Carl Edwards won. Yep.
And then there were five: The Dollar General 300 Miles of Courage Review
Only five drivers remain in the battle for the 2011 Nationwide Championship. Jason Leffler has been eliminated with three races to go. We now go on a two week recouping break before we hit ‘em hard to end the season. Five Drivers are still in it, and only Sadler or Stenhouse can leave Texas the ‘Points Leader’.
Ricky Stenhouse is trying to follow in the footsteps of other Roush Drivers who followed up a Rookie of The Year Title with a Nationwide Championship. Johnny Benson won the Rookie of the Year crown in 1994 and then went on to win the 1995 Nationwide Championship. At the time, he was not a Roush Driver, but joined the team in 1998 in just his third year as a Cup Series Regular. Kevin Harvick was Rookie of the year in 2000, and won his first Nationwide Title in 2001, the same year that Greg Biffle won the Rookie of the Year as a Roush driver. In 2002, Greg became the third, and currently last, driver to follow up a Rookie of the Year win with a Championship. I know Harvick has nothing to do with Roush, but the pedigree is there. Benson, while not a great driver, did win three Nationwide Races and one Cup Series race before heading to the Truck Series where he won 14 races, and a Camping World Championship. Kevin Harvick is a two time Nationwide Champion and a 18 race winner in the Cup Series. Harvick is also a favorite to win this year’s Sprint Cup. Greg Biffle is a lifelong Roush Fenway driver, a 16 race winner in the Sprint Cup Series and a Truck Series Champion as well. That’s quite the legacy to follow for Ricky Stenhouse, should he hold on a win his first Nationwide Series Championship.
Results and More after the JUMP!
| Fin | Str | Car | Driver | Team | Laps | Pts | Status |
| 1 | 5 | 60 | Carl Edwards(i) | Fastenal Ford | 200 | 0 | Running |
| 2 | 6 | 18 | Kyle Busch(i) | Z-Line Designs Toyota | 200 | 0 | Running |
| 3 | 11 | 16 | Trevor Bayne | Fastenal Ford Mustang Ford | 200 | 41 | Running |
| 4 | 12 | 2 | Elliott Sadler | OneMain Financial Chevy | 200 | 41 | Running |
| 5 | 8 | 11 | Brian Scott | Doosan Toyota | 200 | 39 | Running |
| 6 | 3 | 22 | Brad Keselowski(i) | Discount Tire Dodge | 200 | 0 | Running |
| 7 | 10 | 31 | Justin Allgaier | Brandt Chevy | 200 | 37 | Running |
| 8 | 1 | 33 | Paul Menard(i) | Rheem/Menards Chevy | 200 | 0 | Running |
| 9 | 2 | 6 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Blackwell Angus Ford | 200 | 36 | Running |
| 10 | 9 | 32 | Brian Vickers(i) | Dollar General Chevy | 200 | 0 | Running |
| 11 | 17 | 30 | Jason Leffler | AccuDoc Chevy | 200 | 33 | Running |
| 12 | 7 | 12 | Sam Hornish Jr. | Alliance Truck Parts Dodge | 200 | 32 | Running |
| 13 | 19 | 66 | Steve Wallace | 5-hour Energy Toyota | 200 | 31 | Running |
| 14 | 13 | 7 | Josh Wise | Taxslayer.com Chevy | 200 | 30 | Running |
| 15 | 14 | 88 | Aric Almirola | AdvoCare Chevy | 200 | 29 | Running |
| 16 | 20 | 09 | Kenny Wallace | Thank You Fans! Toyota | 200 | 28 | Running |
| 17 | 22 | 62 | Michael Annett | Pilot/Flying J Toyota | 200 | 27 | Running |
| 18 | 27 | 81 | Blake Koch # | Daystar.com Chevy | 200 | 26 | Running |
| 19 | 4 | 20 | Joey Logano(i) | GameStop Toyota | 200 | 0 | Running |
| 20 | 23 | 19 | Mike Bliss | SpiritHalloween.com Chevy | 199 | 24 | Running |
| 21 | 32 | 15 | Timmy Hill # | Poynt Ford | 199 | 24 | Running |
| 22 | 36 | 01 | Mike Wallace | I Hate Steven Singer Chevy | 199 | 22 | Running |
| 23 | 31 | 50 | T J Bell(i) | Liberty Tire Chevy | 198 | 0 | Running |
| 24 | 41 | 28 | Derrike Cope | MAXelence Chevy | 198 | 20 | Running |
| 25 | 39 | 89 | Morgan Shepherd | Victory In Jesus Racing Chevy | 197 | 19 | Running |
| 26 | 33 | 39 | Joey Gase | Go Green Racing Ford | 197 | 18 | Running |
| 27 | 37 | 52 | Kevin Lepage | Creative Recycling Chevy | 193 | 17 | Running |
| 28 | 18 | 38 | Kasey Kahne(i) | Great Clips Chevy | 181 | 0 | Accident |
