NATIONWIDE SERIES NOTEBOOK

NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES 4   4/25/12

 

Finally, Go-Time Is Here For Pastrana

Like the old ketchup commercial, there’s been plenty of anticipation surrounding Travis Pastrana’s NASCAR Nationwide Series debut. Originally scheduled to make his first start last July at O’Reilly Raceway Park, Pastrana’s bid was thwarted due to injuries suffered in an X-Games stunt the night before. Now after injury rehab, plenty of testing and a couple of runs in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East – including Thursday night’s Blue Ox 100 – the action sports icon is finally set for his big-stage NASCAR moment Friday night at Richmond. It’s a homecoming of sorts for Pastrana as well. He’s a native of Annapolis, Md. Almost a year to the day (April 28, 2011) after making his K&N East debut at Richmond, Pastrana is set to embark on a NNS schedule that encompass at least seven races in 2012. Pastrana will compete in the NNS for RAB Racing as that team and Michael Waltrip Racing last week announced an alliance between the organizations that will feature RAB equipment and MWR technical and marketing support. The No. 09 Toyota now becomes the No. 99.A little quieter perhaps but another debut to watch is that of Ryan Blaney, 18, son of NASCAR veteran Dave Blaney. He’ll try to make his first start for Tommy Baldwin Racing. In only four starts in the K&N Pro Series East and West, Blaney has a win – last November at Phoenix – a runner-up finish and two other top-10 results. He’ll also run Thursday night in the K&N East race.

 

Is Superman a Regular Guy?

Since the fall 2004 race, Richmond has been kryptonite to NNS regulars. Robby Gordon, then a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series regular, won that race and in the races since, double-duty drivers have dominated Victory Lane at RIR. Virginia’s own Denny Hamlin, last week’s Cup winner at Kansas, comes home with confidence and also is the defending winner of this race. Although Friday night’s entry list is stocked with double-duty RIR dominators in addition to Hamlin – Kevin Harvick, who’s tied with Mark Martin for most NNS wins at Richmond with five; Brad Keselowski, the winner of this race in 2010; Joey Logano, he of three top-10 finishes in three series races at RIR; along with Kasey Kahne – it very well could be a NNS regular who is favored to win. Consider the regulars’ strengths: Another Virginian, Elliott Sadler, leads the standings and has two wins this year. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., the reigning series champion, has chipped away at Sadler’s advantage and sits only four points out in second. Stenhouse also has two victories this season, winning last time out at Texas. Although receiving driver championship points in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, James Buescher is certainly a threat, having won the season-opener at Daytona among his scheduled 14 NNS races this year. Since last November at Texas, series regulars have won seven of the last nine races.

 

NNS RIR ETC:

Austin Dillon, the Sunoco Rookie of the Year leader, has come a long way since his NNS debut in 2008 at RIR where he finished 26th. Dillon, the 2011 Camping World Truck champion, is third in the rankings, 20 points behind Sadler. He’ll get some work in at Pocono on Wednesday at the Goodyear tire test where he’ll test in a truck before heading to Richmond. Friday also marks his 22^nd birthday. … Steve Wallace will make his return to the NNS at Richmond. He’ll drive the No. 4 Chevrolet, which lists his father, NASCAR Hall of Fame nominee Rusty Wallace, as owner. Steve Wallace hasn’t run in the series since the 2011 season finale at Homestead-Miami. … Tanner Berryhill, 18, who had seven K&N East starts in 2007, will attempt to make his series debut for Vision Racing at RIR. … Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas swept the RIR races last year, but the competition at the 0.75-mile track has been wide open over the last four years. Each manufacturer as at least one win since the 2009 fall race. … Kurt Busch is making his second consecutive start for Kyle Busch Motorsports, but this will be his first in the NNS at Richmond. His owner and younger brother, Kyle, will provide great notes as a four-time NNS winner at RIR.