N’WIDE: Jeff Green, Now Tied For 2nd In Series Rankings, Continues Late Season Rally At Kansas

Jeff Green picked up the 13th last-place finish of his NASCAR Nationwide Series career in Saturday’s Kansas Lottery 300 at the Kansas Speedway when his unsponsored #36 TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet fell out with suspension problems after completing 2 of the race’s 200 laps. The finish ties Green for 2nd in the LASTCAR Nationwide Series rankings along with Ed Berrier. The two trail all-time Nationwide Series leader Jeff Fuller by 11 finishes.

Green qualified 35th for the race at a speed of 167.634 mph, good enough to beat eleven other teams that were not locked-into the field based on Owner Points. In the race itself, Green pulled behind the wall one lap before both Brian Keselowski’s #26 and the #91 D’Hont-Humphrey Motorsports car of David Gilliland, Keselowski edging Gilliland for 42nd based on track position the previous lap.

Keselowski’s #92, still leading the LASTCAR Nationwide Series Owner’s Rankings for 2010, failed to qualify when driver Andy Ponstein turned in the fastest time of the six teams that missed the race. Joining Ponstein were third-ranked Johnny Chapman in Morgan Shepherd’s #89 and two-time 2010 last-placers Mark Green and Kevin Lepage.

N’WIDE STATS AND FACTS
*A Nationwide Series driver had not finished last because of suspension failure since 2008, when all-time LASTCAR leader Derrike Cope’s #4 JVC / ALLINENERGY.COM Chevrolet fell out three laps into the 2008 Dollar General 300 at Charlotte.
*Neither Green nor the #36 had ever before finished last in a Nationwide Series race at Kansas.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #36-Jeff Green / 2 laps / suspension
42) #26-Brian Keselowski / 3 laps / vibration
41) #91-David Gilliland / 3 laps / electrical
40) #52-Kevin Lepage / 12 laps / overheating
39) #90-Danny O’Quinn, Jr. / 21 laps / electrical

LASTCAR N'WIDE SERIES DRIVER CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Dennis Setzer (9)
2nd) Jeff Green (5)
3rd) Mark Green, Kevin Lepage (2)
4th) Willie Allen, Michael Annett, Johnny Borneman III, Matt Carter, Johnny Chapman, David Gilliland, Jennifer Jo Cobb, Brian Keselowski, Justin Marks, Danny O'Quinn, Jr., Chrissy Wallace (1)

LASTCAR N’WIDE SERIES DRIVER CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) #92-K-Automotive Motorsports (10)
2nd) #36-Mark Smith (5)
3rd) #15-Germain Racing, #27-Curb Motorsports, #41-Rick Ware, #43-Curb Motorsports, #49-Jay Robinson, Inc., #56-John McNelly, #70-Mary Louise Miller, #82-MacDonald Motorsports, #83-John Borneman, Jr., #90-D'Hont Humphrey Motorsports, #91-D'Hont Humphrey Motorsports, #96-K-Automotive Motorsports, #04-Johnny Davis Motorsports, #05-Wayne Day (1)

CUP: Defending LASTCAR Champion Blaney Gears Up For Title Defense

Dave Blaney picked up the 18th last-place finish of his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career in Sunday’s AAA 400 at the Dover International Speedway when his unsponsored #36 Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet went behind the wall with electrical problems after completing 29 of the race’s 400 laps.

The finish moved Blaney into sole possession of 5th in the LASTCAR Cup Series rankings, trailing only J.D. McDuffie, Derrike Cope, Joe Nemechek, and G.C. Spencer for the overall lead. He also stands alone 6th in the overall LASTCAR rankings, trailing Morgan Shepherd and Jeff Fuller in addition to Cope, McDuffie, and Nemechek.

After DNQing at Watkins Glen last month, Blaney departed PRISM Motorsports’ #66 team in search of new Cup Series rides. In the six races since, he has driven both Baldwin’s #36 and Front Row Motorsports’ #38 for five combined races, and has finished under power at the end of three of them.

