XFINITY: John Jackson the first Scotsman to trail a NASCAR XFINITY Series field

SOURCE: @todd_morey

John Jackson picked up the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career in Saturday’s U.S. Cellular 250 at the Iowa Speedway when his #13 Shaffer’s Racing Oil Chevrolet fell out with electrical issues after he completed 2 of 250 laps.  The finish came in Jackson’s 19th series start.

The 52-year-old driver from Carluke, Scotland has been active in stock car racing for more than a decade.  Most of his starts have come driving for Canadian owner-driver Mario Gosselin, who has fielded entries for him in the ARCA, Camping World Truck, and XFINITY Series.  Jackson’s blue racing uniform he wore Saturday still sports the logo of Florida attorney James Carter, Esq., known as “The Racing Lawyer” for his longtime involvement in Jackson and Gosselin’s careers.  Carter has fielded entries of his own, and has sponsored a number of teams from local short tracks to monster trucks.  Jackson’s best finish came in Gosselin’s ARCA car with Carter’s sponsorship - a 7th at the USA International Speedway on March 24, 2007.

Jackson broke into NASCAR’s top three divisions in 2009, driving Gosselin’s #72 Chevrolet to a 34th-place finish at Charlotte.  His best finish in the series came the following year at Kentucky, where he placed 27th - to date, his only race in the series where he finished under power.  Since 2011, Jackson had run between two and five races a year.  In addition to James Carter, he’s driven Jimmy Means’ backup car #79 in the last two races at Mid-Ohio, then last year found his way to Motorsports Business Management (MBM).  MBM, once owned by Derek White but after legal struggles passed to partner Carl Long, gave Jackson his best XFINITY finish to date - a 31st last year at Iowa.  Then, as on Saturday, he would race MBM’s #13.

Last week, Jackson was among 41 drivers who arrived for a chance to make the 40-car field.  He didn’t participate in the opening practice session, but shared his ride with teammate Timmy Hill during Friday’s practice.  The two ranked just 39th of the 40 drivers who made runs, outpacing newcomer Spencer Boyd for Rick Ware Racing.  Jackson again edged Boyd in qualifying by virtue of Owner Points, his lap of 119.995mph good enough for 39th on the grid.  Sent home Saturday morning was Dexter Bean, driving Mario Gosselin’s #92 BuckedUp Apparel Chevrolet.  Gosselin himself made the race in 34th in the #90, five spots ahead of his former driver.

Though Jackson’s car remained devoid of decals for much of the weekend, the listed sponsor changed from TLC Resorts in practice and qualifying to Shaffer’s Racing Oil on race day.  Two laps into the race, Jackson pulled behind the wall with electrical issues, taking 40th from last-place starter Boyd, who came home 29th as the final car under power.  39th went to Mike Bliss, edged for last by two laps in his first start of the year.  Bliss drove in place of Matt DiBenedetto, in Pocono for the Cup race, to drive TriStar’s unsponsored #10 Toyota.

38th on Saturday went to T.J. Bell, who rebounded from his DNQ at Indianapolis only to fall out with electrical issues on Obaika Racing’s #77 Chevrolet.  37th went to Jackson’s teammate Timmy Hill in MBM’s #40 CrashClaimsR.us Toyota, again sponsored by attorney James Carter.  Rounding out the Bottom Five was Morgan Shepherd, handling woes the reason his #89 Racing With Jesus Chevrolet exited after 62 circuits.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*Jackson is the first Scottish-born driver to finish last in an XFINITY Series race, having finished next-to-last three times previous.  On April 26, 2008, three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dario Franchitti nearly trailed the field at Talladega when his #40 Fastenal Dodge crashed hard in Turn 3, but ended up 41st when Larry Gunselman struck his stopped car, causing serious injuries to the Scot.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
40) #13-John Jackson / 2 laps / electrical
39) #10-Mike Bliss / 4 laps / vibration
38) #77-T.J. Bell / 55 laps / electrical
37) #40-Timmy Hill / 61 laps / engine
36) #89-Morgan Shepherd / 62 laps / handling

2016 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) TriStar Motorsports (11)
2nd) RSS Racing (3)
3rd) B.J. McLeod Motorsports, Inc. (2)
4th) Chip Ganassi Racing, JD Motorsports, Motorsports Business Management (1)

2016 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Toyota (11)
2nd) Chevrolet (6)
3rd) Ford (2)

2016 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

TRUCKS: Caleb Roark edges Austin Hill for second last-place run of 2016

SOURCE: motorsport.com

Caleb Roark picked up the 9th last-place finish of his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career in Saturday’s Pocono Mountains 150 at the Pocono Raceway when his #10 Driven2Honor.org / PitStopsforHope.org Chevrolet fell out with engine failure without completing any of the 60 laps.

The finish, which came in Roark’s 26th series start, was his second of the season and his first since Kentucky, two races ago.  With 11 races to go, Roark, the defending LASTCAR Truck Series Champion, is now tied with Tommy Joe Martins for the most last-place finishes in 2016, but trails Martins in the Bottom Ten Tiebreaker, 8-4.

Roark was one of 31 drivers on Pocono’s preliminary entry list, the driver assignment announced last Friday.  Joining them to make a full field of 32 was Norm Benning Racing, which would finally earn its first start of the season with New York driver Sean Corr and sponsorship from the Eldora Speedway.  Benning, meanwhile, would return to MB Motorsports, the same team he finished 28th with at Kentucky and once again nearly took the checkers at Eldora with 19-year-old Bobby Pierce.

Roark did not participate in Friday’s opening practice session, and both he, car owner Jennifer Jo Cobb, and Travis Kvapil, the team’s partner at MAKE Motorsports, were unable to complete a timed lap in Happy Hour.  With qualifying washed-out on Saturday, the field was set by Owner Points.  Cobb and Roark started in the last two spots based on their attempts.

For the race, the Cobb’s truck carried logos for Pit Stops For Hope, a non-profit founded by NASCAR crew member Ray Wright to benefit impoverished children.  Unfortunately, Roark’s truck - still with Cobb’s own military foundation Driven2Honor - didn’t make any laps, pulling out early with engine troubles.  Seconds later, as the field poured into Turn 2, Austin Hill running 5th pounded the outside wall with his unsponsored #02 Hill Racing Ford, putting an abrupt end to his day.

30th went to Sean Corr, who pulled Benning’s #6 behind the wall four laps later.  Rounding out the Bottom Five were John Wes Townley, back behind the wheel after missing two races for concussion-like symptoms, but out after a tangle with Christopher Bell on Lap 17, and Jennifer Jo Cobb’s #1.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
32) #10-Caleb Roark / 0 laps / engine
31) #02-Austin Hill / 1 lap / crash
30) #6-Sean Corr / 5 laps / brakes
29) #05-John Wes Townley / 16 laps / crash
28) #1-Jennifer Jo Cobb / 20 laps / brakes

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the second-consecutive last-place finish at Pocono for both Roark and Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing.  Last year, Roark’s #0 Driven2Honor.org Chevrolet snapped the suspension after 3 laps.

2016 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing, Kyle Busch Motorsports, Tommy Joe Martins (2)
2nd) AWS Racing, Bolen Motorsports, Brandonbilt Motorsports, GMS Racing, Jim Rosenblum Motorsports / FDNY Racing, MAKE Motorsports (1)

2016 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (9)
2nd) Toyota (3)

2016 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

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6/16/91: James Hylton’s Chevrolet (or Buick?) “Hyltonmobile” first out at Pocono

SOURCE: Bryan Hallman

On June 16, 1991, James Hylton picked up the 4th last-place finish of his NASCAR Winston Cup career in the Champion Spark Plug 500 at the Pocono Raceway when his #48 Hylton Racing Chevrolet fell out with engine trouble after he completed 14 of 200 laps.

The finish, which came in Hylton’s 588th series start, was his first since September 3, 1989, when his #49 Buick also lost an engine after 13 laps of the Heinz Southern 500 at Darlington.

At the time of the race, Hylton was 55 years old with 25 Cup seasons under his belt.  He’d made his series debut on July 8, 1964 driving as Ned Jarrett’s teammate, running a 1964 Ford to a 19th-place finish in the 20-car race on the Old Dominion Speedway, a third-mile dirt bullring in Mansassas, Virginia.  Driving the #48 he would run as an owner-driver two years later, Hylton rejoined the series in 1966 and stunned competitors with one of the best-ever seasons by a rookie.  In 41 starts, he racked up 20 Top Fives and 32 Top Tens, enough to finish 2nd behind David Pearson, who won 15 races that year.

Hylton’s own first victory came on March 1, 1970, during a 500-lapper at the old Richmond Fairgrounds.  In a three-hour race slowed by one caution, Hylton bested 2nd-place Richard Petty by more than 15 seconds.  He’d win again in 1972, his Mercury edging Ramo Stott’s Junie Donlavey entry by one carlength in the Talladega 500.  He finished 3rd in points both seasons, and from 1966 through 1977 ranked worse than 7th only twice.

From 1978 onward, Hylton began to scale back, running just one more full season in 1980.  From 1983 onward, he ran more than four races a year only once, preferring instead to have other drivers take the wheel.  During this period, fifteen different drivers took the controls of Hylton’s #48 and #49 cars, including Greg Sacks, Morgan Shepherd, and Lennie Pond.

