Naughty and Nice of 2010 Racing: NASCAR Nationwide Series

Photo Credit: Autostock

First, please accept my apologies for the belated arrival of the 2010 Naughty and Nice List Relating to the NASCAR Nationwide Series. Profiling this season for the 2010 Nationwide Series reveals a dominate year for Sprint Cup Series regulars will continue to pay repeated visits to this one-time ladder series. 

Nice: Earnhardt and #3 Chevrolet in Victory Lane at Daytona

Announced as a one-off effort for the race at Daytona International Speedway, Dale Earnhardt Jr paired with Richard Childress Racing to win at the July NASCAR Nationwide Series race. Having previously succeeded at Daytona in 2002, Earnhardt Jr has been working through a difficult 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup season when he announced plans to drive a #3 Wrangler-sponsored Chevrolet during the Fourth of July weekend event. Leading the most laps as he held off efforts of Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski, the consolidation of powers resulted in Dale Earnhardt Jr's Daytona win. Earnhardt Jr's 23rd Nationwide Series victory, the #3 Wrangler Chevrolet Impala was also the first winning car under the series' new COT rules.

Photo Credit: John Harrelson/ Getty Images

Naughty: Ambrose Suffers Another Montreal Heartbreak
Rising through the ranks to become a major star of the Australian V-8 Supercar series, Tazmania's Marcus Ambrose makes a lasting impression in NASCAR racing. While his oval racing creditably is building, Ambrose's true instincts show on the road courses of the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series events. Winning three years running at Watkins Glen, victory the Canadian road course of Circuit Gilles Villeneuve has been painfully elusive despite his often race dominating efforts.
Despite earning pole for the second-straight time at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve NAPA Auto Parts 200, Ambrose's 25 laps out front early was all for not as electrical failure and later a suspension issue. Forcing him to park his #47 Toyota 27 laps ahead of the checkered flag, Marcos Ambrose finished 33rd for the 2010 NAPA Auto Parts 200. Thrilled to be racing an exciting race with Jacques Villeneuve and Carl Edwards, Ambrose replied on his website in post race “We're trying everything to get that victory here in Canada, but we can't seem to seal the deal”.


Nice: Brad Keselowski's 2010 Championship Run

After two seasons of focus on the NASCAR Nationwide Series season with JR Motorsports, Brad Keselowski has played the part of the best non-Sprint Cup series driver on the division. Winning the 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series championship by 445 points, Keselowski drove his Penske Racing #22 Dodge to a clinch after the Texas Motor Speedway race.
With Kevin Harvick presiding as 2006 champions, Carl Edwards finding the series points victory in 2007, Clint Bowyer in 2008 and Kyle Busch earning the 2009 NASCAR Nationwide Series championship, Keselowski became the 5 Sprint Cup regular in a row to complete this goal. For 2011, NASCAR has effectively put the end to drivers of the Sprint Cup series hunting championship honours in the Nationwide or Camping World truck series by requiring a driver to declare just one series in which they can claim points.

Photo Credit: Jonathan Ferrey/ Getty Images for NASCAR

Naughty: The Continuing Transformation of NASCAR Nationwide to a Sprint Cup-Lite Series

For as long as the NASCAR Nationwide Series (known as the Busch Series prior up to 1983) existed, it has been a common theme that drivers of the longer Cup series races would occasionally join the fun of what has been a key tour for developing and showcasing new racing talent. While major races at Daytona as well as Charlotte were places where names like Dale Earnhardt and later Mark Martin would school often less experienced drivers, the presence of Cup series competitors making more notable appearances in the tour is apparent. For 2010, only 2 winners of 35 total NASCAR Nationwide Series races did not belong to a full-time Sprint Cup operation (Justin Allgaier at Bristol and Boris Said at Montreal).

Nice: Road Racing Madness

Some in NASCAR believe that stock cars have no place on road courses. Purests for the oval racing environment, the increased variables of turning left and right can confuse some of the best NASCAR drivers as well as crew chiefs. Supplying 3 road races for 2010, the NASCAR Nationwide Series trio of events provided some of the most refreshing excitement on the schedule. Added to the 2010 schedule in place of a canceled annual event at the Milwaukee Mile, Road America joined the series bringing NASCAR back to the 4-mile circuit for the first time since the 1950s. Captured by Carl Edwards, the first Road America race for the Nationwide Series served up the first helping of what would be physical and unpredictable road course racing. Despite the win of Edwards and the maturing of road racing skills of by all NASCAR drivers, so-called road race ringers took the final two races at Watkins Glen and Montreal. Marcos Ambrose took Watkins Glen in fine style while the winner of the Montreal NAPA Auto Parts 200 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve was settled in a more aggressive fashion. A battle between Max Papis and Boris Said, a side-by-side finish result in favour of Said.

Photo Credit: Jason Smith/ Getty Images

Naughty: Lack of 2010 Title Contenders
Only 13 drivers in the 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series run the full 35-race schedule. While the NASCAR Nationwide Series has been the site of high driver turn-over, this past season's points is a show for the lack of contention. In the top-10 for the 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series, 3 drivers (Sprint Cup regulars) drove fewer than 29 races.

Nice: Rave Reviews for Series' Car of Tomorrow (Today)

Unlike the launch of the NASCAR Sprint Cup (COT) Car of Tomorrow in 2007, the introduction of the NASCAR Nationwide Series for the summer Daytona race has debuted with raved reviews. While the new race car for the Sprint Cup series received criticism for being less competitive than the previous car, NASCAR clearly applied their lessons learned for the Sprint Cup COT to the Nationwide Series race machine specifications. As an added plus for the fans, the new Nationwide Series COT cars introduced the unique track presence of the Dodge Challenger and Ford Mustang back to NASCAR competition.


Naughty and Nice: Joe Gibbs Stinks Up Nationwide Shows

Combining for 16 wins and 11 poles, the Joe Gibbs Racing NASCAR Nationwide Series team was an often unstoppable juggernaut at intermediate-sized tracks between 1 to 2 miles. Clearly lending their NASCAR Sprint Cup expertise as well as the lineup Kyle Busch and Joey Logano to races within the 2010 Nationwide Series schedule, two drivers might have had a chance at the tour championship if they had not chosen to sit down certain races. Still finishing 3rd in the NASCAR Nationwide points even while running just 29 of the 35 races, Kyle Busch's #18 Toyota won 13 times in 2010 following up 9 wins a year prior and 10 in 2008.

For anti-Joe Gibbs Racing fans, a silver lining for 2011 in light of the dominance of 2010 could be that the team did not win one of four races run with the new COT race machine. However, with drivers Busch and Logano behind the wheel of the team's Toyota Camry stock cars, it is unsafe to wager against another strong Joe Gibbs Racing showing in 2011.

Kyle Busch Nets 13th NASCAR Nationwide Win of 2010

Photo Credit: Todd Warshaw/ Getty Images for NASCAR

By Reid Spencer

Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

 

(November 20, 2010)

 

HOMESTEAD, Fla.—Kyle Busch pulled away from Kevin Harvick during a 23-lap run to the finish to win Saturday’s Ford 300 Nationwide Series season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

 

Harvick ran second, followed by 2010 series champion Brad Keselowski, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Trevor Bayne.

 

With his 13th victory in 29 starts this season, Busch extended his single-season win record. The victory was his 43rd in the Nationwide Series, leaving him five behind all-time leader Mark Martin.

 

Danica Patrick qualified fifth, pitted early and led four laps—her first of the season—by staying out while others pitted under caution on Lap 24. Soon after a restart on Lap 28, however, she dropped back to 21st in the running order. She finished a career-best 19th in her 13th start in the series.

