Edwards Sings to NASCAR Nationwide Victory Lane at Nashville

Photo Credit: Grant Halverson/Getty Images for NASCAR

By Lee Montgomery
Special to Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(April 23, 2011)

LEBANON, Tenn.—Carl Edwards returned to victory lane at Nashville Superspeedway for the first time since 2007, winning Saturday’s Nashville 300 Nationwide Series race.

The victory was Edwards’ second of the season and 31st of his career—tying him for fourth all time with NASCAR Hall of Fame nominee Jack Ingram.

Edwards had won three Nationwide races in a row in 2006-07 but went six races at Nashville without winning again. His four Nashville victories are tops among all drivers at the 1.33-mile track.

“Was it 2007?” Edwards said. “That’s a long time to run poorly somewhere. Seemed like every time we came we won for a little while. Was it three in a row? Then all of a sudden, we came here and really struggled. That’s really trying on everybody.

“I have to give credit to (car owner) Jack Roush, to Ford, (engine builder) Doug Yates, (crew chief) Mike Beam, the guys at the shop. It looked like we were facing some insurmountable challenges, and they worked hard and got these cars better.”

Saturday, Edwards was the best, leading five times for 148 laps in beating Kyle Busch to the checkered flag by .521 seconds. Edwards surged past Busch as the two dueled for the lead with 35 laps to go.

Busch was gunning for a weekend sweep after his victory in Friday night’s Camping World Truck Series race but came up short as his Toyota was “just not quite fast enough.”

Brad Keselowski finished third and Joey Logano fourth as Sprint Cup regulars swept the top four spots in the Nationwide Series’ first stand-alone race of the season. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was fifth for the best finish among Nationwide regulars and moved into a tie for the points lead with Justin Allgaier.

Edwards and Busch traded the lead three times and raced side by side for more than three laps not long after a restart with 44 laps to go.

“At the end of the race, I was pedaling for all I had,” Edwards said. “I was kind of excited at the beginning of the race. I thought, ‘Boy, we’re going to run off with this thing. It’s going to be easy.’ Then at the end, that was white-knuckle. I was driving as hard as I can drive, racing him and Brad.

“In the end, it’s better to have a race like that, but it was really nerve-wracking for me.”

Edwards led Lap 189 of 225, with Busch coming back to lead Lap 190. Edwards led Lap 191 and finally got clear of Busch, even as Keselowski was challenging from third.

“I didn’t quite finish that pass,” Busch said. “He had a really fast car. We could keep up with him momentarily but not for the whole run. It was a good show right there, a little bit of racing back and forth. … Brad was right behind us and kind of lurking in the distance there.”

In the end, both drivers agreed Edwards’ No. 60 was simply the better car.

“Our Ford was just slightly better than his car, just slightly,” Edwards said. “He’s savvy enough of a racer, he knew how to keep me behind him and how to force the issue. He made it really hard on me, but he also gave me plenty of room. You can race a bunch of different ways out there, but that was a very clean race. That was really good. It was fun. I was really having a blast out there.”


