Thursday, November 24, 2011

LASTCAR.info Store




(1) White LASTCAR.info cap (NewEra 39THIRTY FlexFit) like the one I wear at the races. Hat proudly displays the LASTCAR.info logo in red.
$34.99 (includes shipping to U.S.) in one of two styles: FlexFit or FlexFit Mesh Back

(2) "J.D.: The Life and Death of a Forgotten NASCAR Legend." Paperback published by Waldorf Publishing. Autographed and personalized by the author upon request. For eBook and audiobook formats, plus other retailers where it can be found, click here.












(3) eBay Store for LASTCAR.info bumper stickers and more at this link.





(4) LASTCAR.info T-Shirts, apparel, and notebook stickers. Available on RedBubble.com.
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(5) LASTCAR.info Cup Series Year-By-Year (eBook only). Contains year-by-year Cup Series last-place statistics from 1949 to present. Includes free yearly updates.
$3.99







(6) LASTCAR.info XFINITY and Truck Series Expansion Pack (eBook only). Contains year-by-year XFINITY and Truck Series statistics from 1982 to present. Includes free yearly updates.
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(7) LASTCAR.info's Formulast One (eBook only). Contains year-by-year last-place statistics from Formula One from 1950 to present. Includes free yearly updates.
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(8) LASTCAR.info Track Guide (eBook only). Contains track-by-track last-place statistics for the Cup Series through 2020. 
FREE

Sunday, November 20, 2011

CUP: McDowell Claims First LASTCAR Cup Driver’s Title With A 43rd At Homestead

SOURCE: SPEED
Michael McDowell picked up the 14th last-place finish of his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career in Sunday’s Ford 400 at the Homestead-Miami Speedway when his unsponsored #66 HP Racing LLC Toyota fell out with driveshaft problems after completing 13 of the race’s 267 laps.

The finish was McDowell’s series-leading seventh of 2011 and his first since Chicago, nine races ago. By picking up the finish, McDowell also picked up his first-ever LASTCAR Sprint Cup Driver’s Championship, edging fellow Arizona native J.J. Yeley. Yeley, driver of the Front Row Motorsports #55 which clinched the 2011 LASTCAR Owner’s Title last Sunday, finished 41st, twelve laps behind McDowell.

McDowell and Yeley qualified 33rd and 30th, respectively, with McDowell turning in an average speed of 171.059 mph. In Saturday’s final practice, his #66 had turned in the 13th-fastest time, second among the weekend’s “go-or-go-homers” behind Red Bull Racing’s Cole Whitt, who was third.

At the start of Sunday’s race, it first appeared that Kurt Busch would pick up his first last-place finish since scoring the second of his two Homestead 43rd-place runs in 2008. A sudden transmission failure on Lap 2 forced Busch behind the wall for several laps. A last-place finish by Busch - or any driver other than Yeley - would secure McDowell the LASTCAR title by virtue of his tiebreaking 26 bottom-five finishes to Yeley’s 21.

Eleven laps later, with rain in the area, McDowell pulled behind the wall, followed under an ensuing caution flag by David Stremme in Inception Motorsports’ #30. J.J. Yeley, still on track when rain brought out that yellow on Lap 14, was told over radio communications to stay out and help teammate Travis Kvapil in the 38 lock up a spot in the Top 35. Soon after the Lap 22 restart, Yeley pulled out of the race, but twelve laps too short to take 42nd from McDowell.

When Kurt Busch returned to the track around Lap 64, McDowell was shuffled down to 43rd, breaking his tie with Yeley.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This was McDowell’s second last-place finish in a Cup race at Homestead. The other time was in the 2009 Ford 400, back when he was driving Tommy Baldwin’s #36 Wave Energy Drink Toyota. McDowell left that race after 16 laps with engine woes.
*This is the #66 team’s second consecutive last-place finish in a Cup race at Homestead. Last year, when the Phil Parsons team was called PRISM Motorsports and Mike Bliss was driving, the unsponsored car fell out after 10 laps with electrical problems.
Baxter Price's #45 Buick, 1981
SOURCE: Historical Stock Car Racing Forum


*A Cup driver had not finished last due to a driveshaft problem since February 22, 1981, when owner-driver Baxter Price’s #45 McWhirter Grating Buick fell out after 16 laps of the Richmond 400 at Richmond.







THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #66-Michael McDowell / 13 laps / driveshaft
42) #30-David Stremme / 14 laps / ignition
41) #55-J.J. Yeley / 25 laps / vibration
40) #87-Joe Nemechek / 29 laps / vibration / led 3 laps
39) #9-Marcos Ambrose / 72 laps / engine

LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP - FINAL STANDINGS
The last time a LASTCAR Cup Driver’s title was settled in the final race of the year was in 1989 when none other than McDowell’s team owner, Phil Parsons, scored the final last-place finish of the year at Atlanta, breaking a tie with Butch Miller. Parsons ended the year with four last-place finishes to Miller’s three. The last time a LASTCAR Cup Driver’s title was settled by a tiebreaker was in 2008, when Joe Nemechek and A.J. Allmendinger’s tie of three finishes apiece was decided by Nemechek’s nine bottom-fives to Allmendinger’s six.
1st) Michael McDowell (7)
2nd) J.J. Yeley (6)
3rd) Mike Skinner (5)
4th) Kevin Conway, Joe Nemechek (4)
5th) Travis Kvapil (3)
6th) Robby Gordon (2)
7th) Dave Blaney, Landon Cassill, Jeff Green, P.J. Jones, Scott Riggs, Scott Speed (1)

LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP - FINAL STANDINGS
1st) #55-Front Row Motorsports (8)
2nd) #66-HP Racing LLC (7)
3rd) #60-Germain Racing (6)
4th) #87-NEMCO Motorsports (4)
5th) #46-Whitney Motorsports, #97-NEMCO Motorsports (3)
6th) #7-Robby Gordon Motorsports (2)
7th) #37-MaxQ Motorsports, #81-Whitney Motorsports, #77-Robby Gordon Motorsports (1)

LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER’S CHAMPIONSHIP - FINAL STANDINGS
1st) Toyota (19)
2nd) Ford (10)
3rd) Chevrolet (4)
4th) Dodge (3)

N’WIDE: Shepherd’s Rough Week Ends With His First 43rd Since 2008

SOURCE: Rubbin's Racin' Forums
Morgan Shepherd picked up the 13th last-place finish of his NASCAR Nationwide Series career in Saturday’s Ford 300 at the Homestead-Miami Speedway when his #89 Victory In Jesus Chevrolet fell out with engine trouble after completing 1 of the race’s 200 laps.

The finish came at the end of a very difficult week for Shepherd and his Faith Motorsports team. Last Sunday at Phoenix, while running in the Top 20 in the closing stages, he was involved in a grinding multi-car accident that destroyed the car he’d planned to bring to Homestead.

Uninjured in the crash, Shepherd, a NASCAR veteran with more than 41 years of experience, then received help from a surprising source. Tony Stewart, days before he would claim his third Sprint Cup Championship, paid for Shepherd’s tires, allowing the #89 to make a run in the finale. In qualifying, Shepherd made the show based on his rank in Owner Points, timing in 39th at a speed of 158.753. Among the six drivers to miss the race were 2011 LASTCAR Nationwide Driver’s Champion Jeff Green, who thus missed out on an opportunity to tie Jeff Fuller’s record-setting mark of 11 finishes in the 2004 season.

At the start of Sunday’s race, Shepherd’s luck proved no better. Early in the event, Shepherd made an unscheduled pit stop where the crew looked under his hood. Citing engine failure, the #89 team exited the race.

Shepherd and the other occupants of the Bottom Five became the focus of Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., who needed just a 37th-place finish to claim his first NASCAR Nationwide Series championship over Elliott Sadler. With five cars joining Shepherd in the garage by Lap 10, and all of them listed as “out” by Lap 30, Stenhouse clinched the title. He would go on to finish second in the race to Brad Keselowski.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*Shepherd and the #89 had not finished last in a Nationwide Series race since 2008, when his Victory In Jesus Racing Dodge fell out with ignition failure without completing a single lap of the Meijer 300 at Kentucky. Brett Rowe, who drove a “start-and-park” #55 entry for Shepherd earlier this season, picked up three last-place finishes in 2011, most recently at Road America.
*Shepherd had never before finished last in a Nationwide race at Homestead.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #89-Morgan Shepherd / 1 lap / engine
42) #39-Fain Skinner / 2 laps / crash
41) #42-Scott Speed / 3 laps / overheating
40) #71-Matt Carter / 4 laps / vibration
39) #47-Josh Wise / 4 laps / electrical

LASTCAR N’WIDE SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP - FINAL STANDINGS
1st) Jeff Green (10)
2nd) Brett Rowe (3)
3rd) Kelly Bires, Johnny Chapman, Dennis Setzer (2)
4th) T.J. Bell, Matt Carter, Kevin Conway, Marc Davis, Matt Frahm, Mike Harmon, James Hylton, Jennifer Jo Cobb, Brian Keselowski, Blake Koch, Justin Marks, Morgan Shepherd, Scott Speed, Scott Wimmer, J.J. Yeley (1)

LASTCAR N’WIDE SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP - FINAL STANDINGS
1st) #44-TriStar Motorsports (10)
2nd) #47-Key Motorsports, #55-Faith Motorsports (3)
3rd) #25-Ed Rensi, #27-Baker Curb Racing, #49-Jay Robinson Racing (2)
4th) #0-JD Motorsports, #13-Jennifer Jo Cobb, #39-Go Green Racing, #41-Rick Ware Racing, #50-Mark Beaver, #68-Fleur-De-Lis Motorsports, #74-Mike Harmon, #75-Rick Ware Racing, #82-MacDonald Motorsports, #87-NEMCO Motorsports, #89-Faith Motorsports, #03-R3 Motorsports (1)

LASTCAR N’WIDE SERIES MANUFACTURER’S CHAMPIONSHIP - FINAL STANDINGS
1st) Chevrolet (26)
2nd) Ford (7)
3rd) Dodge (1)

TRUCKS: Chapman Inches Closer To Truck Series Record At Homestead

SOURCE: TheHotLap.com
Johnny Chapman picked up the 10th last-place finish of his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career in Friday’s Ford 200 at the Homestead-Miami Speedway when his #07 Bobber.info / ASI Limited Toyota fell out with clutch failure after completing 1 of the race’s 119 laps.

