TRUCKS: Justin Jennings Exits Early In Second Randy Young Truck

SOURCE: Rubbin's Racin' Forums

Justin Jennings picked up the 2nd last-place finish of his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career in Saturday’s Pocono Mountains 150 at the Pocono Raceway when his #63 Randco / Young’s Building Systems Chevrolet fell out with a vibration after he completed 2 of the race’s 64 laps.

The finish was Jennings’ second of the 2014 season and his first since Gateway, four races ago.  At the halfway point of the season, he is now tied with Ryan Ellis for the lead in the 2014 LASTCAR Truck Series Championship.

For the second time this year, Jennings did not run a full-race entry fielded by Mike Mittler, but instead a “start-and-park” #63 truck fielded by Randy Young to help fund Young’s primary #02 driven by Tyler Young.  In his previous start for Young at Texas, Jennings came home 26th of 27 starters in a Chevrolet driven earlier that year by Charles Lewandoski.  Two races ago at Iowa, Jennings scored a season-best 15th-place finish.  But for Pocono, the objective was different.

Jennings was 28th-fastest of 30 in the opening practice session and did not participate in Happy Hour.  He qualified 31st for Saturday’s race at an average speed of 152.418 mph, one spot ahead of Caleb Roark in Jennifer Jo Cobb’s #0.  Roark was behind the wheel of the #0 after current LASTCAR leader Ryan Ellis returned to Jim Rosenblum’s #28, a team absent since their accident at Charlotte in May.  Ellis finished 19th.

In the race itself, Jennings pulled behind the wall one lap ahead of Roark.  30th-place B.J. McLeod, who relieved an injured John Wes Townley in Friday’s ARCA race, fell out nine laps later in Bobby Dotter’s #07 Thunder Exhaust / American Tactical / JD Squared Chevrolet.  T.J. Bell finished 29th, his #50 Fallen Linemen Organization Chevrolet out with transmission problems after 13 laps.  Rounding out the Bottom Five was Ray Black, Jr., McLeod’s teammate in the #08 ScubaLife / NASE Worldwide Chevrolet, taken out in a single-truck accident that brought out the first caution of the afternoon.

Tyler Young, Jennings’ part-time teammate, ran a solid race until a controversial accident between Tyler Reddick and German Quiroga took him out just two laps from the finish.  Young ended up 26th, retired with crash damage.  Reddick, retaliating after an earlier tangle with Quiroga, was parked for aggressive driving.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This is the first last-place finish for both Jennings and the #63 in a Truck Series race at Pocono.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
32) #63-Justin Jennings / 2 laps / vibration
31) #0-Caleb Roark / 3 laps / engine
30) #07-B.J. McLeod / 12 laps / electrical
29) #50-T.J. Bell / 13 laps / transmission
28) #08-Ray Black, Jr. / 16 laps / crash

LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Ryan Ellis, Justin Jennings (2)
2nd) Mike Affarano, Alex Guenette, Blake Koch, Charles Lewandoski, Tommy Regan, Scott Stenzel, Jason White (1)

LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) #0-Jennifer Jo Cobb, #36-Mike Mittler, #63-Mike Mittler / Randy Young (2)
2nd) #42-Randy Young, #45-Regan Motorsports, #74-Mario Gosselin, #93-RSS Racing, #03-Mike Affarano Motorsports (1)

LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (10)
2nd) RAM (1)