SEASON IN REVIEW
Newton, North Carolina driver Dennis Setzer picked up his first LASTCAR Nationwide Series Championship in 2010, scoring ten last-place finishes in twenty-one starts during a thirty-five race season.
Like Johnny Chapman before him, Setzer was not a newcomer to NASCAR. He joined the Nationwide Series in 1991 and went on to score a pair of wins in 1994, when he finished 9th in the points as Robert Pressley’s replacement in the #59 Alliance Training Centers Chevrolets. He joined the Truck Series in its inaugural season in 1995 and scored eighteen career victories, finishing 2nd in points for three consecutive seasons from 2003 through 2005. He also made a handful of Cup starts in 1998 for the struggling #13 FirstPlus Financial Ford team owned by Bill Elliott and Dan Marino after a 19th-place finish in his series debut at Talladega.
In 2009, Setzer rejoined the Nationwide Series for the first time since 1998, but found himself in the “start-and-park” doldrums behind the wheel of Dodges owned by Dusty Whitney. Setzer finished no better than 20th at Nashville and didn’t finish all but one of his remaining 15 starts that season. Following his first winless Truck Series season since 2006, Setzer stayed with the Nationwide team, which now changed hands to K-Automotive Motorsports, co-owned by Brian Keselowski and his father, Whitney’s crew chief Bob Keselowski.
This time, Setzer failed to finish all 21 of his starts in 2010, and he finished last in nearly half of them in flat black Dodges numbered #26, #92, and #96. Setzer’s first last-place run of the year came in the #96 at Las Vegas, one of just three races where he carried sponsorship. Setzer’s #96 Stratosphere Dodge fell out of the February 27 race with a vibration after 2 laps of the Sam’s Town 300.
The remainder of Setzer’s last-place runs came in the #92, starting with a pair of last-place runs at Phoenix and Texas. On April 9, the oil pump let loose after 9 laps of the Bashas’ Supermarkets 200, and on April 19, the electrical system gave out after 4 laps of the O’Reilly Auto Parts 300. Setzer did not contend for a third-consecutive last-place finish at Talladega, but instead ran the full race in the final restrictor-plate race before the series’ new cars would be introduced at Daytona. While running with the lead pack on the final lap, Setzer was trapped in a frightening accident where his white #92 caught air and ripped apart in the catchfence. Setzer was uninjured, but let Brian Keselowski park the car and finish last the following week at Richmond.
Setzer’s fourth last-place run of 2010 came in his return at Darlington on May 7, where handling woes were the problem after 11 laps of the Royal Purple 200. The fifth and sixth last-place runs again came in consecutive races, this time at Nashville and Kentucky - handling was the reason for his exit after 3 laps of the June 5 running of the Federated Auto Parts 300, while another electrical problem was cited in his June 12 running of the Meijer 300 that ended after 6 laps. Two races later came the seventh at New Hampshire, where the ignition failed after 2 laps of the New England 200, and two races after that, the ignition caused the eighth at Chicagloand after 3 laps of the Dollar General 300.
The night Setzer’s scored his ninth last-place run at Indianapolis Raceway Park on July 24, where the brakes failed after 7 laps of the Kroger 200, a new contender finished 40th. At the start of the season, 2000 NASCAR Nationwide Series Champion Jeff Green ran just a handful of races for Wayne Day and Curtis Key, finishing a strong 16th the day Setzer wrecked at Talladega. At IRP, Green joined TriStar Motorsports as the “start-and-park” driver for the team’s yellow #36 Chevrolets. In his second start at Iowa on July 31, Green beat Setzer for 43rd by seven laps, falling out with transmission trouble after 2 laps of the U.S. Cellular 250.
Over the remaining thirteen races of 2010, Green scored another seven last-place finishes, including three in a row at Dover, Kansas, and Fontana, and seemed poised to snatch away Setzer’s title at the last moment. However, seven other drivers finished last in that span, including Setzer for the tenth time at Texas on November 6 where a vibration stopped him after three laps of the O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge. Green failed to qualify for the Texas race, and was replaced by Kevin Hamlin the week before, allowing Setzer to hold him off for the title.
At season’s end, Dennis Setzer scored 10 last-place finishes, one short of Jeff Fuller's 2004 record of 11. His K-Automotive Motorsports team also scored 13 last-place finishes between its three teams, tying NEMCO's team record headed by Fuller in 2004 and besting MSRP's mark of 12 in 2009.
Setzer entered the season with just two last-place finishes, but by season’s end, had a total of 12, tying him for 3rd overall in series history with Tommy Houston and Brad Teague. Jeff Green’s eight finishes doubled his career total in the series, lifting him to a total of 16, second-most in the series behind Jeff Fuller’s record of 24. Green returned to TriStar for a full-time “start-and-park” ride in 2011, setting the stage for another record-breaking LASTCAR season.
Setzer and K-Automotive Motorsports separated after 2010, and Brian Keselowski successfully made his first Cup Series start in the 2011 Daytona 500 after several unsuccessful attempts the year before. Setzer drove for three different Nationwide teams in 2011, including Jay Robinson, and joined RSS Racing in the Truck Series in 2012. Setzer secured the 2012 LASTCAR Truck Series Championship, becoming the first driver to win LASTCAR titles in Nationwide and Trucks and the first since Morgan Shepherd to win LASTCAR titles in any two NASCAR divisions.
OTHER LASTCAR HEADLINES
The Nationwide Series introduced a next-generation car at Daytona for the Subway Jalapeno 250, which Dale Earnhardt, Jr. won driving a #3 Wrangler Chevrolet in honor of his late father. Finishing last that night was Jennifer Jo Cobb, whose #27 DriverBoutique.com Ford lost control after five laps and crashed with Mike Curb teammate and 2009 LASTCAR Nationwide Series Champion Johnny Chapman. Since the next-generation car was run full-time in 2011, Mike Curb’s team has only run partial schedules.
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
1st) Dennis Setzer (10)
2nd) Jeff Green (8)
3rd) Mark Green, Kevin Lepage (2)
4th) Willie Allen, Michael Annett, Johnny Borneman III, Matt Carter, Johnny Chapman, David Gilliland, Kevin Hamlin, Jennifer Jo Cobb, Brian Keselowski, Parker Kligerman, Justin Marks, Danny O'Quinn, Jr., Chrissy Wallace (1)
