Nationwide Series

Ryan Truex turns 18 on Thursday, but he received his present from Michael Waltrip Racing a day early and he's ecstatic over it.

MWR announced earlier today that Truex will be running six Nationwide races in 2010 and they won't conflict with the K&N Filters Pro Series East schedule.

Truex will be running the full 10 race schedule, defending his 2009 title, trying to go back-to-back.

"I'm a racer and the best present anyone can give me is a chance to race," said Truex.

The team is still looking for sponsorship help for these six races and also for him in 2011 when he'll compete full-time in the series.

Truex will make his Nationwide debut July 17 at Gateway International Raceway and will also be in the following races: Michigan, Richmond, Kansas, the fall Charlotte race, and Homestead.

With this announcement it gives Diamond-Waltrip Racing in the Nationwide series two of the best up-and-coming young talents in NASCAR.

It also ensures that MWR could possibly have a bright future should they bring them to Cup down the road.

I'm not surprised by the announcement. I think he's actually better than sliced bread, he's a tremendously talented driver, and this kid is really for the move.

And happy birthday Ryan.

Rumblings within the NASCAR community suggest that the reason Carl Edwards wasn’t suspended for intentionally wrecking Brad Keslowski last week is because he is sponsored by Scotts Miracle-Gro. The next race is the Scotts Turf Builder 300, followed by the Scotts EZ Seed Showdown. Not to mention Speedway Charities’ weekend long Scotts Turf Builder Cornhole Classic.

In today’s economic climate, NASCAR can’t afford to alienate any of their sponsors by suspending a very popular driver.

Bristol Motor Speedway credits this new rivalry for an increase in ticket sales.

Abington, Virginia’s Food City is the title sponsor for the Sprint Cup race on Sunday. On Saturday, they will also be co-primary sponsor for Eric McClure’s No. 24 Hefty Racing team. McClure is 23rd in the standings.

DealTaker.com will be an associate sponsor for Faith Motorsports and Morgan Shepherd at the Nationwide event. Shepherd is making an attempt to qualify for his second race of the season.

Knoxville, Tennessee computer chain, Computer Works, is sponsoring Joe Nemechek and NEMCO Motorsports at Bristol. Nemechek is coming off consecutive top-25 finishes in Fontana and Las Vegas and is 22nd in the standings.

JD Motorsports has announced that Monster Diesel will continue to be the primary sponsor for Mike Wallace at Bristol and Nashville. Currently Wallace ranks 12th in the Nationwide point standings and 13th in the money rankings, with $110,789 in total winnings after three races.

Wallace’s brother, Kenny Wallace, posted on his Facebook fan page that he is thrilled to announce HotRodGrills.com is sponsoring his No. 28 Jay Robinson Racing car at Bristol on March 20. This will be his fourth primary sponsor in four races. Wallace is widely regarded as the most innovative NASCAR social networking marketer as well as a favorite personality on SPEED channel.

Follow @JAYMEDINC on Twitter and visit Jesse L. Medford's Facebook Fan Page for instant access to new articles. Also, if you have anything interesting that you think would fit in one of my columns, please send me a message.

B/R's Braun Racing rookie Brian Scott and his No. 11 team's hard work pays off for them with BigSpot.com, an Offerwise Company, agreeing to sponsor the team for five races this season.

Scott and his Billy Wilburn-led team have two top-10 starts in three events this season, all with having to qualify on speed for the first five races of the season.

He also picked up his first career top-10 finish in the Nationwide Series, at the Stater Bros. 300 at Auto Club Speedway, and it's also a career-best finish for him.

Scott sits 17th in the 2010 Nationwide Owners standings, safely in the top 30, and after Nashville the team won't have to concentrate so hard on qualifying.

He'll be racing the No. 11 BigSpot.com Toyota Camry at Phoenix (4/9), Road America (6/19), New Hampshire (6/28), Richmond (9/10) and Dover (9/25).

"It's exciting anytime you can can align yourself with a great marketing partner like BigSpot.com," said Scott.

"Braun Racing continues to bring in new sponsors in tough economic times and I'm proud to be part of it."

Scott, a Nationwide Series Raybestos Rookie of the Year contender, sits second in the standings with 30 points.

Just four points separate him from leader James Buescher, who has 34 points after three races.

It's nice to see Scott, a tremendously talented alumnus of the Camping World Truck Series, running so well in the Nationwide Series. 

Let Scott and his new team continue their success, growing stronger as the season continues. I'm sure we'll see more sponsors champing at the bit to put their brand on Scott's No. 11 Braun Racing Toyota.

Scott also received good news about his wrist last Monday.

When he had a high-resolution CT scan done on his right wrist, learned that it's 85 percent healed and that it's still healing.

Scott broke it last June, in a Truck race at Michigan. He won't need surgery, will continue to wear a brace and need to work on his range of motion with it.

Source for quote and photo credit: braunracing.com

Rusty Wallace Racing's Steve Wallace and Billy Ballew Motorsports officially announced that Wallace would be making his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut at Atlanta.

Wallace will be driving the No. 15 BBM Toyota on March 6, in the Atlanta 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway with Red Top Auction on board as sponsor and will have veteran crew chief Kevin "Cowboy" Starland calling the shots.

"I'm really excited about the opportunity to run my first truck race next weekend in Atlanta," Wallace said.

Hm, should "Dennis the Menace" (as some fans call young Wallace), rear his ugly head start taking out the competition like he does in the Nationwide Series races.

I can almost guarantee you, he won't be excited and will wish he never raced in the truck series. Because he'll just get dumped and wrecked out of the race.

While the Truck Series is known for it's rough and tough image, where drivers beat and bang on each other all race long.

You just don't see many instances where a driver just can't control his truck making needless mental errors or because he just can't pass someone so you just knock them out of your way like Wallace does.

Think I'm full of bleep? Look no further than yesterday's Sam's Town 300, when late in the race Wallace could not pass Colin Braun for 11th and just dumps the rookie for the position.

He currently drives the No. 66 5 Hour Energy Toyota for RWR in the Nationwide Series. Going back to last season, he's riding a streak of five consecutive top-10 finishes after Vegas and sits sixth in the points after three races.

Regardless how much Wallace continues to improve, one thing hasn't and that's the simple fact.

That he just continues to make too many stupid mistakes, just recklessly taking out his competitors and point wise as the season rolls on, we'll see him fall out of the top 10.

