Nationwide Series

Brian and Brad Keselowski don't have much in common, at least outside of their day jobs driving NASCAR stock cars.

One drives a fully sponsored car, while the other scraps for money, still racing for the family team. One dodges photographers and media personnel like the famed figure he drives for—the other works in general obscurity like many small teams in NASCAR's Nationwide Series.

And for brothers, they look about as much alike as the Chevrolet Impalas they race and a Volkswagen Beetle.

What the Keselowskis share in common is their upbringing, which as a result has given the two an undying air of confidence and a positive attitude, shown while Brad was shadowed by Sports Illustrated reporter Mark Beech last weekend at Kentucky Speedway and still emitted after Brian crashed his primary car late in Friday practice.

Brad credits his time with the family team, working on the cars, and knowing the weekly struggles and workings of a small team for his current attitude and personality.

“I think that experience helps me appreciate things a bit more now as a driver. I have a really good understanding of what goes into getting a team to the track to compete, and I know just how much wrecking cars puts stress on everyone involved," Brad said. "I also got to see just how much fun it was when we won.”

A fateful decision for the Keselowski brothers to have Brad drive the family's Truck Series ride back in 2004 has put Brian behind the eight ball ever since. Although the older brother had a track championship under his belt, it was the fiery youth of Brad that was winning all the races. That, in the end, was the decision maker according to Brian.

"There's differing stories on that," Brian said. "It came down to basically we had enough money to run one track. He could get a little more speed out of the car, but I was a little more consistent.”

So, rather than competing in the NASCAR ranks, Brian went racing with what little money was left in the ARCA Series. Since then, he's built his own team up to run full-time in the Nationwide Series, where brother Brad drives the No. 88 car for JR Motorsports.

The Keselowskis now race on the same track on a weekly basis, where although they’re competitive in different equipment, competitive nature still reveals itself, and they still take pride in beating one another.

“Brian and I are super competitive at everything we do and polar opposites from birth,” Brad said. “I enjoy competing against him, when I win.”

The two brothers are busy in their own respects. Brad is often stolen away by the media and sponsorship obligations, and with Brian staying busy running all aspects of his race team, there isn’t a lot of family time being shared on race weekends these days.

"He's pretty busy doing his thing, and I'm pretty busy doing mine,” Brian said. “I run my whole race team—I'm the team manager, driver, owner, everything. It's pretty tough for me to sit down and say, 'Hey, what's going on?'"

Making things tougher was a bad weekend at Kentucky Speedway. In the final minutes of Friday practice, a tire went down on Brian’s No. 26 car between Turns 3 and 4, resulting in a damaged race car too tough to repair in only a day.

The team went to a backup car—not one of their own, but that of MacDonald Motorsports, thanks to the team putting their own backup car on the line.

Instead of the normal neon green and black paint scheme the No. 26 usually dons, Brian’s machine came out red, white, and blue, running to a 35th-place finish in the Meijer 300. The result dropped the team outside of the top 30, the Nationwide Series’ threshold of locked-in teams that allowed Brian to race Saturday night despite running a crawling qualifying lap earlier in the afternoon.

Meanwhile, Brad continues to run for more wins and a championship in the No. 88 car. The two Keselowskis are fighting different battles: one to make it, one to make it bigger. But all of the success hasn’t gone to Brad’s head—at least according to his brother.

"I have always said that Brad has never changed one bit. He's been the same way even with money or without money. He's always been that punk kid.”

Brian said he isn’t upset with his current hands-on situation running the No. 26 team. Tension was unavoidable at first, but years later, things worked out for both parties.

"That was a tough deal when the decision was made to put Brad in instead of me,” Brian said. “It worked out. In the end, I hooked up with a couple guys that had some cars, and we combined all our stuff together and went racing."

"It's hard as a race car driver and especially a family member of another guy who gets a chance and you don't. In the end, you understand it. And now it's whatever it is, it is. You've got to get past that or you'll never move on. I'm past it.”

This article originally featured at SpeedwayMedia.com.

