday’s 5-Hour Energy 250 at Gateway International Raceway when his unsponsored #36 TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet fell out after the first of 200 laps with brake problems.

As reported last week, Hamlin stepped in to replace Jeff Green, who scored all six of the #36 team’s previous last-place finishes in 2010. While Green, in Key Motorsports’ #40, qualified 25th, Hamlin qualified Green’s old ride 33rd at a speed of 132.271 mph, besting eight other “go-or-go-home” teams including the four that failed to qualify. On race day, Hamlin left the race early while Green went on to finish 29th.

Saturday’s last-place battle was close due to the sheer number of cars that left the race early: in all, seven cars, including Hamlin’s, fell out of Saturday’s race in the first four laps. Two of these cars were in a position to deny Hamlin the finish, as both Nashville last-placer Danny O’Quinn, Jr. in D’Hont-Humphrey’s #90 and Brian Keselowski’s K-Automotive #26, 43rd last Friday in Charlotte, also went to the garage after Lap 1.

Now, with three races to go in the 2010 season, both LASTCAR Nationwide Series championships have officially been clinched:

2010 LASTCAR N’WIDE OWNER’S CHAMPION: #92 - K-AUTOMOTIVE MOTORSPORTS
K-Automotive Motorsports’ #92, which finished 38th with Andy Ponstein on Saturday, has already claimed the 2010 LASTCAR Nationwide Series Owner’s Championship. Even if TriStar’s #36 finished last in all three remaining races while the #92 finished 38th or higher in each, the #92 would still have seventeen bottom-five finishes to the #36's thirteen. This means that, in reality, the #92 team clinched the Owner’s title last Friday at Charlotte when Parker Kligerman’s crash denied the #36 a potential eleventh last-place finish. (NOTE: Last week’s N’WIDE post for Charlotte has been updated to reflect this)

2010 LASTCAR N’WIDE DRIVER’S CHAMPION: DENNIS SETZER
Dennis Setzer, who did not enter the Gateway race so he could attempt to race K-Automotive’s Cup car into Sunday’s race at Martinsville, has now claimed the 2010 LASTCAR Nationwide Series Driver’s Championship. Jeff Green failed to finish last on Saturday and, ss the only driver in a position to tie Setzer for the most 43rd-place finishes this season, can only lose the title on bottom-five finishes. Mathematically, Green can only close to within five finishes of Setzer’s 17 bottom-fives. It is Setzer’s first LASTCAR title in any of NASCAR’s top three divisions.

N’WIDE STATS AND FACTS
*The #36 had not finished last at Gateway since 1999, when Tim Fedewa’s Stanley Tools Pontiac fell out with engine failure after 66 of the 200 laps that made up the 1999 Carquest Auto Parts 250.
*It is Hamlin’s first last-place finish since 2009, when he scored his other three last-place finishes. His most recent finish came in the Nationwide season finale Ford 300 at Homestead, driving the #37 BCR Ford lost the transmission 3 laps into the race. Interestingly, Hamlin’s first-ever last-place finish also came at Gateway, where his #42 Smith Iron Works Dodge fell out with electrical problems without completing a single lap of the 2009 Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #36-Kevin Hamlin / 1 lap / brakes
42) #90-Danny O’Quinn, Jr. / 1 lap / brakes
41) #26-Brian Keselowski / 1 lap / engine
40) #94-Carl Long / 2 laps / electrical
39) #56-Kevin Lepage / 2 laps / vibration

LASTCAR N'WIDE SERIES DRIVER CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Dennis Setzer (9)
2nd) Jeff Green (6)
3rd) Mark Green, Kevin Lepage (2)
4th) Willie Allen, Michael Annett, Johnny Borneman III, Matt Carter, Johnny Chapman, David Gilliland, Kevin Hamlin, Jennifer Jo Cobb, Brian Keselowski, Parker Kligerman, Justin Marks, Danny O'Quinn, Jr., Chrissy Wallace (1)

