News Article
Preview: Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250
July 14, 2010
NASCAR PR
Beginning Saturday night at Gateway International Raceway, the next
three NASCAR Nationwide Series
events will be run at tracks that don’t host the NASCAR Sprint Cup
Series.
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, however, does compete with the
NASCAR Nationwide Series at Gateway and also at O’Reilly Raceway
Park. That series will run on Friday at both events. The July 31 race
at Iowa Speedway wraps up this trio of stand-alone races for the NASCAR
Nationwide Series.
Now past the halfway point in the season, Brad Keselowski
(#22 Discount Tire Dodge) remains the standings leader, a
post he’s manned following the last 11 races.
But a group of Midwest drivers racing hope they can put a dent in
Keselowski’s advantage.
Carl Edwards (#60 Aflac Ford) is second, 227 points
back. That’s the closest the Columbia, Mo., native has been to the
leader since the series raced at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May. At
that point, he was fourth, 163 points behind Keselowski.
Edwards, the 2007 NASCAR Nationwide Series champion, has been a
second-half challenger the last two seasons. He was 192 points behind
reigning series champion Kyle Busch at this stage last
year, and 188 behind eventual champion Clint Bowyer in
2008.
Last year, four of Edwards’ five wins were collected in the
second half. In 2008, he won six of his seven total races after Race #
18.
Edwards is one of three drivers entered who has two wins at Gateway.
He won in 2006 and ‘08. Twotime series champion Kevin Harvick
(#33 Jimmy John’s Chevy) joins Dale Earnhardt Jr.,
another two-time series champion, as the only drivers to win
back-to-back races at the 1.25-mile track; Harvick did in 2000-01. Reed
Sorenson (#32 Dollar General Toyota) also has multiple wins,
in 2005 and ‘07.
Justin Allgaier (#12 Verizon Wireless Dodge), from
Riverton, Ill., is the lone series-only regular with a win (Bristol
Motor Speedway in March) and a pole (Nashville Superspeedway in June) so
far this year. He’s only raced once at Gateway, an 11th-place result
last year. The 2009 Raybestos Rookie of the Year in also is fourth in
the standings. Steve Wallace (#66 5-Hour Energy Toyota), who also
will compete in Friday night’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race,
is arguably in the midst of his best season.
He’s eighth in the
standings with seven top-10 finishes after 18 races. His career high is
nine top 10s last year. He’s been as high as sixth in the standings so
far this year and has spent 10 weeks inside the top 10. He’s looking
for his first top-10 finish at Gateway, however. In four races, his
average finish is 27.2.
This always is a big weekend for the Wallaces. Steve’s uncle, Kenny
Wallace (#28 Juggle.com Chevy) will face Steve’s other uncle, Mike
Wallace (#01 J-D Motorsports Chevy) and Steve at Gateway.
Although not a St. Louis native like his father, Rusty Wallace,
the 1989 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion and his uncles, Steve, who
was born in North Carolina, considers himself an “honorary native.”
Kenny, the Nationwide Insurance “Driver of the Week” this week, will
make the 472nd start of his career Saturday night, second all-time in series starts to Jason
Keller (#35 Tri-Star Motorsports Chevy), who has 506. Mike
will make his 366th career series start, which will be sixth on the
all-time list.
In 11 starts at Gateway, Kenny has four top 10 finishes. Mike carries
the best-finish banner for the family in series competition at the
track. He was second in 2005, his best result in nine races there.
Things Are Looking Up For Leffler
Jason Leffler (#38 Great Clips Toyota) hoped for more when last February rolled around.
In 2009, he had just wrapped up the most statistically successful
season of his career. His eight top fives matched a career high, and
his 20 top 10s were a career high. He finished the year fourth
in the standings, which was the second-highest final points position
of his career.
There was an abundance of optimism.
That hope washed away almost immediately after a 33rd-place finish at
Daytona International Speedway. It didn’t get much better from there.
Over the first nine races, Leffler posted only one top-10 finish (ninth
at Bristol).
Over those nine races, which put Leffler 15th in the points, he had
an average finish of 21.7, an Average Running Position of
20.0 a Driver Rating of 77.3, eight Fastest
Laps Run and a Laps in the Top 15 percentage
of 44.6%.
