N’WIDE: Jeff Green Ties NASCAR Single-Season Last-Place Record With Six Races To Go

SOURCE: Jeff Wagoner

Jeff Green picked up the 50th last-place finish of his NASCAR Nationwide Series career in Saturday’s Kentucky 300 at the Kentucky Speedway when his unsponsored #10 TriStar Motorsports Toyota fell out with a vibration after he completed 3 of the race’s 200 laps.

The finish was Green’s second in a row.  It’s also Green’s twelfth of the season, tying NASCAR’s single-season last-place record he set last year.  In 2012, he scored his twelfth finish with eight races to go, but Charles Lewandoski took over his “start-and-park” #10 for three of those final races while Green finished 15th and 16th in TriStar’s #44.

Green qualified 27th for Saturdays race at an average speed of 171.325 mph, ranking him fourth among the eleven “go-or-go-homers” who attempted to qualify.  The only driver to miss the race was Danny Efland, whose #50 missed edging Matt DiBenedetto for the final starting spot by just over half a second.

In the race itself, Green and the #00 SupportMilitary.org Toyota of Blake Koch pulled behind the wall at almost the exact same moment.  In reality, Green edged Koch by a single lap, scoring the record-tying finish.  Rounding out the Bottom Five were T.J. Bell in The Motorsports Group’s #42, Carl Long in Mike Harmon’s #74 Dodge, and the other “start-and-park” TMG entry, #46, of Matt DiBenedetto.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*Green not only swept both of 2013's last-place finishes at Kentucky, but also scored the third-consecutive last-place finish at Kentucky for the #10 TriStar Motorsports team.  In the 2012 running of this race, Charles Lewandoski fell out with a vibration after four laps.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
40) #10-Jeff Green / 3 laps / vibration
39) #00-Blake Koch / 4 laps / rear gear
38) #42-T.J. Bell / 6 laps / transmission
37) #74-Carl Long / 8 laps / suspension
36) #46-Matt DiBenedetto / 8 laps / overheating

LASTCAR N'WIDE SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Jeff Green (12)
2nd) Blake Koch (3)
3rd) Joey Gase (2)
4th) Tanner Berryhill, Johanna Long, Eric McClure, Michael McDowell, Robert Richardson, Jr., Morgan Shepherd, Dexter Stacey, Mike Wallace, Josh Wise, J.J. Yeley (1)

LASTCAR N'WIDE SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) #10-TriStar Motorsports (12)
2nd) #00-SR2 Motorsports (3)
3rd) #52-Jimmy Means Racing (2)
4th) #14-TriStar Motorsports, #17-Vision Racing, #23-R3 Motorsports, #27-SR2 Motorsports, #42-The Motorsports Group, #46-The Motorsports Group, #70-ML Motorsports, #89-Shepherd Racing Ventures, #92-KH Motorsports, #01-JD Motorsports (1)

LASTCAR N'WIDE SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Toyota (20)
2nd) Chevrolet (5)
3rd) Dodge, Ford (1)

CUP: Michael McDowell Scores Ford’s 900th NASCAR Last-Place Finish

SOURCE: motorsport.com

Michael McDowell picked up the 24th last-place finish of his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career in Sunday's GEICO 400 at the Chicagoland Speedway when his unsponsored #98 Phil Parsons Racing Ford fell out with brake problems after he completed 29 of the race’s 267 laps.

The finish was McDowell’s fifth of 2013 and his second in a row.  With nine races to go, McDowell is now tied with Mike Bliss for the 2013 LASTCAR Cup Series lead, giving him a chance at his third consecutive LASTCAR Cup title.  Bliss didn’t run Sunday’s race as the #19 Humphrey-Smith Motorsports team withdrew from its second of the last three races.  The #19 still leads McDowell’s #98 by one finish in the LASTCAR Cup Owner’s title.

McDowell qualified 38th for Sunday’s race at an average speed of 183.331 mph.  At the start, it first appeared that 43rd-place starter Tony Raines would score his first last-place finish since Phoenix in the fall of 2009.  Raines and his unsponsored #33 Circle Sport Motorsports Chevrolet were the first to go down a lap, and he held the 43rd spot through the opening run.  But when McDowell pulled behind the wall, Raines stayed out, and the finish went to the #98.

