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Earnhardt Family To Celebrate Fourth Generation At Dover
The fourth generation of one of NASCAR’s most popular families will be represented at Dover International Speedway.
Jeffrey Earnhardt (No. 31 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet), the 19-year-old son of Kerry, great-grandson of Ralph, grandson of Dale Sr. and nephew of Dale Jr., will attempt his NASCAR national series debut. He’ll compete in the NASCAR Nationwide Series for Rick Ware Racing and a progressive schedule from short to intermediate tracks, up to seven races in order to maintain his rookie status in preparation to race fulltime next year.
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He was fifth in the 2007 NASCAR Camping World Series East standings as a rookie and finished 15th last year. Father and son will pair with former NASCAR champion crew chief Paul Andrews until they do battle at Atlanta this fall. Thereafter, Clyde McCloud will serve as crew chief for the younger Earnhardt.
Kerry made his NASCAR Nationwide Series debut in 1998 at Myrtle Beach Speedway, finishing 23rd, while Dale Earnhardt Jr. debuted in the NASCAR Nationwide Series in 1997 at Nashville Speedway USA, finishing 39th. Dale Earnhardt won his — and the first — NASCAR Nationwide race in 1982 at Daytona International Speedway.
A Year Later: Logano Returns To Site Of National Series Debut
Last spring, Joey Logano (No. 20 GameStop Toyota) was introduced to the NASCAR Nationwide Series and a driver for Joe Gibbs Racing. After celebrating his 18th birthday the week before, he started his first series race — among considerable hype — at Dover on May 31.
He delivered, finishing sixth — disappointing in his book. He won his first pole the following week, then captured his first win — from the pole —- in just his third event. Later in the year he was tabbed to begin his NASCAR Sprint Cup career.
Fast-forward to this season. Logano is settling in nicely, running fourth in points in his fulltime NASCAR Nationwide Series ride and also has solid showings in his main focus, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
“There was a lot of hype surrounding my first Nationwide Series start,” Logano said. “I wasn’t immune to it, but pressure is something that has never bothered me. We are in a pressure sport and if you can’t take it you probably need to find something else to do.
“I had raced in some Camping World East Series races at Dover, so I knew my way around the track. I was confident when I woke up that day and really thought we had a chance to win. In the end we were just a little bit off. As much as I want to win every race, I knew I was still learning and sixth was a solid finish for my first start.”
Seat time may be the main factor for Logano’s success so far. He is racing against several drivers in NASCAR Nationwide Series races with whom he also competes in NASCAR Sprint Cup. That additional time allows him to learn more about the tracks, and he can gain confidence and experience as well.
David Ragan (No. 6 Discount Tire Ford) can relate. He started in the NASCAR Nationwide Series and after two seasons moved into NASCAR Sprint Cup. He finally broke through and won his first NASCAR Nationwide race last month at Talladega Superspeedway.
Will Bliss Victory Open The Floodgates?
Mike Bliss (No. 1 Miccosukee Resort Chevrolet) finally broke through for NASCAR Nationwide Series-only regulars last Saturday at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, scoring the first victory of the 2009 season for that group. Will that become a trend, and if so, who will continue it?
Six of the top 10 drivers in the point standings are NASCAR Nationwide-only drivers. Bliss’s victory moved him to ninth in the standings, and currently, he is only three points behind Raybestos Rookie of the Year candidate Brendan Gaughan (No. 62 US Fidelis Chevrolet), who finished second to Bliss at LMS. Jason Leffler (No. 38 Great Clips Toyota) is the highest- ranked of the NASCAR Nationwide-only competitors. He’s third behind leaders Kyle Busch (No. 18 Z-Line Designs Toyota) and Carl Edwards (No. 60 Scotts Ford), respectively.
Brad Keselowski (No. 88 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet) is still in search of that first NASCAR Nationwide Series victory of 2009 and is currently fifth, 22 points behind Joey Logano.
Other series-only regulars in the top 10 are Jason Keller (No. 27 Kleenex Ford) — one of several former Dover winners in the field — and rookie Justin Allgaier (No. 12 Verizon Wireless Dodge). Keller and Allgaier are currently ninth and 10th, respectively.
