CUP: Bliss The Third Cup Driver To Finish Last With Power Steering Problems

SOURCE: Rubbin's Racin'

Mike Bliss picked up the 8th last-place finish of his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career in Saturday’s Irwin Tools Night Race at the Bristol Motor Speedway when his #19 Plinker Tactical Toyota fell out with power steering problems after completing 6 of the race’s 500 laps.

The finish was Bliss’ second of the 2012 season and his first since Indianapolis, three races ago. It was also the second last-place finish in a row for Humphrey-Smith Racing, which came home 43rd with Jason Leffler last Sunday at Michigan.

Qualifying for the night race was rained out on Friday, so Bliss fell back on his opening practice speed and wound up 34th in the starting lineup. Teammate Reed Sorenson in the #91 and Scott Speed (Speed tied for the 2012 LASTCAR Sprint Cup lead), were among the four drivers who missed the show.

Bliss was behind the wall three laps before Ken Schrader’s hard crash on the frontstretch brought out the first caution of the night on Lap 10. However, Bliss did not return to the track and remained in the 43rd spot. Scott Riggs, whose #23 barely avoided involvement in Schrader’s accident, pulled out after the restart and ended up 41st, making him the only leader in the 2012 LASTCAR Sprint Cup standings to score a bottom five.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This was the first last-place finish for the #19 in Sprint Cup competition since March 14, 1976, when Henley Gray’s Belden Asphalt Chevrolet fell out with brake problems after 40 laps of the Southeastern 500.
*This was Bliss’ first last-place finish in a Cup race at Bristol. Bliss’ first Cup Series last-place finish did come at a concrete track, however, when his #27 Pfizer / Viagra Pontiac crashed two laps into the 2000 MBNA.com 400 at Dover.
*Bliss is the first Cup Series last-place finisher to fall out due to power steering problems since P.J. Jones, whose #04 Jim Beam / Menards Toyota fell out two laps into the 2009 Toyota / Save Mart 350 at Sonoma. The only other time that happened was earlier that year, when David Gilliland’s #71 TRG Motorsports Chevrolet fell out after 38 laps of the Autism Speaks 400 presented by Heluva Good! at Dover.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #19-Mike Bliss / 6 laps / power steering
42) #32-Ken Schrader / 9 laps / crash
41) #23-Scott Riggs / 20 laps / brakes
40) #33-Stephen Leicht / 56 laps / fuel pressure
39) #87-Joe Nemechek / 130 laps / electrical

LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Michael McDowell, Scott Riggs, Scott Speed, Josh Wise (3)
2nd) Mike Bliss, J.J. Yeley (2)
3rd) Trevor Bayne, Landon Cassill, Brendan Gaughan, Jason Leffler, Joe Nemechek, David Ragan, Reed Sorenson, Brian Vickers (1)

LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) #19-Humphrey-Smith Racing, #23-R3 Motorsports, #26-Front Row Motorsports, #98-Phil Parsons Racing (3)
2nd) #49-Robinson-Blakeney Racing, #95-Leavine Family Racing (2)
3rd) #21-Wood Brothers Racing, #33-Richard Childress Racing, #34-Front Row Motorsports, #55-Michael Waltrip Racing, #74-Turn One Racing, #79-Go Green Racing, #83-BK Racing, #87-NEMCO Motorsports (1)

LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Ford (12)
2nd) Toyota (7)
3rd) Chevrolet (5)

N’WIDE: Chase Miller Edges Jeff Green For Third Last-Place Finish

SOURCE: Rob Dostie

Chase Miller picked up the 3rd last-place finish of his NASCAR Nationwide Series career in Saturday’s Food City 250 at the Bristol Motor Speedway when his unsponsored #46 The Motorsports Group Chevrolet fell out with ignition problems after completing 2 of the race’s 250 laps.

The finish was Miller’s second of the 2012 season and his first since Iowa, thirteen races ago. He is now tied with Mike Harmon and Kevin Lepage for second-most in 2012, but remains a distant second to leader Jeff Green’s season total of 11.

Miller qualified 31st at an average speed of 117.588 mph, ranking him eighth among the sixteen "go-or-go-homers" who attempted to qualify. Teammate Stephen Leicht, in The Motorsports Group’s #47, was among the three drivers who did not make the field.

