CUP: Nemechek Tied For 2nd-Most Last-Place Finishes After Controversial Martinsville Weekend

Joe Nemechek picked up the 26th last-place finish of his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career in Sunday’s Goody’s Fast Relief 500 at the Martinsville Speedway when his #87 AM FM Energy.com Toyota fell out 25 laps into the 500-lap race with brake problems.

With the finish, Nemechek is now tied with Derrike Cope for the second-most last-place finishes in NASCAR Sprint Cup history. It is also Nemechek’s 32nd last-place finish across NASCAR’s top three divisions, tying him for the third-most all-time with the late J.D. McDuffie.

At Martinsville, Nemechek welcomed back returning primary sponsor AM FM Energy.com, who funded his successful bid to make the Daytona 500 in February. He was the fastest “go-or-go-home” car in Friday’s opening practice session (29th overall) and qualified 37th for the race at a speed of 94.209 mph. However, the nose of Nemechek’s #87 was found to be too low in post-qualifying inspection, so the time was disallowed. This dropped Nemechek to 43rd for the start of the race.

No cars were sent home in qualifying as, for the second straight race, only 43 cars attempted to qualify. All-time LASTCAR leader Derrike Cope’s #75 was the first to withdraw prior to practice. Dennis Setzer, returning to K-Automotive’s #92 after the team did not enter the race at Fontana, withdrew after Happy Hour when a brake failure resulted in a turn three crash that destroyed the only car the team had at the track.

Although he appeared to have adequate sponsorship, Nemechek’s was still the first car to go behind the wall on race day, falling out during the opening green-flag run. Mike Skinner in Germain Racing’s #60 fell out six laps later. Radio communications from the #87 indicated Nemechek was considering returning to the track to pass Skinner, but decided not to when he noticed how banged-up the right side of Skinner’s car was after just 31 laps.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This was Nemechek’s second career last-place finish in a Cup race at Martinsville. The first came in the 2008 Tums QuikPak 500, where his #78 Furniture Row Chevrolet fell out with crash damage after 115 laps following a tangle with Matt Kenseth.
*The #87 had never before finished last in a Cup race at Martinsville.
*It’s the second straight year that the last-place finisher of the spring Cup race at Martinsville fell out with brake failure. Last year, Michael McDowell’s #55 PRISM Motorsports Toyota fell out 24 laps into the 2010 Goody’s Fast Relief 500.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #87-Joe Nemechek / 25 laps / brakes
42) #60-Mike Skinner / 31 laps / brakes
41) #46-J.J. Yeley / 33 laps / brakes
40) #56-Martin Truex, Jr. / 219 laps / crash
39) #4-Kasey Kahne / 219 laps / crash / led 1 lap

LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Michael McDowell, Joe Nemechek (2)
2nd) Landon Cassill, J.J. Yeley (1)

LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) #66-HP Racing LLC, #87-NEMCO Motorsports (2)
2nd) #46-Dusty Whitney, #60-Germain Racing (1)

LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Toyota (5)
2nd) Chevrolet (1)

LASTCAR EXTRA: Michael McDowell Leaves It All On The Track At Martinsville

After scoring back-to-back last-place finishes at Bristol and Fontana, Michael McDowell finished 32nd in Sunday’s Goody’s Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville, having been given the opportunity to run a full race for owners Phil Parsons and Randy Humphrey for the first time since the 2010 Daytona 500. Throughout the race, McDowell’s car, still flat black except for decals carrying HP Racing LLC’s web address at http://www.racehp.com/, had an eventful afternoon, running as high as 25th before some late misfortune dropped him seven spots back.

After starting 35th, McDowell lost a lap, scored the first Lucky Dog on Lap 50, then defended his spot on the lead lap by holding off leader Jimmie Johnson just before the second yellow came on Lap 106. McDowell’s spotter aided his defensive driving, though on Lap 87, he replied in frustration, “You know, one time I was a race car driver.” On Lap 125, Marcos Ambrose crossed McDowell’s nose entering turn one. McDowell held his line and shoved Ambrose into the corner, sending the #9 backwards into the outside wall. The incident, and McDowell’s radio communication that he was going to make the most of the race, scored McDowell some TV time during the FOX broadcast:

"I'm not gonna take it, man. This ain't mind games. [sic] They're not messing with me. I got one race a year; I'm gonna make it count."

