Nationwide Series

Parker Kligerman had to qualify into the field based on his time during Saturday morning's qualifying session in order to make his Nationwide Series debut this weekend. And with a time of 31.254-seconds, he surely did. In fact, he won the pole.

Kligerman, who is 19 years, one month and 25 days old, became the youngest pole winner at Kansas Speedway at a NASCAR National touring series event.  Previously, the 2004 Nationwide Series pole winner at Kansas, Paul Menard, was the youngest at the age of 24 years, one month and 18 days.

The lap made Kligerman, driver of the No. 22 Penske Truck Rental Dodge, the tenth driver to win a pole for his Nationwide Series debut.  The last driver to do so was Scott Speed, who won the pole earlier this year at Las Vegas.

"It was a great qualifying effort there," Kligerman said. "I was a little bit shaken afterwords because it was so fast through three and four.  Didn't even lift in these cars (because of) the lack of horsepower that they have.  We have a great Penske Truck Rental Dodge for the qualifying effort that we had from working through practice on that a lot and I think we will also having something for the race because we were able to do some long runs also.  So, we'll see how it goes but this doesn't really change our expectations for the race. I think we're just here to run some laps and have as much fun as we can."

Series veteran Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 NOS Toyota, will start beside the rookie later this evening after he qualified second for the Kansas Lottery 300.  Greg Biffle qualified third but will have to start from the rear of the field after crashing in turn two during his qualifying lap.  Brian Vickers and Carl Edwards rounded out the top-five qualifiers with laps of 31.343-seconds and 31.354-seconds, respectively.

David Gilliland, driver of the No. 1 Miccosukee Indian Gaming & Resort Chevrolet qualified sixth and will start on the outside of Edwards.  Joey Logano and Brian Scott will occupy row four after their qualifying laps with rookie Michael Annett and Jason Leffler rounding out the top-ten qualifiers.

All rookie of the year contenders qualified in the top-30 today.  Darnell qualified 12th, John Wes Townley qualified 16th, Brendan Gaughan and Justin Allgaier will start side-by-side after timing in 17th and 18th, respectively.  Terry Cook qualified 30th and was the worst qualifying rookie of the year candidate.

Qualifying for the race based on Nationwide Series owner's points was Patrick Sheltra, Matthew Carter, Tony Raines, Kevin Conway and Eric McClure in positions 38 through 42.  Casey Atwood was the slowest driver in qualifying, timing in at 32.253 seconds for a 43rd place starting position.

Michael McDowell, Kevin Hamlin, Willie Allen, Derrike Cope, Jennifer Jo Cobb, Morgan Shepherd, Chris Horn and Andy Ponstein all failed to qualify for the race and will be going home earlier.

The Kansas Lottery 300 from Kansas Speedway will begin this afternoon at 3:30  p.m. ET with live race coverage on ESPN2 and radio coverage on MRN Radio and SIRIUS-XM NASCAR Radio channel 128.

It's been a tough last couple of weeks for the Shrub.

After missing the Chase for the Sprint Cup by just eight points back in Richmond, the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota was penalized 25 owner and driver points, and crew chief Steve Addington was placed on probation for the rest of year and fined $25,000.

“The situation was caused when the left front spring became dislodged," Joe Gibbs Racing said in a statement. "This resulted in the left front corner of the car to be lower and resulted in a change to the car’s handling which had to be compensated for during the race. Consequently, the car measured low during post race inspection.’’

Looking to put all the trouble behind him, Busch and the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota headed into Dover International Speedway... and if Busch was looking to rebound, Dover wasn't the ideal place to do it.

While Shrub does have a Dover victory under his belt, his average Cup finish was 15.3 coming into the weekend.

“I'm always confident we have the car capable of going to Victory Lane,” Busch said before the green flag of the Dover 200 Nationwide race. The No. 18 NOS Energy Drink Toyota practiced in the top ten in both practice sessions, and qualified on pole.

There was no doubt Busch had a right to be confident—he finished the Nationwide Series practice sessions fifth and eighth, respectively. But could he get the car into Victory Lane?

With storms brewing just a few miles away, Rowdy led the field to the green of the Dover 200...with no ability to talk to his crew.

