CUP: Kvapil Scores Back-To-Back Cup Series Last-Place Finishes

SOURCE: ESPN2

Travis Kvapil picked up the 4th last-place finish of his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career in Sunday’s AAA 400 at the Dover International Speedway when his unsponsored #55 Front Row Motorsports Ford fell out with ignition problems after 12 of the race’s 400 laps.

It was Kvapil’s second last-place finish of 2011 and his second in a row, following his early exit last Sunday at Loudon.

Kvapil locked himself into the Dover field with a speed of 156.230 mph, placing him 32nd on the starting grid. While teammate J.J. Yeley in the Front Row #38 was forced to a backup car following an accident in Friday’s opening practice, Kvapil had an uneventful weekend. Dropping to the rear at the start, Kvapil pulled behind the wall between the first and second cautions, followed twelve laps later by Scott Speed in Dusty Whitney’s #46 Ford.

Yeley was involved in a single-car accident on Lap 300 and ended up finishing ten laps down in 34th. David Gilliland in Front Row’s top-ranked #34 finished three laps down in 28th.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*The #55 had not finished last in a Sprint Cup race at Dover since 1999, when Kenny Wallace’s Square D Chevrolet fell out with engine failure after 63 laps of the 1999 MBNA Gold 400 at Dover.
*This was Kvapil’s first-ever last-place finish in a Cup race at Dover.
*Kvapil joins current LASTCAR Cup leader Michael McDowell (Bristol and Fontana; Darlington and Dover) as the only two Cup drivers with consecutive last-place finishes in 2011. Kvapil had never before finished last in two consecutive races.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #55-Travis Kvapil / 12 laps / ignition
42) #46-Scott Speed / 24 laps / brakes
41) #30-David Stremme / 31 laps / vibration
40) #66-Michael McDowell / 44 laps / fuel pump / led 1 lap
39) #87-Joe Nemechek / 49 laps / clutch

LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Michael McDowell (6)
2nd) Mike Skinner, J.J. Yeley (4)
3rd) Joe Nemechek (3)
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
The #60 Germain Racing team, still tied with HP Racing’s #66 for the Owner’s Championship, has now been absent from the last four consecutive races since Dave Blaney drove the car to its sixth last-place finish at Atlanta. In that time, Mike Skinner, the team’s regular driver, has scored three DNQs and the team withdrew back at Loudon. Although the #66 scored the tying last-place finish of at Chicagoland, the #55 Front Row Motorsports team’s streak could make it a three-car battle for the Owner’s Championship.
1st) #60-Germain Racing, #66-HP Racing LLC (6)
2nd) #55-Front Row Motorsports (5)
3rd) #46-Whitney Motorsports, #87-NEMCO 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 (16)
2nd) Ford (6)
3rd) Chevrolet (4)
4th) Dodge (3)