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Tag: Regan Smith

  • Exciting season continues in the Nationwide Series

    Exciting season continues in the Nationwide Series

    Just a few weeks ago it seemed as if JR Motorsports driver, Regan Smith, had a stranglehold on the championship points standings in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. After a string of 11 top-10 finishes which included two wins, Smith had a very impressive 58 point lead.

    Smith took big hit in the standings at the road course event at Road America where he finished 32nd. The struggles continued the following week at Kentucky finishing 30th. After just two bad weeks, Smith’s lead and dropped from 58 points to a mere eight points over Sam Hornish Jr.

    Smith bounced back at Daytona and Loudon, where he finished eighth in both events and managed to hold on to the points lead. Hornish was once again impressive at Chicago finishing second to Smith’s 13th, and took over the points lead which he had held during the first seven races of the season.

    Along with Smith and Hornish, two more drivers are in the tick of the battle for the championship. Elliott Sadler and Austin Dillon are second and fourth respectively in the standings with Sadler only 13 points back from the leader Hornish, Dillon tied with Smith at only 15 points back.

    Smith’s stats for the season include two wins, five top-5’s and 14 top-10’s. Hornish has an equally impressive record, and may be showing a little more consistency with one win, ten top-5’s, and 17 top-10’s.

    Sadler has had somewhat of an up and down season in the Joe Gibbs Racing No.11 One Main Financial Toyota. In recent weeks, however, he has had some better luck and solid performances with the exception of a run in with Smith at New Hampshire Motor Speedway where Smith got into the back of Sadler late in the race on the final restart. Sadler was running third at the time but fell to 18th after the incident.

    The two exchanged words after the event with Sadler telling Smith, “You will not win this championship, mark my word.”  Last week at Mid-Ohio, it appeared Sadler got revenge on Smith when he turned Smith around in the second half of the race. Sadler did not say of the contact was intentional but Smith commented, “I am going to presume that we’re on an even slate for the rest of the year, though.”

    Sadler currently has eight top-5’s and 14 top-10’s on the season, with no wins, however.

    Richard Childress Racing driver, Austin Dillon, who is widely expected to move up to the Sprint Cup Series next season, had some struggles last week at Mid-Ohio finishing 21st. Some criticized the decision for Dillon to attempt double duty filling in for Tony Stewart at Michigan while in the midst of a championship run. With the two races being at separate venues and weekend schedules overlapping, Dillon elected not to qualify his No. 3 Advocare Chevy and had to start at the rear of the field at a road course where track position is key.

    Supporters pointed out that Dillon’s long term goals is to compete in the Cup series and the experience in a top quality car was worth the sacrifices. Dillon has no wins this season, with seven top-5’s and 13 top-10’s.

    The Food City 250 this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway will provide an excellent arena for the series top drivers to battle. Given the volatile nature of racing at Bristol, and the tight points battle, this weekend’s event could lead to a major shake-up in the standings.

    Among the leaders, Elliott Sadler has the best record in the Nationwide Series at Bristol with 13 starts, two wins, five top-5’s, and six top-10’s in 13 starts. During final practice Sadler was struggling with handling saying he could not get aggressive with the car on the team radio. Sadler commented further when asked about it saying, “If you’re not aggressive at Bristol, you don’t have a chance to win.” At the time Sadler was 22nd fastest in practice.

    We are in the middle of one of the best, most competitive Nationwide Series seasons in recent memory. The talent level in this series is extraordinary. The decision for many of the top teams to enter one driver running the full schedule, the level of excitement has risen drastically.

    The green flag will fall on the Food City 250, Friday Aug 23rd at 7:30pm.

  • Crunching The Numbers: Bristol

    Crunching The Numbers: Bristol

    It’s that time of year again. The weekend in late August that race fans circle on their calendars every year, the Bristol night race. Bristol Motor Speedway always produces great racing, but once night falls and the lights come on at the half-mile bullring, the intensity and action jumps up tenfold. That is also a big reason why Bristol is called “The Last Great Coliseum”. The Camping World Truck Series kicks off the racing at Bristol with their race on Wednesday night, followed by the Nationwide Series and Sprint Cup Series on Friday and Saturday night, respectively.

    NASCAR Sprint Cup Series – Irwin Tools Night Race

    With only three races remaining until the Chase for the Sprint Cup begins, the Sprint Cup Series heads into one of the most treacherous races of the season with the points standings extremely tight in the bottom half of the top ten. Only 29 points separate Matt Kenseth in sixth place with Kasey Kahne in 11th place and any kind of issues by those fighting for a Chase spot and the points standings could have another big shakeup after this weekend. On the opposite side of the spectrum, there are a few drivers who could leave Bristol with a locked in spot in the Chase based on points if they are 97 points ahead of 11th and the drivers in second, third, and fourth in the points (Clint Bowyer, Carl Edwards, and Kevin Harvick) are the most likely candidates to accomplish that.

    Driver Races Win Top 5 Top 10 Pole Laps Led Avg. Start Avg. Finish
    Kyle Busch 17 5 8 12 1 1431 18.2 9.8
    Dale Earnhardt Jr. 27 1 7 13 0 758 21.7 11.6
    Brad Keselowski 7 2 3 3 0 409 13.7 12.1
    Greg Biffle 21 0 6 11 1 438 13.4 12.1
    Jeff Gordon 41 5 16 22 5 2713 6.9 12.4
    Kevin Harvick 25 1 9 12 0 427 17.8 12.6
    Matt Kenseth 27 2 10 17 1 1007 16.8 12.9
    Kurt Busch 25 5 7 14 1 841 19.2 13.4
    Mark Martin 46 2 16 23 9 1200 10.3 13.7
    Jimmie Johnson 23 1 7 13 1 789 15.7 14.3

    Who To Watch: As the only driver to sweep the Sprint Cup Series, Nationwide Series, and Camping World Truck Series races at Bristol in one weekend, it is no surprise that Kyle Busch finds himself at the top of the heap statistically at Bristol. In 17 races, Busch has five wins, eight top fives, 12 top tens, one pole, 1431 laps led, and an average finish of 9.8. Busch is also coming off of a second place finish in the last race at Bristol in March.

    Next up is Dale Earnhardt Jr., who has one win, seven top fives, 13 top tens, 758 laps led, and an average finish of 11.6 in 27 races at the track. Earnhardt finished in sixth in the March Bristol race.

    Others to keep an eye on during the madness Saturday night include: Brad Keselowski, who has two wins, three top fives, three top tens, 409 laps led, and an average finish of 12.1 in seven starts; Greg Biffle, the only driver in the top ten statistically without a win, but with six top fives, 11 top tens, one pole, 438 laps led, and an average finish of 12.1 in 21 starts; and Jeff Gordon, with five wins, 16 top fives, 22 top tens, five poles, 2713 laps led, and an average finish of 12.4 in 41 starts. 