“The radio may not work, but Kyle has been shot out of cannon,” ESPN announcer Marty Reid said, as Busch shot ahead of the pack. Within six laps Busch had built a second lead of second place car Carl Edwards.

Busch hit lap traffic early, jumping to the high side or diving low to put cars down a lap, and by lap 20 laps just 24 cars sat on the lead lap. By lap 42, the Nationwide Series points leader had padded his lead to nearly four seconds.

On lap 56, Busch became just the second driver in Nationwide history to lead 2,000 laps in a season, the first of course being Series great Sam Ard, who did it in 1984 by leading 2,127.

Sixty three laps into the Dover 200 just 15 cars sat on the lead lap as Busch continued on his blistering pace. Erasing the five second lead on lap 82, Busch came down pit road for a 14.1 second four tire stop stop before heading back on track.

Busch cycled back to the lead on lap 91, and would continue to lead—and put cars laps down—by the time the field hit the halfway mark on lap 100.

Caution came out for the first time on lap 109 for debris, with the leaders again hitting pit road with a 12.9. Once again his crew kept him atop the scoring tower ahead of Edwards, Scott Speed, Clint Bowyer and Ryan Newman.

Choosing the outside line, Busch led the field to the restart on lap 116, again vaulting to the lead. However, a fast No. 29 Holiday Inn Chevrolet of Bowyer caught the No. 18 Toyota, passing him just two laps later.

Busch was unable to capitalize on the lap 125 restart, with Bowyer on the inside pulling away from Busch's Toyota. He and Nationwide points rival Edwards battled nose to tail for second and third before Edwards made the pass on lap 129—Busch attempted the crossover, diving low to the side of the No. 60, but it was to no avail.

“We've got a little bit of radio com on a back up channel. He's a little loose and we made some adjustments on the last stop. If we can get one more stop I think we can get it fixed up,” crew chief Jason Radcliff said as his driver took second place back from Edwards on lap 139.

Lap 150 posed another chance for Busch to take advantage of Bowyer-- the two raced side by side into turn two before the No. 29 cleared Busch, but both had pulled away from the field. He lost second to Mike Bliss with 44 to go.

Busch rested in third until Brad Keselowski passed him on the restart with seven laps to go-- a restart just after Keselowski spun Rowdy's Sprint Cup teammate, Denny Hamlin. After leading 109 laps on the day, just 18 laps from tying Sam Ard's record of laps led in a year, Busch came home fourth.

"(The radio communication hurt) probably a little bit. We gave it all we had today and Jason gave it all he had with the information he had today,” Busch said, going on to say his car got looser and looser throughout the race.

With the fourth place finish, Busch is now 211 points ahead of Carl Edwards.

After that dominant performance in the Dover 200, Busch looked to repeat when he took the green flag for the AAA 400 in the 15^th position.

By the competition caution on lap 25, the No. 18 had picked up just two spots to 13th when they hit pit road. In the midst of two and four tire strategies, Busch took the lap 31 restart in 20th.

After a lengthy red flag after a four car wreck, Busch didn't hesitate on the lap 37 restart, jumping to the outside line, going three wide and ultimately passing eight cars, including David Reutimann and Clint Bowyer, before getting into a side by side battle with Jimmie Johnson for eight, completing the pass as they hit the start finish line to complete 42 laps. Passing Kasey Kahne on lap 65 would send him to sixth.

Rowdy accompanied the leaders onto pit road when the fourth caution of the day came out on lap 86. He gained an impressive four spots on pit road to come out fourth after losing two spots before the caution.

Busch blasted by the No. 16 of Greg Biffle on lap 95 for third, continuing his strong run on the outside. He held his spot in the top five, but began to tighten up and had fallen to seventh on lap 153. He told his crew he was lacking overall grip and wanted an air pressure adjustment in all four tires when the team came in for their next stop.

It wouldn't be soon enough, as Rowdy lost a tire and made contact with the wall, and made his way into the pits as caution came out on lap 163 for his debris. He would restart 21st on the lap 169 restart, one lap behind the leader.

“Don't be surprised if (the tire) blows again,” Busch told his crew. “(Expletive)'s bent.”

And he was right.

Continuing to fight no grip, Busch again made hard contact with the wall on lap 207, and made contact with the wall again as he brought the caution out. Taking off his gloves and putting the window net down, Shrub drove his No. 18 Toyota to the garage. It was, for the second time for Busch in the race, a right front tire.