LASTCAR N’WIDE SERIES DRIVER CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) #92-K-Automotive Motorsports (10)
2nd) #36-Mark Smith (7)
3rd) #15-Germain Racing, #26-K-Automotive Motorsports, #27-Curb Motorsports, #41-Rick Ware, #43-Curb Motorsports, #49-Jay Robinson, Inc., #56-John McNelly, #70-Mary Louise Miller, #82-MacDonald Motorsports, #83-John Borneman, Jr., #90-D'Hont Humphrey Motorsports, #91-D'Hont Humphrey Motorsports, #96-K-Automotive Motorsports, #04-Johnny Davis Motorsports, #05-Wayne Day (1)

TRUCKS: Garvey Jump-Starts 2010 Title Bid In #95 Team’s Absence At Martinsville

Mike Garvey picked up the 5th last-place finish of his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career in Saturday’s Kroger 200 at the Martinsville Speedway when his #93 S&W Towing Chevrolet fell out with brake problems after completing 27 of the race’s 206 laps.

Garvey qualified 22nd for Saturday’s race at a speed of 94.013 mph, more than enough to make Dover last-placer Chris Lafferty’s #89 the only truck to miss the show. He then fell out during the second caution of the race for Cody Cambensy’s spin with an unrelated brake problem.

The finish was Garvey’s series-leading 4th of 2010, but his first in twelve races, dating back to July’s Lucas Oil 200 at Iowa. Team Gill Racing, whose #95 now holds a one-finish lead in the LASTCAR Owner’s Championship standings, did not enter Saturday’s race after the team failed to qualify for the previous event at Las Vegas. Team #95 will return this weekend at Talladega, where ARCA upstart Grant Enfinger will attempt his first series start with the team. Both Enfinger and Garvey will be guaranteed starting spots this Saturday if the entry list remains at 34 trucks.

Regardless, with four races to go, both the Driver’s and Owner’s Championships are still up for grabs, though the latter has become a two-team race between trucks #93 and #95. Third-ranked Chris Lafferty, the only driver to miss the race at Martinsville, will also have his #89 at Talladega with Mike Harmon behind the wheel.

TRUCK STATS AND FACTS
*This is the first time in Truck Series history that the #93 has swept both last-place finishes at Martinsville.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
36) #93-Mike Garvey / 27 laps / brakes
35) #12-Mario Gosselin / 116 laps / engine
34) #17-Timothy Peters / 163 laps / crash
33) #10-Jennifer Jo Cobb / 172 laps / running
32) #24-Cody Cambensy / 198 laps / running

LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Mike Garvey (4)
2nd) Tim Andrews, Carl Long, J.C. Stout (2)
3rd) Landon Cassill, Johnny Chapman, Mike Harmon, Chris Jones, Narain Karthikeyan, Chris Lafferty, Johanna Long, Dillon Oliver, Shane Sieg, G.R. Smith, Jason White (1)

LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) #95-Danny Gill (6)
2nd) #93-Shane Sieg (5)
3rd) #89-Chris Lafferty (2)
4th) #16-Rick Ware, #20-Donald Long, #23-Steve Urvan, #50-Mark Beaver, #60-Jeff Wyler, #72-Mario Gosselin, #87-Rick Jones, #98-Duke Thorson (1)

CUP: Yeley Finishes 43rd For First Time In Three Years, Then Relieves Kahne

J.J. Yeley picked up the 2nd last-place finish of his NASCAR Sprint Cup career in Saturday’s Bank of America 500 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway when his unsponsored #36 Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet fell out with ignition problems after completing 73 of the race’s 334 laps.

Yeley qualified 40th for Saturday’s race at a speed of 187.363 mph during the nail-biting final moments of Thursday’s qualifying session. When his first timed lap was too slow to make the field, Yeley dug deep and picked up three-hundredths of a second, just barely enough to edge Jeff Green’s #64 for the next-to-last spot in the field. This proved significant as Casey Mears, whose #13 was next to qualify, was unable to edge both Yeley and Green. This meant Mears, the next-to-last car to qualify, would be sent home and that Yeley would race on Saturday. Green was locked into the 43rd spot when Johnny Sauter’s #23 R3 Motorsports entry turned in the slowest speed of the night.