Hylton was among just 37 drivers who showed up to attempt the 500-miler in June 1991, so everyone was guaranteed a starting spot in the race.  It would be his first start of the season and his first at the track since 1982.  There was only one problem: no one was sure what make of car Hylton brought.  Both the entry list and the official race results indicate the #48 was a Chevrolet.  But officials at the track said it looked like a Buick.  “Just call it a Hyltonmobile,” said the driver to Winston Cup Scene.  “NASCAR doesn’t even know what type of a car it is.  They’re trying to determine by the chassis, but the chassis is so old that they don’t know, either.  This is part of my whole plan.”  Despite the confusion, the “Hyltonmobile” passed inspection and would roll off 35th.

Starting 37th that Sunday was Randy LaJoie, who was making his first Cup start of the season.  His ride was the #13 Golden Annie Buick fielded by current Camping World Truck Series owner Jim Rosenblum.  On Lap 4, 24th-place starter Rick Mast’s #1 Skoal Classic Oldsmobile checked up in Turn 1 behind the slowing #42 Mello Yello Pontiac of relief driver Bobby Hillin, Jr., causing Joe Ruttman’s #75 Dinner Bell / Food Lion Oldsmobile to bump Mast into a spin.  Mast managed to keep going, but a caution wasn’t thrown and he filed-in at the back.  Hylton took the spot from Mast after the engine let go.  The first caution didn’t come for another five laps after the #48 retired, and only because a large white chicken had wandered onto the track in Turn 1.

Finishing 36th that afternoon was Bill Elliott, at the time a four-time winner at Pocono, who dropped a valve on his #9 Coors Light Ford.  That same season, it would be announced that Elliott would leave Melling Racing and drive Junior Johnson’s #11 Budweiser Ford in 1992.  35th went to Bobby Hamilton, at the time locked in a battle with Ted Musgrave for Rookie of the Year, who spun and crashed his #68 Country Time Oldsmobile coming into the Tunnel Turn.  Hamilton’s Olds was fielded by TriStar Motorsports, which is still active in the XFINITY Series.  Coming home 34th was J.D. McDuffie in the #70 Run-A-Bout Pontiac.  It was not only the first time McDuffie’s burgundy-and-black paint scheme made the field for a Cup race, but the first time the car ran after it was purchased by Marty Burke, McDuffie’s tire changer and sponsor.  Three fans named Tim, Patty, and Cliff paid $1,000 to have their names placed behind the rear tires.  Rounding out the Bottom Five was Brett Bodine, who was on his fifth DNF of the season in the final year Buick fielded entries in Winston Cup.

Hylton made thirteen more Cup starts and finished last five more times.  His final last-place finish came on February 28, 1993, when his #48 Rumple Furniture Pontiac broke the oil pan after 24 laps of the GM Goodwrench 500 at Rockingham.  As of this writing, the number has never finished last in a Cup points race since - including all of Jimmie Johnson’s 527 career starts.

Hylton made his 602nd and final start in a Cup points race one month later at Darlington on March 28, where he came home 34th with handling problems.  But he was not at all done with racing.  The next year, still in a #48 Pontiac, he came back to attempt the inaugural Brickyard 400.  In 2006, at age 71, he returned to the XFINITY Series for the first time in more than two decades, finishing last the night Paul Menard won at Milwaukee.  He made two more starts in the series for JD Motorsports, and on May 6, 2011 at Darlington at age 76 years, 8 months, and 10 days became the oldest driver to finish last in NASCAR’s top three divisions.  He also made his lone Truck Series start at Pocono in 2011, finishing next-to-last in Norm Benning’s second truck.

Hylton made a dramatic return to Cup in 2007, when the 72-year-old eyed his first Daytona 500 start since 1983.  Hylton had acquired an old Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet previously driven by Jeff Burton, the #58 ironically sponsored by “Retirement Living TV,” and joined the biggest 500 entry list in recent memory.  In his first run at a Daytona qualifier since 1995, Hylton found himself right where he needed to be, but lost the transmission in the final laps.  Hylton returned for another run at the 500 in 2009, but when the car couldn’t complete a lap in practice, the team was forced to withdraw.

In between his NASCAR starts and attempts, Hylton remained active in ARCA, where his best finish was a 14th driving for Wayne Peterson at Pocono in 1997.  Hytlon ran between one and nine ARCA races a year every season through 2005, then ran 16 races and finished 18th in the 2006 standings.  Back in his #48, Hylton ran full-time in the series through 2013, earning a number of surprising runs, including a 15th at Talladega in 2009.  Finally, on October 4, 2013, Hylton retired from racing.  Running a throwback Belmont’s Garage theme for the Kansas Lottery 98.9 at the Kansas Speedway, Hylton finished 18th.  At 78 years, 1 month, and 8 days, Hylton tied his career-best 11th in the ARCA standings.

Hylton remains active in racing as an ARCA car owner.  As of this writing, fellow owner-driver Brad Smith has made eight starts for him with a season-best 14th last month at Winchester.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the first, and so far, only last-place finish for the #48 in a Cup Series race at Pocono.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
37) #48-James Hylton / 14 laps / engine
36) #9-Bill Elliott / 44 laps / valve
35) #68-Bobby Hamilton / 47 laps / crash
34) #70-J.D. McDuffie / 49 laps / handling
33) #26-Brett Bodine / 57 laps / oil pan

CUP: Open Team Roundup - Indianapolis

SOURCE: @inthepitsmedia

QUALIFIED

#98 Premium Motorsports
Driver: Cole Whitt
Started 35th, Finished 29th

The fierce Indianapolis heat left all four Open teams at the back of the pack, but for the fourth time in five races, Cole Whitt and his #98 were best in class (the fifth being his one-race replacement by part-time teammate Ryan Ellis last week at Loudon).  Next week, he returns to Pocono, looking to improve on his 30th-place finish driving Premium’s #55 in June.

#93 BK Racing
Driver: Ryan Ellis
Started 36th, Finished 32nd

Last weekend, Ryan Ellis not only made his Indianapolis debut both in XFINITY competition for Obaika Racing and in Cup for BK Racing, but in so doing stirred a long-held family dream.  During the weekend, Ellis was contacted by his grandmother, who said her husband had tried for years to race at the Brickyard before he passed away.  Both races, the younger Ellis locked himself in on speed and finished under power.  Though he ran out of fuel in Sunday’s chaotic finish, Ellis also earned his best Cup finish to date, improving on his pair of 37th-place runs earlier this year.

Ellis and the #93 BK Racing team are not expected to compete next Sunday at Pocono, but the team could potentially return with either him or Sonoma driver Dylan Lupton the following week at Watkins Glen.

#55 Premium Motorsports
Driver: Reed Sorenson
Started 39th, Finished 33rd

Two laps behind Whitt and one behind Ellis came Reed Sorenson and his black #55, a team that has bounced back from three-consecutive DNFs with its fifth-straight finish under power.  Next week, Sorenson returns to Pocono where he finished 28th in June, his second-best finish of the year behind a 27th at Kentucky.

#21 Wood Brothers Racing
Driver: Ryan Blaney
Started 17th, Finished 36th

Late-race misfortune bit Ryan Blaney and the Wood Brothers once more as they anchored the Open teams for the second time in three weeks.  This time, the culprit was a wreck with just seven laps to go.  Running the high line through Turns 1 and 2 as the field scattered, the spinning Ryan Newman slid right into his path, ending what had been a respectable run in the Top 15.  With low attrition at the bottom of the field, Blaney dropped behind Patrick Carpentier into 36th at the end of regulation.  Blaney looks to rebound next week at “The Tricky Triangle,” where he finished 10th in June.

DID NOT QUALIFY

#30 The Motorsports Group
Driver: Josh Wise
Team Stats: 16 Starts, 4 DNQs

Near the end of Happy Hour on Friday, Josh Wise reported that his #30 struggled with fuel pickup.  Unfortunately, the problem only grew worse during qualifying.  During his three timed laps, the car starved itself of fuel so badly that he ran no better than 170.658mph, nearly two seconds slower than the next-fastest Open car of Reed Sorenson.  Sent home early, Wise also looks for a comeback at Pocono, where he finished 27th in June - like Sorenson, his second-best finish of the year behind Kentucky (24th).

DID NOT ENTER

#26 BK Racing
#35 Front Row Motorsports
#40 Hillman Racing
#59 Leavine Family / Circle Sport Racing

None of the other part-time Open teams attempted the race in Indianapolis.

CUP: Matt DiBendetto runs fewest laps of the Brickyard 400 since 2006

SOURCE: Brian Lawdermilk, Getty Images North America

Matt DiBenedetto picked up the 4th last-place finish of his NASCAR Sprint Cup career in Sunday’s Crown Royal presents the Wounded Coalition 400 at The Brickyard at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway when his #83 ScienceLogic Toyota lost the engine after 4 of 170 laps.

The finish, which came in DiBenedetto’s 53rd series start, was his fourth of the season and first since Pocono, six races ago.

DiBenedetto came into Indianapolis 36th in points, having crashed out of two of his five starts since the last-place run at Pocono.  Indianapolis would be another challenge for the second-year driver, who finished 32nd in his track debut last year.  This time, his #83 Toyota had a new look as IT management company ScienceLogic, sponsor of part-time teammate Ryan Ellis in the #93, would also be sponsoring DiBenedetto.  The Californian ran 35th and 32nd in Friday’s practice sessions, then put his Toyota 30th on the grid with a speed of 182.083mph.  Ryan Ellis also made the race, sending last week’s last-placer Josh Wise home after a fuel pickup issue on the #30 Chevrolet.  Following a 38th-place “start-and-park” effort for TriStar Motorsports in the XFINITY Series race, everything was set for Sunday’s race.