He had failed to finish two of the last three fall Dover races, and was in position to get his lap back when he brought the fifth caution of the day out. Fifty three laps down in 32nd, Busch returned to the track on lap 263.

With 72 laps to go Busch's woes got worse-- as he continued to run in 32nd, he was caught speeding on pit road and had to make a drive through penalty.

A disappointing day would end for Busch as he finished 31st, 58 laps behind. He would also fall a position in points to 14th, 29 points behind Matt Kenseth.

Thanks to Boston.com, Racing Reference, Jeff Gluck of NASCAR Scene and NASCAR.com for the stats and quotes used in this piece.

For Mark Martin's Lugnut Report, click here. For the Lugnut Reports from Loudon, click here for Kurt Busch and here for Michael Waltrip.

Let's explore what Danica Patrick's venture into NASCAR might mean for Kevin Harvick Incorporated.

ESPN.com's Ed Hinton, quoting a source, said Patrick is close to a deal that would allow her to drive in some Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series races for KHI, while running a full-time IndyCar Series schedule.

The IRL darling apparently is having discussions with two-time Sprint Cup champion and owner of Stewart-Haas Racing, Tony Stewart, a good friend who has had her in his shop at least twice in the last month.

Since Stewart-Haas Racing doesn't have a Nationwide or Truck Series program, Stewart will need some assistance.

Harvick, one of his closest friends in the garage and co-owner of a Nationwide and Truck Series program, automatically jumps to the top of the list.

There was much speculation a few months ago that Harvick was trying to get out of his contract with Richard Childress Racing in 2010 to move to Stewart-Haas.

Although he has committed to RCR through the end of his contract next season, could this be part of a bigger deal that would put Harvick at SHR in 2011?

Only time will tell.

Another option might be for Patrick to continue to drive the No. 7 Nationwide car for JR Motorsports, which is co-owned by Rick Hendrick, who supplies engines for Stewart-Haas. She is scheduled to be in the seat of the car for 13 races this season.

JR Motorsports' other co-owner, Dale Earnhardt Jr., is exploring options to run two Nationwide teams next season with GoDaddy.com, which sponsors Patrick in open-wheel racing and might be willing to hang around for her.

By the time Patrick is ready for Cup, Hendrick could have an opening in the No. 5 car currently being driven by Mark Martin, who plans to retire soon. Or the No. 24 driven by Jeff Gordon, should the four-time Cup champion be forced to retire early because of an ailing back.

But that doesn't serve Stewart or SHR in the long-run. Kevin Harvick Inc. makes the most sense because he has programs in both lower series and the relationship with Stewart.

And maybe one day Harvick, Stewart, and Patrick could all be teammates in Cup together.

Kevin Harvick will be piloting the No. 33 Rheem Tankless Water Heater Chevrolet at "The World's Fastest Half Mile" for the Food City 250 on Friday night and he'll be vying for the sweep.

They call Bristol Motor Speedway in the Nationwide Series Happy's House. In 18 previous starts at the track, Harvick has compiled five wins, 11 top fives, 14 top-10 finishes, two poles, and led 984 laps.

Harvick also will be making his 40th career start at BMS on Friday at the drop of the green, compiled in all three of NASCAR's elite divisions.

In his previous 39 starts across all three series, Harvick's led 1498 laps. It breaks down to 984 laps in the Nationwide, 390 in Cup, and 124 laps in trucks.

He's coming off of two top-five finishes in a row at Watkins Glen and Michigan, and his crew chief Ernie Cope has the No. 33 working well as of late.

So far in 2009, Happy has one win and four top fives in five races that he has run this season on a mile or less track.

He'll be looking for the sweep at BMS as well, as in March, he won the Scotts Turf Builder 300 and recorded his first win in KHI equipment.

"I grew up on a half-mile, high-banked race track," Harvick said. "I know Bristol is a lot more banked but it's kind of the same mind set for me driving around the track."

"It's a very fast, high-banked concrete track. It's a short-track beating and banging and it's a lot of fun. I seem to have a lot of success every time I go so I'm always excited to go back."

This week, he'll be racing chassis No. 036. Its two most recent races were Iowa, where he finished 30th due to parts failure, and led 105 laps at Gateway before running out of fuel.