On Saturday, Ryan Newman’s #39 was the first to slip to last place following a crash on lap 2 that sent his 11th-fastest car behind the wall. One lap after the race restarted on the 8th circuit, Bill Elliott’s #21 fell off the pace on the backstretch and also headed to the garage. By lap 14, Elliott was back on the track, but Landon Cassill, fastest of the “go-or-go-homers” in his #09, was off the track. Cassill rejoined the race before the lap 24 caution and scored the Lucky Dog. Newman remained behind the wall, but not officially out of the race, in 43rd.

From there, another last-place battle took shape like those at Phoenix and Atlanta earlier this season. Michael McDowell’s #46 was the only car that skipped pit stops under the lap 24 yellow, so he inherited the lead for the restart. McDowell spun the tires on the restart, slipped back through the field, then pulled to the apron in turn three on lap 30 to go to the garage. In between those moments, both Yeley and Green had spent time in the garage before coming back out with McDowell, Yeley one lap further in arrears than both McDowell and Cassill with Newman and Elliott still in the final two positions. Green received the next Lucky Dog on lap 34 and was still just two laps down in 38th on lap 50, at which point the bottom five behind him looked like this:

LAP 50: THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #39-Ryan Newman - OFF
42) #21-Bill Elliott - 26 laps down
41) #36-J.J. Yeley - 7 laps down
40) #09-Landon Cassill - 6 laps down
39) #46-Michael McDowell - 6 laps down

By lap 66, Newman was back on the track 58 laps down. Cassill was back behind the wall and had slipped past Yeley to 41st, closing on Elliott for 42nd. Green went back behind the wall by lap 83 and, by lap 98, he had slipped into the Bottom Five all the way down to 42nd. By the time Green returned to the track 35 laps down on the 103rd circuit, McDowell, Cassill, and Yeley were back off the track in 38th, 39th, and 40th. Yeley was the first to drop out of the race at that point, slipping him past Green to 42nd by lap 121 and nudging Elliott out of the Bottom Five. By lap 137, Newman had passed Yeley for 42nd, finally dropping the #36 into last place.

By then, Kasey Kahne’s #9 had been eliminated in a two-car crash after his brakes failed in turns three and four, sending him careening into Sam Hornish, Jr.’s #77. Kahne, frustrated and ill, called it a night and Yeley was then called-upon as Kahne’s relief driver. In the end, Yeley nursed Kahne’s car to a 38th-place finish, crossing the line under power. Hornish’s Dodge, destroyed in the Kahne accident, was unable to continue and fell to 40th, keeping the #9 out of the Bottom Five. Elliott and Newman finished 35th and 36th, respectively.

LASTCAR Driver’s Championship leader Joe Nemechek failed to qualify for his fourth race of 2010 (and his third out of the last eight races) as the fastest car to not make the field. Nemechek maintains a one-finish lead in the Driver’s Standings over both McDowell and defending LASTCAR Driver’s Champion Dave Blaney, who was making one of his handful of starts for Front Row Motorsports. This week at Martinsville, Blaney will return to the #36 team, with whom he finished last at Dover last month. Yeley will return to Whitney Motorsports to make his second attempt in the #81 as McDowell’s teammate.

One week after Jason Leffler finished last for PRISM Motorsports’ #66 team, both Leffler and teammate Mike Bliss missed the show, allowing Nemechek’s #87 team to hold onto its one-finish lead in the LASTCAR Owner’s Championship standings. Yeley’s finish gave Tommy Baldwin Racing its third 43rd-place showing of 2010, giving the team sole possession of 4th in those standings.