NASCAR Nationwide teams tackled Kentucky Speedway this past weekend with a Cup driver taking yet another series victory. The battle for the real Nationwide championship continues to heat up with a new driver taking the top spot.

1) Brad Keselowski (2003): While Keselowski may not have been pleased with his competition, his third place finished allowed him to vault over Leffler to take the top spot heading into Milwaukee

2) Jason Leffler (-10): Leffler recorded his ninth straight top 10 finish, but now finds himself chasing Keselowski for the points lead. With a career average finish of 9.4 at Milwaukee, it is clear he'll be keeping Keselowski within his sights

3) Justin Allgaier (R) (-375): Penske Championship Racing's super rookie, Allgaier jumps up to third in points following his third top five finish of the season

4) Brendan Gaughan (R) (-383): Just eight points behind Allgaier, Gaughan is giving RWI it's best season yet, jumping up to fourth in points following another top five finish

5) Jason Keller (-390): A night to forget in Kentucky in which Keller never even sniffed a running position in the top fifteen throughout the 200 lap event. The 2003 Milwaukee winner looks to rebound at one of his best tracks next weekend

6) Mike Bliss (-404): Bliss drops back to sixth after a late race accident ruined any hopes of a good finish. Heading into next weekend, Bliss looks to improve upon last year's seventh place run

7) Steve Wallace (-460): Another solid top 15 run allows RWI to keep two cars in the Nationwide Top Ten. Milwaukee has not been Wallace's best track with his best finish of 19th occurring in last year's race

8) Michael McDowell (R) (-462): A DNF at Kentucky cost McDowell heavily in the championship and ROTY races. He'll need to put together a string of strong runs now to compete with the surging Allgair and Gaughan

9) Scott Lagasse, Jr (R) (-505): Coming home thirteenth at Kentucky, Lagasse is maintaining a highly consistent season atypical of most rookies

10) Tony Raines (-625): Breaking into the top ten after Kenny Wallace's blown engine, Raines came home ninth in his last Milwaukee race in 2005.

For the complete Real Nationwide Series Standings, Please Click Here

Life and school have gotten in the way the past couple months, but lets take a look at the current real Nationwide Series standings:

1) Jason Leffler (1843) - Fresh off a fifth place finish last weekend at Nashville, Leffler tied a career best with his eighth straight top ten finish this season

2) Brad Keselowski (-5) - Despite a rough start to the season, the #88 team has come to life since Texas scoring six top fives and eight top tens in the last 9 races. Keselowski finds himself in an extremely tight battle with Leffler for the top spot

3) Mike Bliss (-323) - Scoring his first victory since 2004 three weeks ago is currently Bliss' highlight this season, but as we near the halfway point to the season, Bliss now eyes the top spot in the championship standings

4) Jason Keller (-324) - Keller, much to his nature, is running a very consistent season and his 15.8 average finish places him just behind Bliss for the third spot in the standings

5) Justin Allgaier (R) (-375) - Perhaps overlooked this season, Allgaier is having the most impressive Nationwide rookie season since Keselowski two years ago. Thus the reigning ARCA champ finds himself securely in the top ten in points

6) Michael McDowell (R) (-378) - McDowell scored his third top ten finish of the season last week in Nashville and is within striking distance of the current ROTY leader Allgaier

7) Brandan Gaughan (R) (-388) - The third rookie in as many positions, Gaughan had a weekend to forget in Nashville, further exacerbated by post race altercations. Gaughan looks to bounce back in Kentucky where he had one top five finish in six starts in the truck series

8) Steve Wallace (-421) - Nashville gave Wallace his fourth top ten of the season, but he'll be searching for his first career top ten at Kentucky this weekend

9) Scott Lagasse, Jr (R) (-469) - One of the biggest surprises this season, Lagasse finds himself in the top ten in points as the series nears the halfway point of the season

10) Kenny Wallace (-521) - This Nationwide Series veteran is still searching for his first top ten finish of the season, but consistent finishes place Wallace in the real Nationwide Top Ten.