It definitely will be exciting to see the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series get back into action at Atlanta, but don't blink or you'll miss Wallace wrecking to bring out a caution rather than being the one causing the caution out of his own stupidity.

Kevin Harvick had the strongest car in the Sam's Town 350, though the win wouldn't come easy. When it came time to making pit stops, that's when the trouble started.

Right on the first lap, Harvick took the lead, held off his competitors through the first two cautions. Green flag pit stops commenced at lap 56 and concluded at lap 78. Harvick's pit crew didn't perform up to expectations as he went from the lead to forth. As said by his wife Delana Harvick on twitter (@DelanaHarvick), "@kevinharvick not happy w/ car or pit crew."

When the caution came out at lap 83, Harvick hit pit road again, falling out of the top five as his crew had more issues. By lap 119, he showed the strength of his car as he moved back up to fifth and third by lap 133.

With 50 to go, his pit crew pulled up a good stop as they kept him fourth, though there was also some strategy that played out on pit road for Harvick. According to Joe Gibbs Racing PR on their twitter page (@JoeGibbsRacing), "The 33 backed it off on pit road so that Kyle would pass him and allow the 33 to restart on the outside line."

Harvick wouldn't get the start he needed though as he ended up in a three-wide battle that kicked him back to sixth. He worked his way back up to second and at the caution with 30 laps to go, he sat second.

Race leader Denny Hamlin chose to start on the outside so Harvick took to the inside. Harvick got a run through the final corner and never looked back, winning the race 1.7 seconds over Hamlin to gain Chevrolet their 350th win in the Nationwide Series.

In victory lane, Harvick acknowledged that he had the dominant car, though his pit crew needed some work.

"The car was really fast," said Harvick, who led a race-high 82 laps, most of them early in the race before getting burned by the lackluster work in the pits. "We've definitely got some work to do on pit road, but, fortunately, the car was fast enough.

"I get mad, and they [the crew] know how I am and what I expect of them...But you can only gripe about it so long, and then you have to go back and drive the car."

Carl Edwards took third place, followed by Brad Keselowski, Brian Vickers, Trevor Bayne, Justin Allgaier, Paul Menard, Greg Biffle, and Steve Wallace.

IZOD Indy star Danica Patrick continued to improve her stock car skills as she ran better this week than last, though finished 36th after a wreck with Michael McDowell. Patrick went under to pass the ill-handling car of McDowell's when McDowell cut down in front of her, causing them to make contact, as he thought she was going to the outside to pass him.

"Unfortunately, we got caught in a situation where there was a driver who wasn't looking and a spotter who wasn't spotting," Patrick said after the wreck.

"It was completely 100-percent my fault," McDowell said. "The closing rate was so much, there just wasn't much time to make a decision."

8:44pm Kevin Harvick fights back after pit crew lost him spots twice to win the race, 1.7 seconds over Denny Hamlin. This is the 350th win for Chevrolet in the Nationwide Series.

4 to go - Baynes passes Allgaier for sixth. Looks like his tires are done

9 to go - Vickers passes Allgaier for fifth

11 to go - Vickers and Allgaier battle for fifth

13 to go - Vickers to sixth passed Baynes

15 to go - Kyle Busch sliding back as he's 11th while Keselowski has passed Allgaier for forth

19 to go - Kyle Busch starts to slide backwards as he's back to eighth

20 Laps to go - Carl Edwards takes third from Kyle Busch as Keselowski passes Baynes for sixth

21 to go - Kyle Busch gets into the wall "We're going backwards, we're done."

With 22 to go, Kevin Harvick leads with Denny Hamlin second, Kyle Busch third, Carl Edwards forth, Justin Allgaier fifth, Trevor Baynes sixth

Green with 25 laps to go as Harvick and Hamlin battle, Harvick leads at the line with 24 laps to go

8:27pm Hamlin will restart first, on the outside, with Kevin Harvick second, Justin Allgaier third, Kyle Busch forth, Carl Edwards fifth, Trevor Bayne sixth, Brad Keselowski seventh, Brian Vickers eighth

8:24pm RESTART THEN CAUTION WITH 30 TO GO Colin Braun gets hit from behind by Steven Wallace and spins up into wall in turns one and two. Tony Raines also spins in the aftermath. Josh Wise gets the lucky dog.

 8:22pm Denny Hamlin is choosing to start on the outside

8:21pm @colinbraun tweeted, "Staying out on this yellow. Car is tight off. Colin said he just scraped the RS on that last restart but thinks it is ok. Track is tight"

8:18pm Greg Biffle pits as the leaders stay out with Scott Lagasse Jr. getting the lucky dog

@KennyWallace tweeted two minutes ago - Hello my name is Kenny Wallace!.Today when I ran the race, My car was very SLOW because the motor was Blowing up!...It eventually BLOWED UP.

8:17pm CAUTION No. 1 of James Buescher into the wall as Kevin Harvick passes Carl Edwards for forth while Denny Hamlin leads

8:15pm @JoeGibbsRacing on twitter - Kyle Busch - "we are no where near free enough - too tight!"

8:11pm 48 Laps to go: Three-wide for third as Kyle Busch to third, Carl Edwards forth, Trevor Baynes fifth, Kevin Harvick sixth while Denny Hamlin leads

50 Laps to go as Denny Hamlin leads, Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick third, Trevor Baynes forth, Kyle Busch fifth, Carl Edwards sixth, Vickers seventh.

8:07pm: Mike Wallace is the lucky dog

According to @JoeGibbsRacing at 8:07pm, "The 33 backed it off on pit road so that Kyle would pass him and allow the 33 to restart on the outside line"

Some teams put tape on the front grill under the pit stops for added downforce and due to the temperature dropping

8:04pm: Denny Hamlin wins race off pit road with two tires, followed by Justin Allgaier who comes out second with a fuel only stop.

Brad Keselowski - a little tight though no adjustments

Carl Edwards - very happy with car, no adjustments

Kyle Busch - tight, little bit up on track bar

@MichaelAnnett, 8:02pm "MichaelAnnett    Unfortunate turn of events. No. 15 motor broke. Done for the day"

@colinbraun, 8pm "tight off"

The top eight is Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Brian Vickers, Justin Allgaier, Denny Hamlin and Paul Menard.

