NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES
Series’ Elite Revs Up For Dash 4 Cash Battle
Series’ Elite Revs Up For Dash 4 Cash Battle
Nationwide’s Dash 4 Cash lives up to its billing as a reward for the series’ elite drivers entering the competition’s first round at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Saturday. The four eligible drivers to collect a $100,000 bonus include the top three in NASCAR Nationwide Series points plus a fourth member of the current top 10 in the standings. Elliott Sadler, Austin Dillon and defending series champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr. are joined by Michael Annett, who collected career-best finishes in each of his past two starts.
It’s a race within a race as the top finisher of the four wins the $100,000 and eligibility for the next round at Chicagoland Speedway on July 15. The next three points-eligible finishers in New Hampshire also qualify for the following week’s $100,000 face-off.
Should the same driver win the first three rounds at New Hampshire, Chicago and Indianapolis, plus the Iowa 250 his overall total winnings will reach $1 million.
Busch Bids For Fourth NHMS Win, First With Own Team
Kyle Busch goes for his fourth consecutive series victory at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Busch ended a run of 22 consecutive different winners at the track in 2009 and has yet to surrender the key to Victory Lane. Another win would be special for Busch, who opened his own NASCAR Nationwide Series Toyota team at the beginning of the season. Although older brother Kurt Busch provided the first victory for the No. 54 team at Richmond, Kyle Busch has yet to win as a NASCAR Nationwide Series owner-driver.
Points Battle Close But Unchanged After Daytona ‘Trap’ Race
Restrictor-plate racing has a history of shaking up the points standings but that didn’t happen last week as the series visited Daytona International Speedway for the second time in 2012. Unlike February – when NASCAR Camping World Truck points-eligible driver James Buescher weaved his way through a last-lap accident to win – the top 10 finishers of the Subway Jalapeno 250 featured a majority of the series’ championship contenders.
Elliott Sadler heads for New Hampshire with a four-point advantage over Richard Childress Racing teammate Austin Dillon with Ricky Stenhouse 21 points back in third. In fact, none of the top 10 points positions changed in Florida – a definite rarity.
Stenhouse was the top-finishing points-eligible series driver in last year’s New Hampshire race with a solid, fourth-place performance. Among current series championship contenders, only Michael Annett (seventh) recorded a top-10 finish.
Patrick, Pastrana Add Star Power To New Hampshire Entry
Both Danica Patrick and action sports star Travis Pastrana will compete in Saturday’s New Hampshire race. At Daytona, Patrick again was on the cusp of becoming NASCAR’s first national series female winner, leading five times for 14 laps before being collected in a late accident. She returns to New Hampshire for her second series start having finished 30th in 2010. A year ago, competing in the IndyCar Series, Patrick scored a sixth-place finish.
Pastrana will be making his fifth appearance of the season and first since Charlotte in late May. His best finish to date is 17th at Darlington. Pastrana has a single NASCAR K&N Pro Series East start at New Hampshire Motor Speedway finishing 22nd in 2011.
No comments:
Post a Comment