For the complete Real Nationwide Series Standings, Please Click Here

As the summer heats up, fans watching the races at the tracks resort to a cool, refreshing beverage that is as satisfying as the day at the speedway.

Some are left in awe, while others dream of driving these multi-million dollar machines like their NASCAR heroes.

Well, there may be a saying that you can't always get what you want.

But for lucky race fans who enter the Coke Zero "Real Taste of NASCAR" sweepstakes at mycokerewards.com/400 every day until June 18, 2009, four of those entrants will get to live a dream weekend with any member of the Coca-Cola Racing Family during the August races at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

"Coke Zero is making it possible for race fans to experience the real speed and power of a stock car," said Greg Biffle, a member of the Coke Racing Family. "The fan who rides with me better hang on tight, because I plan on pushing the pedal to the floor and showing why Atlanta Motor Speedway is one of the fastest tracks in NASCAR."

Those entering the sweepstakes must tune in to the Coke Zero 400 presented by Coca-Cola at Daytona International Speedway on July 4th at 6:30 p.m., which will be broadcasted on TNT's Wide Open Coverage.

During the race broadcast, four lucky winners will be announced—and by lucky, try the ultimate race weekend for the NASCAR Nationwide Series and Sprint Cup Series events in August.

"We're giving racing fans real Coke taste and zero calories and the chance to take a few 160 mph, heart-pounding laps on the track," said Billy Kelly, the senior vice president of Coca-Cola Trademark Brands.

Four lucky race fans will first ride shotgun with any member of the Coca-Cola Racing Family aboard a specially-equipped stock car at AMS. No doubt, fans will definitely hold their breath at the track, in which average laps range from 29 to 31 seconds around this 1.5 mile speedway.

In addition to riding along with the drivers, the winners will also meet all the members of the Coke Racing Family at a luncheon, receive tickets to the N'wide and Cup races, VIP access to the soda company's hospitality area, and $1,000 spending money. The trip is four nights for two at Atlanta, Ga.

Having been a part of the stock car racing scene for over 40 years and as the official sparkling beverage of NASCAR since 1998, Coca-Cola's presence can be seen with Family members David Ragan, Denny Hamlin, Tony Stewart, Greg Biffle, Elliott Sadler, Joey Logano, Jamie McMurray, Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton, Clint Bowyer, Kyle Petty, Michael Waltrip, and Bobby Labonte.

(Per Fast Horse PR release by Jodi Petrich)

Times are tough and sponsorship is hard to find these days across all three of NASCAR's top Series, but one Nationwide driver is giving fans the opportunity to put their name on his car.

Kenny Wallace kicked off his "Sponsor Kenny Wallace" campaign yesterday, giving race fans the opportunity to put their name on his No. 28 Chevy for the Nationwide Series race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal on Aug. 30.

The suggestion came to fruition after one of Wallace's Facebook friends gave him the idea when the driver mentioned that he didn't have a sponsor for the trip across the U.S. border.

After several weeks of deliberating, Wallace opted to go for it.

While he said he was humble to have to ask fans to dip into their pockets, he is offering incentive for the $20 it costs.

Wallace plans to not only have each person's name painted on his car, but each donor will receive a picture of the fan-sponsored machine, autographed by the Hermanator himself.

"Kenny Wallace wants to keep racing and he's looking to the fans for help," a release on his Web site says. "Due to a lack of sponsorship for this event only, Kenny is now turning to not only his fans, but all NASCAR fans out there to help accomplish his goal of competing and winning the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve."

On the launch day, Wallace said, "I am nervous...Today is the day I have been talking to all of you about for one month. At KennyWallace.com we are ready to put YOUR NAME on my race car in Montreal for the Nationwide race."

He continued to tell his Facebook friends that: "I want to again say thank you!! To Jim Ryan, our Facebook friend, for coming up with this idea. YOUR NAME on my racecar for $20.00...THANK YOU, THANK YOU."

Wallace later released a video on his Facebook, again thanking the fans for the opportunity and giving them a glance at the game room at his home.