CUP STATS AND FACTS
*This was Yeley’s first last-place finish in Cup since 2007, when his #18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet was involved in a multi-car accident after the first lap of the 2007 Samsung 500 at Texas. He has just one other last-place finish in NASCAR competiton: a lap 4 engine failure in the 2005 Ameriquest 300, a Nationwide Series race at Fontana.
*Yeley is the first driver to finish last in a Cup race at Charlotte with ignition failure since 1984, when the late Benny Parsons’ #55 Copenhagen Chevrolet fell out after 6 laps of the 1984 World 600.
*The #36 had never before finished last in a Cup race at Charlotte.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #36-J.J. Yeley / 73 laps / ignition
42) #09-Landon Cassill / 89 laps / rear gear
41) #64-Jeff Green / 91 laps / transmission
40) #77-Sam Hornish, Jr. / 122 laps / crash
39) #46-Michael McDowell / 127 laps / rear gear / led 2 laps

LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Joe Nemechek (6)
2nd) Dave Blaney, Michael McDowell (5)
3rd) Max Papis (4)
4th) Aric Almirola, Jason Leffler (2)
5th) Landon Cassill, Robby Gordon, Denny Hamlin, Johnny Sauter, Reed Sorenson, Scott Speed, J.J. Yeley (1)

LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) #87-NEMCO Motorsports (6)
2nd) #66-PRISM Motorsports (5)
3rd) #13-Germain Racing, #55-PRISM Motorsports (4)
4th) #36-Tommy Baldwin Racing (3)
5th) #32-Braun Racing, #09-Phoenix Racing (2)
6th) #7-Robby Gordon Motorsports, #11-Joe Gibbs Racing, #46-Whitney Motorsports, #64-Gunselman Motorsports, #82-Team Red Bull (1)

N’WIDE: Kligerman’s Crash Stops Green’s Streak At Charlotte, Securing Owner's Title For #92

Parker Kligerman picked up the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR Nationwide Series career in Friday’s Dollar General 300 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway when his unsponsored #26 K-Automotive Motorsports Dodge was involved in a single-car crash after completing 3 of the race’s 200 laps. The finish came in Kligerman’s 12th series start.

The ARCA standout and outside-polesitter at Daytona in July qualified 8th for the Charlotte race at a speed of 180.234 mph, not only ranking him 3rd among the “go-or-go-homers,” but also making him the top non-Cup regular on the starting grid. Unfortunately, just a few laps into the race, he lost control of his Dodge in turns three and four and backed into the outside wall (see photo). The damage to the rear clip was severe enough to end Kligerman’s night, and he is now tied with David Gilliland at Dover for scoring the best qualifying run of any Nationwide Series last-placer in 2010.

Kligerman’s exit denied Jeff Green his fourth consecutive last-place finish. Green made his first run in Mark Smith’s Next-Generation chassis by qualifying 33rd, but did not pull behind the wall until one lap after Kligerman, leaving Green 42nd. Green remains second in the LASTCAR Driver’s Championship standings, three finishes behind leader Dennis Setzer, who did not start any of the four races in 2010 featuring the Nationwide Series’ new car.

With four races to go, and Jeff Green having only 9 bottom-five finishes to Setzer’s 17, Green can only claim his second LASTCAR Driver’s title if he finishes last in every remaining race this season, giving him 10 finishes to Setzer’s 9. This Saturday at Gateway, however, Green will be returning to Curtis Key’s #40 while Kevin Hamlin will be in the #36. Because of this, if Green fails to finish last at Gateway, Dennis Setzer will be the 2010 LASTCAR Nationwide Series Driver’s Champion.

2010 LASTCAR N’WIDE OWNER’S CHAMPION: #92 - K-AUTOMOTIVE MOTORSPORTS
The Owner’s Championship, however, is now over: it belongs to K-Automotive’s #92 team, thanks to the combined 10 last-place finishes of Setzer, Johnny Chapman, and Brian Keselowski. By failing to finish last on Friday, the #36 can only finish last four more times, tying the #92 team’s mark of 10. However, even if the #92 fails to finish lower than 38th and the #36 does with its four last-place finishes, the #36 would lose the tie by having 13 bottom-five finishes to K-Automotive’s 17.

As a side note, this Friday, Setzer and K-Automotive’s #92 team will attempt to qualify for the Cup race at Martinsville. If Setzer qualifies, it will be K-Automotive’s first-ever Cup start and Setzer’s first Cup race since the 1998 NAPA AutoCare 500, also the fall race at Martinsville, where the veteran finished 38th driving the #13 FirstPlus Financial Ford owned by Bill Elliott and Dan Marino. Andy Ponstein is slated to drive Setzer’s Nationwide ride at Gatway and could potentially disrupt Green and Hamlin’s contest for 43rd.

