N’WIDE: Bires' Overheating Ford Produces First Career Last-Place Finish

Kelly Bires picked up the last-place finish of his NASCAR Nationwide Series career in Saturday’s DRIVE4COPD 300 at the Daytona International Speedway when his #25 RaceDaySponsor.com Ford fell out with overheating problems after completing 5 of the race’s 120 laps. The finish came in Bires’ 79th series start. Bires currently has no other last-place finishes in either of the other two top NASCAR divisions.

Bires qualified Ed Rensi’s Ford 32nd in the 43-car field at a speed of 177.267 mph, beating six other “go-or-go-homers,” including Brett Rowe and Jennifer Jo Cobb, who failed to qualify. However, on race day, Bires was the first driver to pull behind the pit wall during the opening green-flag stretch. The Bottom Five-finishing drivers all completed 26 or fewer laps with two of them taken out in accidents.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*The #25 had not finished last in a Nationwide Series race since 2005, when Ashton Lewis’ U.S. Marines Ford crashed out of the 2005 Ford 300 at Homestead after completing 39 laps. The number had never before finished last in a Nationwide Series race at Daytona.
*A Nationwide Series driver had not finished last due to overheating problems since 2009, when Chris Cook’s #47 ConstructionJobs.com Toyota fell out after the opening lap of the 2009 Able Body Labor 200 at Phoenix.
*This marked the third-straight year that a Nationwide Series driver scored his first career last-place finish in the Daytona opener. Scott Lagasse, Jr. was the last-place finisher in 2009 and Chrissy Wallace scored her first in 2010.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #25-Kelly Bires / 5 laps / overheating
42) #27-J.R. Fitzpatrick / 10 laps / crash
41) #24-Kevin Lepage / 12 laps / vibration
40) #44-Jeff Green / 18 laps / rear gear
39) #62-Michael Annett / 26 laps / crash

LASTCAR N’WIDE SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
Defending LASTCAR Nationwide Series Driver’s Champion Dennis Setzer did not enter Saturday’s race. Setzer has yet to make a start in any of the races run in the new-bodied car the series introduced last July at Daytona.
1st) Kelly Bires (1)

LASTCAR N’WIDE SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
Defending LASTCAR Nationwide Owner’s Champions K-Automotive Motorsports did not enter a car in Saturday’s race, choosing instead to focus on getting Brian Keselowski into the Daytona 500. The effort paid off with interest for the small team as Brian raced K-Automotive’s unsponsored #92 into the Daytona 500 with a stirring 5th-place run in Race 2 of the Gatorade Duels. Mark Smith, who came close to challenging K-Automotive for the Owner’s Title in 2010, fielded two cars in Saturday’s race. Eric McClure finished 33rd in the team’s #14 while Jeff Green, runner-up in last year’s Driver’s Championship, finished 40th in car #44.
1st) #25-Ed Rensi (1)

LASTCAR N’WIDE SERIES MANUFACTURER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Ford (1)

TRUCKS: Benning's 36th-Place Finish Is Driver's First In Nearly Two Years

Norm Benning picked up the 4th last-place finish of his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career in Friday night’s NextEra Energy Resources 250 at the Daytona International Speedway when his unsponsored #57 Norm Benning Racing Chevrolet fell out with an engine failure after completing 22 of the race’s 103 laps.

For the third straight year, Benning attempted to qualify for both the Sprint Cup and Truck Series openers at Daytona. However, since he was unable to participate in any of the first four Cup practice sessions, he was forced to withdraw his #57 Chevrolet. This turned the ARCA veteran’s attention to Friday’s truck race.

Benning and his #57 truck qualified 32nd in the 36-truck field at a speed of 169.952 mph, having been locked-into the field based on his ranking in 2010's final Owner Points. Unfortunately, during the race itself, Benning was forced to make several green flag stops in the opening 22 laps before he finally pulled behind the wall for good with engine trouble.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*The race marked Benning’s first last-place finish in the Truck Series in nearly two years, dating back to when his #57 Germaine Tooling Group Chevrolet fell out of the 2009 WinStar World Casino 400 at Texas after three laps due to handling woes.
*Neither Benning, nor the #57, had ever finished last in a Truck Series race at Daytona.
*It was Chevrolet’s seventh last-place finish in the Truck Series race at Daytona and second in a row. A Chevrolet truck has still yet to win at the track.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
36) #57-Norm Benning / 22 laps / engine
35) #99-Chad McCumbee / 24 laps / clutch
34) #22-Joey Coulter / 65 laps / running
33) #07-Donnie Neuenberger / 70 laps / crash
32) #20-Johanna Long / 74 laps / crash

LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
Benning has never before claimed a LASTCAR series title in any of NASCAR’s top three divisions. Defending LASTCAR Truck Series Driver’s Champion Mike Garvey did not enter Friday’s race.
1st) Norm Benning (1)

LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
Defending LASTCAR Owner’s Champion Shane Sieg’s two trucks both qualified for Friday’s race with Ryan Sieg in the #39 and Cole Whitt in the #93 that claimed the title with Mike Garvey aboard. Sieg finished 25th with battery problems while Whitt enjoyed a solid 14th-place finish. Team Gill Racing, second in last year’s LASTCAR Owner’s Championship, did not enter a truck in Friday’s race.
1st) #57-Norm Benning Racing (1)

LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES MANUFACTURER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (1)

CUP: Mears’ Two Engine Failures Cost Him Starting Spot In Daytona 500

Casey Mears finished last in Thursday’s Gatorade Duel Race 2 at the Daytona International Speedway when his #13 GEICO Toyota lost the engine after 2 of the race’s 60 laps.

