CUP: Skinner Returns To Track, Tightens LASTCAR Cup Battle After Early Crash

SOURCE: ESPN2

Mike Skinner picked up the 14th last-place finish of his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career in Sunday’s Tums Fast Relief 500 at the Martinsville Speedway when his unsponsored #37 MaxQ Motorsports Ford was involved in a six-car accident after completing 7 of the race’s 500 laps.

The finish was Skinner’s fifth in 2011 and his first since Watkins Glen, eleven races ago. With three races to go, he is now tied with J.J. Yeley for the second-most Cup Series last-place finishes in 2011. Each are just one finish behind current leader Michael McDowell.

The last time the Cup Series came to Martinsville, Skinner was making his first start for Germain Racing as the “start-and-park” driver of their #60 Big Red Toyota. He acquired the ride after helping Frankie Stoddard’s #32 FAS Lane Racing team make the Top 35, scoring finishes of 24th and 29th in Phoenix and Las Vegas.

Skinner made fifteen starts in Germain’s #60, scoring four last-place finishes during the spring and summer months. The team’s final start - and last-place finish - came last month at Atlanta, where Skinner switched rides with an ailing Dave Blaney, who was suffering from kidney stones. Skinner brought Blaney’s car home 27th.

After the Atlanta race, a string of four DNQs and two withdrawals, combined with frequent switches between Toyota and Chevrolet and a qualifying crash at Dover, culminated with the #60 team pulling out of competition before Talladega.

Talladega also saw Larry Gunselman’s #37 MaxQ Motorsports car score its third-consecutive DNQ with driver Josh Wise. Martinsville’s preliminary entry list placed Wise as MaxQ’s driver, but it was Skinner behind the wheel for Saturday morning practice. With qualifying cancelled by rain, Skinner secured the 38th starting spot and prepared for his first start with the team.

Seven laps into Sunday’s race, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Kurt Busch made contact in turns one and two, causing a spin that quickly blocked the track. Skinner and the #34 of David Gilliland, both trailing the initial spin, failed to slow down fast enough and collided with the stopped cars in front of them. Skinner rear-ended the #78 of Regan Smith, causing substantial damage to the nose of his Ford and a small fire under the hood. Skinner and Smith were uninjured, and the #37 was the only car involved in the wreck that failed to return to the track.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

Mike Skinner's #19 Zanworth Pontiac, 1986
SOURCE: LoboGraphix

*Skinner has just one other Cup Series last-place finish at Martinsville and, interestingly, it was the first finish of his career. The race was the 1986 Goody’s 500 - 25 years ago this past September - when Skinner’s unsponsored #19 Zanworth Racing Team Pontiac fell out with oil pressure problems after 34 of the race’s 500 laps. It was one of only three starts the Zanworth team ever made. All three came with Skinner in 1986 with the other two coming in the spring race at Martinsville and in the fall race at Rockingham. Their best finish was a 22nd in the spring Martinsville event.
*The last time the #37 finished last in a Cup race at Martinsville was in 2009, when Travis Kvapil’s Long John Silver’s Dodge fell out with brake problems after 30 laps.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #37-Mike Skinner / 7 laps / crash
42) #51-Landon Cassill / 27 laps / brakes
41) #87-Joe Nemechek / 33 laps / rear gear
40) #55-J.J. Yeley / 40 laps / brakes
39) #66-Michael McDowell / 45 laps / brakes

LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Michael McDowell (6)
2nd) Mike Skinner, J.J. Yeley (5)
3rd) Kevin Conway, Joe Nemechek (4)
4th) Robby Gordon, Travis Kvapil (2)
5th) Dave Blaney, Landon Cassill, Jeff Green, P.J. Jones, Scott Riggs, Scott Speed (1)

LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
Although Skinner is ranked second in the LASTCAR Driver’s Championship, this was actually the #37 team’s first last-place finish of 2011 after five previous bottom-five finishes.
1st) #55-Front Row Motorsports, #60-Germain Racing, #66-HP Racing LLC (6)
2nd) #87-NEMCO Motorsports (4)
3rd) #46-Whitney Motorsports, #97-NEMCO Motorsports (3)
4th) #7-Robby Gordon Motorsports (2)
5th) #37-MaxQ Motorsports, #81-Whitney Motorsports, #77-Robby Gordon Motorsports (1)

LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Toyota (18)
2nd) Ford (8)
3rd) Chevrolet (4)
4th) Dodge (3)

TRUCKS: Garvey Clinches Second-Consecutive LASTCAR Truck Series Title at Martinsville

SOURCE: TheHotLap.com

Mike Garvey picked up the 10th last-place finish of his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career in Saturday’s Kroger 200 at the Martinsville Speedway when his #93 S&W Services Chevrolet fell out with brake problems after completing 8 of the race’s 200 laps.

The finish, Garvey’s fifth of the year and first since Lucas Oil Raceway in July, ten races ago, secured him his second-consecutive LASTCAR Truck Series Driver’s Championship. No other Truck Series driver has scored more than two last-place finishes in 2011. Garvey joins Loni Richardson (2002, 2004) as the only two Truck Series drivers with multiple LASTCAR championships and becomes the first to win consecutive titles.

Although Garvey has driven owner Shane Sieg’s #38 for much of this season, Martinsville saw him drive Sieg’s #93 for the third time in 2011 and for the first time since Bristol. In qualifying, Garvey put up the 35th-fastest speed at an average of 90.938 mph, just getting him into the 36-truck field. Missing the race were Loudon last-placer Jennifer Jo Cobb and the #99 of newcomer Charlie Vest.

Garvey’s truck was the first to go behind the wall during the opening green-flag stretch. Though nine cautions slowed the race’s pace for fifty laps, however, the only other truck to fall out of the event was the wrecked #4 of Ricky Carmichael.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This was Garvey’s second-consecutive last-place finish in the Truck Series fall race at Martinsville. In the 2010 Kroger 200, Garvey’s #93 S&W Towing Chevrolet left the race after 27 laps, again with brake problems.
*This was the third time in the last four Truck Series races at Martinsville that owner Shane Sieg’s #93 has finished last. Sieg himself finished last in the spring of 2010, citing electrical problems after three laps.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
36) #93-Mike Garvey / 8 laps / brakes
35) #4-Ricky Carmichael / 37 laps / crash
34) #07-T.J. Duke / 159 laps / running
33) #20-Johanna Long / 166 laps / running
32) #32-Blake Feese / 182 laps / running

LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Mike Garvey (5)
2nd) Norm Benning, Chris Lafferty, Brent Raymer (2)
3rd) Johnny Borneman III, James Buescher, Chris Jones, Mike Harmon, Jennifer Jo Cobb, Travis Kvapil, Johanna Long, Scott Riggs, Greg Seevers, Dennis Setzer, Brad Sweet, J.J. Yeley (1)

LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
Even though Garvey drove the #93 in place of the #38, the latter team has still claimed the 2011 LASTCAR Truck Series Owner’s Championship by virtue of its 13 bottom-five finishes. As mentioned last week, the 2nd-ranked #10, #57, and #75 teams have only five, three, and six bottom-five finishes respectively. The #93, now tied with them, has only eight.
1st) #38-Shane Sieg (4)
2nd) #10-Jennifer Jo Cobb, #57-Norm Benning Racing, #75-Norm Benning Racing, #93-Shane Sieg (2)
3rd) #5-Randy Moss, #20-Panhandle Motorsports, #27-Shane Sieg, #31-Turner Motorsports, #32-Turner Motorsports, #65-Joey Sonntag, #66-Turn One Racing, #74-Mike Harmon, #87-Rick Jones, #89-Chris Lafferty, #07-SS Green Light Racing (1)

LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES MANUFACTURER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (18)
2nd) Toyota (3)
3rd) Ford (2)

CUP: Conway The First Cup Driver To Finish 43rd In Three Consecutive Superspeedway Races

SOURCE: SPEED

Kevin Conway picked up the 3rd last-place finish of his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career in Sunday’s Good Sam Club 500 at the Talladega Superspeedway when his #97 ExtenZe Toyota fell out with a vibration after completing 2 of the race’s 188 laps.

