Carfax 250 News and Notes

Driver to win the Nationwide Carfax 250

Tont Stewart +250
Carl Ewards +450
Joey Logano +450
Mark Martin +650
Clint Bowyer +750
Brian Vickers +1000
Greg Biffle +1200
Brad Keselowski +1500
David Reutimann +1800
Scott Wimmer +2200
David Ragan +2500
Mike Bliss +3000
Jason Leffler +3000
David Stremme +3500
Field +1000

TheGreek

Nuts for Nationwide: 24 Down; 11 To Go In the Second Series
Danny Peters

It’s hard to believe there are only eleven scheduled races left in the 2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series and, unlike in the previous two seasons, we actually have a genuine title chase. Who needs the manufactured excitement of the senior circuit’s Chase for the Sprint Cup when you have a three-way shootout for the inaugural championship under the Nationwide banner? Two of the three protagonists in the battle for the title are, predictably, Sprint Cup regulars in Carl Edwards and Clint Bowyer. But the third, JR Motorsports’ Brad Keselowski, has had the sort of breakout season that suggests his might be a name we’ll be hearing for years to come in Cup as well as Nationwide. This weekend’s race is a critical step along the way as home to the driver of the #88 Chevrolet is Rochester Hills, Michigan – just two hours from the site of tomorrow’s race at Michigan International Speedway.

The homecoming for the 24-year-old couldn’t come at a better time. Just 128 markers behind points leader Clint Bowyer, Keselowski is closer to Bowyer than any driver has been since early June. It’s not as if Bowyer has been a slouch of late either. After 11 straight Top 10s, he sandwiched a ninth place in the rain at Montreal between an 18th place run at O’Reilly Raceway Park and a 23rd place effort at Watkins Glen. But since Keselowski’s win at Nashville nine races ago, the kid has been a-coming on-cutting slowly but definitively into Bowyer’s lead. The significance of the opportunity in front of him is not lost on Keselowski either. “I was reading something the other day about Alan Kulwicki when he won his championship in 1992,” he said. “He wrecked out at Dover with six races to go and he was about 280 points behind and came back to win the championship. So, being only 128 behind Clint is not the end of the world.” But Keselowski is nothing if not realistic when he noted that: “We need to race to win, and if we can win some races, we can close that gap really quickly.”

Can Brad Keselowski close the gap on leader Clint Bowyer and hold off the reigning Nationwide Series champ Carl Edwards? We’ll see; but there can be no doubt he’s very definitely in the mix and far, far stranger things have happened. Perhaps the surprise of the season, for this writer at least, has been the relative lack of success of the current champ. I say lack of success; Edwards still has two wins, nine top fives and another three top tens. But those numbers pale into insignificance when you rewind to this point last year. Following a ho-hum 23rd place finish at Watkins Glen, Edwards’ lead stood at a jaw-dropping 766 points at this point in 2007. This time around he’s some 174 markers out of first.

At the start of the season in my two-part Nationwide Series season preview, I made the following prediction as to the destination of the Series crown: “I’m bravely predicting Carl Edwards to repeat,” I said, and to be honest with you, I didn’t think anyone would come close. I thought it would be the same sort of relentless processional for Edwards on his way to a second straight title. And yet, as the weeks went by, the charge I kept expecting the Back-Flip King to make never materialized and it was Bowyer, instead, who has made most of the running. As the races are checked off the calendar it will be interesting to see if Bowyer can keep his lead and win his first ever second series crown–his goal at the outset of the campaign. This weekend he’s racing chassis number 63, with which he won the Bristol race earlier this year, so the Emporia, Kansas native will be hoping it brings a similar result to Bristol where he led 122 laps – over a third of the race.