The finish was Chapman’s first of 2011. His most recent finish came in the CampingWorld.com 200 at Gateway last summer, where his #72 TireMonkey.com / James Carter Attorney Chevrolet also left the race after the opening lap. For the #07 SS Green Light Racing Team, it was their second finish of 2011, joining a finish earned by Scott Riggs at Kansas, seventeen races ago.

In the LASTCAR standings, Chapman remains in sole possession of third in the Truck Series and sixth all-time. In the Truck Series, he stands just three finishes away from tying all-time series leader Wayne Edwards.

Chapman, who two weeks ago found himself in the middle of the controversial Kyle Busch / Ron Hornaday accident at Texas, made the show when qualifying was cancelled, forcing the lineup to be set by practice speeds. This gave him the 33rd spot in the 36-truck field, thus allowing the #07 team to make all 25 races of the 2011 season. It also gave team owner Ken Smith his 100th Truck Series start.

After the opening lap, moments before Jennifer Jo Cobb’s engine failure brought out the first caution of the night, Chapman was behind the wall.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*Neither Chapman nor the #07 have ever finished last in a Truck Series race at Homestead.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
36) #07-Johnny Chapman / 1 lap / clutch
35) #10-Jennifer Jo Cobb / 3 laps / engine
34) #38-Dennis Setzer / 4 laps / ignition
33) #74-Mike Harmon / 14 laps / overheating
32) #7-Miguel Paludo / 30 laps / engine

LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP - FINAL STANDINGS
1st) Mike Garvey (6)
2nd) Norm Benning, Chris Lafferty, Brent Raymer (2)
3rd) Johnny Borneman III, James Buescher, Johnny Chapman, Chris Jones, Mike Harmon, Jennifer Jo Cobb, Travis Kvapil, Johanna Long, Scott Riggs, Greg Seevers, Dennis Setzer, Brad Sweet, J.J. Yeley (1)

LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP - FINAL STANDINGS
1st) #38-Shane Sieg (5)
2nd) #10-Jennifer Jo Cobb, #57-Norm Benning Racing, #75-Norm Benning Racing, #93-Shane Sieg, #07-SS Green Light Racing (2)
3rd) #5-Randy Moss, #20-Panhandle Motorsports, #27-Shane Sieg, #31-Turner Motorsports, #32-Turner Motorsports, #65-Joey Sonntag, #66-Turn One Racing, #74-Mike Harmon, #87-Rick Jones, #89-Chris Lafferty (1)

LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES MANUFACTURER’S CHAMPIONSHIP - FINAL STANDINGS
1st) Chevrolet (19)
2nd) Toyota (4)
3rd) Ford (2)

Monday, November 14, 2011

CUP: Kvapil Locks Up LASTCAR Owner’s Title For #55 Team; Driver’s Title A Two-Man Showdown Between McDowell and Yeley

SOURCE: SPEED
Travis Kvapil picked up the 5th last-place finish of his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career in Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 500 at the Phoenix International Raceway when his #55 Aloft Hotels Ford fell out with brake problems after completing 20 of the race’s 312 laps.

The finish was Kvapil’s third in 2011 and his first since Dover, six races ago.

For Phoenix, Kvapil again switched rides with Front Row Motorsports teammate J.J. Yeley and returned to “start-and-park” duty in the #55. He qualified 37th for Sunday’s race - sliding very close to the turn four wall in the process - at an average speed of 133.136 mph. Yeley timed in 40th in the fully-sponsored #38, which was painted by disabled veteran Scott Bates.

At the start of the race, it first appeared that Regan Smith would pick up the first last-place finish of his NASCAR Sprint Cup career. On Lap 2, the Southern 500 winner was involved in a two-car crash with David Ragan, resulting in severe rear-end damage to both cars. Ragan returned to the track quicker than Smith, who spent more than 100 laps behind the wall.

Following the restart, the 42nd spot, held early on by Mike Skinner in the #37, was soon taken over by Kvapil, who pulled behind the wall on Lap 20. Skinner, who needed the finish to stay in contention for the LASTCAR Cup Driver’s Championship, did not pull out until five laps later. When Smith returned to the race around Lap 129, he needed only complete 17 laps to drop Kvapil to the 43rd spot. This Smith accomplished, and Kvapil picked up the finish.

Yeley came home 28th.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*The last Cup driver to finish last at Phoenix due to brake failure was Tony Raines, who exited the 2009 Subway Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix after 56 laps while driving Barry Haefele’s #73 Quality Concrete Dodge.
*This was the first Cup last-place finish at Phoenix for both the #55 and for Kvapil.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #55-Travis Kvapil / 20 laps / brakes
42) #37-Mike Skinner / 25 laps / brakes
41) #87-Joe Nemechek / 30 laps / brakes
40) #66-Michael McDowell / 46 laps / transmission
39) #46-Scott Speed / 60 laps / electrical

LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
Heading into the season finale at Homestead, the Driver’s Title is still up for grabs between Michael McDowell and J.J. Yeley, both still tied with a series-leading six last-place finishes in 2011. McDowell can claim the title even if Yeley does not finish last since McDowell has amassed 26 bottom-five finishes to Yeley’s 21, breaking the current tie. Yeley can only claim the title if he finishes last at Homestead. Mike Skinner is eliminated from competition as his lower number of bottom-five finishes will not win him the resulting three-way tie.
1st) Michael McDowell, J.J. Yeley (6)
2nd) Mike Skinner (5)
3rd) Kevin Conway, Joe Nemechek (4)
4th) Travis Kvapil (3)
5th) Robby Gordon (2)
6th) Dave Blaney, Landon Cassill, Jeff Green, P.J. Jones, Scott Riggs, Scott Speed (1)

LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
With now a two-finish lead over the field with one race to go, the #55 Front Row Motorsports team has locked-up the 2011 LASTCAR Owner’s Championship. It’s a remarkable accomplishment since the #55 did not attempt a single race until Loudon in July while most other teams in the rankings - including McDowell’s #66 HP Racing LLC Team - have attempted every race this season.
1st) #55-Front Row Motorsports (8)
2nd) #60-Germain Racing, #66-HP Racing LLC (6)
3rd) #87-NEMCO Motorsports (4)
4th) #46-Whitney Motorsports, #97-NEMCO Motorsports (3)
5th) #7-Robby Gordon Motorsports (2)
6th) #37-MaxQ Motorsports, #81-Whitney Motorsports, #77-Robby Gordon Motorsports (1)

LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
Ford’s ten last-place finishes in 2011 are the most the manufacturer has scored in a single Cup Series season since 2004, when they picked up another 10 finishes. Ford did not finish last a single time in the 2010 season.
1st) Toyota (18)
2nd) Ford (10)
3rd) Chevrolet (4)
4th) Dodge (3)

N’WIDE: Lap One Crash Gives Frahm First Nationwide Last-Place Finish

SOURCE: ESPN2
Matt Frahm picked up the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR Nationwide Series career in Saturday’s Wypall 200 at the Phoenix International Raceway when his #39 TSP Powder Coating Ford was involved in an eight-car wreck on the opening lap of the race and was unable to continue. The finish came in Frahm’s third series start.

The 21-year-old Frahm, a competitior from the K&N East Series, has made all three of his Nationwide Series starts this season. He made his debut with the Go Green #39 team at Loudon in July, where he came home 26th. Later that month, he improved to a 25th-place run in the finale at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis.

The #39 Go Green Racing Team, owned by Archie St. Hillaire, has made every race in the 2011 Nationwide Series season with multiple drivers. In all, ten other drivers have shared the ride with Frahm: Josh Wise, Danny Efland, Matt Carter, Luis Martinez, Jr., Joey Gase, Fain Skinner, Charles Lewandoski, Casey Roderick, Danny O’Quinn, Jr., and Will Kimmel. Among that group, Josh Wise’s 13th-place run at Road America in June remains the team’s best performance of the year. Up until Sunday, Go Green Racing team had yet to finish last in a race this season.

Frahm qualified the #39 in the 32nd spot at a speed of 129.037 mph. Joining Frahm in Row 16 was teammate Tim Andrews, driving Go Green’s “start-and-park” #04.