But Leffler’s talent – and luck – finally went his way with race #10
at Darlington Raceway. He notched his first top-five finish of the
season, starting a string of three consecutive top 10s.
Over the last nine races, everything seemed to come together. Leffler
is back in the top 10 in points, and has scored five top 10s in the
last nine races.
Over that most recent span, Leffler has an average finish of 13.0, a
Driver Rating of 90.0, an Average Running Position of 14.1, 47 Fastest
Laps Run and a Laps in the Top 15 percentage of 71.4%.
The trend of success should continue this weekend at Gateway. Leffler
is strong there, with two top fives and three top 10s in seven
starts.
Since the inception of Loop Data in 2005, a span of five Gateway
races, Leffler has a Driver Rating of 93.0, an Average Running Position
of 12.2, 36 Fastest Laps Run and a Laps in the Top 15 percentage of
71.7%.
Busch, JGR Draw Line In Owner Standings Sand
Just like its flagship driver, Joe Gibbs Racing is not going quietly into the NASCAR Nationwide Series night.
Although Kyle Busch won’t be defending his driver
championship — or his win last year at Gateway — his organization is
aiming for its third consecutive owner title.
The #18 Toyota team re-claimed the series owner
standings lead by nine points after last Friday’s race at Chicagoland
Speedway. Jodi Geschickter, listed as the owner of Brad Keselowski’s #22 Dodge, had been leading that
category since late April, following the race at Talladega
Superspeedway.
The #22 team also had the lead after the March race at Phoenix
International Raceway.
JGR claimed the top spot after the next event at Texas Motor
Speedway, but the 22 team had been in control since.
Other leaders include DeLana Harvick, who led after
the first race of the year at Daytona International Speedway, and Jack
Roush, who led the owner standings after races 2-4 this
season.
JGR won its first owner championship with the # 20 Toyota in
2008. Clint Bowyer claimed the driver crown that
year. Last year, Busch and JGR unified the titles for the first time
since 2006. The first shared title in series history was in 2003.
Gibbs’ #20 car is in third place in the owner standings, 100 points
behind the #18. Brad Coleman (#18 Safeway Driving Centers
Toyota) takes the baton from Busch this weekend at Gateway
and has done his part to keep the #18 team in contention. He has an
average finish of 8.3 in his three races this year.
Despite this weekend’s event being his fourth missed race of the
season, Busch already has produced seven wins, including last week at
Chicagoland. He’s currently scheduled to run 29 races this year,
recently adding next week’s event at O’Reilly Raceway Park where he’s
also the defending winner.
In 188 career NASCAR Nationwide starts, Busch has 37 wins and now is
second on the all-time list, chasing Mark Martin (48
wins in 231 starts). Kevin Harvick, who’s third, has
36 victories in 251 starts.
Busch’s seven wins are tied with two-time series champions Sam
Ard and Jack Ingram, who each had seven
wins after 18 races in 1984.
Busch had four wins after 18 races in 2008, when he tied Ard’s series
record of 10 wins in one season. Busch ran 30 races that year.
Move Over Martin: Another Truex Looks To Make His Name
Stand-alone races are opportunities for younger drivers to
showcase their skills. A pair of 18-year-olds get their shots this
weekend at Gateway: Matt DiBenedetto returns to the #20
Pizza Ranch Toyota while Alex Kennedy will
drive the #23 MediaMaster Chevy.
Both drivers last raced in the June 19 Bucyrus 200 at Road America,
which was Kennedy’s series debut.
Now, make way for Ryan Truex (#00 NAPA Toyota).
He’s the younger brother of two-time series champion Martin
Truex Jr., who won at Gateway from the pole in his track debut
in 2004.
But Ryan comes with solid credentials of his own, including a NASCAR
championship. He’s the defending NASCAR K&N Pro Series East
champion and currently leads that series after six races this season.
“(They’re) pretty big shoes to fill,” Ryan said, comparing himself to
his brother. “I don’t expect to go out and set the world on fire. I’m
just going to get my feet wet and just try to get as much experience as
I can.