2011 NASCAR Nationwide Seires
Nashville 300
Nashville Superspeedway
Race Results

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

1) 60 Carl Edwards Ford Drive one. Ford
2) 18 Kyle Busch Z-Line Designs Toyota
3) 22 Brad Keselowski Discount Tire Dodge
4) 20 Joey Logano Harvest Investments Toyota
5) 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. RickyvsTrevor.com Ford
6) 16 Trevor Bayne RickyvsTrevor.com Ford
7) 33 Austin Dillon Rheem Heating, Cooling & Water Heating Chevrolet
8) 32 Reed Sorenson Dollar General Chevrolet
9) 7 Josh Wise Eutechnyx Chevrolet
10) 88 Aric Almirola Grand Touring Vodka Chevrolet
11) 31 Justin Allgaier Wolfpack Rentals Chevrolet
12) 09 Kenny Wallace RAB Racing Toyota
13) 2 Elliott Sadler Hunt Brothers Pizza Chevrolet
14) 64 David Reutimann Flatout Flatbread Toyota
15) 38 Jason Leffler Great Clips Chevrolet
16) 99 Ryan Truex Pastrana Waltrip Racing Toyota
17) 66 Steve Wallace 5-hour Energy Toyota
18) 01 Mike Wallace Colormatch Coating Solutions Chevrolet
19) 62 Michael Annett Pilot Travel Centers/Flying J Toyota
20) 70 David Stremme Foretravel Chevrolet
21) 40 Scott Wimmer Key Motorsports Chevrolet
22) 11 Brian Scott Shore Lodge Toyota
23) 51 Jeremy Clements www.racedaysponsor.com Chevrolet
24) 87 Kevin Conway Extenze Toyota
25) 81 Blake Koch daystar.com Dodge
26) 39 Danny O'Quinn Jr. Rimz One Ford
27) 67 JR Fitzpatrick Go Canada Racing Ford
28) 89 Morgan Shepherd Racing with Jesus/Imperial Bedding Chevrolet
29) 30 Mikey Kile AccuDoc Chevrolet
30) 28 Derrike Cope Jay Robinson Inc. Dodge
31) 19 Mike Bliss TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet
32) 14 Eric McClure Hefty BlackOut/Reynolds Chevrolet
33) 15 Timmy Hill Rick Ware Racing Ford
34) 23 Robert Richardson Jr. Wildlife Conservation Society Dodge
35) 52 Tim Schendel TRX Alliance Chevrolet
36) 79 Tim Andrews Sports Massage USA Ford
37) 49 Dennis Setzer Jay Robinson Inc. Chevrolet
38) 74 Mike Harmon Riverwalk Cafe Chevrolet
39) 68 Matthew Carter Fleur de Lis Farms Chevrolet
40) 41 Carl Long Lilly Trucking Ford
41) 05 Willie Allen 31-W Insulation Chevrolet
42) 44 Jeff Green TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet
43) 75 Johnny Chapman Rick Ware Racing Ford

Go Canada Racing a Go at NASCAR Nationwide Race in Nashville

Photo Credit: Greig Reekie

At this moment, a Canadian national election is playing out with various parties vying to convince the North American country's people that their beliefs best represent Canada. Attempting to ignite the notions for what Canadian values are most important, candidates challenge the for the heart and soul of Canada for a nationwide vote. Well over 800 kilometers away from the Windsor/Detroit border crossing, an patriotic surge of Canadian spirit will ride around a 1.25 mile oval this weekend as part of the NASCAR Nationwide Series race in Nashville.

Announced this Tuesday, a co-owner of multi-billion dollar financial firm Investment Planning Counsel has pursued a new, personal venture. Entering the very competitive NASCAR stock car racing circuit, Canadian business Steve Meehan unveiled his Go Canada Racing team. Selected to drive Meehan's Canadian stock car racing is stand-out JR Fitzpatrick.

A champion of the 2006 CASCAR Super Series (now reorganized as the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series), the youthful talent of Fitzpatrick has not been a phenomenon limited only to the top side of the 49th parallel. Driving a NASCAR Camping World Series Truck for TRG Motorsports at the Daytona 250-mile race in 2009, JR Fitzpatrick not only survived the high-speed competition but firmly challenged the more veteran stock car drivers. Fitzpatrick finished 4th in that race which kicked off some initial interest later from the Kevin Harvick Incorporated (KHI) race team. Though JR Fitzpatrick and KHI were able to compete several races together in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and two Nationwide Series road races, the pairing never reached full potential. KHI decided late in 2009 to divest themselves from driver development and focused solely on placing established drivers to please sponsors. Returning to the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series full-time in 2010, Fitzpatrick regrouped for a title-contending season with two wins.