"We are working hard on this program. I just really want to race at the best of our ability in Montreal," Wallace said on Facebook later. "My race team Jay Robinson Racing has been running better and better every week. We have a good road course car."

Wallace then pledged to give fans updates daily on how the Fan Car Sponsorship is going.

"So far on the first day, it look's like the program is a success."

Wallace noted that U.S. Border Patrol is still the full-time sponsor for his Chevy, but will not be on the hood at the Canadian race.

• For more information or to make a donation via PayPal, visit KennyWallace.com.

Once again I'm going to take an unpopular stance and say Kyle Busch's trashing of his trophy guitar in victory lane in Nashville not only finally showed some much-needed personality in victory lane, but it also put on a media "happening" that few if any will ever forget.

His trashing of that guitar is a visual that will live on in the collective consciousness of those who saw it forever, much like anyone who saw Jimi Hendrix light his guitar on fire or The Sex Pistols trash whatever they could at the end of a show.

I know for me and for many others, Busch's actions were not necessarily the best thought through, but they beat the heck out of what Larry McReynolds described simply as a driver "searching out his hat, his sunglasses, and his beverage, then thanking his team back at the shop."

Before you jump so far down my throat that you could check my liver to see if I've been drinking again, know that I admit that not only would I not have done it, but also that I believe it wasn't necessarily the brightest, best thought out thing to do.

Heck, I still have a undrilled Seattle Mariners bowling ball stored at my sister's house that I simply can't stand the thought of parting with. And I never even played for the Mariners nor did I win the bowling ball as a trophy. 

That being said, I'm not Kyle Busch.

That moment in victory lane was real, it was visceral, and it was memorable—far more so than any other moment ever in that victory lane or probably most any other.

The trophy is but a material reminder of that win, and he's already ordered two more (one for him and one for his crew chief) to keep as material reminders.

And today that guitar is being buzz-sawed and the pieces individually signed by Busch and given to his team members—to keep his promise to them to give them a material reminder of their own—a piece of that guitar.

3. Finally, riddle me this...Why on earth do they ever hand a priceless trophy to the winner in victory lane in the first place?

They don't go carting the Martinsville clock to victory lane at Martinsville, nor some of the other "one-of-a-kind" trophies at other places.

At best they hand them a replica and deliver the real trophy to them later, and that to me has always been what they should have been doing at Nashville. 

Although I played bass very badly in a couple of bands in the 80's, I'll admit that I am by no means a guitar aficionado. 

But it seems to me that a priceless, one-of-a-kind guitar that is now being treated as "hallowed property" by everyone probably isn't done any good by having champagne, beer, gatorade, or the liquid of the day sprayed all over it.

Most important, it was Busch's trophy. He earned it and if he wants to show his jubilation over winning by trashing the thing (especially to fulfill a promise to share it with his teammates, who didn't seem too upset about it), then that's his right.

When you or I (who admittedly probably wouldn't have trashed it) win one, we can decide what we want to do with it. Until then, what he does with his property is really none of anyone else's business...

On a deeper level it brings into even stronger relief the fact that it's not the material things that matter to Busch or that should matter to the rest of us in life.

Of course, that's an easier statement to live by when you have the kind of money to buy the material things that Busch has.

And yes, Kyle Petty stated that he was bummed when he lost some of his trophies and thus thought it was wrong for Busch to do what he did. I would be bummed too. 

But isn't the act of winning and the personal knowledge of that win the important part? Isn't the sharing of that very trophy with his crew, even if poorly thought out, the important part?

And isn't leaving an indelible impression in the minds of those who saw it more important and more lasting a tribute than a trophy that can be replaced? Maybe it can't be replaced "exactly," but it can and will be replaced.

Finally, if Sam Bass has changed his tune since Saturday night and is now so upset over the loss, then maybe he shouldn't accept Kyle's offer to buy two new ones.

That would teach the boy not to mess with one-of-a-kind workmanship and think he can buy his way out of it. But I'll bet Sam takes the money and builds two more.

Yes, Busch could have executed it better. He could have at least made sure it would break the first time so he wouldn't have looked so silly bouncing it off the ground the with no damage the first go round.

Yes, other people may treasure their trophies and I know that Busch does too. That's why he not only spoke to Sam Bass and ordered two more, but he made sure to let him and others involved know that no disrespect was intended.

If you listened to Kyle Petty carefully, even he said he didn't see it as a sign of disrespect as he's sure Busch didn't intend it that way—he just didn't think it through.

Until NASCAR or the track owners/promoters at Nashville ban him from competing there, all the incident really did was bring them more publicity.

I wonder which of them is going to be first in shying away from more publicity?

If someone else views it as a slap in the face, that's their problem to deal with, not Busch's.

When that "someone else" wins a trophy, they may do whatever they want with it.

That's my $0.18. What's yours?

Trevor Bayne, former Dale Earnhardt Inc. development driver in the Camping World East, will make eight starts for Michael Waltrip Racing.

The 18-year-old Bayne made his series debut at Bristol Motor Speedway in the No. 52 for Jimmy Means Racng with sponsorship from Taco Bell.

This weekend, Bayne will join an elite few and can say he drives the Aarons Dream Machine. He joins team owner Michael Waltrip, Ken Butler III, Darrell Waltrip, and David Ruetimann.

I  may be missing one other to pilot the Dream Machine and try to be a "Lucky Dog."

The seven additional races include: the June 13 race at Kentucky Speedway, the June 20 race at The Milwaukee Mile, the July 18 race at Gateway International Raceway, the July 25 race at O’Reilly Raceway Park, the Aug. 1 race at Iowa Speedway, the Aug. 21 race at Bristol, and finishing up at Phoenix International Raceway on Nov. 14.

If Bayne is able to show his talent, this could lead to a full-time ride with MWR or another team. This is a big opportunity for this young man, this coming on the heal of Ryan Truex signing to drive for MWR in the Camping World East Series, makes you think why sign Bayne if you just signed Truex.

“This is a tremendous opportunity and I have to thank Gary Bechtel for taking a chance on me,” Bayne said. “I met him a few months ago and he decided to invest in my talent. He is the main reason I am able to drive these eight races.

"I am very excited to get behind the wheel of a car that is competitive almost every weekend. I’ve hung out with the guys over at Michael Waltrip Racing the past couple of races and they are an awesome group of people that I am pumped to be racing with. My goals for these eight races are to learn as much as possible and hopefully grab some solid finishes.”

“I’ve talked to people in the garage about Trevor and everybody has had said nothing but good things to say about him,” said Jerry Baxter, crew chief of the No. 99 Toyota Camry. ”People like Bono (Kevin Manion) and Clyde McLeod have all said that Trevor gives good feedback and gives 100 percent. He flew up to Dover to spend some time with the team so we could get to know him. He’s impressive and knows what he’s talking about.

“By the questions he has already asked, we know he’s well versed about these cars. He has a serious side to him, but he also has a side where he likes to mess around. So, we know he will fit right in at Michael Waltrip Racing.”

With Cup teams in Pocono for the Cup Race and only two full-time Cup guys with Carl Edward and Kyle Busch this weekends race will be a good chance to show there talent and get a good finish.

With the summer approaching, the heat is definitely on in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, as the Insurance Agents head to Nashville Superspeedway for this Saturday night's Federated Auto Parts 300.

Often a harbinger of a race, Nashville Superspeedway has produced some of the wildest action on the track. That was quite evident in April's Nashville 300, where Joey Logano took the lead from teammate Kyle Busch with 10 laps remaining to win the spring event.

Though this is perceived as a "stand-alone" event where most of the Cup drivers, aka the "Insurance Frauds," are opting to stay around in Pocono while the full-time, double dippers are going to make the flight down to Nashville for some classic, night-time speedway action.

Measuring over a mile and a third, Nashville Superspeedway offers the fans at the track and at home an entertaining mix between lead changes and well, the crashes.

