Nationwide Series

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travis-pastrana-nascar-september-2012Action Sports Legend Travis Pastrana to Drive Roush Fenway’s No. 60 NNS Ford Full-Time in 2013

CONCORD, N.C. (Jan. 3, 2013) – Action sports legend Travis Pastrana will make the move to full-time NASCAR racing in 2013, driving Roush Fenway’s historic No. 60 Ford Mustang in all 33 events on the NASCAR Nationwide Series schedule.

“I am extremely excited about making the move into full-time NASCAR competition in 2013 and equally thrilled to have the opportunity to make that move with Jack Roush and the team at Roush Fenway Racing,” said Pastrana, a four-time rally champion, motocross champion and multiple X Games gold medal winner.

“I am very serious about making this move, running competitively and ultimately winning races in NASCAR,” added Pastrana. “No team can claim the success in the Nationwide Series that Roush Fenway has, and I know driving an RFR Ford will provide me with the maximum opportunity to develop my skills behind the wheel of a stock car.”

Pastrana has made nine career Nationwide Series starts, including one for Roush Fenway last September at Richmond, where he qualified a career-high fifth and ran top-10 for much of the race en route to a 17th-place finish.

Pastrana will team up with veteran NASCAR crew chief Chad Norris and will be partnered with a variety of sponsors during the season.

“Travis is a champion,” said Roush Fenway co-owner Jack Roush. “It takes a great deal of drive and determination to reach that level of greatness in any field. He is serious about this move to NASCAR and we are committed to doing everything we can to see his career develop in NASCAR. We would certainly expect to see a great level of excitement brought to the table as he progresses within our sport.”

The No. 60 will be one of two full-time RFR Nationwide Series entries in 2013, with Pastrana being paired with Roush Fenway teammate and 2010 Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne in the No. 6 Ford Mustang.

Coming off of back-to-back Nationwide Series Championships in 2011 and 2012, RFR’s 131 wins are the most in NNS history. In addition, the No. 60 captured the NNS owners’ championship in 2011.

Roush Fenway’s No. 60 entry boasts the most wins in NNS history, having been driven to victory lane a grand total of 90 times by celebrated drivers Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards and Mark Martin.

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2012 Chicagoland Parker Kligerman Autographs Hat For Young FanKBM CONTINUES YOUTH MOVEMENT
WITH ADDITION OF KLIGERMAN
MOORESVILLE, N.C. (Dec. 18, 2012)- Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) announced today that the team has signed 22-year-old Parker Kligerman to compete for the 2013 NASCAR Nationwide Series driver’s championship. Kligerman will pilot the No. 77 Toyota Camry for the entirety of the 33-race schedule.

Kligerman comes to KBM’s Nationwide Series program on the heels of a breakout season in 2012. In his second full-time Camping World Truck Series campaign, the talented youngster earned his first career NASCAR victory at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway in October, captured two pole awards and collected eight top-five and 15 top-10 finishes en route to a fifth-place finish in the final Truck Series driver’s point standings. His Talladega victory, both poles and five of his eight top-five finishes came after joining the Toyota Racing family at the halfway point of the season.

The Connecticut native has registered five top-10 finishes in 18 career Nationwide Series starts. He posted two top-10 finishes in three starts this season, including a career-best seventh-place finish in the July race at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill.

In October of 2009, at the age of 19, Kligerman captured the pole in his first-ever Nationwide Series start at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, becoming the 10th driver in series history to accomplish the feat. That same year, he earned the 2009 Rookie of the Year award in the ARCA Racing Series after winning a series-high nine races and finishing second in the final point standings.

“When you think of Kyle Busch and Kyle Busch Motorsports, you think of an owner and a team that have established a tradition of winning and pride themselves on it, so I feel honored to be given the chance to come in and continue in that tradition,” Kligerman said. “I feel that running full-time in the Truck Series the last two seasons and coming close to a championship last season has prepared me to be able to do the same in the Nationwide Series next year. With the personnel that KBM has in place and what they were able to accomplish in their first year in the Nationwide Series combined with all the support they have from Toyota and TRD (Toyota Racing Development), I see no reason why we can’t compete for wins on a weekly basis and be a top-five team in the final point standings at the end of the season.”