Despite the handling problems and brake woes that plagued his run, McDowell remained on the lead lap between 25th and 29th for the first 299 laps, never once needing another Lucky Dog to stay there. He traded paint on a number of other occasions, sheetmetal flapping off his smoking left-rear quarter-panel by Lap 187. Following a multi-car accident that occurred just ahead of McDowell on Lap 237, his spotter passed on a message from Greg Biffle’s spotter that “Biffle said ‘Thank you’ ” to which he replied, “For not killing him or for letting him in?”

Soon after on Lap 242, McDowell had another close call when Brad Keselowski sent Paul Menard and Casey Mears spinning in front of him in turn one. McDowell avoided significant damage to his car, had the brake ducts cleared on pit road, and said the plan was “Let’s stay on the lead lap and then go crazy with 75 to go.”

Unfortunately, while running 25th and still on the lead lap on Lap 299, McDowell lost a right-rear tire coming off turn two and slowed, trying to make it onto pit road. When NASCAR failed to throw the yellow, even as Casey Mears’ #13 was also off the pace with damage to the rear end, McDowell was furious: “Why don’t they throw the stinking caution instead of trying to get me run over out here?” He eventually made it to pit road, though apparently his crew didn’t understand his warning about his failing brakes: “What did you not get about ‘I have no brakes, don’t stand in front of me?’ ”

McDowell spent 25 laps behind the wall, during which time the crew discovered some debris was wrapped around the #66's right-rear brake line, choking off the fluid. After the team removed the debris and bled the brakes, McDowell returned to the track with 177 to go. He lost five more laps by race’s end, losing the fifth when he slowed a lap too soon, thinking the white flag was the checkered. This allowed race winner Kevin Harvick to barely nip his accelerating Toyota at the finish line.

As reported last week, HP Racing LLC came into the 2011 season with plans of running only a part-time season. However, with this full-race performance scoring the team’s best finish since Michael Waltrip’s 28th-place run at Talladega last fall, there is no indication as yet if that plan will change.

TRUCKS: Buescher’s Hard Crash Gives #31 First Last-Place Finish Since 1997

James Buescher picked up the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career in Saturday’s Kroger 250 at the Martinsville Speedway when his #31 Wolfpack Rentals Chevrolet was involved in a grinding two-truck accident that ended his day after 134 of the race's 250 laps. The finish came in Buescher’s 51st series start.

The 21-year-old Buescher qualified 6th for Saturday’s race at a speed of 94.529 mph, securing him a top-10 start in all three races he’s run in 2011. Although he failed to qualify for the second race of the season at Phoenix, Buescher had finished 9th at Daytona and 5th at Darlington, securing him the 11th spot in the points standings heading to Martinsville.

On Friday, newcomer Billy Keyes was forced to withdraw from his first-ever Camping World Truck Series race when his unsponsored #34 Chevrolet locked its brakes during his first timed lap in Happy Hour, sending his truck hard into the inside wall along with Joey Coulter’s #22. Coulter’s Richard Childress-led crew was able to repair their truck in time for the race. Since only 36 trucks showed up to qualify, Keyes’ withdrawal made Saturday’s race the first short field of 35 trucks since last summer’s race at Nashville, 15 races ago.

Early in the race, Justin Lofton looked like he would be scoring his own first last-place finish in the Truck Series. On Lap 19, Norm Benning spun him entering turn three, sending Lofton’s #77 hard rear-first into the outside wall. The accident, which brought out the first caution of the day, required nearly 100 laps of repairs to the rear clip of his Germain Racing Toyota. Lofton eventually returned to finish the race 90 laps down in 32nd.

Not long after Lofton came back onto the track, two simultaneous accidents ultimately ended Buescher’s run, resulting in his first last-place finish. On Lap 137, a five-truck accident unfolded in turn one involving Nelson Piquet, Jr., Parker Kligerman, Brad Sweet, Justin Johnson, and Matt Crafton. As the field checked-up in turns three and four, Buescher and Jeffrey Earnhardt hooked bumpers in turn three, sending both trucks hard nose-first into the outside wall. While the five-truck wreck was not as serious, Buescher and Earnhardt’s wreck brought out a red flag. Fortunately, neither driver was injured.