Cautions run aplenty at this facility, as demonstrated in the race in April and last June, with 10 interruptions running for an average of 40.5 laps.

Surefire Claims to Victory Lane

Although this has been the house of Carl Edwards, who has three victories at the Tennessee facility, it has lately been a race won by mostly the upcoming stars of NASCAR.

Save for Scott Wimmer's well-deserved April victory last year, Brad Keselowski's victory last June and Logano's triumph two months ago may serve notice that another young star may be seeing some guitar strumming after 300 miles...and some victory lane celebration.

Edwards and Busch are the two names from the Cup ranks who will most likely give the "Insurance Agent" a run for their money. But don't concede the race immediately to those "Frauds."

Provided that we don't see Steve Wallace falling prey to his antics on the track, he may give the frontrunners a good showing at least, as proof of his ninth place finish in April.

Running a relatively respectable campaign in 2009 in 12th place in the championship standings, Wallace could be poised to stage either an upset in Victory Lane or an upset attitude in the garage area.

Keselowski looks poised to grab his second win at Nashville, with finishes of fourth, first and third in his previous three starts.

Possibly auditioning for a Cup ride in the process, a great showing in Nashville could give some potential owners watching the tube from Pocono more reason to hire this Hendrick/Jr. Motorsports hotshoe.

Wimmer piloted the No. 29 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet to a victory and 7th place result in the two races in 2008.

Whether it was car or driver, the Wisconsin native did not back up his strong finishes of a season ago in the April race, finishing 28th in the No. 40 Chevrolet owned by Curtis Key.

The man who inherited the No. 29 car, aka Stephen Leicht, finished decently in the Nashville 300 in 11th place.

If Leicht finds some of that magic which garnered him, to date, his only career victory in the N'wide Series at Kentucky, a track relatively similar to the Music City's facility, we may see the familiar Holiday Inn colors returning to Victory Lane.

Lastly, Jason Leffler, who is the "true" points leader for the "Insurance Agents," sits third in points, 153 markers behind points leader Busch.

While he may not be the first name to come to mind at Nashville, he finished sixth in April and has been knocking on the door for a victory all season long.

While the moneymakers may choose Edwards, Busch, and Keselowski, it's quite honestly a wide-open race at this point. My personal pick would be Edwards, but I would not be surprised to see someone like Leicht pull off a miracle on Saturday night.

And oh by the way...

Nashville marks the traditional "Indie June" month festival for the Nationwide Series, as the three stops on this particular touring series are stand-alone events from their Cup cousins competing in Pocono, Michigan, and Infineon.

Following this Saturday night's race at Nashville, the "cash" will be flowing its way to Kentucky for another night-time classic, followed by some midwest hospitality in Milwaukee.

While this may sway away most of the drivers pulling off double-duty, the challenge does entice some of the young guns of the Cup ranks to make cross-country trips to the tracks of both series.

Championships are certainly not won in June, but the difference between "genuine" versus "fraud" material is truly defined in this first month of summer racing action.

Fast Notes...

The Race: Federated Auto Parts 300
The Place: Nashville Superspeedway
The Date: Saturday, June 6
The Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
The Distance: 300 miles / 225 laps
TV: ESPN2, 7:00 p.m. ET
Radio: Sirius NASCAR Radio / MRN
2008 Race Winner: Brad Keselowski
2008 Polesitter: Joey Logano
Event Schedule (all times CT):
Friday—Practice 5-6:15 p.m.; Final Practice 6:45-8 p.m. Saturday—Qualifying 1:35 p.m.

If you're keeping tabs with the rookie standings, it's become quite a dandy with Brandan Gaughan and Justin Allgaier tied for the freshman lead with 124 points, followed by Michael McDowell with 113 markers, Scott Lagasse, Jr. in fourth with 108 points and a distant Michael Annet who has 89 points.

The manufacturer's battle has also been quite exciting, with Toyota leading the charge with 77 points, followed by Chevrolet with 75 and Ford with 74. Dodge sits a distant fourth with 38 points.