Starting 40th in the Brickyard 400 was Patrick Carpentier, back in Go FAS Racing’s #32 Can-Am Ford for the first time since Sonoma.  Carpentier held the spot through the early laps, staying within one second of the car in front of him, and was still there when the first caution fell on Lap 4.  At that moment, DiBenedetto was running 33rd in front of Casey Mears.  As the two headed down the front straightaway, DiBenedetto’s car erupted in white smoke, then pulled to the outside in Turn 1.  “It blew up,” said the driver, and the #83 stopped short of pit entrance.  By Lap 17, he was the first retiree.

39th on Sunday was Greg Biffle, whose streak of three-straight top-ten finishes ended with a blown tire in Turn 2, destroying his #16 Performance Plus Motor Oil Ford.  38th went to A.J. Allmendinger, whose #47 Kroger / Kingsford Chevrolet was running 11th when he made an unscheduled green flag stop, his overheating power plant spitting water.  37th ended up David Ragan’s when his #23 Brandeis Machinery Toyota ended a long green-flag run with a cut tire and a nose into the outside wall.  Rounding out the group was Ryan Blaney, his #21 Quick Lane / Motorcraft Ford destroyed following a hard crash with eight laps remaining in regulation.  Blaney slipped behind Carpentier for 36th on Lap 160 as the race went ten laps into overtime.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This was the first last-place finish for DiBenedetto and the #83 in a Cup Series race at Indianapolis.
*The four laps DiBenedetto completed are the fewest by a Brickyard 400 starter since August 6, 2006, when Elliott Sadler’s #38 Snickers Ford ran three circuits before an early crash with Joe Nemechek.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
40) #83-Matt DiBenedetto / 4 laps / engine
39) #16-Greg Biffle / 53 laps / crash
38) #47-A.J. Allmendinger / 71 laps / overheating
37) #23-David Ragan / 117 laps / crash
36) #21-Ryan Blaney / 152 laps / crash

2016 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) BK Racing, Premium Motorsports (4)
2nd) The Motorsports Group (3)
3rd) Richard Childress Racing (2)
4th) Chip Ganassi Racing, Front Row Motorsports, Hendrick Motorsports, HScott Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, Richard Petty Motorsports, Roush-Fenway Racing (1)

2016 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (12)
2nd) Toyota (5)
3rd) Ford (3)

2016 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

XFINITY: Todd Peck scores first XFINITY last-place finish for #15 since 2010

SOURCE: Brian Lawdermilk, Getty Images North America

Todd Peck picked up the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career in Saturday’s Lilly Diabetes 250 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway when his #15 Keen Portable Buildings / MOMO Ford lost the engine without completing any of the 63 laps.  The finish came in Peck’s 10th series start.

Peck is a second-generation competitor in NASCAR.  His father Dr. Michael Peck not only fielded the Chevrolets that Todd raced in 14 of his Camping World Truck Series starts, but also entered a car for Todd’s uncle Tom Peck in 1995, finishing 24th at Charlotte.  Tom made 171 Busch Series (now XFINITY) starts from 1984 through 1995, finishing a career-best 3rd at Martinsville on October 28, 1990 behind veterans Steve Grissom and Tommy Houston.  The #96 Thomas Oldsmobile that Tom raced that year is one of the most prolific 1:64-scale diecasts made by Racing Champions.

Todd Peck has been racing since he was 14, moving up from go-karts to the Allison Legacy Series, USAR Pro Cup (now X-1R Pro Cup Series) in 2002, and K&N Pro Series East in 2007.  His first start in NASCAR’s top three divisions came on July 16, 2011 at Iowa, where he finished 31st in his father’s #96 National Arthritis Foundation Chevrolet.  The cause of treatment the illness runs close to Todd’s heart.  He’s suffered a rare condition of juvenile Arthritis for much of his life, and looks to increase awareness through his racing.  Peck’s best Truck Series finish came in one such truck at Phoenix on November 9, 2012, an 18th in a Bobby Dotter-owned Chevrolet co-sponsored by pain reliever Stopain Cold.

Peck made his XFINITY Series debut at Loudon on July 18, 2015, where he finished 30th for car owner Rick Ware.  The two would meet up again this season.  Peck originally signed with owner-driver B.J. McLeod to drive as his teammate in a #99 Ford sponsored by Batteries Plus Bulbs and X-Treme pH Sports Water.  Peck made his first attempt at Atlanta, finishing 38th, but failed to make the next two races.  When Rick Ware’s driver Ryan Ellis wrecked in qualifying at Phoenix and did not have a backup car, Ware worked out a deal with McLeod and Peck, who had failed to qualify in the same session.  The deal put Peck into his second race of the season while keeping Ware’s #15 in the field.  McLeod has remained the listed owner of Peck’s #15 in the four races he’s run in the number since.  Peck’s best finishes of the year have come in the #15: a pair of 30th-place runs at sister tracks Fontana and Michigan.

As part of the arrangement between the two teams, Ware has also run his own #15 entries in place of McLeod and Peck, most notably the Chevrolet that Ryan Ellis finished 15th with at Daytona earlier this month.  Peck also drove for Ware at Kentucky, one of many behind the wheel of Ware’s #25, and finished 34th.  McLeod and Peck also worked out a similar arrangement with King Autosport at Richmond, where McLeod’s black Ford was renumbered again to King’s #90 with Peck still driving in place of Mario Gosselin.

For Indianapolis, Peck was back in McLeod’s car with Ware’s #15 on the sides.  This time, the car Peck drove appeared to be the blue-and-white Ford that McLeod drove at Daytona when the engine let go after 1 lap.  The car was renumbered from McLeod’s #78 to the #15, the yellow door numbers barely readable against the white paint.  The car also carried both Rick Ware’s sponsor Keen Portable Buildings and McLeod sponsor MOMO.  McLeod, meanwhile, would continue to run the black-and-green #78 he’s driven in nearly all his other starts in 2016.

Peck was the slowest car in Friday’s opening practice and second-slowest in Happy Hour, besting the Rick Ware-owned #25 of Stanton Barrett that had issues on his only attempted lap.  Peck improved to 38th in qualifying, besting Mike Harmon, Mario Gosselin, and the second Obaika Racing entry, the #77 VroomBrands Chevrolet of T.J. Bell, who failed to qualify.  Withdrawing from the event were Dexter Bean in King Autosport’s own team car, #92, and Travis Kvapil, who was going to try and put McLeod’s #99 Batteries Plus Bulbs Ford into its first race since Atlanta.

Peck started 19th in Heat Race #2 and pulled out after 15 of 20 laps with engine trouble, leaving him the only retiree of the event.  The engine problems likely stayed with the #15 for the main event as Peck did not complete a lap of it.  39th went to Timmy Hill, whose #40 CrashClaimsR.us / Icard Merrill Dodge from the Carl Long stables left with a vibration.  Both bested current LASTCAR XFINITY leader Matt DiBenedetto, whose #10 stayed on track until Lap 13. Morgan Shepherd’s #89 Racing With Jesus / Malamphy Electric Chevrolet came home 37th with all-time last-place leader Jeff Green rounding out the Bottom Five in his TriStar #14.

For more on Todd Peck and his family, check out their team’s website at this link.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This was the first last-place finish for the #15 in an XFINITY Series race since April 25, 2010, when Michael Annett’s Pilot Travel Centers Toyota was involved in a multi-car accident after 20 lap of the Aaron’s 312 at Talladega.  The number had never before finished last in an XFINITY race at Indianapolis.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
40) #15-Todd Peck / 0 laps / engine
39) #40-Timmy Hill / 9 laps / vibration
38) #10-Matt DiBenedetto / 13 laps / brakes
37) #89-Morgan Shepherd / 17 laps / handling
36) #14-Jeff Green / 31 laps / rear gear

2016 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) TriStar Motorsports (11)
2nd) RSS Racing (3)
3rd) B.J. McLeod Motorsports, Inc. (2)
4th) Chip Ganassi Racing, JD Motorsports (1)

2016 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Toyota (11)
2nd) Chevrolet (5)
3rd) Ford (2)

2016 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

8/6/94: Jimmy Spencer first to crash out of inaugural Brickyard 400

SOURCE: ABC / ESPN

On August 6, 1994, Jimmy Spencer picked up the 2nd last-place finish of his NASCAR Winston Cup Series career in the inaugural Brickyard 400 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway when his #27 McDonald’s Ford was involved in a single-car crash after 9 of 160 laps.

The finish, which came in Spencer’s 133rd series start, was his first of the season and first in Cup since October 7, 1990, when his #57 Heinz Pontiac crashed after 97 laps of the Mello Yello 500 at Charlotte.

“Mr. Excitement,” the two-time NASCAR Modified champion from Pennsylvania, moved to the NASCAR Busch Series full-time in 1988, bringing with him car owner Frank Cicci.  Spencer’s aggressive driving paid big dividends on the series’ many short tracks.  During the ‘88 season, his best finishes were a pair of 3rds at Nashville and Orange County Speedways, and the next year he took the checkers at Hickory, Myrtle Beach, and again at Orange County.  Winston Cup came calling in 1989 when Buddy Baker and Danny Schiff released Greg Sacks from their #88 Crisco Pontiac, and again Spencer’s best finish came on a bullring - an 8th in the night race at Bristol.  Though he ran only a partial season, Spencer ranked fourth in the Rookie of the Year battle, trailing Dick Trickle, Hut Stricklin, and Larry Pearson.

Spencer’s ride for 1990 was with Rod Osterlund, the same man who fielded Dale Earnhardt’s first championship-winning ride in 1980.  The cherry-red #57 Heinz Pontiac began the year strong with four-straight finishes inside the Top 15, but the rest of the year was a struggle.  After the fall race at Charlotte, where an early crash left Spencer with his first last-place finish, Spencer was out of the ride, replaced for the final three rounds by longtime Winston West competitor Jim Bown.