    NASCAR Nationwide Series – Food City 250

    Just like the Sprint Cup Series, the Nationwide Series has a close points battle on their hands heading into Bristol this weekend. The top five in Nationwide Series points are only separated by 18 points and with that close of a points race, there is no margin for error for points leader Sam Hornish Jr, and the rest of the top five: Elliott Sadler, Regan Smith, Austin Dillon, and Brian Vickers. Given the history of the action at Bristol, the points standings could be jumbled up again after this weekend.

    Driver Races Win Top 5 Top 10 Pole Laps Led Avg. Start Avg. Finish
    Kyle Larson 1 0 1 1 0 0 12.0 2.0
    Parker Kligerman 3 0 0 3 0 0 23.7 9.0
    Austin Dillon 3 0 1 1 0 0 5.0 9.0
    Kyle Busch 18 5 11 14 2 1170 9.3 9.4
    Sam Hornish Jr 4 0 1 2 0 0 13.8 10.2
    Cole Whitt 2 0 0 1 0 0 16.5 11.0
    Brad Keselowski 12 1 5 7 2 227 12.1 11.9
    Alex Bowman 1 0 0 0 0 0 15.0 14.0
    Michael Annett 8 0 0 3 0 1 21.6 14.4
    Elliott Sadler 13 2 5 6 1 172 13.1 15.6

    Who To Watch: Rookie Kyle Larson has been the talk of the sport with his impressive runs this season, especially at Bristol back in March when Larson and Kyle Busch finished side by side, beating and banging all the way to the line. Busch narrowly beat Larson, but everyone knew that Larson would be a contender week in and week out after battling one of the best for the win.

    Parker Kligerman is another young talent who has run well at Bristol. In three starts, Kligerman has three top ten finishes and an average finish 9.3.

    Others to watch on Friday night are: Austin Dillon, with one top five, one top ten, and an average finish of 9.0 in three starts; Kyle Busch, with five wins, 11 top fives, 14 top tens, two poles, 1170 laps led, and an average finish of 9.4 in 18 starts; and points leader Sam Hornish Jr., with one top five, two top tens, and an average finish of 10.2 in four starts.

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series – UNOH 200

    For only the second time this season, the Camping World Truck Series will be racing on a Wednesday night with the other time being at Eldora last month. The Truck Series has always been known for its rough and tumble style of racing and the high banks of Bristol make the Truck Series race at Bristol one of the can’t miss races of the year. The points aren’t really a factor for the Trucks with points leader Matt Crafton leading by a whopping 51 points with 10 races left in the Truck Series schedule.

    Driver Races Win Top 5 Top 10 Pole Laps Led Avg. Start Avg. Finish
    Joey Coulter 2 0 1 2 0 0 9.0 5.0
    Ryan Blaney 1 0 0 1 0 0 5.0 6.0
    Justin Lofton 3 0 1 3 0 0 25.3 7.3
    Kyle Busch 7 3 4 5 1 343 6.0 8.4
    Matt Crafton 10 0 2 5 0 0 18.3 10.8
    Ron Hornaday Jr 13 2 4 8 2 388 10.9 11.2
    Johnny Sauter 5 0 1 1 0 0 14.8 13.4
    Brendan Gaughan 7 0 3 3 0 39 9.9 13.9
    James Buescher 4 0 1 2 0 0 14.2 14.2
    David Starr 11 0 1 4 0 0 15.8 14.3

    Who To Watch: Joey Coulter tops the list statistically at Bristol with one top five, two top tens, and an average finish of 5.0 in two starts at the track.

    Rookie Ryan Blaney also has had a good track record at Bristol with a sixth place finish in one start at the track.

    Others to watch are: Justin Lofton, with one top five, three top tens, and an average finish of 7.3 in three starts; Kyle Busch, with three wins, four top fives, five top tens, one pole, 343 laps led, and an average finish of 8.4 in seven starts; and points leader Matt Crafton, with two top fives, five top tens, and an average finish of 10.8 in 10 starts.

  • Crunching The Numbers: Watkins Glen

    Crunching The Numbers: Watkins Glen

    After some exciting races at Pocono Raceway and Iowa Speedway last weekend, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and NASCAR Nationwide Series head north for some road course racing at Watkins Glen International, the always entertaining 2.45 mile road course in Upstate New York. This weekend will mark the second road course race for both series after the Sprint Cup Series visited Sonoma Raceway and the Nationwide Series was at Road America back in June.

    NASCAR Sprint Cup Series – Cheez-It 355 at the Glen

    As the Sprint Cup Series heads into Watkins Glen for the second road course race of the year, the Race to the Chase is also heating up with only five races remaining until the Chase begins and several drivers still in contention for those coveted spots. There are several drivers, including some in Chase contention who always run well at this track, so this race should be a fight from beginning to end as we get one step closer to finalizing the field for the Chase.

    Driver Races Win Top 5 Top 10 Pole Laps Led Avg. Start Avg. Finish
    Marcos Ambrose 5 2 5 5 0 46 13.2 2.0
    Brad Keselowski 3 0 2 2 0 39 16.0 8.0
    Kyle Busch 8 1 3 7 1 159 7.4 9.0
    AJ Allmendinger 4 0 1 2 0 8 15.2 9.0
    Carl Edwards 8 0 3 5 1 1 12.5 9.4
    Kevin Harvick 12 1 2 6 0 29 13.2 13.1
    Jimmie Johnson 11 0 4 6 1 11 6.2 13.2
    Martin Truex Jr. 7 0 2 4 0 0 18.7 13.7
    Jeff Gordon 20 4 6 9 2 233 9.4 14.8
    Juan Pablo Montoya 6 1 2 4 1 81 10.3 15.0

    Who To Watch: After winning at Watkins Glen in the past two seasons, the driver who runs best at the track is none other than road course ace Marcos Ambrose, whose stellar Watkins Glen career includes the two wins, five top fives, five top tens, 46 laps led, and an average finish of 2.0 in five starts. The lowest that Ambrose has ever finished is third, so the road to victory on Sunday will have to go through Ambrose.

    Tony Stewart falls in second statistically at this track and is undoubtedly one of the best at Watkins Glen with five wins, but unfortunately Stewart will be missing the race Sunday due to a broken leg that he suffered in a Sprint Car wreck on Monday night.

    With Stewart out, the next driver in line statistically is Brad Keselowski, who has finished second to Ambrose the last two years, and in three starts has the two top fives, two top tens, 39 laps led, and an average finish of 8.0.