N’WIDE STATS AND FACTS
*The #26 had not finished last in a Nationwide Series race since 2006, when Carl Long’s lovefifi.com Chevrolet fell out with electrical problems after completing 36 laps of the 2006 Kroger 200 Benefitting Riley Hospital for Children at O’Reilly Raceway Park. Curiously, K-Automotive had not finished last this year since Dennis Setzer’s #92 nabbed 43rd in this year’s annual return to the Indianapolis track, 11 races ago.
*The #26 had never before finished last in a Nationwide Series race at Charlotte.
*Although this is the first last-place finish for the Keselowski-owned #26 this season, K-Automotive Motorsports’ three teams now have a combined twelve last-place finishes in 2010 between the #26, #92, and #96.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #26-Parker Kligerman / 3 laps / crash
42) #36-Jeff Green / 4 laps / ignition
41) #87-Joe Nemechek / 10 laps / crash
40) #49-Mark Green / 12 laps / electrical
39) #70-Shelby Howard / 19 laps / crash

LASTCAR N'WIDE SERIES DRIVER CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Dennis Setzer (9)
2nd) Jeff Green (6)
3rd) Mark Green, Kevin Lepage (2)
4th) Willie Allen, Michael Annett, Johnny Borneman III, Matt Carter, Johnny Chapman, David Gilliland, Jennifer Jo Cobb, Brian Keselowski, Parker Kligerman, Justin Marks, Danny O'Quinn, Jr., Chrissy Wallace (1)

LASTCAR N’WIDE SERIES DRIVER CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) #92-K-Automotive Motorsports (10)
2nd) #36-Mark Smith (6)
3rd) #15-Germain Racing, #26-K-Automotive Motorsports, #27-Curb Motorsports, #41-Rick Ware, #43-Curb Motorsports, #49-Jay Robinson, Inc., #56-John McNelly, #70-Mary Louise Miller, #82-MacDonald Motorsports, #83-John Borneman, Jr., #90-D'Hont Humphrey Motorsports, #91-D'Hont Humphrey Motorsports, #96-K-Automotive Motorsports, #04-Johnny Davis Motorsports, #05-Wayne Day (1)

CUP: Leffler’s Fontana Exit Puts PRISM’s #66 Back Into Battle To Defend Owner’s Title

Jason Leffler picked up the 5th last-place finish of his NASCAR Sprint Cup career in Sunday’s Pepsi Max 400 at the Auto Club Speedway of Southern California when his unsponsored #66 PRISM Motorsports Toyota fell out with electrical problems after completing 23 of the race’s 200 laps.

Leffler qualified 33rd for Sunday’s race at a speed of 181.424 mph while his teammate, Mike Bliss, was unsuccessful in qualifying the #55. It would be the #66 team’s second start in the last eight races and its first since Bristol, five failed qualifying attempts ago. Leffler, who was 2nd-fastest among the “go-or-go-homers” in opening practice (30th overall), fell to the back before the start of Sunday’s race along with the #87 of current LASTCAR Cup Driver’s Championship leader Joe Nemechek and Atlanta last-placer Denny Hamlin.

Early in Sunday’s race, first Nemechek, then the #34 of Travis Kvapil fell to 43rd before Kevin Conway dropped back to the rear before the ten-lap mark. Landon Cassill, again in the #64 that he finished last with at Kansas, was the first to go behind the wall, followed by Leffler, who reported an overheating problem as he joined Cassill in the garage area. Nemechek, J.J. Yeley’s #36, and the #09 of Bobby Labonte followed by lap 33, but that changed seven laps later. On lap 40, when Greg Biffle lost his engine in turn four, Nemechek was already leaving the garage area by the time Biffle was entering. Labonte and Cassill soon followed the #87 onto the track, but Leffler, who had already climbed out of the car, did not. This dropped the #66 down to 43rd by a ten-lap gap over Yeley in 42nd.

