Patrick Smith picked up the 1st last place finish of his SCRL Wrangler Jeans Busch Grand National Series career in Sunday's Holly Farms 200 at the North Wilkesboro Speedway when his #45 Luck Stone Pontiac was involved in a multi-car crash without completing any of the 40 laps.
The finish came in his 6th career series start. Entering Season 2 of the Busch Series, Smith is one of many drivers just trying to make a name for themselves in the SCRL as he made his series debut at Daytona finished 6th, which has been his best career finish so far as the series entered for the first time in series history at the legendary North Wilkesboro Speedway.
On race day, Patrick would roll off the field in 34th while starting last was the #4 Unsponsored Pontiac of AJ Jones. As the field entered the first turn, chaos broke out as a multi-car wreck broke out as Smith had nowhere to go, slamming into the back of the #8 TGR Enterprises Pontiac of Eli Bright as Smith would limp back around to the pits and into the garage, his car officially retired by Lap 2.
41st went to the #01 Zervakis Racing Pontiac of Tony Newman and 40th went to the #41 Marvaco Inc. Pontiac of Marcus Saatchi who were both taken out in a Lap 20 crash while finishing 39th went to the #24 Budweiser Ford of Connor Hurley who was able to limp around for one extra lap before retiring. Rounding out the Bottom Five in 38th was the #7 Mello Yello Oldsmobile of Matt Hamill, taken out himself in a crash several laps later on Lap 26.
SCRLASTCAR STATISTICS
*This is the first time the #45 has finished last in a Buschrace as well as at North Wilkesboro.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
42) #45-Patrick Smith / 0 laps / crash
41) #01-Tony Newman / 20 laps / crash
40) #41-Marcus Saatchi / 20 laps / crash
39) #24-Connor Hurley / 21 laps / crash
38) #7-Matt Hamill / 26 laps / crash
Nick Kennedy picked up the 1st last place finish of his SCRL Wrangler Jeans Busch Grand National Series career in Wednesday's Miller Time 250 at the Martinsville Speedway when his #19 Gardiner's Auto Parts Pontiac was involved in a multi-car crash after 7 of the 50 laps.
The finish came in his 34th career series start. Entering Season 2 of the Busch Series, Nick Kennedy is one of the most successful drivers in the history of the SCRL, having score one championship, in the SCRL Formula 1 Series, as well as having scored 11 career wins, which puts him in a tie with Brian Fox and Riley Spurlytube for the 8th most wins in league history, however Kennedy has never scored a win in the busch series, his best finish being a 2nd at Hickory twice in Season 1. Kennedy's Season 2 started off in a sour way when he suffered engine problems at Daytona that resulted in him finishing 37th, finishing 16th at Richmond, 9th at Rockingham and 23rd at Hickory in the last round.
On race day, Kennedy would roll off the field in 22nd while starting last was the #51 Unsponsored Pontiac of Oreius Centaur as the field took the green, Centaur would hold the last spot for the first two turns before the #90 unsponsored Pontiac of Matt Bowyer took the last spot on the Backstretch and trailed the field for the first lap before passing Oreius on the 2nd lap. On the fourth lap the #93 unsponsored Pontiac of Brian Fox was knocked back to last before the #70 unsponsored Pontiac of Kion Vargas took last on Lap 5 before Oreius once again took last on the 7th lap, around the same time chaos broke out in Turn 4. A multi-car crash would break out as Kennedy had worked himself into the Top 20 at that point as he was unable to slow down in time as he slammed into the back of the #87 Jarvis Racing Chevrolet of Joe Jefferson. Kennedy would limp around the track before pulling into the garage, his car retired, but he didn't take last place until Lap 9.
41st went to the #95 Metro Pontiac of Sebastian Torres who was knocked out in a Lap 25 crash, 40th went to the #24 Budweiser Ford of Connor Hurley who suffered Valve problems on the same lap as Torres. Finishing 39th was Daytona race winner the #33 Dalton Chevrolet Dealers Pontiac of Alexio Antonio, who was taken out in a Lap 31 crash while rounding out the Bottom Five was the #88 unsponsored Pontiac of Ryan Bowyer, who finished six laps down behind race winner Diego Yepez.
SCRLASTCAR STATISTICS
*This is the first time the #19 has finished last in a Busch race as well as at Martinsville.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
42) #19-Nick Kennedy / 7 laps / crash
41) #95-Sebastian Torres / 25 laps / crash
40) #24-Connor Hurley / 25 laps / valve
39) #33-Alexio Antonio / 31 laps / crash
38) #88-Ryan Bowyer / 44 laps / running
Colin Drybrugh picked up the 1st last place finish of his SCRL Wrangler Jeans Busch Grand National Series career in the Goody's 300 at the Daytona International Speedway when his #6 unsponsored Pontiac was involved in a multi-car crash after 1 of the 20 laps.
On race day, Dryburgh would roll off starting in the 27th spot while the #79 Native Tan Pontiac of Josh Barker would start in the last spot as the field took the green Barker trailed the field for the first four turns before chaos broke out in the tri-oval as a ten car wreck would break out as Dryburgh would run into the back of the #50 unsponsored Pontiac of Dylan Theroux, lifting all four tires off the ground as Drybrugh would limp around the track, pulling into the garage as the car would be listed as "out" by the time the field traveled down the backstretch under caution.