    Others who run well at the road course include: Kyle Busch, who has one win, three top fives, seven top tens, one pole, 159 laps led, and an average finish of 9.0 in eight starts; A.J. Allmendinger, who won the Nationwide Series race at Road America in June, with one top five, two top tens, eight laps led, and an average finish of 9.0 in four starts; and Carl Edwards, with three top fives, five top tens, one pole, one lap led, and an average finish of 9.4 in eight starts.

    The others in the top ten statistically (Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, Martin Truex Jr., Jeff Gordon, and Juan Pablo Montoya) will also be strong contenders for the win this weekend. 

    NASCAR Nationwide Series – Zippo 200 at the Glen

    This weekend at Watkins Glen marks the second of three road course races this season for the Nationwide Series with a date at Mid-Ohio awaiting the drivers next weekend. With the points lead swapping between Austin Dillon, Sam Hornish Jr., and Regan Smith over the past few weeks, the unpredictability that is Watkins Glen is sure to shake up the points standings once again.

    Driver Races Win Top 5 Top 10 Pole Laps Led Avg. Start Avg. Finish
    Brad Keselowski 4 0 2 4 0 44 7.8 5.2
    Nelson Piquet Jr. 1 0 0 1 0 0 10.0 7.0
    Kyle Busch 6 0 4 5 0 90 7.2 9.3
    Kasey Kahne 2 0 0 1 0 0 6.5 10.0
    Brian Scott 3 0 0 1 0 0 16.7 12.3
    Joey Logano 5 0 2 3 0 8 8.4 13.4
    Elliott Sadler 4 0 0 1 0 0 13.0 14.8
    Michael Annett 4 0 0 0 0 0 26.2 17.2
    Justin Allgaier 4 0 0 1 0 1 17.0 18.0
    Trevor Bayne 2 0 0 1 0 0 15.0 19.0

    Who To Watch: While Brad Keselowski has been a runner-up on the Sprint Cup side statistically, he takes one step up in the Nationwide Series at Watkins Glen with the best statistics of the drivers entered on Saturday. In four starts, Keselowski has two top fives, four top tens, 44 laps led, and an average finish of 5.2.

    Next is Nelson Piquet, Jr., who has a Nationwide Series road course win at Road America and in his lone Watkins Glen start in 2010 finished in seventh. Piquet’s road course skills are likely to have him in contention for the win.

    Others who run well at the track include: Kyle Busch, with four top fives, five top tens, 90 laps led, and an average finish of 9.3 in five starts; Kasey Kahne, with one top ten and an average finish of 10.0 in two starts; Brian Scott, with one top ten and an average finish of 12.3 in three starts; and Joey Logano, who will be driving a special No. 48 Ford this weekend, with two top fives, three top tens, eight laps led, and an average finish of 13.4 in five starts.

  • Crunching The Numbers: Pocono & Iowa

    After a weekend of racing at the Brickyard for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and NASCAR Nationwide Series and a Wednesday night of dirt racing at Eldora for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, all three series head off to new destinations this week with the Sprint Cup Series and Camping World Truck Series heading to Pocono and the Nationwide Series heading back to Iowa Speedway for the second time this season.

    NASCAR Sprint Cup Series – GoBowling.com 400 at Pocono Raceway

    From the rectangular shaped Indianapolis Motor Speedway last weekend to the triangular shaped Pocono Raceway this weekend, this section of the Sprint Cup Series schedule takes the drivers to tracks that are anything but your run-of-the-mill oval. Especially Pocono, with its three distinct turns all based off of turns from three different tracks. Turn 1 is based off of Trenton Speedway, Turn 2 is based off of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and Turn 3 is based off of The Milwaukee Mile. Many say that drivers who run well at Indianapolis tend to run well at Pocono, so at the end of 400 miles on Sunday, we’ll see if that holds true.

    Driver Races Win Top 5 Top 10 Pole Laps Led Avg. Start Avg. Finish
    Jimmie Johnson 23 3 10 16 2 690 9.0 8.7
    Jeff Gordon 41 6 18 28 2 965 11.4 10.2
    Denny Hamlin 15 4 8 10 2 663 6.3 10.5
    Tony Stewart 29 2 12 21 2 156 12.7 11.0
    Mark Martin 53 0 20 34 3 448 9.4 11.2
    Ryan Newman 23 1 8 11 2 182 10.3 12.0
    Carl Edwards 17 2 5 8 0 221 18.0 13.5
    Kevin Harvick 25 0 5 9 0 5 19.2 13.9
    Matt Kenseth 27 0 3 10 0 54 18.0 14.7
    Brad Keselowski 7 1 2 2 0 31 18.1 14.7

    Who To Watch: Five-time champion Jimmie Johnson seems to be having another one of those championship caliber seasons this year with his 75 point advantage heading into this weekend, so it’s no surprise that he leads all active drivers at Pocono. In 23 starts, Johnson has three wins, 10 top fives, 16 top tens, two poles, 690 laps led, and an average finish of 8.7. Let’s not forget just how dominant Johnson was during his June Pocono win. If anyone is going to win this race, Johnson will be the man to beat.

    Johnson’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Jeff Gordon, also has an impressive career at Pocono with six wins, 18 top fives, 28 top tens, two poles, 965 laps led, and an average finish of 10.2 in 41 starts.

    Others who run well at Pocono include: Denny Hamlin, with four wins, eight top fives, 10 top tens, two poles, 663 laps led, and an average finish of 10.5 in 15 starts; Tony Stewart, with two wins, 12 top fives, 21 top tens, two poles, 156 laps led, and an average finish of 11.0 in 29 starts; Mark Martin, with 20 top fives, 34 top tens, three poles, 448 laps led, and an average finish of 11.2 in 53 starts; and winner of last weekend’s race at Indianapolis, Ryan Newman, with one win, eight top fives, 11 top tens, two poles, 182 laps led, and an average finish of 12.0 in 23 starts.

    NASCAR Nationwide Series – U.S. Cellular 250 at Iowa

    For the second time this season the Nationwide Series heads to Iowa Speedway for a standalone event on the short track. With the Sprint Cup Series in Pocono for the weekend, the Nationwide regulars will practically have the track to themselves, except for a Cup regular or two that will be making the double duty trip down to Iowa.