Delivering JR Fitzpatrick his dream position for competing in a major United States NASCAR tour, the Go Canada Racing team have matched the 22-year old driver with experienced crew chief Newt Moore. Enthusiastic about the team, Fitzpatrick responds "Steve has put together an outstanding team and given us the tools to succeed in this sport. We have a great crew, a great car, and a great team, and I'm looking forward to competing with some of NASCAR's best, starting this weekend in Nashville."

Debuting at the Nashville Superspeedway's NASCAR Nationwide Series race on April 23rd, Go Canada Racing will wear a white #67 Ford Mustang with bright red details. A highly ambitious operation, Go Canada Racing is not the first Canadian owner/driver combination to run in the NASCAR Nationwide Series tour. Oshawa, Ontario's car owner and past driver Randy MacDonald has employed fellow countryman on two occasion. Reigning 2010 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series champion DJ Kennington drove many races for MacDonald Motorsports from 2007 to 2009. Current French-Canadian INDYCAR driver Alex Tagliani also joining the team for the 2009 Nationwide Series race in Montreal.

Based heavily on Canadian symbols and people, even the car number of the Meehan-owned team is significantly Canadian. The number '67' represents the year in the 19th century when Canada proceeded to becoming an independent nation.

Due to NASCAR's commitment to provide a 43-car field in the Nashville 300, the #67 Go Canada Racing Ford Mustang is assured a starting spot for this first outing. Through two Friday practice sessions for the NASCAR Nationwide Series, JR Fitzpatrick placed 25th and 33rd fastest on the timing charts. Competing against some of the best stock car racing drivers and teams, Go Canada Racing understands success will be hard-earned. Comparing the race teams in the United States to the organizations in Canada, Fitzpatrick says "I think the competitiveness in the United States is the major difference. In Canada you go out each week and there are 5-10 guys that are going to be your main competition. In the states you have 25 guys that you are racing each week."

Showing endurance through harsh winters and ruggedness interacting with a vast country like fellow country mates, it is impossible to believe that Fitzpatrick or anyone in the entire freshman Canadian racing team will bow to this challenge. As team owner Steve Meehan iterates, 7 million avid NASCAR fans in the true north strong and free will support the #67 Ford Mustang.

NASCAR Nationwide Series Federated Auto Parts 300 at Nashville: Practice Makes Perfect For Keselowski

John Sommers II/Getty Images for NASCAR

By Lee Montgomery
Special to Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

LEBANON, Tenn.—Brad Keselowski was one of four drivers pulling double-duty in NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series races this weekend. But Keselowski was the only Cup driver to fly from Pocono Raceway to Nashville Superspeedway for Friday practice.

Was it any coincidence that Keselowski won Saturday night's Federated Auto Parts 300 Nationwide Series race? Keselowski didn't think so.

"It's quite simple: If I didn't come here (Friday), I don't think I would've won the race," Keselowski said after scoring his third Nationwide victory of the season and second of his career at Nashville.

Keselowski came into Nashville with a one-point lead on Kyle Busch, but Busch and third-place Kevin Harvick skipped Nashville and will not run the full season. Keselowski's points lead is now 196 over Busch, with Carl Edwards 277 back in third.

Edwards finished second Saturday, with Paul Menard third, polesitter Justin Allgaier fourth and Mike Bliss fifth.

Edwards, Menard and Michael McDowell are also running both Cup and Nationwide races this weekend, but none were in Nashville on Friday.

Keselowski figures he owes it to his Penske Racing team to show up and practice.

"This team works in the shop on days when I'm sleeping in," Keselowski said. "They work, and they work. They work, and I get all the glory. It's my responsibility to know when it's time for me to get to work.

"Sometimes, it's not always the funnest thing to do or the easiest thing to do. There was a lot of travel (Friday), but it makes it worth it to be sitting here right now."

How was Keselowski's appearance Friday the difference? Crew chief Paul Wolfe said competition is so close that any edge a team can gain makes a big difference.