For 1991, Spencer landed with Travis Carter as driver of the #98 Banquet Frozen Foods Chevrolet.  Again, he finished well at Bristol, coming home 8th in the spring and 15th in the fall, and nearly scored his first victory in the spring race at North Wilkesboro.  In a race slowed by 17 cautions, Spencer led 70 laps that day with the nose of his red car caved-in before surrendering the lead to race winner Darrell Waltrip with 52 to go.  However, once again the team began to struggle with Spencer failing to qualify for four of the first 14 races in 1992.  So once again, Spencer was released after Charlotte, this time the Coca-Cola 600.

Late in the 1992 season, Spencer found his way to Bobby Allison Motorsports, which was looking to kick-start its program after the release of Spencer’s rookie competitor Hut Stricklin.  In a four-race stint from October to November of ‘92, Spencer finished 4th, 11th, 5th, and 4th.  Impressed, Allison signed Spencer for the 1993 season with sponsor Meineke Mufflers.  That year, Spencer enjoyed his best Cup season to that point, racking up five Top Fives, ten Top Tens, and a 12th-place showing in points.  But once again, Spencer wasn’t re-signed for 1994, and would once again replace Hut Stricklin - this time for another veteran car owner, Junior Johnson.

Spencer came into the inaugural Brickyard 400 as the hottest driver on the circuit.  After a turbulent spring in which he was penalized for aggressive driving at North Wilkesboro following a run-in with Ken Schrader, Spencer revealed his restrictor-plate prowess in ‘94, racking up his first two victories in July.  The first came in a side-by-side photo-finish with Ernie Irvan during the Pepsi 400 at Daytona.  The other came three weeks later at Talladega, where this time he held off both Irvan and teammate Bill Elliott.  Though just 22nd in points heading to Indy, Spencer was one of the favorites to take the historic victory.

Spencer’s ride was among a record-setting 87 entries for the Brickyard.  The 1994 season had already seen a sizeable influx of new fully-funded teams and drivers - so many that by August, Petty Enterprises’ #43 had already been sent home six times.  A.J. Foyt came out of retirement, joined by open-wheel “ringers” Danny Sullivan, Gary Bettenhausen, Stan Fox, Davy Jones, and Geoff Brabham.  Veteran owner-drivers H.B. Bailey and James Hylton were there along with 56-year-old “Chargin’” Charlie Glotzbach and Norm Benning in the only Oldsmobile.  Jerry Hill, father of current NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver Timmy Hill, was there in his #56 Bell Motor Company Chevrolet.  So were ARCA veterans Bobby Gerhart, Bob Schacht, and Bob Brevak.  Ironically, NASCAR had been concerned that not enough drivers would come to qualify, so the Brickyard was also made a “companion event” with the Winston West Series.  Fifteen West Coast drivers - including Ron Hornaday, Jr. and David Gilliland’s father Butch - showed up to battle for the one guaranteed spot for the fastest of their group - Mike Chase secured that 43rd and final spot in his #58 Tyson Foods Chevrolet.  Spencer, meanwhile, only managed 34th.

Chase remained in the 43rd spot at the start and was still running there on Lap 4 when the first caution came for debris in Turn 1.  Heading into that corner, 1985 Indianapolis 500 winner Danny Sullivan, who started 33rd in his #99 Corporate Car Chevrolet, lost the passenger side window, which was then struck by Harry Gant and Mike Chase.  Sullivan fell to last as the crew tried to duct tape a replacement window onto the side of the car, losing a lap to race leader Jeff Gordon as the race restarted on Lap 6.  Four circuits later, the caution flew once more.

As Spencer tried to claw his way through the pack, Spencer appeared to lose the right-front tire entering Turn 3.  He locked the brakes as the car went straight, but couldn’t slow down fast enough.  The right-front of the car took the brunt of the hit.  Spencer got out of the car, but injured his ribs in the accident.  Spencer became the first retiree of the event, joining Arthur Greiner, the first driver to trail the Indianapolis 500 in 1911.

The rest of the Bottom Five was also filled with accidents.  Mike Chase’s day ended on Lap 95 when he tangled with Dave Marcis in Turn 2, leaving them 42nd and 41st, respectively.  40th and 39th went to the most controversial wreck of the day.  Geoffrey Bodine, who won his first race of the season at Pocono weeks earlier, had one of the best cars in the early going, his #7 Exide Batteries Ford leading the field for 24 laps.  But on Lap 101, when brother Brett Bodine caught him into Turn 4 after a restart, the two made contact, sending Geoffrey into a spin.  Though Geoffrey spun in front of the entire field, somehow everyone avoided contact except Dale Jarrett, whose #18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet was also done for the day.

Spencer never won another Cup race, but Indianapolis remained one of his best tracks.  He won the pole in 2001, having reunited with car owner Travis Carter, and came from 32nd to finish 8th in 2003.  2003 also marked Spencer’s most recent victory in NASCAR’s top three divisions - a win from the pole in a Truck Series race at Loudon.  His 478th and most recent Cup Series start came at his home track in Pocono on July 23, 2006.  He finished 36th that day in one of the first NASCAR starts for Furniture Row Racing.  This start was Spencer’s most recent, but not “last.”  Although Spencer remains a prolific NASCAR broadcaster, he has yet to officially retire.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This was the first last-place finish for the #27 in a Cup Series race since September 2, 1990, when Rusty Wallace’s Miller Genuine Draft Pontiac lost the engine after 14 laps of the Heinz Southern 500 at Darlington.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #27-Jimmy Spencer / 9 laps / crash
42) #58-Mike Chase / 91 laps / crash
41) #71-Dave Marcis / 92 laps / crash
40) #18-Dale Jarrett / 99 laps / crash
39) #7-Geoffrey Bodine / 99 laps / crash / led 24 laps

TRUCKS: Frustrating Eldora night doesn’t defeat Jordan Anderson, Bolen Motorsports

SOURCE: FS1, @HurricaneBarca

Jordan Anderson picked up the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career in Wednesday’s Aspen Dental Eldora Dirt Derby 150 at the Eldora Speedway when his #66 FK Rod Ends / Columbia, SC Chevrolet fell out with a blown engine after 5 of 150 laps.  The finish came in Anderson’s 28th series start.

Anderson and the team he drives for, Bolen Motorsports, are cut from the same cloth: scrappy underdogs determined to make names for themselves in NASCAR.  The 25-year-old Anderson has been racing since he was eight, working from go-karts to late models, the K&N Pro Series East and the CARS X-1R Pro Cup Series.  He made his Truck Series debut driving for MAKE Motorsports at Phoenix in 2014, where he finished 24th.  He began working with longtime independent Mike Harmon in 2015, where he got Harmon’s #74 into 17 Truck races and the XFINITY night race at Bristol.  He continued to put up impressive finishes with little sponsorship or resources, earning a season-best 13th at Michigan.

This year, Anderson is making his first full-season run for Bolen Motorsports.  Team owner Jeff Bolen has been looking for a way to get into NASCAR for most of his life ever since he watched Bill Elliott win the 1985 Winston Million when he was six.  After a brief career running late models and Legends cars, Bolen looked into team ownership - first in late models, then in the Truck Series.  He decided on the latter, and met Anderson. The two found they had a great deal in common - both raced in Legends cars, were college-educated, and had experience in public relations.  It was a natural fit for Bolen to put Anderson in his #66.

Anderson and Bolen’s first season together has been a learning experience for both.  In addition to his driving duties, Anderson has helped with the team’s PR and fabricating.  The tourism board of Columbia, South Carolina has continued to offer limited sponsorship, continuing a relation with Anderson, a South Carolina native, that began at Harmon’s team. Other partners included JAB Construction, DoodyCalls, and Rusty’s Off-Road Products.  The team’s Eldora truck featured a hood logo for FK Rod Ends, which Anderson has used on his race cars since 2009.  The nose also featured a small decal honoring the life of NASCAR on Reddit moderator Amy Branch (/u/Beezwacks), who passed away unexpectedly last week.

Coming into Eldora, Anderson sat 22nd in points, coming off three-straight Top 20 finishes including a career-best 11th at Gateway in June.  It would be Anderson’s first run in the 150-lapper at Eldora - Harmon put dirt tracker Stew Hayward in the #74 last July, who finished last after the engine let go on his RAM.

In Tuesday’s opening practice session, Anderson ran 33rd-fastest of the 38 entrants, but made hard contact with the wall, tearing up the left-rear of his truck.  Without a backup, Anderson and the crew went to work immediately, the driver hammering out dents on the sheetmetal as the Bolen team pieced it back together.  The crew finished in time to get the #66 back out in Happy Hour, where they ran 34th of 36.  This would not be the only time Eldora tested driver and crew.

Race day came Wednesday and with it a full slate of events.  First came qualifying, where Anderson continued to show improvement, putting up the 26th-best time at a speed of 80.852mph.  The run would put him 6th on the grid for the 8-truck Heat Race #1 that afternoon.  In the race, Anderson was the first to find trouble, slipping in Turn 4 and backing into the outside wall.  With no caution thrown, Anderson fought at the back of the pack, battling with the #49 XBOMB Energy / OH! Lottery Chevrolet of Wayne Edwards.  The two traded bumps and bangs all the way through the final lap, when Anderson slipped, lost control, and nosed into the outside wall across the stripe.  Now, the team had just minutes to get their truck ready for the 15-lap Last Chance Qualifier.

