The Nationwide Series heads to Kansas this weekend for the Kansas Lottery 300. Since I know how much one can win in the lottery, being as I’ve never actually won anything, I have to wonder just how much of that one dollar you spend actually goes to the winner. If they can afford to sponsor a race, it has to be more then just a few cents.
I refuse to have any gambling puns in: The NASCAR Nationwide Kansas Lottery 300 Preview
The biggest news heading into this weekend is Reed Sorenson getting released and having his championship hopes destroyed. Sorenson does not have a ride for this weekend yet and if he does not race, he will be all but eliminated from Championship contention.
There has been a serious lack of comments on anything Nationwide for the past month. I know that Nationwide’s Big Sister is off having a 12,000 person wedding, but don’t forget about little sister Nationwide’s Courthouse romp. In fact, the Nationwide Championship could be even better than the Sprint Cup Chase at the end of the season. And you don’t have to sit through all those different psalms. I think I’m confusing myself now.
These Preview and Review articles are not just meant to be informative and to get you pumped for the event, they are also meant to start up a discussion heading into the race, and it’s a place for you to discuss your feelings after the race. Plus, a guy starts to get the wrong impression when he sees no comments to his posts. I’m going to roll the dice and....ah man, I did it anyway and made the gambling reference.
Entry List and More after the JUMP!
| Ent. | Car # | Driver | Sponsor | Manu. | Owner |
| 1 | 01 | Mike Wallace | TBA | 11 Chevy | JD Motorsports |
| 2 | 2 | Elliott Sadler | OneMain Financial | 11 Chevy | Kevin Harvick Inc. |
| 3 | 03 | Scott Riggs * (S) | N. TX Pipe | 11 Chevy | R3 Motorsports |
| 4 | 04 | Danny O'Quinn Jr * (S) | Go Green Racing | 11 Ford | Go Green Racing |
| 5 | 4 | Kevin Harvick(i) | Hunt Brothers | 10 Chevy | Kevin Harvick Inc. |
| 6 | 6 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr | Roush Fenway Racing | 11 Ford | Roush Fenway Racing |
| 7 | 7 | Danica Patrick | GoDaddy.com | 11 Chevy | JR Motorsports |
| 8 | 09 | Kenny Wallace | Family Farmers | 11 Toyota | RAB Racing |
| 9 | 10 | TBA * (S) | Mark One Electric | 11 Dodge | Jennifer Jo Cobb |
| 10 | 11 | Brian Scott | Shore Lodge | 11 Toyota | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| 11 | 13 | Jennifer Jo Cobb * (S) | Mark One Electric | 11 Dodge | Jennifer Jo Cobb |
| 12 | 14 | Eric McClure | Hefty BlackOut/Reynolds | 11 Chevy | TriStar Motorsports |
| 13 | 15 | Timmy Hill | Poynt | 11 Ford | Rick Ware Racing |
| 14 | 16 | Trevor Bayne * | Roush Fenway Racing | 11 Ford | Roush Fenway Racing |
| 15 | 18 | Joey Logano(i) | GameStop | 11 Toyota | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| 16 | 19 | Mike Bliss | TBA | 11 Chevy | TriStar Motorsports |
| 17 | 20 | Ryan Truex * | Shick | 11 Toyota | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| 18 | 22 | Brad Keselowski(i) | Discount Tire | 11 Dodge | Roger Penske |
| 19 | 23 | Robert Richardson Jr | N TX Pipe | 11 Chevy | R3 Motorsports |
| 20 | 27 | J J Yeley(i) * | 31W Insulation | 11 Ford | Baker Curb |
| 21 | 28 | Derrike Cope | Maxelence | 11 Chevy | Jay Robinson |
| 22 | 30 | James Buescher(i) | Sporting Kansas City | 11 Chevy | Turner Motorsports |
| 23 | 31 | Justin Allgaier | Brandt | 11 Chevy | Turner Motorsports |
| 24 | 32 | Brian Vickers | Dollar General | 11 Chevy | Turner Motorsports |
| 25 | 33 | Paul Menard(i) | Rheem/Menards | 11 Chevy | Kevin Harvick Inc. |
| 26 | 38 | Jason Leffler | Great Clips | 11 Chevy | Turner Motorsports |
| 27 | 39 | Joey Gase | Go Green Racing | 11 Ford | Roush Fenway Racing |
| 28 | 40 | Josh Wise | Curtis Key Plumbing | 11 Chevy | Key Motorsports |
| 29 | 41 | Johnny Chapman * (S) | Rick Ware Racing | 11 Chevy | Rick Ware Racing |
| 30 | 42 | Tim Andrews * (S) | Curtis Key Plumbing | 11 Chevy | Key Motorsports |
| 31 | 44 | Jeff Green *(S) | TBA | 11 Chevy | TriStar Motorsports |
| 32 | 46 | Chase Miller * (S) | Curtis Key Plumbing | 11 Chevy | Key Motorsports |
| 33 | 47 | Charles Lewandoski * (S) | Curtis Key Plumbing | 11 Chevy | Key Motorsports |
| 34 | 48 | Dennis Setzer * (S) | Acredale Vending | 11 Chevy | Jay Robinson |
| 35 | 49 | Mark Green * (S) | Acredale Vending | 11 Chevy | Jay Robinson |
| 36 | 50 | T J Bell(i) * (S) | Liberty Tire | 11 Chevy | Mark Beaver |