Expect Harvick to unload with a fast truck, run well in both practices, qualify top five, be up front for most of the race, and be vying for the win in the closing laps.

Congratulations are in order for Harvick, who earlier tonight, along with Reese's, was honored by Food City at its Food City Family Race Night.

Harvick was honored for his contributions to NASCAR, driving in all three of its top elite divisions, starting his own team, charity work, and his support of Food City Family Race Night.

Food City presented him a crystal piece, and will make a donation in his honor to the charity of his choice.

He'll also be presented with proclamations and keys from the Mayors of Bristol, Tenn. and Bristol, Va.

Source and Photo Credit: kevinharvickinc.com

Weather was to the west and rain tires were at the ready as the Nationwide Series prepared to start the Zippo 200 at the Glen.

Seventeen drivers in the 43 car field were Sprint Cup Series regulars, including polesitter Kevin Harvick, who set a new track record in qualifying. The higest starting Nationwide only driver was the No. 10 of Justin Marks, who started 13th.

The green flag flew at roughly 3:20 p.m. eastern time with Harvick jumping to the lead over Marcos Ambrose, who had his hands full keeping Scott Speed and Robby Gordon behind him. Speed, though, would prevail in making the pass.

Further in the pack, second place in the points Carl Edwards and road ringer Antonio Perez battled for 11th and 12th, with Perez passing Edwards in turn nine as Brad Keselowski went to make a move on the No. 60 of Edwards.

On lap five, the No. 61 of Matt Carter briefly got off track but recovered, and no caution flag was needed. Which was good for Harvick; he'd checked out on the field, holding a nearly three and a half second lead over new second place driver Ambrose.

Speed began slipping back in the field, being passed by the No. 55 of Gordon before slipping into the clutches of one Kyle Busch.

On lap eight, caution flew for the first time. The No. 32 of Vickers, who started eighth, told his team his transmission locked up, causing Sprint Cup rookie Joey Logano to get into the back of him. Despite the hard contact, Vickers was okay.

"Frustrated is not the word for it. It just hasn't been our weekend," Vickers said after coming out of the in field car center. He said it was the same problem the team had experienced in practice.

Fuel strategy was already coming in to play as David Ragan hit pit road before the Vickers incident, allowing them to complete their stop.

Gordon was the only of the top nine drivers to hit pit road after leaders Harvick and Ambrose flirted with coming down. Edwards, Keselowski, Burton and several others further back in the pack also came on pit road.

On lap 13 Harvick, who chose the inside line for the double file restart, charged to the lead on the restart. Ambrose and Speed once again battled side by side for second, Ambrose taking second and settling in single file

Which didn't last too long.

Ambrose wasted no time as he made a charge for the lead, making it look easy as he passed Harvick. Further back in the pack, the No. 55 of Gordon made contact with the No. 61 of Matt Carter. Both recovered and the field stayed green.

Boris Said brought his No. 9 down pit road on lap 15 for his pit stop. A lap later the No. 18 of Kyle Busch came down for his stop.

Second place driver Hamlin ran more than two seconds behind Ambrose and Harvick, who ran nose to tail on lap 17. Pit stops continued as Joey Logano brought his Toyota down pit lane.

Paul Menard proved you can pass on a road course, passing 20 cars in 18 laps. Troubles in qualifying forced him to start 39th.

On lap 19, the No. 5 of Ron Fellows and Hamlin made their scheduled pit stops as Ambrose and Harvick continued to pace the field with an over seven second lead. Stephen Wallace, Burton and Newman also came in. Brendon Gaughan made his top on lap 20.

Ambrose and Harvick finally came down pit road on lap 21. The pit stops came as a blessing for Joey Logano, who had to make a pass threw penalty because his crew came over the wall too early. He would stay on the lead lap.

Scott Speed became the new leader before coming in for four tires and fuel on lap 22. Edwards then took the lead, followed by Menard, Biffle, Keselowski and Ragan. The top four were gambling on having to make just one more stop, having made their stops on lap 10.

Front row starters Ambrose and Harvick were stuck in traffic, running 14th and 16th respectively.

On lap 27, the Hendrick pit crew for Fellows prepared to bring their driver down pit road after he made contact with the No. 29 of Burton and began having temperature problems.

With championship rival Kyle Busch running in 13th, Edwards continued to build on his more than four second lead over the field.

Eighth place Ambrose was another driver complaining of temperature issues on lap 30, but was told not to come in "unless there's water coming out of it."

Problems for the No. 1 car of Newman on lap 34, as he fell to two laps down when he came on pit road telling his crew he had no fuel pressure. He stayed on pit road for nearly two minutes before getting back on track.

"It stopped," Newman told his crew after leaving pit road. Newman's issues brought out the second caution of the day on lap 34. The caution ensured that the drivers who pitted on lap 10, including the leader Edwards, could make it on just one more stop.

Danny O'Quinn was the first lucky dog of the day. Pit road opened on lap 35, with all of the leaders electing to stay on track.

The green flag flew on lap 38, with Edwards quickly jumping out to a lead over Menard and Keselowski.

Ambrose passed Biffle in turn 11 and began pulling away, continuing his charge from sixth back to the lead.

Kenny Wallace was among the three cars who had to charge down pit road to avoid contact with the something as Menard began his own charge for the lead.

On lap 41 Menard made another push for the lead, racing side by side with Edwards as they made their way to the start finish. Third place Keselowski made his way passed Menard, who fell back to fourth. Once things began to settle down, Edwards once again started adding to his lead, putting half a second between himself and the No. 88.

The race's third caution came on lap 43 after Menard got caught in gravel after racing side by side with Keselowski. He'd just raced for the lead a few laps earlier. They did get the No. 98 pulled out of gravel and back on track. Once again the No. 6 of Ragan managed to beat the caution when he made his stop on pit road.

With 37 laps to go and pit stops looming, everyone would be on the edge of their fuel window.

Kyle Busch won the race on pit road, leading Nemecheck, who took no tires, Edwards, Ambrose, Hamlin, Keselowski, Said, and Annett as a long jam ensued. Gordon, who's team had to fix the hood of his car, which was flapping during the previous green flag run, lost several positions because of the congestion.

The No. 16 of Biffle was tagged on pit road by the No. 12 of Allgaier on pit road. The pair restarted

The No. 5 of Fellows was penalized during their pit stop for having an uncontrolled tire.

Teammates Steven Wallace and Brendan Gaughan stayed out to lead the field to the green flag on lap blank, and both Ragan and Busch wasted no time in trying to make a move on the leaders. Ragan took the lead, sending the Rusty Wallace Racing

Ambrose gained two spots on the restart, thanks in part to Edwards going wide before the field entered the chicane after the two made contact.

On lap 47, Busch took the lead from Ragan, leading his 19th race in a row, tying Sam Ard's record. Trouble for the third time in the race for Matt Carter, who spun into the grass. No caution came out as Carter got his car back on track.

Coming out of the chicane Ambrose began putting the pressure on the No. 18.

Menard once again found himself in trouble with 31 laps to go, spinning on track before his car stopped. The incident would bring out the fourth caution of the day. It also means the leaders can make it the rest of the way on fuel from here.

"We can make it, if we had to," leader Kyle Busch's crew chief told him before taking the green on lap . Ambrose kept his nose under the No. 18 as contact in the S's between Speed and Nemecheck, who began rapidly falling back as they entered the chicane.

Allgaier was sent spinning with 27 laps to go, but kept it off the wall and continued on.

Ambrose began putting pressure on the No. 18, making contact as the pair entered turn nine. The contact helped third place Hamlin make up ground on the two leaders, as he began putting pressure on the No. 47 Toyota.

With 25 laps to go the top three began checking out on the field, as the field had two seconds on fourth place Ragan.

"Keeping putting pressure on Busch and he'll fold," Ambrose's crew chief told him. And that's exactly what the defending winner of the race was going to do.

Ambrose and Busch ran toe to toe two seconds ahead of third place Hamlin with 20 laps to go.

Ambrose finally made his move a lap later, forcing Busch to continue straight as they entered the chicane. Because Busch continued going straight, Busch was forced to stop, losing three seconds to the leader and falling to third.

On lap 65 the caution flew for Robby Gordon, who left from the S's to turn ten littered with debris after he made contact with Joey Logano and cut a tire. The two had been in a heated battle for tenth for several laps. 