When the green flag flew on race day, Frahm and Andrews were jockeying for position when Danica Patrick and Brian Scott collided in front of him, triggering a multi-car accident. Frahm, unable to avoid the initial wreck, suffered damage to the right-front of his car and was struck again by Scott on the apron. This blocked the lower lane for several cars that rear-ended each other as they stopped, including Andrews in the #04 and 2011 LASTCAR Nationwide Champion Jeff Green.

In the end, Green returned to the race to finish 34th while Frahm and Andrews were two of the four cars that failed to continue after the crash. Andrews was at first credited with the 43rd spot, but Frahm claimed the position by virtue of his lower starting spot. The #04 team has now finished 42nd in four races this year and has yet to score a 43rd of its own in 2011.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*The #39 had not finished last in a NASCAR Nationwide Series race since 2006, when Sam Hornish, Jr.’s Mobil 1 Dodge was involved in a single-car crash after 20 laps of the 2006 Ford 300 at Homestead. Curiously, it was Hornish who won Saturday’s race, picking up an emotional first-ever NASCAR victory in his sixth season of competition. He now enters Homestead five years after his 43rd-place run as the Nationwide series’ most recent winner.
*The #39 had never before finished last in a Nationwide race at Phoenix.
*Ford swept both Phoenix last-place finishes in Nationwide competition this season. Justin Marks, driving the unsponsored Baker Curb #27, finished last in February.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #39-Matt Frahm / 0 laps / crash
42) #04-Tim Andrews / 0 laps / crash
41) #11-Brian Scott / 0 laps / crash
40) #41-Johnny Chapman / 1 lap / crash
39) #71-Matt Carter / 2 laps / vibration

LASTCAR N’WIDE SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
Although Frahm’s finish prevented Jeff Green from breaking Jeff Fuller’s single-season record, he can still tie Fuller’s record with a 43rd-place run in next Saturday’s Homestead finale.
1st) Jeff Green (10)
2nd) Brett Rowe (3)
3rd) Kelly Bires, Johnny Chapman, Dennis Setzer (2)
4th) T.J. Bell, Matt Carter, Kevin Conway, Marc Davis, Matt Frahm, Mike Harmon, James Hylton, Jennifer Jo Cobb, Brian Keselowski, Blake Koch, Justin Marks, Scott Speed, Scott Wimmer, J.J. Yeley (1)

LASTCAR N’WIDE SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) #44-TriStar Motorsports (10)
2nd) #47-Key Motorsports, #55-Faith Motorsports (3)
3rd) #25-Ed Rensi, #27-Baker Curb Racing, #49-Jay Robinson Racing (2)
4th) #0-JD Motorsports, #13-Jennifer Jo Cobb, #39-Go Green Racing, #41-Rick Ware Racing, #50-Mark Beaver, #68-Fleur-De-Lis Motorsports, #74-Mike Harmon, #75-Rick Ware Racing, #82-MacDonald Motorsports, #87-NEMCO Motorsports, #03-R3 Motorsports (1)

LASTCAR N’WIDE SERIES MANUFACTURER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (25)
2nd) Ford (7)
3rd) Dodge (1)

Sunday, November 6, 2011

CUP: Yeley Ties LASTCAR Cup Championship While McDowell Relieves Kyle Busch

SOURCE: ESPN2
J.J. Yeley picked up the 8th last-place finish of his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career in Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 at the Texas Motor Speedway when his #55 Ingersoll-Rand Ford fell out with fuel pressure issues after 10 of the race’s 334 laps.

With two races to go, the finish, Yeley’s sixth of 2011 and first since Kansas, four races ago, ties Michael McDowell for the lead in the 2011 LASTCAR Cup Driver’s Championship. Also, when combined with the efforts of teammates Travis Kvapil and Jeff Green, the #55 Front Row Motorsports Ford has now assumed a one-finish lead in the 2011 LASTCAR Cup Owner’s Championship over McDowell’s #66 HP Racing Team and the disbanded #60 Germain Racing entry.

Yeley qualified 27th at a speed of 191.069 mph, earning the #55 team its best starting spot of 2011. Though three teams failed to qualify, none of them were Yeley’s LASTCAR Championship contenders. Mike Skinner made his second-straight start for Larry Gunselman and started 38th, defending LASTCAR Cup Champion Joe Nemechek timed in 40th, and Michael McDowell put the #66 HP Racing entry in the 35th position.

However, on Saturday morning, NASCAR’s decision to park Kyle Busch for the weekend following a controversial wreck in the Truck Series gave McDowell the opportunity to run the entire race. McDowell, who had driven for Joe Gibbs’ Nationwide team in five races this season, was tabbed as Busch’s replacement for the Cup race. This put Josh Wise, recently released from Gunselman’s #37 team, back in the race as McDowell’s replacement in the #66.

Thus, when Sunday’s race began, McDowell was fighting his way through the pack in Busch’s #18 when Yeley pulled his #55 behind the wall. Nemechek and Skinner followed suit within the next nine circuits, followed by Wise and the #66 on Lap 23.

McDowell, who struggled with handling woes all afternoon long, fought his way to a 33rd place finish, three laps down to race winner Tony Stewart. As of this writing (late Sunday night), McDowell’s plans next Sunday for the Cup race at his home track at Phoenix are unknown.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*Yeley has just one other Cup Series last-place finish at Texas - which, interestingly, came while driving Joe Gibbs’ #18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet - in 2007. That day, Yeley was involved in a multi-car crash with Casey Mears, Ricky Rudd, and David Ragan after the opening lap of the 2007 Samsung 500. It was also the first last-place finish of Yeley’s Cup career.
*The #55's most recent Cup Series last-place finish at Texas came in 2010, when the suspension on Dave Blaney’s #55 PRISM Motorsports Toyota failed after 20 laps of the 2010 Samsung Mobile 500.
*A Cup Series driver had not finished last due to “fuel pressure” issues since way back on July 26, 1964, when Darrell Bryant’s #36 Wade Younts-owned 1962 Dodge fell out after the opening lap of the Volunteer 500 at Bristol.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #55-J.J. Yeley / 10 laps / fuel pressure
42) #87-Joe Nemechek / 14 laps / clutch
41) #37-Mike Skinner / 19 laps / brakes
40) #66-Josh Wise / 23 laps / rear gear
39) #46-Scott Speed / 30 laps / rear gear

LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
Although two finishes out of the lead in the LASTCAR Cup Driver’s Championship, Joe Nemechek can still clinch his second-straight title with 43rd-place finishes at both Phoenix and Homestead. In the event of a tiebreaker with Nemechek last in those two races and both he, McDowell, and Yeley, scoring Bottom-Five Finishes in both races, Nemechek would claim the title with 32 bottom-fives to McDowell’s 27 and Yeley’s 23. Those two finishes would also give Nemechek the all-time LASTCAR record of 36 career NASCAR last-place runs.

Mike Skinner, currently with 16 bottom-fives, can also only claim the LASTCAR Cup Driver’s title with 43rds in these final two races. In short, McDowell, Yeley, Skinner, and Nemechek are all mathematically still in contention for the title, but Skinner and Nemechek will be eliminated from contention if they don’t finish 43rd next Sunday at Phoenix.
1st) Michael McDowell, J.J. Yeley (6)
2nd) Mike Skinner (5)
3rd) Kevin Conway, Joe Nemechek (4)
4th) Robby Gordon, Travis Kvapil (2)
5th) Dave Blaney, Landon Cassill, Jeff Green, P.J. Jones, Scott Riggs, Scott Speed (1)

LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) #55-Front Row Motorsports (7)
2nd) #60-Germain Racing, #66-HP Racing LLC (6)
3rd) #87-NEMCO Motorsports (4)
4th) #46-Whitney Motorsports, #97-NEMCO Motorsports (3)
5th) #7-Robby Gordon Motorsports (2)
6th) #37-MaxQ Motorsports, #81-Whitney Motorsports, #77-Robby Gordon Motorsports (1)

LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Toyota (18)
2nd) Ford (9)
3rd) Chevrolet (4)
4th) Dodge (3)

N’WIDE: Speed Nips LASTCAR Nationwide Champion Jeff Green For First Last-Place Finish

SOURCE: Brian Keselowski's Facebook Page
Scott Speed picked up the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR Nationwide Series career in Saturday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge at the Texas Motor Speedway when his #47 Curtis Key Plumbing Chevrolet fell out with electrical problems after completing 3 of the race’s 200 laps. The finish came in Speed’s 16th series start.

Speed, who came home a season-best 6th at Montreal in August while driving for Kevin Harvick, entered the Texas race as the latest driver of the #47, the newest of Key Motorsports’ three “start-and-park” teams. It was Speed’s second start in as many races with the team, following a 41st-place run at Charlotte.

He qualified 35th for the race at a speed of 179.265 mph, good enough to beat five other “go-or-go-homers” who failed to qualify. Among the DNQs was defending LASTCAR Nationwide Series champion Dennis Setzer, whose Jay Robinson Racing #48 has been absent since Chicago in September.