At Dover, Blaney qualified 38th for the race at a speed of 152.562 mph, more than enough to bump out Ted Musgrave in Blaney’s old #66. Unfortunately, as with the team’s last appearance at Dover (when Johnny Sauter drove the #36), Blaney’s Chevrolet was without sponsorship, forcing him to leave the race early. Curiously, the #36 has not only swept both last-place finishes at Dover in 2010, but in both cases exited the race after 29 laps.

J.J. Yeley, making an unexpected return to Whitney Motorsports to drive its unsponsored second car, finished 42nd in the #81. Current LASTCAR Driver’s Championship leader Joe Nemechek fell out 15 laps later and finished 41st. Nemechek now has a one-finish lead on both Blaney and McDowell, former PRISM Motorsports teammates who are the two most recent last-place finishers in Cup Series competition. Nemechek has not finished last in a Cup race since Michigan, six races ago.

CUP STATS AND FACTS
*This was the second time in 2010 that the same number finished last in both the Cup Series and Nationwide Series events on the same weekend: the #82 finished last with Matt Carter (Nationwide) and Scott Speed (Sprint Cup) at Watkins Glen last month.
*Blaney had never before finished last in a Cup race at Dover.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #36-Dave Blaney / 29 laps / electrical
42) #81-J.J. Yeley / 43 laps / transmission
41) #87-Joe Nemechek / 58 laps / brakes
40) #55-Mike Bliss / 60 laps / transmission
39) #46-Michael McDowell / 71 laps / brakes

LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Joe Nemechek (6)
2nd) Dave Blaney, Michael McDowell (5)
3rd) Max Papis (4)
4th) Aric Almirola (2)
5th) Robby Gordon, Denny Hamlin, Jason Leffler, Johnny Sauter, Reed Sorenson, Scott Speed (1)

LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) #87-NEMCO Motorsports (6)
2nd) #13-Germain Racing, #55-PRISM Motorsports, #66-PRISM Motorsports (4)
3rd) #32-Braun Racing, #36-Tommy Baldwin Racing, #09-Phoenix Racing (2)
4th) #7-Robby Gordon Motorsports, #11-Joe Gibbs Racing, #46-Whitney Motorsports, #82-Team Red Bull (1)

N’WIDE: Jeff Green Tied For 3rd In Series Rankings After Edging Setzer At Dover

Jeff Green picked up the 12th last-place finish of his NASCAR Nationwide Series career in Saturday’s Dover 200 at the Dover International Speedway when his unsponsored #36 TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet fell out with brake problems after completing 1 of the race’s 200 laps. The finish moved Green to 3rd in the LASTCAR Nationwide Series rankings, tying him with Johnny Chapman, Brad Teague, and Tommy Houston.

Driving for Latitude 43 Motorsports, Green failed to qualify for his second-straight Cup Series race on Friday, but made the Nationwide Series race the next day, timing into the latter 28th at a speed of 149.800 mph. At the start of the race, Green was the first of four drivers to go behind the wall on consecutive laps, starting after the first circuit. Current Driver’s Championship leader Dennis Setzer pulled the #92 behind the wall on lap 2, followed by owner Brian Keselowski’s #26 and Johnny Chapman in Morgan Shepherd’s #89.

Among the five teams that failed to qualify for Saturday’s were the #56 of Kevin Lepage, two weeks after driver and team finished last at Richmond, and Watkins Glen last-placer Matt Carter in Randy MacDonald’s #82.

N’WIDE STATS AND FACTS
*The #36 had not finished last in a Nationwide Series race at Dover since 2007, when Brent Sherman’s BIG LOTS Chevrolet was involved in a multi-car crash after completing the 10th lap of the 2007 RoadLoans.com 200.
*2010 marks the most last-place finishes Green has amassed in a single Nationwide Series season, breaking his previous record of three in 1996.
*Green had never before finished last in a Nationwide Series race at Dover.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #36-Jeff Green / 1 lap / brakes
42) #92-Dennis Setzer / 2 laps / handling
41) #26-Brian Keselowski / 3 laps / oil pressure
40) #89-Johnny Chapman / 4 laps / brakes
39) #10-Josh Wise / 17 laps / transmission

