TRUCKS: Chris Jones The 28th Truck Driver To Finish Last Without Completing The First Lap

SOURCE: Chris Jones Fans Facebook Page

Chris Jones picked up the 4th last-place finish of his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career in Saturday’s VFW 200 at the Michigan International Speedway when his #87 Garbee’s Truck and Trailer Chevrolet fell out with an engine failure without completing a lap of the 102-lap race.

Just 33 trucks showed up to the 2-mile Michigan track for qualifying, allowing Jones to make his third Truck Series start of 2011 without taking a qualifying lap. In his two previous starts at Dover and Kansas, his #87 has come home 32nd and 34th, exiting both races in the early laps.

This time, Jones failed to complete the opening lap, going behind the wall with engine trouble as the race began. Mike Harmon, driving in his own Truck Series ride for the first time since 2009, fell out two laps later with handling woes.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This was Jones’ first last-place finish in 28 races, dating back to an early-race crash his #87 Copy Wizard Chevrolet suffered 6 laps into the 2010 AAA Insurance 200 at Lucas Oil Raceway.
*It is only the third time in Truck Series history that the #87 has finished last. The first time came when the late John Nemechek lost the engine on his Chevrolet 3 laps into the 1995 Pizza Plus 150 at Bristol.
*This was the 30th time in Truck Series history that a driver finished last without completing a single lap. The last time it happened was 20 races ago when Johanna Long’s #20 Panhandle Grading and Paving Toyota lost its transmission at the start of the 2010 Smith’s 350 at Las Vegas. Jones is the 28th driver to have done so as Chris Horn failed to complete a single lap of three races from 1999-2000.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
33) #87-Chris Jones / 0 laps / engine
32) #74-Mike Harmon / 2 laps / handling
31) #75-J.J. Yeley / 4 laps / rear gear
30) #38-Mike Garvey / 4 laps / transmission
29) #93-Casey Roderick / 6 laps / clutch

LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Mike Garvey (4)
2nd) Norm Benning, Chris Lafferty (2)
3rd) James Buescher, Chris Jones, Travis Kvapil, Johanna Long, Scott Riggs, Greg Seevers, Brad Sweet (1)

LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) #38-Shane Sieg (4)
2nd) #57-Norm Benning Racing (2)
3rd) #5-Randy Moss, #10-Jennifer Jo Cobb, #20-Panhandle Motorsports, #31-Turner Motorsports, #32-Turner Motorsports, #75-Norm Benning Racing, #87-Rick Jones, #89-Chris Lafferty, #07-SS Green Light Racing (1)

LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES MANUFACTURER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (12)
2nd) Toyota (3)