Nationwide Series

Austin Dillon was likely looking for something more at the History 300 in Charlotte, but he is still in a solid position in the Nationwide Series standings.

The 23-year-old driver was able to win the pole position during qualifying Saturday morning before the race.  It was his fourth career pole position, with three of them coming in 2012.

That concludes #NASCAR Nationwide Series qualifying, @austindillon3 is the #CoorsLight pole winner; for the results http://t.co/vH1Xk8m93b

— NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) May 25, 2013

There were plenty of eyes on Dillon heading into the race, but he wasn’t able to make much of an impact on the race.  He led only one lap, finishing 13th while Kyle Busch was able to take home the win.

Despite the finish, Dillon was able to keep his position in the Nationwide standings, as he is still No. 6 on the board and just 52 points back.

There’s still plenty of racing to be done in this series, but Dillon has shown already in his racing career that he can be a winner.

In 2010, Dillon became the Camping World Truck Series Rookie of the Year.  Just one year later in 2011, he went on to be the Truck Series Champion.

If the Nationwide Series continues like the Truck Series did for Dillon, he’s going to be in good shape this year.

So far, the Nationwide Series has looked a lot like the Truck Series.  In 2012, Dillon was named the Nationwide Series Rookie of the Year.  He finished No. 3 in the standings, with two wins, 16 top-five finishes, 27 top-10 finishes and 486 laps led in 33 starts.

Through 10 starts in 2013, Dillon has looked pretty good as well.  He had his first pole position in this race at Charlotte along with two top-five and five top-10 finishes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Q3ZzaJv64I

Although Dillon has yet to register a win this year, some of his best races from last year haven’t happened yet.  His wins last year came at Kentucky, where he won in June as well as September after winning the pole position in both races.

Dillon is a young driver who is beginning to do some very good things.  Having the No. 3 on his car brings a lot of attention, but Dillon is doing what he can to make his own legacy as the No. 3 driver.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Faw6Zm_hVv0

Living up to the famous Dale Earnhardt is no easy task, but up to this point Dillon is starting to become one of the better drivers in the Nationwide Series.  With enough time in the racing series, Dillon could eventually become a big name in the Sprint Cup Series.

Until then, we will all be watching him as he becomes one of the more exciting drivers to watch.

The 2012 Nationwide Series is almost a third over as the drivers head to North Carolina this weekend for the Charlotte 300. We'll see the regulars such as Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Elliott Sadler, Danica Patrick, Sam Hornish Jr., and Austin Dillon, who return to the track with Sprint Cup veterans Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, Kasey Kahne and Kyle Busch joining them.

Stenhouse has been on fire lately as he has collected three wins this season, including last weekend's win at Iowa, his third consecutive win there. Stenhouse currently leads Elliott Sadler by 28 points. Rookie Austin Dillon is third, just 43 points behind Stenhouse with Hornish Jr. and Cole Whitt rounding out the top five, 74 and 92 points back, respectively.

Although this Nationwide Series is very different from the early 2000s, it has still been relatively exciting. Unfortunately, sponsors have been a rarity for most drivers this season and there is a decent amount of drivers that are considered "start-and-parkers".

It's a far cry from the early 2000s when we saw companies like NesQuik, Kleenex, AC Delco, Reese's/Hershey's, Lowe's, GMAC, Kingsford Charcoal, Bass Pro Shops and many others sponsor cars in the then-Busch Series.

Sponsors have been so hard to come by that Trevor Bayne has not been able to run a full schedule and compete for a championship like he had hoped. What company wouldn't want to throw their name in the hat to sponsor an up-and-coming driver who has won the Daytona 500? If I owned a company, I'd do it instantly.

Because of this lack of sponsorship, we have seen former Nationwide regulars such as David Green, Elton Sawyer, Jason Keller, Stacy Compton, Bobby Hamilton Jr., Jason Leffler, Scott Wimmer and Kenny Wallace not be able to find rides. Former "hot shots" like Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr., Clint Bowyer and Jamie McMurray have already made it to the upper echelon of NASCAR and it is unlikely that any of them will return to the Nationwide Series full-time.

