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Dashing Through The Music City: $25,000 Bonus Up For Grabs
The first of two races at Nashville Superspeedway traditionally marks the start of “stand-alone” season in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. That is, nine races on the 2009 schedule where the series has top billing.
This year, the first stand-alone event has a first-ever element attached to it: The “Dash 4 Cash” program, which puts a $25,000 bonus on the line for an eligible driver if he wins the race.
Translation: Tight racing gets tighter, especially during the final laps.
The Nationwide Insurance initiative was designed to build more awareness around the stand-alone events and put a premium on series-only competition.
“We wanted to provide some additional support for drivers on our series,” said John Aman, associate vice president of strategic sponsorships for Nationwide.
There are four “Dash 4 Cash” races this year — Nashville, Kentucky Speedway on June 13; Iowa Speedway on Aug. 1 and Memphis Motorsports Park on Oct. 24.
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Here’s how the program works. It’s open to all NASCAR Nationwide Series-only regulars, up-and-comers and those series regulars who run limited schedules. Double-duty drivers must be full-time in both the NASCAR Nationwide and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series to be eligible for the bonus.
That means current standings leader Carl Edwards (No. 60 Save-a-Lot Ford) and second-place Kyle Busch (No. 18 Z-Line Designs Toyota) are eligible since they’re the only full-time double-duty drivers in the top two national series. Joey Logano (No. 20 GameStop Toyota; David Ragan (No. 6 Discount Tire Ford) and Michael Waltrip (No. 99 Best Western Toyota) aren’t in the mix since they’re full time on the NASCAR Sprint Cup side, but only compete on a limited basis as double-duty drivers in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.
Should a “Dash 4 Cash” race winner not be eligible, the $25,000 payout rolls over to the next Dash 4 Cash race at Kentucky.
At the end of the four-race Dash 4 Cash schedule, the eligible driver with the most cumulative points from the four events will be awarded an additional $50,000 at the season-ending awards banquet.
Keselowski Turns The Corner Just In Time For Nashville
That sigh of relief you heard following last Saturday’s race at Texas had been a long time coming for Brad Keselowski (No. 88 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet).
A pre-season favorite to challenge for the series championship, Keselowski hardly got out of the gate in sharp fashion. He constantly found himself in the middle of incidents, wiping out what had been solid runs up until those stages in the first four races of the season. His average finish was no beauty either — 22nd. And worse, the preseason hype was fading fast. He was 15th in the standings.
The pattern continued early at Texas. He wrecked during qualifying and had to move to the back of the field after unloading a backup car.
But unlike his previous four races — and very much like last season at this same point — Keselowski’s luck finally turned. He shot through the Texas field, stayed clean and finished third; his best finish since the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway last year where he also was third.
After four races last year, he found himself in a similar situation. He’d started off slowly with an average finish of 19.3 and an 11th-place ranking after those events, but a fourth-place finish at Nashville in Race No. 5 moved him to sixth in the standings and turned his season around. Nine weeks later when he returned to Nashville, he registered his first career win.
Nashville Hasn’t Been Music To Busch’s Ears
Kyle Busch added a few more lines to the NASCAR Nationwide Series record book following his win last week at Texas.
He became the first driver to win there from the pole, the first driver to win three consecutive races, and now he stands seventh on the all-time series win list with 23 in only 143 career races.
He’s also the first driver to post more than one win in 2009.
With that momentum on his side, one might think he’d be primed to get to Nashville.
But one might be wrong.
As dominant as Busch has been over the last couple of years in the NASCAR Nationwide Series — 16 wins in 54 races since 2007 — Nashville hasn’t been a track where he’s found much success. In fact, it’s been quite the opposite.
Since posting a sixth-place finish in his first race there in the spring of 2004, he’s yet to finish better than 16th.
It’s not that he hasn’t been strong. He led 60 laps in the second race in 2004 and after winning the pole, led a race-high 125 laps in this event last year before a self-inflicted wound — a spin on Lap 62 — relegated him to a 20th-place finish.
