XFINITY: Jeff Green Scores Third Kansas Last-Place Finish In Six Years

SOURCE: Rubbin's Racin' Forums

Jeff Green picked up the 80th last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career in Saturday’s Kansas Lottery 300 at the Kansas Speedway when his #19 Premier Barter Exchange Toyota fell out with suspension issues after he completed 3 of 204 laps.

The finish, which came in Green’s 417th series start, was his 20th of the 2015 season, his third in a row, and his fifth in the last seven race
s.

Green did not participate in Friday’s opening practice session, but ran a solid 27th-best in Happy Hour.  He defended the spot in qualifying, improving by nearly half a second to earn 27th on the grid with a speed of 175.262 mph.  41 cars arrived at the track, but though he ran 33rd-fastest in Happy Hour, Mario Gosselin withdrew his #92 CrashClaimsR.us Chevrolet before qualifying, guaranteeing the remaining entrants a spot in the field.

Matt Carter's #68 Fleur-De-Lis Chevrolet, 2011 SOURCE: TheHotLap.com

Starting 40th on the grid was Jennifer Jo Cobb, who was making her first XFINITY Series start since this same race last year, when she came home 24th in Rick Ware’s #87.  According to a trackside report, Cobb’s #10 Mark One Electric / Precision Roofing Chevrolet was probably the oldest car in the field.  The plain white Chevrolet began its life as a “Car of Tomorrow” chassis for DEI’s Cup team, then in 2011 became the #68 Fleur-De-Lis Motorsports ride, perhaps the same one Matt Carter finished last with during that year’s spring race at Richmond.

Jennifer Jo Cobb's Mark One Chevrolet on Saturday SOURCE: Boyd Adams

Cobb’s ride was originally listed as a TriStar Motorsports entry, making it the first start by TriStar’s #10 since April at Talladega, the last race before Jeff Green assumed Mike Bliss’ vacated ride at Iowa.  However, by being a Chevrolet instead of a Toyota and with Cobb’s identical Truck Series numbers on the car, this was likely not the case.  Regardless of origin, Cobb ended up 29th on the day after she crashed on the frontstretch with 55 laps to go, collecting the #90 Halcyon Mobile Chevrolet of Korbin Forrister.

Forrister’s crash capped a difficult day for Bobby Dotter’s two-car SS-Green Light Racing team, which also kicked-off the battle for 40th spot.  On Lap 2, as Cobb followed the rest of the field into Turns 1 and 2, B.J. McLeod in Dotter’s #15 Main Gate Enterprises Chevrolet lost control and backed into the outside wall, drawing the first caution of the afternoon.  McLeod, who also struggled with an ill-handling car in qualifying despite a 29th-place starting spot, briefly held the last spot while Green pulled the #19 behind the wall under the yellow to drop to 39th.  When the #15 later returned to the track, Green slipped back to 40th.  McLeod retired after 79 laps, the handling issues too bad to continue, and finished 33rd.

Following Green in the Bottom Five were owner-drivers Derrike Cope and Mike Harmon.  For Cope, the engine failure on his #70 Maxelence MVP / To The Point Chevrolet was his worst finish of the season, his day over after only 14 laps.  Harmon’s 38th-place run was his worst since a 39th at Richmond in May, an engine problem of his own stopping the #74 Skin & Bones Dodge.  37th went to Timmy Hill, who after missing the field for the Cup race pulled behind the wall in Motorsports Business Management’s #40 Grafoid Chevrolet.  Rounding out the Bottom Five was 36th-place T.J. Bell - his third-straight 36th-place finish in JGL Racing’s unsponsored #26 Toyota.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This is Green’s third last-place finish in an XFINITY Series race at Kansas, the other two also coming with TriStar Motorsports in 2010 and 2013.
*This is the first last-place finish for the #19 in an XFINITY Series race at Kansas since the inaugural event on September 29, 2001, when Ed Berrier’s #19 Tiger Saws & Blades Chevrolet crashed after 10 laps of the Mr. Goodcents 300.  Green won the race that day - the 14th of his career and his 10th and final driving for team owner Greg Pollex in the #10 Nestle Nesquik Ford.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
40) #19-Jeff Green / 3 laps / suspension
39) #70-Derrike Cope / 14 laps / engine
38) #74-Mike Harmon / 20 laps / engine
37) #40-Timmy Hill / 25 laps / vibration
36) #26-T.J. Bell / 30 laps / electrical

2015 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Jeff Green (20) - 2015 CHAMPION
2nd) Dexter Bean (2)
3rd) Ryan Ellis, C.J. Faison, Mike Harmon, Blake Koch, Charles Lewandoski, Carl Long, Morgan Shepherd, Derek White (1)

2015 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) TriStar Motorsports (22)
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 (24)
2nd) Chevrolet (3)
3rd) Dodge (2)
4th) Ford (1)