N’WIDE: Broken Oil Pump Gives McClure, #14 First Last-Place Finishes Since 2006

SOURCE: Rubbin's Racin'

Eric McClure scored the 3rd last-place finish of his NASCAR Nationwide Series career in Saturday’s Sam’s Town 300 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway when his #14 Hefty / Reynolds Wrap Toyota fell out with a broken oil pump after completing 2 of the race’s 200 laps.

The finish was McClure’s first of the 2013 season and his first in a NASCAR Nationwide Series race since Kentucky Speedway on June 17, 2006.  That night in the Meijer 300, McClure’s #72 MacDonald Motorsports Chevrolet fell out with engine problems after five laps.  Then-unknown racer David Gilliland pulled off an upset victory later that night, ultimately landing him a Cup Series ride with Yates Racing.

McClure entered Saturday’s race 13th in points following an 8th-place finish in the season-opener at Daytona and a 29th-place showing at Phoenix.  The Daytona finish was McClure’s best in 202 series starts dating back to 2003, and a welcome relief following a terrifying crash at Talladega last year that kept him out of the car for five races.

Qualifying for Saturday’s race was cancelled due to rain, and McClure earned the 24th starting spot in the field.  In the race, McClure was running toward the back in the opening laps when smoke poured from the right side of his car in Turns 1 and 2, bringing out the first caution of the day.  The busted oil pump put him out of the race for the day.

Chase Miller parked his #42 The Motorsports Group Chevrolet under the ensuing caution, but McClure edged him for the 40th finishing position.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This was the first last-place finish for the #14 in a Nationwide Series race since 2006, when Tracy Hines’ #14 Fitz-Bradshaw Racing Dodge fell out with a vibration after 24 laps of the Bashas’ Supermarkets 200 at Phoenix.  The number had never before finished last in a Nationwide race at Las Vegas.
*McClure is the first Nationwide driver to finish last due to a broken oil pump since 2010, when Dennis Setzer’s #92 K-Automotive Motorsports Dodge fell out after 9 laps of the Bashas’ Supermarkets 200 at Phoenix.  It’s the first time this has happened at Las Vegas since 2003, when the oil pump on Mike Harmon’s #44 Global Industrial Contractors Chevrolet broke four laps into the Sam’s Town 300.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
40) #14-Eric McClure / 2 laps / oil pump
39) #42-Chase Miller / 5 laps / vibration
38) #10-Jeff Green / 16 laps / vibration
37) #22-Brad Keselowski / 144 laps / running
36) #74-Kevin Lepage / 153 laps / engine

LASTCAR N'WIDE SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Jeff Green, Johanna Long, Eric McClure (1)

LASTCAR N'WIDE SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) #10-TriStar Motorsports, #14-TriStar Motorsports, #70-ML Motorsports (1)

LASTCAR N'WIDE SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Toyota (2)
2nd) Chevrolet (1)

CUP: Scott Riggs Gives #44 Its First Last-Place Finish In Cup Since 2007

SOURCE: Rubbin's Racin'

Scott Riggs picked up the 7th last-place finish of his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career in Sunday’s Subway Fresh Fit 500 at the Phoenix International Raceway when his #44 No Label Watches Ford was involved in a single-car crash after completing 19 of the race’s 316 laps.

The finish was Riggs’ first of the 2013 season and his first in a Cup Series race since last summer at Pocono, seventeen races ago.  Riggs also finished last in the Truck Series race at Daytona a week ago Friday.

Riggs was making his season debut as driver of the #44 Xxxtreme Motorsports entry.  A new start-up team owned by Johnathan Cohen, Xxxtreme made its debut at the Phoenix track last November, where David Reutimann got the car into the show, then finished 40th after a vibration ended their 28-lap run in the AdvoCare 500.  Riggs himself had not started a Cup race since the following week’s season finale at Homestead, his twentieth start of 2012 in R3 Motorsports’ start-and-park #23 North Texas Pipe Chevrolet.  R3 turned its focus back to the Nationwide Series in 2013, and Riggs was free to jump in the #44.

