Full Circle – Stenhouse Jr. New Points Leader

NATIONWIDE SERIES

 

Full Circle – Stenhouse Jr. New Points Leader

Following the first seven races of this season, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was in an unfamiliar spot. The reigning NASCAR Nationwide Series champion – who had been in first place the final 14 races of 2011 – had bounced around from ninth to fifth to third to second in the standings.

Finally, after Race No. 8 at Talladega, Stenhouse finds himself in familiar territory. Thanks to a third-place finish – his series-best, sixth top-five in his last seven races – and a 10th-place result by previous points leader Elliott Sadler, Stenhouse is back atop the rankings. He heads to Darlington five points to the good ahead of Sadler, his closest rival.

The tables were turned last year at Darlington, the series’ next stop. Sadler finished third while Stenhouse was 10th. Kyle Busch, the 2009 series champion, is the defending winner at Darlington. Kyle Busch will play the part of team owner this weekend, overseeing brother Kurt in the No. 54 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota. Kurt delivered Kyle’s first Nationwide Series win as an owner two weeks ago at Richmond.

Sadler had been the 2012 points leader since Daytona. Looking up at Stenhouse isn’t new to him; he was in that position for 11 of those final 14 races last season. He also didn’t panic while in that position, producing a spirited comeback that came down to the final race of the year at Homestead-Miami.

 

Star Struck? Not Blaney

Friday night’s Darlington field (7:15 p.m. EDT, live ESPN2) will be packed with star power. Danica Patrick, who also will run in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race, will be there. So will action sports icon Travis Pastrana, set to make his second Nationwide Series start after his series debut at Richmond. Popular Sunoco rookies Austin Dillon and Cole Whitt also are readying for their first series shot at Darlington.

Last week’s Talladega winner Joey Logano is entered, along with Denny Hamlin, a three-time winner at “The Track Too Tough to Tame.” The names Kurt Busch, Kasey Kahne and Brad Keselowski also resonate on the entry list.

Then there’s this entry: Ryan Blaney.

If you’re saying “Who?,” listen up. And watch closely. Blaney, 18, the son of NASCAR veteran Dave Blaney, made his series debut at Richmond along with Pastrana. He also raced against Patrick. And Kurt Busch. And Kahne, Dillon, Whitt, Keselowski, Logano, Hamlin, Stenhouse Jr., Sadler, et al.

Blaney finished seventh at Richmond, bettering the likes of Dillon, Kahne, Keselowski and Logano. In just four starts in the K&N Pro Series East and West, Blaney has a win – last November at Phoenix – a second and two other top-10 results. Blaney is running for Tommy Baldwin Racing, a team with a limited schedule that also includes drivers Ryan Truex and Bobby Santos.

 

NNS Darlington ETC

It’s homecoming week for Jeremy Clements (Spartanburg), Danny Efland (Irmo) and the JD Motorsports team (Gaffney). Clements is having a solid season, currently 14th in the driver standings – he was as high as 11th three times earlier this season. Efland, a graduate of the University of South Carolina, will make his third start of the season at his home track. And it will be a welcome week at home for JDM after scrambling to get to Talladega following a hauler fire at their shop April 29. The team’s driver, Mike Wallace, is 13th in the points. … Plenty of young talent has forced its way into the top 10 in the current series standings, but veterans Mike Bliss and Joe Nemechek are ninth and 10th, respectively. Bliss finished 12th in the final rankings last year for his TriStar Motorsports team. Nemechek, the 1992 series champion, also was ranked 10th following Phoenix in March. ... Due to a late-race incident that cost him an almost certain top-10 – if not higher – result, Michael Annett‘s string of six consecutive top-15 finishes was snapped at Talladega. Despite the 23rd place, Annett is sixth in the standings. … Tayler Maslam, who visited Capitol Hill this week representing groups promoting Global Youth Traffic Safety Month, remains one of the surprises of 2012. In his first full season in the series, Malsam is currently eighth in the standings and has been ranked in the top 10 following each race this year.