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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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