CAUTION Lap 145: Brian Scott goes to pass Paul Menard for eighth and wrecks. Brian Scott's crew chief said that Menard was pinching him, causing it. On the replay, it looks like Brian Scott bottoms out, causing it to come around.

@JoeGibbsRacing, 7:56pm - Kyle Busch - "I was fine at the beginning of this run, but once I got there I couldn't go."

Lap 140: Carl Edwards leads by 1.34 seconds over Kyle Busch.

7:57pm: Lap 127: Justin Allgaier and Denny Hamlin both pass Paul Menard, so your top eight is Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Brian Vickers, Justin Allgaier, Denny Hamlin and Paul Menard.

Lap 125: Harvick takes the third spot and Keselowski moves up to forth, both passing Vickers. So it's now Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Brian Vickers for your top five

RUNNING ORDER Lap 133: Edwards leads followed by Kyle Busch, Brian Vickers, Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Paul Menard, Justin Allgaier and Denny Hamlin

7:51pm: Lap 124: Edwards to the point

Green at lap 123

7:47pm: @MichaelAnnett tweeted at 7:44pm, "Clutch problem. To the garage"

NEW LEADER: Brendan Gaughan leads as he stayed out

Allgaier - four tires, tight

Edwards - 2 tire, slightly tight

Busch - 2 tire, up on track bar, tight in center, problem on right rear causes him to lose four spots. According to @JoeGibbsRacing, "Lug nut hung on the right rear on Kyle Busch's stop"

Lap 119 TOP 5: Kyle Busch, Justin Allgaier, Brian Vickers, Carl Edwards, Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin 

Lap 118 CAUTION Ricky Stenhouse Jr. gets into the wall out of four, causing a flat, and runs into wall in middle of tri-oval

Michael McDowell says he tried to give Danica the outside, she dove to the bottom and he closed the door. He is taking 100% responsibility due to the closing rate that took place.

Lap 110 Kyle Busch leads at the line

Green Flag out at lap 109 as Brian Vickers battles Kyle Busch for the lead

7:35pm: @JoeGibbsRacing tweeted 7:31pm: Denny's spotter Curtis Markham says he is feeling a few sprinkles as a discussion about Danica Patrick's wreck takes over all other discussions on twitter, though just tweeted at 7:35pm that NASCAR says one lap till the green flag

7:32pm Lap 105 CAUTION FOR RAIN as Kyle Busch leads with Brian Vickers second, Denny Hamlin third, Carl Edwards forth and Brad Keselowski fifth while Paul Menards gets the Lucky Dog. 

Lap 100 HALFWAY Kyle Busch leads by almost 2.5 seconds followed by Brian Vickers, Denny Hamlin, Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle. Greg Biffle though may loose fifth as the Penske Racing teammates Brad Keselowski and Justin Allgaier look to pass him.

@NASCAR_NNS tweeted 7:25pm: No. 43 of Scott Lagasse Jr. is posted for passing to the right at the green flag
@NASCAR_NNS tweeted 7:25pm: McDowell evaluated/released infield care center

Lap 95: Top Five: Kyle Busch leads followed by Brian Vickers, Carl Edwards, Denny Hamlin and Greg Biffle

Lap 93 RESTART Kyle Busch leads

Danica Patrick says Michael McDowell was going slow, turned down and took her and himself out. "Unfortunately, we got caught in a situation where there was a driver who wasn't looking and a spotter who wasn't spotting." She said she felt good in the car, they were doing good. She gave kudos to Kevin Harvick for giving her the suggestion to try the high line while running near him while he was leading as she liked to try that line.

@JoeGibbsRacing tweeted at 7:20pm: Kevin Kidd to Denny Hamlin - "There is enough rain around us - I assume every lap might be our last." Wind has picked up

@colinbraun tweeted at 7:15pm: Yellow. Got lucky dog by running with Busch there fir a long time. Car is really good Colin says.

@JoeGibbsRacing tweeted at 7:15pm: Denny Hamlin - "If we get out front we are going to walk away from these guys."

7:17pm: Kenny Wallace and Kevin LePage are out of the race "Start and Park"

Kevin Harvick has another slow stop as they have more issues.

Kyle Busch said he wants a round on the track bar to free him up

Denny Hamlin is a tick tight

7:12pm: CAUTION: Michael McDowell and Danica Patrick wreck

@MichaelAnnett tweeted at 7:12pm "No. 15 @pilottravel Toyota looking good and feeling good on the track"

@DelanaHarvick tweeted at 7:10pm "@kevinharvick not happy w/ car or pit crew"

@NASCAR_NNS tweeted 7:08pm "Tower tells the spotter of No. 1 James Buescher "nice job" for getting car to pits safely w/flat tire"

@JoeGibbsRacing tweeted 7:21pm "If the nearby weather cell indeed hits us, it look like it will do so in 20-30 min. But it may not"

@MichaelAnnett tweeted at 7:06pm "First pit stop of the day lap 58 under green for 4 tires and fuel, no changes"

7:10pm: Top Four Lap 78: Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Mike Wallace, Kevin Harvick

Lap 76: John Wes Townley to pit road, giving the lead to Kyle Busch.

Lap 75: Danica Patrick to pit road for four tires and no adjustments. Crew struggled with pit stop as there were issues with the left front while John Wes Townley leads

Lap 74: James Buescher has a left rear flat tire and is trying to get back to pit road - makes it to pit road

Lap 70: Scott Riggs and Scott Lagasse Jr. go to pit road, giving the lead to John Wes Townley with Joe Nemechek, Danica Patrick third, Mike Wallace forth and Kyle Busch fifth. These drivers still have eight to 10 laps of fuel so they're hoping the caution.

Lap 65: Carl Edwards leads as he has 18 laps to the good, however he does pit so he can keep up with the pace. Edwards is aero tight in the center, loose off. This passes the lead to Scott Riggs.

Lap 62: Brad Keselowski is on pit road, getting a trackbar adjustment to try to fix his multiple issues with Paul Menard gets a speeding penalty.

Lap 61: Mike Bliss gets a second speeding penalty and Trevor Bayne is in, tight.

Lap 60: Justin Allgaier had a disaster of a pit stop as they had issues

Lap 59: Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin pit. Hamlin is tight in the center of the corner so four times, fuel and an adjustemnt up on the track. Kevin Harvick gets a small adjustment to adjust his car while Mike Bliss gets a speeding penalty.

Lap 58: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. pits - tight, 15.1 seconds stop.

