Brad Keselowski has opened up a lead of 59 points in the series standings, and has somehow done it quietly.
He has back-to-back wins, and hasn’t finished outside the top five since a season-opening 13th-place finish at Daytona .
Yet, a 59-point cushion has never looked so uncomfortable.
It’s not that no one believes Keselowski has the skill to pull off a surprise championship. Consecutive wins on completely different layouts (giant Talladega and short-track Richmond) are proof enough that he has the game.
-The hitch lies in those chasing him, namely past champions Kyle Busch (No. 18 Z-Line Designs Toyota), Carl Edwards (No. 60 COPART Ford) and Kevin Harvick, along with future star Justin Allgaier.
The truth of the matter: one false step by Keselowski, and his lead vanishes in a blink.
The key might be Edwards. Though fifth in points, he could be viewed as if in third place. Prior to this season, both Harvick (in second) and Busch (third) stated they would not run a full NASCAR Nationwide Series season.
Edwards is running full time, and needs a big turnaround to become a championship contender once again. The 2007 series champion finally got back on track at Richmond, finishing fifth after runs of 30th at Texas and 35th at Talladega, the previous two events.
Darlington, though, is a question mark for Edwards. He has never won there, though he has two third-place results in the last three races.
One unfortunate statistic does stand out for Edwards. In his series career, he has only two last-place finishes. One came at Texas in 2006.The other came at Darlington in 2008.
Overall at Darlington, Edwards has a Driver Rating of 87.0, an Average Running Position of 17.5, five Laps Led, 23 Fastest Laps Run and a Laps in the Top 15 percentage of 55.7%. Only his Fastest Laps Run figure ranks in the top 10 at Darlington.
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NASCAR Nationwide Series: News & Notes - Darlington Raceway
RANK DRIVER POINTS BEHIND 1 Brad Keselowski 1469 Leader 2 Kevin Harvick 1410 -59 3 Kyle Busch 1385 -84 4 Justin Allgaier 1289 -180 5 Carl Edwards 1266 -203 6 Joey Logano 1228 -241 7 Paul Menard 1191 -278 8 Greg Biffle 1039 -430 9 Brendan Gaughan 976 -493 10 Brian Scott* 955 -514 11 Tony Raines 940 -529 12 Trevor Bayne 932 -537 13 Scott Lagasse Jr. 915 -554 14 Steve Wallace 896 -573 15 Jason Leffler 894 -575 16 Kenny Wallace 855 -614 17 Michael Annett 847 -622 18 James Buescher* 833 -636 19 Mike Wallace 816 -653 20 Reed Sorenson 793 -676 21 Joe Nemechek 776 -693 22 Eric McClure 775 -694 23 Michael McDowell 762 -707 24 Ricky Stenhouse Jr.* 730 -739 25 Mike Bliss 707 -762 26 Kelly Bires 673 -796 27 Brian Keselowski 656 -813 28 Colin Braun* 626 -843 29 Jason Keller 612 -857 30 Brian Vickers 595 -874 31 Shelby Howard 546 -923 32 Josh Wise 544 -925 33 Robert Richardson Jr. 533 -936 34 John Wes Townley 484 -985 35 Scott Riggs 465 -1004 36 Jamie McMurray 441 -1028 37 Clint Bowyer 432 -1037 38 Willie Allen 425 -1044 39 Scott Wimmer 422 -1047 40 Morgan Shepherd 377 -1092 41 Kevin Lepage 310 -1159 42 Derrike Cope 308 -1161 43 Mark Green 303 -1166 44 Johnny Sauter 291 -1178
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