During the remaining four Heat Races and the following late model event, Anderson and the Bolen team put their truck together once more.  The hood, buckled upward, was straightened and held down with large black strips of tape.  But little could be done to the nose, pulled over the right-front tire, or the rear clip, crushed against the back tires.  Fortunately, the rear spoiler remained vertical, the truck was still rolling, and sure enough, Anderson lined up 6th for the Last Chance Qualifier.  He could run just four laps, but still outpaced Travis Kvapil, his #50 CorvetteParts.net Chevrolet battered in his own Heat Race tangle with Rico Abreu, and Caleb Roark, who didn’t start the night’s races in Jennifer Jo Cobb’s #10.  And thanks to a provisional for the team’s full-season run, Anderson would be in the main, starting 31st.

Six drivers missed the race, including Donnie Levister, who withdrew his #62 Property Pro’s Toyota before qualifying, and Roark, who never turned a lap in either race.  Chris Fontaine, making a rare non-plate start in his #78 Glenden Enterprises Toyota, put together an impressive run in Heat Race #4, battling to the finish with Tyler Young for the final transfer spot before he was edged at the stripe.  Korbin Forrister in the Petty-painted #43 and teammate Sean Corr in the #82 also took turns at the front with Corr battling for the lead before a spin in Heat Race #5.  Also sent home was Norm Benning, unable to repeat his 2013 LCQ heroics after Cody Coughlin shoved his #6 into the wall.

When night fell and the engines fired, Anderson once again rolled out on track in his battered truck.  But when the green flag fell, he didn’t drop to the last spot.  Jennifer Jo Cobb had raced her #1 Westside Vapor / #IVapeIVote Chevrolet into the 30th spot.  On Lap 5 of Heat Race #5, she’d smacked the outside wall in Turn 1 and pulled into the garage, come back out to finish 8th in the Last Chance Qualifier, and also relied on Owner Points to make the race.  But something was still wrong with Cobb’s truck, and she missed the start of the race.  She was five laps down when Anderson pulled into the garage on Lap 6, his truck no longer able to continue.  Cobb finally made it back out on Lap 21 during the first yellow, dropping Anderson to last on Lap 27.  Cobb finished 26th.

31st on Wednesday went to dirt tracker Justin Shipley of Georgia, whose turn in Tracy Wallace’s #80 Georgia Arms / Rogers Mechanical Ford ended when the truck overheated, spraying water as he pulled into the pits.  30th went to Caleb Holman, who earned his first pole position in qualifying driving Charlie Henderson’s #75 Food County USA / Lopez Wealth Management Chevrolet, but was involved in a multi-truck accident in Turns 3 and 4 on Lap 38.  29th-place Spencer Gallagher, 2nd in Heat Race #4 to J.R. Heffner, was also involved in the Holman accident, busting a radiator on his #23 Allegiant Airlines Chevrolet.  He returned to the track without the front clip, finishing 43 laps down.  Rounding out the group was Canadian late model ace Stewart Friesen, whose Truck Series debut ended when his #16 Halmar International Chevrolet trailed smoke after running as high as 5th.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
32) #66-Jordan Anderson / 5 laps / engine
31) #80-Justin Shipley / 11 laps / overheating
30) #75-Caleb Holman / 37 laps / crash
29) #23-Spencer Gallagher / 107 laps / running
28) #16-Stewart Friesen / 111 laps / crash

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This was the first last-place run for the #66 in Trucks since October 22, 2011, when J.J. Yeley’s Turn One Racing Chevrolet broke the transmission after 1 lap of the Coca-Cola 250 Powered by Fred’s at the Talladega Superspeedway.
*It was also the first last-place run for the #66 in one of NASCAR’s top three divisions on a dirt track since July 21, 1964, when Frank Tanner’s 1963 Ford fell out with a loss of oil pressure after 2 laps of the Pennsylvania 200 at the Lincoln Speedway in New Oxford, Pennsylvania.
*This was Chevrolet’s 325th last-place finish in Truck Series competition.

2016 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Kyle Busch Motorsports, Tommy Joe Martins (2)
2nd) AWS Racing, Bolen Motorsports, Brandonbilt Motorsports, GMS Racing, Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing, Jim Rosenblum Motorsports / FDNY Racing, MAKE Motorsports (1)

2016 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (8)
2nd) Toyota (3)

2016 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

CUP: Open Team Roundup - Loudon

SOURCE: @CoolnovelBro

QUALIFIED

#21 Wood Brothers Racing
Driver: Ryan Blaney
Started 14th, Finished 11th

Ryan Blaney was once again best in class, and seemed headed for his seventh top-ten finish of 2016.  He started 14th and was knocking on the door of 10th by Lap 176.  But after pitting under green on Lap 185, Blaney was too fast entering pit road, and the pass-through penalty forced him to do it all over again.  This time, he was helped by the late-race miscues of the leaders, bringing him back to the same spot he was running at the moment of the penalty.

Next Sunday at Indianapolis, Blaney will sport a special blue-and-white paint scheme for his second Cup start at the track.  Not only did he finish a strong 12th in last year’s 400-miler, but he came within one slip of besting Kyle Busch in the XFINTY Series race.

#55 Premium Motorsports
Driver: Reed Sorenson
Started 36th, Finished 35th

Much like Charlotte in May, Sunday’s race in Loudon was marked by long stretches of green-flag racing and low attrition, a disastrous combination for the remaining Open teams.  Sorenson’s white-and-purple Vydox Plus finished a distant second in class, six laps behind and on the same circuit as the damaged Chase Elliott.  Still, Sorenson finished ahead of five other drivers, including three Chartered entries: the #32 of Go FAS Racing, the #44 of Richard Petty Motorsports, and Leavine Family Racing’s #95.

Sorenson has more Cup starts at Indianapolis than any of his fellow Open team drivers with six.  He is the 2007 polesitter of the Brickyard 400, and that day his fleet Chip Ganassi-prepared #41 Target / FujiFilm Dodge came home 5th.  He also started 9th and finished 13th for Richard Petty Motorsports in 2009.

#98 Premium Motorsports
Driver: Ryan Ellis
Started 40th, Finished 37th

Ryan Ellis made his first start for Premium Motorsports in place of Cole Whitt in the #98.  The effort attracted sponsorship from performance auto part machinists SuperLiteCars.com as well as Vermont’s veteran-owned 14th Star Brewing Company.  Though Ellis struggled to find speed, trailing the first two practice sessions and starting shotgun on the field, he also came home with the car intact with his third Cup start in the books.

Next week at Indianapolis, Ellis will return to BK Racing in the Open #93 ScienceLogic Toyota, where he will try and make his first-ever start at the track.  One of the cars he’ll have to beat in qualifying will be Cole Whitt, who will return to the #98.  Whitt’s best finish in two Indy starts was a 32nd in 2014, when he drove for BK Racing.

#30 The Motorsports Group
Driver: Josh Wise
Started 39th, Finished 40th

Josh Wise finished last in Sunday’s race after an early crash.  For more, read Sunday’s LASTCAR.info feature.

This weekend, Wise looks to make his first Indianapolis start since 2014, when he finished a track-best 29th for Phil Parsons Racing in the #98 Curb Records / Lee Brice “I Don’t Dance” Chevrolet.

DID NOT QUALIFY

None.

DID NOT ENTER

#26 BK Racing
#35 Front Row Motorsports
#40 Hillman Racing
#59 Leavine Family / Circle Sport Racing
#93 BK Racing

None of the other part-time Open teams attempted the race in Loudon.

CUP: Josh Wise edges Scott and McDowell in tight Loudon last-place battle

SOURCE: Rubbin's Racin' Forums

Josh Wise picked up the 8th last-place finish of his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career in Sunday’s New Hampshire 301 at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway when his unsponsored #30 The Motorsports Group Chevrolet fell out with crash damage after 94 of 301 laps.

The finish, which occurred in Wise’s 144th series start, was his third of the season and first since Texas, twelve races ago, where he swept both the weekend’s 40th-place runs.

At Kentucky the previous Saturday, Wise finished 24th, the best performance in a Cup points race by The Motorsports Group.  Wise and TMG had missed all three restrictor-plate races in 2016, but failed to finish just four of the sixteen remaining races - significant progress for a program that made just two Cup starts last year.  Driver and team then rolled into New Hampshire, where car owner Curtis Key earned a track-best 16th-place run with Jimmy Foster during an XFINITY race on May 10, 1997.

Wise still fought for speed in practice and qualifying, trailing all cars in Happy Hour.  He qualified 39th for Sunday’s race, putting up a speed of 126.534mph.  On Sunday, he’d be joined by last-place starter Ryan Ellis, who this time took the controls of Cole Whitt’s #98 at Premium Motorsports.

On Sunday, Wise took the spot from Ellis by the end of Lap 1 and the two black Chevrolets began to lose touch with the pack.  By Lap 11, Wise was 1.028 seconds behind Ellis, who was 2.360 seconds behind 38th-place Michael Annett in the #46 Pilot Flying J Chevrolet.  Wise was also the first car to be lapped on the 18th circuit and the first to lose a second lap just before the competition caution after 35.

Wise was still last when 33rd-place starter Brian Scott was penalized for too many men over the wall during his first pit stop.  The pass-through penalty cost Scott two laps, dropping his #44 Shaw’s Ford to last by the restart.  The Richard Petty Motorsports crew noticed Scott’s Ford was leaking fluid, and Scott complained of brake issues, so the #44 pulled behind the wall around Lap 41.  On Lap 60, Scott returned to the track 21 laps down, and two circuits later Michael McDowell found trouble.  The debut of McDowell’s #95 Malwarebytes Chevrolet went sideways when his car slowed in Turn 1 with what appeared to be an engine failure.  Behind the wall, the crew found a belt had come off the alternator, draining the battery, requiring a replacement of each.  With Scott back on track and McDowell’s repairs more lengthy, the #95 took last from the #44 on Lap 82.