Lap 57: Brian Vickers pits, getting a track bar and air pressure adjustments to fix his tight racecar - 15 seconds.

Lap 56: Brian Scott pits, getting adjustments to free up his car.

Lap 56: Jason Leftler pits

Past the quarter way through the race (lap 54), Kevin Harvick leads followed by Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Brian Vickers and Greg Biffle. Harvick leads by  1.4 seconds as there are 24 cars on the lead lap, with Danica Patrick being the first one down a lap.

6:54pm: Top 5: Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Brian Vickers, Greg Biffle - notice a trend?

The earlier pit stop for Danica Patrick was actually just for fuel as crew cheif Tony Eury Jr. didn't want to mess up the balance since she was comfortable and with that fuel, they can now make it two more stops.

Steven Wallace is a little tight

Brad Keselowski feels that something isn't right in the car, tried switching the ignition box but that didn't work. He says it feels like there's a parachute on the car, possible gearing issue.

Brian Scott is a bit snug and has been relying on teammate Brian Vickers to figure out what line to run.

Justin Allgaier tight all the way around

Denny Hamlin is a little tight off

Brian Vickers is reporting his car is a little tight and said, "If you think the caution is coming out, let me know and I'll go for the outside position on the restart."

Kyle Busch is snug all the way around and is worried the second gear that they have in it is going to hurt them in the long haul

Kevin Harvick reports he is a little snug over the bumps in one and two, though overall is good.

6:49pm: @colinbraun tweeted, "P15 tight behind other cars. Long way to go." at 6:48pm

@JoeGibbsRacing tweeted at 6:47pm, "Kyle says the handling has gone away after the last set of adjustments. Too tight. Ratcliff will fix it next stop."

@NASCAR_NNS tweeted at 6:46pm, "Kelly Bires is officially out of the race after the accident that brought out first caution" so it probably was a motor issue.

Danny O'Quinn Jr. is officially out of the race as he takes his car to the garage.

As they go to break, Kevin Harvick leads Kyle Busch by 1.3 seconds at lap 33.

At lap 27, @DelanaHarvick reported that Kevin Harvick is quiet on the radio right now.

6:44pm: Lap 30: Top five is Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Brian Vickers and Brian Scott

Justin Allgaier first reported his car was awesome, though after reported that it was a little tight.

Brad Keselowski's car has been tight from the beginning of the race and feels his gear isn't as good as other people's

Michael McDowell has been released from the care center and is good to go.

Lap 22: Off of turn four with a run off the corner, Kevin Harvick holds off Kyle Busch

Lap 21 RESTART: Kyle Busch and Harvick battle for the lead as they're followed by Brian Vickers, Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski

Carl's crew cheif Drew Blickensterfer chose to pit as he said they were a quarter of the way through a fuel run and wanted to set them up incase they go a long way.

Kyle Busch said to Rusty Wallace that his car is tight and says the bottom and a lane up is good to go as that's where he's mostly been running.

6:36pm: Two minutes ago, @JoeGibbsRacing tweeted, "Denny says the bottom line stinks. Car is pretty good. He wants it to be a bit looser off." while @ColinBraun's PR team tweeted, "Eddie Pardue and Lorin just keep telling Colin to take care of it."

Danica Patrick, running 28th at the caution, comes down pit road to get four tires as the crew wants to keep four new tires on her car and keep her comfortable.

Carl Edwards gets a fuel and makes sure to have a clean vision. 

6:32pm: Caution Lap 17 - Michael McDowell wrecks after car starts to spin around in the middle of the tri-oval. McDowell says on the radio something broke or happened, possibly a right rear flat tire. Chad Blunt and Mark Green have taken their cars to the garage. 

6:31pm: Six minutes ago according to @JoeGibbsRacing on Twitter, "Kyle reporting that the @TeamZLine car is a little too snug in the turns" and @NASCAR_NNS tweeted, "Kelly Bires evaluated and released from the infield care center" four minutes ago.

6:29pm: Kelly Bires' Crew Cheif Tony Eury Sr. said he's not sure about what happened yet to Mike Massaro, though if they can, will get the car fixed so Bires can make some laps. Though looking at the replay, it could be an engine due to the types of parts flying out the back of the car. Recall there were engine issues last week as Kevin Harvick blew an engine in the Nationwide Series while Juan Pablo Montoya, Marcos Ambrose and Ryan Newman blew engines in the Cup Series. Could this be the second engine failure for Hendrick Motorsports?

6:24pm: Caution Lap 6: Kelly Bires hard into the wall in turn one and two, gets out of the car and walks away. Bires said on the radio that something broke as the car headed straight for the wall going into turn one. Mark Green is the Aaron's Lucky Dog while Dennis Setzer is the first start and park.

Lap 5: Top five is Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Carl Edwards, Brad Keselowski

Lap 3: Kevin Harvick opens up a half a second lead on the Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin

Lap 1: Kevin Harvick leads lap one after a big run off of turn four

Green flag out at lap 6:16pm.

6:14pm The drivers have began their pace laps with track drying just continuing on pit road. Today's ESPN in-race reporter is Kyle Busch for the race. Busch's crew cheif Jason Ratcliff says one key for the race is the change in compound for the type of tire that Goodyear has brought. Ratcliff says the balance shift from how the car is at the beginning and at the end of a run may come into play. He also spoke of a wear issue that he saw in practice with the left side tires that may now become an issue due to the amount of rain.

5:55pm: If you're watching coverage of the race, you probably saw this on your own TV screen, but as according to @LVMotorSpeedway (Las Vegas Motor Speedway) on twitter, "Drivers are being called to their cars now...it is time to go racin'!!" and @NASCAR_NNS, "Track is getting there! Crews are being asked back to pit road and the covers are coming off the cars" so looks like we'll be getting to racing sooner then everybody thought. Who do you think will win?

5:49pm: ESPN hosts had Las Vegas native and Rusty Wallace Inc. driver Brendan Gaughan in the studio for an interview, while Jerry Punch is currently interviewing IZOD Indy star Danica Patrick in great detail about her experience so far in the Nationwide Series.

On Twitter, @KevinHarvick is spending his time watching the olympics. If you're on twitter and looking for somebody to follow who keeps you updated, yet has some funny moments in his posts, then Harvick is the type of person to add. Some of his tweets bring forth humor, espically those between himself and @DelanaHarvick. @JoeGibbsRacing is enjoying TV time in both the No. 11 and No. 18 trucks as the No. 11 truck is showing coverage of the Hawaii tsunami while the No. 18 truck is showing SpeedTV's coverage of the Ausi V8 race. In keeping moreso on topic, @Colinbraun has the most informative post and that is "Well track is almost dry. They are saying 3:30 start time. 50 min from now" so looks like we'll be starting 3:30PST, 6:30EST.

5:21pm: ESPN hosts had 2008 Sam Town's 300 winner Mark Martin in the booth for a visit and their reporters have been out and about talking to different drivers about their strategy and what to expect for today.

In continuing to try to keep you updated, NASCAR Nationwide Series driver James Buescher's facebook page was updated 10 minutes ago with the following: "James is getting pretty anxious about getting on the track! He just ate some mac and cheese and we are about to head back out to the car!" If you are a fan of Buescher, then check out his facebook page by clicking this link: http://www.facebook.com/jamesbuescherracing?ref=nf which is updated during the race by his PR people.

There is also lots of talk on twitter from different teams, drivers' pages and media personel about what's going on at the track. @JoeGibbsRacing tweeted "Rains have subsided. Jet dryers are roaring. Looking good to race" two minutes ago while @JennaFryer tweeted "I don't know an ETA for green. I am told it takes 90 mins to dry the track" four minutes ago so looks like we'll be talking about 6:45pm. @colinbraun tweeted "Trying to get the pits dry" 22 minutes ago to go with his tweet 24 minutes ago that said, "Sun is out. Teams drying the pits. Jet dryers out on track.". @MichaelAnnett took a different approach to his tweeting activities, wishing his teammate Todd Bodine a happy birthday, accompanied by a picture of Bodine with his piece of the cake.

Stayed tuned as there are more updates to come!

4:46pm: Just read on NASCAR Nationwide Series' driver's James Buescher's facebook account that it will take around three hours to dry the track so if you've got any errands to run and or want to get a jump on supper, this could be your spot to do it as for the next three hours, the broadcast on ESPN will be containing just interviews. Currently, ESPN hosts have Brad Keselowski in studio.

For Canadian fans who do not get ESPN, the race is being shown on TSN2.

4:35pm: The NASCAR Nationwide Series Sam Town's 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway was set to start at 4:30pm, though after rain hit during Sprint Cup Series Happy Hour, the start has been delayed. The rain has since stopped so track drying is underway.

In qualifying earlier today, Penske Racing driver Brad Keselowski took the pole with Kevin Harvick second, Carl Edwards third, Denny Hamlin forth and Kyle Busch fifth. Sprint Cup regulars swept the top six spots, eight out of the top 10 spots. Indy Car driver and the talk of late Danica Patrick qualified 37th.

Lineup
Sam's Town 300 | Las Vegas Motor Speedway
February 27, 2010 | Race 3 of 35
       
POS CAR DRIVER MAKE SPONSOR SPEED TIME BEHIND
1 22 Brad Keselowski Dodge Discount Tire 185.427 29.122 Leader
2 33 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Rheem 185.027 29.185 -0.063
3 60 Carl Edwards Ford Copart 184.495 29.269 -0.147
4 20 Denny Hamlin Toyota Interstate Batteries 184.250 29.308 -0.186
5 18 Kyle Busch Toyota Z-Line Designs 184.168 29.321 -0.199
6 98 Paul Menard Ford Richmond Water Heaters / Menards 183.306 29.459 -0.337
7 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr.* Ford Roush Fenway Racing 183.100 29.492 -0.370
8 11 Brian Scott* Toyota Stop Repair Bills.com 182.852 29.532 -0.410
9 27 Greg Biffle Ford Red Man Moist Snuff 182.747 29.549 -0.427
10 32 Brian Vickers Toyota Dollar General 182.673 29.561 -0.439
11 16 Colin Braun* Ford Roush Fenway Racing 182.359 29.612 -0.490
12 88 Kelly Bires Chevrolet HendrickCars.com 182.309 29.620 -0.498
13 12 Justin Allgaier Dodge Verizon Wireless 182.125 29.650 -0.528
14 21 John Wes Townley Chevrolet Zaxby's 181.843 29.696 -0.574
15 66 Steve Wallace Toyota 5-Hour Energy 181.830 29.698 -0.576
16 1 James Buescher* Chevrolet Phoenix Racing 181.720 29.716 -0.594
17 96 Dennis Setzer Dodge Stratosphere 181.531 29.747 -0.625
18 99 Trevor Bayne Toyota Aaron's Dream Machine 181.525 29.748 -0.626
19 70 Shelby Howard Chevrolet Foretravel Motorcoach 181.080 29.821 -0.699
20 09 Scott Riggs Ford RAB Racing 180.620 29.897 -0.775
21 42 Parker Kligerman* Dodge Smith Iron Works 180.620 29.897 -0.775
22 87 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet FrontRowJoe.com 180.114 29.981 -0.859
23 15 Michael Annett Toyota Pilot Travel Centers 180.084 29.986 -0.864
24 156 Kevin Lepage Chevrolet Start Energy Drink 180.000 30.000 -0.878
25 05 Willie Allen Chevrolet 31-W Insulation / CertainTeed 179.922 30.013 -0.891
26 62 Brendan Gaughan Toyota South Point Hotel & Casino 179.892 30.018 -0.896
27 107 Danny Efland Chevrolet Shred 360 / M&W Towing / Stratosphere 179.862 30.023 -0.901
28 40 Mike Bliss Chevrolet Bad Boy Buggies / Buck Commander 179.360 30.107 -0.985
29 31 Stanton Barrett Chevrolet Fuel-Doctor.com 179.217 30.131 -1.009
30 90 Danny O'Quinn Jr. Chevrolet D'Hondt Humphrey Motorsports 179.069 30.156 -1.034
31 38 Jason Leffler Toyota Great Clips 178.926 30.180 -1.058
32 43 Scott Lagasse Jr. Ford Dr. Gadget / EverybodyGets1.com 178.212 30.301 -1.179
33 81 Michael McDowell Dodge Monte Carlo Resort & Casino 177.772 30.376 -1.254
34 01 Mike Wallace Chevrolet Monster Diesel 177.317 30.454 -1.332
35 10 Chad Blount Toyota Braun Racing 177.078 30.495 -1.373
36 24 Eric McClure Ford Hefty 176.869 30.531 -1.409
37 7 Danica Patrick+ Chevrolet GoDaddy.com 176.638 30.571 -1.449
38 28 Kenny Wallace+ Chevrolet Federated Auto Parts 176.303 30.629 -1.507
39 61 Josh Wise+ Ford Stratosphere 174.848 30.884 -1.762
40 34 Tony Raines+ Chevrolet Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino 173.572 31.111 -1.989
41 23 Robert Richardson Jr.+ Chevrolet Southern Pride Trucking / Stratosphere Hotel 171.816 31.429 -2.307
42 26 Brian Keselowski+ Dodge Stratosphere 170.315 31.706 -2.584
43 49 Mark Green Chevrolet Jay Robinson Inc. 178.690 30.220 -1.098
 