"One thing we did have going for us was this was the same car we ran here in (April), and we were very fast with it (finishing fifth)," Wolfe said. "That helped, but it's down to fine-tuning to win these races, and you've got to be close to perfect. That's where having Brad here to tune into what he thought he was going to need tonight was part of it.

"That's the kind of effort it's going to take, going back and forth. Obviously, that shows Brad's dedication to the series and winning this championship."

Keselowski qualified 24th and slowly worked his way to the front of the field. He didn't get the lead until after the halfway point but led 97 of the final 100 laps. He was one of several drivers to stay on the track under the race's final caution period, and after a brief tussle with Edwards, Keselowski pulled away for his third win of the season.

Harvick Strikes the Winning Note in NASCAR Nationwide Nashville 300

Photo Credit: Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR

Kevin Harvick went from playing the blues after Friday's truck race to rocking the NASCAR Nationwide Series Nashville 300 event. Driving another outing in his Kevin Harvick Incorporated #33 Chevrolet, cross the finish line first for the second time in the early 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series.

The #20 Toyota of Joey Logano clinched the pole in qualifying for the Nashville 300 leading the Nationwide Series field with Kevin Harvick's #33 Chevrolet starting alongside. Unlike the rather dull Camping World Truck Series event, the Nationwide Series race provided a much more eventful competition.

With 8 caution breaking up the action, the a major collision occurred when the field regrouped after a previous yellow flag period. On the double-file restart, multiple drivers saw an opportunity to advance their positions. Dicing three-wide and later four-wide for spots on track at lap 113, the four-wide scenario proved unwise as Brendan Gaughan, Steve Wallace, Mikey Kile and Jason Keller entered turn three. With the #62 Rusty Wallace Racing Toyota of Gaughan hugging the apron as the track, teammate Steve Wallace drifted high tangling with Mikey Kile and Jason Keller. With Michael McDowell and the Roush-Fenway Racing driver Colin Braun also collected in the massive incident, the debris field of auto parts necessitated a red flag stoppage for over 14 minutes to clean up the turn 3-4 segment of the Nashville Superspeedway. Climbing out of his battered #66 Toyota under his own power, Steve Wallace could be seen hobbling in pain to the Ambulance and out of the in-front care center. On the #66 driver's twitter page, Wallace stated "Man that wreck hurt like hell". The cars of Wallace, McDowell and Keller were all retired from the event immediately after the crash.

Not anyway as severe as the lap 113 crash, two caution periods involved the dramatic exploits of two drivers. On lap 43, the #1 Pheonix Racing Chevrolet of James Buescher made contact with the #38 Great Clips Toyota of Jason Leffler through turn 2. With the #38 spinning into the wall, it took numerous laps before the Great Clips Toyota returned to competition. While the incident appeared largely unintentional, Leffler returned to the race track under a different impression. Heading down the frontstretch on lap 143, the damaged #38 Toyota pinched the #1 car against the wall in retaliation against Buescher.

The latest in on-track feuds in NASCAR, this incident comes after the two-race exchange between Brad Keselowski and Denny Hamlin at the end of 2009 NASCAR Nationwide Series. Still fresh in many race fan memories, the on-track skirmish occurred at the Atlanta Sprint Cup race where this time Keselowski caught the ire of Carl Edwards. For the Nashville 300, NASCAR officials dealt with Leffler the same way they addressed Edward's payback, parking the #38 for the duration of the event. On Jason Leffler's twitter page, the driver posted after the race "Got crashed 40 laps in to the race! 38 great clips car was fast! Then all hell broke loose! Damm".


Photo Credit: John Sommers II/Getty Images for NASCAR


Under green, the Joe Gibbs Racing #20 of Joey Logano gave his Game Stop sponsor some valuable representative. Holding the top spot for 122 of the 225 laps at Nashville, Logano never gained ground after a final pit stop. Logano finished 8th in the race despite the speed he showed throughout Saturday.