NASCAR's recent new rule that a driver can only compete for a championship in one of the three divisions has led to a rather short list of drivers that could win a championship in the Nationwide Series. Stenhouse Jr., Sadler, Dillon, Hornish Jr., Whitt, Michael Annett, Justin Allgaier, Danica Patrick and Brian Scott make the list, but not many more do.

I'm not saying it's a bad thing. I'd much rather see a Nationwide regular win the championship over a Sprint Cup regular.

However, the Nationwide Series seems to have a few up-and-coming drivers that could become very talented wheelmen such as Darrell Wallace Jr., who placed ninth in his debut last weekend at Iowa. Yes, he was in Joe Gibbs equipment, but his teammate Brian Scott, who has 85 more starts than him, finished 11th. Wallace seems like a very good driver, though he is just 18 years old. There's also Ryan Blaney, who finished seventh in his Nationwide debut at Richmond a few weeks ago.

In addition, Brad Sweet, Steve Arpin, Ryan Truex and Travis Pastrana have all run seemingly well in their limited starts and all have showed glimpses of hope. Parker Kligerman, who ran Brad Keselowski's No. 22 at Iowa, finished eighth in his only start of the season in the Nationwide Series. Kligerman currently runs full-time in the Truck Series for Keselowski's team and ranks fifth in the standings.

The Camping World Truck Series also has a few promising drivers that could find their way into the Nationwide Series sooner than most people think.

James Buescher won the Nationwide's season-opening race at Daytona and also collected a win at Kansas in April. Justin Lofton won the series race at Charlotte last weekend, the first win of his young career and is also leading the series standings. Regular Austin Dillon's younger brother, Ty, currently ranks third in the standings, although he has yet to win a race this year. Joey Coulter, who runs Richard Childress' No. 22 Chevrolet, will make his Nationwide debut this weekend. Coulter, who sits tenth in the standings, will pilot the No. 21 Sherwin Williams Chevrolet for Childress.

The Nationwide Series looks very bright to say the least.

In ten races this season, a non-Sprint Cup regular has won six of them.  Stenhouse has captured the checkered flag at Las Vegas, Texas and Iowa. Sadler has crossed the finish line first at Phoenix and Bristol—he looked to be headed to a victory at Darlington before Joey Logano punted him into the wall. James Buescher, who runs exclusively in trucks, won at Daytona after a wreck in Turn 4 collected most of the front of the field on the last lap.

The other four races—Fontana, Richmond, Talladega and Darlington—were won by Sprint Cup regulars. Logano managed to win three of those events with Kurt Busch barely edging out Denny Hamlin at Richmond.

Honestly, the series is so much better when it is not completely dominated by Sprint Cup drivers.

Last season, just six of the 34 races were won by Nationwide regulars. Stenhouse collected two victories with Allgaier, Hornish Jr., Trevor Bayne and Reed Sorenson all winning one. The season before that, Sprint Cup regulars won 33 of the 35 races. The only two that weren't won by regulars were Justin Allgaier at Bristol and Boris Said at Montreal. In 2009, Mike Bliss and Brad Keselowski were the only non-full time Sprint Cup guys to capture a checkered flag—Bliss did it once at Charlotte and Keselowski did it four times throughout the season.

Needless to say, the 2012 season has been a breath of fresh air.

Six of the ten races thus far have been won by Nationwide regulars. That's a tremendously good thing for the sport. I think that NASCAR should not have both races at the same track on the same weekend so we can see more of this. Sprint Cup guys don't want to make the trips, so the Nationwide field either has none or upwards of three or four drivers for their race that weekend. Last weekend at Iowa, there was only one full-time Sprint Cup driver—Kurt Busch. People can make arguments for Michael McDowell and Joe Nemechek, but they seem to be mostly "start-and-park" drivers at the Sprint Cup level. It was nice to see the regulars battle it out even though there wasn't very much battling, as Stenhouse led 209 of the 250 laps.