    Driver Races Win Top 5 Top 10 Pole Laps Led Avg. Start Avg. Finish
    Brad Keselowski 3 1 3 3 0 151 8.3 2.7
    Elliott Sadler 5 1 5 5 3 100 3.2 2.8
    Kyle Larson 1 0 1 1 0 0 10.0 5.0
    Regan Smith 1 0 0 1 0 0 5.0 7.0
    Sam Hornish Jr. 4 0 2 2 0 91 3.5 10.8
    Justin Allgaier 7 0 1 5 0 150 6.6 10.9
    Parker Kligerman 2 0 0 1 0 0 11.0 11.0
    Austin Dillon 5 0 2 3 1 260 5.8 11.8
    Michael Annett 7 0 1 2 0 6 20.3 13.0
    Cole Whitt 3 0 0 1 0 4 14.3 14.0

    Who To Watch: As the only Cup regular in the field, Brad Keselowski also boasts the best statistics in the Nationwide Series at Iowa. In three starts, Keselowski has one win, three top fives, three top tens, 151 laps led, and an average start of 2.7. The No. 22 car that Keselowski will be driving has won three times previously this season, so Keselowski should be strong on Saturday night once again.

    Elliott Sadler is the top Nationwide regular at Iowa with one win, five top fives, five top tens, three poles, 100 laps led, and an average finish of 2.8 in five starts.

    Others who run well at Iowa include: Rookie Kyle Larson, who finished fifth in his lone start this season; Regan Smith, who had a top ten of his own earlier this season at Iowa with a seventh place finish; Austin Dillon, who was well on his way to a victory in the first race at Iowa this year before fading late, and has two top fives, three top tens, one pole, 260 laps led, and an average finish of 11.8 in five starts; Trevor Bayne will also be strong as he won the first race at the track this year by overtaking Dillon late in the race.

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series – Pennsylvania Mountains 125 at Pocono

    After a historic night of dirt racing last Wednesday night at Eldora, the Camping World Truck Series heads back to the pavement to take on the Tricky Triangle at Pocono. The Trucks have only been racing at Pocono for the last three seasons as a companion to the second Cup Series date at the track. There will be no Cup regulars racing this weekend, so who wins this race is pretty much up in the air as to who can get the job done on Saturday.

    Driver Races Win Top 5 Top 10 Pole Laps Led Avg. Start Avg. Finish
    Joey Coulter 2 1 1 2 0 7 8.0 2.5
    Matt Crafton 3 0 2 3 0 0 13.3 5.0
    James Buescher 3 0 2 2 0 6 7.3 5.3
    Ty Dillon 1 0 0 1 0 0 2.0 6.0
    John Wes Townley 1 0 0 1 0 0 11.0 8.0
    Ross Chastain 1 0 0 1 0 0 20.0 10.0
    Timothy Peters 3 0 0 2 0 2 10.7 13.3
    Johnny Sauter 3 0 1 1 0 0 13.7 15.0
    Miguel Paludo 2 0 0 0 0 0 8.5 16.0
    Ron Hornaday Jr. 3 0 0 1 0 0 8.3 19.0

    Who To Watch: Since the Truck Series has only run at Pocono for a few years now, the only winner at Pocono in the field is Joey Coulter, who has the one win, one top five, two top tens, seven laps led, and an average finish of 2.5 in two starts.

    Others who have raced at Pocono previously and run well there include: Series points leader, Matt Crafton, who has two top fives, three top tens, and an average finish of 5.0 in three starts; 2012 champion James Buescher, with two top fives, two top tens, six laps led, and an average finish of 5.3 in three starts; and Ty Dillon, with a sixth place finish in his first start at the track last year.

    Any conversation on who is likely to win a Truck Series race this season also has to include the rookies in the series who have been running strong all season long . So, Jeb Burton, Darrell Wallace Jr., and Ryan Blaney could find themselves in Victory Lane this weekend as well.

  • Kyle Busch Thanks Lord, Wife, and Gas Man for New Hampshire Nationwide Win

    Kyle Busch Thanks Lord, Wife, and Gas Man for New Hampshire Nationwide Win

    Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota, was giving thanks in Victory Lane to everyone from his higher power, lovely wife and probably his gas man for helping him survive three green-white-checkered restarts to score the Nationwide Series win in the CNBC Prime’s The Profit 200 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

    This was Busch’s 58th victory in 258 Nationwide Series races, his seventh win in 2013, and his fourth victory at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

    “We didn’t want to have those late restarts,” Busch said. “We felt like we just had enough fuel to make it to the end and then everything keeps happening where guys keep wrecking and spinning to cause the cautions.”

    “Besides the hiccup on pit road, we showed our strength and am just glad we were able to take the checkered flag first,” Busch continued. “All in all, we had a great race car today.”

    Busch and his crew chief Adam Stevens admitted that fuel was of paramount concern, especially with the multiple green-white-checkered restarts. But they were able to not only have enough to do a burnout but also to drive the car into Victory Lane.

    “I knew we had a buffer of fuel but I didn’t know exactly how much,” Stevens said. “When you get down to the small numbers, the calculations get a little bit fuzzy.”

    “We kept him out there as long as we felt safe to set it up for that situation at the end,” Stevens continued. “That’s what sealed the deal for us.”

    “We pitted two laps after Brian (Vickers, runner up)  so that was part of it,” Busch said. “Brian and the No. 3 car were racing really hard to beat each other too.”

    “That all just compounded the fuel situation,” Busch continued. “I bet you there’s still probably a couple of gallons left in our tank.”

    Busch also tied Sam Ard’s record for wins from the pole in a season set in 1983, with this his fourth win from the Coors Lite Pole in 2013.

    “Wow, every time I get in Victory Lane there’s some sort of record that I tie or break,” Busch said. “That’s cool.”

    “Sam was a huge part of the sport and so there’s been a lot of records that I’ve been able to tie or break of his,” Busch continued. “It’s been fun to do.”

    “We still pay heritage to those that have made this sport and it is guys like Sam that have done a lot of great things for the sport,” Busch said. “Even down the road, maybe somebody’s going to break my records.”

    “Records are always made to be broken so we’ll see who will be better than me.”

    Brian Vickers, behind the wheel of the No. 20 Dollar General Toyota, finished in the runner up spot. This was his second top-10 finish in three races at New Hampshire and his ninth top-10 finish of the season.

    “It was a good run,” Vickers said. “The guys did their homework back at the shop and we had a good starting spot.”

    “We had a really fast car until we had the overheating issue,” Vickers said. “I got some trash on the grill and that definitely hurt us.”

    “Once we got that off the grill when the caution came out, we were much better,” Vickers continued. “But the third green-white-checkered, we started to run out of gas and I completely ran out coming to the finish line.”

    Austin Dillon captured not only the third place, his second top-10 at New Hampshire, but also secured the $100,000 Dash for Cash winnings for himself and the No. 3 AdvoCare Chevrolet team.

    “This race played out exactly like last year’s did for us,” Dillon said. “We didn’t get the track position we wanted after the first stop and then had a four-tire stop and the car just came to life.”

    “Super excited to win the Nationwide Dash for Cash,” Dillon continued. “With all those restarts and so close on fuel, I just thank the good Lord above for keeping fuel in that thing for us.”

