CUP: Blaney, Suffering From Kidney Stones, Exits Atlanta Race Early In Skinner’s #60

SOURCE: SPEED

Dave Blaney picked up the 19th last-place finish of his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career in Tuesday’s AdvoCare 500 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway when his #60 Big Red Chevrolet exited the race with a vibration after two of the race’s 325 laps.

With the finish, Blaney is now tied for the fourth-most last-place finishes in Cup history with G.C. Spencer. He is also tied for the fourth-most all-time across all three top divisions of NASCAR with Jeff Fuller and Jeff Green.

Following last week’s race at Bristol, Germain Racing switched its #60 team from Toyota to Chevrolet, but Mike Skinner remained the driver of the car. On Saturday, Skinner put the car into the 39th spot at a speed of 180.012 mph, more than enough to bump out four other teams. Teammate Casey Mears, his #13 GEICO machine still a Toyota, qualified one position ahead of Skinner in 38th.

Dave Blaney, who has enjoyed some of his best runs at Atlanta, qualified 35th in Tommy Baldwin’s #36 Golden Corral / Collective Soul Chevrolet. However, by the time rain pushed the start of the race to Tuesday morning, Blaney was suddenly suffering from kidney stones. Knowing Skinner was going to park the #60 to help fund Mears’ team, Blaney and Skinner switched rides, allowing Blaney to exit the race after two laps in the #60.

Skinner and Mears went on to finish the race 27th and 28th, with Skinner leading two laps during a late round of green-flag pit stops.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This was Blaney’s first last-place finish of the season. The last time he came home 43rd was last fall in the AAA 400 at Dover, where his then-unsponsored #36 Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet exited the race after 29 laps with electrical problems.
*Blaney has one other last-place finish in a Cup race at Atlanta, which came in the 2009 running of this race. Back then in the 2009 Pep Boys Auto 500, Blaney’s #66 PRISM Motorsports Toyota left the race after 19 laps with electrical problems.
*This was the first time the #60 has ever finished last in a Cup race at Atlanta.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #60-Dave Blaney / 2 laps / vibration
42) #55-Travis Kvapil / 17 laps / electrical
41) #66-Michael McDowell / 23 laps / rear gear
40) #87-Joe Nemechek / 27 laps / ignition
39) #7-Robby Gordon / 34 laps / rear gear

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

LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
Although this was Blaney’s first last-place finish of 2011, it was the sixth for the #60 Germain Racing team, breaking a tie with HP Racing’s #66 for the most last-place finishes so far this season. The team’s most recent last-place finish came with Mike Skinner at Watkins Glen, three races ago.
1st) #60-Germain Racing (6)
2nd) #66-HP Racing LLC (5)
3rd) #55-Front Row Motorsports, #87-NEMCO Motorsports (3)
4th) #7-Robby Gordon Motorsports, #46-Whitney Motorsports, #97-NEMCO Motorsports (2)
5th) #81-Whitney Motorsports, #77-Robby Gordon Motorsports (1)

LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Toyota (15)
2nd) Chevrolet (4)
3rd) Dodge, Ford (3)