Busch, meanwhile, had just made a pass on second place Hamlin, meaning he would start side by side with less than 15 laps to go.

Hamlin, who was running third when the caution came out, brought his car on pit road thinking he had a loose wheel. He fell back to 26^th, and would end up finishing 34^th.

"We're stupid close on fuel," fourth place Harvick was told by his crew.

The restart comes with 13 laps to go, Ambrose jumping to an earlier lead as Busch, Edwards and Speed make it three wide behind the leader.

An intense battle between Edwards and Speed continues before they cross the start finish line, but Edwards slams the door on the No. 99.

Trouble for Tony Raines on lap 70 in turn nine as he spins, but recovers. Joey Logano, though, was not so lucky. His car was a fiery mess after continued contact with Robby Gordon sent him into the turn something wall. Logano did get out of the car and was okay. Gordon was the beneficiary of the free pass, despite causing the caution.

"He decided to wreck me under caution, which I don't think is real cool. And then he gets the lucky dog after it," Logano said. "You can't fix stupid, it's forever."

Just six laps remained as Ambrose once again led the field to the green flag. Edwards took second from Busch as, further back in the pack, the No. 12 of Allgaier got bent out of shape but continued on.

Edwards was on the defensive as Busch was all over the back of that car. Heading through the S's they were side by side before Busch took the position back. All the while, Ambrose's lead jumped to nearly a second.

Gaughan in the No. 62 and the No. 26 of McDowell made contact, sending them both spinning, but again continued and there was no caution. Meanwhile, fourth place Speed put pressure on Edwards but was unable to make a move.

With three laps to go a second separated first and second and second and third, but Busch was chipping away at the lead as they entered turn 11.

"Woo hoo!" Ambrose called over his radio. "We got this one guys!"

A Nemecheck spin didn't bring out the caution on the final lap, allowing Marcos Ambrose in the STP No. 47 Toyota to drive to Victory Lane.

But not without asking his crew chief to do a celebratory burn out, first.

"I think it was a little aggressive getting into the bus stop, but you have to do what you have to do to win," Busch said after the race.

"That was wild. I was just fighting (Busch) off. My guys did a great job with strategy off pit road, we just weren't fast," third place Carl Edwards said.

Victory Lane erupted into celebration as Ambrose excited his car, throwing his arms in the air and hugging his daughters and wife.

"I knew I had to dive under him to pass and I knew if I waited until the final ten he would've passed me. This is just fantastic. It's just a special time in my life.

"It's all I could if I was going to win the race, I had to surprise him."

Brad Keselowski was the highest finishing Nationwide only driver, finishing eighth.

Kyle Busch gained just five points on championship rival Carl Edwards, and had a 207 point lead as the series heads to Michigan International Speedway for the CARFAX 250 on ESPN on Saturday, Aug. 15 at 3 p.m. Eastern time.

Kevin Harvick Inc.'s Ron Hornaday, Jr. will be doing double duty this weekend at O'Reilly Raceway Park.

In addition to running in the Camping World Truck Series race on Friday night, he'll be driving the No. 33 Vlasic Pickles Chevrolet in the Nationwide's Kroger 200 race on Saturday Night.

In eight previous races in the series, he has compiled one win, two top fives, four top-10 finishes, and led 82 laps.

With the ORP, what he has accomplished in the Truck Series relates to how well he'll run Saturday, and it's all about qualifying up front.

In eight races in trucks, he has compiled two wins, six top fives, six top-10 finishes, and led 309 laps.

Horn will have a stout car Saturday night, as he'll pilot the same chassis that Happy won in at Bristol.

In his last three Nationwide starts at the track, he's qualified third, and last year he earned a hard-fought fifth-place finish.

Horn will have the advantage, since his crew chief Ernie Cope and his pit crew already know what he likes and will have it running perfectly for him.

He's always been one of the best short track drivers in NASCAR, so there's no doubt he'll qualify up front and have a fast car. Cope and the boys are an advantage, and we won't see any gas issues this week.

The key for him is the following comment he said.

"If you can get car to cut through the middle of the corner and be able to get in the gas faster than anyone else, then you will most likely be good in the race."

"I think qualifying is really key at short tracks. If you start up front, you tend to finish up front, and that is what we plan to do."