 

After winning the owners championship in his own No. 18 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series on Friday night, Busch secured the Nationwide owners’ title for Joe Gibbs Racing on Saturday. Stenhouse clinched Raybestos rookie of the year honors.

 

Notes: Keselowski scored his 26th top-five finish of the year, a single-season record. … The victory was Gibbs’ 49th in the past three seasons. Busch has 31 of those. ... Busch led 153 of 200 laps.

 

 

NASCAR Nationwide Series

Ford 300

Homestead-Miami Speedway

Race Results 

 

Pos #  |  Car #  | Driver | Sponsor/Car Make

1. 18 Kyle Busch Z-Line Designs Toyota
2. 33 Kevin Harvick Jimmy John's Chevrolet
3. 22 Brad Keselowski Discount Tire Dodge
4. 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. # CitiFinancial Ford
5. 17 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Ford
6. 60 Carl Edwards Copart.com Ford
7. 20 Joey Logano GameStop / MASTIFF Toyota
8. 62 Brendan Gaughan Aspen Dental Toyota
9. 98 Paul Menard Richmond / Menards Ford 200
10. 10 Jason Leffler ABF U-Pack Moving Toyota
11. 12 Justin Allgaier Verizon Wireless Dodge
12. 99 Martin Truex Jr. Out! Pet Care Toyota
13. 42 Parker Kligerman GetMoreVacations.com / Bandit Chippers Dodge
14. 32 Reed Sorenson Dollar General Toyota
15. 66 Steve Wallace 5-hour Energy Toyota
16. 11 David Reutimann Rexall / Dollar General Toyota
17. 84 Cole Whitt Red Bull Toyota
18. 09 Brian Scott Shore Lodge Toyota
19. 7 Danica Patrick GoDaddy.com Chevrolet
20. 23 Robert Richardson Jr. R3 Motorsports Chevrolet
21. 26 Sam Hornish Jr. Alliance Parts Dodge
22. 05 David Starr Cash America Chevrolet
23. 34 Tony Raines BeaStockCarDriver.com Chevrolet
24. 15 Michael Annett Germain.com Toyota
25. 49 Mark Green Anderson's Maple Syrup Chevrolet 
26. 21 Morgan Shepherd Victory In Jesus Racing Chevrolet
27. 35 Jason Keller TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet
28. 28 Kenny Wallace Federated Auto Parts Chevrolet
29. 16 Colin Braun Con-way Freight Ford
30. 01 Mike Wallace Suncore Industries Chevrolet
31. 40 Mike Bliss Westerman Companies Chevrolet
32. 88 Aric Almirola GT Vodka Chevrolet
33. 27 Chase Mattioli CollegeComplete.com / GreenTreeProfit.com Ford
34. 92 Brian Keselowski K-Automotive Motorsports Dodge
35. 87 Joe Nemechek Gator.com Chevrolet
36. 70 Shelby Howard BlackFlyDay.com Chevrolet
37. 24 Eric McClure Hefty Odor Block Ford
38. 38 Kasey Kahne Great Clips Chevrolet 
39. 04 Jeremy Clements Boudreaux's Butt Paste Chevrolet
40. 91 David Gilliland D'Hondt-Humphrey Motorsports Chevrolet
41. 56 Kevin Lepage Sunshine Plumbing/MitchellSwabackCharities Toyota
42. 96 Dennis Setzer K-Automotive Motorsports Dodge
43. 36 Jeff Green TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet

Second Straight Nationwide Victory for Edwards at Phoenix

Photo Credit: Jason Smith/ Getty Images for NASCAR

With Brad Keselowski settling the 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series title last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, the main focus through the final two races of this middle-level stock car tour was the racing action. The one-mile oval of Phoenix International Raceway supplies a quaint-essential mix of large track speed and short track competition.

Setting up 200 laps of Saturday afternoon action on the desert, Joey Logano secured the WYPALL 200 pole in morning qualifying. Breaking out to a lead through the first 24 race laps, Logano relinquished the first place position during pit stops made during the event's earliest caution for fluid originating from the #70 Chevrolet of Mark Green.

As several top vehicles pitted for fresh tires and fuel at this point of the NASCAR Nationwide Series race, the #35 Chevrolet of Tony Raines remained on track to lead when the WYPALL 200 resumed on lap 30. At a clear disadvantage on older tires, Raines was no match for the cars behind him on the restart. Aric Almirola was the first car to pass the #35 Chevrolet elevating the JR Motorsports #88 car to the front at Phoenix International Raceway.

Lasting for just 8 laps, Almirola's run with JR Motorsports (in preparation for a full campaign in the #88 Chevrolet in 2011) went far better than the drive of teammate Danica Patrick. Still learning the finer points of racing a stock car through her off time from the IZOD IndyCar Series, Patrick spent much of the race hovering in the low to mid-20s on track in the #7 Godaddy.com Chevy. While running respectively, an incident between the #7 Chevrolet and the #27 Ford of Alex Kennedy got into a shoving match on-track. While Kennedy got into the car of Patrick on lap 133, the IndyCar star demonstrated her knowledge of the fine art of payback on the following lap. While mostly harmless to both vehicles, Danica Patrick's contact with the wall 24 laps later. The #7 Chevrolet would finish 7 laps down in 32rd place.

On several occasions, Carl Edwards held a lead of multiple seconds over second place runners.
With Edwards' Roush-Fenway Racing #60 Ford in a class of his own throughout the WYPALL 200, Kyle Bucsh was holding down the runner-up place for much of the race distance. While able to lure the lead of the Phoenix event for 10 laps total on the day, this Saturday afternoon race would not be Busch's 13th victory on the 2010 NASCAR Nationwide calender.

Fighting for best of the rest for the event, Busch's hopes for a good run was deflated (literally) by a softening tire on his #18 Toyota. Three laps after radioing the problem, Busch pitted on lap 163 to receive four fresh tires from his Joe Gibbs Racing crew. The #18 crew returned the driver quickly but Busch would drop one lap down to the leader. Some additional concern surrounded the #18 Toyota in the late laps as light smoke was pluming from the Joe Gibbs Racing vehicle. Fortunately, the smoke dissipated through the final circuits of the WYPALL 200 and would not present any problems as Busch used the advantage of new tire to hard charge back up to the lead lap for 16th place.

Coming across the line 5.12 seconds ahead of Kevin Harvick, Carl Edwards easy ride in Phoenix ends with his 4th win of the 2010 NASCAR Nationwide season. Out front for 153 of this race's 200 laps, the impressive performance of the #60 Ford even surprised the driver.

Rounding out the top-5 for the WYPALL 200 at Phoenix International Raceway, 2nd place Kevin Harvick was followed by Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski and Reed Sorenson. In 6th place, Aric Almirola ended the NASCAR Nationwide Series backing up the 5th place finishing result after Friday's Camping World Truck Series event.

Almirola's effort in the #88 car did result in one critic, the driver of the #12 Dodge Justin Allgaier. While the #12 Penske Racing Dodge appeared destined to a strong top-5 effort running second early in the WYPALL 200, Allgaier realized his race car's performance faded in the last 50 laps. Dropping down the field but fighting to retain a top-10 result, the #88 Chevrolet of Almirola rushed the Penske Racing car of Allgaier in lap 193 into turn one. Sizing up the #12 Dodge on the inside, the #88 Chevrolet leaned on Allgaier while making the pass. Unhappy with the pass, contact after the checkered flag resulted with the #12 and #88 cars. Justin Allgaier did not appear outspokenly mad at Almirola but he was disappointed the driver of the #88 Chevy could not race him clean.

Next week, the NASCAR Nationwide Series tour will combat for the last time in 2010 at the Homestead-Miami Speedway. The Ford 300 is set for late Saturday afternoon.     