| 37 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | Clements Racing Engines | 10 Chevy | Jeremy Clements |
| 38 | 52 | Kevin Lepage | TBA | 11 Chevy | Jimmy Means |
| 39 | 60 | Carl Edwards(i) | Fastenal | 11 Ford | Roush Fenway Racing |
| 40 | 62 | Michael Annett | Pilot-Flying J | 11 Toyota | Rusty Wallace |
| 41 | 66 | Steve Wallace | 5 Hour Energy | 11 Toyota | Rusty Wallace |
| 42 | 68 | Jeremy Petty * (S) | Fleur DeLis Farms | 11 Chevy | Fleur De Lis Racing |
| 43 | 70 | David Stremme(i) | Foretravel | 11 Chevy | ML Motorsports |
| 44 | 71 | Matthew Carter * (S) | Rick Ware Racing | 11 Ford | Rick Ware Racing |
| 45 | 74 | Mike Harmon * (S) | MHR | 11 Chevy | Mike Harmon |
| 46 | 75 | Carl Long * (S) | Rick Ware Racing | 11 Ford | Rick Ware Racing |
| 47 | 81 | Blake Koch | Daystar.com | 11 Dodge | MacDonald Motorsports |
| 48 | 82 | Scott Wimmer * (S) | K-Love | 10 Dodge | MacDonald Motorsports |
| 49 | 87 | Joe Nemechek | TBA | 11 Toyota | NEMCO |
| 50 | 88 | Aric Almirola | Degree MEN Adrenaline Series | 11 Chevy | JR Motorsports |
| 51 | 89 | Morgan Shepherd | ABLE-Victory in Jesus Racing | 11 Chevy | Faith Motorsports |
There are 51 teams entered this weekend, which is crazy until you realize that only about 31 of them plan on running the entire race. That’s only 61% by the way. Less then 3/4th of teams entered will actually run the race. What happened to our once proud series? And why doesn’t Nascar do something to curb this behavior? How long before we only see 20 cars running each week and 23 teams in the garage cashing checks? Here’s a couple to teams to watch out for this week:
- #4- Kevin Harvick has begun to sell off his team. His Nationwide effort, the #2 and #33 will combine with Richard Childress Racing next year and will expand to a three car team when Austin Dillion brings the #3 Chevy to the party. The #33 will again operate with RCR Drivers behind the wheel and Sadler will return to try to win either his first Championship or his second. The team will be run out of RCR’s shop with Harvick still taking care of business decisions. His truck team was sold to Eddie Sharp Racing, which currently fields the #6 Truck.
- #7- I can no longer see Danica Patrick without thinking about that South Park Episode. And soon, IRL fans will no longer be able to see Patrick not win a single race. Patrick will join Nascar full time, where just about anyone can win at least one race in their career. Even David Gilliland won a Nationwide Race. Oh...I made myself sad with that one.
- #11- Brian Scott #14- Eric McClure and #62- Michael Annett proved that if you have a sponsor you can be pretty much mediocre and still have a job. All three will return to thier respective teams for 2012, while guys like Josh Wise, Ryan Truex and Scott Wimmer still do not have full time rides next year.
- Turner Motorsports came out big this year with four teams. That will change next year. Turner is downsizing it’s effort in 2012 and has released possible 2011 Champion Reed Sorenson. Dollar General will leave the team at the end of the year for an undisclosed team. Dollar General is still signed on for the rest of the year and the decision to cut Sorenson, someone who could have given Turner Motorsports it’s first Nationwide Championship, is shocking and confusing. Why would Turner cut Sorenson just to have Brian Vickers? Put Vickers in the #32 car and move Reed to the #30 if you really want to see how the #32 team is running. There was no reason to release a loyal driver such as Reed Sorenson. After this move, there is no guarantee that Justin Allgaier or Jason Leffler will remain with Turner Motorsports either. At this point, Turner Motorsports is in trouble. Not just financially, but also in terms of Media Relations. They should expect to hear a lot of negative comments in the coming weeks after cutting a promising young star, who was well within striking distance of the Championship to put Brian Vickers in the car for one week.
- #40-49- With the possible exception of Josh Wise, every team numbered in the 40’s is going to start and park this week.
- #68- Jeremy Petty will make a start this week. No relation to Richard, Kyle or fallen future star Adam.
I’m telling you, you need to join us Saturday for the open race thread. Only three comments populated the thread this past week. Tune into ESPN 2 at 3pm eastern October 8th for the Kansas Lottery 300 live from Kansas City, KS! Enjoy!
See More:
