NASCAR’s Nationwide Series will play a major role in the big weekend at the Atlanta Motor Speedway with Saturday’s running of the Great Clips 300. With this race comes a very tight battle for the series’ championship that could go down to the final race of the season. There is also the presence of NASCAR Sprint Cup double duty drivers in this race that will likely make their presence felt.
THE STORY BREAKDOWN.
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[/media-credit]The direction of the Nationwide Series’ championship profile seems to be focused on three drivers. Roush Fenway Racing’s Ricky Stenhouse Jr continues to lead the points standings and has been there for the past four weeks. However veteran driver Elliott Sadler, representing Kevin Harvick Inc, has used some very consistent performances as of late and has whittled the Stenhouse lead to a mere five points. Still very much a major player in this championship battle is Turner Motorsports driver Reed Sorenson who is only ten points away from the top.
The big difference maker in the final resolution of the Nationwide Series championship could very well be based on the bonus points system that comes with winning a race, leading a lap or leading the most laps in a race. This is an area where Stenhouse has excelled so far this season. He has already accumulated 21 bonus points while Sadler has nine and Sorenson has eight.
The other Nationwide Series championship, the owner’s points, seems to be well settled. Joe Gibbs Racing, and their #18 Toyota team, currently holds a 50 points advantage over Roush Fenway Racing’s #60 Ford team. The Gibbs success, needless to say, has been based on the phenomenal series success of driver Kyle Busch. Joe Gibbs Racing is currently seeking their fourth, consecutive, owner’s title in the Nationwide Series. If they’re successful, and it certainly looks like it, it will be a new series record.
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What would a Nationwide Series event be without the presence of Sprint Cup double duty drivers? The Great Clips 300 has a pretty impressive collection of Cup drivers who will be looking to gain some information, regarding track and tire conditions, that can be used for Sunday’s race. The truth be known, these drivers will largely be looking to just have some Saturday night fun.
Kevin Harvick will be in his self owned KHI #33 Chevrolet but will be running this race with a brand new crew chief. On Tuesday KHI announced that Chris Carrier has been named as the new head man on the pit box. Carrier will be very busy at Atlanta doing some double duty himself. He’s also the crew chief for KHI’s #8 Chevrolet, driven by Nelson Piquet Jr, in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Carrier will be on the pit box for both races this weekend. Eventually KHI plans to name a new crew chief for their truck team.
Joe Gibbs Racing will also be well represented in Saturday night’s race. The always formidable Kyle Busch will behind the wheel of their #18 Toyota. Making his official debut, as the new JGR development driver, will be Ryan Truex who will drive the team’s #20 Toyota.
Other double duty drivers include Kasey Kahne who will be behind the wheel of the #38 Chevrolet for Turner Motorsports. Meanwhile JR Motorsports has named Jamie McMurray to drive their #7 Chevrolet at Atlanta.
But the one surprise on the double duty list is the name Brad Keselowski. The Penske Racing driver returns to his Nationwide Series duties for the first time in four weeks following an August 3d test session accident on a road course that left him with a very painful fractured left ankle. All season long Keselowski has been running the full schedule in both the Nationwide and Sprint Cup Series. That, of course, was deterred after the accident.
Penske Racing lined up some high quality replacement from their talent pool to fill the seat for Keselowski’s Nationwide Series Dodge. That talent roster included Kurt Busch, Sam Hornish Jr, Jacques Villeneuve and Parker Kligerman. During the short fill in time this quartet of drivers turned in one win, two top ten finishes and two poles.
On the Sprint Cup side, Keselowski has been red hot. He’s currently in 11th in the points, with three wins, and that guarantees him at least a wild card berth in the series’ Chase For The Championship. With two races left, before the Chase line up is officially set, Keselowski could possibly get into the top ten which means he would be eligible for the bonus points for his wins and that would guarantee a high seed position in the Chase.
While the healing process for his fractured ankle is on track, one has to wonder if this is a good time for Penske Racing to put Keselowski back into their Nationwide Series car. With his Chase status now a certainty, why take the chance of something happening Saturday night that could re injure his foot? It just makes more sense to keep this driver out of the Nationwide car until it’s time for the Chase to start.
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THE RACE BREAKDOWN
The Great Clips 300 is 195 laps/300miles around the Atlanta Motor Speedway’s 1.54 mile, very fast, quad oval.
The race has 45 entries vying for the 43 starting berths and the winner’s share of the $942,000 plus race purse.
15 of those entries are on the go or go home list meaning they are not guaranteed a starting berth in the race because they are currently outside of the top 30 in the series’ owner’s points. These teams will have to rely on qualifying speeds to make the race. The lone exception here is driver Jeff Green who has the option of using a past champion’s provisional.
Saturday’s Great Clips 300 will be broadcast live by the ESPN2 Network with the “NASCAR Countdown” show beginning at 7 pm eastern time.
I really hope Ricky Stenhouse and Trevor Bayne do well tonight.