NASCAR Nationwide Series
November 13, 2010
WYPALL 200
Phoenix International Raceway
Race Results

1. 60 Carl Edwards Copart Ford
2. 33 Kevin Harvick Rheem Solar Water Heaters Chevrolet
3. 20 Joey Logano GameStop/Afterglow Toyota
4. 22 Brad Keselowski Discount Tire Dodge
5. 32 Reed Sorenson Dollar General Toyota
6. 88 Aric Almirola GT Vodka Chevrolet
7. 16 Colin Braun # Con-way Ford
8. 12 Justin Allgaier Verizon Wireless Dodge 
9. 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. # Blackwell Angus Beef Ford
10. 66 Steve Wallace 5-hour Energy Toyota
11. 09 Brian Scott # Shore Lodge Toyota
12. 40 Mike Bliss Westerman Companies Chevrolet
13. 98 Paul Menard Richmond/Menards Ford
14. 17 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Ford
15. 84 Cole Whitt Red Bull Toyota
16. 18 Kyle Busch NOS Toyota
17. 23 Coleman Pressley R3 Motorsports Chevrolet
18. 15 Michael Annett Pilot Flying J Coffee Toyota
19. 35 Tony Raines BeAStockCarDriver.com Chevrolet 
20. 28 Kenny Wallace Iron Horse Jeans Chevrolet
21. 10 Ricky Carmichael Monster Energy Toyota
22. 11 James Buescher # Great Clips Toyota
23. 99 Ryan Truex Aaron's Dream Machine Toyota
24. 27 Alex Kennedy LawMemorial.org/Sacred Power Ford
25. 05 David Starr Super Pawn Chevrolet
26. 81 Michael McDowell Red Line Oil/Drive Reply Dodge
27. 62 Brendan Gaughan Alliance Parts Toyota
28. 87 Joe Nemechek Gator.com Chevrolet
29. 01 Mike Wallace Suncore Industries Chevrolet
30. 83 John Borneman III Nicky Rottens/Borneman Plastering Ford
31. 21 Morgan Shepherd Victory In Jesus Chevrolet
32. 7 Danica Patrick GoDaddy.com Chevrolet
33. 38 Jason Leffler Great Clips Toyota
34. 00 Martin Truex Jr. Travis Pastrana Toyota
35. 79 Tim Andrews 2nd Chance Race Parts Ford
36. 49 David Green Jay Robinson Racing Chevrolet
37. 90 Danny O'Quinn Jr. D'Hondt Humphrey Racing Chevrolet
38. 70 Mark Green Iron Horse Jeans Chevrolet
39. 91 David Gilliland D'Hondt Humphrey Racing Chevrolet
40. 34 Charles Lewandoski Tri-Star Motorsports Chevrolet
41. 26 Brian Keselowski K-Automotive Motorsports Dodge
42. 92 Dennis Setzer K-Automotive Motorsports Dodge
43. 36 Jeff Green Tri-Star Motorsports Chevrolet

Keselowski Locks Up 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series at Texas

Photo Credit: Autostock via Penske Racing


As Carl Edwards won the O'Reilly Auto Parts Challenge at Texas Motor Speeday through a green-white checkered run to the finish, attention to the NASCAR Nationwide Series quickly shifted to the 3rd place #22 Dodge driven by Brad Keselowski. Leaving the O'Reilly Auto Parts Challenge with a 465-point lead over Carl Edwards, Keselowski clinches the 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series championship with two races still left to be run.


On the way to his first NASCAR overall points title, Brad Keselowski's efforts were helped by 24 top-5s along with 27 top-10 finishes. Running at the end of every race, the worst result for the #22 Dodge this season was 21st at Chicagoland Speedway. Accumulating 6 wins on the 2010 season, Brad Keselowski's dedication to a full season in NASCAR Nationwide Series made was pivotal him only 1of 12 drivers have carried out a full Nationwide Series schedule.



Photo Credit: Jonathon Ferrey/ Getty Images for NASCAR

Remembering just 4 seasons ago, Brad Keselowski was an unproven talent without a permanent stock car ride. Keselowski's future changed at O'Reilly Raceway Park when a truck team needed a substitute driver to replace their recently suspended wheelman. Taking pole and leading a considerable number of laps, the performance was enough to attract JR Motorsports to the Michigan native. Entrusted to the #88 Chevrolet in the NASCAR Nationwide Series for two full seasons, Keselowski won 6 races but was no match for the division's championship. Finishing 3rd in the points both 2008 and 2009, Brad Keselowski was bested by NASCAR Sprint Cup regulars in previous seasons. For 2010, Keselowski entered the ranks of full-time Sprint Cup Series by signing with Penske Racing but still had unfinished business inside of the Nationwide Series. This year with the support of Penske Racing's farm team, it was the Michigan state driver's turn to claim superiority.


A first title for Brad Keselowski, this championship is also the first in NASCAR for mega owner Roger Penske.

Edwards Storms Ahead of Busch to Win Texas Nationwide Race

Photo Credit: John Harrelson/ Getty Images for NASCAR

By Reid Spencer


Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service



FORT WORTH, Texas (Nov. 6, 2010) — Carl Edwards knew he had to get everything he could on a restart with two laps left in Saturday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge at Texas Motor Speedway.

Kyle Busch, who finished second to Edwards, was convinced the race winner got too much.



Nevertheless, after a green-white-checkered-flag finish, it was Edwards who celebrated his third win of the season and the 28th of his career, after thwarting Busch’s attempt to win his record sixth straight NASCAR Nationwide Series race at the 1.5-mile track.



Edwards, however, couldn’t prevent third-place finisher Brad Keselowski from clinching the Nationwide drivers championship, the first NASCAR title for team owner Roger Penske. With two races left, Keselowski leads second-place Edwards by an insurmountable 465 points.



Edwards held the lead when caution flew for the fifth time on Lap 198 of a scheduled 200, when smoke billowed from Clint Bowyer’s Chevrolet as it sped through the tri-oval. That gave Busch, who led a race-high 107 laps, a final chance to battle Edwards for the lead, but the fight failed to materialize.



Why? Busch contended Edwards hit the gas before the restart zone delineated by red stripes on the outer walls.



“Carl Edwards jumped the restart by about three lengths before the double red marks,” Busch said after the race. “Does it freakin’ matter? The race is over. The guy’s in Victory Lane. It doesn’t matter.”



Edwards was unapologetic.



“I had to do everything I could,” Edwards said. “Kyle and those guys have a spectacular car, and he does a really good job on restarts. So I just got the best restart I could, and it ended up winning us the race. He’s tough. He raced me really well on the one before that (Lap 191), but I knew if I gave him an inch, he’d beat us.”



Understandably, Keselowski was elated at clinching the championship.



“I’m so very fortunate and blessed to have this opportunity with (crew chief) Paul Wolfe and Roger and everybody back at the shop,” Keselowski said. “The guys that are there miss their kids’ Little League games working hard on my car,



“We almost had a win here today. I wanted to win this one, too, but it didn’t work out.”



Edwards made sure of that. He passed Busch on Lap 155 and held the top spot until Parker Kligerman spun off Turn 2 on Lap 185 to cause the fourth caution of the race. Edwards retained the lead after a wild restart on Lap 191 and pulled away from Busch before a caution on Lap 198 slowed the field and sent the race to overtime.



Joey Logano finished fourth, followed by Martin Truex Jr.



Notes: With the victory, Edwards won $75,000 in Nationwide’s Dash4Cash program. Thirteenth-place finisher Justin Allgaier won the $75,000 Dash4Cash season-ending bonus as the eligible driver who scored the most points in the four Dash4Cash races. … Edwards’ victory was his 50th combined in NASCAR’s top three series. … Busch posted his 11th top-10 finish in 12 races at Texas.