NASCAR Nationwide Series Car Owner Standings
Rk / Owner No. Points 1 Joe Gibbs 18 1714 2 Jack Roush 60 1641 3 Delena Harvick 33 1640 4 Joe Gibbs 20 1600 5 Jack Roush 6 1572 6 Jack Roush 16 1565 7 Ralph Braun 38 1541 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 88 1473 9 Richard Childress 29 1439 10 Todd Braun 32 1377
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East Series Rivalries Renewed
Marc Davis (No. 10 The Word Network & WHUR Radio Toyota). 18, is the youngest owner/driver in series history. He’s entered at Dover to go up against his former NASCAR Camping World Series East rivals Joey Logano and Jeffrey Earnhardt.
Davis was a teammate of Logano’s with Joe Gibbs Racing in the East series when he debuted last year at Memphis and started his last three NASCAR Nationwide races for Armando Fitz. His first two starts this year have been for his own Marc Davis Motorsports team. His best finish in his seven-race NASCAR Nationwide career is 23rd in his debut race.
Currently, Davis is 10th in the Raybestos Rookie of the Year standings.
Leffler: 200 Series Starts
Jason Leffler will make his 200th career seires start at Dover. The Long Beach, Calif. native made his series debut in 1999 at O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis. He spent several years racing partial schedules in all three of NASCAR’s top series before joining Braun Racing midway through the 2005 season. En route to his 200th start, Leffler has two wins (Nashville Superspeedway, 2004; ORP, 2007), 29 top-five and 67 top-10 finishes, eight poles.
In 11 NASCAR Nationwide Series starts at Dover, Leffler has three top-five and five top-10 finishes. His best performance at the one-mile track came in 2005 when he started 12th and finished third in Braun’s No. 32 entry.
Raybestos Rookie Standings
Rk / Driver Team Points 1 Brendan Gaughan RWR 115 2 Justin Allgaier Penske 112 3 Michael McDowell JTG-D 103 4 Scott Lagasse Jr. CJM 101 5 Michael Annett Germain 81 6 John Wes Townley RAB 64 7 Ken Butler III R3 30 8 Erik Darnell RFR 28 9 Peyton Sellers CM 23 10 Marc Davis MDM 13
In the Loop
Newman Seeks Perfection At Dover — Again
They say nobody’s perfect. However, Ryan Newman (No. 5 Fastenal Chevrolet), owner of an engineering degree from Purdue University, begs to differ.
Newman was perfect, at least once in his racing career. That was back in 2005 at Dover, when he scored a win and posted a perfect Driver Rating of 150.0. In that race, Newman had an Average Running Position of 1.1, 42 Fastest laps Run, led 193 of the 200 laps and was in the top 15 for each lap.
He’s also perfect when the series qualifies at Dover. In both of his Dover races – in 2001 and 2005 – Newman won the pole. He makes his NASCAR Nationwide Series return to Dover driving for JR Motorsports, his first run for the team.
Mike Bliss’ victory in Saturday night’s rain-shortened race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway may be the start of something big for the veteran driver.
Bliss now heads to a track at which he has enjoyed immense success – but no wins.
Last year he came close — as much as a driver can without winning. Bliss’ runner-up finish in the series’ last visit to Dover was his third top-10 finish in the last four races at the Monster Mile.
His Loop Data statistics there since the statistics’ inception in 2005 are among the best in the series. In his four Dover races over the last two seasons, Bliss has a Driver Rating of 105.2, an Average Running Position of 8.9, 48 Fastest Laps Run and a Laps in the Top 15 percentage of 82.5.
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Also watch for 2007 series champion Carl Edwards to chip away Kyle Busch’s points lead. “Concrete Carl” loves the Dover track, winning there in 2007 and finishing in the top 10 in six of the last seven Dover races.
At Dover, Edwards has a Driver Rating of 113.0, an Average Running Position of 6.0 and 149 Fastest laps Run.