“Once Parker got behind the wheel of a Toyota halfway through the season, he proved that he was capable of running up front week in and week out in the Truck Series and comes to us with a lot of confidence,” owner Kyle Busch said. “Since I started my Truck Series team in 2010, I’ve wanted the focus of our efforts to be on developing young talent and being able to create an identity for KBM without having to be behind the wheel myself. With the addition of Parker to our Nationwide Series program and Joey Coulter to our Truck Series program, we now have two of the sport’s most talented young drivers in our building.”

“Everyone at Toyota and TRD speaks very highly of Parker and they were a big part of why were able to bring him onboard here at KBM,” KBM General Manager Rick Ren said. “Although he has only driven a handful of races with these new Nationwide Series cars, he has participated in a lot of testing the last few years and we feel like he will be able to come in and be able to use that knowledge to help us to continue to make improvements to our program.”

In its inaugural Nationwide Series campaign, KBM registered one win, three poles, 15 top-five and 22 top-10 finishes en route to an eighth-place finish in the owner’s point standings. The team recorded eight top-five and 12 top-10 finishes over the last 13 races of the season.

“Our Nationwide Series program really seemed to hit its stride the last 10 races of the season — won a couple of poles, led a bunch of laps and were in contention for the win almost every week,” said Busch, who was behind the wheel for eight of the final 10 races. “We feel like we’ll be able to carry that momentum into next year and come out of the gates stronger than we did in our first season.”

Further details regarding sponsorship for Kligerman’s No. 77 Camry will be announced at a later date.

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Regan Smith shines in Nationwide return, as Ricky Stenhouse Jr. clinches title

Nov. 17, 2012 (Updates with quotes, results)

By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — There was no rust on Regan Smith.

Making his first NASCAR Nationwide Series start in five years, Smith drove the No. 5 JR Motorsports Chevrolet to victory in Saturday’s Ford EcoBoost 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, beating polesitter Kyle Busch to the finish line by 1.375 seconds.

As Smith scored his first victory in the series for the team that has hired him full-time for next year, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. rolled to a workmanlike, problem-free sixth-place result to lock up his second straight Nationwide championship.

Continue reading “Regan Smith Wins Homestead-Miami Nationwide Series Race, Stenhouse Is Champion”

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1 54 Kyle Busch(i) Monster Energy Toyota 32.146 167.984
2 2 Elliott Sadler OneMain Financial Chevrolet 32.193 167.738
3 3 Austin Dillon # Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet 32.194 167.733
4 6 Ricky Stenhouse Cargill Ford 32.382 166.759
5 18 Joey Logano(i) GameStop/Afterglow Toyota 32.398 166.677
6 31 Justin Allgaier Brandt Chevrolet 32.474 166.287
7 11 Brian Scott Dollar General Toyota 32.502 166.144
8 88 Cole Whitt # TaxSlayer.com/Gator Bowl Chevrolet 32.518 166.062
9 00 Blake Koch teamboom Toyota 32.554 165.878
10 5 Regan Smith Hendrickcars.com Chevrolet 32.559 165.853

Continue reading “2012 Homestead-Miami Nationwide Series Starting Lineup – Kyle Busch On Pole”

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Mid-Ohio Joins NASCAR Nationwide Series Schedule In 2013
Full Schedule Announced; Racing Returns To Entitlement Sponsor’s Home State

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Nov. 13, 2012) – NASCAR today announced the 2013 schedule for the NASCAR Nationwide Series, a lineup that includes a trip to Mid-Ohio for the first time in series history.

Mid-Ohio, a 2.4-mile, 15-turn road course in Lexington, marks the return of NASCAR national series racing to Ohio, the home state of the series’ Columbus-based entitlement sponsor, Nationwide Insurance. Mid-Ohio’s Aug. 17 addition fortifies the series’ trio of challenging road courses, joining Road America (June 22) and Watkins Glen (Aug. 10).

Continue reading “Mid-Ohio Joins NASCAR Nationwide Series Schedule In 2013”