The journeyman driver signed on with Germain Racing’s #13 team last summer to replace Max Papis, who turned his focus to the Camping World Truck Series. Mears had started the 2010 season with Keyed-Up Motorsports, a start-up team with which he narrowly missed the field for the Daytona 500 after a competitive run. Four more DNQs later, Mears and Keyed-Up separated, and he spent the rest of the year between Tommy Baldwin Racing, Team Red Bull, and as a standby relief driver for an injured Denny Hamlin.

With Germain Racing, Mears found needed stability and authored some steady runs in the final part of the season with a season-best finish of 21st at Richmond in September. Though the team remained outside the Top 35 and would thus have to race into the Daytona 500, Mears was ready to make his first 500 start in two years.

Unfortunately, Mears’ optimism was short-lived. A blown engine in the late stages of Wednesday’s final practice before the Duels left the team scrambling to make a quick engine change. Unable to make the change in time, Mears would not only have to surrender his 17th starting spot and start in the rear for Thursday’s qualifier, but would have to do so with an engine that hadn’t seen a lap on the racetrack. The results proved disastrous: just two laps into the race, Mears’ backup engine exploded on the backstretch in a huge plume of smoke.

Mears was visibly dejected, sitting on the edge of the driver’s side window after he climbed out in the garage. It was his second-straight DNQ for the Daytona 500.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the third time the #13 had finished last in either of the Gatorade Duels. Curtis Turner was the first when he quit one lap into 1967's Race 1 and, most recently, Greg Sacks’ Dodge crashed two laps into 2005's Gatorade Duel Race 2.
*Mears’ was just the second Toyota to finish last in a Gatorade Duel, joining Jeff Fuller, whose #97 FrontRowJoe.com Toyota was the first to fall out of last February’s Race 1.
*It was Mears’ first-ever last-place finish in the Gatorade Duels. He has three other last-place finishes in NASCAR points races.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
24) #13-Casey Mears / 2 laps / engine
23) #20-Joey Logano / 15 laps / crash
22) #77-Steve Wallace / 54 laps / crash
21) #60-Todd Bodine / 54 laps / crash
20) #6-David Ragan / 59 laps / crash

CUP: Gilliland’s Spark Plug Problem Ends Run In First Gatorade Duel

David Gilliland finished last in Thursday’s Gatorade Duel Race 1 at the Daytona International Speedway when his #34 Taco Bell Ford fell out with electrical problems after completing 40 of the race’s 62 laps.

Gilliland, the 2007 Daytona 500 polesitter, started 21st in the 150-mile qualifier, but was already locked-into the Daytona 500 field based on 2010 Owner Points. Gilliland and his Front Row Motorsports teammates switched rides on several occasions last year, allowing for two of the FRM teams (#34, #37) to finish in the Top 35. Once Travis Kvapil’s #38 became the third-fastest car in Sunday’s qualifying, locking him in on speed, this meant all three teams were guaranteed starting spots in the 500 for the second straight year.

However, in the 24-car qualifying race itself, Gilliland was the only Front Row car in the field; Kvapil and Richardson ran in Race 2. Without a drafting partner as the two-car draft strategy reigned supreme, Gilliland remained near the back of the field for most of the race. Then, near the two-thirds mark, a faulty spark plug forced him to make an unscheduled stop under green. With so little of the race to go, the decision was made to park the car for the rest of the event.

Gilliland will start 39th in Sunday’s Daytona 500.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*It was the first last-place finish in the Gatorade Duels for David Gilliland, Front Row Motorsports, and the #34. Gilliland has five other last-place finishes in NASCAR points races.
*Gilliland’s was the 27th Ford to finish last in a Gatorade Duel.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
24) #34-David Gilliland / 40 laps / electrical
23) #66-Michael McDowell / 53 laps / engine
22) #71-Andy Lally / 60 laps / running
21) #9-Marcos Ambrose / 61 laps / running
20) #36-Dave Blaney / 61 laps / running

CUP: Kahne’s Sour Engine In Shootout Gives Driver First-Ever Last-Place Finish

Kasey Kahne finished last in Saturday night’s Budweiser Shootout at the Daytona International Speedway when his #4 Red Bull Toyota lost the engine after completing 7 of the race’s 75 laps.

Kahne had achieved modest success in Team Red Bull’s Toyotas last fall, running the last five races in relief of Brian Vickers and scoring the pole at Homestead. Vickers returned as Kahne’s teammate this year and, in preseason testing, the two were among the fastest to speed around Daytona’s new pavement.

On Friday night, Kahne drew the 5th starting spot in the 24-car field, giving the Washington driver excellent track position. Just two laps into the race, he vaulted to the lead with an assist from Clint Bowyer in a swift two-car draft. Still among the leaders seven laps into the race, Kahne’s Toyota suddenly sputtered on the backstretch and coasted onto pit road. The crew looked under the hood, then pushed car #4 behind the wall.

Besides Kahne, nine other drivers retired from the race, all from the result of accidents. Three-time LASTCAR Cup Champion Derrike Cope, who finished last in the 2010 Shootout, finished two laps down in 14th as the final car to cross the finish line.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*Prior to Saturday, Kahne had never finished last in a single NASCAR Sprint Cup, Nationwide, or Truck Series race, including non-points races such as the Shootout.
*The #4 had never before finished last in the Shootout.
*Kahne is only the second Toyota driver to finish last in the Shootout, joining Joey Logano’s 28th-place finish in the 2009 running.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
24) #4-Kasey Kahne / 7 laps / engine
23) #97-Kevin Conway / 26 laps / crash
22) #78-Regan Smith / 27 laps / crash
21) #99-Carl Edwards / 27 laps / crash
20) #42-Juan Pablo Montoya / 27 laps / crash