The remaining Bottom Five would be filled up by the second lap by drivers also taken out in the "big one" on Lap 1; 41st went to the aforementioned #50 of Dylan Theroux, 40th went to the #37 of Matt Johnson, 39th went to the #82 Aidan Shepherd and rounding out the bottom five in 38th was the #23 of Brian Fox.
SCRLASTCAR STATISTICS
*This was the first time the #6 had finished last in a Busch race as well at Daytona .
THE BOTTOM FIVE
42) #6-Colin Drybrugh / 1 lap / crash
41) #50-Dylan Theroux / 1 lap / crash
40) #37-Matt Johnson / 2 laps / crash
39) #82-Aidan Shepherd / 2 laps / crash
38) #23-Brian Fox / 2 laps / crash
Marcos Yepez picked up the 1st last place finish of his SCRL Wrangler Jeans Busch Grand National Series career in Sunday's Mello Yello 200 at the Hickory Speedway when his #62 1 Stop Food Store Pontiac completed 19 of the 20 laps under power.
The finish came in his 4th career series start. Entering Season 2 of the Busch Series, Yepez had found limited success, scoring only one win in his entire career, when he drove the #99 car to a wire-to-wire performance at Salem in the SCRL CatDog Pro Series West. Yepez made his Busch Series debut at Daytona earlier in the year, finishing 30th, in the second event he finished 24th at Richmond and in the last event Yepez finished a career best 18th at Rockingham.
On race day, Yepez would roll off the field in 26th while starting last was the #15 Wrangler Pontiac of Chris Kyle as the field took the green, Kyle would pass Daytona race winner the #33 unsponsored Pontiac of Alexio Antonio would fall back to the last spot for the first two laps before the #3 unsponsored Pontiac of Jay Jefferson would fall back to last on the third and fourth lap before Yepez entered the battle for the first time on Lap 5. The unsponsored #89 of Toby Fox would take the last spot on Lap 6 before the #15 of Chris Kyle would drop back to last on Lap 7, who would trail the field until the 12th lap as Yepez would slow down on the backstretch before heading to the pits, reporting of a flat left front tire. Yepez would lose a lap, never being able to get it back as he would stay trapped a lap down and would score his first last place finish.
The Remaining Bottom Five were filled by drivers who all finished on the same lap as race winner Riley Spurlytube: 32nd was fall Bristol winner the #8 TGR Enterprises Pontiac of Eli Bright, 31st went to the aforementioned #3 of Jay Jefferson, 30th went to the #1 New Con Leasing Pontiac of Carter Friesen and finishing 29th went to the aforementioned #15 of Chris Kyle.
SCRLASTCAR STATISTICS
*This is the first time the #62 has finished last in a Busch race as well as at Hickory.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
33) #62-Marcos Yepez / 19 laps / running
32) #8-El Bright / 20 laps / running
31) #3-Jay Jefferson / 20 laps / running
30) #1-Carter Friesen / 20 laps / running
29) #15-Chris Kyle / 20 laps / running
Gatlin Downey picked up the 1st last place finish of his SCRL Wrangler Jeans Busch Grand National Series career in Thursday's Coca-Cola 200 at the North Carolina Motor Speedway when his #04 unsponsored Pontiac fell out with header problems without completing any of the 50 laps.
The finish came in his 3rd career series start. Entering Season 2 of the Busch Series, Downey was one of many drivers just looking to score that first career win, having yet to visit victory lane despite several close finishes. Downey didn't participate in Season 1 of the busch series, so he made his series debut at Daytona, finishing 35th after being taken out in the "big one" on lap 6 and finished 14th in the previous round at Richmond Fairgrounds.
On race day, Downey would roll off the field in 29th while starting last was the #24 Budweiser Ford of Connor Hurley, who, like Downey, was making his third career series start. Hurley would trail the field as the field took the green flag, but Downey quickly pulled his car to the apron as smoke began to come out the rear of the car as Downey would coast his way to the pits as his crew would briefly look under the hood before pushing the car behind the wall, the car officially listed as "out" by Lap 2, his car never able to cross the start/finish lap to complete a lap.
The Bottom Five were filled by drivers who were involved in the "big one" that struck on Lap 15 as 41st went to the #90 unsponsored Pontiac of Matt Bowyer, 40th went to the #87 Jarvis Racing Chevrolet of Joe Jefferson, 39th went to the #01 Zervakis Racing Pontiac of Tony Newman and 38th went to the #11 J.W. Hunt Produce Pontiac of Al Lagasee.
SCRLASTCAR STATISTICS
*This is the first time the #04 has finished last in a Busch race as well as at Rockingham.
*This is Downey's first ever last-place finish in the SCRL.
*This marks just the third time in series history that "header" has been listed as the last-place finish; the previous two were in Season 1 when Keith Stevens trailed the field at the fall event at Bristol and in the season finale at Martinsville.
*This marks just the second time in busch series history a driver has failed to complete a lap; the only other time it happened was when AJ Jones suffered camshaft problems in the Sunkist 200 at the Hickory Speedway; 20 races ago.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
42) #04-Gatlin Downey / 0 laps / header
41) #90-Matt Bowyer / 16 laps / crash
40) #87-Joe Jefferson / 16 laps / crash
39) #01-Tony Newman / 17 laps / crash
38) #11-Al Lagasee / 17 laps / crash