Three laps into the race, and moments before Jamie Dick’s single-car spin, Speed’s was the first car behind the wall. Current LASTCAR Nationwide Champion Jeff Green followed suit three laps later under the ensuing caution.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*Speed is the fifth first-time Nationwide Series last-placer in 2011, joining Kelly Bires (Daytona), Blake Koch (Dover), Marc Davis (Nashville), and T.J. Bell (Chicagoland).
*This was the first Nationwide Series last-place finish at Texas for the #47.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #47-Scott Speed / 3 laps / electrical
42) #44-Jeff Green / 6 laps / vibration
41) #50-T.J. Bell / 9 laps / electrical
40) #04-Tim Andrews / 11 laps / vibration
39) #46-Chase Miller / 13 laps / vibration

LASTCAR N’WIDE SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
For 2011 LASTCAR Driver’s Champion Jeff Green to break Jeff Fuller’s all-time single-season LASTCAR record of 11 last-place finishes, he must finish last in both the season’s remaining races at Phoenix and Homestead.
1st) Jeff Green (10)
2nd) Brett Rowe (3)
3rd) Kelly Bires, Johnny Chapman, Dennis Setzer (2)
4th) T.J. Bell, Matt Carter, Kevin Conway, Marc Davis, Mike Harmon, James Hylton, Jennifer Jo Cobb, Brian Keselowski, Blake Koch, Justin Marks, Scott Speed, Scott Wimmer, J.J. Yeley (1)

LASTCAR N’WIDE SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) #44-TriStar Motorsports (10)
2nd) #47-Key Motorsports, #55-Faith Motorsports (3)
3rd) #25-Ed Rensi, #27-Baker Curb Racing, #49-Jay Robinson Racing (2)
4th) #0-JD Motorsports, #13-Jennifer Jo Cobb, #41-Rick Ware Racing, #50-Mark Beaver, #68-Fleur-De-Lis Motorsports, #74-Mike Harmon, #75-Rick Ware Racing, #82-MacDonald Motorsports, #87-NEMCO Motorsports, #03-R3 Motorsports (1)

LASTCAR N’WIDE SERIES MANUFACTURER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (25)
2nd) Ford (6)
3rd) Dodge (1)

TRUCKS: Garvey Ties Bonifield For Most Last-Place Finishes In A Single Truck Series Season

SOURCE: TheHotLap.com
Mike Garvey picked up the 11th last-place finish of his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career in Friday’s WinStar World Casino 350k at the Texas Motor Speedway when his unsponsored #38 RSS Racing Chevrolet fell out with clutch issues after completing 5 of the race’s 148 laps.

The finish was Garvey’s sixth in 2011 and his second in as many races. This six-finish season ties that of 1999 LASTCAR Truck Series Champion Phil Bonifield for the most last-place runs in a single Truck Series season. Garvey can break this record with a last-place run in the Homestead finale in two weeks.

Garvey also ties Bonifield for the second-most last-place finishes in Truck Series history. Both trail all-time leader Wayne Edwards’ record of 13.

Garvey qualified 30th for Friday’s race at a speed of 175.524 mph, good enough to bump three other teams out of the field. Among those DNQs was second-ranked Norm Benning in his #57 Chevrolet.

SPEED’s scoring ticker showed at least three different changes for the 36th spot between Johnny Chapman, Mike Harmon, and T.J. Bell. However, when the final results were shown, it was Garvey in 36th, having exited the race after only five laps.

Chapman, driving Ken Smith’s #07 Toyota, found himself an unwilling participant in the night’s most controversial moment. On Lap 13, he was being lapped by Ron Hornaday, Jr. and Kyle Busch when the two faster trucks slid into the wall. Busch’s subsequent wrecking of Hornaday under caution led to NASCAR’s decision to park him for the night and, ultimately, for the rest of the weekend. This put both Hornaday and Busch - and their teams - in the Bottom Five for the first time in 2011.

Chapman, who avoided contact in the initial wreck, went on to finish 29th.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*Garvey scored one other Truck Series last-place finish at Texas back in 2010 when his #93 S&W Services Chevrolet fell out with transmission trouble six laps into the 2010 WinStar World Casino 400k, held in June.
*This is the first Truck Series last-place finish at Texas for the #38.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
36) #38-Mike Garvey / 5 laps / clutch
35) #87-Chris Jones / 10 laps / transmission
34) #33-Ron Hornaday, Jr. / 13 laps / crash
33) #18-Kyle Busch / 14 laps / parked
32) #0-T.J. Bell / 19 laps / vibration

LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Mike Garvey (6)
2nd) Norm Benning, Chris Lafferty, Brent Raymer (2)
3rd) Johnny Borneman III, James Buescher, Chris Jones, Mike Harmon, Jennifer Jo Cobb, Travis Kvapil, Johanna Long, Scott Riggs, Greg Seevers, Dennis Setzer, Brad Sweet, J.J. Yeley (1)

LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) #38-Shane Sieg (5)
2nd) #10-Jennifer Jo Cobb, #57-Norm Benning Racing, #75-Norm Benning Racing, #93-Shane Sieg (2)
3rd) #5-Randy Moss, #20-Panhandle Motorsports, #27-Shane Sieg, #31-Turner Motorsports, #32-Turner Motorsports, #65-Joey Sonntag, #66-Turn One Racing, #74-Mike Harmon, #87-Rick Jones, #89-Chris Lafferty, #07-SS Green Light Racing (1)

LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES MANUFACTURER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (19)
2nd) Toyota (3)
3rd) Ford (2)

Sunday, October 30, 2011

CUP: Skinner Returns To Track, Tightens LASTCAR Cup Battle After Early Crash

SOURCE: ESPN2

Mike Skinner picked up the 14th last-place finish of his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career in Sunday’s Tums Fast Relief 500 at the Martinsville Speedway when his unsponsored #37 MaxQ Motorsports Ford was involved in a six-car accident after completing 7 of the race’s 500 laps.

The finish was Skinner’s fifth in 2011 and his first since Watkins Glen, eleven races ago. With three races to go, he is now tied with J.J. Yeley for the second-most Cup Series last-place finishes in 2011. Each are just one finish behind current leader Michael McDowell.

The last time the Cup Series came to Martinsville, Skinner was making his first start for Germain Racing as the “start-and-park” driver of their #60 Big Red Toyota. He acquired the ride after helping Frankie Stoddard’s #32 FAS Lane Racing team make the Top 35, scoring finishes of 24th and 29th in Phoenix and Las Vegas.

Skinner made fifteen starts in Germain’s #60, scoring four last-place finishes during the spring and summer months. The team’s final start - and last-place finish - came last month at Atlanta, where Skinner switched rides with an ailing Dave Blaney, who was suffering from kidney stones. Skinner brought Blaney’s car home 27th.

After the Atlanta race, a string of four DNQs and two withdrawals, combined with frequent switches between Toyota and Chevrolet and a qualifying crash at Dover, culminated with the #60 team pulling out of competition before Talladega.

Talladega also saw Larry Gunselman’s #37 MaxQ Motorsports car score its third-consecutive DNQ with driver Josh Wise. Martinsville’s preliminary entry list placed Wise as MaxQ’s driver, but it was Skinner behind the wheel for Saturday morning practice. With qualifying cancelled by rain, Skinner secured the 38th starting spot and prepared for his first start with the team.

Seven laps into Sunday’s race, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Kurt Busch made contact in turns one and two, causing a spin that quickly blocked the track. Skinner and the #34 of David Gilliland, both trailing the initial spin, failed to slow down fast enough and collided with the stopped cars in front of them. Skinner rear-ended the #78 of Regan Smith, causing substantial damage to the nose of his Ford and a small fire under the hood. Skinner and Smith were uninjured, and the #37 was the only car involved in the wreck that failed to return to the track.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
Mike Skinner's #19 Zanworth Pontiac, 1986
SOURCE: LoboGraphix











*Skinner has just one other Cup Series last-place finish at Martinsville and, interestingly, it was the first finish of his career. The race was the 1986 Goody’s 500 - 25 years ago this past September - when Skinner’s unsponsored #19 Zanworth Racing Team Pontiac fell out with oil pressure problems after 34 of the race’s 500 laps. It was one of only three starts the Zanworth team ever made. All three came with Skinner in 1986 with the other two coming in the spring race at Martinsville and in the fall race at Rockingham. Their best finish was a 22nd in the spring Martinsville event.
*The last time the #37 finished last in a Cup race at Martinsville was in 2009, when Travis Kvapil’s Long John Silver’s Dodge fell out with brake problems after 30 laps.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #37-Mike Skinner / 7 laps / crash
42) #51-Landon Cassill / 27 laps / brakes
41) #87-Joe Nemechek / 33 laps / rear gear
40) #55-J.J. Yeley / 40 laps / brakes
39) #66-Michael McDowell / 45 laps / brakes

LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Michael McDowell (6)
2nd) Mike Skinner, J.J. Yeley (5)
3rd) Kevin Conway, Joe Nemechek (4)
4th) Robby Gordon, Travis Kvapil (2)
5th) Dave Blaney, Landon Cassill, Jeff Green, P.J. Jones, Scott Riggs, Scott Speed (1)

LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
Although Skinner is ranked second in the LASTCAR Driver’s Championship, this was actually the #37 team’s first last-place finish of 2011 after five previous bottom-five finishes.
1st) #55-Front Row Motorsports, #60-Germain Racing, #66-HP Racing LLC (6)
2nd) #87-NEMCO Motorsports (4)
3rd) #46-Whitney Motorsports, #97-NEMCO Motorsports (3)
4th) #7-Robby Gordon Motorsports (2)
5th) #37-MaxQ Motorsports, #81-Whitney Motorsports, #77-Robby Gordon Motorsports (1)

LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Toyota (18)
2nd) Ford (8)
3rd) Chevrolet (4)
4th) Dodge (3)

TRUCKS: Garvey Clinches Second-Consecutive LASTCAR Truck Series Title at Martinsville

SOURCE: TheHotLap.com
Mike Garvey picked up the 10th 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 Services Chevrolet fell out with brake problems after completing 8 of the race’s 200 laps.