At the start of the race, Jeremy Clements fell from his 21st starting spot to 43rd when a radio problem kept him from starting the race. However, Clements returned to the track around 35 laps down, by which point seven drivers had already parked their cars. The first of that group was Miller, who beat 2012 leader Jeff Green by four laps.

For the second consecutive race, Erik Darnell had a solid race in The Motorsports Group’s only full-race team. Coming off a 16th-place finish at Montreal, Darnell’s #40 flirted with a top-ten finish at Bristol, briefly running 9th, but electrical woes dropped him to 35th after 173 laps.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This was the first time the #46 finished last in a Nationwide Series race at Bristol since 1994, when Shawna Robinson’s Polaroid Chevrolet suffered an ignition problem after seven laps of the Goody’s 250. This race is better known as the one Mark Martin dominated, only to pull behind the wall one lap too early when the race ended under caution. David Green won the race while all-time LASTCAR leader Jeff Green finished 3rd in a Pontiac owned by Michael Waltrip.
*This was Miller’s first last-place finish in a Nationwide Series race at Bristol.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #46-Chase Miller / 2 laps / ignition
42) #10-Jeff Green / 6 laps / vibration
41) #08-Tim Andrews / 11 laps / brakes
40) #42-Josh Wise / 14 laps / electrical
39) #50-David Starr / 19 laps / engine

LASTCAR N'WIDE SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Jeff Green (11)
2nd) Mike Harmon, Kevin Lepage, Chase Miller (2)
3rd) Ryan Blaney, Stephen Leicht, Danica Patrick, Tony Raines, Scott Speed, Josh Wise (1)

LASTCAR N'WIDE SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) #10-TriStar Motorsports (11)
2nd) #46-The Motorsports Group, #47-The Motorsports Group, #74-Mike Harmon (2)
3rd) #7-JR Motorsports, #36-Tommy Baldwin Racing, #42-The Motorsports Group, #52-Means Racing, #70-ML Motorsports, #91-TriStar Motorsports (1)

LASTCAR N'WIDE SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Toyota (12)
2nd) Chevrolet (11)

TRUCKS: Chapman Two Finishes Away From Truck Series Last-Place Record

SOURCE: 8dalejr.fan at Rubbin's Racin'

Johnny Chapman picked up the 12th last-place finish of his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career in Wednesday’s UNOH 200 at the Bristol Motor Speedway when his unsponsored #5 Wauters Motorsports Chevrolet fell out with electrical problems after completing 2 of the race’s 204 laps.

The finish was Chapman’s second of 2012, his first since Chicagoland, three races ago, making him the first repeat last-place finisher of the season. Chapman is now in sole possession of 2nd in the all-time LASTCAR Truck Series standings, one finish behind all-time leader Wayne Edwards’ record of 13.

Rookie Paulie Harraka drove the #5 Wauters Motorsports Ford for the first eleven races of 2012, scoring a season-best 17th-place finish at both Dover and Kentucky. However, after four DNFs due to crash damage, Harraka opted to skip the last two races at Michigan and Bristol as the team re-evaluates its performance. For those two races, the team rolled out a start-and-park Chevrolet. Scott Riggs finished 32nd in the black truck at Michigan, and Chapman was tabbed to take over the ride at Bristol.

Last week in Thunder Valley, Chapman qualified 33rd at an average speed of 118.095 mph. Thanks to Harraka’s efforts, the team was locked in on owner’s points, and Chapman bested the slowest two locked-in drivers by nearly two miles per hour. In the race, however, it was Chapman who was first behind the wall, followed two laps later Dennis Setzer in the #38 truck that claimed the 2011 LASTCAR Truck Series championship with driver Mike Garvey.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This was the first last-place finish for the #5 in a Truck Series race since 2011, when Travis Kvapil’s International Truck / Monaco RVs Toyota fell out with crash damage after 99 laps of the Lucas Oil 150 at Phoenix.
*The #5 has just one other last-place finish in a Truck Series point race, which came in 1997 after Robbie Pyle’s Central Fastener Dodge lost the transmission 13 laps into the Link-Belt Construction Equipment 225 at Louisville.
*This was Chapman’s first last-place finish in a Truck Series race at Bristol.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
36) #5-Johnny Chapman / 2 laps / electrical
35) #38-Dennis Setzer / 4 laps / brakes
34) #86-Clay Greenfield / 53 laps / brakes
33) #93-Chris Jones / 81 laps / crash
32) #07-Jeff Agnew / 91 laps / crash

LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Johnny Chapman (2)
2nd) T.J. Bell, Jeb Burton, Rick Crawford, Grant Enfinger, Clay Greenfield, Jennifer Jo Cobb, Brandon Knupp, Jason Leffler, Brennan Newberry, Scott Riggs, Dennis Setzer (1)

LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) #27-Hillman Racing (2)
2nd) #0-Jennifer Jo Cobb, #5-Wauters Motorsports, #10-Jennifer Jo Cobb, #14-Bob Newberry, #18-Kyle Busch Motorsports, #38-RSS Racing, #60-Turn One Racing, #68-Clay Greenfield Motorsports, #86-Clay Greenfield Motorsports, #74-Mike Harmon, #07-Ken Smith (1)

LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (7)
2nd) RAM (3)
3rd) Toyota (2)
4th) Ford (1)
　

CUP: Leffler Scores Car #19's First Michigan Last-Place Finish Since 1981

SOURCE: Rubbin's Racin'

Jason Leffler picked up the 6th last-place finish of his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career in Sunday’s Pure Michigan 400 at the Michigan International Speedway when his unsponsored #19 Humphrey Smith Racing Ford fell out with a fuel pressure problem after completing 14 of the race’s 201 laps.

The finish was Leffler’s first of 2012 and his first in Sprint Cup since his #66 PRISM Motorsports Toyota had electrical problems 23 laps into the 2010 Pepsi 500 at the Auto Club Speedway of Southern California, 66 races ago. Prior to this season, that race was Leffler’s most recent Cup Series start.

Sunday was also Leffler’s second consecutive start of 2012, following an eventful 35th-place finish in the Robinson-Blakeney #49 after an off-course excursion and a blown engine at Watkins Glen. The Michigan race was also the thirteenth of the year for the #19, now a Ford for the first time this year. Leffler qualified 33rd at an average speed of 192.205 mph. His teammate in the #91 Toyota, Reed Sorenson, timed in 27th to put both Humphrey Smith cars into the race.

In the race itself, Leffler and Sorenson fell out one lap apart, securing the final two spots in the field.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This was the first last-place finish for the #19 at Michigan since August 16, 1981, when Dick May’s #19 Belden Asphalt Buick fell out with a broken cam after 4 laps of the Champion Spark Plug 400.
*This was Leffler’s first last-place finish in a Cup race at Michigan.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #19-Jason Leffler / 14 laps / fuel pressure
42) #91-Reed Sorenson / 15 laps / overheating
41) #23-Scott Riggs / 20 laps / suspension
40) #26-Josh Wise / 21 laps / suspension
39) #98-Mike Skinner / 25 laps / electrical

LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Michael McDowell, Scott Riggs, Scott Speed, Josh Wise (3)
2nd) J.J. Yeley (2)
3rd) Trevor Bayne, Mike Bliss, Landon Cassill, Brendan Gaughan, Jason Leffler, Joe Nemechek, David Ragan, Reed Sorenson, Brian Vickers (1)

LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) #23-R3 Motorsports, #26-Front Row Motorsports, #98-Phil Parsons Racing (3)
2nd) #19-Humphrey-Smith Racing, #49-Robinson-Blakeney Racing, #95-Leavine Family Racing (2)
3rd) #21-Wood Brothers Racing, #33-Richard Childress Racing, #34-Front Row Motorsports, #55-Michael Waltrip Racing, #74-Turn One Racing, #79-Go Green Racing, #83-BK Racing, #87-NEMCO Motorsports (1)

LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Ford (12)
2nd) Toyota (6)
3rd) Chevrolet (5)

N’WIDE: Jeff Green Continues His Record Pace At Montreal

SOURCE: NASCAR Media

Jeff Green picked up the 37th last-place finish of his NASCAR Nationwide Series career in Saturday’s NAPA Auto Parts 200 presented by Dodge at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve when his unsponsored #10 TriStar Motorsports Toyota fell out with a vibration after completing 2 of the race’s 81 laps.

The finish was Green’s sixth in the last nine races and his 11th of the 2012 season, tying NASCAR’s all-time single-season last-place record set by Jeff Fuller in 2004. This Friday, Green has a chance to break Fuller’s record at Bristol, scene of his record-setting fourth-consecutive last-place finish last year.

Green qualified 25th for Saturday’s race at an average speed of 93.514 mph, ranking him sixth among the fourteen "go-or-go-homers" who attempted to qualify for the event. Only Ryan Ellis did not qualify, resulting in the second consecutive DNQ for the #52 Jimmy Means-owned team.