Keselowski Finds Link Pass Bliss to Gateway Victory Lane

Photo Credit: John Sommers II/Getty Images for NASCAR

By Tim Tuttle
Special to the Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(October 23, 2010)

MADISON, Ill.—Brad Keselowski made a triumphant return to Gateway International Raceway Saturday, passing Mike Bliss with less than two laps remaining to win the 5-hour Energy 250 NASCAR Nationwide Series race. It was the final NASCAR race at the 1.25-mile track.

Keselowski was 200 yards from victory in the July race at Gateway when he was knocked into the wall by Carl Edwards and finished 14th. Keselowski started in the back of the field Saturday after arriving after qualifying from the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event in Martinsville, Va., but still was able to lead 83 of the 200 laps en route to his second consecutive victory and sixth of the year.

Keselowski was running second to Penske Racing teammate and Illinois native Justin Allgaier with 10 laps remaining when the final caution came out. Allgaier, Keselowski and third-running Edwards pitted and took four tires. When they came out, they were behind Reed Sorenson and Josh Wise, who stayed out, and Bliss and Jason Leffler, who took two tires. Keselowski was fifth, Edwards sixth and Allgaier sixth for the restart on Lap 196.

Sorenson jumped into the lead, but Bliss passed him and had the lead halfway through the 199th lap.

Coming through Turn 4, Keselowski got a strong run on the outside and passed Bliss for the lead within sight of the white flag. Keselowski pulled ahead by a couple of car lengths and won by .227 seconds over Bliss. Allgaier finished third after capturing the pole, followed by Leffler and Edwards.

Keselowski, the NASCAR Nationwide Series standings leader, was unable to clinch the 2010 driver title early at this event, but could do so in two weeks at Texas. Keselowski is 485 points ahead of second-place Edwards and needs to leave Texas with a 391-point lead over second place in order to claim his first NASCAR national series title.

Right Place at the Right Time: Keselowski takes Dodge to Charlotte Victory

Photo Credit: Geoff Burke/Getty Images

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(October 15, 2010)

CONCORD, N.C.—New rubber. Old rubber. It didn’t matter to Brad Keselowski, who ran the final 56 laps of Friday night’s Dollar General 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race on his last set of tires.

Track position, however, proved far more important at Charlotte Motor Speedway, where Keselowski picked up his first NASCAR Nationwide Series win at the 1.5-mile track, his fifth victory of the season and the 11th of his career.

Martin Truex Jr. ran second, followed by Justin Allgaier, Joey Logano and polesitter Clint Bowyer, whose winning chances disappeared with a pit-road speeding penalty on his last stop. Kyle Busch, Reed Sorenson, Aric Almirola, Ryan Newman and Kevin Harvick completed the top 10.

Keselowski widened his lead in the NASCAR Nationwide standings to 450 points over 13th-place finisher Carl Edwards.

“I might be biased, but I thought that was the best race I’ve ever seen in my life,” said Keselowski, who has won two of the four races in the new NASCAR Nationwide car this year. “And I was driving the car, so I can imagine what the fans saw—that was awesome.

“The decision to stay out … we had pitted just five laps before the yellow came out (on Lap 154) and felt really good about it. I knew that Paul (Wolfe), my crew chief, had made an adjustment right there at the end, on the last stop, and my car was just flying.

“We quite honestly weren’t very good on test day (Wednesday) and wasn’t very good the first half of the race, and I’ve got to give credit to Paul. That guy’s amazing. He gave me the car I needed to win with at the end. This Challenger flew.”

Keselowski’s ploy to stay out on old tires after the caution on Lap 154 paid immediate dividends. The driver of the No. 22 Dodge opened a lead of almost a second over Truex before Brian Scott’s spin through the frontstretch grass caused the seventh caution of the race on Lap 182.

On Lap 183, Harvick and Edwards pitted for fresh tires—from fifth and sixth, respectively—and restarted 11th and 12th on Lap 187, but the new tires failed to provide the desired advantage. The green-flag run was short-lived, however, as Steve Wallace turned across the nose of Trevor Bayne’s No. 17 Ford on Lap 188 and slammed into the backstretch wall.

Keselowski led the field to a restart with eight laps remaining and pulled away to beat Truex to the finish line by 1.137 seconds.

Notes: Danica Patrick posted a career-best 21st-place finish in her ninth NASCAR Nationwide start. … The Charlotte race was the fourth and final event with the NASCAR Nationwide Series new car this year, before it’s phased in full time in 2011.

Kyle Busch Nests One Dozen Nationwide Win of 2010 in California

Photo Credit: Tom Pennington/ Getty Images for NASCAR

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(October 9, 2010)

FONTANA, Calif.— Kyle Busch’s pit crew may well deserve the credit for winning Saturday’s CampingWorld.com 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Auto Club Speedway.

To Kevin Harvick, on the other hand, there was little doubt that his pit crew lost it.

Strong on short runs but no match for Harvick on longer ones, Busch rallied from a pit-road speeding penalty to beat NASCAR Nationwide points leader Brad Keselowski to the finish line by 1.034 seconds.

The victory was Busch’s 12th of the year (extending his single-season record), his fourth at the 2-mile track and the 42nd of his career—leaving him six behind series leader Mark Martin in career wins.

Harvick ran third, despite leading a race-high 86 laps. Carl Edwards, second in the series standings, came home fourth and trails Keselowski by 384 points with five races left. Joey Logano finished fifth.

Busch, who was penalized for speeding while entering pit road under caution on Lap 87, won for the third time this year after incurring a speeding penalty.

Danica Patrick saw a promising run spoiled when contact from James Buescher turned her No. 7 Chevrolet into the wall on Lap 141 of 150 to cause the sixth and final caution. Patrick was running 17th at the time, hoping for her first lead-lap finish in her eighth NASCAR Nationwide start, but the wreck relegated her to a 30th-place result.

Pit work on Lap 126 turned the race in Busch’s favor, after a 12.8-second stop got him away with the lead. Harvick’s crew had its third poor stop of the afternoon, leaving the driver of the No. 33 Chevrolet in sixth position for a restart on Lap 134.

Two cautions that punctuated the final 17 laps helped prevent Harvick from challenging Busch for the lead.

"The pit stops were what got us there," Busch said, "just being able to have the guys give us a good pit stop on that last time and get out front when it mattered most and kind of set sail on the restarts.

"Harvick had a really, really good car on long runs. He showed that today—he probably had the best car. We could keep up with him for about eight or 10 laps, but after that, he started getting away from us."

After the race, Harvick praised the team that prepared his car at his race shop and blasted his over-the-wall pit crew.

"The guys have done a great job in transitioning to some new setup packages and doing the things they need to do to make them fast—and those are the guys I feel the worst for," Harvick said. "We’ve got guys that just roll up on the weekend and just flat-out aren’t doing a very good job on pit road."

2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series 
Auto Club Speedway
Campingworld.Com 300
Race Results

1. 18 Kyle Busch NOS Energy Drink Toyota 
2. 22 Brad Keselowski America's Tire Dodge
3. 33 Kevin Harvick Jimmy John's Chevrolet
4. 60 Carl Edwards Copart Ford 150
5. 20 Joey Logano GameStop/Triton Toyota
6. 88 Aric Almirola GT Vodka Chevrolet
7. 1 Ryan Newman El Monterey Chevrolet
8. 12 Justin Allgaier Verizon Wireless Dodge
9. 40 Mike Bliss Key Motorsports Chevrolet 
10. 32 Reed Sorenson Dollar General Toyota

Other Notables

11. 17 Trevor Bayne Roush-Fenway Ford
13.  16 Colin Braun # Con-way Ford
15.  09 Brian Scott # Shore Lodge Ford
29.  6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. # Blackwell Angus Ford
30.  7 Danica Patrick Tissot/GoDaddy.com Chevrolet

Dominant Kyle Busch Wins Nationwide Dover Event; Breaks Series Record

Photo Credit: Geoff Burke/ Getty Images for NASCAR

For the 11th time of the 2010 season, a NASCAR Nationwide Series was claimed by Toyota golden child Kyle Busch. Making the series into his own personal playground whenever his NASCAR Sprint Cup series obligations would allow, Busch's win at Dover International Speedway again showed how much of an unbeatable force the #18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota is for these particular races.

