Just like their Sprint Cup counterparts, NASCAR’s Nationwide Series will also be at the Michigan International Raceway for Saturday’s Carfax 250. Also, as in the case of the Sprint Cup series, the representatives from the big three automakers, located just down the freeway in Detroit, are going to be in full force to collect the bragging rights in victory lane.
PRE RACE NOTES OF INTEREST
When the ESPN2 Network drops the green flag on their coverage of Saturday’s Nationwide Series race at Michigan they will be presenting fans with what they feel is a new concept in television motorsports. They’re calling this new concept “ESPN’s Back Seat Drivers.”
The broadcast booth will be manned by five NASCAR champions featuring former drivers Dale Jarrett and Rusty Wallace who will be joined by champion crew chiefs Tim Brewer, Ray Evernham and Andy Petree. The concept is to provide the fans with the direct point of view from NASCAR veterans in the know. Noticeably absent from the broadcast will be the presence of the traditional play by play network commentator. Network analyst Alan Bestwick will be on site but will play the role of show host doing pre race coverage and occasional drop ins during the race. But he will be working for an entirely different booth from the garage area.The debut of this new race coverage should be most interesting.
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There’s a few interesting seat assignments that could bear watching during Saturday’s Carfax 250. Sprint Cup driver Reed Sorenson will be taking over the #1 Phoenix Racing Chevrolet. It appears that team owner James Finch plans to use random Sprint Cup drivers when possible to drive this car. These drivers will be replacing Mike Bliss who was surprisingly released from this ride a little over a week ago.
Speaking of Bliss, he will be driving Joe Nemechek’s #87 Toyota in Saturday’s Michigan race. At the time of his release Bliss was sixth in the Nationwide Series championship points. He immediately began looking for a ride to maintain his top ten status in the points while, at the same time, began laying the groundwork for a full time NASCAR ride for next season. Nemechek, who is an owner-driver of both a Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series team, very generously offered to help a friend and fellow driver out.
Another driver to watch Saturday will be Sprint Cup regular Ryan Newman who will be driving the #5 Chevrolet for JR Motorsports, the team co owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr and Rick Hendrick. The Michigan International Raceway has very special memories for Newman. He won his first ever NASCAR national event, a Nationwide Series race,there back in 2001.
Yet another Sprint Cup driver doing double duty during the Michigan weekend is Denny Hamlin who will be making another appearance in the #11 CMJ Racing Toyota. Hamlin will have a team mate in this race. Justin Lofton will be making his NASCAR Nationwide Series debut at Michigan driving the #14 Toyota for CMJ. Lofton is in the process of making a name for himself via the ARCA Remax Series this season where he’s won three races and his second in their points standings.
Despite the fact that the Nationwide and Sprint Cup Series are racing at the same track on the same weekend, Joey Logano will not be driving the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota in Saturday’s Carfax 250. Gibbs development driver Brad Coleman will be driving the #20 Toyota in this race.
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