In the race itself, Green was the first to fall out, though the ESPN broadcast showed The Motorsports Group teammates Chase Miller and Matt DiBenedetto running in the final two spots. However, in the final running order, Green was 43rd once again, with Miller and DiBenedetto 42nd and 40th, respectively.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This was Green’s second consecutive last-place finish at Montreal.
*This was the first last-place finish for the #10 at Montreal, and the first time a driver finished last at the track due to a vibration.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #10-Jeff Green / 2 laps / vibration
42) #46-Chase Miller / 4 laps / brakes
41) #42-Blake Koch / 5 laps / brakes
40) #47-Matt DiBenedetto / 6 laps / overheating
39) #15-Chris Cook / 6 laps / brakes

LASTCAR N'WIDE SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Jeff Green (11)
2nd) Mike Harmon, Kevin Lepage (2)
3rd) Ryan Blaney, Stephen Leicht, Chase Miller, Danica Patrick, Tony Raines, Scott Speed, Josh Wise (1)

LASTCAR N'WIDE SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) #10-TriStar Motorsports (11)
2nd) #47-The Motorsports Group, #74-Mike Harmon (2)
3rd) #7-JR Motorsports, #36-Tommy Baldwin Racing, #42-The Motorsports Group, #46-The Motorsports Group, #52-Means Racing, #70-ML Motorsports, #91-TriStar Motorsports (1)

LASTCAR N'WIDE SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Toyota (12)
2nd) Chevrolet (10)

TRUCKS: T.J. Bell Picks Up First Truck Series Last-Place Finish

SOURCE: Rubbin's Racin'

T.J. Bell picked up the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career in Saturday’s VFW 200 at the Michigan International Speedway when his #0 Driven2Honor.org Ford fell out with a transmission problem after the first of the race’s 100 laps. The finish came in Bell’s 81st series start.

Bell was making his second start of the 2012 season and his first since Chicago, two races ago. At Michigan, he qualified 33rd at an average speed of 168.788 mph, third from last among the ten "go-or-go-homers" in the 35-car field.

In the race itself, Bell pulled behind the wall along with Josh Wise, making his first Truck Series start of the year in a backup Norm Benning Racing Chevrolet, #75.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This was the first last-place finish for the #0 since 2008, when Kevin Lepage’s ASI Limited Chevrolet fell out with clutch problems after 2 laps of the Ford 200 at Homestead.
*This was Ford’s first last-place finish in the Truck Series since the F.W. Webb 175 at Loudon last year when team owner Jennifer Jo Cobb’s #10 HipChixFundraisers.com Ford lost the engine before completing the opening lap.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
35) #0-T.J. Bell / 1 lap / transmission
34) #75-Josh Wise / 1 lap / vibration
33) #38-Chris Jones / 4 laps / rear gear
32) #5-Scott Riggs / 4 laps / engine
31) #93-Dennis Setzer / 6 laps / overheating

LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) T.J. Bell, Jeb Burton, Johnny Chapman, Rick Crawford, Grant Enfinger, Clay Greenfield, Jennifer Jo Cobb, Brandon Knupp, Jason Leffler, Brennan Newberry, Scott Riggs, Dennis Setzer (1)

LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) #27-Hillman Racing (2)
2nd) #0-Jennifer Jo Cobb, #10-Jennifer Jo Cobb, #14-Bob Newberry, #18-Kyle Busch Motorsports, #38-RSS Racing, #60-Turn One Racing, #68-Clay Greenfield Motorsports, #86-Clay Greenfield Motorsports, #74-Mike Harmon, #07-Ken Smith (1)

LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (6)
2nd) RAM (3)
3rd) Toyota (2)
4th) Ford (1)
　

CUP: Vickers The First Cup Driver To Finish Last Without Completing A Lap Since 2006

SOURCE: Zimbio / Todd Warshaw at Getty Images

Brian Vickers picked up the 7th last-place finish of his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career in Sunday’s Finger Lakes 355 at the Glen at Watkins Glen International when his #55 My Classic Garage Toyota lost the engine on the opening lap of the 90-lap race.

This was Vickers’ first last-place finish of 2012 and his first in Cup since 2007, when his #83 Red Bull Toyota finished under power, but 35 laps down, in the 2007 Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire.