Though Leffler sits a distant 2nd in the LASTCAR Driver’s Championship rankings, PRISM Motorsports’ #66 team is back in the battle for the owner’s title. Just one finish behind Nemechek’s NEMCO Motorsports #87, the #66 is very much in contention to defend its LASTCAR championship last year that it shared with 2009 driver Dave Blaney.

CUP STATS AND FACTS
*Neither Leffler, nor the #66, nor PRISM Motorsports had ever before finished last in a Cup race at Fontana.
*The #66 had not finished last in a Cup race in 12 races, dating back to Dave Blaney’s 43rd-place finish in this year’s Coke Zero 400 at Daytona.

BONUS STAT: LAST-PLACE FINISHES BY CAR NUMBER
*The #66 has now finished last in 40 Cup Series points races, more than any other car number.++ Previous to Sunday, the number was tied with the #41, which has not finished last since 2008 when Reed Sorenson blew an engine in the 2008 Aaron’s 499 at Talladega:

1st) #66 (40 last-place finishes)
2nd) #41 (39)
3rd) #4 (38)
4th) #11 (37)
5th) #14, #19 (35)

++Note: These rankings may not be accurate as 49 races, mostly from the first ten Cup Series seasons, do not have the last-place finisher’s car number listed. Racing-reference.info, which has the most complete database, was used to reduce this error as much as possible.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #66-Jason Leffler / 23 laps / electrical
42) #36-J.J. Yeley / 33 laps / transmission
41) #16-Greg Biffle / 40 laps / engine
40) #64-Landon Cassill / 43 laps / transmission
39) #46-Michael McDowell / 55 laps / rear gear

LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Joe Nemechek (6)
2nd) Dave Blaney, Michael McDowell (5)
3rd) Max Papis (4)
4th) Aric Almirola, Jason Leffler (2)
5th) Landon Cassill, Robby Gordon, Denny Hamlin, Johnny Sauter, Reed Sorenson, Scott Speed (1)

LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) #87-NEMCO Motorsports (6)
2nd) #66-PRISM Motorsports (5)
3rd) #13-Germain Racing, #55-PRISM Motorsports (4)
4th) #32-Braun Racing, #36-Tommy Baldwin Racing, #09-Phoenix Racing (2)
5th) #7-Robby Gordon Motorsports, #11-Joe Gibbs Racing, #46-Whitney Motorsports, #64-Gunselman Motorsports, #82-Team Red Bull (1)

N’WIDE: Green, Now 10th All-Time, Set To Challenge Setzer In Final Five Races

Jeff Green picked up the 14th last-place finish of his NASCAR Nationwide Series career in Saturday’s CampingWorld.com 200 at the Auto Club Speedway of Southern California when his unsponsored #36 TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet fell out with fuel pressure problems after completing 2 of the race’s 150 laps.

Green now has sole possession of 2nd in the all-time LASTCAR Nationwide Series standings and moves into a tie with Buddy Baker, Jimmy Means, and Cale Yarborough for 10th all-time across all three NASCAR divisions with 17 overall last-place finishes.

Green qualified 24th for the race at a speed of 176.151 mph, fifth-fastest among the teams not locked-into the race on Owner Points. The run was more than enough to bump out Johnny Chapman and Eric McClure, who were the only two drivers to miss the race. On Saturday, Green went behind the wall first, followed by both current LASTCAR Nationwide Driver’s Championship leader Dennis Setzer in the #92 and Chase Miller, driving for the #82 team that Matt Carter finished last with at Watkins Glen.

With five races to go in this year’s NASCAR Nationwide Series season, Green still has a mathematical shot at dethroning both Setzer and K-Automotive Motorsports’ #92 team as LASTCAR Nationwide Series champions for 2010. To do the latter, however, the #36 will have to qualify for and finish last in all of this season’s remaining races. Since next week’s race will be run with the next-generation Nationwide Series car, it is unlikely that both Setzer and Green will have entries in the race.

