XFINITY: Jeff Green Sets New NASCAR Single-Season Last-Place Record

SOURCE: NBC Sports

Jeff Green picked up the 76th last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career in Friday’s Virginia 529 College Savings 250 at the Richmond International Raceway when his #19 Premier Barter Exchange Toyota fell out with a vibration after he completed 2 of the race’s 250 laps.

The finish was Green’s 16th of the season and his first since Road America, two races ago.  With eight races to go, Green has already broken his 2013 record of 15 last-place finishes in a single season.

Green was one of 41 entrants at Richmond, and was the slowest in Thursday’s opening practice with a single lap of only 77.548 mph - 12.590 seconds slower than Austin Dillon’s fastest lap of 121.474 mph.  He improved dramatically with a lap of 119.011 mph in qualifying, good enough for 31st on the grid.  Missing the show was Morgan Shepherd, whose #89 Chevrolet was edged by J.J. Yeley’s #28 Toyota by two-tenths of a second.

When the green flag flew on Friday, the 40th spot belonged to Josh Reaume, back with Motorsports Business Management for the first time since a 39th at Mid-Ohio last month.  Reaume’s #13 followed the field into Turn 1 when trouble broke out in front of him.  The 24th, 26th, and 28th-place starters of Benny Gordon, David Starr, and John Wes Townley made contact and spun, triggering a wreck that also collected Joey Gase, Carl Long, and Jimmy Weller III.  Reaume avoided involvement, as did Green, who both cut to the apron to avoid contact.

The two drivers whose vehicles were most severely damaged in the wreck were Weller’s #90 BYB Extreme Fighting Series Chevrolet and Gordon’s #66 Somerset Regional Water Resources / VSI Toyota.  However, both were still edged for last by Green, who during the ensuing caution pulled the #19 behind the wall at the same time as Weller.  37th went to Starr, Green’s teammate in the #44 Zachry Toyota, his damaged #44 colliding with the Turn 3 wall on Lap 19.  Long rounded out the Bottom Five for Motorsports Business Management in the white #40 Grafoid Dodge - teammate Reaume finished 28th, eight laps down to race winner Chase Elliott.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*Green sweeps both XFINITY Series last-place finishes at Richmond for 2015 with his fifth last-place run at the track in the last eight series races.
*This is the first last-place finish for the #19 in an XFINITY Series race at Richmond since September 10, 1993, when Tom Peck’s #19 Delco Remy Chevrolet lost the engine after 9 laps of the Autolite 250.  It was Peck’s only last-place finish in 171 series starts from 1984 through 1995.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
40) #19-Jeff Green / 2 laps / vibration
39) #90-Jimmy Weller III / 2 laps / crash
38) #66-Benny Gordon / 3 laps / crash
37) #44-David Starr / 16 laps / crash
36) #40-Carl Long / 38 laps / suspension

2015 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Jeff Green (16) - 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 (17)
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 (19)
2nd) Chevrolet (3)
3rd) Dodge (2)
4th) Ford (1)