Vickers was making his fifth start of 2012 for Michael Waltrip Racing, a part-time deal he acquired after Red Bull Racing lost its title sponsorship at the end of last season. In his four previous starts, Vickers had finished no worse than 18th with a best finish of 4th in the previous road course race at Sonoma, where teammate Clint Bowyer took the checkered flag.

However, at the Glen, Vickers struggled in qualifying, scoring the 33rd spot at an average speed of 123.710 mph. Then, during the opening lap of the race, Vickers’ car suddenly lost power, sending him behind the wall with a blown engine.

42nd in the race went to Porsche factory driver Patrick Long, who himself lost an engine in practice, resulting in an accident that sent he, Denny Hamlin, and Jeff Burton to backup cars. The next day, the #30 Inception Motorsports team rebounded from Brian Simo’s DNQ at Sonoma as only 43 cars entered Sunday’s race, but Long parked after two laps, ending his Sprint Cup debut.

Defending LASTCAR Sprint Cup champion Michael McDowell equaled his best career qualifying run of 11th at this year’s Daytona 500. He ran through the first pit stop cycle, but after a pit road speeding penalty, he parked the #98 TRAQM Ford and came home 37th.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This was the first last-place finish for the #55 since 2011, when Travis Kvapil’s Aloft Hotel Tempe Ford fell out with brake problems after 20 laps of the Kobalt Tools 500 at Phoenix.
*This was the first last-place finish for Michael Waltrip Racing since 2008, when A.J. Allmendinger’s #00 Champion Mortgages Toyota was involved in a crash after 52 laps of the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte.
*Vickers is the first driver to finish last in a Sprint Cup race without completing a single lap since 2006, when Tom Hubert’s Interush Ford was involved in a multi-car pileup on the opening lap of the Toyota / Save Mart 350. It was Hubert’s third-consecutive last-place finish at the Northern California road course, and all three came while driving for former crew chief Kirk Shelmerdine.

TEN MOST RECENT CUP DRIVERS TO FINISH LAST WITHOUT COMPLETING A SINGLE LAP
*Sunday marked the 132nd time in NASCAR Sprint Cup history that the last-place finisher did not complete the opening lap. Nine of the ten most recent times this has happened was because of crash damage, including the inaugural races at Kansas and Texas.

#27-Tom Hubert - 2006 Dodge / Save Mart 350 at Sonoma - crash
#88-Dale Jarrett - 2006 Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte - crash
#08-Shane Hmiel - 2005 Golden Corral 500 at Atlanta - crash
#02-Hermie Sadler - 2004 Ford 400 at Homestead - crash
#1-Steve Park - 2002 Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono - crash
#66-Geoffrey Bodine - 2002 New England 300 at Loudon - rear end
#19-Casey Atwood - 2001 Protection One 400 at Kansas - crash
#8-Dale Earnhardt, Jr. - 2001 Dura Lube / K-Mart 400 at Rockingham - crash
#40-Robby Gordon - 1997 Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono - crash
#17-Darrell Waltrip - 1997 Interstate Batteries 500 at Texas - crash

THE BOTTOM FIVE
(August 13, 2012 - Updated With Photos by LASTCAR reader Rob Dostie!)

43) #55-Brian Vickers / 0 laps / engine

42) #30-Patrick Long / 2 laps / brakes

41) #19-Chris Cook / 5 laps / brakes

40) #10-J.J. Yeley / 15 laps / brakes

39) #1-Jamie McMurray / 24 laps / crash

LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Michael McDowell, Scott Riggs, Scott Speed, Josh Wise (3)
2nd) J.J. Yeley (2)
3rd) Trevor Bayne, Mike Bliss, Landon Cassill, Brendan Gaughan, Joe Nemechek, David Ragan, Reed Sorenson, Brian Vickers (1)

LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) #23-R3 Motorsports, #26-Front Row Motorsports, #98-Phil Parsons Racing (3)
2nd) #49-Robinson-Blakeney Racing, #95-Leavine Family Racing (2)
3rd) #19-Humphrey-Smith Racing, #21-Wood Brothers Racing, #33-Richard Childress Racing, #34-Front Row Motorsports, #55-Michael Waltrip Racing, #74-Turn One Racing, #79-Go Green Racing, #83-BK Racing, #87-NEMCO Motorsports (1)

LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Ford (11)
2nd) Toyota (6)
3rd) Chevrolet (5)

N’WIDE: Danica Patrick Is Danica Last-rick For The First Time In NASCAR

SOURCE: NASCAR Media

Danica Patrick picked up the 1st last-place finish of her NASCAR Nationwide Series career in Saturday’s Zippo 200 at the Glen at Watkins Glen International when her #7 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet was involved in a two-car accident on the opening lap, ending her race after 2 of the event’s 82 laps. The finish came in Patrick’s 46th series start.

