A Closer Look at Five Drivers Set to Contend for Nationwide Series Title

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March 20, 2014

tydillon_bradkeppel — Photo Credit: Brad Keppel

With four races in the books at four different race tracks, the contenders for this year’s Nationwide Series Championship are beginning to get clearer with each week that passes by. With that said, it’s time to take a closer look at five of the drivers who have risen to the top of the crop so far this year.

Regan Smith

Regan Smith kicked off his season the best way possible, scoring the win in the season opener at Daytona International Speedway. Backing up with a string of top 10 finishes certainly is the easiest way to get the points lead early on.

This isn’t something new for Smith, though, as he kicked off last year really well and had a solid point lead as we got into the summer months. However, struggles in the summer eliminated Smith from the championship picture totally. If Smith wants to have a shot this year, he cannot let that happen again as he has to take the lessons learned from that experience and put that to use.

JR Motorsports went through a restructuring process throughout the off-season, partnering Smith with veteran crew chief Ryan Pemberton, while hiring Ernie Cope to crew chief the team’s third car that will be running part-time with Kevin Harvick and Dale Earnhardt Jr. behind the wheel. The personnel changes, as well as working on their equipment, certainly have helped put JRM closer to the level that Team Penske and Joe Gibbs Racing are each week. However, Smith struggled at Las Vegas and got lucky with the top 10 finish that he ended up earning. The way Smith runs this weekend could help determine whether he can remain in the championship discussion all year.

Trevor Bayne

Bayne’s start to the season has been stellar with finishes of third, seventh and a pair of eighth place finishes. Partnering Bayne with Chad Norris has certainly helped increase the performance.

This was the type of performance that people expected from Bayne last season when he took over the ride after Stenhouse Jr. moved up to the Sprint Cup Series. However, Bayne struggled and had a sub-par year. If Bayne can keep this going, there is a good chance that he can live up to the expectations that are laid out in front of him.

The only problem that could be seen in Bayne’s future is the lack of resourceful teammates compared to his competitors. Joe Gibbs Racing, JR Motorsports and Richard Childress Racing will have Sprint Cup Series drivers in their Nationwide Series rides throughout the year, while the same isn’t the case for Roush-Fenway Racing. Instead, Bayne will have to rely on rookies Ryan Reed and Chris Buescher for information to work with. This could present a problem especially if Bayne’s team is missing the set-up at all.

However, it may not be as big as a problem as perhaps people may believe. RFR Cup Series Carl Edwards has stated about working within the Ford Racing camp and with Team Penske in working to get better for the Cup Series. Could the same happen on the Nationwide Series side? Quite possibly.

Ty Dillon

As a rookie, Ty Dillon is off to a great start this season as in the first four races this season, Dillon has finishes of seventh, 10th, 11th and sixth while starting in the top nine in the last three races. As a result, he currently sits third in points. The finishes are surprising to some, based on the limited schedule that Dillon ran last season as he only had one top 10 in the nine races that he ran. However, Dillon is matched with Danny Stockman Jr. and the same group that led his older brother to the 2013 Nationwide Series Championship.

Stockman had the ability to bring out the best in Austin Dillon to lead him to the title, with encouraging him to be a solid contender, while helping keep him calm and out of trouble. If Ty Dillon can take the lessons that Stockman lays in front of him and avoid the rookie troubles that typically find new drivers, you may see a rookie stand on top as the series champion this year.

Chase Elliott

Dillon may not be the only rookie in contention as Chase Elliott has shown his strength as a driver early this season to currently sit fourth in points. Elliott’s worst finish is 15th, which came at Daytona to start the year.

So far this season, Elliott has shown a ton of maturity and looked to be possibly be a contender for the win at Las Vegas two weeks ago. Heading to Auto Club Speedway this weekend, Elliott may be one of hte darkhorses to consider for the win and dethrone the Cup regular dominance that we’ve seen.

If Elliott can keep the consistency going with Greg Ives (who led Smith to his success last season), Elliott also has a chance at being the champion come season’s end. However, if Elliott starts to be too aggressive and gets into trouble, that may be the downfall of championship contention this year.

Elliott Sadler

Arguably the most experienced driver on this list, Elliott Sadler has had a quiet start to the season, landing him fifth in points. Sadler’s current points position can be thanked to a fifth at Daytona and a sixth at Phoenix.

In the pair of races that have followed, Sadler has failed to finish inside the top 10 and has lost valuable points. If Sadler wants to put himself into championship contention this year, he will need to step it up to top 10 performances to match that of the previous drivers mentioned. That shouldn’t be a problem, though, as he has Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth to lean on as teammates and they’ve been fast in both races.