“I’m not going to think I can run top 10 or top five or anything like
that. It’s a tough series. It took (Martin) a lot of starts to figure
it out. I put more pressure on myself just to run as good as him
because of the last name and everything.
“Three years ago I (was) racing a Legend car at Wall (N.J.) Stadium
and now I’m here. It’s hard to believe how fast it’s come, but I’m
excited, (and) ready to make the most of my opportunity.”
NNS Etc.: Gateway Edition
► Time For Tour de Edwards
For the third consecutive year, Carl Edwards is
busy during this NASCAR Sprint Cup open weekend,
opting to run in the NASCAR Nationwide race at his
home track at Gateway.
He’s also using the week as an opportunity to get some more road work
in — on a bicycle.
Edwards and a group of friends will make their annual cycling trek
from his hometown of Columbia, Mo., to the track. The ride started
Wednesday morning and ends Friday. It will cover over 200 miles.
► Raybestos Rookie Standings
Driver Team Points
1. Brian Scott Braun 180
2. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. RFR 160
3. Colin Braun RFR 128
4. James Buescher N/A 97
5. Parker Kligerman SPR 46
► Truckin’ Double-Duty Style
In addition to Steve Wallace, three other drivers
will pull double-duty in the NASCAR Camping World Truck and NASCAR
Nationwide Series races at Gateway.
Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski and Johnny
Sauter (#36 Long John Silver’s Chevy) also
will compete in the truck event Friday night before making the switch to
the NASCAR Nationwide Series race the following evening.
Wallace will be making his series track debut in a truck. Harvick
hasn’t raced at Gateway in a truck since 1999; Keselowski since 2005.
Sauter made his truck track debut last year, finishing second after
starting third.
►Up Next: O’Reilly Raceway Park
O’Reilly Raceway Park is one of the series’ most exciting short-track
races of the season.
The Kroger 200 — with Kroger as the series’ longest-tenured race
sponsor now in its 29th year — is next on Saturday, July 24 at 7:30
p.m. ET. ESPN will have the broadcast.
Last year, Carl Edwards won, while Trevor
Bayne (#99 Out! Pet Care Toyota) captured his first career
pole.
► Tough Task For New Dad McClure
It’s been a difficult last couple of weeks for Eric McClure
(#24 Hefty Odor Block Ford) on the track.
Off the track, though, it’s a different story.
For the third consecutive week, McClure will have to qualify on time.
Prior to the July 1 race at Daytona International Speedway, he’d been
in the top 30 in owner points. That race marked the first time he had
to qualify on time since November, 2007.
But early last Sunday morning, the rough patches evaporated, at least
for a while. Just after 3 a.m., he and his wife, Miranda,
welcomed their third daughter, Mirabella Rileigh McClure.
The steady rise of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (#6 CitiFinancial
Ford) and Jason Keller, drivers
who had been outside the top 30 but are now among
the automatic qualifiers, have pushed McClure to
in-on-time status. His Team Rensi Motorsports organization
is 32nd in owner points heading to Gateway.
McClure did make the races at Daytona and Chicagoland.
Fast Facts
Next Race: Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250
The Place: Gateway International Raceway (1.25-mile
oval)
The Date: Saturday, July 17
The Time: 8 p.m. ET
The Distance: 250 miles / 200 laps
TV: ESPN2, 7 p.m. ET
Radio: MRN/SIRIUS NASCAR Radio (Local-KFNS-FM 100.7)
2009 Winner: Kyle Busch
2009 Pole Winner: Brad Keselowski
Schedule prior to race day (times CT): Saturday:
Practice, 9 a.m.-10:15 a.m.; Final Practice, 10:45
a.m.-12 p.m.; Qualifying, 3:35 p.m.
2010 Standings
1 Brad Keselowski 2,911
2 Carl Edwards 2,684
3 Kyle Busch 2,486
4 Justin Allgaier 2,457
5 Kevin Harvick 2,314
6 Paul Menard 2,207
7 Joey Logano 2,108
8 Steve Wallace 2,049
9 Brendan Gaughan 2,015
10 Jason Leffler 1,994
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