Rounding out the Bottom Five were Reed Sorenson, who finished 42nd in his second-straight race for Leavine Family Racing; Josh Wise with his third-straight 41st-place finish in the #35 MDS Transport Ford for Front Row Motorsports; Tony Raines in the #33, who pulled out just before the five-hour rain delay split the race; and Cole Whitt, who authored the first of several spectacular second-half engine failures in his season debut as the new driver of the #30 Swan Energy / Lean 1 Toyota.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This was McDowell’s fourth last-place finish in this event and his third in a row.  All three of his latest Chicagoland finishes have come while driving for Phil Parsons.
*This was Ford’s 900th last-place finish across all three of NASCAR’s top divisions.  Ford’s first NASCAR last-place finish came in NASCAR’s first-ever race - the disqualification of Glen Dunnaway’s #25 1947 Ford in the June 19, 1949 race at Charlotte Speedway.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #98-Michael McDowell / 29 laps / brakes
42) #95-Reed Sorenson / 68 laps / vibration
41) #35-Josh Wise / 84 laps / brakes
40) #33-Tony Raines / 87 laps / vibration
39) #30-Cole Whitt / 151 laps / engine

LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Mike Bliss, Michael McDowell (5)
2nd) Scott Riggs (3)
3rd) Bobby Labonte, Joe Nemechek, Scott Speed (2)
4th) Trevor Bayne, Dave Blaney, Jeff Burton, Denny Hamlin, Jason Leffler, Paul Menard, David Reutimann, J.J. Yeley (1)

LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) #19-Humphrey-Smith Racing (6)
2nd) #98-Phil Parsons Racing (5)
3rd) #44-Xxxtreme Motorsports (3)
4th) #87-NEMCO Motorsports, #95-Leavine Family Racing (2)
5th) #7-Tommy Baldwin Racing, #11-Joe Gibbs Racing, #21-Wood Brothers Racing, #27-Richard Childress Racing, #31-Richard Childress Racing, #36-Tommy Baldwin Racing, #47-JTG Daugherty Racing, #51-Phoenix Racing, #83-BK Racing (1)

LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Ford, Toyota (11)
2nd) Chevrolet (5)

N’WIDE: Jeff Green Clinches Third Consecutive LASTCAR Nationwide Title

SOURCE: motorsport.com

Jeff Green picked up the 49th last-place finish of his NASCAR Nationwide Series career in Saturday’s Dollar General 300 at the Chicagoland Speedway when his unsponsored #10 TriStar Motorsports Toyota fell out with a vibration after he completed 3 of the race’s 200 laps.

The finish was Green’s eleventh of 2013 and his first since Iowa, six races ago.  Green extends his LASTCAR lead to eight finishes over Blake Koch, and has thus clinched the 2013 LASTCAR Nationwide Series championship with seven races still to go.  It’s Green’s third-consecutive LASTCAR title.  If Green finishes last in any two of those remaining seven races, he will also break the single-season last-place record he set in 2012.

Green’s finish came in his first race back in the #10 TriStar Motorsports team following a four-race stint in the fully-funded #14 Hefty / Reynolds Wrap Toyota.  Green’s best run in that stretch was a season-best 16th last month at Bristol.  The #14's regular driver, Eric McClure, returned to his ride at Chicago, having recovered from a sudden kidney failure that sidelined him for those races.

During those four races, Green’s #10 was driven by Cole Whitt, who finished 14th at Bristol in a fully-funded effort, and in the other three “start-and-park” runs by The Motorsports Group driver Chase Miller.  Miller failed to finish last in any of his starts, though he twice finished 39th at Mid-Ohio and Richmond.  Miller did not have a ride at Chicago.

Green secured the 40th and final starting spot for Saturday’s race.  His qualifying time was disallowed due to a technical infraction.  Missing the race were Josh Wise in The Motorsports Group’s #42, Carl Long in the Rick Ware #15, and Daytona last-placer Morgan Shepherd in his #89.

At the start of the race, the leaderboard indicated that Juan Carlos Blum in the #23 VMP Nutrition / Oleofinos Ford would edge Green for the spot.  However, Blum rejoined the race while Green fell to the last spot.