The 2012 Nationwide season has been one of the best of the decade because it has been "dominated" by the regulars instead of the "Buschwhackers". I am one of those fans that likes to see the Nationwide guys win and one of those fans that likes to see the underdogs capture the checkered flag every once in a while. The series seems to have a bright future because of emerging young drivers, although sponsors have been unbearably hard to come by.

This season has definitely been a welcome relief. And I hope it stays that way.

James Buescher avoided a last-lap melee coming off of Turn 4 to earn his first career NASCAR win in the season opening race at Daytona for the Nationwide Series.

The 21-year-old escaped tons of the Sprint Cup stars that were part of the 11-car accident in running the low line and avoiding any contact as the No. 30 Chevrolet was the first to the checkered flag.

Buescher fell back to 11th on the backstretch as none of the big stars would draft with him. He got the last laugh as all of those cars wrecked in front and he managed to drive through the carnage for the victory.

The wreck was caused by the two car tandem of Tony Stewart and Elliott Sadler catching the leaders of Kurt and Kyle Busch, and Joe Logano and Trevor Bayne.

Logano and Bayne caught the Busch brothers off of turn two and were dodging blocks all the way down the backstretch from the Busch brothers as they made their move to the high line going into turn three. That allowed Stewart and Sadler to catch the four as they tried to make room on the high side of Logano and Bayne.

Kurt Busch tried to move over and block Logano, but Logano was already there and it sent Busch's car head on to the Turn 4 wall and collected all the major players in the race from there.

Kurt's younger brother Kyle almost avoided the wreck, but defending series champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr. clipped Busch's bumper and sent him into the outside wall with hard contact.

Buescher benefited from the "big one" and joined Truck Series winner John King in getting their first career NASCAR wins at Daytona during this year's speedweeks.

Danica Patrick's bid to become the first woman in victory lane in NASCAR ended on Lap 49 when she was sent head on with the Turn 3 wall from contact with her teammate Cole Whitt. The pole-sitter Patrick was running well and looked like a threat, but the rookie Whitt tried to bump draft her through the turn and you just can't do that anymore as it eliminated Patrick from contention.

Brad Keselowski came home second today as Elliott Sadler ended up third.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. may have captured the Nationwide Series title, but it was Brad Keselowski who held off Carl Edwards despite the punt he got because the potential Cup champion thought he was blocking.

Edward's move actually slowed him a bit, giving the advantage to Stenhouse Jr., who drove past him after the encounter.

It was shades of conflict we have seen before between Keselowski and Edwards. With just a couple laps remaining, Keselowski used the Penske Power in his No. 22 to hold the lead.

In Victory Lane, Keselowski told the ESPN reporter, "I was blocking him as hard as I could. I don't think he (Edwards) was very happy with me racing him that hard."

Most people think racing should be about hard racing, but Edwards may have thought otherwise. In a post-race interview, Edwards told the ESPN reporter "If he is going to block, I am going to bump him."

Edwards had a fast car and looked like he was going to win the Ford 300, but a slow pit stop near the end of the race caused him to lose a few spots on the restart.

Keselowski powered to the lead and fought valiantly to hold off Edwards and Stenhouse for the win. It was his fifth top-two finish in the the last seven races.

Stenhouse Jr. was declared the series champion by the midpoint of the event and raced strong against the Cup drivers in the field, ran up front, but finished second.

It was an amazing turnaround for the Roush Fenway Racing driver of the No. 6 Ford. Jack Roush removed him from the race car last year and sat him down for a talk.

Stenhouse didn't know if he would be back in the car, but Roush saw potential with the young driver. This year he came back with vengeance and captured the championship.

There is little doubt this year's NASCAR Nationwide champion will be in racing in a Cup car in the not too distant future. He may run a few races in the top series during 2012 for RFR.

Perhaps Edwards used up his good luck when he captured the pole for the Ford 400.

Even though he has the first pit position—which is certainly advantageous—Tony Stewart should be good on long runs and may be another driver who blocks Edwards.

Edwards looked to be the winner of the Nationwide race, but he couldn't close the deal. Many favor the driver of the Aflac Ford to win the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship, but owner/driver Stewart has other plans.