When green dropped for the Dover 200 on the concrete one-mile, Kyle Busch's teammate Joey Logano's #20 Toyota led the 43-car field. Starting 2nd, the #18 Toyota Camry swept by the 20-year old Logano for the lead on turn 4 of lap 4. Busch would be completely free of the #20  exiting turn two. Little did many know at the early stage of the 200-lap affair at Dover, the lead change between Joe Gibbs Racing served as one of only three passes for the lead in the event.

Besides the attention that Kyle Busch was creating at the front, IndyCar star Danica Patrick drew eyeballs once again driving the #7 Godaddy.com Chevrolet for JR Motorsports. Though practice provided a glimmer of optimism when Patrick was 12th fastest. However, the Dover 200 continued to add to the difficult part-time rookie season for Danica Patrick qualifying 42rd out of 43 cars. Because of 150 MPH average laps and the close quarters of Dover International Speedway, the #7 Chevy was lapped quickly with crew chief Tony Eury Jr accepting admitting a good day for Patrick's first outing at the track would have her finish 3-4 laps down. Unfortunately, Patrick's day at Dover would result with bad luck when a tire failure tore apart her car's front-right fender. After an extended time behind the wall to repair the #7 Chevy, the JR Motorsport team succeeded in finishing the event but ended the Dover 200 92 laps behind.

As Patrick's car brought out the first caution of the event, few drivers had been able to even keep pace with the #18 car. Providing the only adversary to Kyle Busch through the event was the #60 Roush-Fenway Racing Ford of Carl Edwards. While never leading a lap on the day, Edward ran second to Busch for a considerable time at Dover. However, Busch only major challenge through the Dover 200 would suffer inconvenience into the second half of the event due to a pit stop mishap. Costing Carl Edwards a chance to effectively battle Busch to the end, the #60 finished 3rd at Dover.

With four cautions slowing the Dover 200, one yellow flag eventually transferred to a red flag for a major crash in turn four. On lap 136, the #88 of Elliott Sadler slid into the turn 4 wall appearing initially to be a single-car wreck. Unfortunately, as the #88 JR Motorsports Chevy coasted down the 26 degree banking, the #27 Baker Curb Racing Ford being driven by Drew Herring crashed into Sadler violently without a chance to avoid the #88 car. Both drivers were alright following the accident finishing 32nd and 33rd. Stopping the race for nearly 11 minutes, NASCAR resumed the race once the track had been cleaned of debris and fluids.

Photo Credit: Nick Laham/Getty Images

A less serious turn 3 wreck involving the #22 Dodge of Brad Keselowski and the #66 Toyota of Steve Wallace served as a chance for contenders to Kyle Busch to emerge but no one could catch the #18 Toyota. Winning more than 1/3rd of the 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series races so far this season, Kyle Busch's  Dover 200 trophy was earned after leading 192 of the race's 200 laps. Along with dominating the one-mile concrete track, Busch surpassed the NASCAR Nationwide Serise record for most victories in a season. The previous record of 10 wins was earned by Sam Ard in 1983.

Reversing positions from the start, Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Joey Logano finished 2nd. Edwards, Reed Sorenson and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top-5 in the final running order. Other performance of note belong to some up and coming drivers in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. Trevor Bayne finished 6th in this #99 Toyota while rookie of the year candidate Ricky Stenhouse Jr captured 11th in the Dover 200.

The next race for the NASCAR Nationwide Series will take place last week at Kansas Speedway on Saturday afternoon.

Harvick Cruises to Richmond Nationwide Series Win

Photo Credit: Pool

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
(September 10, 2010)
RICHMOND, Va.—Polesitter Kevin Harvick held off Nationwide Series points leader Brad Keselowski during a 40-lap run to the finish to win Friday night's Virginia 529 College Savings 250 at Richmond International Raceway.
In the first race at Richmond and third overall with NASCAR's new Nationwide car, Harvick crossed the finish line .256 seconds ahead of Keselowski, who extended his championship lead to 373 points, over Carl Edwards, who ran 10th. Trevor Bayne finished third, tying his career best. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. came home fourth, followed by Reed Sorenson.
The victory was Harvick's third of the season and 37th of his career, third all-time in the series. The owner/driver for Kevin Harvick Inc. led 170 of the 250 laps and was elated with the progress his No. 33 team had made with the new car.
"This is the future of our company, so we put a lot of effort into this program, knowing that all the other cars were going to go away, and knowing that we had to be good with this car," said Harvick, who gets his new chassis from Richard Childress Racing and his power from Earnhardt-Childress engines.
"RCR's been a big part of this as well, with the engines, the chassis and the engineering. Everybody's been working together. It's easy when you get started in the right direction to keep it going that way."
Keselowski likewise was pleased with his No. 22 Dodge team's progress with the new car, which is being phased in this year—with plans for full-time use in 2011.

"I was just glad that we were able to work on the car and make it better," Keselowski said. "That's been one of our larger struggles all year with this particular chassis. So I'm glad that we were able to do that—just a real good show for the new car on the short tracks.

"I think that's something to be proud of for the series. I think we can continue to work and make things better, but this was a great start."

Photo Credit: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images

Denny Hamlin, Clint Bowyer, Paul Menard, Kyle Busch and Edwards completed the top 10. A snafu in the pits cost Busch a chance for a record 11th win this season. Under caution on Lap 205, the quick-fill nozzle on one of Busch's fuel cans broke off and remained attached to the car as Busch left pit road.

Penalized for taking equipment from the pits, Busch restarted 21st on Lap 211 and worked his way up to ninth before the race ended.

TSN Gives Auto Racing the Back Seat Again!

Almost two months ago, I published an article on XSL Speed Reporter examining coverage of the IZOD IndyCar Series from a Canadian perspective. Taking a deep look into the way American network had covered the open wheel racing series, I also couldn't help but to bring up the coverage provided by my courntry's own cable sports network, TSN. Criticial of the station's devotion to motorsports, many Canadian race fans would share my frustations in their choice of programming IndyCar and some NASCAR races.

This Labour day weekend, TSN uttered another non-verbal  insult to IZOD IndyCar Series fans by scheduling the 3rd-last race of the 2010 season on the digital cable/satellite only TSN2. Not only is it disappointing the Canadian sports network decided to divert a motorsport event which featured two native drivers (Paul Tracy and Alex Tagliani), the Kentucky Indy 300 was booked on a tape delay so a NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Atlanta can be preferential treatment. While TSN has a very close business relationship with NASCAR, the continuous contempt for the IZOD IndyCar Series is wearing thin on a nation which still remains loyal to open wheel racing.

Instead of providing one live race event, TSN determined a repeat broadcast of the US Open tennis match was more deserving of the primary channel. Of course I expect TSN to favour CFL games but not a tape-delayed tennis match. I could immediately tell it was recorded from earlier in the day because there was still afternoon daylight out when I which on the channel at night. Please don't get me wrong, I have no problems with tennis and the US Open is a major sports event but I'm sure residents in the state of Kentucky and Georgia hold their respected races in just as high esteem.

