For the fourth time this season the top four in the NASCAR Nationwide Series driver standings are separated by 11 points or less. Below are highlights of the top four contenders in the driver standings:
• Reed Sorenson (Turner Motorsports) leads the standings by two points, and has posted five top-fives and is tied with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. with a series-high 10 top-10 finishes this season. This is the third time Sorenson has led the standings this season – he first did it for two consecutive weeks, Phoenix (2/26) and Las Vegas (3/5). His season-to-date Driver Rating is ranked fifth at 98.8.
• Elliott Sadler (Kevin Harvick Inc.) is second in the standings; he has posted a series-leading seven top fives, coupled with nine top-10 finishes and a pole. He led the standings this season once for three consecutive weeks - Dover (5/14), Iowa (5/22) and Charlotte (5/28). His season-to-date Driver Rating ranks sixth at 97.6.
• Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (Roush Fenway Racing) is third in the standings, six points behind Sorenson and has posted one win (Iowa), five top fives, 10 top-10 finishes and two poles this season. He led the standings this season for two consecutive weeks – after Auto Club (3/26) and Texas (4/08). His season-to-date Driver Rating ranks third in the series with a 107.6 – the highest rank and rating of the driver championship contenders.
• Justin Allgaier (Turner Motorsports) is fourth in the driver standings 11 points behind Sorenson, he has posted one win (Chicago), four top-fives and eight top-10 finishes this season. He led the standings this season once for three consecutive weeks - Nashville (4/23), Richmond (4/29) and Darlington (5/06). His season-to-date Driver Rating is ranked seventh in the series with a 93.3, and he has an Average Running Position of 11.7.
After the first 14 races last season, there had been four different driver standings leaders and four different driver standings lead changes; as compared to this season, with the new points system, there have been six different driver standings leaders and seven driver standings lead changes. On average through the first 14 races, six driver championship contenders have finished in the top 10 versus four last year. Also through 14 races this year, driver championship contenders have led 457 laps. After 14 events in 2010, series-only drivers led 313 laps through the first 14 races.
| 
|