    Brian Scott, driver of the No. 2 ShoreLodge Chevrolet, finished fourth and then a bevy of Ford Mustangs, driven by Michael Annett, Trevor Bayne and Sam Hornish Jr., finished fifth, sixth and seventh respectively.

    “This was a great run for Richard Petty Motorsports,” Annett, driver of the No. 43 Pilot Travel Centers Ford, said. “We came back at Charlotte after the injury and just had the worst racing luck I’ve had since I’ve been in the Nationwide Series.”

    “Finally, nothing stupid happened and we kept our nose clean and brought home a top-five.”

    “We were 15th with five to go so to come out sixth was a good day,” Bayne said. “Overall it wasn’t a great day though because I felt like we had a car that could win the thing.”

    “To come out of here sixth, I will take it.”

    “Our Ford Mustang was awesome today,” Hornish Jr. said. “We were really good on a long run.”

    “We didn’t have any fall off which would have made us really good but we just didn’t get the run we needed to toward the end.”

    Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 99 SchoolTipline.com Toyota, was the highest finishing rookie, scoring the tenth spot in the race.

    “I think if anybody would have told me I would be sitting in the media center after how we were in practice and at the beginning of the race, I would have laughed,” Bowman said. “We never gave up and my crew chief made a lot of good calls and some people decided to take themselves out at the end.”

    “So, we were able to capitalize on the opportunity and come home in tenth.”

    With his eighth place finish, Regan Smith, driver of the No. 7 TaxSlayer.com Chevrolet, now has a five point advantage over Sam Hornish Jr. in the point standings. The Nationwide Series will next race at Chicagoland Speedway next week.Kyle

  • Threat of Rain a Recipe for Exciting Nationwide Finish at Michigan

    Threat of Rain a Recipe for Exciting Nationwide Finish at Michigan

    As rain loomed over Michigan International Speedway, every driver scrambled for position, and every crew chief formulated a strategy in an effort to beat Mother Nature.  Several teams elected not to pit in an effort to gain track position hoping to be at the front of the pack in case a red flag fell on the field.   A timely caution gave No. 7 TaxSlayer.com Chevrolet driver, Regan Smith the track position he needed to grab his first victory at Michigan International Speedway.

    Winning the 22nd Annual Alliance Truck Parts 250 is Smith’s second victory this season after winning the Aaron’s 312 at Talladega Superspeedway, and is his third victory in 116 NASCAR Nationwide Series races.  JR Racing driver, Smith, has finished in the top-10 in eleven consecutive races.  He now leads Sam Hornish Jr. by 58 points in the Nationwide Series points standings.

    No. 32 Cessna Chevrolet driver, Kyle Larson, posted his first top-10 finish and matched his career-best finish at Michigan International Speedway by finishing in second behind Smith.  This marks his eighth top-10 finish in 2013.

    Driver of the No. 33 Menards/Rheem Chevrolet, Paul Menard, posted his seventh top-10 finish in eight races at Michigan International Speedway by finishing third in Saturday’s race.  Primarily competing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Saturday’s race marked Menard’s first NASCAR Nationwide Series start this season.

    Another Sprint Cup Series regular,  Kyle Busch, finished the race in fourth position.  When crew chief of the Monster Energy Toyota Camry, Adam Stevens, was asked if it was a difficult race to call knowing that rain was in the area, he responded, “The radar showed the rain here pretty much all day.  It wasn’t hitting the ground.  I’m glad we got to run the full distance—it took a while to make some progress, but we did and we got the car better.  We just weren’t going to make it any better on pit road.  I really felt like if we could have had a good restart on the last restart that we were in the catbird seat, but the last two restarts just didn’t go our way.  I felt like we had the balances good and we were going to get it, but we were just missing something with overall speed—kind of missing it in qualifying and missed it today in the race too.  All in all, we finished and we don’t have a scratch on it so we’ll take it.”  This marks Busch’s eleventh top-10 finish in fourteen NASCAR Nationwide Series starts this season.

    The rain around the Michigan International Speedway did not cooperate with the No. 77 Bandit Chippers Toyota of Parker Kligerman.  Kligerman’s crew chief, Eric Phillips, molded his team’s race strategy on the high possibility of rain causing the race to be red flagged.  Kligerman did not pit when he had the opportunity gambling on the fact that the rain would come before they ran out of fuel.  It was a gamble that did not pay off.   The No. 77 team finished in 25th when they were forced to pit under green.  When asked if he was praying for rain while leading, Kligerman commented, “Yeah, we played it perfectly for that situation and I’m not down on Eric (Phillips, crew chief) or anyone about that.  I was fully for it, but it sucks when you run top-five all day.  This Bandit Chippers Camry right in front of a Bandit Chippers home crowd and a car that could win on speed alone and –we drove away from the field there—and it just didn’t go our way.  There was debris everywhere the last 20 laps.  Of course, no one threw a caution, so we ran out of fuel and finished wherever we finished.  Disappointing day result-wise, but a lot of positives in terms of the speed we had in our Camry and we’ll get them next time.”

    At a track where fuel strategy races are common, today’s chess match with Mother Nature put an interesting twist on things that left some teams frustrated  as Regan Smith declared check mate at the end of the day.

  • Regan Smith in the midst of his best season

    Regan Smith in the midst of his best season

    Regan Smith is having the best season of his NASCAR career. Smith started competing in the Nationwide Series in 2002. After competing in a few part time seasons, he competed full time in 2006 for Rensi Motorsports. He finished 20th in the standings at the end of that season.

    Smith then began competing in the Sprint Cup Series in 2007 driving the #01 US Army Chevrolet for Bobby Ginn. He only started seven races that season, only leading one lap, but perhaps more importantly at this stage of his career, he completed 99% of his laps.

    As things progressed, Smith eventually found himself driving for Barney Visser and his Furniture Row Race team. After a part time first season in 2009, the team went full time in 2010.  After, somewhat of a lackluster year finishing 28th in the points with no top ten finishes, 2011 improved. Smith actually led 36 laps, and had five top tens, with his first Sprint Cup victory coming at Darlington. Smith’s win at the legendary track earned him a ton of attention. He seemed to be on his way to the next level.

    2012 did not bring the success that everyone expected. Late in the season, the team decided to release Smith in favor of former series champion Kurt Busch. As they say, when one door closes, another opens. The release from Furniture Row Racing could be the best thing that ever happened to Smith. That very weekend, Hendrick Motorsports driver Dale Earnhardt Jr was diagnosed with a concussion after a wreck at Talladega. Smith was pegged to fill in for the series’ most popular driver in the #88 Amp Energy Chevrolet.

