Cup drivers go Four for Four in Nationwide: The Scott’s EZ Seed 300 Review

Bristol is always a race with headlines. The biggest one will be Kyle Busch dominating and winning yet another Nationwide race. But another headline will be “Jennifer Jo Cobb stands up for herself”.

Up and comer Jennifer Jo Cobb was showing that not all women will just lay down and die when faced with decisions made not in their favor.

Five minutes before the start of the Scott’s EZ Seed 300, our field of cars was one short. The #79 Ford was no where to be found. TV camera’s zoomed in on a maroon Ford Mustage sitting idle behind the wall. Cobb was no where to be found. When they finally caught up to her, Cobb had a bombshell to drop.

Last week Cobb was caught up in a wreck. Second Chance Racing, owner of the #79 Ford, decided they would start and park this week since they already had an entry in for California but Cobb’s team is actually mathmatically unable to recoup enough points next week to launch into the top 30 and lock in after Cali.

Why is this important? Because Second Chance and Jennifer Jo Cobb have a five race deal and if Cobb was able to get into the top 30 and the team was able to find a sponsor, she would go full time.

Neither was going to happen next weed - especially if she were to start and park it. So the decision was made, but it also broke the contract that Cobb and Second Chance signed.

Jennifer Jo Cobb claimed she was not a start and park driver and would not race under those conditions. Second Chance has fired Cobb, and will put Tim Andrews in the car next week, but it would seem that Second Chance, a team that had big plans for 2011, may be forced to shut down after California. Something that many may forget, Jennifer Jo Cobb was a team ower in the Truck Series and was locked in for the first five races of the year. She gave that up to go Nationwide Racing. Cobb had what seemed to be a fully funded Truck team, and left if to be treated like nobody in the Nationwide Series. Cobb says she has many owners on her side and it looks like she may have a ride for the rest of the year with Rick Ware Racing.

Now for the other female driver in this race. Danica Patrick, who had not wrecked yet in 2011, found herself in the wall midway through her first Bristol Race. After the wreck Patrick stepped out of her car and began to make arm movements towards Ryan Truex. I was confused. When they showed the replay, it was obvious that Patrick got loose and hit Truex in the rear quarter panel. This sent Patrick into the wall and out of the race.

Danica claimed that Truex had raced her hard, and that he always races her hard and that may be so but to me Danica was clearly at fault for this wreck.

I site the Kyle Busch hatters Guide to hating Kyle Busch: “The inability to admit when one is wrong”. That’s the biggest knock against Kyle Busch, something that he has since gotten much better at. Patrick has, at least to my knowledge, never admitted when a wreck was her fault. How hard would it be to say, “I got loose”? Instead, it’s whoever was nearest to her that is to blame.

Truex’s crew chief even buzzed in on the radio, “It’s okay, she’s never been wrong in her life”. This is why I love it when the networks key up driver radio chatter. You have Danica Patrick screaming curse words at anyone who will listen for a wreck that clearly was her fault. Or at the very least a Bristol incident.

Truex didn’t come flying down to cut her off. I didn’t even see him change his line. What I saw was Patrick turn into Truex. Just when Patrick was starting to win over some fans she regresses. Just admit when you are wrong and move on.

Results and more after the JUMP!

Elliott Sadler was the top finishing Nationwide driver. Yet again, Cup regulars are dominating and hurting the Nationwide Series. I hope what they do is set a hard cap on the number of races Cup regulars can run next year.

None-the-less anyway the Nationwide Championship point standings have gotten much more interesting. Your points leader is ... Jason Leffler. Here’s the battle for the Championship:

Great to see some young guns up in points. After Turner Motorsports dominated the top owner’s points the last few weeks we have the return of the Cup teams. Joe Gibbs retook not only the top spot, but second place as well. Here’s the battle for Owner’s Championship:

With just one more race under the old owner’s points, there are a few teams that need a great race at California to lock themselves into Texas. Here’s the battle for the top 30:

Next week we travel to California for some Saturday Night racing. Join us later in the week for a Preview of the Royal Purple 300 from Auto Club! Enjoy!