The finish, Garvey’s fifth of the year and first since Lucas Oil Raceway in July, ten races ago, secured him his second-consecutive LASTCAR Truck Series Driver’s Championship. No other Truck Series driver has scored more than two last-place finishes in 2011. Garvey joins Loni Richardson (2002, 2004) as the only two Truck Series drivers with multiple LASTCAR championships and becomes the first to win consecutive titles.

Although Garvey has driven owner Shane Sieg’s #38 for much of this season, Martinsville saw him drive Sieg’s #93 for the third time in 2011 and for the first time since Bristol. In qualifying, Garvey put up the 35th-fastest speed at an average of 90.938 mph, just getting him into the 36-truck field. Missing the race were Loudon last-placer Jennifer Jo Cobb and the #99 of newcomer Charlie Vest.

Garvey’s truck was the first to go behind the wall during the opening green-flag stretch. Though nine cautions slowed the race’s pace for fifty laps, however, the only other truck to fall out of the event was the wrecked #4 of Ricky Carmichael.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This was Garvey’s second-consecutive last-place finish in the Truck Series fall race at Martinsville. In the 2010 Kroger 200, Garvey’s #93 S&W Towing Chevrolet left the race after 27 laps, again with brake problems.
*This was the third time in the last four Truck Series races at Martinsville that owner Shane Sieg’s #93 has finished last. Sieg himself finished last in the spring of 2010, citing electrical problems after three laps.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
36) #93-Mike Garvey / 8 laps / brakes
35) #4-Ricky Carmichael / 37 laps / crash
34) #07-T.J. Duke / 159 laps / running
33) #20-Johanna Long / 166 laps / running
32) #32-Blake Feese / 182 laps / running

LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Mike Garvey (5)
2nd) Norm Benning, Chris Lafferty, Brent Raymer (2)
3rd) Johnny Borneman III, James Buescher, Chris Jones, Mike Harmon, Jennifer Jo Cobb, Travis Kvapil, Johanna Long, Scott Riggs, Greg Seevers, Dennis Setzer, Brad Sweet, J.J. Yeley (1)

LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
Even though Garvey drove the #93 in place of the #38, the latter team has still claimed the 2011 LASTCAR Truck Series Owner’s Championship by virtue of its 13 bottom-five finishes. As mentioned last week, the 2nd-ranked #10, #57, and #75 teams have only five, three, and six bottom-five finishes respectively. The #93, now tied with them, has only eight.
1st) #38-Shane Sieg (4)
2nd) #10-Jennifer Jo Cobb, #57-Norm Benning Racing, #75-Norm Benning Racing, #93-Shane Sieg (2)
3rd) #5-Randy Moss, #20-Panhandle Motorsports, #27-Shane Sieg, #31-Turner Motorsports, #32-Turner Motorsports, #65-Joey Sonntag, #66-Turn One Racing, #74-Mike Harmon, #87-Rick Jones, #89-Chris Lafferty, #07-SS Green Light Racing (1)

LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES MANUFACTURER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (18)
2nd) Toyota (3)
3rd) Ford (2)

Sunday, October 23, 2011

CUP: Conway The First Cup Driver To Finish 43rd In Three Consecutive Superspeedway Races

SOURCE: SPEED
Kevin Conway picked up the 3rd last-place finish of his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career in Sunday’s Good Sam Club 500 at the Talladega Superspeedway when his #97 ExtenZe Toyota fell out with a vibration after completing 2 of the race’s 188 laps.

At Talladega, Conway returned to “start-and-park” duty for Nationwide Series team owner and on-track teammate Joe Nemechek, again behind the wheel of Nemechek’s #97. On Saturday, with a qualifying lap of 179.693 mph, Conway timed in 20th - his best career starting spot in 31 total Cup starts.

After he narrowly missed the Daytona 500 field during a late battle in the Gatorade Duels, Conway has successfully made the show for every restrictor plate Cup race held since. Two laps into Sunday race, however, Conway also scored his third consecutive last-place finish on these tracks when he pulled behind the wall under green.

Dave Blaney, who nearly pulled the upset at Talladega in the spring in owner Tommy Baldwin's #36, drove a tremendous race and finished a career-best 3rd for the third time in nineteen years of Cup racing.  His Golden Corral Chevrolet, rebuilt from a crash at Daytona in July, was revealed to be a former Bill Davis Racing chassis from 2007 or 2008.  Nevertheless, with the drafting help of Brad Keselowski, Blaney sped to his first top-10 finish of the year, triggering his sponsor's now-famous "Top 10 Kids Eat Free" campaign.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*Conway is the first Cup driver to finish last in three consecutive superspeedway races at Daytona and Talladega. This dates all the way back to the first Daytona qualifier in 1959 and includes every year that the qualifying races were listed as points races. On a handful of occasions, a driver has finished last in two consecutive plate races, most notably in 1992 when Dale Earnhardt’s terrible season was furthered by last-place showings in the July races at Daytona and Talladega.
*This is the second consecutive year that NEMCO’s #97 has finished last in the Cup Series’ fall race at Talladega. In 2010, Jeff Fuller was behind the wheel when his HeatRedefined.com Toyota left the race with a rear gear failure after two laps.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #97-Kevin Conway / 2 laps / vibration
42) #55-J.J. Yeley / 3 laps / wheel
41) #87-Joe Nemechek / 4 laps / rear gear
40) #66-Michael McDowell / 6 laps / clutch
39) #71-Andy Lally / 162 laps / crash / led 1 lap

LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
With four races to go, Michael McDowell, 40th at Talladega, remains the leader of the LASTCAR Cup Driver’s Championship, having just avoided a tie with J.J. Yeley, who came home a close 42nd on Sunday. By scoring a season-best finish of 22nd at Charlotte last Sunday, Yeley now trails McDowell by an insurmountable five bottom-five finishes: 19 to McDowell’s 24. Thus, only an overall lead can guarantee Yeley the LASTCAR Cup Driver’s Championship. And it’s not a two-driver race. Although Mike Skinner has lost his ride with Germain Racing for the rest of 2011 and Kevin Conway is not expected to compete in the final races of this season, defending LASTCAR Champion Joe Nemechek remains two finishes out of the lead and has continued to make all 32 races this season. With four races to go, Nemechek already has four more bottom-fives than McDowell with a series-leading total of 28.
1st) Michael McDowell (6)
2nd) J.J. Yeley (5)
3rd) Joe Nemechek, Mike Skinner (4)
4th) Kevin Conway (3)
5th) Robby Gordon, Travis Kvapil (2)
6th) Dave Blaney, Landon Cassill, Jeff Green, P.J. Jones, Scott Riggs, Scott Speed (1)

LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
Last week, it was reported that the #60 Germain Racing team would not attempt any more races in 2011, eliminating the team from LASTCAR contention due to the team’s 19 bottom-five finishes to the #66's current total of 25. Nevertheless, the battle for the LASTCAR Owner’s Championship also remains close as Front Row’s #55, though with only 11 bottom-fives, remains tied for the most finishes with the #66 and will run the rest of the year. However, if NEMCO’s #87 can score the two finishes needed to join the tie, they may be able to wrestle the title from the #66 by virtue of its 28 bottom-fives collected with Nemechek so far.
1st) #55-Front Row Motorsports, #60-Germain Racing, #66-HP Racing LLC (6)
2nd) #87-NEMCO Motorsports (4)
3rd) #46-Whitney Motorsports, #97-NEMCO Motorsports (3)
4th) #7-Robby Gordon Motorsports (2)
5th) #81-Whitney Motorsports, #77-Robby Gordon Motorsports (1)

LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Toyota (18)
2nd) Ford (7)
3rd) Chevrolet (4)
4th) Dodge (3)

TRUCKS: Yeley The First Driver Ever To Score Last-Place Finishes In All Three of NASCAR’s Top Divisions In The Same Season

SOURCE: SPEED
J.J. Yeley picked up the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career in Saturday’s Coca-Cola 250 at the Talladega Superspeedway when his unsponsored #66 Turn One Racing Chevrolet fell out with transmission problems after completing the first of the race’s 94 laps. The finish came in Yeley’s 13th series start.

With the finish, Yeley became the first driver in the history of NASCAR to score at least one last-place finish in each of its top three divisions in the same season. This season, prior to Saturday, he had one last-place finish in the Nationwide Series and five in Cup.

Yeley was driving for Turn One Racing, a team owned by series veteran Stacy Compton. In its first full year of competition, Turn One began the year with two trucks: Cole Whitt’s #60 and the #66, which began the year with sports car and ARCA competitor Justin Marks. Marks competed with the team for the opening twelve races, scoring a pole at Dover and a season-best finish of 9th at Charlotte.