A couple of months ago, I would have voiced a push for Rogers Sportsnet network to pick up IRL/IZOD IndyCar Series but I've recognized now that this cable sports channel has chosen to copy TSN's ill-executed plan for their own digital channel SportsnetOne. These digital cable channels seem to encourage these sports networks to maintain one-track minds on certain sports to the point of discrimination. Throughout the past few years, I could have at least given some credit to TSN if they would rebroadcast races shown live on TSN2 on the regular TSN channel but this has not happened. They showed Sportcenter around 5-6 times through the nighttime but they chose not to allocate a few hours to the Kentucky Indy 300.

A little disappointed with TSN for Saturday night on September 4th, I will give Canadian's sports channel some major appluase for last week's coverage of the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series in a live broadcast. Like the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series event at the Honda Indy Toronto, it was excellent seeing auto racing in stock car form being treated with respect by the sports channel. 

Kyle Busch Steam Rolls Keselowski to Win Bristol Nationwide Race

Photo Credit: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images

Article Sourced from NASCAR

BRISTOL, Tenn.—After spinning his strongest challenger on Lap 219, Kyle Busch held off Jason Leffler and polesitter Elliott Sadler through a spate of cautions in the closing laps to win Friday night’s Food City 250 Nationwide Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Busch won his 10th Nationwide race of the year, tying the single-season record he already shared with Sam Ard. The victory was Busch’s 40th in the series, but it was not without controversy.
Busch can complete an unprecedented sweep of three races at one track in NASCAR's top three touring series with a victory in Saturday’s Sprint Cup Series Irwin Tools Night Race. Busch won Bristol’s Camping World Truck Series race Wednesday night.
Keselowski and Busch battled ferociously for the lead during the final quarter of the race, and that heated contest produced the sixth caution of the event. On Lap 219, Busch slid past Keselowski for the lead off Turn 2 but bobbled slightly down the backstretch.
Busch’s No. 18 Toyota clipped the wall after contact from Keselowski’s Dodge, and as the cars rolled through Turn 4, Busch spun his adversary in the corner, forcing Keselowski to pit to repair the damage to his car. Keselowski finished 14th.

“It is what it is,” Keselowski said. “I’m going to go to work—and work on beating his ass.”

Busch admitted he spun Keselowski on purpose.

“I thought I had him cleared on the back, and I moved up in front of him, and instead of him doing an Earnhardt crossover move, he just decided that he would run into the back of me and put me in the fence,” Busch said. “That’s Brad Keselowski. So I went into the next corner and dumped him.

“He does it to everybody else. Why can’t I do it to him?”
Dale Earnhardt Jr. rallied from a lap down to finish fourth behind Leffler and Sadler. Carl Edwards ran fifth. Trevor Bayne, Clint Bowyer, Reed Sorenson, Parker Kligerman and Joey Logano completed the top 10.

Edwards, second in the series standings, trimmed Keselowski’s lead to 313 points. On the strength of his 10 victories in 20 starts, Busch remained third in points, 434 behind Keselowski, despite having competed in four fewer races than either Keselowski or Edwards.
The race featured a wild accident on Lap 83, when contract from Justin Allgaier’s Dodge sent Kasey Kahne’s No. 38 Toyota sliding on its side along the outside wall for approximately 200 yards.

Notes: Busch gave Toyota its 50th Nationwide win. … Busch won in chassis 61, which has accounted for eight victories in 10 starts. … Busch’s 40 wins have come in 193 starts. He is second to Mark Martin, who has 48 wins in 231 starts.
 

Keselowski's Challenger Meets the Challenge in Michigan Nationwide Race

Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images for NASCAR

 

 

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

 

(August 14, 2010)

 

BROOKLYN, Mich.—Despite clutch problems that plagued him on pit road, Brad Keselowski dominated Saturday’s Carfax 250 Nationwide Series race at Michigan International Speedway.

 

“I don’t need no stinking clutch,” Keselowski said shortly after crossing the finish line 3.179 seconds ahead of second-place Carl Edwards.

 

No, he didn’t. Clutch or no clutch, Keselowski’s No. 22 Penske Racing Dodge was the class of the field, starting from the pole and leading 89 of the 125 laps, in the first race for NASCAR’s new Nationwide Series car on a downforce track.

 

Keselowski pulled away from Edwards after a Lap 117 restart, necessitated by the second caution of the race. Slow leaving the pits after a green-flag stop on Lap 105, Keselowski was running second, 3.4 seconds behind Edwards and closing, when the caution flag flew.

 

The caution bunched the field and gave Keselowski the opportunity to pass Edwards on the restart. Keselowski now leads second-place Edwards by 347 points in the series standings.

 

“The clutch problems just affect our pit stops, and at the end, it affected my (celebratory) burnout,” Keselowski said. “It still was an awesome racecar. When you’ve got cars this good, man, life is a lot easier.”

 

Kyle Busch finished third, followed by Justin Allgaier and Paul Menard. Joey Logano, Elliott Sadler, Reed Sorenson, rookie Colin Braun and Kevin Harvick completed the top 10. Danica Patrick came home 27th, four laps down, in her sixth race in the series and her first in the new car.

 

The Nationwide Series will use the new car in upcoming races at Richmond and Charlotte before its introduction as the full-time car in 2011. Saturday’s race dramatically increased Keselowski’s comfort level with his new Dodge Challenger.

 

Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images for NASCAR

 

 

“For me, I was nervous about this car for a lot of reasons,” Keselowski said. “I was nervous because, quite honestly, I haven’t run that well on the (Sprint) Cup side, and this chassis is based off the Cup car. I looked at it and thought, ‘Geez, if I haven’t run that well in the Cup car, what am I going to do when they bring it to the Nationwide side?’

 

“I was a little bit nervous about it from that standpoint, and obviously, the reliability of anything that’s new. So to be able to go out and win in that car, knowing it’s the same chassis as the Cup car—with some very subtle differences—is a huge boost of momentum that, hopefully I can carry over to (Sunday’s Cup race) as well.”

 

Edwards was aware that the second caution had deprived him of his best opportunity to win the race.

 

“Until that last caution, I thought, ‘Man, we might win this thing,’ ” Edwards said. “Then we had the caution, and Brad was able to just launch out front on that last run. It was just a battle for second then.

 

“But I could taste victory. I thought, ‘Man, this is going to work out—we’re going to steal one here today.’ But the best car ended up winning. Those guys did a good job.”

 

Keselowski and Edwards have a history of violent confrontations on the racetrack. In fact, both are on probation until the end of the year after a massive wreck on the last lap of a Nationwide race at Gateway International Raceway in July, where Edwards retaliated after Keselowski bumped him.

 

At Michigan, however, they raced hard but without contact. The ingredients were there for another melee, Keselowski said, but on Saturday it didn’t happen.

 

“The cake didn’t bake,” Keselowski said.

Road Course Ace Ambrose Wins Watkins Glen Nationwide Race

Photo Credit: Chris Trotman/ Getty Images

Providing an opener to the Watkins Glen race weekend for the NASCAR tour, the 2010 Nationwide Series' Zippo 200 warms up the suburb's 2.45 mile road course. An 82 lap event, victory at the NASCAR Nationwide Series event is significant since the Zippo 200 is only 8 laps shorter than the NASCAR Sprint Cup race running Sunday. For this reason and the chance of catching the NASCAR regulars off-guard, the 2010 edition of this race brought out a slew of road racing experts including Ron Fellows, Nelson Piquet Jr, J.R. Fitzpatrick and Jacques Villeneuve.