| 29 | 24 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | Carolina Collision Chevy | 171 | 15 | Running |
| 30 | 35 | 23 | Robert Richardson Jr. | North Texas Pipe Chevy | 166 | 14 | Running |
| 31 | 34 | 14 | Eric McClure | Hefty BlackOut/Reynolds Chevy | 157 | 13 | Running |
| 32 | 15 | 82 | Reed Sorenson | Think Pink Dodge | 144 | 12 | Running |
| 33 | 38 | 40 | Charles Lewandoski # | Precisionwerx.com Chevy | 133 | 11 | Engine |
| 34 | 16 | 99 | Ryan Truex # | Pastrana Waltrip Racing Toyota | 126 | PE | Accident |
| 35 | 42 | 70 | Angela Cope | Millennium Spa Salon Chevy | 125 | 9 | Vibration |
| 36 | 40 | 87 | Kevin Conway | Extenze Toyota | 76 | 8 | Engine |
| 37 | 28 | 97 | Joe Nemechek | AM/FM Energy Chevy | 25 | 7 | Start and Park |
| 38 | 25 | 04 | Tim Andrews | Go Green Racing Ford | 22 | 6 | Start and Park |
| 39 | 26 | 03 | Scott Riggs | North Texas Pipe Chevy | 18 | 5 | Start and Park |
| 40 | 30 | 41 | Johnny Chapman | Rick Ware Racing Chevy | 12 | 4 | Start and Park |
| 41 | 21 | 47 | Scott Speed | Curtis Key Plumbing Chevy | 6 | 3 | Start and Park |
| 42 | 29 | 42 | Erik Darnell(i) | Curtis Key Plumbing Chevy | 4 | 0 | Start and Park |
| 43 | 43 | 44 | Jeff Green | SpiritHalloween.com Chevy | 3 | 1 | Start and Park |
Reed Sorenson will probably be the next to be eliminated. The guy was third before getting kicked to the curb. MacDonald Motorsports, as I predicted, is not up to par with the other four drivers in the hunt. Shame on Penske Racing for not having Brad Keselowski step aside and being the savoir for Reed Sorenson. Shame on Joe Gibbs for not having Joey Logano or Kyle Busch not step aside. Gibbs and Penske are the only Sprint Cup/Nationwide Teams without a dog in this fight. KHI has Sadler, Roush has Stenhouse, Hendrick has Almirola so no one really expected any of them to help Sorenson. But both Penske and Gibbs have perfectly great teams with a Sprint Cup driver in it. Shame.
Stenhouse has now gone two straight weeks of allowing Elliott Sadler to chip away at his now small lead. Here’s how the battle is shaping up:
| Pos | Num | Driver | Points | Ldr | Wins |
| 1 | 6 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 1100 | 0 | 2 |
| 2 | 2 | Elliott Sadler | 1085 | -15 | 0 |
| 3 | 88 | Aric Almirola | 1013 | -87 | 0 |
| 4 | 31 | Justin Allgaier | 1009 | -91 | 1 |
| 5 | 82 | Reed Sorenson | 1006 | -94 | 1 |
| 6 | 38 | Jason Leffler * | 949 | -151 | 0 |
| 7 | 09 | Kenny Wallace * | 894 | -206 | 0 |
| 8 | 11 | Brian Scott * | 877 | -223 | 0 |
| 9 | 66 | Steve Wallace * | 870 | -230 | 0 |
| 10 | 62 | Michael Annett * | 859 | -241 | 0 |
| 11 | 16 | Trevor Bayne * | 774 | -326 | 0 |
| 12 | 19 | Mike Bliss * | 766 | -334 | 0 |
The incredibly popular, in my mind at least, Nationwide Chase Senario shapes up like this:
| Reg Pos | Chase Pos | Numb | Driver | Chase Points | Chase Behind | Reg Behind |
| 1 | 1 | 6 | Ricky Stenhouse | 2272 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | 2 | 2 | Elliott Sadler | 2259 | -13 | -15 |
| 3 | 3 | 88 | Aric Almirola | 2243 | -29 | -87 |
| 4 | 4 | 31 | Justin Allgaier | 2240 | -32 | -91 |
| 8 | 5 | 11 | Brian Scott * | 2219 | -53 | -223 |
| 10 | 6 | 62 | Michael Annett * | 2210 | -62 | -241 |
| 6 | 7 | 38 | Jason Leffler * | 2209 | -63 | -151 |
| 11 | 8 | 16 | Trevor Bayne * | 2206 | -66 | -326 |
| 12 | 9 | 19 | Mike Bliss * | 2197 | -75 | -334 |
| 9 | 10 | 66 | Steve Wallace * | 2194 | -78 | -230 |
| 5 | 11 | 32 | Reed Sorenson | 2184 | -88 | -94 |
| 7 | 12 | 09 | Kenny Wallace * | 2180 | -92 | -206 |
| *-Eliminated in Regular Points System | ||||||
Notice how in our current points system we only have 5 drivers still in the hunt, but with a Chase, all 12 would still be in it and four drivers could leave Texas the Points Leader.
We now will take a break for two weeks while everyone gets ready for a three race slugfest for the 2011 Nationwide Series Championship. Enjoy!
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