Sadler is good at being consistent and being in championship contention as he’s been part of the discussion the past two years. The key this year to make the championship happen will be stepping it up that extra little bit, while staying out of trouble. Being involved in accidents has been one of the biggest downfalls to Sadler’s past championship runs.

With four races in the bag and the chips laid on the table, I have this question to ask – Who is your pick for the 2014 Nationwide Series Championship?

After Month Off, Peters Ready For Kroger 250 At Martinsville Speedway

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March 20, 2014

Rookie Watch: Austin Dillon and Kyle Larson survive Bristol high banks

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SM Staff

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March 20, 2014

dillon_bradkeppel — Photo Credit: Brad Keppel

Bristol Motor Speedway is known for being one of the toughest tracks on the circuit – rookie or not. Some of the rookies had a rough go at it – even a discussion of toilet paper broke out – while others, managed to survive. Larson and Dillon are showing early that they’re leading the rookie class this year, as expected.

Kyle Larson and Austin Dillon
Finished: 10th and 11th

Both Kyle Larson and Austin Dillon had a solid run at Bristol Motor Speedway – in different ways.

Larson was strong all race long, running inside the top five in the middle part of the race, as high as the second position. Larson has been strong at Bristol in the past – a pair of second place finishes in the Nationwide Series to date – so having a shot to win on Sunday night was not a surprise to many fans. Larson had a legitimate shot to win but with 76 laps to go, he chose to pit while Edwards and other stayed out.

“There at the end maybe we pitted when we shouldn’t have and then it was tough to pass,” he commented. “It’s really actually exciting to be a little bit disappointed in a top-10 finish in the Cup Series. Like I said, this series is really competitive and hard to do well in. I thought we had a top-five race going for sure and ended up 10th.”

This marked Larson’s first top 10 finish this season. Larson commented on Tuesday that he’s been quick each week, but has made mistakes resulting in poor finishes. Find out what else Larson said by clicking here.

Meanwhile, Austin Dillon took the conservative approach as he ran quietly just outside of the top 10 all race long, staying out of trouble on his way to finishing 11th.

“It was a solid effort by everyone on the Realtree/Bad Boy Buggies Chevrolet team today,” Dillon commented post-race. “I really wish we could have gotten the No. 42 (Kyle Larson) and passed him for one more position at the end of the race so we could have finished inside of the top-10, and earned Rookie of the Race honors. But overall, we really have to be happy with a performance like that our first time out in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Bristol Motor Speedway.”

Justin Allgaier
Finished: 17th

Justin Allgaier ran a clean race throughout the evening, avoiding trouble on his way to finishing 17th. While it may not mean much, it is a solid run for the single-car team owned by Harry Scott. Top 20 finishes for Allgaier this rookie season are a relative goal given his Nationwide Series results of past and the team that he is with.

Michael Annett
Finished: 26th

Unfortunately, Michael Annett would have a poor run for Tommy Baldwin Racing as he finished three laps down. Annett got lapped early in the event by the leaders, and then fell additional laps down when he pitted under green and a caution flew.

Alex Bowman
Finished: 32nd

Alex Bowman found himself multiple laps down following an incident when the battery fell out of his car and on to the race track. If there’s any good news, the young driver gained some twitter followers and exposure by the discussion that ensued. When the battery fell out, it left a trail of a white cloth – which is used to keep the battery tucked in it’s position. However, with how it fell out and caught on other cars, it started a flew of jokes surrounding “toilet paper” and teepeeing as it had the same look. As nascarasm put it, Bowman is now the ‘Charmin King’.

Parker Kligerman
Finished: 34th

Parker Kligerman wasn’t able to change his luck, unfortunately, with another poor finish. Kligerman go caught up in a wreck in practice with Danica Patrick, which the team worked hard to repair the car afterwards. Kligerman looked to be okay at the start of the race and perhaps headed towards a decent finish, when he’d run over the battery that fell out of Bowman’s car. As a result, it caused the steering column to shift and struggles for the rest of the night.

Ryan Truex
Finished: 42nd

Ryan Truex also didn’t have any good luck at Bristol as a crash took him out of the race on lap 271 of 500, ending his night early.

Next up: Auto Club Speedway

If you look back at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, it was Austin Dillon and Kyle Larson that led the way with solid runs. Expect the same as they’re both with top notch organization. For the rest of the crop, a solid top 20 finish could be huge for any of them with the smaller organizations that they are competing with following their start to the year. Of this, California is the city of dreams so perhaps the rookies will be California Dreaming when the race is done.