There's no doubt we will see Horn win Friday night, but I'm going to go out on a real big limb and say it will be deja vu all over for KHI Nation.

As we'll see, back-to-back spanks of the Rowdy one by a cagy wily veteran who, at 51 years old, acts like a "kid in the candy aisle" when he's strapped in the driver seats.

I do hope that ESPN has Horn as its driver that they talk to during the race, since Happy will be sitting on the pit box, and that we'll hear some priceless comments from the two.

Source for quote and Photo Credit: kevinharvickinc.com

(Parts of this article were previously featured in "The Scott Minute", in my Update Issue No. 41, but felt it could have been a article in it's self. So I decided to add to it, tweak it up, and re-post it.)

It's no secret that Brian Scott has his eye on moving up to the next level, being the Nationwide Series and we got a taste of what he could do in his four races with Braun Racing.

I won't lie, I'd love to see him race a little longer in the Truck Series, but I know this Kid's loaded with talent and he's ready for the next step.

So add Brian Scott's name to your Nationwide series silly season list.

He's been looking for a ride in that series, exploring options right now, looking for a good organization with a good base and can provide him with good equipment.

Certainly with getting his first win at the Monster Mile in Trucks. Then with a third place finish at Milwaukee, followed by a second place finish at Memphis and all with a cast on his right wrist.

Being a contender for the series title, in the Camping World Truck Series, certainly his phone has to be ringing with offers or maybe Toyota has been making some calls on his behalf with their teams.

Since I doubt they would hate to lose this talented Kid to GM, Ford or Dodge.

But has he already found a new home in the Nationwide Series?

He did run four races with Braun racing in 2009, could this have been a try out for a full-time ride in 2010 with the team.

While Braun Racing would be a great team for him to have an opportunity to race for. I'd hate to see him stuck sharing a ride with a Cup driver and only race part-time.

So here's a few more options for him, I chose these since they would be full-time rides for him and he'd have the option of them potentially taking him to Cup.

A.) We could possibly see him driving for Michael Waltrip Racing as they'd expand their Nationwide program to two teams and have a great teammate in Trevor Bayne.

B.) Could we see him land with JTG/Daugherty Racing in the No. 59, it's win-win for both, since Marcus needs a teammate in Cup and who better than this Kid.

Before I get to last option, let me mention I'd love to see him paired with Hensley and keep the nucleus of his Xpress pit crew together.

Scott and Hensley have been together 18 races, they won their first race together, have six top fives, and 11 top-10 finishes.

They have clicked as a pair, on one hand you have a young talent, the other a veteran brain trust.

For sure Brian Scott is getting the education of his racing life from crew chief Jeff Hensley and it's one I wish that would remain intact in the coming years.

So it's a no brainier that, my last option would be this pick.

C.) Xpress Motorsports would keep Scott, Hensley and the entire team together and just move up to the Nationwide together and kick some serious butt on the way to Cup.

Now before you shot down that last one down. What Dad wouldn't love the chance to take their Son up to Cup and live their dream with them.

All I know is, that I'm excited to see Brian move up, on the road to Cup and it's going to be quite the ride cheering him on.

First, happy birthday to Horn, who turns 51 years young on Saturday.

Kevin Harvick Inc.'s Ron Hornaday Jr. will be driving the No. 33 Jimmy John's Chevrolet at The Milwaukee Mile in the NorthernTool.com 250, and he'll be double-dipping this weekend.

Horn will be making his 10th career start in the Nationwide Series at Milwaukee. Like with the trucks, he has some pretty impressive stats at the track.

He's compiled one win, three top-five finishes, five top-10 finishes, and led 119 laps.

I have picked Horn to win the truck race. It's a no brainier that I'll be rooting for him Saturday night, and be cheering for a sweep.

While the Trucks and Nationwide cars are different, the key at Milwaukee is running at the bottom. Milwaukee's a flat track, similar to Phoenix.

When you're racing on the front or backstretch, you're running pretty much wide open on the gas, and breaking hard as you go into the corners.

You need to roll into the corners to stay on the bottom so you can exit the corners mashing the gas pedal to throttle it down the straightaways wide open.

"I really like Milwaukee," Hornaday said. "It is very similar to the types of tracks I grew up racing on."

