SEASON IN REVIEW
Auburn, Massachusetts driver Jeff Fuller picked up his second LASTCAR Busch Series Championship in 2004, scoring eleven last-place finishes in thirty starts during a thirty-four race season. In doing so, Fuller shattered his own single-season record of seven in 2003, a record he’d hold for nine more years.
Fuller returned to NEMCO Motorsports in 2004 as the full-time driver of owner Joe Nemechek’s #88 Chevrolets. The #88 made its season debut at Daytona, where Wally Dallenbach, Jr. finished next-to-last in the Hershey’s Kisses 300 on February 14 following an early crash in his Mr. Clean AutoDry Carwash Pontiac. From there through season’s end, Fuller ran a #88 without sponsorship as a “start-and-park” effort to help fund Nemechek’s #87.
Fuller responded by qualifying for all but two of the thirty-two races he attempted that season - Chicago on July 10 and the season finale at Homestead. As a result, Fuller failed to finish all thirty races with an average finish of 40.8, thanks to a last-place finish rate of one for every three starts.
Fuller’s first three finishes in 2004 came in consecutive races, making him the first Busch Series driver to score three last-place runs in a row: in the Goody’s Headache Powder 200 at Rockingham on February 21, handling woes stopped him after 2 laps; in the Sam’s Town 300 at Las Vegas on March 6, the car overheated after 34 laps; and in the Diamond Hill Plywood 200 at Darlington on March 20, a vibration took him out after 3 laps.
The fourth came ten races later at Dover on June 5, where another vibration ended his run in the MBNA America 200, followed one week later at Nashville on June 12 where another vibration was the cause of an exit after 6 laps of the Federated Auto Parts 300. Finish number six came at Daytona on July 2, where he started 19th, but overheated after 7 laps of the Winn-Dixie 250, and number seven was at New Hampshire two races later on July 24, where the brakes let go after 4 laps of the Siemens 200.
Another pair of last-place runs came in consecutive races during the fall, numbers eight and nine both due to vibrations after 5 laps of the Stacker 2 Hundred at Dover on September 25 and 15 laps of the Mr. Goodcents 300 at Kansas on October 9, the latter won by Joe Nemechek, who swept both the Busch and Cup Series wins that weekend. The tenth finish came at Memphis on October 23, where brakes again ended his day after 12 laps of the Sam’s Town 250, and the final finish came at Phoenix two race later, when another 12-lap brake problem took him out of the Bashas’ Supermarkets 200 on November 6.
Incredibly, Fuller entered the 2004 season with ten last-place finishes, tying him with John Linville and three behind leader Ed Berrier. At season’s end, he had 21 finishes, more than double his total from before, and eight more than Berrier. Fuller would hold the all-time Busch Series last-place record for nearly seven full seasons. Fuller made three Cup starts in 2004 for owner Don Arnold and finished last in two of those, setting the stage for a successful LASTCAR Busch Series title defense in 2005.
OTHER LASTCAR HEADLINES
Joe Nemechek finished last twice in 2004, bringing NEMCO Motorsports’ overall last-place total in 2004 to a new record of 13. Nemechek’s first last-place run came at Fontana on May 1, where his #7 NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet lost the ignition after 3 laps. The other came during the Lowe’s Presents the SpongeBob SquarePants Movie 300 at Charlotte on October 15 - the only race other than Daytona where Fuller didn’t have a ride. That night, Nemechek handed his #87 over to Boston Reid and qualified Fuller’s #88 in the 6th spot, only to crash just after taking the lead on Lap 36. Reid crashed twice after that and finished 42nd.
Nemechek’s last-place run at Charlotte occurred between three of Fuller’s last-place runs at Dover, Kansas, and Memphis, giving NEMCO Motorsports the series’ first streak of four consecutive last-place finishes. No one driver would accomplish that feat until 2011.
During the February 14 running of the season-opening Hershey’s Kisses 300 at Daytona, the race where Wally Dallenbach, Jr. finished 42nd in the NEMCO #88, the 43rd and final spot went to Kasey Kahne, who scored his first last-place run in that race. Kahne’s #38 Great Clips Dodge started 9th, but ended up in the same seven-car wreck as Dallenbach. The next day, Kahne made his Cup debut in the Daytona 500, where he finished 41st, but went on to score 13 Top Fives on his way to Rookie of the Year.
Johnny Sauter, who competed with Kahne for Cup Series Rookie of the Year, picked up his first last-place finish of the season at Atlanta on October 30 when his #27 Kleenex Anti-Viral Chevrolet was involved in a five-car accident after the opening lap of the Aaron’s 312. Sauter scored his third Busch Series win at his family’s home track in Milwaukee in 2005, and four years later, he had the first of five consecutive winning seasons in the Truck Series.
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
1st) Jeff Fuller (11)
2nd) Steve Grissom, Joe Nemechek, Billy Parker (2)
3rd) Stan Boyd, Derrike Cope, Aaron Fike, Mark Green, Bobby Hamilton, Jr., Jennifer Jo Cobb, Kasey Kahne, David Keith, Jimmy Kitchens, Rick Markle, Eric McClure, Donnie Neuenburger, Mike Potter, Tony Raines, Hermie Sadler, Johnny Sauter, Brad Teague (1)