    Smith suffered an engine failure in his first start. However, he turned in an impressive seventh place finish at Kansas a week later. In the season ending race at Homestead, Dale Earnhardt Jr’s Nationwide Series team, JR Motorsports, decided to give Smith a chance in their Hendrick Cars.com Chevy. Smith immediately found success, winning his only Nationwide start of the season.

    Smith’s performance earned him the chance to replace driver Danica Patrick, who was headed to the Sprint Cup series, in the team’s #7 Chevy Camaro. The partnership between Smith and JR Motorsports has been an instant success. After a 14th and 11th place finish in the first two races of the season, Smith has been on a tear, stringing together ten straight top ten finishes. Included in the string of top tens is a fascinating win in almost dark conditions at Talladega Superspeedway. Smith has an average finish of 7.2, not bad considering the number of Cup regulars that seem to infiltrate the series on a regular basis.

    This amazing string of finishes has accomplished another feat for Smith. He is the first JR Motorsports driver to lead the series points. Heading into the race at Michigan, Smith has a strong 23 point lead. Smith commented on his season Friday saying, “It’s been a good start to the season for us with the TaxSlayer Chevy. We certainly want to keep our momentum up. Ideally, we can build on our points lead this weekend.”

    Smith also contributed a lot of the team’s success this season to crew chief, Greg Ives, stating, “I’ve enjoyed working with Greg a lot this year. He is as even keeled as they come. Nothing seems to faze this guy. If we’re having a bad day on the racetrack, he is the same tone as if we just won the race. He doesn’t let anything get to him, which in turn helps me because I have a tendency to get wound up very easily. He does a good job of keeping me focused and calm.”

    Though, his record at MIS is not that great, he has an average finish position of 25.5 and a best finish of 20th, Smith started off the weekend at MIS by posting the eleventh fastest lap in final practice.  The team was a little off in qualifying. The #7 TaxSlayer Chevy Camaro will take the green in 20th place on Saturday. Given his strong performance this season and the confidence he obviously has in his team, Smith should be able to find his way to the front, and protect his points lead.

  • Crunching The Numbers: Pocono/Iowa/Texas

    Crunching The Numbers: Pocono/Iowa/Texas

    After last weekend’s triple-header at Dover International Speedway, the three national series go their separate ways this weekend with the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series headlining at Pocono Raceway, the NASCAR Nationwide Series heading to the Midwest for a Saturday night showdown at Iowa Speedway, and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series kicking off the weekend in the Lone Star State with their race on Friday night at Texas Motor Speedway. This marks the one and only time during the season that all three series are at three different tracks in three different states in one weekend.

    Sprint Cup Series – Party In The Poconos 400 Presented By Walmart

    The Sprint Cup Series makes its first of two trips to Pocono Raceway this weekend to take on one of the most unique tracks on the circuit. With only three turns instead of the usual four and all three of varying banking (14 degrees in Turn 1, 8 degrees in Turn 2, and 6 degrees in Turn 3), this 2.5 mile track is one of the hardest to perfect a setup for and several of the top drivers in the series have yet to master the “Tricky Triangle”.

    Driver Races Win Top 5 Top 10 Pole Laps Led Avg. Start Avg. Finish
    Jimmie Johnson 22 2 9 15 2 562 9.3 9.0
    Jeff Gordon 40 6 18 28 2 965 11.4 10.2
    Denny Hamlin 14 4 8 9 2 663 5.6 10.7
    Mark Martin 52 0 20 34 3 448 9.3 11.1
    Tony Stewart 28 2 11 20 2 156 12.4 11.3
    Ryan Newman 22 1 7 10 2 163 9.8 12.4
    Carl Edwards 16 2 5 8 0 212 19.0 13.2
    Kevin Harvick 24 0 5 8 0 5 19.8 14.1
    Matt Kenseth 26 0 3 10 0 54 18.5 14.3
    Brad Keselowski 6 1 2 2 0 27 19.5 14.5

    Who To Watch: No surprise with who’s on top of the list this week. Five-time champion Jimmie Johnson heads up the list with the best stats at Pocono with two wins, nine top fives, 15 top tens, two poles, 562 laps led and an average finish of 9.0 in 22 starts.

    While Johnson has the best overall stats, the most wins goes to his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Jeff Gordon, who has six wins, 18 top fives, 28 top tens, two poles, 965 laps led and an average finish of 10.2 in 40 starts. Two of Gordon’s six wins have come in the last four races at the track, and Gordon is the most recent Pocono winner with his win in the rain shortened event last August.

    Many drivers don’t get their first win at a tricky track like Pocono, but Denny Hamlin did just that, sweeping both Pocono races in his rookie season of 2006 and adding two more wins since then to give him a total of four wins, eight top fives, nine top tens, two poles, 663 laps led, and an average finish of 10.7 in 14 races.

    Others to keep an eye on include: Mark Martin, who nearly won this race one year ago before fading late, with 20 top fives, 34 top tens, three poles, 448 laps led, and an average finish of 11.1 in 52 starts; and Tony Stewart, winner of last week’s race at Dover, who has two wins, 11 top fives, 20 top tens, two poles, 156 laps led, and an average finish of 11.3 in 28 starts.

    Nationwide Series – DuPont Pioneer 250 at Iowa

    With only one Sprint Cup Series regular scheduled to make the trip to Iowa from Pocono this weekend, this race will truly be a showcase of the Nationwide Series regulars in what is sure to be great racing at the .875 mile short track in Iowa. Several of the Nationwide regulars have never turned a lap at this track and who comes out on top after 250 miles is anyone’s guess.

    Driver Races Win Top 5 Top 10 Pole Laps Led Avg. Start Avg. Finish
    Elliott Sadler 4 1 4 4 3 100 2.2 2.8
    Parker Kligerman 1 0 0 1 0 0 10.0 8.0
    Michael Annett 6 0 1 2 0 4 20.7 10.2
    Kenny Wallace 4 0 0 3 0 0 20.2 10.2
    Justin Allgaier 6 0 1 4 0 150 5.8 11.3
    Cole Whitt 2 0 0 1 0 4 12.0 13.0
    Sam Hornish, Jr. 3 0 1 1 0 69 4.0 13.0
    Austin Dillon 4 0 1 2 0 53 7.0 14.2
    Reed Sorenson 3 0 1 2 0 77 16.0 15.3
    Mike Bliss 6 0 0 0 0 3 19.2 17.0

    Who To Watch: As the only driver who will be racing on Saturday that has a win at Iowa, Elliott Sadler comes in far ahead of the other drivers in the field with his one win, four top fives, four top tens, three poles, 100 laps led, and an average finish of 2.8 in four starts.