LASTCAR N'WIDE SERIES DRIVER CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Dennis Setzer (9)
2nd) Jeff Green (4)
3rd) Mark Green, Kevin Lepage (2)
4th) Willie Allen, Michael Annett, Johnny Borneman III, Matt Carter, Johnny Chapman, David Gilliland, Jennifer Jo Cobb, Brian Keselowski, Justin Marks, Danny O'Quinn, Jr., Chrissy Wallace (1)

LASTCAR N’WIDE SERIES DRIVER CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) #92-K-Automotive Motorsports (10)
2nd) #36-Mark Smith (4)
3rd) #15-Germain Racing, #27-Curb Motorsports, #41-Rick Ware, #43-Curb Motorsports, #49-Jay Robinson, Inc., #56-John McNelly, #70-Mary Louise Miller, #82-MacDonald Motorsports, #83-John Borneman, Jr., #90-D'Hont Humphrey Motorsports, #91-D'Hont Humphrey Motorsports, #96-K-Automotive Motorsports, #04-Johnny Davis Motorsports, #05-Wayne Day (1)

TRUCKS: Johanna Long Last For First Time At Las Vegas

Johanna Long picked up the 1st last-place finish of her NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career in Saturday’s Smith’s 350 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway when her #20 Panhandle Grading and Paving Toyota fell out with transmission problems without completing a single lap of the 146-lap race. The finish came in Long’s 4th series start.

The eighteen-year-old Long qualified an impressive 16th for Saturday’s race at a speed of 171.739 mph, and she has now qualified in the Top 20 in all four of her Truck Series starts. This run was particularly impressive as she was racing a truck she co-owned for the first time. Unfortunately, she did not have much time to enjoy the starting spot as her truck failed to start the race.

Current LASTCAR Driver’s Championship leader Mike Garvey fell out after eight laps and finished 34th.

The #95 Team Gill Racing Dodge, driven again by last week’s last-place finisher J.C. Stout, was one of the four trucks that failed to make the race. Gill’s team still holds a two-finish lead over Garvey’s #93 in the LASTCAR Owner’s Championship.

TRUCK STATS AND FACTS
*The #20 had not finished last in a Truck Series race since 2006, when Marcos Ambrose’s Team Australia / Aussie Vineyards Ford crashed after completing 4 laps of the 2006 Quaker Steak & Lube 200 at Charlotte. The number had never before finished last in a Truck Series race at Las Vegas.
*A female Truck Series driver had not finished last since last fall at Talladega, where Jennifer Jo Cobb’s #50 Boys Racing Dodge lost its engine after the opening lap of the 2009 Mountain Dew 250 Fueled By Fred’s.
*This was Toyota’s first last-place finish in the 2010 Truck Series season, ending a seven-race last-place streak by Dodge that dated back to Pocono in June.
*Incredibly, a Toyota had not finished last in a Truck Series race since 2008, when Sean Caisse’s Germain.com / Lumber Liquidators #9 left the 2008 Kroger 200 at Martinsville with crash damage after 44 laps.
*A Truck Series driver had not finished last without completing a single lap since this year’s season-opening NextEra Energy 250 at Daytona, where Landon Cassill’s EasyToInstall.com #98 was involved in a multi-car wreck in turn three.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
36) #20-Johanna Long / 0 laps / transmission
35) #9-Justin Hobgood / 3 laps / ignition
34) #93-Mike Garvey / 8 laps / overheating
33) #62-Greg Pursley / 10 laps / radiator
32) #73-Rick Crawford / 60 laps / overheating

LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Mike Garvey (3)
2nd) Tim Andrews, Carl Long, J.C. Stout (2)
3rd) Landon Cassill, Johnny Chapman, Mike Harmon, Chris Jones, Narain Karthikeyan, Chris Lafferty, Johanna Long, Dillon Oliver, Shane Sieg, G.R. Smith, Jason White (1)

LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) #95-Danny Gill (6)
2nd) #93-Shane Sieg (4)
3rd) #89-Chris Lafferty (2)
4th) #16-Rick Ware, #20-Donald Long, #23-Steve Urvan, #50-Mark Beaver, #60-Jeff Wyler, #72-Mario Gosselin, #87-Rick Jones, #98-Duke Thorson (1)

CUP: McDowell Ends Toyota Streak At New Hampshire; Moves Within One Finish Of LASTCAR Driver’s Lead

Michael McDowell picked up the 7th last-place finish of his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career in Sunday’s Sylvania 300 at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway when his #46 Cash America Dodge fell out with engine problems after completing 29 of the race’s 300 laps.