"It will be fun to work with a new group of guys. I worked with Ernie (Cope, crew chief) last year on the truck side a little bit. They had a lot of success this year, and I can't wait to get behind the wheel."

It's definitely going to be exciting to see Horn back in the Nationwide Series racing again, even if it's just for one race. It would be awesome to see him take the No. 33 to victory lane.

This week, Horn will be racing chassis No. 041. It's visited victory lane with Happy at Bristol, collected a fifth at Richmond, and finished 13th at Dover.

Horn is the third different driver to pilot the No. 33 entry in the month of June, and next week Happy's back at New Hampshire.

Cale Gale drove the No. 33 Chevy at Nashville, and then Kelly Bires ran another exciting race in the car at Kentucky.

Woo Hoo, let's go Horn. Hook'em and horn'em this weekend, and sweep the Milwaukee Mile!

Photo Credit: zimbio.com

The Nationwide Series and Camping World Truck Series are off on there own this weekend in Milwaukee, Wisc. for the NorthernTool.com 250 and the Copart 200 while the Cup teams are off turning right in Sonoma.

So, who are going to be the drivers and teams to watch on Friday and Saturday night on the one-mile flat track? Well, let's take a quick look at three teams from each series to watch.

Camping World Truck Series (Copart 200)

Ron Hornaday Jr.

Hornaday Jr. currently sits second in the points rundown and is chasing his fourth overall series championship and the second for his current team, Kevin Harvick Incorporated. He and his No. 33 team have been consistent all season, minus the races at Dover and Texas, and has led laps in every race except for California.

Hornaday currently sits 39 points behind current leader Matt Crafton, and this weekend could be the best opportunity for him to eliminate that deficit and keep this title battle close. In 2008, Hornaday not only had a good performance in qualifying, sixth, but he was able to stay in the top ten all day and finished in the seventh position.

Timothy Peters

Flat, short track with difficult corners? Sounds like every track Timothy Peters grew up on while climbing up the racing ladder in Virginia and North Carolina. Also, the recent move out of his two-car garage in Danville, Va., and into the Red Horse Racing stable has got to be a huge load off the young man's mind.

In his first race with his new team, Peters was able to get his third top-10 of the season with an eighth-place finish at Michigan. The top 10 in points is within Peters' reach, and this weekend could just be his chance to get there. Peters did not compete in the 2008 race at Milwaukee.

Brian Ickler

This kid has been nothing but impressive every time he has gotten behind the wheel in 2009 by being competitive in each of his starts in the Camping World East, ARCA and Camping World Truck Series. Last week at the big track in Michigan, Ickler brought his No. 15 BBM Toyota home in the third position behind teammate Kyle Busch and race winner Colin Braun.

Nationwide Series(NothernTool.com 250)

Only two Cup series drivers are going to make the trek from California to Wisconsin on Saturday to compete in this race—Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards.

Brad Keselowski

The 2008 polesitter is back for more this weekend and will look to improve upon his eighth-place finish last season as he continues to climb his way up the points, chopping away at the deficit between him and leaders Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards. Keselowski is currently the highest full-time Nationwide driver without a full-time Cup ride in the point standings.

Keselowski led 25 of the 202 laps ran last summer, but unfortunately for him, they were not the last 25 laps—the ones the young JR Motorsports driver will look to lead on Saturday night when the green drops over the Nationwide Series.

Brad Coleman

With Joey Logano looking for more road course seat time this weekend in the Camping World West Series, Coleman gets a much-deserved start this weekend at the short track in Milwaukee. Coleman only has one start the season, but made the most of it with a fourth-place qualifying effort and a tenth-place performance at Nashville.

This week, Coleman will climb into the race winning car from Kentucky and have a great shot to take that team back to victory lane and improve upon his 25th-place performance from 2008.

Kyle Busch

Busch has been the model of consistency in the 2009 Nationwide Series, including last weekend's runner-up performance to teammate Joey Logano. Although Busch skipped this race in 2008, that is only more motivation for the young driver to put it all on the line to take home the trophy and pad points onto his lead over Carl Edwards.

Milwaukee is a track where corner entry and exit is pivotal to having a good performance ,and those are the kind of tracks where a driver like Busch typically will excel at. Johnny Sauter will be in the No. 18 car, shaking it down in the morning practice sessions while Busch is practicing in Sonoma.