N’WIDE STATS AND FACTS
*Green is the first Nationwide Series driver to ever finish last with fuel pressure as the listed issue.
*Neither Green nor the #36 had ever before finished last in a Nationwide Series race at Fontana.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #36-Jeff Green / 2 laps / fuel pressure
42) #92-Dennis Setzer / 3 laps / brakes
41) #82-Chase Miller / 3 laps / electrical
40) #26-Brian Keselowski / 4 laps / brakes
39) #07-Danny Efland / 6 laps / ignition

LASTCAR N'WIDE SERIES DRIVER CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Dennis Setzer (9)
2nd) Jeff Green (6)
3rd) Mark Green, Kevin Lepage (2)
4th) Willie Allen, Michael Annett, Johnny Borneman III, Matt Carter, Johnny Chapman, David Gilliland, Jennifer Jo Cobb, Brian Keselowski, Justin Marks, Danny O'Quinn, Jr., Chrissy Wallace (1)

LASTCAR N’WIDE SERIES DRIVER CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) #92-K-Automotive Motorsports (10)
2nd) #36-Mark Smith (6)
3rd) #15-Germain Racing, #27-Curb Motorsports, #41-Rick Ware, #43-Curb Motorsports, #49-Jay Robinson, Inc., #56-John McNelly, #70-Mary Louise Miller, #82-MacDonald Motorsports, #83-John Borneman, Jr., #90-D'Hont Humphrey Motorsports, #91-D'Hont Humphrey Motorsports, #96-K-Automotive Motorsports, #04-Johnny Davis Motorsports, #05-Wayne Day (1)

CUP: Cassill Gets First Cup Last-Place Finish At Kansas

Landon Cassill picked up the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career in Sunday’s Price Chopper 400 presented by Kraft at the Kansas Speedway when his unsponsored #64 Gunselman Motorsports Toyota fell out with rear gear problems after completing 33 of the race’s 267 laps. The finish came in Cassill’s 10th series start.

The Gunselman team was the third different organization Cassill had driven for during this, his first year of Cup Series competition. In nine previous starts, he had driven both TRG Motorsports’ #71 and the #09 owned by Phoenix Racing. During that time, Cassill has only been given enough funding to complete one of those races: when he finished 33rd in the #71 Post-9/11 G.I. Bill Chevrolet at Richmond, four races ago. At the same time, he has also proven to be a very solid qualifier: his only DNQ to date was for last month’s race at Atlanta and he qualified 15th for the race at Michigan the month before.

Gunselman tabbed Cassill after Monday, when both his #64 and TRG’s #71 were without a listed driver on the initial Kansas entry list. On Wednesday, Tony Raines, Gunselman’s prior driver, took a turn in the #71, and Cassill filled the remaining spot in the #64. On Friday, Cassill attempted to qualify Gunselman’s speedway car, last seen in July at Chicago and Indianapolis. He got the #64 into the race, timing in 35th at a speed of 171.985 mph.

In the race itself, Cassill remained toward the back of the field while Raines fell to 43rd during the opening laps. Kevin Conway, driving Robby Gordon’s #7, was next to fall to last by lap 13, and Conway’s ExtenZe Toyota was lapped soon after. By lap 32, the leaders had lapped four more cars, including Raines, and Cassill pulled behind the wall on the next circuit. His was the only car off the track at that point, dropping him to 43rd in the next few circuits. The lapped J.J. Yeley, in Tommy Baldwin’s #36, picked up the Lucky Dog on lap 43, then went behind the wall two laps after the restart, leaving him 42nd.