The popular former IZOD IndyCar Series driver was past the halfway point of her first full season in NASCAR. One of Patrick’s best performances came at the series’ most recent road course event, the Sargento 200 at Road America, before Jacques Villeneuve spun her out of a top 5 in the closing stages. Her best finish of 2012 remained an 8th at Texas in April, just short of her career-best 4th at Las Vegas in 2011.

Patrick qualified 23rd for Saturday’s race at an average speed of 118.998 mph. At the start of the race, she was holding her line on the inside when the #20 of Ryan Truex, running 13th, clipped the turn one grass and lost control. Truex’s Toyota slid backwards down to turn one, where he suddenly crossed paths with Patrick’s Chevrolet.

The resulting contact, although severe, was not enough to keep Patrick from making it back to pit road. However, when it was discovered how badly the radiator was damaged, the team called it a day after two laps. Two start-and-park cars from The Motorsports Group pulled behind the wall at that time, but Patrick ended up credited with her first last-place finish in NASCAR.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This was the first last-place finish for the #7 since 2005, when Jeff Fuller’s #7 Big Boar Customs Chevrolet fell out of the Emerson Radio 250 at Richmond when the brakes went sour after 23 laps. Fuller was driving for Joe Nemechek, with who he scored the series record 11 last-place finishes in 2004.
*This was JR Motorsports’ first-ever last-place finish in 392 combined starts in NASCAR Nationwide Series competition.
*Danica is the first woman from any of NASCAR’s top three divisions to finish last in a race at Watkins Glen.

FEMALE LAST-PLACE FINISHERS IN NASCAR
*NASCAR’s first female last-place finisher was Louise Smith, whose #94 1949 Ford crashed on the opening lap of the 1950 Daytona Beach-Road Course race. It was the only last-place finish of Smith’s career.
*Among the other female last-placers in NASCAR are Jennifer Jo Cobb (7 finishes, most recently last week’s Truck Series race at Pocono), Shawna Robinson (7 finishes, most recently in the Nationwide Series, the 2001 Pepsi 300 presented by Mapco / Williams at Nashville), Patty Moise (5 finishes, most recently in the Nationwide Series, the GM Goodwrench / Delco Batteries 200 at Dover), Erin Crocker (2 finishes, most recently in the Truck Series, the 2006 Silverado 350k at Texas), Chrissy Wallace (1 finish, in the Nationwide Series, the 2010 DRIVE4COPD 300 at Daytona), and Tina Gordon (1 finish, in the Nationwide Series, the 2001 South Carolina 200 at Darlington).
*Janet Guthrie, the first woman to start the Daytona 500, did not score any last-place finishes in NASCAR, but did finish next-to-last in the 1977 Firecracker 400 at Daytona. In that race, D.K. Ulrich fell out seven laps earlier.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
(August 13, 2012 - Updated With Photos by LASTCAR reader Rob Dostie!)

43) #7-Danica Patrick / 2 laps / crash

42) #47-Stephen Leicht / 2 laps / brakes

41) #46-Matt DiBenedetto / 2 laps / brakes

40) #10-Jeff Green / 3 laps / vibration

39) #42-Josh Wise / 3 laps / vibration

LASTCAR N'WIDE SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Jeff Green (10)
2nd) Mike Harmon, Kevin Lepage (2)
3rd) Ryan Blaney, Stephen Leicht, Chase Miller, Danica Patrick, Tony Raines, Scott Speed, Josh Wise (1)

LASTCAR N'WIDE SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) #10-TriStar Motorsports (10)
2nd) #47-The Motorsports Group, #74-Mike Harmon (2)
3rd) #7-JR Motorsports, #36-Tommy Baldwin Racing, #42-The Motorsports Group, #46-The Motorsports Group, #52-Means Racing, #70-ML Motorsports, #91-TriStar Motorsports (1)

LASTCAR N'WIDE SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Toyota (11)
2nd) Chevrolet (10)

CUP: Scott Riggs Joins Battle for the 2012 LASTCAR Cup Championship at Pocono

SOURCE: Rubbin's Racin'

Scott Riggs picked up the 6th last-place finish of his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career in Sunday’s rain-shortened Pennsylvania 400 at the Pocono Raceway when his #23 North Texas Pipe Chevrolet fell out with brake problems after completing 9 of the race’s 98 laps.