A road racing ringer with the distinct honour of being a full season NASCAR Sprint Cup driver, the talents of Marcos Ambrose in a stock car was too much for his Sprint Cup JTG Racing team to ignore. Winning the 2 previous Nationwide series events at Watkins Glen, the Tasmanian driver was offered an opportunity to 3-peat at the race track against fierce competition from road ringer and other moonlighting Cup series driver. As the team fields a #47 Zippo-sponsored Toyota, Ambrose still preserved memories of the Sprint Cup race that got away from him at Infineon Raceway (If Marcos was ever able to forget it, someone with the media who be certain to remind him of the Sonoma mishap throughout this weekend). Winning pole for the upcoming race served as effective therapy to setting the past in the past.

On Saturday afternoon, the present effects the Zippo 200 started as 43 cars jockeyed for position off the start. Making contact into the first corner through the drop of the green flag, two Sprint Cup regulars came together for what would be the beginning of an eventful race at the Glen. The #60 Roush-Fenway Racing Ford driven by Carl Edwards brushed the side of the #33 Chevrolet owned and piloted by NASCAR Sprint Cup point leader Kevin Harvick. With minor damage applied to each race car, both cars continued while Marcos Ambrose led what would be the first 18 circuits around the track.

Under the first run, Edwards encountered the worst racing luck as his #60 Ford began to develop an engine issue. While the Roush-Fenway Racing team were determined to keep Edwards in the race, this would eventually prove a losing cause as the Ford was forced out of the Zippo 200 after completing 27 laps. With Carl Edwards out of the Watkins Glen event, this retirement cost the driver a 3rd straight road course win in NASCAR Nationwide Series competition.

A full-course yellow flew on lap 21 for debris following a first round of pit stops. Prior to this, the #33 of Kevin Harvick was served with a speeding penalty which dropped the top 5 car to rear of the NASCAR Nationwide field. Though Harvick would be able to climb back up the running order, he would not be a formidable match for the leading trio of Toyotas.

On the lap 23 restart, for the first caution at Watkins Glen, Joey Logano led for what would be a very short green flag run as a major crash out of turn 1 amounted to a massive 10-car wreck. Started when the #38 of Jason Leffler went wide of the first corner, his attempt to rejoin the pack resulted in contact with the #16 car of Colin Braun setting off a chain reaction within the narrow, guardrail-lined area of track. Trevor Bayne, Justin Allgaier and Brendan Gaughan are only a few participants involved in the melee. As drivers Steven Wallace and Kevin Harvick avoided serious damage through evasive actions on track, Roush-Fenway Racing development driver Billy Johnson's #6 Ford  failed to slow down significantly when he collided with the stalled Chevrolet of Tony Raines. Drilling Raines, Johnson lifted the #34 Chevrolet on top of the #6 Ford.  A 25 minute red flag period was required to remove the derelict race cars and repair the Armco retaining barriers.

Restarting the race after what would prove to be the only multi-car wreck, Joey Logano's #20 Toyota would be passed by teammate Kyle Busch on  lap 27 leading for 14 laps until the #47 of Marcos Ambrose applied pressure on the Joe Gibbs Racing driver. Through an aggressive move heading into the inner loop chicane between turn 4 and 5, Ambrose used lapped traffic to his favour. As Busch's #18 Toyota slowed to pass the slower cars, the #47 Toyota practically drove flat-out storming to the lead. Taking the lead back on lap 41 with this move, Ambrose retained the top position for the remaining one-half distance.     

With Marcos Ambrose holding the lead even as two cautions bred for additional double-file restarts, the fight within the top 10 was alive. Losing 2nd to Logano, Kyle Busch was loathing his race car falling to 5th place as he received the checkered flag. Having also passed Busch, Kevin Harvick achieved a hard-fought 3rd place effort as he hustled from deep in the pack and averted the multi-car wreck to gain the podium spot.


Enjoying good days within the NASCAR Nationwide series are several of the part-time road racers. As Ambrose celebrated in Watkins Glen victory lane, Ron Fellows brought the #88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet home 6th while his Canadian teammate J.R. Fitzpatrick would also recover from a late race spin to finish 11th. Former Formula 1 drivers Nelson Piquet Jr as well as Jacques Villeneuve finished inside the top-10 with Piquet finishing 7th and Villeneuve placing in position behind.

A benefactor from Carl Edward's mechanical woes, NASCAR Nationwide series points leader Brad Keselowski would see the gap grow to 327 markers over his closest competitor Edwards.


2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series
Zippo 200
Watkins Glen International

1 47 Marcos Ambrose Kwik Fill/Red Apple/Zippo Toyota

2 20 Joey Logano GameStop Toyota

3 33 Kevin Harvick Jimmy John's Chevrolet

4 22      Brad Keselowski Ruby Tuesday/Discount Tire Dodge

5 18 Kyle Busch Combos Toyota

6 88 Ron Fellows GT Vodka Chevrolet

7 27 Nelson Piquet ArcSight/G2 Custom Apparel Ford

8 32 Jacques Villeneuve Dollar General Stores Toyota

9 66 Steve Wallace 5-hour Energy Toyota

10 181 Michael McDowell K-Love Dodge 

Other Notables 

11 7 J R Fitzpatrick Schick Hydro Chevrolet

22 09 Boris Said Zaxby's Ford

33 60 Carl Edwards Fastenal Ford 

34 12 Justin Allgaier Verizon Wireless Dodge

35 38 Jason Leffler Great Clips Toyota

33 4 60 Carl Edwards Fastenal Ford34 20 12 Justin Allgaier Verizon Wireless Dodge

Kyle Busch Wins 9th NASCAR Nationwide Race at Iowa

By Lee Montgomery
Special to Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(July 31, 2010)

NEWTON, Iowa—Even when he doesn't get any practice, Kyle Busch still wins in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.

Busch won his ninth NASCAR Nationwide race of 2010, his sixth in his last seven starts and 39th of his career by dominating the U.S. Cellular 250 in front of 55,988 fans at Iowa Speedway.

"I really like these cars," Busch said. "It's fun, man. I've really grown accustomed to these things and have learned how to drive them. You can really drive the Nationwide cars hard because they don't have a whole lot of horsepower, so you can really try to make up a lot by being able to get more out of the car, driver-wise."

Busch missed Saturday morning's rain-delayed practice, making it to Iowa from Pocono in time for qualifying. In his first laps in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, he earned the second position. Brad Coleman practiced Busch's car.

"It would've been better if I could've sat on the pole," Busch said. "Darn Trevor Bayne."

Bayne may have won the pole, but Busch's car was clearly dominant in the race, even without Busch practicing it. Busch led four times for 209 laps.

"It says a lot about the team, it says a lot about my confidence as a driver and my confidence in the team that they can prepare great racecars—and also (backup driver) Brad Coleman and what he does. I told (crew chief) Jason (Ratcliff) before the start of this thing, 'Man, if I win this thing, I just might not practice any more.' I think I screw it up more when I practice it."

Busch restarted sixth after a pit stop for four tires with 42 laps to go, passing four cars in one lap to move to second behind Kevin Harvick, who changed only right-side tires.

"We got five, six cars in between ourselves and Kyle, and that's really what we wanted to do," Harvick said. "We just didn't expect him to pass them all in one lap. That was our best chance, to try to get in front of him, and hopefully have him get caught up in traffic."

Busch passed Harvick with 24 laps to go and pulled away for the victory, spoiling Nationwide's Dash 4 Cash program. Since Busch was ineligible because he hasn't run all the Nationwide Series races this year, an eligible driver can win $75,000 if he wins at Texas Motor Speedway on Nov. 6.

Harvick ended up second, with Jason Leffler third, with points leader Brad Keselowski fourth and Bayne fifth. Sixth through 10th were Steve Wallace, Michael Annett, Justin Allgaier, Matt DiBenedetto and Carl Edwards.

Iowa's second NASCAR Nationwide race saw two red flags in the first 100 laps. The first red was for Reed Sorenson's wreck in Turn 1 on Lap 42, caused by a melted bead on the right-front tire. The second came 51 laps later, when Brian Keselowski nailed a prone Colin Braun in Turn 2.

