PHOTO: Michael Harvey Media
SEASON IN REVIEW
Owensboro, Kentucky driver Jeff Green picked up his seventh LASTCAR XFINITY Series Championship in 2018, scoring twelve last-place finishes in thirty-three starts during a thirty-three race season. He came just one last-place finish short of tying his mark of thirteen from a year before, scored his sixth title in eight years, and clinched the title at Indianapolis on September 10 with eight races to go. In the process, Green started every race on the XFINITY Series schedule for the first time since 2001.
Green reprised his role driving a “start-and-park” entry for RSS Racing, though this time would swap rides between three of the team’s four different entries with the exception of the flagship #39 most often driven by Ryan Sieg. Green’s first last-place finish came in RSS’ #38 Chevrolet at Atlanta on February 24, a vibration to blame for an exit after 5 laps. He then switched back to his more familiar #93, and would finish last in every other race for the next ten rounds: on March 10, brake issues after 18 laps at Phoenix; on April 7, electrical issues after 13 laps at Texas; on April 20, electrical issues after 26 laps at Richmond; on May 5, a vibration after 11 laps at Dover; and brake issues again after 4 laps at Pocono on June 2.
Green himself broke the “every-other” streak by finishing last for a seventh time the next week at Michigan, a vibration after 5 laps on June 9. This marked Green’s first-ever XFINITY Series last-place finish at the Michigan track. At that point, the only two tracks where he’d yet to finish last in the series were Darlington and the upcoming Charlotte “Roval.” He would trail neither race – Austin Cindric crashed out early at Darlington on September 1, and teammate J.J. Yeley would cite suspension issues on his backup #38 Chevrolet 6 laps into the “Roval.”
It was another three races before Green finished last again, taking back-to-back 40th-place finishes at Kentucky on July 13 (electrical issues after 6 laps) and New Hampshire on July 21 (brake issues after 22 laps). The tenth finish came another five races later at Road America, where suspension trouble stopped another run in the #38 Chevrolet after only 2 laps. Two rounds later, in the rain-delayed September 10 race at Indianapolis, Green secured his 11th last-place run, securing his seventh LASTCAR XFINITY Series title. He’d trail just once more – the penultimate race at the ISM Raceway (Phoenix) on November 10, brake troubles on the #93 after 18 laps.
In between, Green debuted RSS Racing’s new fourth team, the #37 Chevrolet, which ran at both Kansas on October 20 and the season finale at Homestead on November 18, but did not finish last either time. He also ran strong in his full-race performances on the three restrictor-plate races. He finished 11th in the Daytona opener on February 17 despite involvement in a late crash, was charging toward the front on the final lap at Talladega on April 28 before he ended up 13th.
OTHER LASTCAR HEADLINES
Owner-driver Mike Harmon had become more competitive in recent years, and entering the 2018 season had not finished last in three seasons. The streak ended at Fontana on March 17, where his #74 Chill by Koolbox / Shadow Warrior Project Chevrolet had engine trouble after just 6 laps. It was only the second last-place finish for Harmon in the last six years.
Another owner-driver, defending Road America winner Jeremy Clements, scored his first last-place finish several months later. Clements’ #51 RepairableVehicles.com Chevrolet crashed out after 4 laps of the April 14 race at Bristol, his first time trailing a XFINITY Series race in 273 career starts.
Start-up team Fury Race Cars made headlines in the late spring of 2018 after Kaz Grala was released by a closing JGL Racing team. The Fury effort and its distinctive #61 Fords debuted with a strong 10th-place finish at Charlotte, then became the underdog story of the year, at one time running an old Stewart-Haas Racing show car in the July race at Daytona, finishing 4th. Only a lack of sponsorship kept Grala from competing for the full season, ultimately starting 22 of the 33 races between JGL and Fury. The team also scored just one last-place finish – an electrical issue for the #61 Kiklos / IT Coalition Ford after just 1 lap at Chicagoland on June 30.
Josh Bilicki trailed the July 6 race at Daytona in JP Motorsports’ #45 Prevagen Toyota. This marked the first last-place finish for car #45 in the XFINITY Series since June 12, 1999, when the late Adam Petty crashed out early at South Boston.
Bilicki had further trouble entering Texas on November 3 which forced his #45 team to withdraw. While the JP effort ultimately decided to swap car numbers with their #55 team, they did not have a backup car, resulting in the XFINITY Series’ first short field since Mid-Ohio in 2014. Finishing last in the 39-car field was Morgan Shepherd, who wrecked his only car on the backstretch in practice. A grassroots effort from JD Motorsports secured Shepherd a backup car, which Shepherd pulled behind the wall after 4 laps. Further help from JD allowed Shepherd to run the final two races of the year in his familiar black-and-gold #89 Visone RV Chevrolet.
Dylan Murcott’s XFINITY Series debut at Mid-Ohio on August 11 took an unfortunate turn when his own run for JP Motorsports, driving the #55 Prevagen Toyota, ended when he drove off course into “China Beach” gravel trap and stuffed into the tire barriers. Murcott returned at the “Roval” in Charlotte that September to finish 30th.
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
1st) Jeff Green (12)
2nd) J.J. Yeley (3)
3rd) Michael Annett, Josh Bilicki, Austin Cindric, Morgan Shepherd (2)
4th) Spencer Boyd, Jeremy Clements, Kaz Grala, Mike Harmon, Stephen Leicht, Dylan Lupton, Tommy Joe Martins, B.J. McLeod, Dylan Murcott, Vinnie Miller (1)