Buescher now stands 20th in the Truck Series standings, 64 behind point leader and Martinsville race winner Johnny Sauter.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*No driver has qualified better than Buescher and finished last in a Truck Series race since 2007, when Jacques Villeneuve’s #27 UNICEF Toyota qualified 3rd at the 2007 Ford 200 at Homestead, then fell out in a single-truck crash 80 laps into the race.
*Prior to Saturday’s race, no Truck Series driver had completed more than 134 laps since 2008, when Tim Cowen’s #42 Cowen Truck Lines Ford fell out with overheating problems after 140 laps of the 2008 Ohio 250 at Mansfield. Between those two races, no last-place finisher had completed more than 99 laps (Kvapil’s run at Phoenix last month).
*The #31 had finished last in just one other Truck Series race, which came when the late Tony Roper lost the engine on his Concor Tool & Machine Ford nine laps into the 1997 Chevy Desert Star Classic at Phoenix. Roper lost his life three years later in a multi-truck accident on Lap 32 of the 2000 O’Reilly 400 at Texas.
*This was the third consecutive Truck Series race where a driver scored their first career last-place finish as the result of a crash. Such a thing has not happened since the fall of 2005 when a streak of four occurred: Tam Topham at Martinsville, Mike Bliss at Atlanta, Jack Bailey at Texas, and Erin Crocker at Phoenix.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
35) #31-James Buescher / 134 laps / crash
34) #1-Jeffrey Earnhardt / 134 laps / crash
33) #39-Ryan Sieg / 142 laps / radiator
32) #77-Justin Lofton / 160 laps / running
31) #51-Justin Johnson / 202 laps / running

LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Norm Benning, James Buescher, Travis Kvapil, Brad Sweet (1)

LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
Following teammate Brad Sweet’s crash at Darlington, Buescher’s last-place finish at Martinsville was the second in a row for Turner Motorsports.
1st) #5-Randy Moss, #31-Turner Motorsports, #32-Turner Motorsports, #57-Norm Benning Racing (1)

LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES MANUFACTURER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (3)
2nd) Toyota (1)

CUP: Bodine and Nemechek Shuffle McDowell To Second-Straight Last-Place Finish

Michael McDowell picked up the 9th last-place finish of his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career in Sunday’s Auto Club 400 at the Auto Club Speedway of Southern California (Fontana) when his unsponsored #66 HP Racing LLC Toyota fell out with an electrical problem after completing 32 of the race’s 200 laps.

McDowell qualified 33rd for Sunday’s race at a speed of 180.605 mph and was the fastest of the “go-or-go-homers” in Happy Hour, 31st overall.

Early in the race itself, it first appeared Tony Raines would finish 43rd when the engine on his unsponsored #37 caught fire six laps into the race. Repairs were made, however, and he returned to the track to ultimately finish 10 laps down in 36th. Next, Todd Bodine, making his first start for Germain Racing’s #60 team since the Gatorade Duels, went behind the wall after he lost a lap on Lap 18. Bodine was followed quickly by Joe Nemechek’s #87 on Lap 29 and McDowell on Lap 33. This allowed Bodine to take 43rd from Tony Raines.

Though this put McDowell in 41st, first Nemechek and then Bodine also returned to the track just long enough to shuffle McDowell to 43rd by the time the first caution waved for debris on Lap 74. Radio communications confirmed that HP Racing LLC did not intend to have McDowell follow Nemechek and Bodine back onto the track. On Lap 44, the #66 crew acknowledged their car would be NASCAR’s random selection for post-race inspection. Around Lap 54, the crew also discovered a hole in the radiator of their Toyota which had gone undetected up to that point.

HP Racing LLC entered 2011 with plans of running a part-time season. With the fifth race of the season completed and the #66 now ranked 44th in Owner Points, 58 markers outside the Top 35, there is no indication as of this writing which races the team may skip.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This is the second-straight last-place finish at Fontana by the #66 HP Racing LLC / PRISM Motorsports team. Jason Leffler finished 43rd for PRISM in last fall’s Pepsi Max 400 due to electrical problems after 23 laps. It is also McDowell’s first last-place finish at Fontana.
*The finish ends a streak of six different last-place finishers in the last six points races, extending back to Brendan Gaughan’s 43rd-place run in last fall’s Kobalt Tools 500 at Phoenix. Gaughan’s finish was followed by Mike Bliss, J.J. Yeley, Joe Nemechek, Landon Cassill, and finally McDowell’s run last week Bristol.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #66-Michael McDowell / 32 laps / electrical
42) #87-Joe Nemechek / 39 laps / transmission
41) #46-J.J. Yeley / 47 laps / electrical / led 2 laps
40) #60-Todd Bodine / 50 laps / transmission
39) #11-Denny Hamlin / 105 laps / engine / led 15 laps

LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
On Lap 35, soon after McDowell retired, J.J. Yeley stayed out to lead two laps in Dusty Whitney’s #46 Red Line Oil Chevrolet, then went behind the wall when he ran out of fuel. Soon after, his radio traffic indicated they knew Bodine and Nemechek would return to the track, so Yeley returned as well. A second trip to the garage prevented Yeley stopped him three laps short of outlasting Bodine, who retired on Lap 94, but he still held off Nemechek for 41st.
1st) Michael McDowell (2)
2nd) Landon Cassill, Joe Nemechek, J.J. Yeley (1)

LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) #66-HP Racing LLC (2)
2nd) #46-Dusty Whitney, #60-Germain Racing, #87-NEMCO Motorsports (1)

LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Toyota (4)
2nd) Chevrolet (1)

N’WIDE: Harmon Ties Shepherd For Fifth-Most Nationwide Series Last-Place Finishes In NASCAR Return

Mike Harmon picked up the 11th last-place finish of his NASCAR Nationwide Series career in Saturday’s Royal Purple 300 at the Auto Club Speedway of Southern California (Fontana) when his #74 Riverwalk Café Chevrolet fell out with a vibration after 3 of the race’s 150 laps. He now ties Morgan Shepherd for the fifth-most last-place finishes in the Nationwide Series.

Harmon brought his own Chevrolet to Fontana and qualified it 39th for Saturday’s race at a speed of 159.391 mph. Not only was it the 53-year-old driver’s first start of the season, but also his first as an owner since 2009. In the race itself, Harmon pulled behind the wall three laps in, following Faith Motorsports’ Brett Rowe on the same lap.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*Harmon had not finished last in a Nationwide Series race since 2009, when his #07 PMC Life Chevrolet fell out with brake problems 6 laps into the 2009 U.S. Cellular 250 at Iowa. Harmon is best known for his horrifying wreck during practice for the 2002 Food City 250 at Bristol when his #44 Race-Ready Communications Chevrolet struck an unsecured crossover gate at the exit of turn two. Harmon survived the wreck unscathed and owner Gregg Mixon acquired a backup car from Larry Gunselman. Harmon fell out of that Bristol race after two laps, picking up the third last-place finish of his Nationwide Series career.
*The #74 had not finished last in a Nationwide Series race since 2004, when Tony Raines’ Outdoor Channel Chevrolet fell out in a three-car crash after the opening lap of the 2004 O’Reilly 300 at Texas. The number had never before finished last in a Nationwide race at Fontana.
*A Nationwide Series driver had not finished last at in a race at Fontana due to vibration problems since 2009, when Derrike Cope’s #41 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet fell out three laps into the 2009 Stater Brothers 300 at Fontana. Jennifer Jo Cobb, who nearly finished last under some controversy at Bristol last week, drove Ware’s #41 to a 38th-place finish in this year’s race.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #74-Mike Harmon / 3 laps / vibration
42) #55-Brett Rowe / 3 laps / handling
41) #68-Carl Long / 12 laps / steering
40) #03-Alex Kennedy / 21 laps / rear end
39) #97-Joe Nemechek / 31 laps / brakes

LASTCAR N’WIDE SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
Kelly Bires and Justin Marks were not entered into Saturday’s race, nor did owner Ed Rensi enter the #25 in which Bires finished last with two times this season. Kevin Conway finished 22nd driving owner Joe Nemechek’s #87 he last raced at Las Vegas.
1st) Kelly Bires (2)
2nd) Kevin Conway, Mike Harmon, Justin Marks (1)

LASTCAR N’WIDE SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) #25-Ed Rensi (2)
2nd) #27-Baker Curb Racing, #74-Mike Harmon, #87-NEMCO Motorsports (1)

LASTCAR N’WIDE SERIES MANUFACTURER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Ford (3)

2nd) Chevrolet (2)