Josh Wise, meanwhile, had continued to lose laps to the leaders, but remained on track.  That changed on Lap 100, when Wise smacked the wall coming off Turn 2.  With heavy damage to the right-front of his car, Wise slowed suddenly in front of a closing Chris Buescher in the #34 CSX “Play It Safe” Ford.  Buescher avoided a collision by cutting left, then spun to the inside of the track.  Buescher returned to competition, nearly collecting Scott’s lapped #44 in the process, but Wise pulled into the garage.  On Lap 115, Wise took 39th from Scott.  On Lap 132, he took last from McDowell.  And by Lap 143, Wise’s #30 had officially retired from the race.

McDowell’s electrical gremlins remained a problem, and the #95 pulled out of the race for good in the final 70 laps.  Though three accidents slowed the race’s final 27 laps, all of the remaining 38 starters managed to finish under power.  38th went to Scott, who ended up 23 laps behind.  Ellis came home 37th, eight laps behind.  Rounding out the Bottom Five was K&N Pro Series East driver Eddie MacDonald, making his third-straight start in this event for Go FAS Racing, his #32 Bentley’s Saloon Ford seven laps behind at the finish.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the first last-place finish for both Wise and the #30 in a Cup Series race at New Hampshire.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
40) #30-Josh Wise / 94 laps / crash
39) #95-Michael McDowell / 191 laps / electrical
38) #44-Brian Scott / 278 laps / running
37) #98-Ryan Ellis / 292 laps / running
36) #32-Eddie MacDonald / 293 laps / running

2016 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Matt DiBenedetto, Reed Sorenson, Josh Wise (3)
2nd) Aric Almirola, Clint Bowyer, Chris Buescher, Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Kyle Larson, Paul Menard, Ryan Newman, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Cole Whitt (1)

2016 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Premium Motorsports (4)
2nd) BK Racing, The Motorsports Group (3)
3rd) Richard Childress Racing (2)
4th) Chip Ganassi Racing, Front Row Motorsports, Hendrick Motorsports, HScott Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, Richard Petty Motorsports, Roush-Fenway Racing (1)

2016 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (12)
2nd) Toyota (4)
3rd) Ford (3)

XFINITY: Matt DiBenedetto’s XFINITY ride fast, but last again at Loudon

SOURCE: Rubbin's Racin' Forums

Matt DiBenedetto picked up the 8th last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career in Saturday’s AutoLotto 200 at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway when his unsponsored #10 TriStar Motorsports Toyota fell out with a vibration after 3 of 200 laps.

The finish, which came in DiBenedetto’s 58th series start, was his seventh of the season and second in a row.

DiBenedetto may still have been on “start-and-park” duty in the XFINITY Series, but his #10 showed some speed at Loudon.  He ran the fewest laps of anyone in Friday’s final practice - three - but managed to put up the 20th-fastest lap of 40 drivers.  He improved to 19th in qualifying Round 1 with a speed of 127.066mph.  DiBenedetto and teammate Jeff Green sat out Round 2, and would start Saturday’s race 23rd and 24th, respectively.  Missing the race was Josh Williams, 2nd in the ARCA standings, his #92 bumped from the field by team owner Mario Gosselin’s #90 by one-hundredth of a second.

Starting 40th on race day was Chris Cockrum, making his fifth start of the season and first since Michigan in the #25 Advanced Communications Group Chevrolet.  Joining him at the rear of the field were Ray Black, Jr., J.J. Yeley, and Morgan Shepherd, penalized for unapproved adjustments, and Jeff Green, whose team needed an engine change.  Green made it 109 laps before brake issues stopped him, leaving the #14 in 34th.

Three laps into the race, DiBenedetto took last, beating Shepherd’s #89 Racing With Jesus / Malamphy Electric Chevrolet by 22 circuits.  38th-place Carl Long in his #40 CrashClaimsR.us Toyota finished behind Corey LaJoie, whose #24 Youtheory Toyota for JGL Racing crashed in Turn 2 on Lap 65.  36th-place David Starr in RSS Racing’s #93, sponsored last week by Massimo Motors and Stripling Technology, rounded out the Bottom Five.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*The last-place finish was TriStar’s fourth in the previous five XFINITY Series races at New Hampshire.  The lone exception during that span was DiBenedetto’s run on July 12, 2014, when his #46 Chevrolet fielded by The Motorsports Group pulled out with brake issues after 1 lap, edging TriStar’s Blake Koch by three circuits.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
40) #10-Matt DiBenedetto / 3 laps / vibration
39) #89-Morgan Shepherd / 25 laps / handling
38) #40-Carl Long / 38 laps / brakes
37) #24-Corey LaJoie / 64 laps / crash
36) #93-David Starr / 82 laps / overheating

2016 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Matt DiBenedetto (7)
2nd) Jeff Green (4)
3rd) Josh Wise (2)
4th) Justin Marks, B.J. McLeod, Ryan Preece, Josh Reaume (1)

2016 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) TriStar Motorsports (11)
2nd) RSS Racing (3)
3rd) B.J. McLeod Motorsports, Inc., Chip Ganassi Racing, JD Motorsports (1)

2016 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Toyota (11)
2nd) Chevrolet (5)
3rd) Ford (1)

7/11/99: Loudon the scene of Dale Jr.’s first NASCAR last-place finish

SOURCE: Rubbin's Racin' Forums

On July 11, 1999, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. picked up the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR Winston Cup Series career in the Jiffy Lube 300 at the New Hampshire International Speedway when his #8 Budweiser Chevrolet fell out with ignition trouble after 44 of 300 laps.  The finish came in Earnhardt, Jr.’s 2nd series start.

By 1999, Dale Earnhardt, Inc. (DEI) had been active in NASCAR’s top three divisions for fifteen years.  Dale Earnhardt himself made the team’s first start in the NASCAR Busch Grand National Series (now XFINITY) in 1984, when he finished 4th in the Mello Yello 300.  DEI was also there for the inaugural Truck Series race in 1995 with Ron Hornaday, Jr.  In 1996, DEI made its first Cup start with none other than all-time last-place leader Jeff Green, who came home 36th of 41 starters in the #14 Racing For Kids Chevrolet.  That same year, 21-year-old Earnhardt, Jr. made his Busch Series debut at Myrtle Beach, finishing 14th in the #31 Mom ‘n’ Pops Chevrolet.

In 1997, Earnhardt, Jr. continued to hone is skills in the Busch Series, racing alongside his DEI teammate Steve Park in the flagship #3 AC-Delco Chevrolet.  With three wins and a 3rd-place finish in the standings behind him, Park was moved up to Cup in 1998, where he’d drive the #1 Pennzoil Chevrolet.  Only then did Earnhardt, Jr. drive his father’s famous number.  The second-generation driver impressed, scoring seven wins in 31 starts en route to the 1998 Busch Series title.  But unlike Park, who struggled following injuries suffered in a practice crash at Atlanta, Earnhardt, Jr. wouldn’t run full-time Cup in 1999.  He’d run five Cup races on top of his second full Busch season, then go for Rookie of the Year in 2000.  Sponsorship would come from Budweiser, which was in its final year backing Hendrick Motorsports and Wally Dallenbach, Jr.  Earnhardt, Jr.’s Cup debut would come at the Coca-Cola 600 followed by Loudon, Michigan, Richmond, and the season finale at Atlanta.

The 600 wasn’t the first time Earnhardt, Jr. raced his father in a Cup car.  That would come on November 22, 1998 during the NASCAR Thunder Special Motegi exhibition race at Japan’s 1.549-mile Twin Ring Motegi oval.  Father and son would both drive cars sponsored by Coca-Cola.  The crowd of 41,000 saw Earnhardt, Jr.’s #1 car finish 6th - two spots ahead of father.  The Intimidator got him back in his son’s 600 debut: Earnhardt finished 6th while his son’s bright red Budweiser Chevrolet finished a respectable 16th.  Next on Earnhardt, Jr.’s schedule was Loudon.

Coming into the Jiffy Lube 300, Earnhardt, Jr. was once again steaming toward the Busch Series title.  He’d just won three races a row at Dover, South Boston, and Watkins Glen, wrestling the point lead away from his friendly rival Matt Kenseth.  But Earnhardt, Jr.’s second-worst finish of the season had come at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway, where in May, Jason Keller spun him from 7th with six laps to go, leaving him 34th.  Now, with an off-weekend before the next Busch race at Myrtle Beach, Earnhardt, Jr. could focus on his next Cup start.

Earnhardt, Jr. qualified 13th for the 300-miler at a speed of 129.710 mph, putting him right alongside his father in 14th.  As with his other Cup starts in 1999, Earnhardt, Jr.’s rear decklid had a decal of the track with the name, date, and his signature in the middle.  Four drivers missed the race: Robert Pressle in Doug Bawel’s #77 Jasper Engines & Transmissions Ford, the Bahari’ Racing #30 Jimmy Dean Pontiac of Derrike Cope, David Green, whose Kodiak sponsor moved to Dick Trickle’s #91 Chevrolet following Green’s DNQ in the Larry Hedrick-owned #41, and veteran Dave Marcis with his #71 RealTree Camouflage Chevrolet.

