Ave Gets 43rd When Transmission Fails at the Glen

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

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

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

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

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

Wallace Parked In Gunselman Team’s Return At Pocono

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

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

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

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

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

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

Nemechek’s Brakes Burn Out At Indy, Moves To Sixth On All-Time Rankings

Joe Nemechek picked up the 15th last-place finish of his career in Sunday’s Allstate 400 at the Brickyard at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway when his unsponsored #87 NEMCO Motorsports Toyota fell out with brake problems after completing 21 of 160 laps.

Nemechek qualified 30th on Saturday with a speed of 177.284 mph, locking him into the Allstate 400 field as the third-fastest car outside the top 35 in owner’s points. In the early stages of Sunday’s race, it appeared as though Elliott Sadler would score his sixth last-place finish as a mysterious leak on the first lap forced him behind the wall. On lap 21, Nemechek then fell out with brake problems in the ensuing green-flag run, followed two laps later by 2009 last-place leader Dave Blaney. Sadler returned to the track late in the event, but Nemechek did not, giving him the 43rd and final finishing position.

The finish was Nemechek’s second of 2009 and his first since February’s Auto Club 500 at the Auto Club Speedway. It is the third time in 2009 that the last-place finisher fell out with brake problems and was also the first time that Nemechek, NEMCO Motorsports, and car number 87 have ever finished last in the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard.

Nemechek now sits sixth on the all-time last-place finisher rankings and is just one finish away from tying Derrike Cope and Todd Bodine for the most last-place finishes since 1998.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #87-Joe Nemechek / 21 laps / brakes
42) #66-Dave Blaney / 23 laps / brakes
41) #36-Mike Skinner / 35 laps / transmission
40) #19-Elliott Sadler / 45 laps / running
39) #78-Regan Smith / 108 laps / running

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

Blaney’s 5th Last-Place Finish Comes When Engine Expires Early at Chicago

Dave Blaney picked up the 10th last-place finish of his career in Saturday night’s Lifelock.com 400 at the Chicagoland Speedway when his unsponsored #66 Prism Motorsports Toyota lost the engine after 10 of the race’s 267 laps.

On Thursday, Blaney qualified a solid 18th with a speed of 180.723 mph, making him the third-fastest car outside the top 35 in owner’s points. However, despite running mid-pack in the early stages of Saturday’s race, Blaney pulled behind the wall under green on lap 10 with engine problems. David Gilliland nearly took the finish from Blaney when he suffered transmission problems, but he completed one more lap than Blaney before heading to the garage.

It is the first time Blaney has ever finished last in two consecutive points races. It is the third time a driver has finished last with an engine failure in 2009.

With the finish, Blaney now sits 11th on the all-time list and became just the eighth driver ever to score five or more last-place finishes in a single season. The other seven are Jimmy Pardue (1961), Jimmy Helms (1965), Wayne Gillette (1969), J.D. McDuffie (1969), Derrike Cope (2003, 2006), Todd Bodine (2004), and Joe Ruttman (2004). As mentioned last week, Derrike Cope is the only driver with more than five in a single season: six in 2006.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #66-Dave Blaney / 10 laps / engine
42) #71-David Gilliland / 11 laps / transmission
41) #87-Joe Nemechek / 30 laps / clutch
40) #09-Mike Bliss / 58 laps / electrical
39) #36-Mike Skinner / 60 laps / engine

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

Blaney Extends 2009 Lead With Overheating Car at Daytona

Dave Blaney picked up the 9th last-place finish of his career in Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400 at the Daytona International Speedway when his unsponsored #66 Prism Motorsports Toyota fell out with overheating problems on lap 2 of the 160-lap race.

Qualifying was rained-out for the second straight NASCAR Sprint Cup race, allowing Blaney to secure the 40th starting spot. The #64 team of Gunselman Motorsports and the #13 team of Germain Racing were also on the entry list for Daytona, but both attempted fewer races than Blaney in 2009 and wound up as the two teams that failed to qualify. Still, Blaney was unable to secure a sponsor for the Daytona event and, just two laps in, he pulled behind the wall with overheating problems.

It is the first time the #66 had finished last at Daytona since Harry Gant fell out with an engine failure after completing just one lap of the 1978 Daytona 500.

The finish was the fourth for Blaney, team, and the number 66 in 2009, and the first for each since Blaney’s crash early in May's Crown Royal presents the Russ Friedman 400 at the Richmond International Raceway. Blaney tied P.J. Jones in last month’s Toyota / Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway for the fewest laps completed of any last-place finisher in 2009 and joined Mike Bliss in the Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta as the only two drivers to finish last because of overheating problems.

Blaney moved past Ricky Craven and Kyle Petty and now stands alone with the fourth-most last-place finishes since 1998. Blaney sits 12th-ranked on the all-time list. Only three times since 1972 has a single driver scored more than four last-place finishes in a single NASCAR Sprint Cup season. By scoring their fourth, both Blaney and Prism Motorsports might make history in 2009. With 18 races to go, Derrike Cope’s driver record of six last-place finishes in 2006 and Means Racing’s team record of nine finishes in 1992 may both fall at season’s end.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #66-Dave Blaney / 2 laps / overheating
42) #36-Patrick Carpentier / 18 laps / engine
41) #87-Joe Nemechek / 25 laps / transmission
40) #71-David Gilliland / 76 laps / accident
39) #88-Dale Earnhardt, Jr. / 76 laps / accident

2009 RANKINGS
1st) Dave Blaney (4)
2nd) Mike Bliss, Patrick Carpentier, David Gilliland, Tony Raines (2)
3rd) Todd Bodine, P.J. Jones, Matt Kenseth, Joey Logano, Mark Martin, Joe Nemechek (1)