    Others to keep an eye on that have raced at Iowa before include: Parker Kligerman, Michael Annett, Kenny Wallace, Justin Allgaier, Cole Whitt, Sam Hornish Jr., and Austin Dillon. All of these drivers have average finishes of 14.2 or better.

    While drivers like Joey Logano, Kyle Larson, and points leader Regan Smith have never raced at Iowa, look for these drivers to also be in the running for the win on Saturday night.

    Camping World Truck Series – Winstar World Casino 400 at Texas

    With the Camping World Truck Series race at Texas also being a standalone event, there will be no Sprint Cup regulars making the trip down for Friday night’s race. This means we will get to see a great battle between those that have been in the Truck Series for years and with the young guns that have infiltrated the series this year. Just as we saw a couple of weeks ago at Charlotte, this race should be more of the same with two and three wide racing throughout the field for the entirety of the event.

    Driver Races Win Top 5 Top 10 Pole Laps Led Avg. Start Avg. Finish
    Ty Dillon 3 0 2 3 0 23 6.7 5.0
    Joey Coulter 4 0 2 4 0 9 8.0 5.2
    Johnny Sauter 9 2 4 7 1 213 11.8 6.4
    Todd Bodine 17 6 10 11 1 329 11.3 9.7
    Matt Crafton 24 0 6 13 2 42 15.6 11.0
    James Buescher 8 0 0 3 2 129 7.8 12.6
    Ron Hornaday, Jr. 20 3 6 11 0 681 9.2 12.9
    Brendan Gaughan 17 4 7 7 0 163 17.4 13.6
    David Starr 29 0 7 11 0 20 14.1 14.3
    Timothy Peters 10 0 0 2 0 1 16.4 15.4

    Who To Watch: As Truck Series mainstays, drivers to watch at Texas include: Ty Dillon, with two top fives, three top tens, and an average finish of 5.0 in three starts; Joey Coulter, with two top fives, four top tens, and an average finish of 5.2 in four starts; Johnny Sauter, with two wins, four top fives, seven top tens, one pole, 213 laps led, and an average finish of 6.4 in nine starts; and Todd Bodine, with six wins, 10 top fives, 11 top tens, one pole, 329 laps led, and an average finish of 9.7 in 17 starts.

    While the mainstays will have a leg up in Texas, the young guns of the series can’t be overlooked. Drivers who have shown they have real potential in this sport that are making noise in the Truck Series including Darrell Wallace, Jr., Jeb Burton, and Ryan Blaney. One of these rookies have a real shot at the win, especially with no Cup regulars in the field.

  • NASCAR BTS: Jason Trinchere’s Journey From Racer to Penske Engineer

    NASCAR BTS: Jason Trinchere’s Journey From Racer to Penske Engineer

    Many racers realize along the way that another career may be awaiting them other than being behind the wheel.  This week’s edition of NASCAR BTS goes behind the scenes with Jason Trinchere to learn more about his journey from short-track racer to design engineer at Penske Racing.

    Trinchere started his racing journey early, in fact from the time of his birth. And, as with so many racers, his father also was involved in the sport.

    “Ever since the time I was born, there was a race car or a go kart in our garage,” Trinchere said. “My dad started racing when he was in high school.”

    “When I was born, he stopped driving and became a car owner,” Trinchere continued. “So, he always had cars around the whole time I was growing up.”

    Trinchere caught the racing bug from his father and set off in go karts. Initially it was just for fun but the competition soon drew him in, hook, line and sinker.

    “When I was about ten or eleven years old, he sold his modified team and we started racing go karts,” Trinchere said. “It was mainly just for fun but then we started racing competitively.”

    “We had fun, raced dirt and had three championships,” Trinchere continued. “Then we started racing in the dirt asphalt division in the early ‘90s.”

    “So, I started driving those and that was the whole time I was in high school,” Trinchere said. “I didn’t even have my driver’s license when I started racing.”

    Although he loved being behind the wheel of a race car, Trinchere also enjoyed the mechanical and engineering side of the sport.

    “My dad was an auto mechanic so I learned that side of the business from him,” Trinchere said. “When I was in high school, I took machine shop in Vo Tech so I could make a lot of the components for our race cars.”

    “I wasn’t’ too sure of what I wanted to do and I was thinking of coming to the NASCAR Tech School but was concerned it was more for people not involved in racing,” Trinchere continued. “My dad talked me into studying engineering since I was the kid sitting at home playing with erector sets all the time.”

    After high school graduation, Trinchere had to make a critical decision about going to college and also what to do about his racing career. Ironically, he initially wanted to follow the path of his now team owner at Penske Racing.

    “When I came out of school, I wanted to go to Lehigh to follow in the footsteps of Roger Penske but the reality of how much college costs set in,” Trinchere said. “So, I went to community college to do my electives and take their associates classes in engineering.”

    “Then I transferred to Penn State Harrisburg campus,” Trinchere continued. “It was far enough to experience college life but close enough to home to go there and race.”

    Trinchere also happened to find his soul mate in the racing business.

    “When I went to college, I didn’t have the time to race in one place, so I started going to upstate New York and raced at Oswego and all different kinds of tracks,” Trinchere said. “At that time, when I was finishing college, my girlfriend (who is my wife now) was also involved in racing as her dad raced at Selinsgrove Speedway in Pennsylvania.”

    “So, imagine that, I met my wife through racing as well.”

    Trinchere and his wife decided that they needed to consider heading south to Charlotte and the heart of racing country to make both of their dreams come true.

    “I got a phone call from Dave McCarty, who at that time was the crew chief at Spears Motorsports for David Starr,” Trinchere said. “So, I followed up on that opportunity and he liked the fact that I was a racer with a degree in engineering.”

    “Being a Truck team, they didn’t want to hire a Cup engineer because a kid coming out of college was much cheaper,” Trinchere continued with a chuckle. “We moved down, bought a house (the same one we are living in now) and went racing.”

    “I worked at Spears and the next year Aric Almirola came in as the driver,” Trinchere continued. “I learned a lot there with David Starr, Aric Almirola and Dennis Setzer.”

    “It was a very small team with about twelve employees,” Trinchere said. “It was a neat opportunity to go to a little team and run against the big boys and do well.”

    “That made me feel good.”

    Trinchere left Spears to go to CJN Racing with Jason Keller as the driver. But shortly thereafter, he headed to DEI where he stayed even through the merger with Chip Ganassi Racing.

    “I went to DEI to be the Nationwide engineer when they ran a car, which was only part-time,” Trinchere said. “We had Trevor Bayne and Jesus Hernandez as the drivers.”

    “I was also support engineer for the 01 Cup car when Regan Smith was driving it,” Trinchere continued. “Then I switched over to Martin Truex’s car.”

    “It was a very busy year, going to a third of the Cup races and the rest of the East races.”