The finish was Riggs’ third of the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup season and his first since the Quaker State 400 at Kentucky, four races ago.

Riggs qualified 33rd at an average speed of 171.916 mph, ranking him second among the nine "go-or-go-homers" who attempted to qualify. Further down the rankings, rookie Stephen Leicht picked up his first DNQ since Darlington, allowing Humphrey-Smith Racing to have two cars in the race for the first time. One week after missing the show at Indianapolis, Reed Sorenson qualified Humphrey-Smith’s #91 Toyota in the 40th spot.

On Sunday, Riggs beat Sorenson to the garage area by one lap, followed by Mike Skinner in the #98 Ford typically driven by Michael McDowell, who was competing in Iowa the previous night. J.J. Yeley finished 16 laps ahead of Skinner in MaxQ Motorsports’ first race since Las Vegas in March, while Mike Bliss, Sorenson’s teammate and last week’s 43rd-place runner, came home 39th in the Humphrey-Smith #19.

With the finish, Riggs is now in a four-way tie for the LASTCAR Sprint Cup Driver’s Championship along with Josh Wise, Michael McDowell, and Scott Speed. Riggs’ entry into the top spot has changed the complexion of the title chase based on his lead in the tiebreaker: Riggs has 12 bottom-five finishes to Wise’s 11, McDowell’s 9, and Speed’s 5. Wise finished out of the Bottom Five on Sunday while McDowell and Speed did not compete in the race at all, giving Riggs the edge heading to Watkins Glen.

As of this writing, it is not clear if Riggs will compete at Watkins Glen as the #23 R3 Motorsports team did not enter the previous road course race at Sonoma.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This was Riggs’ second last-place finish in a Cup race at Pocono. The other occurred in 2011, when Riggs’ #81 Whitney’s Collision Chevrolet suffered brake problems after 17 laps of the 5-Hour Energy 500 at Pocono.
*The #23 had never before finished last in a Cup race at Pocono.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #23-Scott Riggs / 9 laps / brakes
42) #91-Reed Sorenson / 10 laps / brakes
41) #98-Mike Skinner / 26 laps / rear gear
40) #37-J.J. Yeley / 27 laps / brakes
39) #19-Mike Bliss / 29 laps / overheating

LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Michael McDowell, Scott Riggs, Scott Speed, Josh Wise (3)
2nd) J.J. Yeley (2)
3rd) Trevor Bayne, Mike Bliss, Landon Cassill, Brendan Gaughan, Joe Nemechek, David Ragan, Reed Sorenson (1)

LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) #23-R3 Motorsports, #26-Front Row Motorsports, #98-Phil Parsons Racing (3)
2nd) #49-Robinson-Blakeney Racing, #95-Leavine Family Racing (2)
3rd) #19-Humphrey-Smith Racing, #21-Wood Brothers Racing, #33-Richard Childress Racing, #34-Front Row Motorsports, #74-Turn One Racing, #79-Go Green Racing, #83-BK Racing, #87-NEMCO Motorsports (1)

LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Ford (11)
2nd) Chevrolet, Toyota (5)

N’WIDE: Jeff Green Two Finishes Away From Breaking All-Time Single Season Last-Place Record

SOURCE: NASCAR Media

Jeff Green picked up the 36th last-place finish of his NASCAR Nationwide Series career in Saturday night’s U.S. Cellular 250 at the Iowa Speedway when his #91 TriStar Motorsports Toyota fell out with a vibration after 4 of the race’s 250 laps.

The finish was Green’s 10th of the 2012 season. This already ties the season total of the last two LASTCAR Nationwide Series champions: both Green himself (2011) and Dennis Setzer (2010) scored 10 last-place runs by season’s end. Now, Green still has 13 more races left in the season, presenting him with a legitimate chance of breaking the record.

Further, if Green finishes last in at least two of the remaining 13 races to be run in 2012, he will have scored more last-place finishes in a single season than any driver in any of NASCAR’s top three divisions. The current record is held by Jeff Fuller, who recorded 11 finishes in the 2004 Nationwide Series season while driving for NEMCO Motorsports. Fuller ended 2004 with a total of 13 last-place finishes in NASCAR as he scored another two in Cup.

