It’s easy to say that the novelty of Trevor Bayne has worn off and that the hype and excitement following the 23-year-old Daytona 500 champion is now unwarranted and for some, almost regretted. But looking further, in a day and age where we now compare Nationwide Series drivers against each other while trying to pretend …
It was long believed the glory days for JR Motorsports were when Brad Keselowski was going toe-to-toe with the likes of Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin. Keselowski was a fresh-faced and brash kid discovered by Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who was looking to make a change to his organization. The pairing came close to winning the …
Rookies. Those young guys who just don’t know any better. They’re the ones who tear stuff up and get in the way, yet everyone jumps to talk about how they’re the future of the sport. This year, the top two tiers of NASCAR are stacked with such talented drivers who are at the start of what, hopefully, …
Much has been written, to the point you can almost recite word-for-word, about how much Cup drivers have “taken over” the Nationwide Series. But if past races at Bristol are any indication, this Saturday should offer a sigh of relief. Two of the past four Spring events in NASCAR’s second-tier division were won by Nationwide …
As the Nationwide Series gets into the heart of its regular season, there’s another big piece missing from its 2014 resume: a handful of regulars that ran up front and contended for last year’s title. Gone are reigning champion Austin Dillon, Sam Hornish, Jr. (banished to a limited schedule with Joe Gibbs Racing) and Parker …
When David Ragan crossed the finish line first during last weekend’s Aaron’s 499 at Talladega in the Sprint Cup Series, I immediately thought of another race.
The date was June 17, 2006; the place, Kentucky Speedway. Most of the players are different, save for one. On that day, another David slayed the Goliaths of NASCAR, this time in the then-Busch Series. Piloting a low-budget, all-black No. 84 Chevrolet, David Gilliland defeated J.J. Yeley en route to his first win, shocking a sport that had become so used to the big guns on top.
Dear prospective buyer,
Let me start off by saying that I understand your potential concern. NASCAR is not the quickly-growing sport it used to be, and Nationwide Series races aren’t supremely well-attended.
But really, give the NASCAR Nationwide Series a chance.
By far, the most visible rookie of the year candidate coming into the 2013 Nationwide season was Kyle Larson. Touted as a future star the moment he was introduced to the masses, Larson had quickly progressed up the ranks in auto racing, emerging victorious in his debut K&N Pro East Series season in 2012 as its champion and scoring an average finish of 11.2 in four late-season Camping World Truck Series races, nearly winning one of them. Sure, there was his fairly controversial finish at the Whelen All-American UNOH Battle at the Beach, during which he turned C.E. Falk on the final lap to win the first race of the series.
Kyle Busch may have stolen most of the glory so far in the 2013 Nationwide Series season, but the Nationwide championship hunt is shaping up to be one of the better battles in recent memory — that is, if things stay as close as they are heading into next week’s ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond.
Sam Hornish Jr. currently leads the points standings, as he has since the first race of the season (save for a one-race tie with Justin Allgaier). But while Hornish once led by as much as 28 points, that lead has evaporated after an incident at Texas that damaged his No. 12 Ford, relegating him to a 34th-place finish and allowing his closest competitors to catch back up.
The Nationwide Series returns to activity this weekend in Texas after a two-week break, with the full-time teams itching to get back racing. But when it comes to coming out on top Friday night? Don’t be expecting much other than yet another victory by a Cup regular.
That’s been the story of the 2013 Nationwide season so far: five races, four victories by full-time Cup competitors. Kyle Busch, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing in his No. 54, has already scored three wins after going 0-for in the series in 2012. Tony Stewart added yet another Daytona victory at the beginning of the season. Behind him, Sam Hornish, Jr. remains the only Nationwide points contender with a win, taking a popular first-place finish at Las Vegas.
A daily email update (Monday through Friday) providing racing news, commentary, features, and information from Frontstretch.com