More Than Ready: 2009 NASCAR Nationwide Season Finally Here
Ant-sy (adj): restless, fidgety. Also impatient, eager.
You think?
The 2009 testing ban at non-NASCAR-sanctioned tracks turned the NASCAR Nationwide Series off-season into one of at-shop preparation instead of gauging on-track performance.
Now, drivers and teams are finally set to lay down their first laps of 2009 at Daytona International Speedway this week for the season-opening Camping World 300 on Valentine’s Day afternoon. But just because everyone’s giddy to be back at the track, doesn’t mean there won’t be any love lost between the competitors when it comes time to race.
Carl Edwards (No. 60 Scotts Ford) is a favorite to win his second series championship and can also become the first to win a NASCAR Nationwide and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series title in the same season.
Kyle Busch (No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota) also is planning to pull full-time double-duty. Busch has accomplished everything in the NASCAR Nationwide Series except win a championship. The 2004 Raybestos Rookie of the Year tied the record for most wins in a season last year with 10 despite running in 30 of 35 races.
A particularly strong group of veteran series-only regulars will mount challenges to Edwards and Busch, particularly Brad Keselowski (No. 88 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet), Jason Leffler (No. 38 Great Clips Toyota), Mike Bliss (No. 1 Miccosukee Resorts Chevrolet) and Jason Keller (No. 27 Kroger-Scott Products Ford).
Steve Wallace (No. 66 US Fidelis Chevrolet) should build on his 12th-place finish in the 2008 standings; he also has Brendan Gaughan (No. 62 South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet) — who moves from the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series — as his teammate giving Rusty Wallace Racing a nice 1-2 punch.
2009 Owner Championship Should Equal Driver Title Drama
The NASCAR Nationwide Series has recently become a dual championship series — one where the driver and owner titles are shared by different teams.
Over the last two seasons and three times overall, the championships have been split. The first occurrence came in 2003 when Brian Vickers won the driver title with Hendrick Motorsports and Richard Childress Racing took the owner crown with Kevin Harvick and Johnny Sauter sharing the No. 21 Chevrolet.
In 2007, Carl Edwards won the driver title, but RCR, with the duo of Jeff Burton and Scott Wimmer, claimed the second such owner championship in the No. 29 Chevrolet.
Last year, Clint Bowyer won the driver championship while the No. 20 Toyota won the owner title, the first NASCAR Nationwide championship for Joe Gibbs Racing.
Not only does that scenario linger as the 2009 season gets underway, but the hunt is shaping up to be the most competitive ever for the owner crown. It’s a given the driver and team that wins the championship hopes to “unify” the title. Edwards is still smarting from losing the driver title to RCR two years ago. Busch is a threat to bring the two championships together for the first time since Harvick / RCR in 2006.
The reigning champion is back with Joey Logano, Brad Coleman and Denny Hamlin sharing driving duties; Logano starts the season in the No. 20 GameStop Toyota. The No. 29 Holiday Inn Chevrolet has Burton, Bowyer and young Stephen Leicht at the controls this year; Bowyer gets the honors at Daytona.
The No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford will be in the mix with David Ragan — who gets the Daytona start in the No. 6 Discount Tire entry — sharing with Erik Darnell. Vickers and Burney Lamar will double up in the No. 32 Dollar General Toyota for Braun Racing.
The dark horse team to watch is the No. 33 KHI Chevrolet crew. Harvick has a strong stable of drivers including himself, Ryan Newman, Ron Hornaday Jr., Cale Gale and Tony Stewart (for one race).
Majority Of 2009 Raybestos Rookie Class On Display At Daytona
Seven drivers are vying for the 21st annual Raybestos Rookie of the Year award in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.
Six will be on display for the first time in series competition in 2009 at Daytona.
The group averages 24.6 years of age and has collectively made 33 starts in the series since Brendan Gaughan made his first and only series start in 2001.
Scott Lagasse Jr. (No. 11 America’s Incredible Pizza Co. Toyota), with 14 starts over three seasons, is the on-track veteran of the group. Lagasse, 28, is a native of nearby St. Augustine, Fla., and will make his Daytona debut in series competition.
Ditto for the series track debuts by Lagasse’s fellow rookies Justin Allgaier (No. 12 Verizon Wireless Dodge), 22; Michael Annett (No. 15 Pilot Travel Centers Toyota), 22; Gaughan, 33; Michael McDowell (No. 47 Toms’s Toyota), 24 and John Wes Townley (No. 09 Zaxby’s Ford), 19.
Townley got the go-ahead to compete in the Camping World 300 following his career-best fourth-place finish in last Saturday’s ARCA race at Daytona. Travis Kvapil was originally announced to drive that entry.
Annett won at Daytona in the ARCA race last year while Allgaier finished second.
Only McDowell, who started this race one year ago, has series experience on the historic superspeedway Lagasse started last year’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race here while Gaughan also has raced at Daytona in the trucks and also during his one season in NASCAR Sprint Cup.
Erik Darnell is the seventh member of the 2009 Raybestos Rookie class but isn’t scheduled to make his season debut until the April event at Richmond International Raceway.
Nine former NASCAR Nationwide Raybestos Rookie winners are entered at Daytona: David Ragan (2007); Danny O’Quinn Jr.; Carl Edwards (2005); Kyle Busch (2004); Greg Biffle (No. 16 CitiFinancial Ford — 2001); Kevin Harvick (2000); Tony Raines (No. 34 Long John Silver’s Chevrolet — 1999); Joe Nemechek (No. 87 NEMCO Chevrolet — 1990) and Kenny Wallace (No. 28 U.S. Border Patrol Chevrolet — 1989).
Logano Also Carries Rookie Stripe At Daytona; Shepherd Can Set Standard As Oldest Starter
Joey Logano may not be in the running for 2009 NASCAR Nationwide Series Raybestos Rookie of the Year honors, but the 18-year-old will still carry a rookie stripe when he makes his Daytona points race debut in NASCAR national series competition Saturday in the Camping World 300.
Logano, running a partial NASCAR Nationwide schedule in addition to his full-time NASCAR Sprint Cup ride, didn’t compete at either of Daytona’s two races or Talladega Superspeedway last year among his first 19 NASCAR Nationwide races.
Logano will have the most seat time of this year’s series first-timers at Daytona, though. In addition to finishing second in last Saturday’s ARCA event, Logano also started the Budweiser Shootout later that night. He will also have participated in the Gatorade Duels on Thursday.
Logano, who will be the youngest driver to start a Daytona 500, will be the eighth-youngest to start a season-opener at Daytona in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.
Logano’s rank among young drivers at Daytona is at the opposite end of the age spectrum where Morgan Shepherd (No. 89 Lagina Plumbing Chevrolet) stands.
With a start at Daytona, Shepherd, 67, would be the oldest driver to start a season-opener at the track. The 2009 season also is Shepherd’s 42nd consecutive year as a driver in NASCAR-sanctioned races.
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