Carl Edwards will be arriving at the Gateway International Raceway Saturday via one of his favorite sources of transportation: his bicycle. Edwards and friends will be presenting the annual bike ride from his home town of Columbia-MO to St Louis. The first 15 miles, of the 190 mile trip, will be a pledge fundraiser for a friend of Edwards’ who sadly was paralyzed following a biking accident.
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From the intense heat, expected in the St Louis area this weekend, comes the idea for the second annual water balloon toss featuring eight teams of drivers and media members. Last year’s event ended in a tie between the teams of Jason Keller/Lee Montgomery,(“NASCAR Scene”), and Landon Kassil/Kyle Rickey from the “Motor Racing Network.” A $100 check, on behalf of the winning team, will be donated to the Victory Junction Gang Camp, the recreational facility established by the Petty family for seriously ill children.
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THE RACE BREAKDOWN.
The Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250, presented by Ventrico, is 200 laps around the Gateway International Raceway’s 1.25 mile oval. The first ever Nationwide Series race was held there back in 1997.
The race has 49 official entries. Only four of the entries are full time Sprint Cup drivers. They include Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards, who are running both series full time. Busch lead he Nationwide Series standings going into Saturday’s race and holds a 192 point lead over Edwards. Cup drivers Kevin Harvick and Reed Sorenson are also entered in this race.
Of the 49 entries, 18 are on the “go or go home” list meaning they are not automatically guaranteed a starting berth because they are not within the top 30 in the Nationwide Series’ owners points. From that group of 18, six of the teams will have to pack up and go home meaning Saturday afternoon’s qualifying session is going to be very intense.
Carl Edwards is the defending race champion and is also a two time winner at this speedway. Other two time winners at Gateway include Kevin Harvick and Reed Sorenson. Dale Earnhardt Jr is a four time winner there. He will not be participating in Saturday’s race but will be represented as a team owner. Brad Keselowski will be driving his #88 Chevrolet.
Currently one of the tightest competitions in the Nationwide Series is for the Raybestos Rookie Of The Year title. Justin Allgaier, representing Roger Penske Racing, is holding a slim eight point lead over Brendan Gaughan from Rusty Wallace Inc. Both drivers are having very consistent seasons and currently are ranked sixth and eighth in the championship point standings.
In the series’ manufacturer’s standings, Toyota holds the lead with 125 points followed by Chevrolet-112, Ford-102 and Dodge-57.
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