CUP: Papis’ Return To Indy Ends Early After Engine Blows

Max Papis picked up the 5th last-place finish of his NASCAR Sprint Cup career in Sunday’s 17th Annual Brickyard 400 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway when his #13 GEICO Toyota lost the engine after 15 of the race’s 160 laps.

Papis, a two-time starter of the Indianapolis 500, rebounded from a DNQ in 2009 to qualify 35th for Sunday’s race at a speed of 178.621 mph. In practice the day before, the car was even faster: not only the top car outside the Top 35, but 3rd-fastest overall behind front-row starters Juan Pablo Montoya and Jimmie Johnson.

In the early stages of Sunday’s race, it appeared that Elliott Sadler would have his first Cup last-place finish since the 2008 Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta. Sadler was one of four cars that sustained serious damage in a multi-car wreck off turn two during the opening lap. When the race restarted, several cars had tire problems while others overheated due to wet infield grass dislodged during the lap 1 crash.

Papis was likely overheating on lap 16 when his engine suddenly blew, starting a small fire beneath the car as it entered the backstretch. Robby Gordon’s car then exploded a right-front tire in an unrelated accident, bringing out the second caution of the race. Neither Papis nor Gordon were injured, but both were eventually done for the day. When Sadler returned to the race 105 laps down, it was Papis who fell to 43rd.

With the finish, the 2010 LASTCAR Cup standings have tightened-up even more. Both Papis and defending LASTCAR Cup Champion Dave Blaney are one finish away from tying Joe Nemechek for the lead in both the owner and driver standings. Though not involved in the lap 1 accident, both Blaney and teammate Michael McDowell went to the garage during the ensuing caution, but returned to the track for a handful of laps before finishing 41st and 42nd. Nemechek finished 40th, having stayed out to lead a lap under yellow along with 39th-place Landon Cassill in #71. Sadler ran just enough laps to finish ahead of all five of them and come across the line 38th.

STATS AND FACTS
*Neither Papis, Germain Racing, nor the #13 had ever finished last in the 16 previous Cup races at Indianapolis.
*Interestingly, no Cup driver had ever finished last at Indianapolis with an engine failure since Kenny Wallace’s #81 Square D Ford lost his 65 laps into the 1998 Brickyard 400. 10 of the 17 races run at this track had last-place finishers who fell out in early crashes.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #13-Max Papis / 15 laps / engine
42) #55-Michael McDowell / 19 laps / overheating
41) #66-Dave Blaney / 20 laps / electrical
40) #87-Joe Nemechek / 33 laps / vibration / led 1 lap
39) #71-Landon Cassill / 52 laps / overheating / led 1 lap

CUP DRIVER RANKINGS
1st) Joe Nemechek (5)
2nd) Dave Blaney, Max Papis (4)
3rd) Aric Almirola, Michael McDowell (2)
4th) Robby Gordon, Johnny Sauter, Reed Sorenson (1)

CUP TEAM RANKINGS
1st) #87-NEMCO Motorsports (5)
2nd) #13-Germain Racing, #66-PRISM Motorsports (4)
3rd) #55-PRISM Motorsports, #09-Phoenix Racing (2)
4th) #7-Robby Gordon Motorsports,#32-Braun Racing, #36-Tommy Baldwin Racing (1)

N'WIDE: Setzer Closes In On Chapman After Losing Brakes At ORP

Dennis Setzer picked up the 11th last-place finish of his NASCAR Nationwide Series career in Saturday’s Kroger 200 at O’Reilly Raceway Park when his unsponsored #92 K-Automotive Motorsports Dodge fell out with brake problems after 7 of the race’s 201 laps.

Setzer qualified 41st for the race at a speed of 105.828 mph. Along with the rest of the field, he was locked-in due to the 43-car entry list. Setzer fell out of the race during the opening green-flag run on lap 8, and for the second time in three races, was followed there one lap later by Johnny Chapman in Morgan Shepherd’s #89.

Setzer has now finished last in more Nationwide Series races this season than Chapman did driving for MSRP Motorsports during the entire 2009 campaign.

Setzer is also just one finish away from tying Chapman, Tommy Houston, and Brad Teague for the third-most last-place finishes in Nationwide Series history. Only Jeff Fuller (24) and Ed Berrier (13) have more.

