N’WIDE: Gilliland’s Ignition Fails on Backup After Rough Day At Dover

David Gilliland picked up the 3rd last-place finish of his Nationwide Series career in Saturday’s Heluva Good! 200 at the Dover International Speedway when his unsponsored #91 D’Hont Humphrey Motorsports Chevrolet fell out after 1 of the race’s 205 laps with ignition problems.

For better and for worse, Gilliland’s qualifying run was the day’s biggest surprise. His first timed lap was a blistering 154.606 mph, good enough to put his Chevrolet 8th in the starting grid. However, when he tried to get a little more on his second lap, his right-front tire cut down in turns three and four, sending his car hard into the outside wall. With the race hours away, Gilliland was forced to a backup car which ran just one lap before it pulled behind the wall.

Last-place leader Dennis Setzer was not in Saturday’s race, while owner Brad Keselowski finished 42nd, four laps ahead of Gilliland, in the #92 that continues to lead the Team Rankings. Johnny Chapman, still one finish away from tying Ed Berrier for second in the all-time series rankings, finished 39th driving Derrike Cope’s #73.

STATS AND FACTS
*The race marked Gilliland’s first last-place finish in the Nationwide Series since the 2005 Arizona 200 presented by Walk The Line at Phoenix, where his #03 lost its engine after 12 of 200 laps. That year, Gilliland became the only driver ever to sweep both last-place finishes at Phoenix.
*The #91 had not finished last in a Nationwide Series race at Dover since Danny Weese lost the oil pump on his JeNet’s Hair Boutique Oldsmobile 7 laps into the 1985 Budweiser 200 at Dover.
*The #91 had not finished last in a Nationwide Series race of any kind since Dave Blaney, driving for MSRP Motorsports, in the 2009 Degree V12 300 in Atlanta.
*After eleven races, both D’Hont Humphrey Motorsports teams have now finished last in 2010.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #91-David Gilliland / 1 lap / ignition
42) #92-Brian Keselowski / 5 laps / vibration
41) #52-Kevin Hamlin / 10 laps / brakes
40) #90-Chase Miller / 24 laps / electrical
39) #73-Johnny Chapman / 27 laps / brakes

N’WIDE DRIVER RANKINGS
1st) Dennis Setzer (4)
2nd) Michael Annett, Johnny Borneman III, Johnny Chapman, David Gilliland, Brian Keselowski, Danny O’Quinn, Jr., Chrissy Wallace (1)

N’WIDE TEAM RANKINGS
1st) #92-K-Automotive Motorsports (5)
2nd) #15-Germain Racing, #41-Rick Ware, #83-John Borneman, Jr., #90-D’Hont Humphrey Motorsports, #91-D’Hont Humphrey Motorsports, #96-K-Automotive Motorsports (1)