We can only hope the finish of the Ford 400 will be as exciting as the Ford 300 race won by Keselowski.

Two championships down at Homestead-Miami Speedway and one whopper of a race to go that will end the reign of five-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson.

Who will hoist the NASCAR Sprint Cup trophy? Stay tuned for some great racing.

Heading into the fourth race of the 2011 NASCAR Nationwide Series schedule, teams are already buckling down and putting their focus on points.

The standings thus far are deceiving though, as to how drivers are performing.

So far, Nationwide race winners have only come from the Cup garage—Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch and Mark Martin. As per the new rules, which state that a driver must choose only one series to run for a champtionship, none are in contention for the NNS Championship.

Lets take a look at just the drivers in which are contention for the Nationwide Series Championship, as they each declared in preparation for the 2011 season.

Here are the top five drivers in points thus far in the season:

5.) Justin Allgaier, driving the No. 31 Chevrolet for Turner Motorsports

So far this season, Allgaier has a 27th place finish at Daytona, an eighth at Phoenix and a second place finish at Las Vegas. In last year's points championship, Allgaier finished strong—competing even with the Sprint Cup drivers who were running in the series. Considering his strong finish last year, and his strong start this year, he could easily be in contention for a championship come November. 

4.) Danica Patrick, driving the No. 7 Chevrolet for JR Motorsports

Patrick started the season with three top-20s—including one top-five. Her finishes so far have been 14th at Daytona, 17th at Phoenix and fourth at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. After Bristol, though, she will leave NASCAR for multiple races to fulfill her contract in her full-time ride in the IndyCar Series. While she may not be in contention for the championship this year, her finishes may still be strong enough to pull out more top 10's this season. 

3.) Jason Leffler, driver of the No. 38 Chevrolet for Turner Motorsports

Leffler finished sixth at Daytona, 11th at Phoenix and ninth at Las Vegas. This current string of good, even finishes has helped him hold up in the standings. If it continues through Bristol, a track that may jumble the points a great bit, he will be one to keep an eye on this season. 

2.) Ricky Stenhouse Jr, driving the No. 6 Ford for Roush Fenway Racing

Stenhouse Jr has been fighting back so far this year with an eighth place finish at Daytona, a seventh place finish at Phoenix and another eighth place finish at Las Vegas. A string of top-10 finishes without a fault is what can build a champion in the Nationwide Series. If he can continue on this path, it won't be wins that matter—it'll be consistency. 

1.) Reed Sorenson, driver of the No. 30 and No. 32 Chevrolet for Turner Motorsports

In 2011, Sorenson has already collected a fifth place finish at Daytona, fifth place finish at Phoenix and 11th place finish at Las Vegas. Three races in, he has had a strong run against the Sprint Cup Series drivers. With such a good start, he may be one to steal the show and collect the first win for a Nationwide-only driver this year. 

What could this mean for NASCAR? Could a driver really win a championship without winning a single race? Many believe so, and can see it happening. Others believe that a Nationwide Series regular could come out of nowhere and steal the show. 

Another driver to watch out for is Trevor Bayne—winner of the 2011 Daytona 500. Aric Almirola, the only full-time Nationwide Series driver for JR Motorsports, could also be a contender in this year's championship. Keep an eye on Kenny Wallace, who has posted consistent top 10's so far this season, as well.

Needless to say, the new rules will give everyone something to talk about during the Nationwide Series season. 

Could a driver take the big purse home with no wins?

Could veteran drivers like Kenny Wallace or Joe Nemechek burst the young-guns bubbles and take it all home?

If Patrick was running full-time, could we have seen our first female champion in NASCAR?

Will Trevor Bayne prevail and possibly walk into the Sprint Cup Series next year with both a Daytona 500 win and Nationwide Series Championship under his belt?

NASCAR set the points up this way to have constant action in the points standings, and it's working. The points give us something to think about—even in a second-tier series where the Nationwide-only drivers may not finish as high with the Sprint Cup Series drivers taking wins—and keeps the points tight and changing up every week. 

