TRUCKS: Scott Saunders Finishes Last In Truck Series Debut

SOURCE: Rubbin's Racin'

Scott Saunders picked up the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career in Saturday’s SFP 250 at the Kansas Speedway when his #0 Koma Unwind RAM fell out with a vibration after he completed 2 of the race’s 167 laps.  The finish came in Saunders’ first series start.

The 24-year-old from Brisbane, Australia was making his Truck Series debut.  In 2012, he ran three races each in the K&N Pro Series East, and the Nationwide Series, and the X-1R Pro Cup Series, the latter resulting in three Top Tens.  His best Nationwide finish came in his series debut at Iowa, when he finished 28th in the #24 inox / Standout Wraps Chevrolet owned by Jason Sciavicco.

At Kansas, Saunders fielded Jennifer Jo Cobb’s “start-and-park” #0 entry, a team making its first start since Homestead last November, where the #0's driver Blake Koch tied Dennis Setzer for the LASTCAR lead with the #0's most recent last-place finish in the Truck Series.  However, Koch lost the LASTCAR Truck Series Championship on a bottom-five tiebreaker with Setzer, 12-5.  Kansas also saw the first start of the season for RSS Racing’s #38, the truck Setzer raced to that title.  Yeley put the #38 22nd in Saturday’s field while Saunders timed in 32nd at a speed of 167.312 mph.

In the race itself, Saunders’ truck was the first behind the wall, followed two laps later by Yeley, who edged RSS teammate Chris Jones in the #93.  Jennifer Jo Cobb, in her own #10, finished 17th in the crash-filled race, her best finish since Kentucky last summer.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*Saunders is the first Australian to finish last in a Truck Series race (excepting Tasmania’s Marcos Ambrose, who finished last at Charlotte in 2006).  He is the first foreign-born driver to finish last in the series since this race three years ago, when India’s Narain Karthikeyan crashed his #60 SafeAuto Insurance Chevrolet 7 laps into the O’Reilly Auto Parts 250.
*Saunders is the first Truck Series driver to finish last in his series debut since Greg Seevers at Iowa in 2011, when his #75 Norm Benning Racing Chevrolet overheated after 3 laps of the Coca Cola 200.
*This was the first last-place finish for the #0 in a Truck Series race at Kansas since 2008, when Wayne Edwards’ #0 PAD Motorports / Green Light Chevrolet fell out with a vibration after 2 laps of the O’Reilly Auto Parts 250.  Edwards currently has the most last-place finishes in Truck Series history - 13.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
36) #0-Scott Saunders / 2 laps / vibration
35) #38-J.J. Yeley / 4 laps / brakes
34) #93-Chris Jones / 5 laps / carburetor
33) #84-Mike Harmon / 8 laps / overheating
32) #7-John Wes Townley / 27 laps / crash

LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Mike Harmon, Jennifer Jo Cobb, Scott Riggs, Scott Saunders (1)

LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) #0-Jennifer Jo Cobb, #10-Jennifer Jo Cobb, #84-Chris Fontaine, #92-Ricky Benton (1)

LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) RAM (2)
2nd) Chevrolet, Ford (1)