Braun, who wrecked his primary car in qualifying, had spun off the corner before getting slammed by Keselowski. Three other cars were involved, but none of the drivers were hurt.

Bayne became the youngest driver in series history to win three consecutive poles as he claimed the top spot for the 250-lap race. Bayne is the fourth driver to accomplish the feat and the first in 18 years. The others were Sam Ard, Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin and Michael Waltrip.

Brad Keselowski extended his series points lead over Edwards to 231 points.

JR Motorsports Fellows and Fitzpatrick Goes to Ottawa

Photo Credit: Max d'Orsonnens

With the two Canadian IndyCar visits for 2010 now in the history books, the NASCAR Nationwide visit to Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in late August is one of several major auto racing visits left up north. For the August 28-29th event, J.R. Fitzpatrick will be competing in the #7 Chevy wearing Schick Hydro colours while Fellows will be driving the #88 Canadian Tire Chevrolet Impala SS.

Making a special stop in the Canadian nation's capital, the JR Motorsports teammates for the upcoming Canadian round Ron Fellows and JR Fitzpatrick made a special pitch. Promoting the NAPA Auto Parts 200 presented by Dodge, the event will take place on August 28-29 down the road to Montreal, Quebec just about a two and a half hour drive from Ottawa. Posing on Parliament Hall (Void of many politians as the government gatherings are on summer break), Fellows and Fitzpatrick also made stops at local media outlet including sports/talk radio station The Team 1200.

On a personal note, I have recently had the privilege of meeting both drivers at the recent Honda Indy of Toronto event. While I've written profiles of each driver which resulted in two separate articles (Fitzpatrick's profile graced the inner pages of Canadian motorsport publication PRN Magazine and Fellow's interview can be found on this website.) it was my first face-to-face experience with two of Canada's more talented racers. You can count on XSL Speed Reporter's attention on the upcoming work of these as well as other Canadian drivers.

Dale Earnhardt Jr takes #3 to Daytona Nationwide Win

Photo Credit: Jeff Markland/ Getty Images for NASCAR

By Reid Spencer

Sporting News NASCAR ire Service

(July 2, 2010)

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.—Driving the No. 3 Wrangler Chevrolet in honor of his late father, Dale Earnhardt Jr. broke a NASCAR Nationwide Series drought of almost four years in winning Friday night's Subway Jalapeno 250 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Daytona International Speedway.

Earnhardt's emotional win was the result of a collaboration between owner Richard Childress, Teresa Earnhardt, JR Motorsports and Hendrick Motorsports, which supplied the engine for the No. 3 car.

The victory, the 23rd of Earnhardt's career, was his first in the series since Aug. 19, 2006, when he took the checkered flag at Michigan. It was his first points win in any of NASCAR's top three series since June 15, 2008, when Earnhardt captured the Lifelock 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup race, again at Michigan.

In a race that saw the debut of NASCAR's new Nationwide Series car, Earnhardt held off runner-up Joey Logano and third-place finisher Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in a green-white-checkered-flag finish that took the race two laps beyond its scheduled distance of 100 laps.

"I was so worried that I wasn't going to win, 'cause nothing but a win would get it—for everybody," Earnhardt said after getting hugs from Childress, crew chief Tony Eury Jr. and a multitude of others in victory lane. "If we didn't win, what a waste of time. …

"I worked hard to try to win, not only for daddy—I'm proud of him going to the Hall of Fame, and he would be proud of this, I'm sure—but just all these fans. I hope they enjoyed this. This is it—no more '3' for me. That's it."

With a push from Justin Allgaier, Earnhardt took the lead for the first time on Lap 70, surging past Kyle Busch through Turns 1 and 2. On that same lap, NASCAR called a caution for debris on the backstretch. Pitting under the caution, Earnhardt retained his lead, thanks to a quick, problem-free stop by Earnhardt's No. 88 Sprint Cup crew, which volunteered for the race.

Earnhardt held the top spot through Lap 96, when NASCAR threw a debris caution that set up a two-lap run to the finish. Earnhardt stayed out on old tires, as did seven other contending cars, but Busch, Carl Edwards, Clint Bowyer, Trevor Bayne and Ryan Newman came to the pits for tires under the yellow.

The strategy didn't work for those drivers, as track position proved more beneficial that fresh rubber. Points leader Brad Keselowski and Kevin Harvick ran fourth and fifth, respectively, on old tires. Keselowski extended his margin in the standings to 277 points over second-place Edwards, who finished 11th Saturday.

But the day belonged to Earnhardt.

"It's emotional," he said. "I'm proud of myself. I'm proud to have done what I did with this group."

Childress, who won six Sprint Cup championships as Dale Earnhardt Sr.'s car owner, told Earnhardt Jr. his father would have been proud.

"He just said that daddy would have been happy, real happy," Earnhardt said. "And who would know better than him?"

Photo Credit: John Harrelson/ Getty Images for NASCAR

Kyle Busch Wins New England 200 Nationwide Race

Photo Credit: Todd Warshaw/ Getty Images for NASCAR

LOUDON, N. H. -- Kyle Busch added a few more records to his impressive resume
Saturday.
He became the NASCAR Nationwide Series' all-time lap leader in winning the New England 200 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, and he also broke veteran Mark Martin's laps-led mark in 45 fewer races than it took Martin to set the record of 8,083 laps.

Busch has now led 8,117 laps. Afterward, he heaped praise on his Joe Gibbs Racing team, under the leadership of crew chief Jason Ratliff.
Points leader Brad Keselowski finished second with Carl Edwards, third, Joey Logano fourth and Trevor Bayne fifth.
Justin Allgaier was sixth followed by Kevin Harvick, Reed Sorensen, Paul Menard and Brenden Gaughan, respectively, to round out the top 10.
The victory was Busch's sixth of the season. He’s running a part-time series schedule as the defending champion. Saturday’s victory also marked the first time a driver has won two NASCAR Nationwide Series events at New Hampshire. Saturday’s was the series’ 24th race there; Busch also won the track’s June event a year ago.
Indy Racing League star Danica Patrick had another luckless day, finishing 30^th, five laps behind, after an early-race shunt with Morgan Shepherd damaged her car.
Skies were overcast when the race began, and a threat of rain put a little more urgency in the start. Pole winner Keselowski pulled out front and Allgaier moved into second.
Patrick's day took a miserable turn on Lap 7 when the veteran Shepherd ducked beneath her in Turn 1, lost control and spun, collecting Patrick in the process.
When the green fell again, Kyle Busch took the lead but Keselowski went back to the front a couple laps later. Patrick, the center of attention in pre-race publicity and promotions, was relegated to 38th, a lap down, as a result of her spin.
At 30 laps, it appeared Keselowski was in for a good afternoon, but Harvick, Busch, Edwards, Logano and Allgaier were hanging within striking distance. Sorensen, Steve Wallace, Lofton and Dillon rounded out the top 10.
Patrick, meanwhile, had dropped another lap by Lap 40, putting her two laps down.
Harvick took the top spot on Lap 45 and Busch went with him, putting Keselowski in third. A lap later, Busch went back out front.
On Lap 94, Taylor Malsam and Ricky Stenhouse got together to bring out the second caution of the day. The leaders pitted again, some for two tires and some for four. Busch and Harvick took four while Logano and Allgaier took two. Keselowski didn't pit this time around.
On the restart, just past the halfway point of 100 laps, Keselowski led with Busch a little over a second behind. Logano was third, Edwards fourth and Harvick fifth.
Rounding out the top 10 were Sadler, Menard, Allgaier, Bayne and Sorensen.
Busch, however, chased Keselowski down and passed him for the lead on Lap 120.