McDowell arrived at New Hampshire in one of owner Dusty Whitney’s new Richard Childress-prepared Chevrolets, likely the same one the team ran two weeks ago at Atlanta. Unfortunately, just one lap into the opening practice, an oil line ruptured, sending the car hard into the wall off turn two. McDowell was uninjured, but the car was destroyed.

The team scrambled to get ready for qualifying, toiling hard to get their short track-setup Dodge ready for its timed lap. McDowell drove the car as hard as he could, timing in at 129.525 mph, but was not yet locked-into the field. Only when Travis Kvapil timed in slower was the #46 guaranteed the 38th starting spot.

On race day, McDowell fell to the rear as early as lap 10, but moved up to 42nd when Scott Speed wrecked off turn four on the 26th circuit. On the restart, both McDowell and Landon Cassill, driving Larry Gunselman’s #64, pulled behind the wall with Cassill 42nd, poised to take last place from Speed, should he return. By the time the second caution ended on lap 44, McDowell and Cassill had returned to the track and gone to the garage a second time with McDowell falling to 42nd. Finally, when Speed returned to the track on lap 113, McDowell fell to last place.

Current LASTCAR Driver’s Championship leader Joe Nemechek, who qualified 7th at the track in June, stayed out to lead lap 28 under the first caution and also went behind the wall a couple times before finishing 40th, having completed just 60 laps.

UPDATE: After McDowell’s car went through mandatory post-race inspection as the lowest finishing non-wrecked car in Sunday’s race, NASCAR discovered that the valves to the #46's engine were too light. The engine, acquired from Gillette-Evernham Motorsports and rebuilt by Arrington Engines, resulted in the loss of 50 driver and owner points, plus a $50,000 fine. Crew chief Jeremy LaFaver has also been suspended from NASCAR competition for six weeks.

CUP STATS AND FACTS
*The #46 had not finished last in a Cup Series race since 2002, when Frank Kimmel’s Advance Auto Parts Ford fell out with overheating problems 8 laps into the 2002 Pocono 500 at Pocono.
*It was owner Dusty Whitney’s first-ever last-place finish in Cup Series competition.
*McDowell has now finished last for three different teams in the 2010 Cup Series season: Dusty Whitney’s #46, as well as both PRISM Motorsports’ #55 (3 finishes) and #66 (1).
*McDowell’s last-place finish was the first by a Dodge in 2010. The last Dodge to finish 43rd in a Cup race was Tony Raines’ Long John Silvers #37 in last fall’s Checker O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix.
*The finish also ended an incredible 14-race last-place streak by Toyota that was likely the longest by any manufacturer in NASCAR history. The last non-Toyota to finish last was Johnny Sauter’s run in Tommy Baldwin’s #36 at the Autism Speaks 400 at Dover back in May.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #46-Michael McDowell / 29 laps / engine
42) #64-Landon Cassill / 40 laps / brakes
41) #55-Mike Bliss / 55 laps / brakes
40) #87-Joe Nemechek / 60 laps / clutch / led 1 lap
39) #09-Bobby Labonte / 89 laps / electrical

LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Joe Nemechek (6)
2nd) Michael McDowell (5)
3rd) Dave Blaney, Max Papis (4)
4th) Aric Almirola (2)
5th) Robby Gordon, Denny Hamlin, Jason Leffler, Johnny Sauter, Reed Sorenson, Scott Speed (1)

LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) #87-NEMCO Motorsports (6)
2nd) #13-Germain Racing, #55-PRISM Motorsports, #66-PRISM Motorsports (4)
3rd) #32-Braun Racing, #09-Phoenix Racing (2)
4th) #7-Robby Gordon Motorsports, #11-Joe Gibbs Racing, #36-Tommy Baldwin Racing, #46-Whitney Motorsports, #82-Team Red Bull (1)