Forty-three cars arrived for as many spots, so Riggs locked himself into the field by arriving at the track and locking-up the 39th starting spot with an average speed of 132.920 mph.  Michael McDowell, last week’s surprise 9th-place finisher of the Daytona 500, was forced to withdraw earlier in the week as Phil Parsons Racing did not have a #98 ready for the race at their driver’s home track.

At the start of Sunday’s race, it appeared Mike Bliss was set to finish last in his own first start of 2013 as he fell to the back of the field during the opening green-flag run.  However, Riggs ended that run with a cut tire entering Turn 4, sending him hard into the outside wall.  Riggs was uninjured, but the #44 sustained heavy right-front damage and was unable to return to the race.  Bliss went behind the wall soon after the restart and came home 42nd.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This was the first last-place finish for the #44 in a Cup Series race since 2007, when Dale Jarrett’s UPS Toyota lost the engine after 241 laps of the Autism Speaks 400 Presented by Visa at Dover.  That race marked the first Cup Series victory of Martin Truex, Jr., who has not won a race since.  Truex finished 36th Sunday when a broken axle left him several laps down.
*The number #44 had never before finished last in a Cup Series race at Phoenix.
*This was Riggs’ first Cup Series last-place finish at Phoenix.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #44-Scott Riggs / 19 laps / crash
42) #19-Mike Bliss / 34 laps / brakes
41) #95-Scott Speed / 88 laps / brakes
40) #39-Ryan Newman / 137 laps / crash
39) #10-Danica Patrick / 184 laps / crash

LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Joe Nemechek, Scott Riggs (1)

LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) #44-Xxxtreme Motorsports, #87-NEMCO Motorsports (1)

LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Ford, Toyota (1)

N’WIDE: Johanna Long’s Early Crash Results In First Last-Place Finish

SOURCE: Rubbin's Racin'

Johanna Long picked up the 1st last-place finish of her NASCAR Nationwide Series career in Saturday’s Dollar General 200 at the Phoenix International Raceway when her #70 Foretravel Motorcoach Chevrolet was taken out in a six-car accident after two of the race’s 200 laps.  The finish came in Long’s 23rd series start.

Long is starting her second season in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, making the move after a two-year stint in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.  In twenty-two previous starts, Long’s best Nationwide finish was a pair of 12th-place runs last year at Daytona and Kentucky.  2013 saw her return to the ML Motorsports team, but her return to Daytona resulted in a late-race crash with five laps to go and a 27th-place finish.

At Phoenix, Long qualified a solid 16th in her Camaro, putting up a lap of 130.251 mph.  Right after the start of the race, however, she rear-ended Sam Hornish, Jr. entering Turn 3, then slammed the Turn 4 wall soon after.  Her slowing car was rear-ended by several behind her, triggering a six-car melee with Hornish, Alex Bowman, Travis Pastrana, Jamie Dick, and Juan Carlos Blum.  Long’s was the only car to not return to the track.

One week after Reed Sorenson drove the only Curtis Key-owned Chevrolet at Daytona, the team’s start-and-park drivers Josh Wise and Chase Miller returned Saturday to finish 38th and 39th, respectively.  Last week’s last-place finisher Jeff Green came home 37th.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This was the first last-place finish for the #70 in a Nationwide Series race since 2012, when Tony Raines’ Black Cat Fireworks Chevrolet did not start the 5-Hour Energy 200 at Dover.
*Long’s is the first Chevrolet to finish last in a Nationwide Series race at Phoenix since 2010, when Jeff Green’s #36 TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet fell out after two laps of the Wypall 200.
*Long’s 16th-place starting spot is the best by a Nationwide Series last-place finisher at Phoenix since 2000, when Jay Sauter started 11th, then lost the engine on his #43 Quality Farm & Country Chevrolet after seven laps of the Outback Steakhouse 200.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
40) #70-Johanna Long / 2 laps / crash
39) #46-Chase Miller / 8 laps / vibration
38) #42-Josh Wise / 10 laps / brakes
37) #10-Jeff Green / 17 laps / handling
36) #87-Joe Nemechek / 50 laps / crash

LASTCAR N'WIDE SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Jeff Green, Johanna Long (1)

LASTCAR N'WIDE SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) #10-TriStar Motorsports, #70-ML Motorsports (1)

LASTCAR N'WIDE SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet, Toyota (1)

CUP: Nemechek Gets Third Daytona 500 Last-Place Finish As Three Underdogs Make The Top Ten

SOURCE: Rubbin's Racin'

Joe Nemechek picked up the 31st last-place finish of his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career in Sunday’s Daytona 500 at the Daytona International Speedway when his #87 MaddiesPlaceRocks.com / D.A.B. Constructors Toyota fell out with engine problems after he completed 42 of the race’s 200 laps.