Starting 43rd in the race was Ted Musgrave, who in 1999 took over for Rick Mast driving Butch Mock’s #75 Remington Arms Ford.  Sent to the rear to join him was Bill Elliott, who was sent to a backup car following a crash in second-round qualifying.  Elliott was supposed to run a special paint scheme on his #94 McDonald’s Ford, but the team couldn’t change the decals on the backup before the race.  By Lap 9, both Elliott and Musgrave had moved past Brett Bodine, who held 43rd in his own #11 Paychex Ford.  Bodine’s was also the first car to be lapped by race leader Bobby Labonte on Lap 36.

Earnhardt, Jr., meanwhile, was running in the 11th spot.  On the first lap, his father had rooted him out of the groove in Turn 3 and slipped by, but he’d managed to pass him back with a run down the backstretch.  Then on Lap 42, Earnhardt, Jr. came down pit road for an unscheduled stop, saying the car lacked speed on the straightaways, and that something was binding up in the transmission.  The crew took a look under the rear of the car, then sent him back out four laps down in last place.  He came back in a lap later, saying the car only had 7000rpm.  The crew looked under the hood at the spark plug wires, but still couldn’t diagnose the problem on pit road.  Eventually, the #8 was pushed behind the wall, out for the day with electrical issues.  Earnhardt, Jr. had never before finished last in Cup or Busch competition.

Finishing 42nd that day was outside-polesitter Rusty Wallace, whose #2 Miller Lite Harley-Davidson Ford wrecked on Lap 141.  Kyle Petty started 5th and ran near the front with teammate John Andretti in the early laps, but his #44 Hot Wheels Pontiac broke a rear end after 190 laps.  Dave Blaney, soon to join Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Matt Kenseth for the 2000 Rookie of the Year battle, crashed his #93 Amoco Pontiac on Lap 195.  Rounding out the group with an engine failure was Hut Stricklin, who was making his first start in SBIII Racing’s #58 Turbine Solutions Ford, a car previously driven by Ricky Craven and Loy Allen, Jr.

The rest of Earnhardt, Jr.’s career to the present day is well-known and hardly needs to be reprinted here.  Heading into this Sunday’s race at Loudon, however, the track remains one of eleven where Earnhardt, Jr. does not yet have a Cup victory.  He finished a career-best 3rd there in the fall of 2004, but two years later scored a second last-place finish when his engine let go after 134 laps.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This was the first last-place finish for the #8 in a Cup Series race since June 14, 1998, when Morgan Shepherd’s turn in the Stavola Brothers’ #8 Circuit City Chevrolet ended with electrical issues after 66 laps of the Miller Lite 400 at Michigan.  The number had never before finished last in a Cup race at Loudon.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #8-Dale Earnhardt, Jr. / 44 laps / ignition
42) #2-Rusty Wallace / 144 laps / crash
41) #44-Kyle Petty / 190 laps / rear end
40) #93-Dave Blaney / 193 laps / crash
39) #58-Hut Stricklin / 193 laps / engine

CUP: Open Team Roundup - Kentucky

SOURCE: Brian Lawdermilk, Getty Images

QUALIFIED

#98 Premium Motorsports
Driver: Cole Whitt
Started 36th, Finished 21st

For the second week in a row and just the third time in 2016, Cole Whitt led all Open drivers with the best finish of the group.  Whitt fought to stay on the lead lap for most of the race, finally losing one to race leader Brad Keselowski with 34 to go.  He also narrowly avoided disaster on at least two occasions - once while colliding with Ryan Blaney on pit road, and another time slowing through the middle of the huge backstretch pileup on Lap 93.  The resulting 21st-place finish was also the best by the #98 team on a non-plate track in 2016, besting the previous mark of 26th at Fontana.

This Sunday, Whitt seeks his fifth start at Loudon, where his best finish was a 24th for Front Row Motorsports last September.  Car owner Jay Robinson has yet to finish better than Mike Wallace’s 34th-place run in September 2014, his best of three starts.

#30 The Motorsports Group
Driver: Josh Wise
Started 40th, Finished 24th

Also impressive on Saturday were Josh Wise and The Motorsports Group, who remained near the back of the field and avoided the night’s chaos with their car intact.  The 24th-place finish is not only a team-best for TMG, improving on their 27th at Pocono this past June, but is the best finish for Wise since the August 2014 race at the same track.  Only six times in Wise’s 143-race career has he finished better in a Cup car.  This also marks the fourth time in 18 races that the #30 ranked second among the Open teams.

Wise has seven Loudon Cup starts under his belt with a best of 29th for Phil Parsons in July of 2014.  It will be The Motorsports Group’s first Cup attempt at the track.

#55 Premium Motorsports
Driver: Reed Sorenson
Started 39th, Finished 27th

Sorenson also matched his season-best finish on a non-plate track - another 27th at Michigan in June - and came home just six positions behind teammate Whitt.  He earned the Lucky Dog under two of the race’s first five cautions and came home five laps behind race winner Brad Keselowski.

Sorenson has made thirteen Loudon starts with a career-best 6th for Chip Ganassi in 2008.  He hasn’t made a race there since the fall of 2014, when he came home 31st for Tommy Baldwin.

#21 Wood Brothers Racing
Driver: Ryan Blaney
Started 15th, Finished 35th

On the other side of the coin, Ryan Blaney was left with his season-tying worst finish of 2016, matching his 35th at Fontana this spring.  It is also the first time this season that Blaney and the #21 have finished behind the other three qualified Open teams.  Blaney began the weekend strong enough, starting from his rain-secured 15th on the grid to run up to 5th in the early laps.  However, contact from Whitt on pit road caved in his right-front fender, and the car wouldn’t handle after that.  On the Lap 88 restart, he was fighting for control in Turns 3 and 4 when his car slid up the track into fellow rookie Chase Elliott, putting both cars into the outside wall.  The Woods managed to get Blaney back on track, 124 laps behind, but could only gain a handful of spots by the finish.

Blaney made his first Cup start at Loudon in this race last year, running well in the early laps before settling for 23rd.  It was the Wood Brothers’ first start at the track since 2008.  The Woods have yet to win at the “Magic Mile,” but have twice finished 2nd with Morgan Shepherd (1995) and Ricky Rudd (2003).

DID NOT QUALIFY

None.

DID NOT ENTER

#26 BK Racing
#35 Front Row Motorsports
#40 Hillman Racing
#59 Leavine Family / Circle Sport Racing
#93 BK Racing

None of the other part-time Open teams attempted the race in Kentucky.

CUP: Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. scores first last-place finish in 237th career NASCAR start

SOURCE: @NASCARonNBC

Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. picked up the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career in Saturday’s Quaker State 400 at the Kentucky Speedway when his #17 Fifth Third Bank Ford was involved in a single-car crash after 9 of 267 laps.  The finish came in Stenhouse’s 130th series start.

Stenhouse, Jr. has been driving Roush-Fenway Racing equipment for more than eight years.  He won two ARCA Racing Series races in 2008, rebounded from a turbulent couple of years in XFINITY to claim back-to-back titles in 2011 and 2012, and became Sprint Cup’s Rookie of the Year in 2013, having taken over the high-powered #17 Ford made famous by Matt Kenseth.  On top of it all, coming into Saturday night’s race in Kentucky, Stenhouse had made a combined 236 Cup and XFINITY Series starts - and never once finished last.

2016 marks Stenhouse’s fourth full season in Sprint Cup.  He still searches for his first Cup Series victory as Roush-Fenway searches to regain its lost consistency on the track.  Coming into the current year, Stenhouse had finished no better than 33rd in the standings and earned no more than a single Top 5 per season.  This year, Stenhouse and the Roush-Fenway team have shown some signs of improvement.  Following finishes of 22nd, 10th, and 12th in the first three races, Stenhouse ranked a season-high 11th in the standings, then earned a pair of 5th-place runs at Fontana and just last week at Daytona.  He came into Kentucky 21st in the standings with just one DNF - a crash at Phoenix in March.

Fifth Third Bank, which returned as Stenhouse’s sponsor for Kentucky, used the race to promote its partnership with Stand Up To Cancer, pledging a $20,000 donation to the foundation for stories of loved ones fighting the disease that fans shared on Twitter with #StandUpWithRicky.  53 names of such individuals were featured on the hood and rear decklid of Stenhouse’s car, as well as the name Willie Rhodarmer above the passenger side window.

Stenhouse timed in a strong 7th in Thursday’s opening practice, ranked 10th in the second session on Friday, then slipped to 20th in the third session and 26th in Happy Hour.  Rain washed out qualifying, so the #17 lined up where it sat in points - 21st.  For the first time in three races, no drivers were sent home.

Starting 40th on Saturday was Josh Wise, whose #30 The Motorsports Group Chevrolet trailed smoke in the opening practice.  He was joined at the rear by Kurt Busch, who wrecked and spun his car in post-qualifying practice, sending the #41 Stewart-Haas Racing team to a backup car. Wise held the 40th spot on the first lap, then conceded it to Reed Sorenson and his unsponsored #55 Premium Motorsports Chevrolet.  Sorenson was still holding the spot when the first caution fell on Lap 12.

A combination of a complete track reconfiguration from last year and NASCAR’s second use of its ultra-low downforce package from Michigan proved a handful for several drivers on Saturday.  The first victim was Stenhouse.  In the early laps, the #17 ran the high lane and scraped the wall off of Turn 4.  Moments later, the right-front tire appeared to go down, sending the car hard into the outside wall.  Stenhouse was uninjured and managed to limp his machine to the garage area despite heavy damage to the right-front corner of the car.  By Lap 55, when Joey Logano suffered the same fate to draw the fourth caution of the day, Stenhouse was officially listed as out, securing his first-ever NASCAR last-place finish.  Logano’s #22 Shell / Pennzoil / Autotrader Ford ended up 39th, taking the spot from Jimmie Johnson, who also crashed early only to return and finish 32nd.  It was Logano's worst finish of the season, ending a streak of four straight top-five finishes.