With the 2011 NASCAR Nationwide Series season just around the corner there is a long list of questions awaiting answers. We have a new car prepped and ready for its first full season, new ethanol fuel as well as a new way of fueling, a change to the number of pit crew men over the wall because of that new way of fueling, and of course we can not overlook the headliner 43 to 1 points system.

As big a splash as the points system change made, however, the Nationwide series may possibly ride an even larger wave of change in 2011. With Sprint Cup drivers now limited to earning points only in their respective series, courtesy of the newly implemented "Check One" rule, the Nationwide Championship will once again be awarded to a Nationwide Series regular come the end of the year. So now the question is, who?

Take a scan through last year's final standings—overlooking all of those Sprint Cup drivers —and one can get a fairly clear picture of how the 2011 final standings may look.

Justin Allgaier finished atop the series regular class in 2010, finishing fourth in the standings and scoring the only non-Sprint Cup driver win of the season. Allgaier will return to the title hunt in 2011 with a new team in Turner Motorsports and is sure to be a strong candidate throughout the year.

Behind Allgaier by 638 points was Trevor Bayne who, sponsorship pending, should also be a challenger all season for his Roush Racing team while also running part-time for the Wood Brothers on Sundays. Not far behind Bayne was Steven Wallace, who began showing signs of improvement near the end of 2010. If Wallace continues to improve he could very well be in the mix in the latter stages of this year's title campaign.

The 2010 statistics alone would show that former Sprint Cup driver and ex-Nationwide star Reed Sorenson could be the leading contender in 2011. Last season Sorenson led all of the aforementioned drivers in top 10s (21) despite only starting 28 of the 35 races. If that consistency carries over to 2011, Sorenson could very well exit Homestead with his first series title.

A kink in Sorenson's championship hopes, however, could be the four races he is currently scheduled to miss when Mark Martin takes the wheel of the Turner Motorsports ride.

The final, and sentimental favorite, of the likely contenders for the title only ran five races in 2010—four for JR Motorsports and the other for Kevin Harvick Inc. That of course is another Sprint Cup series veteran, Elliott Sadler.

After several years of being less than competitive in the floundering Evernham-Gillette-Petty Enterprises cup series team Sadler has stated he is taking a step down to take a step forward in his career, starting full time in the Kevin Harvick Inc. No. 2 in 2011.

With Sadler's newfound optimism and confidence, paired with the powerhouse equipment from the Harvick shop we could see him in victory lane a number of times this season, and quite possibly hoisting the ultimate prize come November.  

We've all heard the cries: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers are ruining the Nationwide Series by running both full time.

Guys like Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, and Carl Edwards are taking up valuable rides in the lower series, cutting the number of opportunities for up—and—coming drivers like Justin Allgaier and Trevor Bayne.

These complaints are well—founded. 

This year, only two drivers without a full time Cup ride, Boris Said and Justin Allgaier, have won Nationwide Series races.  Five of the top 10 drivers in Nationwide Series are full time Cup drivers.  Three Cup drivers (well, I guess you could say four if you count Joe Nemechek) are running the Nationwide series full time. 

Brad Keselowski, one of these double—dippers, has amassed a nearly insurmountable championship lead, up 485 points on fellow moonlighter Carl Edwards.  He can clinch the championship next weekend at Texas by finishing in the top half of the field.

Keselowski's championship run, however, shouldn't invoke the same type of outrage brought on by past double—dippers.

The outcry against Cup Series drivers competing for both Cup and Nationwide championships started in 2006, when Kevin Harvick won nine Nationwide Series races en route to the championship.  That same year, Harvick won five Cup races, posting 15 top—five and 20 top—10 finishes, finishing fourth in the Cup standings. 

In 2007, Carl Edwards beat David Reutimann for the Nationwide Series championship.  Edwards finished ninth in Cup Series points with three wins, 11 top—fives, and 15 top—10s.  In 2008, Clint Bowyer took the NNS crown, but also finished fifth in Cup Series points with one win, 7 top—fives and 17 top—10s. 