Marks and primary sponsorship from GoPro left the #66 team after Nashville. Although the team has made all twelve races run since the split, and Ross Chastain put up a 10th-place finish at Indianapolis, the team has finished no better than 19th with five different drivers. Yeley became the fourth different driver at Chicago, where he finished 30th.

Last week at Talladega, Yeley timed in 33rd at a speed of 167.556 mph, relying on the #66 team’s owner points to beat the four “go-or-go-homers” that went home. Just as in his two previous starts for Turn One, the truck lacked sponsorship, and Yeley pulled it behind the wall after Lap 1. The next day, Yeley finished 42nd in the Cup race, parking Front Row’s #55 after three laps.

Teammate Cole Whitt finished 14th in the #60, extending a streak of five consecutive top-15 finishes in the Truck Series.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*The #66 had not finished last in a Truck Series race since 2005, when Todd Bodine’s BowTech Archery / Sportcoins.com Toyota was involved in a crash with Ken Weaver after completing three laps of the 2005 American Racing Wheels 200 at the Auto Club Speedway of Southern California. Thus, the number had also never finished last in a Truck Series race at Talladega since the series arrived there in 2006.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
36) #66-J.J. Yeley / 1 lap / transmission
35) #99-Patrick Sheltra / 14 laps / crash
34) #1-Jeffery Earnhardt / 15 laps / crash
33) #07-Butch Miller / 19 laps / rear gear
32) #16-Donnie Neuenberger / 25 laps / crash

LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
With three races to go in the 2011 season, Mike Garvey can lock up his second-consecutive LASTCAR Camping World Series championship if Norm Benning, Chris Lafferty, and Brent Raymer do not finish last in the final three races of the season, starting this Sunday at Martinsville. If Garvey ties one of these drivers with four finishes apiece, he will still claim the title by virtue of his 15 bottom-five finishes while Benning, Lafferty, and Raymer only have three apiece.
1st) Mike Garvey (4)
2nd) Norm Benning, Chris Lafferty, Brent Raymer (2)
3rd) Johnny Borneman III, James Buescher, Chris Jones, Mike Harmon, Jennifer Jo Cobb, Travis Kvapil, Johanna Long, Scott Riggs, Greg Seevers, Dennis Setzer, Brad Sweet, J.J. Yeley (1)

LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
Similarly, the #38 team can lock up the Owner’s Title if the trucks of the #10, #57, and #75 team fail to finish last in the final three races. The #38 team has 13 bottom-five finishes in 2011 compared to the #10's five, the #57's three, and the #75's six.
1st) #38-Shane Sieg (4)
2nd) #10-Jennifer Jo Cobb, #57-Norm Benning Racing, #75-Norm Benning Racing (2)
3rd) #5-Randy Moss, #20-Panhandle Motorsports, #27-Shane Sieg, #31-Turner Motorsports, #32-Turner Motorsports, #65-Joey Sonntag, #66-Turn One Racing, #74-Mike Harmon, #87-Rick Jones, #89-Chris Lafferty, #93-Shane Sieg, #07-SS Green Light Racing (1)

LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES MANUFACTURER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (17)
2nd) Toyota (3)
3rd) Ford (2)

Sunday, October 16, 2011

CUP: After Charlotte, Joe Nemechek Is One Finish Away From Tying Derrike Cope For The Most Last-Place Finishes In NASCAR History

SOURCE: ESPN2

Joe Nemechek picked up the 28th last-place finish of his NASCAR Sprint Cup career in Saturday’s Bank of America 500 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway when his #87 AM / FM Energy / Pellet & Wood Stoves Toyota fell out with a vibration after 11 of the race’s 334 laps.

The finish was Nemechek’s fourth of the 2011 season and his first since the June race at Kansas, eighteen races ago.

The finish is also Nemechek’s 34th across all three of NASCAR’s top divisions, moving him within one finish of tying all-time LASTCAR leader Derrike Cope for the most last-place finishes in NASCAR history. Curiously, it was during the Charlotte weekend that Cope was expected to return to the Cup Series, but he withdrew his #75 Dodge on Thursday after failing to run any laps in the opening practice session.

Nemechek is also four finishes away from tying the late J.D. McDuffie for the most last-place finishes in Sprint Cup history (32).

Back at Charlotte, Nemechek qualified 39th at a speed of 187.311 mph, but was the slowest car in both Friday’s final two practice sessions. On race night, rookie driver Andy Lally first fell to the rear. Lally, who had campaigned TRG Motorsports’ #71 for much of the year, was debuting a new second team, #77, which would run for the rest of 2011. Though without sponsorship, Lally was the fastest “go-or-go-homer” in both Friday practice sessions, reaching seventh in Friday’s morning practice. In the race, Lally was still running 43rd when Nemechek pulled behind the wall after 11 laps, ending his night. Lally and the #77 pulled out nine laps later, citing brake failure.

Nemechek’s early exit ended a three-race last-place streak by Front Row’s #55, this time again driven by Travis Kvapil. Though the #55 carried sponsorship from the Ingersoll-Rand corporation, the car retained its “start-and-park” status and fell out after 27 laps, sixteen laps after Nemechek took 43rd.

As a result, Michael McDowell, who came home 39th, continues to hold a one-finish lead on J.J. Yeley for the LASTCAR Driver’s Championship while the Owner’s Title remains a three-way tie between the #55, McDowell’s #66, and the #60 Germain Racing team, which withdrew with Mike Skinner prior to the opening practice.

Nemechek now stands two finishes behind McDowell for the Driver’s title - still in contention to defend his 2010 title with five races left to be run.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*Nemechek and the #87 scored their most recent Charlotte last-place finish in Sprint Cup competition during the 2009 running, when his unsponsored Toyota left the race with engine trouble after 26 laps of the NASCAR Banking 500 Only From Bank of America.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #87-Joe Nemechek / 11 laps / vibration
42) #77-Andy Lally / 20 laps / brakes
41) #30-David Stremme / 22 laps / overheating
40) #55-Travis Kvapil / 27 laps / overheating
39) #66-Michael McDowell / 30 laps / suspension

LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Michael McDowell (6)
2nd) J.J. Yeley (5)
3rd) Joe Nemechek, Mike Skinner (4)
4th) Kevin Conway, Robby Gordon, Travis Kvapil (2)
5th) Dave Blaney, Landon Cassill, Jeff Green, P.J. Jones, Scott Riggs, Scott Speed (1)

LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) #55-Front Row Motorsports, #60-Germain Racing, #66-HP Racing LLC (6)
2nd) #87-NEMCO Motorsports (4)
3rd) #46-Whitney Motorsports (3)
4th) #7-Robby Gordon Motorsports, #97-NEMCO Motorsports (2)
5th) #81-Whitney Motorsports, #77-Robby Gordon Motorsports (1)

LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Toyota (17)
2nd) Ford (7)
3rd) Chevrolet (4)
4th) Dodge (3)

N’WIDE: Two More Last-Place Finishes In Final Three Nationwide Races Will Give Jeff Green The Single-Season LASTCAR Record

SOURCE: TheHotLap.com

Jeff Green picked up the 26th last-place finish of his NASCAR Nationwide Series career in Friday’s Dollar General 300 Miles of Courage at the Charlotte Motor Speedway when his #44 Spirit Halloween Chevrolet fell out with a vibration after 3 of the race’s 200 laps.

It was Green’s tenth last-place finish of the season and his first since Dover, two races ago. Green has now equaled Dennis Setzer’s mark of ten last-place finishes in 2011 and, with three races to go, can mathematically break Jeff Fuller’s single-season last-place record of eleven finishes set back in 2004.

It was also Green’s 31st last-place finish across NASCAR’s top three divisions. He remains fifth in the all-time LASTCAR standings, but now just five finishes behind all-time leader Derrike Cope.

At Charlotte, Green secured the 43rd and final starting spot with a speed of 177.907 mph, good enough to beat the six other “go-or-go-homers” - including Setzer - who failed to qualify. Three laps into the race, during the opening green-flag run, Green pulled behind the wall, followed on the next lap by Erik Darnell, making his first Nationwide Series start of the season in Key Motorsports’ “start-and-park” #42 Chevrolet.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*Jeff Green and his #44 have swept both Nationwide Series last-place finishes at Charlotte in 2011. In May, a vibration was also the listed cause of his exit after four laps.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #44-Jeff Green / 3 laps / vibration
42) #42-Erik Darnell / 4 laps / brakes
41) #47-Scott Speed / 6 laps / vibration
40) #41-Johnny Chapman / 12 laps / overheating
39) #03-Scott Riggs / 18 laps / brakes

LASTCAR N’WIDE SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Jeff Green (10)
2nd) Brett Rowe (3)
3rd) Kelly Bires, Johnny Chapman, Dennis Setzer (2)
4th) T.J. Bell, Matt Carter, Kevin Conway, Marc Davis, Mike Harmon, James Hylton, Jennifer Jo Cobb, Brian Keselowski, Blake Koch, Justin Marks, Scott Wimmer, J.J. Yeley (1)

LASTCAR N’WIDE SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) #44-TriStar Motorsports (10)
2nd) #55-Faith Motorsports (3)
3rd) #25-Ed Rensi, #27-Baker Curb Racing, #47-Key Motorsports, #49-Jay Robinson Racing (2)
4th) #0-JD Motorsports, #13-Jennifer Jo Cobb, #41-Rick Ware Racing, #50-Mark Beaver, #68-Fleur-De-Lis Motorsports, #74-Mike Harmon, #75-Rick Ware Racing, #82-MacDonald Motorsports, #87-NEMCO Motorsports, #03-R3 Motorsports (1)

LASTCAR N’WIDE SERIES MANUFACTURER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (24)
2nd) Ford (6)
3rd) Dodge (1)

TRUCKS: Sixteen Years After His Father Became The First Truck Series Last-Placer, Johnny Borneman III Follows Suit At Las Vegas

SOURCE: Rubbins-Racin

Johnny Borneman III picked up the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career in Saturday’s Smith’s 350 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway when his unsponsored #75 Norm Benning Racing Chevrolet fell out with handling problems after completing the first of the race’s 146 laps. The finish came in Borneman III’s second series start and his first since driving his father’s #81 truck at Texas in 2003.