The remainder of the Bottom Five was also filled by crashes.  38th-place Matt DiBenedetto, who parked in the XFINITY race the previous day, slammed the wall in nearly the same spot as Stenhouse and Logano, destroying the #83 BK Racing Toyota which for the first time carried logos from painting equipment manufacuturers Anest Iwata.  37th-place Chris Buescher, who last week scored his own first last-place finish, suffered another hard crash when he collided with Brian Scott’s #44 Medallion Bank Ford on the backstretch on Lap 93.  Among the eight cars collected in the resulting melee was A.J. Allmendinger, whose damaged #47 Kroger / Clorox Chevrolet ended up 36th after crashing again on Lap 173.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the first last-place finish for the #17 in a Cup Series points race since March 1, 2009, when Matt Kenseth’s USG Sheetrock Ford lost an engine after 6 laps of the Shelby 427 at Las Vegas.  Neither the number nor Roush-Fenway Racing had ever before trailed a Cup race at Kentucky.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
40) #17-Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. / 9 laps / crash
39) #22-Joey Logano / 52 laps / crash
38) #83-Matt DiBenedetto / 79 laps / crash
37) #34-Chris Buescher / 92 laps / crash
36) #47-A.J. Allmendinger / 103 laps / crash

2016 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Matt DiBenedetto, Reed Sorenson (3)
2nd) Josh Wise (2)
3rd) Aric Almirola, Clint Bowyer, Chris Buescher, Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Kyle Larson, Paul Menard, Ryan Newman, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Cole Whitt (1)

2016 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Premium Motorsports (4)
2nd) BK Racing (3)
3rd) Richard Childress Racing, The Motorsports Group (2)
4th) Chip Ganassi Racing, Front Row Motorsports, Hendrick Motorsports, HScott Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, Richard Petty Motorsports, Roush-Fenway Racing (1)

2016 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (11)
2nd) Toyota (4)
3rd) Ford (3)

XFINITY: Matt DiBenedetto extends 2016 LASTCAR XFINITY lead

SOURCE: Rubbin's Racin' Forums

Matt DiBenedetto picked up the 8th last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career in Friday’s Alsco 300 at the Kentucky Speedway when his unsponsored #10 TriStar Motorsports Toyota fell out with rear gear trouble after he completed 3 of 201 laps.

The finish, which came in DiBenedetto’s 57th series start, was his sixth of the season and first since Michigan, three races ago.  With 17 races to go, he now holds a two-finish lead over Jeff Green in the 2016 LASTCAR XFINITY Series Championship.

DiBenedetto once again ran double-duty at Kentucky for the first appearance of TriStar’s #10 since Tyler Young’s 39th-place showing three weeks ago at Iowa.  DiBenedetto was one of six drivers who didn’t participate in the opening practice on Thursday, but jumped in the second session with a strong 21st-fastest lap of 37 drivers.  In qualifying, he came just 0.081sec away from making Round 2 of qualifying, settling for 25th with a lap of 180.264mph.

Starting 40th on Friday was John Jackson, whose Carl Long-owned #40 was also making its first XFINITY start since Iowa.  DiBenedetto pulled off the track after three laps, along with Dexter Bean in the #92 BuckedUp Apparel Chevrolet for King Autosport.  Bean returned to the track to complete a total of 47 laps, moving him to 36th while DiBenedetto held 40th.  Between DiBendetto and Bean in the Bottom Five were 39th-place Jackson and teammate Harrison Rhodes in the #13 Shaffer’s Racing Oil Chevrolet, 38th at the finish.  37th went to veteran Morgan Shepherd in his #89 Racing With Jesus / Barney’s Inc. Chevrolet.

DiBenedetto had a rough weekend in Kentucky.  The next day, his #83 Anest Iwata Toyota had a hard crash in Turn 3 after 79 laps, leaving him 38th.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This is DiBenedetto’s first XFINITY Series last-place run at Kentucky since his inaugural last-place run on June 27, 2014 when his #46 The Motorsports Group Chevrolet broke a rear gear after 2 laps of the John R. Elliott HERO Campaign 300.
*This is the fourth-straight XFINITY Series last-place finish for TriStar Motorsports.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
40) #10-Matt DiBenedetto / 3 laps / rear gear
39) #40-John Jackson / 9 laps / vibration
38) #13-Harrison Rhodes / 17 laps / oil pump
37) #89-Morgan Shepherd / 43 laps / suspension
36) #92-Dexter Bean / 47 laps / fuel pump

2016 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Matt DiBenedetto (6)
2nd) Jeff Green (4)
3rd) Josh Wise (2)
4th) Justin Marks, B.J. McLeod, Ryan Preece, Josh Reaume (1)

2016 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) TriStar Motorsports (10)
2nd) RSS Racing (3)
3rd) B.J. McLeod Motorsports, Inc., Chip Ganassi Racing, JD Motorsports (1)

2016 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Toyota (10)
2nd) Chevrolet (5)
3rd) Ford (1)

TRUCKS: Cobb / MAKE team’s musical chairs leave Roark last at Kentucky

SOURCE: Lee Spencer

Caleb Roark picked up the 8th last-place finish of his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career in Thursday’s Buckle Up In Your Truck 225 at the Kentucky Speedway when his unsponsored #1 MAKE Motorsports Chevrolet fell out with electrical issues without completing any of the 150 laps.

The finish, which came in Roark’s 25th series start, was his first in Truck Series competition since last fall at Texas, 12 races ago.

Roark, the defending LASTCAR Truck Series Champion, returned to the series this season during the previous round at Gateway Motorsports Park on June 25, where he finished 31st in Jennifer Jo Cobb’s #10.  According to the preliminary entry list, Roark was slated to run the #10 again at Kentucky while Cobb would remain in the #1 MAKE Motorsports entry for a third consecutive week, building on the Cobb team’s alignment with MAKE.  Travis Kvapil would drive MAKE’s primary truck, the #50.

Roark, Cobb, and Kvapil of the Cobb / MAKE cooperative were among 30 drivers on the preliminary entry list for Thursday’s race.  Two more joined on Wednesday to fill out the field: Garrett Smithley in Bobby Dotter’s #07 Mubea Job Opportunities Chevrolet and Mike Harmon’s #74 SMD Chevrolet.

Yet to be added by that day was Norm Benning, whose #6 had failed to qualify for six races and withdrawn from the other three.  If things stayed the same, it would have marked the first time Benning didn’t make the entry list for a Truck Series race since October 28, 2008 at Martinsville.  Fortunately, MB Motorsports came to the rescue, putting Benning in their #63.  With 32 trucks for 32 spots, Benning would also make his first Truck start since November 6, 2015 at Texas.

At the track, the game of musical chairs continued.  On Wednesday’s opening practice, Roark ran slowest overall in the #10, nearly five seconds off the leader’s pace.  Roark then sat out Happy Hour while Cobb took 33 laps in the #10, lifting it to 29th of the 31 entries.  Cobb and Travis Kvapil also turned 18 laps in the #1, which was ranked 27th overall.  Cobb and Kvapil’s #1 was then renumbered #50 for Kvapil to drive on Thursday, sharing Cobb’s Driven2Honor.org sponsorship on the hood.  A new truck from Premium Motorsports arrived that Thursday and was renumbered #1 in its place.  This new #1 truck would be driven by Roark in qualifying and the race with Kvapil in the #50 (the first #1) and Cobb in the #10.  All three Cobb / MAKE entries qualified no better than 28th, relying on Owner Points to make the field.  Roark’s new #1 didn’t complete a lap in qualifying, but was placed ahead of last-place starter Mike Harmon.

But by the end of the race’s first lap, Roark had pulled off the track in his #1.  A photograph by Lee Spencer showed a tow truck pushing the #1 behind the wall while crew members were still standing on pit road.  Last-place starter Harmon went on to finish 29th, leaving after 62 laps with a vibration.  Between Roark and Harmon were 31st-place Brett Moffitt, Tuesday’s announced relief driver for the recovering Matt Tifft, and 30th-place Kyle Busch, wrecked after light contact from Spencer Gallagher’s #23 Allegiant Travel Chevrolet.  Rounding out the Bottom Five was Benning, who ran 14 laps down in the final stages before he pulled behind the wall.

Cobb finished 24th in the #10 while Kvapil came home 25th, the final two trucks to come home under power.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This is the first Truck Series last-place finish for both Roark and the #1 at Kentucky Speedway.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
32) #1-Caleb Roark / 0 laps / electrical
31) #11-Brett Moffitt / 26 laps / engine
30) #18-Kyle Busch / 56 laps / crash
29) #74-Mike Harmon / 62 laps / vibration
28) #63-Norm Benning / 95 laps /vibration

2016 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Tommy Joe Martins (2)
2nd) Christopher Bell, Brandon Brown, William Byron, Claire Decker, Caleb Roark, Johnny Sauter, Austin Wayne Self, Andy Seuss (1)

2016 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Kyle Busch Motorsports, Tommy Joe Martins (2)
2nd) AWS Racing, Brandonbilt Motorsports, GMS Racing, Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing, Jim Rosenblum Motorsports / FDNY Racing, MAKE Motorsports (1)

2016 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (7)
2nd) Toyota (3)