STATS AND FACTS
*The #92 had not finished last at ORP since Larry Pearson’s Stanley Tools Chevrolet crashed out 18 laps into the 1995 Kroger 200.
*Neither Setzer nor K-Automotive Motorsports had ever before finished last at ORP.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #92-Dennis Setzer / 7 laps / brakes
42) #89-Johnny Chapman / 8 laps / transmission
41) #52-Chris Lawson / 10 laps / handling
40) #36-Jeff Green / 10 laps / handling
39) #49-Mark Green / 11 laps / overheating

N’WIDE DRIVER RANKINGS
1st) Dennis Setzer (9)
2nd) Mark Green (2)
3rd) Michael Annett, Johnny Borneman III, Johnny Chapman, David Gilliland, Jennifer Jo Cobb, Brian Keselowski, Kevin Lepage, Danny O’Quinn, Jr., Chrissy Wallace (1)

N’WIDE TEAM RANKINGS
1st) #92-K-Automotive Motorsports (10)
2nd) #15-Germain Racing, #27-Curb Motorsports, #41-Rick Ware, #49-Jay Robinson, Inc., #70-Mary Louise Miller, #83-John Borneman, Jr., #90-D’Hont Humphrey Motorsports, #91-D’Hont Humphrey Motorsports, #96-K-Automotive Motorsports, #04-Johnny Davis Motorsports (1)

TRUCKS: Jones Crashes Out At ORP

Chris Jones picked up the 3rd last-place finish of his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career in Friday’s AAA Insurance 200 at O’Reilly Raceway Park when his #87 Copy Wizard Chevrolet was involved in a single-truck accident on lap 7.

Jones qualified 20th for the race at a speed of 106.549 mph, fourth among the “go-or-go-home” drivers, but was forced to start in the back for missing the driver’s meeting. Unfortunately, things did not go much better in the race when he lost control of his truck in turn one and hit the outside wall, ending his night. Current LASTCAR Truck Series leader, who moved to teammate Shane Sieg’s #39, finished 35th when he fell out with electrical problems under the ensuing caution.

STATS AND FACTS
*The finish was the first for Jones in more than two years, dating back to when he fell out with a vibration two laps into the 2008 Qwik Liner Las Vegas 350 at Las Vegas. At the time, Jones was driving for the #0 team that racked-up a series-leading 13 last-place finishes in the 2008 Truck Series season. Interestingly, Jones was the only driver to finish a Truck race for the team that year when he finished 10 laps down in the 2008 Kroger 200 at Martinsville.
*Jones had never before finished last at ORP; his only other last-place finish in the series came in the 2008 Cool City Customs 200 at Michigan.
*It was only the second time in Truck Series history that this number has finished last, dating back to when the late John Nemechek lost an engine on his Burger King Chevrolet 3 laps into the 1995 Pizza Plus 150 at Bristol.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
36) #87-Chris Jones / 6 laps / crash
35) #39-Mike Garvey / 8 laps / electrical
34) #24-Mike Harmon / 28 laps / alternator
33) #85-Brent Raymer / 34 laps / vibration
32) #48-Michelle Theriault / 52 laps / overheating

TRUCK DRIVER RANKINGS
1st) Mike Garvey (3)
2nd) Landon Cassill, Johnny Chapman, Mike Harmon, Chris Jones, Narain Karthikeyan, Chris Lafferty, Shane Sieg, G.R. Smith, J.C. Stout (1)

TRUCK TEAM RANKINGS
1st) #93-Shane Sieg (4)
2nd) #89-Chris Lafferty (2)
3rd) #16-Rick Ware, #50-Mark Beaver, #60-Jeff Wyler, #72-Mario Gosselin, #87-Rick Jones, #98-Duke Thorson (1)

N’WIDE: Mark Green First Machine Out at Gateway

Mark Green picked up the 9th last-place finish of his NASCAR Nationwide Series career in Saturday’s Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250 at the Gateway International Raceway when his unsponsored #49 Jay Robinson Inc. Chevrolet fell out with electrical problems after completing 2 of the race’s 200 laps.

Green qualified 30th at a speed of 130.905 mph, beating eight other teams that were not locked-into the field on Owner Points. In the race, Green went behind the wall first on a night where the entire Bottom Five failed to complete more than eight laps. Nationwide Series leader Dennis Setzer fell one lap short of securing his 9th finish of 2010, having also finished next-to-last in the Truck Series race that same day. Johnny Chapman, who edged Setzer in the Truck race, finished 40th.