But Busch, who leads all series drivers with six perfect Driver Ratings (150.0), the most recent coming last Saturday — is at his best when coming off disappointment.
Two weeks ago at Martinsville Speedway, Busch again had the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series to beat, but a late-race penalty cost him a win. He paired that with a 24th-place finish in the NASCAR Sprint Cup event. Prior to that race, he’d managed at least one win in one of the national series races being contested up to that point.
He responded with a dominating NASCAR Nationwide win at Texas and will certainly use his record at Nashville as a rallying point this weekend.
Rookie Drivers Still In The Top-10 Mix
For the second consecutive week — with both races in that span averaging 10 double-duty NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers — three Raybestos Rookies remain in the top 10 in the standings.
Justin Allgaier (No. 12 Verizon Wireless Dodge) leads the way in fourth. He also leads the rookie standings. Brendan Gaughan (No. 62 South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet) is eighth while Scott Lagasse Jr. (No. 11 America’s Incredible Pizza Co. Toyota) is 10th.
The trio is among six series-only regulars in the top 10 this week. Jason Leffler (No. 38 Great Clips Toyota) is third. His first career win came at Nashville in 2004. Brad Keselowski is seventh and Jason Keller (No. 27 Scott Tissue Ford), whose Baker Curb Racing team is based in Nashville, is 10th. Keller will build on his all-time series starts record Saturday with No. 462.
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No one should feel comfortable, though. Only 32 points separate positions nine through 15.
NASCAR Nationwide Series Raybestos Rookie Standings
Rk / Driver Team Points
1 Justin Allgaier Penske 57
2 Brendan Gaughan RWR 49
3 Scott Lagasse Jr. CJM 45
4 Michael McDowell JTG-D 45
5 Michael Annett Germain 40
6 John West Townley RAB 35
7 Ken Butler III R3 14
8 Peyton Sellers CM 7
9 Marc Davis MDM 6
10 Erik Darnell* RFR 0
*First race not until Richmond 5/1
In The Loop: Nashville Time Warp For Keselowski And Wimmer
What a difference a team – and some seat time – makes.
Brad Keselowski’s success curve at Nashville Superspeedway took a Everest-like jump once he landed in the No. 88 Chevrolet owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr.
His Nashville statistics between his two 2007 races with Keith Coleman Racing are indistinguishable from his two 2008 races with JR Motorsports.
In 2007, Keselowski ran 49 of the 450 laps and had an Average Running Position of 38.7 and a Driver Rating of 38.1. His finishes in the two events were 38th and 40th.
In 2008, he completed all 450 laps and had an Average Running Position of 5.7 and a Driver Rating of 117.6. His finishes in last season’s two races were fourth and first – his first NASCAR Nationwide Series victory. In the two races, he led 35 laps and had 32 Fastest Laps Run.
Expect more of the same from Keselowski, who finally found his rhythm after a rough start to this season. He started the year off with four consecutive finishes outside the top 10 before a third-place run at Texas. In that race, Keselowski had a Driver Rating of 103.7, an Average Running Position of 10.6 and 22 Fastest Laps Run.
Last season’s other Nashville winner was Scott Wimmer, who swapped teams in the offseason. Last year, Wimmer ran for Richard Childress Racing. This season, he is with Key Motorsports driving the No. 40 StopRepairBills.com Chevrolet.
It should be interesting to watch how he fares. In the No. 29 at Nashville Wimmer excelled, posting a Driver Rating of 117.5, an Average Running Position of 5.6, 134 Fastest Laps Run and a Laps in the Top 15 percentage of 97.7.
His performance in the No. 40 this season hasn’t compared to those numbers. His best race was at Las Vegas, where he finished 11th and had a Driver Rating of 70.7.
Stephen Leicht will make his season debut in the No. 29 Chevy at Nashville.
