N’WIDE: In Manufacturer’s Race, Green Scores Toyota’s 150th Last-Place Finish

SOURCE: NASCAR Media

Jeff Green picked up the 41st last-place finish of his NASCAR Nationwide Series career in Friday’s ToyotaCare 250 at the Richmond International Raceway when his unsponsored #10 TriStar Motorsports Toyota fell out with a vibration after he completed 4 of the race’s 250 laps.

The finish was Green’s third of 2013 and his second in a row.  He now holds a two-finish lead over four other drivers in the 2013 LASTCAR Nationwide Series Championship and is already on pace to score his third consecutive title.

Green qualified 24th for the race at an average speed of 122.845 mph, ranking him sixth among the sixteen “go-or-go-homers” who attempted to qualify.  Six drivers failed to qualify, including Derek Thorn in Jimmy Means’ #52, 2007 LASTCAR Nationwide Series Champion Morgan Shepherd in his #89, and the #46 and #47 The Motorsports Group entries driven by Chase Miller and Jason Bowles, respectively.

Green pulled behind the wall during the opening green-flag run and was again quickly followed by another car from The Motorsports Group - this time J.J. Yeley in the #42.

Also, as reported during the early stages of the ESPN broadcast, current analyst and former car owner Andy Petree did in fact finish last in his Nationwide Series debut at Richmond when his #4 Lambert Racing Oldsmobile crashed 9 laps into the Commonwealth 200 on September 10, 1988.  The race, won by Harry Gant, was the first NASCAR Nationwide Series event on the current 0.750-mile configuration.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This was Green’s third-consecutive last-place finish in a Nationwide Series race at Richmond.  Green’s finish here last fall beat the single-season last-place record set by fellow three-time LASTCAR Nationwide Series Champion Jeff Fuller - 11 in 2004.  All three finishes were listed as due to a “vibration.”
*This was the 150th last-place finish for Toyota across all three of NASCAR’s top divisions.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
40) #10-Jeff Green / 4 laps / vibration
39) #42-J.J. Yeley / 7 laps / electrical
38) #92-Dexter Stacey / 22 laps / crash
37) #51-Jeremy Clements / 36 laps / engine
36) #29-Kenny Wallace / 142 laps / rear gear

LASTCAR N'WIDE SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Jeff Green (3)
2nd) Joey Gase, Johanna Long, Eric McClure, Michael McDowell (1)

LASTCAR N'WIDE SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) #10-TriStar Motorsports (3)
2nd) #14-TriStar Motorsports, #27-SR2 Motorsports, #52-Jimmy Means Racing, #70-ML Motorsports (1)

LASTCAR N'WIDE SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Toyota (6)
2nd) Chevrolet (1)