It was that 2009 saw the first non—Chaser lock up the NNS championship, but that was Kyle Busch, who barely missed the Chase, and outperformed various Chase drivers over the balance of the season.  Still, Busch finished with four wins, nine top—fives, and 13 top—10s in the Cup series.

Clearly these Cup drivers are ruining the Nationwide Series.

They're obviously just hungry to pad their stats and their resumes.  Perhaps they're out to demoralize the drivers of tomorrow.  We need to stop this, right?

Not so fast... Take a look at Keselowski's stats.  Sure, he has a full-time Cup ride, but does that really make a difference?

After 32 NSCS races, Keselowski is a less—than—stellar 25th in points.  He sits between not—so—notable drivers Regan Smith and Marcos Ambrose in the standings.  He has no wins and no top—fives.  His only top—10, and his season best finish, was a 10th place finish last weekend at Martinsville.

Clearly, considering these stats, Keselowski's performance doesn't fit the mold of the typical Cup star sandbagging the Nationwide Series.  After all, would anyone care if Regan Smith or Marcos Ambrose were up nearly 500 points in NNS standings?

My guess is this year, people are griping more about Cup drivers in the Nationwide Series because they don't really like Brad Keselowski or 12-race-winner Kyle Busch.

At this time last week it appeared as if everything would be stable for the final five races of the Sprint Cup Series season.

Kasey Kahne would finish the year in the No. 9 Ford for Richard Petty Motorsports before leaving for Team Red Bull next season, while Marcos Ambrose would stay in the No. 47 Toyota while waiting to take over Kahne's old seat. AJ Allmendinger would have a ride for next season, and Elliott Sadler would be on the outside looking in.

It's amazing how much can change in the span of a week.

After refusing to stay at Charlotte Motor Speedway Saturday night while his team made repairs, Kahne was released by RPM Wednesday. Almost immediately, it was announced that the Washington native would replace Reed Sorenson in the No. 83 Toyota for the remainder of the 2010 season and would likely replace Scott Speed in the No. 82 for 2011.

Meanwhile, Fox Sports reported that Richard Petty Motorsports owed Roush Fenway Racing and Roush Yates Engines an undisclosed amount for the use of engines and cars from their operation. The sum was later revealed by Sirius Speedway to be at least $10 million.

While the team will run at Martinsville this weekend and Talladega next weekend—with Aric Almirola behind the wheel of the No. 9 Ford—the team's future remains very much in doubt.

Also in doubt is the future of both AJ Allmendinger and Marcos Ambrose in the Sprint Cup Series. Allmendinger signed a multi-year deal in August to drive the No. 43 Ford, while Ambrose signed a similar deal with RPM to drive the No. 9.

There are no competitive rides available for next season at this point, so both drivers may become a victim of bad business dealings by George Gillett's operation.

Another aspect to the situation is the fact that if RPM shuts down after Talladega, the final three races of the season could run without a full field for the first time since the fall New Hampshire race in 2001.

At this point, that may be the case for most of the 2011 season as well.

What are your thoughts on the situation? Comment below.

Ryan Papaserge is a junior Journalism/Mass Communication student at St. Bonaventure University and a writing intern at Bleacher Report.

On Tuesday, NASCAR held a meeting with Nationwide Series owners to discuss a variety of issues surrounding the series.

One issue was the topic of “double-dippers," drivers who compete in both the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series. Series Director Joe Balash said at Auto Club Speedway that they’d be discussing every option available.

Some owners were waiting for this meeting to happen so they could start to determine who they want driving their cars. With the new car, rising costs and fewer people willing to put up money, this meeting was important in that it could easily determine how the Nationwide Series is known down the road.

This year, as in year’s past, the issue has been the failure of Nationwide-only drivers to win races: Justin Allgaier is the only one to win a race this year and appears to be without a ride for next year due to his struggle to find sponsorship. With the lack of success of Nationwide-only drivers, sponsors who are looking into the series want a Cup driver to get them exposure.

The Nationwide Series is known for developing drivers and allowing them to grow into Cup drivers. Without funding, however, drivers can’t get the opportunity to compete and follow what was formerly known as the A-B-C (ARCA-Busch [now Nationwide]-Cup) program.