His father, John Borneman, who also made two career Truck Series starts, was the series’ first last-place finisher in a points race: his #8 MJ Soffe Chevrolet left the 1995 Copper World Classic at Phoenix after 22 laps with handling woes.

At Vegas, Borneman III was tabbed to drive Norm Benning’s #75 “start-and-park” entry in its sixth race of the 2011 campaign. He was likely signed to drive the truck at the 1.5-mile track as the Borneman family hails from nearby California. A veteran of twelve seasons in the K&N West Series, Borneman III has also made twenty Nationwide Series starts, scoring an emotional career-best fifth-place finish for his family’s team at Talladega last year (click here for the post race interview at 4:08).

With just 34 trucks showing up to compete in Las Vegas, Borneman III was able to secure the final starting spot with a speed of 153.118 mph, more than 23 mph slower than polesitter and race winner Ron Hornaday’s lap of 176.056 mph. After the opening lap of the race, Borneman III pulled behind the wall and out of the race.

Joining Borneman III in the bottom five positions was 31st-place Wayne Edwards, still the all-time LASTCAR leader in the Truck Series with 13 last-place finishes. Edwards was making his first start of 2011 driving the #0 - the same number he drove during part of his 2007 LASTCAR Truck Series championship. Saturday at Vegas, his #0 was a second Jennifer Jo Cobb-owned Ford.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*Although this is Borneman III’s first last-place finish in the Truck Series, he has two Nationwide finishes at the Auto Club Speedway of Southern California, his home track. The first came in the 2007 Camping World 300, where his #44 Super Series Chevrolet fell out with engine problems after two laps. The second was in the 2010 Stater Brothers 300, six races before his breakout performance at Talladega, when his #83 Twisted X Boots / Red Line Oil Ford lost the transmission after two laps.
*This is the #75 team’s second last-place finish in 2011. The first came in the team’s debut at Iowa, where ARCA veteran Greg Seevers fell out of the race after three laps with overheating problems. Seevers was also the series’ most recent first-time last-place finisher.
*The #75 had never before finished last in a Truck Series race at Las Vegas.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
34) #75-Johnny Borneman III / 1 lap / handling
33) #27-Chris Jones / 6 laps / brakes
32) #65-Lance Fenton / 7 laps / engine
31) #0-Wayne Edwards / 8 laps / transmission
30) #38-Mike Garvey / 8 laps / electrical

LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Mike Garvey (4)
2nd) Norm Benning, Chris Lafferty, Brent Raymer (2)
3rd) Johnny Borneman III, James Buescher, Chris Jones, Mike Harmon, Jennifer Jo Cobb, Travis Kvapil, Johanna Long, Scott Riggs, Greg Seevers, Dennis Setzer, Brad Sweet (1)

LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) #38-Shane Sieg (4)
2nd) #10-Jennifer Jo Cobb, #57-Norm Benning Racing, #75-Norm Benning Racing (2)
3rd) #5-Randy Moss, #20-Panhandle Motorsports, #27-Shane Sieg, #31-Turner Motorsports, #32-Turner Motorsports, #65-Joey Sonntag, #74-Mike Harmon, #87-Rick Jones, #89-Chris Lafferty, #93-Shane Sieg, #07-SS Green Light Racing (1)

LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES MANUFACTURER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (16)
2nd) Toyota (3)
3rd) Ford (2)

Sunday, October 9, 2011

CUP: Yeley First Driver To Sweep Weekend’s Last-Place Finishes Since Blaney in 2009

SOURCE: ESPN2
J.J. Yeley picked up the 7th last-place finish of his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career in Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at the Kansas Speedway when his unsponsored #55 Front Row Motorsports Ford fell out with ignition trouble after 12 of the race’s 272 laps.

It was Yeley’s fifth last-place finish of 2011, his first since the August race at Michigan, seven races ago, and his third in Front Row’s #55. The #55 team is now in a three-way tie with Germain Racing’s #60 and HP Racing LLC’s #66 for the 2011 LASTCAR Owner’s Championship - each with six finishes apiece with six races to go.

In addition, Yeley became the first driver to finish last in both the Nationwide and Sprint Cup races at the same track on the same weekend since Dave Blaney finished 43rd for both Phil Parsons’ teams at Atlanta in September of 2009.

After running four of the last five races in Front Row’s #38, scoring a best finish of 25th in that stretch, Yeley and Travis Kvapil switched rides once again, putting Yeley back in the “start-and-park” #55. Both Yeley and Kvapil put their cars into the race with Yeley putting up the 28th-fastest speed of 172.568 mph. Kvapil timed in 36th.

At the start of the race, A.J. Allmendinger, David Reutimann, and Reed Sorenson all fell to the rear of the field for missing driver’s introductions. While Allmendinger and Reutimann picked their way through the field in the early stages, Sorenson remained 43rd in Robby Gordon’s pink #7 SPEED Energy Dodge. Sorenson remained in that spot until Lap 13, when Yeley pulled behind the wall, followed by Casey Mears and Joe Nemechek before the first caution.

Kvapil finished 27th and led three laps when he stayed out for the ensuing Lap 24 restart.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*The Front Row Motorsports #55 team is the first Cup Series organization to score three consecutive last-place finishes since last summer when Max Papis and the #13 Germain Racing team finished last at Michigan, Sonoma, and Loudon. Next week at Charlotte, the #55 has a chance to become the first Cup Series team to extend that streak to four.
*This was Ford’s first last-place finish in a Cup race at Kansas since 2004, when Kirk Shelmerdine’s #72 Vote For Bush Ford fell out with clutch problems three laps into the 2004 Banquet 400.
*Neither Yeley nor the #55 had ever before finished last in a Cup race at Kansas.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #55-J.J. Yeley / 12 laps / ignition
42) #13-Casey Mears / 16 laps / brakes
41) #87-Joe Nemechek / 18 laps / clutch
40) #30-David Stremme / 27 laps / rear gear
39) #66-Michael McDowell / 30 laps / brakes

LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
With the finish, Yeley pulls within one finish of tying Michael McDowell for the 2011 LASTCAR Driver’s Championship. With the possibility of a tie in the next six races, McDowell remains just ahead of Yeley with 22 bottom-five finishes to Yeley’s 18. Mike Skinner, the current driver for the #60 Germain Racing team, failed to qualify at Kansas and has now missed the last five consecutive races.
1st) Michael McDowell (6)
2nd) J.J. Yeley (5)
3rd) Mike Skinner (4)
4th) Joe Nemechek (3)
5th) Kevin Conway, Robby Gordon, Travis Kvapil (2)
6th) Dave Blaney, Landon Cassill, Jeff Green, P.J. Jones, Scott Riggs, Scott Speed (1)

LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
With three teams now tied for the lead in the Owner’s Championship, the tiebreaker will also revert to bottom-five finishes. There, again, the #66 team holds the advantage with 23 bottom-fives. The #60, due in part to their recent streak of DNQs, has 19 while the #55, which debuted at Loudon in July, has only 9.
1st) #55-Front Row Motorsports, #60-Germain Racing, #66-HP Racing LLC (6)
2nd) #46-Whitney Motorsports, #87-NEMCO Motorsports (3)
3rd) #7-Robby Gordon Motorsports, #97-NEMCO Motorsports (2)
4th) #81-Whitney Motorsports, #77-Robby Gordon Motorsports (1)

LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Toyota (16)
2nd) Ford (7)
3rd) Chevrolet (4)
4th) Dodge (3)

N’WIDE: Yeley’s First Nationwide 43rd In Six Years Comes In Curb Team’s Return

SOURCE: Rubbins Racin'

J.J. Yeley picked up the 2nd last-place finish of his NASCAR Nationwide Series career in Saturday’s Kansas Lottery 300 at the Kansas Speedway when his #27 31-W Insulation Ford fell out with electrical problems after completing 2 of the race’s 200 laps.

The finish was Yeley’s first of the 2011 season, but the second for the Baker-Curb Motorsports team. Their other finish came with Justin Marks at Phoenix, 28 races ago.

Kansas was the #27 team’s sixth start of the 2011 Nationwide Series campaign and its fourth with J.J. Yeley aboard. The car’s best finish came in its most recent start at Fontana in April, where Canadian J.R. Fitzpatrick turned in a 20th-place finish. Having struggled through the first five races of the season, however, Baker-Curb did not make another race until Saturday.