Another driver moving in the right direction is Marcos Ambrose. After a relatively frustrating season so far, Ambrose moved back into the top ten in the overall standings courtesy of his first win at Watkins Glen. It was the fourth victory for a Nationwide regular this season following trips to Victory Lane for Scott Wimmer (Nashville), Brad Keselowski (also Nashville) and Joey Logano (Kentucky). It wouldn’t be fair here not to also recognize Ron Fellows in the rain at Montreal. Fellows has won four of the thirteen races he’s attempted over nine years in the Nationwide Series – all of which came at road courses. For Ambrose the Watkins Glen win was vindication of sorts. Ambrose said after taking the checkered flag, “I’ve dragged my family halfway around the world … and today it just feels like it was all worthwhile.” The native of Launceston, Tasmania, added, “It feels like I’ve conquered a huge mountain.” And even if it was on a Ford, it was still good to see the famous old STP paint scheme back in Victory Lane.

And finally, we have the 20-year old Houston, Texas native, Brad Coleman. After just two top tens on the season and only 43 races on the junior circuit (no wins, three top fives) Coleman will assume driving duties for the number 96 Cup Series car of Hall of Fame Racing following the release of JJ Yeley. It will be a huge step up (monstrously huge, you could argue) for the young driver, especially with the team sitting in 39th place without a guaranteed starting slot. But there is some respite for Coleman, as only 44 drivers are on the entry list for Michigan so he will just need to beat one driver to make the field. “I just want to qualify for every race that I do. I think if I do that, I’m doing a pretty good job,” said Coleman, who tested four times with Hall of Fame Racing earlier this year, and is sensibly keeping expectations low. “I want to finish every race, not get involved in any wrecks and do as good as I can. I think top-30s, top-25s or even a top-20 [finish] will be outstanding.”

Good luck to the kid this weekend and for the rest of the season. Something tells me he just might need it.

frontstretch.com

Edwards grabs pole for Nationwide race at Michigan
Sat 16th, August 2008

Brooklyn, MI (Sports Network) - Carl Edwards won the pole for Saturday's Carfax 250 Nationwide Series race at the Michigan International Speedway. The No.60 Roush Fenway Racing Ford driver and defending series champion rounded the two-mile oval in 38.688 seconds (186.104 m.p.h.).

The pole victory was Edwards' series-leading third of the season and the 10th of his career.

"It's awesome to be this fast right out of the box," Edwards said. "We always talk about bragging rights here for Ford Motor Company and Roush and everybody. This is a really big racetrack for us. Hopefully, this thing will race like it qualified."

Edwards became the 15th different pole winner in 17 Nationwide races at Michigan. Qualifying for the 2004 and '05 races was rained out.

Cale Gale captured the outside pole by posting the second-best time of 38.818.

Brian Vickers (39.001) and David Stremme (39.137) will start on the second row.

Other drivers of note and their starting positions: Tony Stewart (seventh), Mark Martin (10th), Clint Bowyer (14th), Marcos Ambrose (21st) and Brad Keselowski (22nd).

Bowyer enters the race with a 128-point lead over Michigan-native Keselowski, who, in just his first full-year of Nationwide competition, is the closest he's ever been to first place in points in his racing career. The 128-point margin is also the closest any driver has been to Bowyer since May.

Edwards, 174 points behind Bowyer, is hoping to improve at Michigan, where he has finished 23rd and 28th in the last two races there.

After picking up his first win at Watkins Glen last week, Ambrose moved up to 10th in points. It's the first time the Aussie has been in the top-10 since he finished eight in the 2007 Nationwide season.

Stewart will make his final Nationwide start for Joe Gibbs Racing in the No.20 Toyota. He is leaving JGR at the end of the season to serve as both driver and co-owner of the newly-formed Stewart-Haas Racing, starting in 2009. Stewart has scored five victories in eight Nationwide starts this season.

Mark Martin will compete in just his third Nationwide race this season, driving the No.5 Chevrolet for Dale Earnhardt, Jr.'s J.R. Motorsports. Martin is the series' all-time leader in wins with 48 and poles with 30. He drove the No.5 car to victory in March at Las Vegas. He finished 23rd in May at Darlington.

Today's race is scheduled to start around 3:30 p.m. (et).

