Busch Takes Weekend Off From Victory Lane

One way to keep Kyle Busch out of Victory Lane in NASCAR Nationwide races is keep him off the entry list. He won’t be running at Gateway, where he’s the defending winner. But it’s debatable whether that will have an impact on his overall races-to wins-ratio in 2010.

Busch has started 15 races this year, winning seven, including last week at Chicagoland. He’s currently scheduled to run in 29 races this year. In 188 career NASCAR Nationwide starts, last year’s series champion has 37 wins and now is in second place on the all-time list. He’s chasing Mark Martin, who has 48 wins in 231 starts. Kevin Harvick, who Busch passed for second, has 36 victories in 251 starts. His seven wins at this juncture are tied with former series champions Sam Ard and Jack Ingram, who each had seven wins after 18 races in 1984.

Busch had four wins after 18 races in 2008, when he tied Ard’s record of 10 wins in one season. He ran 30 races that year.

Make Way For Another Truex

Stand-alone season normally is an opportunity for younger drivers to showcase their skills in stout equipment as they substitute for double-duty drivers. Case in point, Brad Coleman returns to the seat of the No. 18 Toyota in place of reigning series champion – and last year’s Gateway winner – Kyle Busch.

Saturday will mark the NASCAR Nationwide Series debut of another up-and-coming driver – Ryan Truex. Truex, 18, is the younger brother of two-time series champion Martin Truex Jr., who won at Gateway from the pole in his track debut in 2004. Ryan is the defending NASCAR K&N Pro Series East champion and currently leads that series.

This is an open weekend for NASCAR Sprint Cup, and two drivers who normally would cede to substitutes will be competing in this stand-alone event – former series champions Kevin Harvick (a two-time Gateway winner) and Clint Bowyer.

Second Half Starts With Second Half of Stand-Alone Season
Starting Saturday at Gateway, the next three races for the NASCAR Nationwide Series are at venues void of combination races with the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, however, does have preliminary one-day shows the next two Fridays at Gateway and O’Reilly Raceway Park.

AUDIO Podcast: Full Gateway Pre-Race Coverage

Brad Keselowski remains the standings leader, a post he’s manned following the last 11 races. Carl Edwards is second, 227 points back. That’s the closest he’s been to the leader since the series raced at Charlotte in May. Then, he was in fourth, 163 points behind Keselowski.

But Edwards, a native of Columbia, Mo., who considers Gateway his home track, has been a second-half challenger the last two seasons. The 2007 series champion was 192 points behind Kyle Busch at this stage last year and 188 behind Clint Bowyer in 2008. Last year, four of his five wins were collected in the second half. In 2008, he won six of his seven total races after Race No. 18.
Edwards has two wins at Gateway, in 2006 and ’08.

SHOW #118 – We recap Chicagoland, Preview the NNS and Trucks at Gateway, ponder a schedule change, talk about possible Chase changes and more. Hosted by Kerry Murphey and Paul Northrop

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CREDITS:
Hosts: Kerry Murphey & Paul Northrop
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Famed No. 3 Visits NASCAR Hall of Fame after Daytona Victory Lane
No. 3 Wrangler Chevrolet Impala driven by Dale Earnhardt Jr. on exhibit through Sept. 19

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (July 14, 2010) – The NASCAR Hall of Fame, an expansive new interactive entertainment attraction in Charlotte, N.C., now is the temporary home of one of the most talked about race cars of 2010.

Beginning July 14, included with the price of admission, guests can get a close-up look at the No. 3 Wrangler Chevrolet Impala that Dale Earnhardt Jr. drove to victory in the NASCAR Nationwide Series race July 2, 2010 at Daytona International Speedway. The car carries the same design of the race cars Earnhardt Jr.’s father, Inaugural NASCAR Hall of Fame Inductee Dale Earnhardt, made famous in the 1980s.

“Long before we ever raced the No. 3 car to honor my dad, I had already considered lending it to the NASCAR Hall of Fame regardless of how it finished, because the whole point of the program was to pay tribute to my dad’s induction into the Hall of Fame,” said Earnhardt Jr. “The fact we won with it makes it even more meaningful, and hopefully it will attract more people to the NASCAR Hall of Fame in the coming months while it’s on display. This No. 3 Wrangler Chevrolet put me back into Victory Lane, and it stirred up a lot of old memories for a lot of people. I was happy for my fans, my dad’s fans, my family, Richard (Childress), Teresa (Earnhardt) and everybody involved. It was definitely an honor to drive it.”

This No. 3 Wrangler Chevrolet Impala was built and prepared by JR Motorsports and entered in the Daytona race by legendary owner Richard Childress. The combination of Earnhardt Jr., Dale Earnhardt Inc. and RCR has a very brief yet shining history on the track. In only two races together, Earnhardt drove the No. 3 Chevrolet to victory on both occasions (February 2002 and July 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series races at Daytona International Speedway).

“There already was something special about this race car before it ever even took a lap around a racetrack,” said Winston Kelley, executive director of the NASCAR Hall of Fame. “It solidified its place in history, though, when Dale Jr. took it to Victory Lane in Daytona. Dale says he will not drive the No. 3 again, so this may be even more historic than we realize today. Epic stories deserve to be relived over and over, and it is our privilege to provide a venue for guests to get close to something so unique. We can’t thank Kelley and Dale enough for loaning us this car.”