N’WIDE: Blake Koch Scores Second Last-Place Finish In Three Races

SOURCE: CM2 Concepts

Blake Koch picked up the 4th last-place finish of his NASCAR Nationwide Series career in Saturday’s Great Clips / Grit Chips 300 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway when his #00 M&W Transportation /SupportMilitary.org Toyota fell out with ignition trouble after he completed 5 of the race’s 195 laps.

The finish was Koch’s third of the 2013 season and his first since Mid-Ohio, two races ago.  Koch now holds sole possession of second in the 2013 LASTCAR Nationwide Series Driver’s Championship, seven finishes behind leader Jeff Green.  Green, still driving in relief of Eric McClure in the #14 Hefty / Reynolds Wrap Toyota, finished 29th when he was involved in a grinding crash exiting the quad-oval with thirteen laps to go.

Koch qualified 32nd at an average speed of 170.763 mph, ranking him fourth among the ten “go-or-go-homers” who attempted to qualify.  Following the withdrawals of both Ryan Sieg and Darlington last-placer Tanner Berryhill, forty cars qualified for as many spots, so no one else missed the show.

During the opening green-flag run, Koch was the first driver behind the wall, followed two laps later by Josh Wise, the last-place finisher of the most recent race in Bristol.  Rounding out the Bottom Five were Chase Miller, once again behind the wheel of the 2013 leading #10 TriStar Motorsports Toyota, Mike Harmon in his unsponsored #74 Chevrolet, and fellow owner-driver Morgan Shepherd, the 40th-place finisher in the July race at Daytona.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This was the first Nationwide last-place finish at Atlanta for both Koch and the #00.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
40) #00-Blake Koch / 5 laps / ignition
39) #42-Josh Wise / 7 laps / transmission
38) #10-Chase Miller / 8 laps / vibration
37) #74-Mike Harmon / 8 laps / rear gear
36) #89-Morgan Shepherd / 18 laps / overheating

LASTCAR N'WIDE SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Jeff Green (10)
2nd) Blake Koch (3)
3rd) Joey Gase (2)
4th) Tanner Berryhill, Johanna Long, Eric McClure, Michael McDowell, Robert Richardson, Jr., Morgan Shepherd, Dexter Stacey, Mike Wallace, Josh Wise (1)

LASTCAR N'WIDE SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) #10-TriStar Motorsports (10)
2nd) #00-SR2 Motorsports (3)
3rd) #52-Jimmy Means Racing (2)
4th) #14-TriStar Motorsports, #17-Vision Racing, #23-R3 Motorsports, #27-SR2 Motorsports, #42-The Motorsports Group, #70-ML Motorsports, #89-Shepherd Racing Ventures, #92-KH Motorsports, #01-JD Motorsports (1)

LASTCAR N'WIDE SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Toyota (18)
2nd) Chevrolet (4)
3rd) Dodge, Ford (1)