Top 10 in Points

     Driver                   Points
1    Kyle Busch             1,836
2    Carl Edwards          1,796
3    Jason Leffler           1,683
4    Joey Logano           1,670
5    Brad Keselowski       1,663
6    Jason Keller            1,434
7    Brendan Gaughan    1,364
8    David Ragan           1,358
9    Mike Bliss               1,355
10 Justin Allgaier           1,344

Coming Up Next...

Following Saturday night's Federated Auto Parts 300 at Nashville, the N'widers go to Kentucky for another night showing for the Meijer 300 presented by Ritz.

Joey Logano won last year's race at Kentucky, which kickstarted the Logano-mania and possibly propelled him to his Cup ride in the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota.

The race, which made David Gilliland's stock rise temporarily in 2006 and made Leicht a household name in the Nationwide ranks, seems to be the race of upsets. Could it be another case of the surprise winner?

As they say, the race is on.

Scott Speed and his No. 82 Red Bull Cola team came to Dover this weekend and will attempt to make up a meer 41 points over the Front Row/Earnhardt-Gannassi Chevy to get that all important spot to be locked into the top-35.

Speed so far has missed two races this season, one of which he did drive Joe Nemecheck's No. 87.

Speed is lucky to even still have a shot at passing the No.34 in owner points. If not for bad runs for that team Speed would be so far behind. Speed and his team came to Dover where Speed earned his first career NASCAR Victory in the truck series one year ago. Also yesterday in the Nationwide race he had a top-10 at the Dover track.

So that means Speed heads into Sunday's Cup race not ever finishing out of the top-10 at Dover.

Is this the Speed-demons weekend to shine? So far Speed has qualified 23rd and had the 33rd fastest lap in final practice.

Speed loves the Dover track saying “The more grip, the better I am. Dover has a lot of grip, so I’m looking forward to getting into the Cup car there.”

Speed finished 18th in the rain shortened running of Mondays Coca-Cola 600 and said it was the best he had felt in the Cup car so far.

Speed's teammate Vickers finished fifth last week and sits 80 points out of the top-12.

Speed's rookie season has been exactly what I expected from him so far. I would think if not for wrecks and bad luck he is capable of being in the top-30 in points, but he is learning and that does take time jumping from ARCA to Trucks right to Cup from Formula 1 which will come in to help him out at the two upcoming road course races seeing that all formula 1 races are held on road course tracks.

Speed so far:

ARCA Re/Max- in 22 starts he has four wins and 18 top-10's

Camping World Trucks- 16 starts he has one win and nine top-10's

Nationwide Series-in six starts he has two top-10's

Sprint Cup Series- in 16 starts he has one top-10

This weekend at Dover, Jeffrey Earnhardt attempted to make the Heluva Good! 200
for Rick Ware Racing and had sponsorship from Fast Wax. In final practice, he was involed in a accident and would be forced to go to a back up car.

Earnhardt and the RWR along with former DEI guys and a load of Earnhardt-Gannassi crew couldn't get the back up car prepared good enough, and as a result Earnhardt was sent packing and did not qualify fast enough , even after final practice which he had only attempted around 3o laps, he had the 24th fastest car.

In the interview after the wrech you could see this disapointment in his face, to say the least it was not a Heluva Good weekend for Earnhardt.

Even Earnhadt Jr said "I've seen him over the last couple months once or twice. He looks like he's got a good, solid outlook on his situation and his opportunity. I'm looking forward to seeing how well he can do."

Earnhardt Jr was actually having a news confrence at the time of Jeffery's wrech which ade him stop in mid sentence.

Now we have to wait for this fourth generation Earnhardt to make a race so we could see a new style of Earnhardt on the track, Ware wouldn't give a date or what track he just said

"I really don't want to just throw out a date," he said. "Without talking it over with the Earnhardts, I really don't know when it might be."

Earnhardt was scheduled to make seven races this season, preparing to run for Raybestos Rookie of the Year in 2010.

It did look like he would have made the race if he would have had the chance.