Last week at Iowa, Green was moved to a new TriStar Motorsports team, #91. The #10 with which Green scored his previous nine finishes in 2012 went to teammate Mike Bliss, who finished two laps down in 20th. Green qualified 27th at an average speed of 131.595 mph, ranking him third behind Bliss and Joe Gibbs development driver Darrell Wallace, Jr. among the thirteen "go-or-go-homers" on the entry list.

Green exited the race under green after four laps along with Chase Miller in The Motorsport Group’s #46. Miller’s teammates Matt DiBenedetto and Tim Schendel also ended up in the Bottom Five.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This was the first last-place finish for the #91 in a Nationwide Series race since 2010, when David Gilliland’s D’Hont Humphrey Motorsports Chevrolet suffered an ignition failure after the first lap of the Heluva Good! 200 at Dover.
*This was Jeff Green’s third consecutive last-place finish in the U.S. Cellular 250 at Iowa. He has yet to finish last in the spring race.
*This was Toyota’s 130th last-place finish across NASCAR’s top three divisions.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #91-Jeff Green / 4 laps / vibration
42) #46-Chase Miller / 4 laps / brakes
41) #47-Matt DiBenedetto / 6 laps / vibration
40) #15-Dusty Davis / 12 laps / carburetor
39) #42-Tim Schendel / 15 laps / fuel pump

LASTCAR N'WIDE SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Jeff Green (10)
2nd) Mike Harmon, Kevin Lepage (2)
3rd) Ryan Blaney, Stephen Leicht, Chase Miller, Tony Raines, Scott Speed, Josh Wise (1)

LASTCAR N'WIDE SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) #10-TriStar Motorsports (10)
2nd) #47-The Motorsports Group, #74-Mike Harmon (2)
3rd) #36-Tommy Baldwin Racing, #42-The Motorsports Group, #46-The Motorsports Group, #52-Means Racing, #70-ML Motorsports, #91-TriStar Motorsports (1)

LASTCAR N'WIDE SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Toyota (11)
2nd) Chevrolet (9)

TRUCKS: Jennifer Jo Cobb’s Engine Expires at Pocono

SOURCE: Rubbin's Racin'

Jennifer Jo Cobb picked up the 3rd last-place finish of her NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career in Saturday’s Pocono Mountains 125 at the Pocono Raceway when her #10 Driven2Honor.org RAM lost the engine on the opening lap of the 50-lap race.

The finish was the first for Cobb in 2012 and her first since New Hampshire, 17 races ago, when another engine failure kept her from completing the first lap.

Jo Cobb qualified 24th at a speed of 159.665 mph, ranking her second among the ten "go-or-go-homers" behind 22nd place Jeff Agnew. Pocono would be her eighth start of the 2012 season and her third in a row following a DNQ back at Kentucky.

Unfortunately, an engine failure prevented her from completing a lap of Saturday’s race. Teammate Chris Lafferty in the #0 retired a lap later with crash damage that did not bring out a caution.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*If there is another different last-place finisher at Michigan, the twelfth race of the season, 2012 will be the most competitive LASTCAR Truck Series championship since 2007, which also started with 12 different last-place finishers. Current LASTCAR Truck Series leader Wayne Edwards ended the 2007 streak with back-to-back finishes at Memphis and Kentucky.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
36) #10-Jennifer Jo Cobb / 0 laps / engine
35) #0-Chris Lafferty / 1 lap / crash
34) #38-Chris Jones / 3 laps / vibration
33) #75-Adam Edwards / 5 laps / vibration
32) #74-Scott Riggs / 6 laps / overheating

LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Jeb Burton, Johnny Chapman, Rick Crawford, Grant Enfinger, Clay Greenfield, Jennifer Jo Cobb, Brandon Knupp, Jason Leffler, Brennan Newberry, Scott Riggs, Dennis Setzer (1)

LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) #27-Hillman Racing (2)
2nd) #10-Jennifer Jo Cobb, #14-Bob Newberry, #18-Kyle Busch Motorsports, #38-RSS Racing, #60-Turn One Racing, #68-Clay Greenfield Motorsports, #86-Clay Greenfield Motorsports, #74-Mike Harmon, #07-Ken Smith (1)

LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (6)
2nd) RAM (3)
3rd) Toyota (2)