CUP STATS AND FACTS
*This was Gunselman and the #64 team’s first last-place finish of 2010; their previous one came in last summer’s Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono when Mike Wallace was parked after 13 laps for not having a pit crew.
*The #64 had never before finished last in a Cup race at Kansas Speedway.
*Cassill has one other last-place finish in NASCAR competition, when his #98 Chevrolet crashed out of the opening lap of this year’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series opener, the 2010 NextEra Energy Resources 250 at Daytona.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #64-Landon Cassill / 33 laps / rear gear
42) #36-J.J. Yeley / 49 laps / electrical
41) #09-Bobby Labonte / 58 laps / transmission
40) #46-Michael McDowell / 60 laps / transmission / led 1 lap
39) #71-Tony Raines / 87 laps / electrical

LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Joe Nemechek (6)
2nd) Dave Blaney, Michael McDowell (5)
3rd) Max Papis (4)
4th) Aric Almirola (2)
5th) Landon Cassill, Robby Gordon, Denny Hamlin, Jason Leffler, Johnny Sauter, Reed Sorenson, Scott Speed (1)

LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) #87-NEMCO Motorsports (6)
2nd) #13-Germain Racing, #55-PRISM Motorsports, #66-PRISM Motorsports (4)
3rd) #32-Braun Racing, #36-Tommy Baldwin Racing, #09-Phoenix Racing (2)
4th) #7-Robby Gordon Motorsports, #11-Joe Gibbs Racing, #46-Whitney Motorsports, #64-Gunselman Motorsports, #82-Team Red Bull (1)

N’WIDE: Jeff Green, Now Tied For 2nd In Series Rankings, Continues Late Season Rally At Kansas

Jeff Green picked up the 13th last-place finish of his NASCAR Nationwide Series career in Saturday’s Kansas Lottery 300 at the Kansas Speedway when his unsponsored #36 TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet fell out with suspension problems after completing 2 of the race’s 200 laps. The finish ties Green for 2nd in the LASTCAR Nationwide Series rankings along with Ed Berrier. The two trail all-time Nationwide Series leader Jeff Fuller by 11 finishes.

Green qualified 35th for the race at a speed of 167.634 mph, good enough to beat eleven other teams that were not locked-into the field based on Owner Points. In the race itself, Green pulled behind the wall one lap before both Brian Keselowski’s #26 and the #91 D’Hont-Humphrey Motorsports car of David Gilliland, Keselowski edging Gilliland for 42nd based on track position the previous lap.

Keselowski’s #92, still leading the LASTCAR Nationwide Series Owner’s Rankings for 2010, failed to qualify when driver Andy Ponstein turned in the fastest time of the six teams that missed the race. Joining Ponstein were third-ranked Johnny Chapman in Morgan Shepherd’s #89 and two-time 2010 last-placers Mark Green and Kevin Lepage.

N’WIDE STATS AND FACTS
*A Nationwide Series driver had not finished last because of suspension failure since 2008, when all-time LASTCAR leader Derrike Cope’s #4 JVC / ALLINENERGY.COM Chevrolet fell out three laps into the 2008 Dollar General 300 at Charlotte.
*Neither Green nor the #36 had ever before finished last in a Nationwide Series race at Kansas.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #36-Jeff Green / 2 laps / suspension
42) #26-Brian Keselowski / 3 laps / vibration
41) #91-David Gilliland / 3 laps / electrical
40) #52-Kevin Lepage / 12 laps / overheating
39) #90-Danny O’Quinn, Jr. / 21 laps / electrical

LASTCAR N'WIDE SERIES DRIVER CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Dennis Setzer (9)
2nd) Jeff Green (5)
3rd) Mark Green, Kevin Lepage (2)
4th) Willie Allen, Michael Annett, Johnny Borneman III, Matt Carter, Johnny Chapman, David Gilliland, Jennifer Jo Cobb, Brian Keselowski, Justin Marks, Danny O'Quinn, Jr., Chrissy Wallace (1)

LASTCAR N’WIDE SERIES DRIVER CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) #92-K-Automotive Motorsports (10)
2nd) #36-Mark Smith (5)
3rd) #15-Germain Racing, #27-Curb Motorsports, #41-Rick Ware, #43-Curb Motorsports, #49-Jay Robinson, Inc., #56-John McNelly, #70-Mary Louise Miller, #82-MacDonald Motorsports, #83-John Borneman, Jr., #90-D'Hont Humphrey Motorsports, #91-D'Hont Humphrey Motorsports, #96-K-Automotive Motorsports, #04-Johnny Davis Motorsports, #05-Wayne Day (1)