A couple different scenarios have been suggested to NASCAR, and each one was to be brought up for discussion on Tuesday.

In the first scenario, any driver who is in the top 35 in the Sprint Cup Points Standings would not be allowed to compete under the same structure as the Nationwide-only teams. This would allow the best Nationwide-only driver to be determined by the end of the year.

However, the negative side to that will be people questioning the validity of the championship. You’ll have those saying that, “Yes, so-and-so is the champion; however, this guy did this, so rightfully it is his.” Basically, it’d be the same game that was played when the Sprint Cup Chase to the Championship came out. Over time, that scenario has diminished with people complaining about validity; however, it took time, and in some people’s eyes, ended up taking a shot at NASCAR’s character.   

The second scenario discussed would limit Sprint Cup drivers to participating in only one Nationwide Series practice session for each race while Nationwide-only drivers would get two practice sessions. With the new car going into full effect for next year and no additional testing planned after Speedweeks at Daytona International Speedway in February, this proposal would give the Nationwide regulars a better opportunity to set up their cars.

The disadvantage is that, at times, Cup drivers have gotten no practice and still been able to set up their cars. They’ve done it by having a better feel for their cars during the race or during the previous Sprint Cup practices. Sprint Cup drivers are also more experienced, giving them an advantage in knowing what they need to do to run upfront.

The last scenario would limit the number of races per year that Sprint Cup drivers can enter. Some would set the limit as low as five, while others would set it at 12. Regardless, Nationwide-only drivers would get more opportunities behind the wheel due to the decreased availability of Sprint Cup drivers, hopefully allowing them to win more races and gain confidence by competing against drivers of similar ability.

The disadvantage to this scenario is that Sprint Cup drivers bring fans to the races and provide the Nationwide Series the majority of its current fan base. Eliminating these drivers for x-amount of races could possibly hurt the fan base, which in return would hurt ticket revenues and sponsorship money.

Regardless which scenario comes into play, Balash says they will look at everything.

“We’ll analyze points, no points, car rules, closed-top fuel systems and more,” Balash said. “Our thoughts are to position the Nationwide car so it drives and feels like a Nationwide car where one Nationwide shop is competing against another Nationwide shop. We can accomplish that by eliminating the rear sway bar, to save money with tapered spacers and new gear rules.

“The key is to make the cars safer, eliminate additional costs and make our series unique on the racetrack.”

As the 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series concludes, the ratings are about to go down, and the falseness is about to go up.

That's right, people: Danica Patrick is back as part of the Nationwide Series this weekend.

I'm sure fans like me are excited to see if she can up her best finish of 24th! So far, so good for Danica with zero lead lap finishes.

But maybe she'll be better this time around. A second place finish at the treacherous Homestead-Miami Speedway in a boring IndyCar Series, with only nine cars on the lead lap, is surely going to help her adjust to the heavier NASCAR Nationwide Series cars.

I mean, after all, that crash at New Hampshire was all Morgan Shepherd's fault anyway. What's a guy with four wins in NASCAR Sprint Cup doing in the Nationwide Series anyway? He doesn't cause a scene and strut his stuff down pit road; who the hell is Morgan Shepherd? How dare he get in her way.

And I was truly impressed with her run at Dover. I mean, 35th is hard to get to in this series. I know how hard it was for her to pass the start and park field filling venture of the Boudreaux's Butt Paste Chevy driven by big-named Jeremy Clements. He only ran 122 laps. Hey, at least she finished right?

I know this article may sound and seem ridiculous, but seriously, I think I've heard all of the above excuses used by the NASCAR guru Marty Reid on ESPN...don't even get me started.

So when you're watching the first half of these next few races and hear any of the excuses above, please, as a fan of the sport, turn off your television sets and watch college football. The sport aspect of this thing we call NASCAR is over, and it's just another reality show.

I'm up for college football, and then watching the snoozer Pepsi Max 400 on Sunday...yeah, football has a lot to do with me turning off my TV.