Jeffrey Earnhardt Auto Club preview

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March 20, 2014

Cup Stars in Nationwide – The Drivers Aren’t the Problem

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SM Staff

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March 20, 2014

Kyle Busch Bristol — (Credit - Brad Keppel)

At Phoenix a few weeks back, Cup drivers took every spot inside the top five in the Nationwide (NNS) race and also led every single lap. At Las Vegas, they held the top four finishing positions and led 193 of 200 total laps. At Bristol, they led all 300 laps on their way to finishing 1st, 2nd and 3rd. This pattern needs to end. Don’t be fooled into believing that I am against Cup drivers in Nationwide though, because I’m actually not. I’m against dull and action-deprived shows that are so predictable.

In the 100 races run between 2011 and 2013, Cup drives have won 74 of them. I’ve heard a plethora of ideas floating around about what, if anything, NASCAR should do. The most popular ones involve limiting the number of races Cup drivers can par-take in; or actually going as far as to ban them completely. The opposing side argues that the Cup stars bring in sponsors, attract more fan interest, and are great for the up-and-comers to learn off of.

However, the problem isn’t Cup drivers in Nationwide as many erroneously believe….it’s the Cup teams in Nationwide. You disagree? Well, chew on these stats and then tell me what you think – Kevin Harvick won 15 Nationwide races between 2006 and 2007 for Richard Childress Racing. In 2009 and 2010, he drove for his own organization and won just five times over that two year period. It’s a head-turning stat, but not near as blatant and incontrovertible as this one…

In 2011, Kyle Busch won eight of the 20 NNS races he entered in. In 2013, he took the victory in twelve of his 26 attempts. In 2012 though, he participated in 22 races, failing to win a single one. What was the big difference that year? Well, in 2011 and 2013, Kyle drove for Joe Gibbs Racing. In 2012 however, he ran his own cars under the Kyle Busch Motorsports banner. Joey Logano was Kyle’s replacement in the JGR ride and won nine times.

The Camping World Truck Series has a smaller field, is cheaper to run, and consequently, easier to dominate (see Kyle Busch’s career); yet 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Brad Keselowski has found it difficult to succeed there. In 17 starts driving his own trucks, Brad has never won. How do you argue with these facts? Kyle had to shut down his Nationwide program due to lack of sponsorship at the end of last year, but these drivers don’t have to all own their own race teams; that’s not what I’m trying to sell here. It’s just one of the options.

If they don’t want to or can’t field their own cars, then there’s always the Nationwide only teams such as RAB Racing, JD Motorsports, and TriStar, who would benefit immensely from having that kind of star power wheeling their machines. Obviously, teams like Jr Motorsports and Turner-Scott would be more more appealing to Cup drivers. The Cup teams could only continue to field cars in the series, if they put a Nationwide driver in the seat. Not only would this idea continue to allow the young guns to race against and learn from Cup drivers, but they’d be able to do so in the best rides out there. It would level the playing field (or even put the Cup drivers at a disadvantage), and gives the NNS guys and girls a legitimate shot at victory lane each week. Oh, and the change would probably draw many of the disgruntled fans back too.

With the JGR & Penske seats vacated, talents like Ross Chastain and Jeb Burton, who are currently fighting to keep their foot in the door could get their big break…pending sponsorship of course. A contingent of people out there want to argue that if it were Mark Martin or Dale Earnhardt Jr. winning all these races, then this debate would be non-existent. Well, they are right to a point, but you’d still hear my voice opposing it…and I doubt I’d be alone. I could care less who wins; I just want to see a good show. A single driver, no matter who it is, dominating from start to finish on a weekly basis, is far from entertaining. When you have such a disparity within the field, a change needs to be made.

Dale Jarrett brought up at Vegas that it’s only the fans and some media who complain about this. Well, the media writes about it because the fans complain about it so that’s a moot point. Let’s focus on the fans for a second though. They buy the tickets, they watch on TV, and they are the reason why sponsors even care that the series exists. Sponsors won’t stick around if they aren’t getting the biggest bang for their buck. Case and point…Nationwide is pulling the plug as the series’ title sponsor at the end of 2014. They plan to solely focus on their role as the official insurance company of NASCAR in 2015.

This way, everyone is getting what they want. The big names stay, the sponsors stay, and fans on both sides of the argument will be satisfied for the most part. The Nationwide regulars would now have a fighting chance at winning more than a handful of times each year while also getting the experience of racing Sprint Cup stars before they become NSCS competitors themselves. There is no need to ban or limit the Cup drivers and/or Cup teams; simply forbid one to partner with the other in Nationwide races.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but it would be much more enjoyable to watch Kyle Busch pass a Nationwide regular for the win in inferior equipment, rather than lapping said Nationwide regular for the third time on his way to victory lane.