XFINITY: Derek White Scores First XFINITY Last-Place Run For #40 Since 1999

SOURCE: Action Sports Photography

Derek White picked up the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career in Saturday’s Drive to Stop Diabetes 300 at the Bristol Motor Speedway when his #40 Braile Battery / Grafoid Dodge fell out with electrical issues after he completed 11 of the race’s 300 laps.  The finish occurred in White’s 14th series start.

The 2010 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series Rookie of the Year, White made his XFINITY Series debut at his home track at Montreal in 2012, where he finished a career-best 18th driving the #24 Boutique Fashion Broker Chevrolet for SR2 Motorspots.  In last year’s running of this same Bristol race, White debuted his own team with Matt Carter as the driver of his #13 Toyota.  The team, Motorsports Business Management (MBM) made six more starts by season’s end, not finishing any of those races, and planned to expand into a two-car team for 2015.

This year, White and journeyman co-drivers Chris Cockrum, Carl Long, Cody Ware, and Timmy Hill have each shared time in MBM’s #13 and #40 Toyotas and Dodges.  Cockrum gave the team its best finish to date at Daytona, running 21st in the #13 right in front of White in the 22nd.  The team’s #40 then finished next-to-last in four of the next five races, again with White sharing his ride with Long.

At Bristol, Long timed in 37th-fastest of the 39 drivers during the opening session, and both Long and White moved the #40 up to 36th out of 39 in Happy Hour.  White secured the 40th and final starting spot based on owner points, joining Texas last-placer Mike Harmon as the only two Dodges in the field.  Eleven laps into the race, White pulled off the track under green, taking last from Eric McClure, who crashed in Turn 4 on Lap 2.  Finishing 39th, 17 laps behind White, is current three-time last-place finisher Jeff Green.  Atlanta last-placer Morgan Shepherd ended up 38th followed by Derrike Cope with his third bottom-five finish of the year and Carlos Contreras, making his season debut in Rick Ware’s #15 BYB Extreme / Dawg-Fight.com Chevrolet.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This is the first last-place finish for the #40 in the XFINITY Series since February 20, 1999, when Kerry Earnhardt’s #40 Channellock Chevrolet started 7th, but fell out with handling woes during the Alltel 200 at North Carolina (Rockingham) Speedway.  The number had not finished last in a series race at Bristol since April 12, 1997, when Curtis Markham’s MHCO USA Ford crashed after 14 laps of the Moore’s Snacks 250.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
40) #40-Derek White / 11 laps / electrical
39) #10-Jeff Green / 28 laps / vibration
38) #89-Morgan Shepherd / 41 laps / brakes
37) #70-Derrike Cope / 55 laps / fuel pump
36) #15-Carlos Contreras / 60 laps / brakes

2015 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Jeff Green (3)
2nd) Dexter Bean, Mike Harmon, Morgan Shepherd, Derek White (1)

2015 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) #10-TriStar Motorsports (3)
2nd) #40-Motorsports Business Management, #74-Mike Harmon Racing, #89-Shepherd Racing Ventures, #92-King Autosport (1)

2015 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Toyota (3)
2nd) Chevrolet, Dodge (2)