XFINITY: Jeff Green escapes restrictor-plate mayhem with early Talladega exit

SOURCE: Rubbin's Racin' Forums

Jeff Green picked up the 87th last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career in Saturday’s Sparks Energy 300 at the Talladega Superspeedway when his unsponsored #10 TriStar Motorsports Toyota fell out with suspension issues after he completed 2 of 116 laps.

The finish, which came in Green’s 427th series start, was his fourth of the season and his first since Phoenix, five races ago.

Green returned to TriStar’s #10 for the first time since Texas, three races ago, when he failed to make the field.  There was a chance he would miss the show again, as he was this time one of 43 drivers entered in the event.  He timed in 30th in the opening practice, did not participate in Happy Hour, and timed in 27th in qualifying with a lap of 176.156 mph.  Missing the show were Josh Reaume, back in the #93 RSS Racing Chevrolet which had scored two of the previous three last-place runs with Josh Wise; Derrike Cope in his #70 Buddy’s Home Furnishings / Ice-Aid Chevrolet, and the unsponsored #74 Dodge of Mike Harmon.

Green pulled his #10 into the garage area during the opening green-flag run.  39th-place finisher Morgan Shepherd paced the field in his #89 Racing With Jesus / Courtney Construction Chevrolet during the competition caution on Lap 23, then pulled out with rear gear issues on the restart.  38th and 37th went to Joey Gase in Jimmy Means’ #52 Sparks Energy / Donate Life Alabama Chevrolet and Chris Cockrum in Jeff Spraker’s #25 Advance Communications Group Chevrolet.  Cockrum and Gase were involved in a hard Lap 32 crash when both spun into the inside wall.  Like Michael Annett in the following day’s Cup race, Cockrum hit the protrusion in the wall where emergency vehicles exit, only the #25 caught air and spun.  Both drivers walked away uninjured.  Rounding out the Bottom Five was B.J. McLeod, whose #78 Triple R Containers Ford lost an engine after 39 laps.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the fourth-consecutive last-place finish for TriStar’s #10 in this Talladega event.  Of those, Green last scored the finish in 2013.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
40) #10-Jeff Green / 2 laps / suspension
39) #89-Morgan Shepherd / 27 laps / rear gear / led 1 lap
38) #52-Joey Gase / 30 laps / crash
37) #25-Chris Cockrum / 30 laps / crash
36) #78-B.J. McLeod / 39 laps / engine

2016 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Jeff Green (4)
2nd) Matt DiBenedetto, Josh Wise (2)
3rd) Ryan Preece (1)

2016 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) TriStar Motorsports (6)
2nd) RSS Racing (2)
3rd) JD Motorsports (1)

2016 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Toyota (6)
2nd) Chevrolet (3)