STATS AND FACTS
*This was owner Jay Robinson’s first last-place finish in the 2010 Nationwide Series schedule; the team’s most recent last-place finish also came with Green in last fall’s O’Reilly Challenge at Texas.
*Robinson’s #49 had not finished last in a Nationwide Series race at Gateway since Kertus Davis pulled behind the wall after the first lap of the 2008 Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250, which was also won by Carl Edwards.
*With the finish, Mark Green becomes the first driver other than leader Dennis Setzer to finish last more than once in 2010. However, since Green’s other finish at Charlotte came with Mary Louise Miller’s #70 team, no team has more than one last-place finish in 2010 other than K-Automotive’s #92.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #49-Mark Green / 2 laps / electrical
42) #92-Dennis Setzer / 3 laps / vibration
41) #36-Johnny Sauter / 4 laps / electrical
40) #89-Johnny Chapman / 6 laps / oil pressure
39) #37-Kevin Swindell / 8 laps / brakes

N’WIDE DRIVER RANKINGS
1st) Dennis Setzer (8)
2nd) Mark Green (2)
3rd) Michael Annett, Johnny Borneman III, Johnny Chapman, David Gilliland, Jennifer Jo Cobb, Brian Keselowski, Kevin Lepage, Danny O’Quinn, Jr., Chrissy Wallace (1)

N’WIDE TEAM RANKINGS
1st) #92-K-Automotive Motorsports (9)
2nd) #15-Germain Racing, #27-Curb Motorsports, #41-Rick Ware, #49-Jay Robinson, Inc., #70-Mary Louise Miller, #83-John Borneman, Jr., #90-D’Hont Humphrey Motorsports, #91-D’Hont Humphrey Motorsports, #96-K-Automotive Motorsports, #04-Johnny Davis Motorsports (1)

TRUCKS: Chapman Beats LASTCAR Leaders Setzer and Garvey at Gateway, Moves to 6th All-Time

Johnny Chapman picked up the 9th last-place finish of his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career in Saturday’s CampingWorld.com 200 at the Gateway International Raceway when his #72 TireMonkey.com / James Carter Attorney Chevrolet fell out with engine problems after completing just 1 of the race’s 160 laps.

Chapman qualified owner Mario Gosselin’s backup truck 28th for the race at a speed of 129.288 mph, good enough to beat seven other teams who were also not locked-into the race. In the race, Chapman fell out two laps before current Nationwide Series leader Dennis Setzer and 18 laps before Truck Series leader Mike Garvey. After 11 races, Garvey remains the only driver in the series with more than one last-place finish in 2010.

STATS AND FACTS
*The finish was Chapman’s first in the series in nearly two years, dating back to the 2008 Power Stroke Diesel 200 at IRP. That race was Chapman’s second of the season for owners Gene Christensen and Bobby Dotter, whose #0 Chevrolet trucks finished last 13 times that season.
*It was the second consecutive year owner Mario Gosselin’s #72 has finished last in a Truck race at Gateway; John Jackson did the same last year, having also qualified 28th.
*The finish is Chapman’s 21st across all three top NASCAR divisions, putting him in a tie with Kevin Lepage for the 6th-most all-time. Chapman has also climbed to 3rd in the all-time Truck Series rankings, breaking a tie with former teammate Loni Richardson.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
36) #72-Johnny Chapman / 1 lap / engine
35) #95-Dennis Setzer / 3 laps / overheating
34) #93-Mike Garvey / 19 laps / brakes
33) #89-Mike Harmon / 21 laps / brakes
32) #87-Chris Jones / 25 laps / electrical

TRUCK DRIVER RANKINGS
1st) Mike Garvey (3)
2nd) Landon Cassill, Johnny Chapman, Mike Harmon, Narain Karthikeyan, Chris Lafferty, Shane Sieg, G.R. Smith, J.C. Stout (1)

TRUCK TEAM RANKINGS
1st) #93-Shane Sieg (4)
2nd) #89-Chris Lafferty (2)
3rd) #16-Rick Ware, #50-Mark Beaver, #60-Jeff Wyler, #72-Mario Gosselin, #98-Duke Thorson (1)