Did Not Qualify
44 35 Jason Keller Chevrolet TriStar Motorsports 178.165 30.309 -1.187
45 92 Johnny Chapman Dodge K-Automotive Motorsports 178.018 30.334 -1.212
46 73 Derrike Cope Dodge AssetProtect 177.673 30.393 -1.271
47 104 Jeremy Clements Chevrolet Boudreaux's Butt Paste 177.357 30.447 -1.325
48 91 Stephen Leicht Chevrolet D'Hondt Humphrey Motorsports 176.823 30.539 -1.417
49 183 John Borneman III Ford Super Seal Construction Products 175.222 30.818 -1.696
50 102 Andy Ponstein Chevrolet CarLocate.com 174.588 30.930 -1.808
51 89 Morgan Shepherd Chevrolet Lagina Plumbing 173.449 31.133 -2.011

Can she get it done at this level?

In a word? Yes!

Danica Patrick started 36th at the Stater Bros. 300 in Fontana, CA last Saturday and ran a clean race, finishing 31st. That doesn't sound like a great race, but it is a lot better than some so-called "fans" have been giving her credit for.

She hung back, stayed out of trouble, and tried to get used to the car. Some of the GoDaddy team's radio traffic was broadcast, and I thought the questions she was asking were important and insightful. This gives me hope that she will figure things out.

The radio also enlightened us to the feedback she is giving the team. She stayed away from the Indy car lingo, using "Loose" and "Push" instead of "Oversteer" or "Understeer."

The one word the two racing worlds have in common is "Balance." She was constantly referring to the balance of the car throughout the day. She, Tony Eury Sr., and the team worked on that balance all day. It seemed that by the end of the race they were close to it, but never really hit it.

She again showed that she does not lack car control. Just like in the ARCA race and Daytona, she avoided disaster a couple times.

She had her "rookie moments." She had issues on pit road that cost her positions. She also got caught speeding exiting the pits...twice. That wasn't good, but she wasn't the only one. Several drivers with a lot more experience (like Carl Edwards) were guilty of speeding in the last timing trap as well. Maybe NASCAR failed to sufficiently notify teams where the last trap ends. I've seen it happen before.

From the perspective of an old flagman, I really liked what I saw from Danica.

She knew that she was not going to be in contention for the win, so she did the right thing and dropped to the back. This kept her out of the leader's way and gave her some extra room to play with her line and build trust in the car.

The speeding penalties, while frustrating, didn't cause her to lose her temper and make stupid mistakes on the track. She accepted the penalty and went back to driving. Too many other rookies get discouraged when things go wrong, but she didn't. That's a good sign.

The fact is that the media attention she gets may take away from some other drivers that feel they deserve it, but the expectations placed to on her to succeed are far greater than are fair.

Whether it's because she is a woman or because she has had some success in the IRL is irrelevant. What is relevant is that she is off to a better start than a lot of drivers that have come before her.

Juan Pablo Montoya and Sam Hornish Jr. both enjoyed more success in the IRL than Danica did, yet she finished better in her first race at California than either of them.

Montoya and Hornish both finished 34th or worse in their first attempts at California. Both of them are now fairly accepted as NASCAR drivers. Montoya certainly has the finishing record to back that up, and Hornish is improving by the week.

That proves that it isn't as easy as some think it should be.

Some of the fans are saying that she isn't doing well enough for the equipment she's in. Of course she has good equipment with JR Motorsports. Colin Braun and Rickey Stennhouse are both driving Roush Fords, but they aren't getting the criticism Patrick does when they finish out of the top 25.

Could she have done better? Maybe. Could she have done worse? A lot! I thought that she held her own. I've seen a lot of rookies make bigger mistakes and get caught up in wrecks they could have avoided. She didn't.

Look, an Indy car is like 1,600 pounds and 700-plus HP with 14.5" wide rear slicks. To quote Robert Duvall in Days of Thunder, "In your old cars, the car weighed half as much and your tires were twice as wide. Now your car weighs twice as much and your tires are only half as wide." It's going to take time to learn what "balance" in a stock car really means.

The cars she's used to are very planted to the track and much more forgiving. They don't wiggle all over the place, and the power to weight ratio is much higher than a stock car. It is going to take time to adjust to that.

She's used to the fact that being loose will cost you speed and make you lose control easily. That's how it is with Indy cars. In a stock car, "loose is fast." She has to be given more than one ARCA race and three Nationwide races to get used to that.

If you put Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, or Mark Martin in a car that felt "good" by IndyCar standards, they'd say, "Damn, this thing is pushing like a dump truck! Can we free it up?" Getting used to this is not easy.

We have to put her development into perspective. 

She is coming from a very different car, a very different style of racing, and very different media exposure. She must not be held to the standards that are set for guys like Martin Truex Jr., Brad Keselowski, or the Busch brothers. They all come from stock car backgrounds. They knew to expect ill-handling cars, and they were trained to know how to deal with it.  

They learned all that in their teens on local tracks with almost no cameras. She's having to learn all this under much more difficult conditions. She has the pressure of female racers, the pressure of the IRL fans, the scrutiny of NASCAR purists, and all with an ESPN or Fox camera in her face constantly.

In all, she has shown this old flagman that she indeed has what it takes, and I'm willing to wait a couple seasons to allow her to develop before making a final judgment about her true ability.

While all eyes are on the hockey matches in the Winter Olympics, one former hockey enthusiast, Michael Annett, has turned in his skates to take the wheel of the No. 15 Pilot Travel Centers Toyota Camry in NASCAR’s Nationwide Series.