    “At the end of the season, there were talks and then the merger with Chip Ganassi occurred,” Trinchere said. “Before Homestead they came around and told us what time the meeting was, all but me.”

    “I didn’t know if that was good or bad,” Trinchere continued. “But I learned that people with meetings were let go and people who didn’t have a meeting were being kept.”

    “That was a little bit of a hard time.”

    Post-merger, Trinchere worked for both the 1 and 42 teams.

    “It worked out pretty well working for Jamie McMurray and Juan Pablo Montoya,” Trinchere said. “I did a program called ‘Dart Fish’ at the track where I would record qualifying runs.”

    “I did that for a year and at the end of the season, the engineering manager asked if I could do anything else to help the team and I was moved over to the design engineering team,” Trinchere continued. “It was fun to have the direct impact of what happened at the track.”

    Trinchere had a very eventful New Year, however, as he was offered and accepted a job at Penske Racing.

    “Within three days of sending my resume in, I had an interview,” Trinchere said. “I’m doing the same stuff as a design engineer.”

    “Their group is a little larger and uses different software but I am working with the 2 and 22, “Trinchere continued. “It’s been exciting but scary changing jobs, especially after five years.”

    “So, this is the next chapter for me.”

  • Crunching The Numbers: Charlotte

    Crunching The Numbers: Charlotte

    When race fans think of Memorial Day weekend in the motorsports world, one thing immediately comes to mind and that is NASCAR taking to the track at Charlotte Motor Speedway for their traditional May race weekend that many consider to be the greatest weekend of motorsports all year long with NASCAR at Charlotte, IndyCar at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and Formula 1 at Monaco.

    Sprint Cup Series

    The two weeks that Charlotte Motor Speedway hosts the Sprint Cup Series in May features two races on the extreme opposite side of the distance scale, with last weekend’s NASCAR Sprint All Star Race being one of the shortest and this weekend’s running of the Coca-Cola 600 as the longest of the season. The 400 lap race, which starts in the daytime and runs into the night can give teams fits when trying to set up the car to run well in both the daytime and nighttime. Look for the team that can keep up with the adjustments as darkness descends on the track to be up front at the end with a chance at the win.

    Driver Races Win Top 5 Top 10 Pole Laps Led Avg. Start Avg. Finish
    Joey Logano 8 0 2 5 0 3 14.5 10.1
    Jimmie Johnson 23 6 11 15 3 1439 7.3 11.4
    Carl Edwards 16 0 5 10 0 98 18.2 12.0
    Kasey Kahne 18 4 7 10 0 807 10.5 12.4
    Tony Stewart 28 1 6 12 1 695 15.8 14.0
    Aric Almirola 2 0 0 0 1 3 9.0 14.0
    Denny Hamlin 15 0 3 8 0 159 14.1 14.1
    Matt Kenseth 27 2 7 14 0 455 17.8 14.2
    Kyle Busch 18 0 8 11 1 793 15.0 15.3
    Bobby Labonte 40 2 12 17 3 807 15.7 15.5


    Who To Watch: Joey Logano, who was at the top of the list with the best average finish heading into last weekend’s All Star Race also finds himself at the top of the list for best average finish in points races at Charlotte Motor Speedway with two top fives, five top tens, and an average finish of 10.1 in eight races at the track. Coming off of a second place finish in the All Star Race last weekend, Logano could find his way to Victory Lane for the first time this season.

    Last weekend’s All Star Race winner, Jimmie Johnson, is no slouch at Charlotte as his No. 48 team has seemed to own this place over the years. Johnson has an impressive career at the track with six wins, 11 top fives, 15 top tens, three poles, 1439 laps led, and an average finish of 11.4 in 23 starts. With stats like that, Johnson could very well pull the All Star Race/Coca-Cola 600 sweep 20 years after legendary driver Dale Earnhardt accomplished that same feat.

    Others to keep an eye on include All Star Race pole sitter, Carl Edwards, who has five top fives, 10 top tens, 98 laps led, and an average finish of 12.0 in 16 starts; and Kasey Kahne, who gave Jimmie Johnson a run for his money in the opening laps of the final segment of the All Star Race before fading to fourth by the end of the race. Kahne has four wins, seven top fives, 10 top tens, 807 laps led, and an average finish of 12.4 in 18 races.

    Nationwide Series

    In the lead up to the Coca-Cola 600, the Nationwide Series will have their chance on track in the History 300 on Saturday afternoon. In what seems to be a recurring theme in the Nationwide Series, several Sprint Cup regulars will be running this race in order to learn some information for the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday, meaning we’ll see another round of the Nationwide regulars versus the Cup regulars.

    Driver Races Win Top 5 Top 10 Pole Laps Led Avg. Start Avg. Finish
    Kyle Busch 19 6 14 16 0 903 10.2 6.3
    Austin Dillon 2 0 0 1 0 0 2.0 8.5
    Joey Logano 9 1 4 5 1 155 6.9 8.6
    Brian Vickers 10 0 5 6 1 91 13.2 11.1
    Kevin Harvick 22 0 4 13 2 274 11.9 11.5
    Trevor Bayne 3 0 1 1 0 0 12.7 12.3
    Matt Kenseth 20 3 9 11 4 662 10.0 13.6
    Justin Allgaier 9 0 2 4 0 6 14.7 14.3
    Mike Bliss 16 2 5 5 0 43 17.9 16.2
    Elliott Sadler 12 0 4 5 1 16 12.8 17.2


    Who To Watch: The drivers with the best average finishes that will be running in the History 300 seems to be split almost 50/50 between the Cup regulars and Nationwide regulars with Kyle Busch at the top of the heap. Busch has six wins, 14 top fives, 16 top tens, 903 laps led, and an average finish of 6.3 in 19 starts. The top Nationwide regular is Austin Dillon, who only has two starts at Charlotte, but has an average finish of 8.5 with one top ten finish. Others who could find their way to Victory Lane on Saturday include: Joey Logano, with one win, four top fives, five top tens, one pole, 155 laps led, and an average finish of 8.6 in nine starts; Brian Vickers, who has five top fives, six top tens, one pole, 91 laps led, and an average finish of 11.1 in 10 starts; Kevin Harvick, with four top fives, 13 top tens, two poles, 274 laps led, and an average finish of 11.5 in 22 starts; Trevor Bayne, with one top five, one top ten, and an average finish of 12.3 in three starts; and Matt Kenseth, who has three wins, nine top fives, 11 top tens, four poles, 662 laps led, and an average finish of 13.6 in 20 starts.

    Although, not on the list, the top two drivers in points, Regan Smith and Sam Hornish, Jr., could also find their way to Victory Lane this weekend to add to their lead on the other drivers in the points.