The finish was Nemechek’s first since last fall at Atlanta, twelve races ago.  He now stands just one finish short of tying the all-time Cup Series record of 32 last-place finishes by the late J.D. McDuffie.  Nemechek also holds sole possession of 2nd in the all-time LASTCAR rankings, breaking a tie with Derrike Cope.  He stands seven finishes behind all-time leader Jeff Green, who finished last for the 44th time the day before.

Entering his fifth season as an owner-driver in the Cup Series, Nemechek formed a technical alliance with Jay Robinson, owner of the now-defunct America-Israel Racing Team that fielded the #49 Toyota in 2012.  Unlike past seasons where he’d occasionally make the race on speed, however, Nemechek turned in a lap of just 190.046 mph, just 43rd-fastest out of the 45 cars attempting to qualify.  Despite the short entry list, this still put him in some danger of missing the race.

Thanks to a 13th-place finish in Budweiser Duel Race 1 on Thursday, Nemechek scored the 27th starting spot in Sunday’s field.  Better yet, by the end of the week, Nemechek’s plain black Toyota acquired a plethora of sponsors and looked prepared to run the full race.

On Sunday, Michael Waltrip’s Toyota was the first to fall to the rear, but Nemechek fell to 43rd, lost the draft, and was lapped soon after.  The first caution for debris gave him the Lucky Dog, but he went to the garage soon after the restart.  At that same time, a multi-car accident exiting the tri-oval gobbled up several contenders, including Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick, and Kasey Kahne.  Stewart and Harvick sustained the most damage, and both soon fell to 41st and 42nd.

Nemechek returned to the track and first Stewart, then Harvick took the 43rd spot.  Stewart seemed set for his third last-place finish in the Daytona 500 (joining 2002 and 2007) while Harvick was in danger of scoring his first-ever last-place finish in a Cup points race.  However, when Nemechek exited the race a second time, Stewart and Harvick managed to complete enough laps to leave Nemechek with his own third last-place finish in the Daytona 500 (joining 1995 and 2010).

While Nemechek struggled, three drivers for three underfunded teams turned heads with surprising top-ten finishes.

Finishing 7th was Regan Smith, driving Phoenix Racing’s #51 Guy Roofing Chevrolet.  Smith, released from Furniture Row Racing late in the 2012 season, will share the #51 with several drivers in 2013, including A.J. Allmendinger and Austin Dillon.  Amid offseason rumors that team owner James Finch wouldn’t even enter a car in 2013, driver and team managed to put a car together for testing in January only to lose it in a multi-car crash.  On Thursday, Smith’s next car was damaged in a multi-car accident during the Budweiser Duels, and the backup’s transmission locked-up in practice the next day.  Then, on Saturday, Smith was wrecked out of the lead coming to the checkers in the Nationwide Series race, sparking the pileup that caused Kyle Larson’s vicious hit to the catchfence.  Despite all this, Smith scored Phoenix Racing’s best finish since Kurt Busch’s 3rd-place run at Sonoma last June.

Finishing 9th was Michael McDowell, driving the #98 K-Love / Curb Records Ford for Phil Parsons Racing.  McDowell, the two-time and defending LASTCAR Cup Series Championship, is entering his fourth season driving for owner Phil Parsons.  In that time, Parsons’ team has slowly begun to move away from its start-and-park status with a handful of full-race runs.  Following the team’s 2012 merger with Whitney Motorsports and the funding of record producer and longtime race owner Mike Curb, McDowell made the 500 last year and came home 30th, but still had to start-and-park for much of that year.  This year, McDowell started 38th, made his way into the Top 15 around the halfway point, then held onto his best-career finish in the run to the checkers.  McDowell’s best finish in 114 previous starts was 20th at Richmond in September 2008.