Edwards scores another win for Roush at Michigan
Sat 16th, August 2008

Brooklyn, MI (Sports Network) - Carl Edwards continued his march towards a second-straight NASCAR Nationwide Series title by winning Saturday's Carfax 250 at the Michigan International Speedway. The No.60 Roush Fenway Racing driver led a race-high 71 laps and held off Brian Vickers in the final laps before the race ended under caution.

Edwards, who celebrated his 29th birthday yesterday, recorded his third Nationwide victory of the season and the 16th of his career. He also gave car owner Jack Roush his 18th overall victory at Michigan in NASCAR's national- touring series. Roush has scored 10 wins in the Sprint Cup Series, as well as four wins in both the Nationwide and Craftsman Truck Series at the two-mile track.

"I'm just so happy that we won this thing," Edwards said. "We've been close here before. I can't thank Ford Motor Company enough. Ford's making a comeback, and I'm glad to be a part of it."

Edwards led the field to the green flag after winning the pole earlier in the day. But the first caution flag was quickly displayed when Mark Green and Steve Wallace spun on the first lap.

Tony Stewart started seventh, but moved up to third by lap 16. Stewart continued his pursuit to the front as he passed Brian Vickers for the second spot on Lap 25. But Vickers quickly moved back into the runner-up position on Lap 30. Vickers then passed Edwards for the lead three laps later.

Jason Leffler began the first round of green-flag pit stops on Lap 40. Vickers led nine laps before he came in for his stop. After the cycle of stops had completed on lap 48, Vickers was back out in front. He held a 4.4-second lead over Edwards.

Vickers margin evaporated on Lap 53 when David Ragan spun and smacked the wall on the backstretch, forcing the second caution. Vickers and David Reutimann were among the top-five who opted to pit under the caution. Edwards reclaimed the lead, while Vickers rejoined the field in 10th-place. Reutimann fell out of the top-10.

When the race resumed on Lap 58, Stewart pulled even with Edwards as the two battled for the lead. Stewart pulled ahead when the caution came after Robert Richardson spun.

Stewart jumped ahead of Edwards on the restart on Lap 64. He maintained the lead for the next 12 circuits until Edwards reeled him in. Stewart and Edwards ran side-by-side once again for the lead, but Stewart was able to fend off the challenge.

Scott Wimmer began the next round of green-flag pit stops on Lap 87. Cale Gale also pitted under green. However on Lap 91, the fourth caution came when Reutimann made contact with Clint Bowyer. Reutimann cut a tire as he scraped the wall. His No.99 Toyota sustained cosmetic damage in the process.

The remaining leaders came in for their final stops as Edwards was the quickest out of the pits, followed by Vickers and Stewart. Edwards led the field for the restart on Lap 96, but Patrick Carpentier spun two laps later to bring the caution flag out for the fifth time.

Edwards pulled ahead on the restart and built a half-second lead over Vickers with 25 laps remaining. His margin increased to 2.5-seconds with 15 laps to go.

Vickers grabbed the second spot from Stewart with five laps remaining, and then made every effort from there to catch Edwards.

Just as Edwards crossed the line to take the white flag on the final lap, Danny Efland spun, ending the race under caution.

"If the caution would have come out about three hundred yards sooner, we would have a chance," Vickers said. "We were running him down there at the end."

Stewart, Mark Martin and Greg Biffle completed the top-five.

Stewart competed in his final Nationwide race for Joe Gibbs Racing.

"(Crew chief) Dave Rogers and all these guys on this Old Spice team have done such a great job," Stewart said. "They're in a record-setting year, and it's just been an honor to drive the car for them and a lot of fun."

He recorded five victories in nine starts this season, driving the No.20 Toyota for JGR.

With the victory, Edwards moved to within 113 points of leader Bowyer, who finished 10th. Brad Keselowski is 132 markers behind after posting an 11th- place finish.

The next race is set for Friday, August 22nd, at Bristol Motor Speedway.