Through closing laps, Kevin Harvick and crew chief Ernie Cope chanced a two-tire change as an advantage to gain track position. The gamble paid off as the #33 Chevrolet was able to repel the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota and Penske Racing Dodges.

The final laps had the Braun Racing #32 Dollar General Toyota driven by Reed Sorenson mounting a charge on Harvick. Taking the runner-up position, Sorenson's hard-fought effort came short of a victory which Dollar General pledged would amount to a $50,000 donation to Autism charities.

Third place went to Nashville's Camping World Truck Series winner Kyle Busch. Eager to complete a sweep for the Nashville Easter weekend festivities, Busch commented that his #18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was only a bit short of winning.

Both Penske Racing drivers Brad Keselowski and Justin Allgaier found top-5 finishes on the Nashville Superspeedway. Finishing 4th, the #12 of Allgaier bested his Sprint Cup racing teammate Keselowski driving the #22 Dodge by the single position. Beaten by his younger teammate, Keselowski was at least able to finish in front of arch-rival on-track Carl Edwards. Edwards' #60 Valvoline Ford, placing 6th on the day, was the only Roush-Fenway Racing runner to go incident-free through the 225 lap distance.

In 7th place, Scott Wimmer brought the #7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet across the finish lane for the season's best effort. Leading 18 laps, Wimmer will step aside from his driving duties with JR Motorsports last week at Phoenix as Landon Cassill takes over the #7 ride for 4 NASCAR Nationwide races.

After 5 races, the NASCAR Nationwide Series season driver's standings has five drivers within 61 points. Carl Edwards leads the group with just 16 markers separating him from Brad Keselowski.

Next week, the NASCAR Nationwide Series rejoins the NASCAR Sprint Cup race weekend at Phoenix International Raceway.


2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series . Nashville 300 at Nashville Superspeedway Top 10 Race Results

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

1) 33 Kevin Harvick Armour Chevrolet
2) 32 Reed Sorenson Dollar General Toyota 
3) 18 Kyle Busch Z-Line Designs Toyota 
4) 12 Justin Allgaier Verizon Wireless Dodge
5) 22 Brad Keselowski Discount Tire Dodge
6) 60 Carl Edwards Valvoline Ford
7) 7 Scott Wimmer Lifetime Army Wives Chevrolet
8) 20 Joey Logano GameStop/Legend of Zork Toyota
9) 15 Michael Annett Pilot Travel Centers Toyota
10) 62 Brendan Gaughan South Point Hotel & Casino Toyota
Other Notables

11 98 Paul Menard Richmond/Menards Ford
12 99 Trevor Bayne Diamond-Waltrip Racing Toyota
14 88 Kelly Bires Suave Men Chevrolet
34 1 James Buescher  Phoenix Racing Chevrolet
36 66 Steve Wallace 5-hour Energy Toyota
39 38 Jason Leffler Great Clips Toyota

Busch Plays Solo to Win Nashville Truck Race

Photo Credit: John Sommers II/Getty Images for NASCAR

For the first time in 2010, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series ran on consecutive weekends after running on the short track of Martinsville Speedway. In the end of the 150 lap event on the 1.33 mile Nashville Superspeedway, Kyle Busch claimed his first win with his own race equipment holding off an unsuccessful late race charge from Kevin Harvick. Debuting at Daytona this year, it took only 4 races for Busch to find victory lane as an owner/driver by dominated the Camping World Truck Series' Nashville 200 on Friday night.

A great win for Kyle Busch and Kyle Busch Motorsports, the Nashville 200 was overall a very hum-drum event. In fact, for the rest of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series field, the Nashville 200 ran like an old country song. With all but 8 trucks on the lead lap, even trucks on the lead lap could only vaguely contend against the Dollar General juggernaut. Not helping matters for the competitors was that only 2 cautions slowed the Nashville Superspeedway truck race. Considering the barn-burning action first 3 races of the 2010 Camping World Truck Series season, the Nashville 200 was off-tempo for excitement.