Finishing 10th was J.J. Yeley, driving the #36 Golden Corral Chevrolet for Tommy Baldwin Racing.  Yeley, an Arizona dirt tracker, once was the heir-apparent to drive the #18 vacated by Bobby Labonte in 2006.  Yeley struggled in his years for Joe Gibbs Racing and soon found himself moving from one ride to the next.  Last season, Yeley missed the 500 altogether, finishing last in his Budweiser Duel while driving for America-Israel Racing.  This year, Yeley was tabbed as the driver of Tommy Baldwin, Jr.’s new second team.  It was a difficult 2012 for Baldwin, who helped keep Stewart-Haas’ #10 in the Top 35 for Danica Patrick.  However, he then acquired the prized #7 once driven by Baldwin’s father in the NASCAR Modified Series, letting Dave Blaney run the number in 2013.  The team’s #36, debuted in 2009, was thus relegated to Baldwin’s second team, which went to Yeley.  Golden Corral continued its sponsorship of the #36 in the restrictor-plate races, and for the second time since 2011, the famous “Top 10 Kids Eat Free” promotion paid dividends.  Yeley’s 10th-place run is his best finish since a 3rd in the rain-shortened race at Loudon, New Hampshire in July 2008.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This was Nemechek’s third last-place finish in the Daytona 500, and all three were in Nemechek’s self-owned #87.  The first came in 1995, when his Burger King Chevrolet crashed with Brett Bodine after eight laps.  The other came in 2010, when his England’s Stove Works Toyota was involved in a single-car accident after 64 laps.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #87-Joe Nemechek / 42 laps / engine
42) #29-Kevin Harvick / 47 laps / crash
41) #14-Tony Stewart / 118 laps / running
40) #35-Josh Wise / 137 laps / crash
39) #42-Juan Pablo Montoya / 144 laps / running

LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Joe Nemechek (1)

LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) #87-NEMCO Motorsports (1)

LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Toyota (1)

N’WIDE: Jeff Green Scores Fourth Consecutive Last-Place Finish At Daytona

SOURCE: NASCAR Media

Jeff Green picked up his 39th last-place finish of his NASCAR Nationwide Series career in Saturday’s DRIVE4COPD 300 at the Daytona International Speedway when his unsponsored #10 TriStar Motorsports Toyota fell out with a vibration after he completed 4 of the race’s 200 laps.

The finish was Green’s first since last fall at Richmond, nine races ago, the race where he beat Jeff Fuller’s single-season record of twelve NASCAR Nationwide Series last-place finishes.

Green, the two-time and defending LASTCAR Nationwide Series Champion, began his fourth season as driver of TriStar Motorsports’ start-and-park entry with a strong 16th-fastest lap in qualifying at a speed of 175.915 mph.  The lap was sixth-fastest among the drivers not locked-into the field, trailing only Travis Pastrana, Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, Danica Patrick, and Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

Green fell to the rear of the field at the start, then pulled behind the wall after four laps just moments before Scott Lagasse, Jr.’s crash brought out the first caution of the day.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This was the first last-place finish for the #10 in a Nationwide Series race last fall at Dover, when Charles Lewandoski’s turn in the TriStar Motorsports Toyota during the OneMain Financial 200 ended with a vibration after three laps.
*This was the best starting spot for a Nationwide Series last-place finisher since 2010, when Dennis Setzer’s K-Automotive Motorsports Dodge started 15th, then fell out with a vibration after three laps of the O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge at Texas.
*This marks Green’s fourth-consecutive season with at least one last-place finish in the Nationwide Series.
*This was Green’s second-consecutive last-place finish in this event, and his fourth in a row at Daytona.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
40) #10-Jeff Green / 4 laps / vibration
39) #8-Scott Lagasse, Jr. / 7 laps / crash
38) #24-Blake Koch / 14 laps / overheating
37) #15-Juan Carlos Blum / 30 laps / crash
36) #34-Danica Patrick / 31 laps / engine / led 5 laps

LASTCAR N’WIDE SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Jeff Green (1)

LASTCAR N’WIDE SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) #10-TriStar Motorsports (1)

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