Annett, a 23 year old from the Midwest, actually was quite a good hockey player before climbing aboard a race car.  At the age of 16, he led Team Illinois to the 2001 Calgary Mac’s AAA Hockey Tournament Championship.

But racing was in Annett’s blood.  He attended his first race, the Knoxville Nationals, literally days after he was born.

His family, particularly his father, was active in racing sprint cars until he left the world of racing in 1993 to focus on his trucking company.  For several years prior to his “retirement”, however,  Annett’s father served as owner and primary sponsor for World of Outlaws legend Sammy Swindell.

When Annett decided that he too wanted to race, his family was less than enthusiastic.  According to Annett, his mother thought racing was much “too dangerous”, steering him instead back to the world of hockey.

But once he made up his mind to trade in his hockey skates for the wheel of a race car, Annett asked his father for help and guidance.  “My dad took me testing to see if I had any talent,” Annett said.  “I guess he thought I had a little bit.”

With his talent confirmed and the blessing of his mother, Annett entered the world of racing as a teenager, much later than many of his counterparts who had been go-karting since the age of five.  But Annett did prove his talent and he has “been on the fast track” ever since.

In 2007, Annett competed in the ARCA Series and had good success.  At his home track, Iowa Speedway, he took the pole and finished in the third spot.

Annett took center stage at Talladega, where after only four career starts, he took the checkered flag.  He was the first driver in the ARCA Series to put Toyota in Victory Lane.

Annett continued in ARCA but also tried his hand at truck racing.  He competed under the Germain Racing banner in the No. 9 Toyota Tundra.

At the end of the 2008 season, Annett got behind the wheel of the No. 15 Pilot Travel Centers Toyota Camry in the Nationwide Series.  He continued to race under the Germain Racing banner in the 2009 season, finishing in the 10th spot in the championship points standings.

Annett scored four  top 10 finishes, 10 top 15, and 21 top 20 finishes.  He was also a Raybestos Rookie of the year Contender and finished his rookie Nationwide Series season third in the Rookie standings.

For the 2010 Nationwide season, Annett is again with Germain Racing with the same sponsor, Pilot Travel Centers.  “This is the exact same team as last year,” Annett said.  “We spent all last year building relationships.”

Those relationships, especially the one between the driver and crew chief Ryan Fugle, proved successful and Annett finished 12th in the season opener in the Drive4COPD at the Daytona International Speedway.

“To bring it home in one piece was a lot to say after that race,” Annett said.  “Of course we would have liked to finish in the top five or top 10 but we’re happy.”

With that finish in his back pocket, Annett was ready to shoot for achieving his goal of a top 10 finish at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California.  In 2009, Annett had done well in “The Golden State”, finishing sixth and earning him Raybestos Rookie of the Race honors.

Annett also looked forward to visiting the Toyota headquarters in Torrance, California.  “It feels great to be able to give back to those who make it possible for us to go to the track each week,” Annett said.

When asked if the mood was a bit gloomy at Toyota headquarters with all of their recent recall woes, Annett admitted that it has been a “tough couple of weeks” for the manufacturer.

“But they were really upbeat,” Annett added.  “They stick behind their products and we also got to see some of their newest products, which was really exciting.”

Although Annett’s goal was to run top 10 at Auto Club Speedway, he turned in a respectable 17th place finish.  This kept the young driver in the 12th position in the points standings.

“We had a really good car, a top 10 car, but as it played out, tires were more important than track position and we had to hang on for the final laps,” said Annett. “We battled in the top 15 all day and it came down to tires in the end.”

“We chose not to come in before the final restart and that got us,” Annett continued. “We'll regroup this week and head into the next race at Las Vegas ready to compete for a top 10.”

“Michael and the No. 15 crew worked hard all day and did really good out there,” crew chief Ryan Fugle said. “Unfortunately we got shuffled out at the end during the green-white-checkered finish.”

Germain Racing General Manager Mike Hillman Sr. noted, “The No. 15 team had all the pieces in place for a good run at California. We had a good setup, Michael did a great job driving the car and the guys did a good job on pit road. We’re ready to move forward into Vegas with another good run.”

Annett admits that his goal, as well as his team’s goal, is to consistently run in the top 10.  “This will put us out there to be a championship team,” Annett said.

Although Annett admits that he is “low key” and likes to “stay out of the spotlight”, he is still focused on winning a Nationwide Series championship and eventually moving into the Cup Series.  He does not have a particular driver “idol” but likes to think he can take the best characteristics of each of them and roll them into “the one driver that I want to be.”

Annett has also taken an interest in one of his more visible competitors, Danica Patrick.  “She’s pretty good,” Annett said simply.  “Nobody should set too high expectations for her.  She’s pretty much starting over and the quickest way to get yourself down is to set goals too high.”

Annett, like Patrick, has indeed taken a bit of a different track in his racing career, from hockey to NASCAR racing.  “I took a little bit different path,” Annett admitted.  “But I’m on the fast track now.”

Braun Racing rookie, Brian Scott, collected a NASCAR Nationwide Series career best finish of 10th in the Stater Bros. 300 at Auto Club Speedway and picked up Rookie of the Race honors.

Unlike his rookie counterparts, Scott and his No. 11 AccuDoc Solutions team needs to qualify on speed for the first five races.

Boy, did they ever deliver, being the third fastest in qualifying. Had Scott ran a second qualifying lap versus just one, he may have put himself on the pole.

"Our biggest focus has been qualifying for the first five races and to unload this good is a testament to how well these guys prepared," said Scott.

From the drop of the green, Scott ran a real smart race by settling into fourth and by Lap 30, he had worked himself up to second place.

Scott spent the next 48 laps hot on the heels of race leader, Joey Logano, trying to reel him in and make a pass for the lead.

He would try several different lines for several laps, looking to see if it made his AccuDoc Solutions Camry faster.

He would pressure Logano for several laps, just as green flag pit stops started happening on Lap 78, which brought Scott to pit road. Once he was there, his crew did work on his four tires, Sunoco, air pressure and chassis adjustments.

Scott returned to the track after pit stops in fifth, but he would drop back to 16th on Lap 80, as the adjustments to his Camry took several laps to come in.  

Once Scott's Camry came in he quickly worked his way into the top-10. By Lap 84 he was running in sixth, was the fastest Toyota and just riding a rail to the front.