At Talladega, Conway returned to “start-and-park” duty for Nationwide Series team owner and on-track teammate Joe Nemechek, again behind the wheel of Nemechek’s #97. On Saturday, with a qualifying lap of 179.693 mph, Conway timed in 20th - his best career starting spot in 31 total Cup starts.

After he narrowly missed the Daytona 500 field during a late battle in the Gatorade Duels, Conway has successfully made the show for every restrictor plate Cup race held since. Two laps into Sunday race, however, Conway also scored his third consecutive last-place finish on these tracks when he pulled behind the wall under green.

Dave Blaney, who nearly pulled the upset at Talladega in the spring in owner Tommy Baldwin's #36, drove a tremendous race and finished a career-best 3rd for the third time in nineteen years of Cup racing.  His Golden Corral Chevrolet, rebuilt from a crash at Daytona in July, was revealed to be a former Bill Davis Racing chassis from 2007 or 2008.  Nevertheless, with the drafting help of Brad Keselowski, Blaney sped to his first top-10 finish of the year, triggering his sponsor's now-famous "Top 10 Kids Eat Free" campaign.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*Conway is the first Cup driver to finish last in three consecutive superspeedway races at Daytona and Talladega. This dates all the way back to the first Daytona qualifier in 1959 and includes every year that the qualifying races were listed as points races. On a handful of occasions, a driver has finished last in two consecutive plate races, most notably in 1992 when Dale Earnhardt’s terrible season was furthered by last-place showings in the July races at Daytona and Talladega.
*This is the second consecutive year that NEMCO’s #97 has finished last in the Cup Series’ fall race at Talladega. In 2010, Jeff Fuller was behind the wheel when his HeatRedefined.com Toyota left the race with a rear gear failure after two laps.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #97-Kevin Conway / 2 laps / vibration
42) #55-J.J. Yeley / 3 laps / wheel
41) #87-Joe Nemechek / 4 laps / rear gear
40) #66-Michael McDowell / 6 laps / clutch
39) #71-Andy Lally / 162 laps / crash / led 1 lap

LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
With four races to go, Michael McDowell, 40th at Talladega, remains the leader of the LASTCAR Cup Driver’s Championship, having just avoided a tie with J.J. Yeley, who came home a close 42nd on Sunday. By scoring a season-best finish of 22nd at Charlotte last Sunday, Yeley now trails McDowell by an insurmountable five bottom-five finishes: 19 to McDowell’s 24. Thus, only an overall lead can guarantee Yeley the LASTCAR Cup Driver’s Championship. And it’s not a two-driver race. Although Mike Skinner has lost his ride with Germain Racing for the rest of 2011 and Kevin Conway is not expected to compete in the final races of this season, defending LASTCAR Champion Joe Nemechek remains two finishes out of the lead and has continued to make all 32 races this season. With four races to go, Nemechek already has four more bottom-fives than McDowell with a series-leading total of 28.
1st) Michael McDowell (6)
2nd) J.J. Yeley (5)
3rd) Joe Nemechek, Mike Skinner (4)
4th) Kevin Conway (3)
5th) Robby Gordon, Travis Kvapil (2)
6th) Dave Blaney, Landon Cassill, Jeff Green, P.J. Jones, Scott Riggs, Scott Speed (1)

LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
Last week, it was reported that the #60 Germain Racing team would not attempt any more races in 2011, eliminating the team from LASTCAR contention due to the team’s 19 bottom-five finishes to the #66's current total of 25. Nevertheless, the battle for the LASTCAR Owner’s Championship also remains close as Front Row’s #55, though with only 11 bottom-fives, remains tied for the most finishes with the #66 and will run the rest of the year. However, if NEMCO’s #87 can score the two finishes needed to join the tie, they may be able to wrestle the title from the #66 by virtue of its 28 bottom-fives collected with Nemechek so far.
1st) #55-Front Row Motorsports, #60-Germain Racing, #66-HP Racing LLC (6)
2nd) #87-NEMCO Motorsports (4)
3rd) #46-Whitney Motorsports, #97-NEMCO Motorsports (3)
4th) #7-Robby Gordon Motorsports (2)
5th) #81-Whitney Motorsports, #77-Robby Gordon Motorsports (1)

LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Toyota (18)
2nd) Ford (7)
3rd) Chevrolet (4)
4th) Dodge (3)

TRUCKS: Yeley The First Driver Ever To Score Last-Place Finishes In All Three of NASCAR’s Top Divisions In The Same Season

SOURCE: SPEED

J.J. Yeley picked up the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career in Saturday’s Coca-Cola 250 at the Talladega Superspeedway when his unsponsored #66 Turn One Racing Chevrolet fell out with transmission problems after completing the first of the race’s 94 laps. The finish came in Yeley’s 13th series start.

With the finish, Yeley became the first driver in the history of NASCAR to score at least one last-place finish in each of its top three divisions in the same season. This season, prior to Saturday, he had one last-place finish in the Nationwide Series and five in Cup.

Yeley was driving for Turn One Racing, a team owned by series veteran Stacy Compton. In its first full year of competition, Turn One began the year with two trucks: Cole Whitt’s #60 and the #66, which began the year with sports car and ARCA competitor Justin Marks. Marks competed with the team for the opening twelve races, scoring a pole at Dover and a season-best finish of 9th at Charlotte.

Marks and primary sponsorship from GoPro left the #66 team after Nashville. Although the team has made all twelve races run since the split, and Ross Chastain put up a 10th-place finish at Indianapolis, the team has finished no better than 19th with five different drivers. Yeley became the fourth different driver at Chicago, where he finished 30th.

Last week at Talladega, Yeley timed in 33rd at a speed of 167.556 mph, relying on the #66 team’s owner points to beat the four “go-or-go-homers” that went home. Just as in his two previous starts for Turn One, the truck lacked sponsorship, and Yeley pulled it behind the wall after Lap 1. The next day, Yeley finished 42nd in the Cup race, parking Front Row’s #55 after three laps.

Teammate Cole Whitt finished 14th in the #60, extending a streak of five consecutive top-15 finishes in the Truck Series.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*The #66 had not finished last in a Truck Series race since 2005, when Todd Bodine’s BowTech Archery / Sportcoins.com Toyota was involved in a crash with Ken Weaver after completing three laps of the 2005 American Racing Wheels 200 at the Auto Club Speedway of Southern California. Thus, the number had also never finished last in a Truck Series race at Talladega since the series arrived there in 2006.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
36) #66-J.J. Yeley / 1 lap / transmission
35) #99-Patrick Sheltra / 14 laps / crash
34) #1-Jeffery Earnhardt / 15 laps / crash
33) #07-Butch Miller / 19 laps / rear gear
32) #16-Donnie Neuenberger / 25 laps / crash

LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
With three races to go in the 2011 season, Mike Garvey can lock up his second-consecutive LASTCAR Camping World Series championship if Norm Benning, Chris Lafferty, and Brent Raymer do not finish last in the final three races of the season, starting this Sunday at Martinsville. If Garvey ties one of these drivers with four finishes apiece, he will still claim the title by virtue of his 15 bottom-five finishes while Benning, Lafferty, and Raymer only have three apiece.
1st) Mike Garvey (4)
2nd) Norm Benning, Chris Lafferty, Brent Raymer (2)
3rd) Johnny Borneman III, James Buescher, Chris Jones, Mike Harmon, Jennifer Jo Cobb, Travis Kvapil, Johanna Long, Scott Riggs, Greg Seevers, Dennis Setzer, Brad Sweet, J.J. Yeley (1)

LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
Similarly, the #38 team can lock up the Owner’s Title if the trucks of the #10, #57, and #75 team fail to finish last in the final three races. The #38 team has 13 bottom-five finishes in 2011 compared to the #10's five, the #57's three, and the #75's six.
1st) #38-Shane Sieg (4)
2nd) #10-Jennifer Jo Cobb, #57-Norm Benning Racing, #75-Norm Benning Racing (2)
3rd) #5-Randy Moss, #20-Panhandle Motorsports, #27-Shane Sieg, #31-Turner Motorsports, #32-Turner Motorsports, #65-Joey Sonntag, #66-Turn One Racing, #74-Mike Harmon, #87-Rick Jones, #89-Chris Lafferty, #93-Shane Sieg, #07-SS Green Light Racing (1)

LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES MANUFACTURER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (17)
2nd) Toyota (3)
3rd) Ford (2)

CUP: After Charlotte, Joe Nemechek Is One Finish Away From Tying Derrike Cope For The Most Last-Place Finishes In NASCAR History

SOURCE: ESPN2

Joe Nemechek picked up the 28th last-place finish of his NASCAR Sprint Cup career in Saturday’s Bank of America 500 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway when his #87 AM / FM Energy / Pellet & Wood Stoves Toyota fell out with a vibration after 11 of the race’s 334 laps.

The finish was Nemechek’s fourth of the 2011 season and his first since the June race at Kansas, eighteen races ago.

The finish is also Nemechek’s 34th across all three of NASCAR’s top divisions, moving him within one finish of tying all-time LASTCAR leader Derrike Cope for the most last-place finishes in NASCAR history. Curiously, it was during the Charlotte weekend that Cope was expected to return to the Cup Series, but he withdrew his #75 Dodge on Thursday after failing to run any laps in the opening practice session.

Nemechek is also four finishes away from tying the late J.D. McDuffie for the most last-place finishes in Sprint Cup history (32).

Back at Charlotte, Nemechek qualified 39th at a speed of 187.311 mph, but was the slowest car in both Friday’s final two practice sessions. On race night, rookie driver Andy Lally first fell to the rear. Lally, who had campaigned TRG Motorsports’ #71 for much of the year, was debuting a new second team, #77, which would run for the rest of 2011. Though without sponsorship, Lally was the fastest “go-or-go-homer” in both Friday practice sessions, reaching seventh in Friday’s morning practice. In the race, Lally was still running 43rd when Nemechek pulled behind the wall after 11 laps, ending his night. Lally and the #77 pulled out nine laps later, citing brake failure.

Nemechek’s early exit ended a three-race last-place streak by Front Row’s #55, this time again driven by Travis Kvapil. Though the #55 carried sponsorship from the Ingersoll-Rand corporation, the car retained its “start-and-park” status and fell out after 27 laps, sixteen laps after Nemechek took 43rd.

As a result, Michael McDowell, who came home 39th, continues to hold a one-finish lead on J.J. Yeley for the LASTCAR Driver’s Championship while the Owner’s Title remains a three-way tie between the #55, McDowell’s #66, and the #60 Germain Racing team, which withdrew with Mike Skinner prior to the opening practice.

Nemechek now stands two finishes behind McDowell for the Driver’s title - still in contention to defend his 2010 title with five races left to be run.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*Nemechek and the #87 scored their most recent Charlotte last-place finish in Sprint Cup competition during the 2009 running, when his unsponsored Toyota left the race with engine trouble after 26 laps of the NASCAR Banking 500 Only From Bank of America.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #87-Joe Nemechek / 11 laps / vibration
42) #77-Andy Lally / 20 laps / brakes
41) #30-David Stremme / 22 laps / overheating
40) #55-Travis Kvapil / 27 laps / overheating
39) #66-Michael McDowell / 30 laps / suspension

LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Michael McDowell (6)
2nd) J.J. Yeley (5)
3rd) Joe Nemechek, Mike Skinner (4)
4th) Kevin Conway, Robby Gordon, Travis Kvapil (2)
5th) Dave Blaney, Landon Cassill, Jeff Green, P.J. Jones, Scott Riggs, Scott Speed (1)

LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) #55-Front Row Motorsports, #60-Germain Racing, #66-HP Racing LLC (6)
2nd) #87-NEMCO Motorsports (4)
3rd) #46-Whitney Motorsports (3)
4th) #7-Robby Gordon Motorsports, #97-NEMCO Motorsports (2)
5th) #81-Whitney Motorsports, #77-Robby Gordon Motorsports (1)

LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Toyota (17)
2nd) Ford (7)
3rd) Chevrolet (4)
4th) Dodge (3)