XFINITY: Jeff Green Scores Fourth Chicagoland Last-Place Finish

SOURCE: Rubbin's Racin' Forums

Jeff Green picked up the 77th last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career in Saturday’s Furious 7 300 at the Chicagoland Speedway when his #19 Premier Barter Exchange Toyota fell out with a vibration after he completed 3 of the race’s 200 laps.

The finish was Green’s 17th of the season, his second in a row, and came in his 413th series start.

Green returned to the track in the newly-sponsored machine he debuted last week at Richmond as one of 41 drivers on Chicagoland’s preliminary entry list.  Following Tuesday’s addition of Dexter Bean, back for the first time since Daytona in July as driver of King Autosport owner Mario Gosselin’s second car, the #92 Gamache Truck Center / Cote Chevrolet, Friday saw Rick Ware Racing withdraw driver Ryan Ellis’ #17 Ford that ended Green’s record eight-race last-place streak at Darlington.

Green was 35th-fastest in Friday’s lone practice session, but improved to 29th in qualifying with a lap of 171.559 mph.  Bean, meanwhile, also made it on speed in 28th, leaving Morgan Shepherd’s #89 Racing With Jesus Chevrolet out of its second-straight race.

The 40th starting spot on Saturday belonged to owner-driver Derek White, whose white unsponsored #40 Motorsports Business Management Dodge ran the most laps of anyone in the first round of qualifying - seven - but couldn’t improve his slowest speed of 159.508 mph - four full seconds slower than the eventual pole speed set by Kyle Busch.  Three laps into the race, Green had slipped to the rear of the field and retired from the race, beating Bean to the garage by three circuits.

Finishing 38th on Saturday was T.J. Bell, who was making his third start of the season in JGL Racing’s #26 Toyota.  JGL had another good showing at Chicagoland as teammate J.J. Yeley was 2nd-fastest in practice in his #28 Toyota and came home 19th.  Another strong run was earned by John Wes Townley, who equaled his career-best 13th in the #25 Zaxby’s Chevrolet.  White came home 37th while 36th changed hands between Benny Gordon’s #66 VSI / Somerset Regional Water Resources Toyota and the #22 Discount Tire Ford driven this week by Ryan Blaney.  Blaney’s crash on Lap 104 dropped him past Gordon’s lapped machine on Lap 140, but Gordon retook it on Lap 148 when he pulled out with rear gear issues.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*Green sweeps both last-place runs at Chicagoland for 2015 and has now finished last at the track four times since 2012.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
40) #19-Jeff Green / 3 laps / vibration
39) #92-Dexter Bean / 6 laps / suspension
38) #26-T.J. Bell / 13 laps / vibration
37) #40-Derek White / 14 laps / electrical
36) #66-Benny Gordon / 105 laps / rear gear

2015 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Jeff Green (17) - 2015 CHAMPION
2nd) Dexter Bean (2)
3rd) Ryan Ellis, C.J. Faison, Mike Harmon, Charles Lewandoski, Carl Long, Morgan Shepherd, Derek White (1)

2015 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) TriStar Motorsports (18)
2nd) King Autosport, Motorsports Business Management (2)
3rd) JGL Racing, Mike Harmon Racing, Rick Ware Racing, Shepherd Racing Ventures (1)

2015 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Toyota (20)
2nd) Chevrolet (3)
3rd) Dodge (2)
4th) Ford (1)