The second caution flag came out on Lap 88 for debris. Once pit road opened, all the lead lap cars made their second pit stops and Scott came out of the pits sitting 14th.

On the Lap 92 restart, he started 12th going to work picking off positions and 11 laps later, he was running in seventh.

The third caution came out on Lap 120 for a accident that involved Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and John Wes Townley. Scott at the time was running fifth.

When pit road opened, all the leaders would make stops. Scott came to the attention of his crew taking four tires, Sunoco fuel and removed a round of wedge from the AccuDoc Solutions Camry.

Scott came off of pit road sitting in fifth. On the Lap 125 restart, Scott started well to maintain the fifth position and held off Trevor Bayne, who was in sixth place.

Five laps later saw Scott take fourth from teammate Brian Vickers and he end up being battled by Brad Keselowski for the position.

The two battled it out till Lap 136, when Keselowski would finally be able to pass Scott for fourth and drop him back to fifth.

Scott had his AccuDoc Solutions Camry working well and holding it own as he ran in fifth. He would be challenged by Vickers for fifth and the two battled it out for the position.

Just prior to the fourth and final caution on Lap 146, Vickers was able to make a pass stick and take fifth, dropping Scott to sixth.

When pit road opened on Lap 147, the big fake was on as the leaders made it look like they would pit, but at the last second pulled back on track.

Scott's crew chief Billy Wilburn already made the decision to stay out forgo getting four tires and restarting in 19th.

Unfortunately, everyone from seventh on back on the lead lap pitted. It meant that Scott would have to battle hard on the restart to hold onto a what would be a career finish for him.

On the green—white—checkers restart, Scott battled hard, but was no match with all the fresh rubber behind him and took the checkers in 10th.

It was a career best finish for Scott, as he picked up a top 10 finish and he ran a very exciting race sitting in the top five most of the day.

Scott got as high second, never fell past 16th and had the last caution not happened, he probably would have battled to get back into the top five and would have probably finished the race sixth.

It was just awesome to see Scott run the way he did all race long and to qualify the way he did. Two down, three races to go, before the team will be able to reap the reward from there hard work through the first five races.

Scott now sits 11th in the Nationwide driver point standings, only 16 points out of 10th and 95 points from the lead.

While there was plenty of good news for Scott, there was some bad news. The wrist he injured last June at Michigan in a truck race has only been partially healed and is still broken. Unfortunately, it will require surgery to completely fix the injury.

His options are to have surgery after Vegas or to just wait till the off—season. If he has surgery, the recovery time is four to six weeks depending on the doctor he asked.

What he decides to do depends on whether or not the doctors think it would heal in a three to four week period after Vegas. If not, then he will have surgery during the off—season to repair the wrist.

Photo Credit and source of quote: braunracing.com

Joey Logano led the majority of the laps in the Stater Brothers 300 at Auto Club Speedway and appeared to have the dominant car.  However, his teammate, Kyle Busch, took the checkered flag on a green-white-checkered finish.

Logano, behind the wheel of the No. 20 Game Stop Toyota, started the race on the pole and led over 130 laps.  Busch, on the other hand, led just four laps total, including the last lap that ensured his victory.

“That’s crazy,” Busch said enthusiastically in victory lane.  “Can you believe that?  That’s some racing right there.”

Busch said that he and his team had fought an ill-handling race car all day.  “Jason (Ratcliff) never gave up,” Busch said of his crew chief.  “And I never gave up.  This Z-Line Camry was awesome.”

Logano, who had been so dominant all race long, was left to finish in the fifth spot after a last lap tussle with Greg Biffle that sent the young driver off the track and careening through the grass.

“I got hit again by Biffle,” Logano said.  “I don’t know what his deal is with me but for some reason here at California he feels like putting me in the fence or hitting me at the end.

“I think he could have done it a little cleaner than that.”

Logano was more than disappointed to have led that many laps, had the dominant car, and not come away with the victory.  Logano also vowed to remember who it was that cost him the win.

“Oh well, you keep doing that and eventually it’s going to come back and bite you,” Logano said of his incident with Biffle.  “I always remember that stuff.”

Biffle, who did finish the race in the runner-up spot, had another perspective on the final restart.  “It was a great restart,” Biffle said.  “The 20 car made a rookie mistake, spun his tires on the restart and couldn’t get going.”

“I wasn’t going to give up,” Biffle said simply.

Brad Keselowski finished in the third position and expectant father Carl Edwards finished fourth in the race.  Edwards had to make a comeback to finish so high in the running order after sustaining two speeding penalties.

Speeding penalties were also one of the stories of the day for several other drivers, including rookie Danica Patrick.  The driver of the No. 7 GoDaddy.com Chevy for JR Motorsports sustained two speeding penalties, herself.

The first penalty put Patrick, who had dropped to the back of the field, a lap down.  She could not believe it when she was assessed the second penalty, asking her crew chief Tony Eury, Jr., “How the hell was I speeding?  I was even slower that time than the time before.”

Patrick was not alone in sustaining speeding penalties.  John Wes Townley was issued one speeding penalty for speeding on the exit of pit road and then suffered another as he was entering pit road to serve his penalty.

Although Patrick finished the race in the 31st position three laps down to the leader, she steadily improved throughout the race, as she got a feel for her car.  Her crew chief was pleased with her performance.

“You progressed a lot in this race,” Eury Jr. said over the radio to Patrick.  “I'm proud of you in what you've learned today.”

The race was relatively caution-free, as is the tradition of racing at Auto Club Speedway.  Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and John Wes Townley got into one another, causing one of the major race cautions of the day.

Brendan Gaughan, racing for Rusty Wallace Motorsports, caused one of the other critical cautions when his car let loose with just six laps left to go in the race.  His caution set up the green-white-checkered showdown that would pit Busch against Logano, with Biffle, Keselowski, and Edwards all wanting a piece of the action.

Kevin Harvick was also a contender for much of the race, slicing and dicing his way through the field.  His day ended too soon, however, as his engine gave up the ghost and Harvick was forced to take the car to the garage.

The top ten finishers in the Stater 300 Nationwide race at Auto Club Speedway were:

1.   Kyle Busch

2.   Greg Biffle

3.   Brad Keselowski

4.   Carl Edwards

5.   Joey Logano

6.   Steve Wallace

7.   Kelly Bires

8.   Brian Vickers

9.   Justin Allgaier

10.  Brian Scott

The Nationwide Series races next weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.