Yeley’s lap of 164.951 mph in qualifying was just good enough for the 43rd and final starting spot, edging Dennis Setzer for the position by less than five hundredths of a second. On race day, Yeley missed the driver’s meeting, then pulled behind the wall a lap before T.J. Bell and 2011 LASTCAR Nationwide Driver’s Champion Jeff Green.

While Mike Curb’s team made only a brief appearance in the Nationwide race, he also succeeded in making his 100th Sprint Cup start as an owner. Austin Dillon, grandson of Richard Childress and the current Camping World Truck Series point leader, made his Cup Series debut Sunday driving Curb’s #98 Childress-prepared Chevrolet. It was Curb’s first Cup start as an owner since Brad Noffsinger’s run in the season-ending 1988 Atlanta Journal 500 at Atlanta.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This was Yeley’s first Nationwide Series last-place finish in more than six years. His only other 43rd came at Fontana, when his #18 Vigoro / The Home Depot Chevrolet lost the engine four laps into the 2005 Ameriquest 300.
*Yeley’s finish in a Ford ends an eight-race last-place streak by Chevrolet in the series which began after Jennifer Jo Cobb’s Ford finished last at Lucas Oil Raceway.
*The #27 has never before finished last in a Nationwide Series race at Kansas.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #27-J.J. Yeley / 2 laps / electrical
42) #50-T.J. Bell / 3 laps / vibration
41) #44-Jeff Green / 3 laps / vibration
40) #47-Charles Lewandoski / 5 laps / vibration
39) #46-Chase Miller / 10 laps / ignition

LASTCAR N’WIDE SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Jeff Green (9)
2nd) Brett Rowe (3)
3rd) Kelly Bires, Johnny Chapman, Dennis Setzer (2)
4th) T.J. Bell, Matt Carter, Kevin Conway, Marc Davis, Mike Harmon, James Hylton, Jennifer Jo Cobb, Brian Keselowski, Blake Koch, Justin Marks, Scott Wimmer, J.J. Yeley (1)

LASTCAR N’WIDE SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) #44-TriStar Motorsports (9)
2nd) #55-Faith Motorsports (3)
3rd) #25-Ed Rensi, #27-Baker Curb Racing, #47-Key Motorsports, #49-Jay Robinson Racing (2)
4th) #0-JD Motorsports, #13-Jennifer Jo Cobb, #41-Rick Ware Racing, #50-Mark Beaver, #68-Fleur-De-Lis Motorsports, #74-Mike Harmon, #75-Rick Ware Racing, #82-MacDonald Motorsports, #87-NEMCO Motorsports, #03-R3 Motorsports (1)

LASTCAR N’WIDE SERIES MANUFACTURER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (23)
2nd) Ford (6)
3rd) Dodge (1)

Sunday, October 2, 2011

CUP: Kvapil Scores Back-To-Back Cup Series Last-Place Finishes

SOURCE: ESPN2
Travis Kvapil picked up the 4th last-place finish of his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career in Sunday’s AAA 400 at the Dover International Speedway when his unsponsored #55 Front Row Motorsports Ford fell out with ignition problems after 12 of the race’s 400 laps.

It was Kvapil’s second last-place finish of 2011 and his second in a row, following his early exit last Sunday at Loudon.

Kvapil locked himself into the Dover field with a speed of 156.230 mph, placing him 32nd on the starting grid. While teammate J.J. Yeley in the Front Row #38 was forced to a backup car following an accident in Friday’s opening practice, Kvapil had an uneventful weekend. Dropping to the rear at the start, Kvapil pulled behind the wall between the first and second cautions, followed twelve laps later by Scott Speed in Dusty Whitney’s #46 Ford.

Yeley was involved in a single-car accident on Lap 300 and ended up finishing ten laps down in 34th. David Gilliland in Front Row’s top-ranked #34 finished three laps down in 28th.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*The #55 had not finished last in a Sprint Cup race at Dover since 1999, when Kenny Wallace’s Square D Chevrolet fell out with engine failure after 63 laps of the 1999 MBNA Gold 400 at Dover.
*This was Kvapil’s first-ever last-place finish in a Cup race at Dover.
*Kvapil joins current LASTCAR Cup leader Michael McDowell (Bristol and Fontana; Darlington and Dover) as the only two Cup drivers with consecutive last-place finishes in 2011. Kvapil had never before finished last in two consecutive races.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #55-Travis Kvapil / 12 laps / ignition
42) #46-Scott Speed / 24 laps / brakes
41) #30-David Stremme / 31 laps / vibration
40) #66-Michael McDowell / 44 laps / fuel pump / led 1 lap
39) #87-Joe Nemechek / 49 laps / clutch

LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Michael McDowell (6)
2nd) Mike Skinner, J.J. Yeley (4)
3rd) Joe Nemechek (3)
4th) Kevin Conway, Robby Gordon, Travis Kvapil (2)
5th) Dave Blaney, Landon Cassill, Jeff Green, P.J. Jones, Scott Riggs, Scott Speed (1)

LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
The #60 Germain Racing team, still tied with HP Racing’s #66 for the Owner’s Championship, has now been absent from the last four consecutive races since Dave Blaney drove the car to its sixth last-place finish at Atlanta. In that time, Mike Skinner, the team’s regular driver, has scored three DNQs and the team withdrew back at Loudon. Although the #66 scored the tying last-place finish of at Chicagoland, the #55 Front Row Motorsports team’s streak could make it a three-car battle for the Owner’s Championship.
1st) #60-Germain Racing, #66-HP Racing LLC (6)
2nd) #55-Front Row Motorsports (5)
3rd) #46-Whitney Motorsports, #87-NEMCO Motorsports (3)
4th) #7-Robby Gordon Motorsports, #97-NEMCO Motorsports (2)
5th) #81-Whitney Motorsports, #77-Robby Gordon Motorsports (1)

LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Toyota (16)
2nd) Ford (6)
3rd) Chevrolet (4)
4th) Dodge (3)

N’WIDE: Dover Sees Jeff Green Score The Most Last-Place Finishes In Nationwide Series History

SOURCE: TheHotLap.com
Jeff Green picked up the 25th last-place finish of his NASCAR Nationwide Series career in Saturday’s OneMain Financial 200 at the Dover International Speedway when his unsponsored #44 TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet fell out with a vibration after 1 of the race’s 200 laps.

With the finish, Green has now scored the most last-place finishes of any driver in NASCAR Nationwide Series history, breaking a tie with three-time LASTCAR Nationwide Series champion Jeff Fuller. Also, with a combined total of 30 finishes, Green also holds sole possession of fourth in the all-time LASTCAR standings, just five finishes behind all-time leader Derrike Cope.

Further, this finish was the series-leading ninth of Green’s 2011 season - his first since Bristol, four races ago (LINK) - and he has now locked-up his second LASTCAR Nationwide Series championship. Green’s first LASTCAR title came in 1996, when he scored three last-place finishes while driving for Dale Earnhardt, Inc.

At Dover, Green timed in 29th at a speed of 148.325 mph, ranking him sixth among the field’s “go-or-go-homers.” It was also Green’s third consecutive qualifying run inside the Top 30. However, still on “start-and-park” duty for TriStar, Green pulled behind the wall after the opening lap.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This was Jeff Green’s second-consecutive last-place finish in the fall Nationwide Series race at Dover. In last year’s Dover 200, while driving TriStar’s #36 Chevrolet, Green also left the race after the opening lap, that time with brake failure.
*This was the first time the #44 has ever finished last in a Nationwide Series race at Dover.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #44-Jeff Green / 1 lap / vibration
42) #50-T.J. Bell / 3 laps / brakes
41) #82-Scott Wimmer / 3 laps / ignition
40) #42-Tim Andrews / 4 laps / electrical
39) #46-Chase Miller / 5 laps / ignition

LASTCAR N’WIDE SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
With a six-finish lead and just five races remaining, Jeff Green and the #44 TriStar Motorsports team have officially clinched the 2011 LASTCAR Nationwide Series Driver’s and Owner’s Championships. Second-ranked Brett Rowe and the #55 Faith Motorsports team have not raced since their most recent last-place run at Road America in June.
1st) Jeff Green (9)
2nd) Brett Rowe (3)
3rd) Kelly Bires, Johnny Chapman, Dennis Setzer (2)
4th) T.J. Bell, Matt Carter, Kevin Conway, Marc Davis, Mike Harmon, James Hylton, Jennifer Jo Cobb, Brian Keselowski, Blake Koch, Justin Marks, Scott Wimmer (1)

LASTCAR N’WIDE SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) #44-TriStar Motorsports (9)
2nd) #55-Faith Motorsports (3)
3rd) #25-Ed Rensi, #47-Key Motorsports, #49-Jay Robinson Racing (2)
4th) #0-JD Motorsports, #13-Jennifer Jo Cobb, #27-Baker Curb Racing, #41-Rick Ware Racing, #50-Mark Beaver, #68-Fleur-De-Lis Motorsports, #74-Mike Harmon, #75-Rick Ware Racing, #82-MacDonald Motorsports, #87-NEMCO Motorsports, #03-R3 Motorsports (1)

LASTCAR N’WIDE SERIES MANUFACTURER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (23)
2nd) Ford (5)
3rd) Dodge (1)