With only 5 lead changes between 3 drivers, Daytona truck race winner Timothy Peters driving his #17 Red Horse Racing Toyota Tundra provided the only sustained challenge to the dominant Busch leading 17 laps. As the race progressed however, Peters lost touch with the #18 truck but still wound up in a 4th place finish by the end of the event. The #30 Germain Racing Toyota of Todd Bodine would also lead for two laps under a pit stop exchange. For the balance of the race, Busch's #18 Dollar General Toyota led 131 laps around the 1.33 mile concrete oval racing surface. In all, Toyota Tundras lead every single lap of the Nashville 200.



Photo Credit: John Sommers II/Getty Images for NASCAR

In the closing laps Kyle Busch did encounter some grief with lapped traffic, aiding the efforts of the #2 Chevrolet truck of Kevin Harvick in chasing down the #18 Toyota. However, running side-by-side through one of the latter laps of Nashville, Harvick charged below Busch down the backstretch. Under attack, Kyle Busch was actually able to get lapped traffic to work in his favour as a low-running back-marker provided the #18 with a so-called pick against the #2 Chevrolet. Into turn 3, approaching the lapped vehicle, Harvick needed to backed off.

Going onto victory, Kyle Busch returns to the victory lane where in the NASCAR Nationwide Series last June he did his best Pete Townshend impression by breaking the unique Sam Bass-designed Gibson guitar trophy. To the silent relieve of Sam Bass and to Gibson guitar fans, the Kyle Busch's 2010 trophy left the victory lane ceremonies intact. Of course, the fact that this year's Gibson guitar marks Kyle Busch Motorsports' first truck win might have installed some sentimentality into the usually out-spoken NASCAR driver.

With the top 2 trucks piloted by driver/owner individuals, Kevin Harvick Incorporated primary driver Ron Hornaday Jr secured 3rd place on the #33 Chevrolet. His 2nd straight top-5 finish, Hornaday Jr is attempting a truck series title defense after crashing out of the first two events. 5th through 10th place in the Nashville 200 truck race has Todd Bodine, Matt Crafton, Mike Skinner, Aric Almirola, Stacy Compton and Rick Crawford crossing the line in that order.

As before mentioned, Timothy Peters came in 4th at Nashville making the driver the only competitor to achieve a top-10 in every NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event for 2010. Rewarded by his own consistency, Peters holds an 82 point lead in the series overall standings over Aric Almirola.


2010 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Nashville 200 at Nashville Superspeedway
Race Results

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

1 18 Kyle Busch        Dollar General Toyota
2 2 Kevin Harvick    Charter Communications Chevrolet
3 33 Ron Hornaday Jr. Longhorn Chevrolet
4 17 Timothy Peters    Crescent Tools/Red Horse Racing Toyota
5 30 Todd Bodine      Germain.com Toyota
6 88 Matt Crafton     Menards/Ideal Door Chevrolet
7 5 Mike Skinner     International Trucks/Monaco RV Toyota
8 51 Aric Almirola    Graceway Pharmaceuticals Toyota
9 60 Stacy Compton    Safe Auto Insurance/Wyler.com Chevrolet
10 14 Rick Crawford    Circle Bar Ford
11 13 Johnny Sauter     In Country Television/Curb Records Chevrolet
12 15 Steve Wallace    Red Top Collector Car Auction Toyota
13 90 James Buescher   Great Clips Toyota
14 3 Austin Dillon     Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Chevrolet
15 4 Ricky Carmichael Monster Energy Chevrolet


Other Notables

18 29 Brad Keselowski   Brad Keselowski Racing Dodge
21 12 Mario Gosselin    TireMonkey.com/James Carter Attorney Chevrolet
25 10 Jennifer Jo Cobb driverboutique.com Ford
26 92 Dennis Setzer         BTS Tire & Wheel Chevrolet