Rounding out the Bottom Five were J.J. Yeley, last week’s last-placer in the #46 The Motorsports Group Chevrolet, Blake Koch with his eighth-consecutive Bottom Five in SR2's #00 Toyota, Tanner Berryhill who made his first start since Indianapolis by driving his family’s “start-and-park” #37 Dodge, and the Mike Harmon-owned #74 Dodge of Kevin Lepage.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This was Jeff Green and the #10 TriStar team’s second last-place finish in a Nationwide Series race at Chicagoland.  The other took place on July 22, 2012, when Green fell out with a vibration after 4 laps of the STP 300.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
40) #10-Jeff Green / 3 laps / vibration
39) #46-J.J. Yeley / 4 laps / rear gear
38) #00-Blake Koch / 7 laps / transmission
37) #37-Tanner Berryhill / 21 laps / electrical
36) #74-Kevin Lepage / 30 laps / fuel pump

LASTCAR N'WIDE SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Jeff Green (11)
2nd) Blake Koch (3)
3rd) Joey Gase (2)
4th) Tanner Berryhill, Johanna Long, Eric McClure, Michael McDowell, Robert Richardson, Jr., Morgan Shepherd, Dexter Stacey, Mike Wallace, Josh Wise, J.J. Yeley (1)

LASTCAR N'WIDE SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) #10-TriStar Motorsports (11)
2nd) #00-SR2 Motorsports (3)
3rd) #52-Jimmy Means Racing (2)
4th) #14-TriStar Motorsports, #17-Vision Racing, #23-R3 Motorsports, #27-SR2 Motorsports, #42-The Motorsports Group, #46-The Motorsports Group, #70-ML Motorsports, #89-Shepherd Racing Ventures, #92-KH Motorsports, #01-JD Motorsports (1)

LASTCAR N'WIDE SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Toyota (19)
2nd) Chevrolet (5)
3rd) Dodge, Ford (1)

TRUCKS: Chris Jones and Chris Lafferty Continue Battle For LASTCAR Truck Title

SOURCE: Rubbin's Racin' Forums

Chris Jones picked up the 8th last-place finish of his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career in Friday’s EnjoyIllinois.com 225 at the Chicagoland Speedway when his unsponsored #93 RSS Racing Chevrolet fell out with transmission trouble after he completed 3 of the race’s 150 laps.

The finish was Jones’ third of 2013 and his first since Bristol, three races ago.  With six races to go, the 2013 LASTCAR Truck Series Driver’s Championship is anyone’s to win: Jones and Chris Lafferty are just one finish apart with fellow RSS Racing teammate Johnny Chapman just one finish behind Jones.  Chapman and Jones have a chance to give RSS its fourth-straight LASTCAR title.  Lafferty looks to give Jennifer Jo Cobb’s team its first following Blake Koch’s loss in a tiebreaker last year.

At Chicago Jones qualified 29th at an average speed of 168.471 mph.  He pulled behind the wall one lap before Lafferty, the 36th-place starter, in his #0 Koma Unwind Relaxation Drink Chevrolet.  Rounding out the Bottom Five were J.J. Yeley in the RSS #38, Danny Efland in the Mark Beaver-owned Advanced Electronic Services Chevrolet, and Norm Benning in the #57 Watt’s Truck Center Chevrolet.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This was the first last-place finish for a Chevrolet in a Truck Series race in Chicago since August 28, 2009, when Andy Ponstein’s #02 CorrieStottRacing.com Chevrolet broke the transmission on the opening lap of the EnjoyIllinois.com 225.  Kyle Busch won that race, just as he did on Friday.
*This was the first last-place finish at a Truck Series race in Chicago for Jones, the #93, and RSS Racing.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
36) #93-Chris Jones / 3 laps / transmission
35) #0-Chris Lafferty / 4 laps / rear end
34) #38-J.J. Yeley / 4 laps / vibration
33) #50-Danny Efland / 18 laps / electrical
32) #57-Norm Benning / 21 laps / axle

LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chris Lafferty (4)
2nd) Chris Jones (3)
3rd) Johnny Chapman (2)
4th) Jeff Babcock, Ryan Blaney, Ricky Ehrgott, Mike Harmon, Jennifer Jo Cobb, Scott Riggs, Scott Saunders (1)

LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) #0-Jennifer Jo Cobb (5)
2nd) #93-RSS Racing (3)
3rd) #38-RSS Racing, #84-Chris Fontaine (2)
4th) #10-Jennifer Jo Cobb, #29-Brad Keselowski, #81-Bobby Dotter, #92-Ricky Benton (1)

LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (9)
2nd) Ford (4)
3rd) RAM (2)
4th) Toyota (1)

CUP: McDowell Rejoins LASTCAR Cup Battle In Controversial Richmond Race

SOURCE: motorsport.com

Michael McDowell picked up the 23rd last-place finish of his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career in Saturday’s controversial Federated Auto Parts 400 at the Richmond International Raceway when his unsponsored #98 Phil Parsons Racing Ford fell out with brake trouble after he completed 76 of the race’s 400 laps.

The finish was McDowell’s fourth of 2013 and his first since earlier this year in Texas, nineteen races ago. With ten races to go, McDowell, the two-time and defending LASTCAR Cup Series Driver’s Champion, now trails Mike Bliss by a single finish.  Bliss failed to qualify for Saturday’s race by eight hundredths of a second.  With three DNQs and a withdrawal at Atlanta since their last start at Watkins Glen, the #19 Humphrey-Smith Motorsports team for which Bliss drives is still looking for its first start since Watkins Glen, four races ago.

McDowell timed in 30th for Saturday’s field at an average speed of 128.047 mph.  At the start of the race, however, last place switched between Reed Sorenson, making his first Cup start since last fall at Texas as the new driver of the Leavine Family Racing / Crusader Staffing #95, and Joe Nemechek in the AMFMEnergy.com Toyota.  Nemechek had the upper hand for several laps, apparently headed to breaking his tie with the late J.D. McDuffie for the most last-place runs in Cup history.  He returned to the track, however, while McDowell exited the race, and the #98 soon found itself in 43rd.

Rounding out the Bottom Five were Sorenson, who was followed by Josh Wise, who also spent several laps going in and out of the garage area.  Despite the birth of his second child, point leader Jimmie Johnson continued his late-summer slide with his third bottom-five finish in the last four races.  His collision with the Turn 1 wall with fifty-five laps to go also brought out the first of two cautions that completely changed the complexion of the Chase field.  Johnson still finished under power, as did Nemechek, who rounded out the Bottom Five.  McDowell, Sorenson, and Wise were the night's only three retirees.

As of this writing (late Sunday night), McDowell is still the official last-place finisher of this race.  Just in case NASCAR’s review of the finish changes that, I’ll also say that Clint Bowyer has never finished last in 279 Cup Series starts, and a driver hasn’t finished last due to disqualification since Bobby Hillin, Jr. during the fall Charlotte race in 1992.

Just throwing it out there.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This is the first last-place finish for the #98 in a Cup race at Richmond since September 9, 1984 - 29 years ago today - when outside-polesitter Joe Ruttman’s Levi Garrett Chevrolet fell out with ignition problems after he completed 120 laps of the Wrangler Sanfor-Set 400.
*This is McDowell’s first last-place finish in a Cup race at Richmond.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #98-Michael McDowell / 76 laps / brakes
42) #95-Reed Sorenson / 126 laps / brakes
41) #35-Josh Wise / 142 laps / vibration
40) #48-Jimmie Johnson / 372 laps / running
39) #87-Joe Nemechek / 388 laps / running

LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Mike Bliss (5)
2nd) Michael McDowell (4)
3rd) Scott Riggs (3)
4th) Bobby Labonte, Joe Nemechek, Scott Speed (2)
5th) Trevor Bayne, Dave Blaney, Jeff Burton, Denny Hamlin, Jason Leffler, Paul Menard, David Reutimann, J.J. Yeley (1)

LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) #19-Humphrey-Smith Racing (6)
2nd) #98-Phil Parsons Racing (4)
3rd) #44-Xxxtreme Motorsports (3)
4th) #87-NEMCO Motorsports, #95-Leavine Family Racing (2)
5th) #7-Tommy Baldwin Racing, #11-Joe Gibbs Racing, #21-Wood Brothers Racing, #27-Richard Childress Racing, #31-Richard Childress Racing, #36-Tommy Baldwin Racing, #47-JTG Daugherty Racing, #51-Phoenix Racing, #83-BK Racing (1)

LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Toyota (11)
2nd) Ford (10)
3rd) Chevrolet (5)