I’m a very big fan of road races, but this one really made me reconsider. The only two drivers to lead a lap were race winner Kurt Busch and his brother Kyle. The top six finishers were all Sprint Cup drivers. I talked before about the lack of normal Road Ringers in this race - my last article was “Nationwide vs. Road Ringers”, I guess it should have been “Nationwide vs. Sprint Cup”. Ron Fellows was the top Nationwide driver, and he’s a road ringer. Aric Almirola was the top Nationwide Championship contender in eighth.
Busch Brothers Lead Every Lap: The Zippo 200 Review
Despite getting some damage at the start of the race, Ricky Stenhouse was still able to hang on to the points lead. This was just the 12th Nationwide race for Kurt Busch in his career and it was his third win in the series. It was also his first race in the series since 2007. The only reason Kurt was even in this race was because of Brad Keselowski’s busted ankle. Next week should be much more interesting as we should have more Road Ringers and not quite so many Cup drivers.
Results and Points after the jump.
| Fin | Str | Car | Driver | Team | Laps | Status |
| 1 | 1 | 22 | Kurt Busch(i) | Ruby Tuesday/Discount Tire Dodge | 85 | Running |
| 2 | 6 | 7 | Jimmie Johnson(i) | Jimmie Johnson's Anything with an engine Chevy | 85 | Running |
| 3 | 8 | 20 | Joey Logano(i) | GameStop Toyota | 85 | Running |
| 4 | 2 | 18 | Kyle Busch(i) | Z-Line Designs Toyota | 85 | Running |
| 5 | 3 | 60 | Carl Edwards(i) | Fastenal Ford | 85 | Running |
| 6 | 7 | 33 | Paul Menard(i) | Rheem/Menards Chevy | 85 | Running |
| 7 | 5 | 5 | Ron Fellows | Canadian Tire Chevy | 85 | Running |
| 8 | 17 | 88 | Aric Almirola | Ragu Chevy | 85 | Running |
| 9 | 11 | 16 | Trevor Bayne | RickyvsTrevor.com Ford | 85 | Running |
| 10 | 4 | 2 | Elliott Sadler | OneMain Financial Chevy | 85 | Running |
| 11 | 19 | 87 | Joe Nemechek | NEMCO Motorsports Toyota | 85 | Running |
| 12 | 13 | 31 | Justin Allgaier | Florida Gulf Safe Chevy | 84 | Running |
| 13 | 15 | 32 | Reed Sorenson | Dollar General Chevy | 84 | Running |
| 14 | 16 | 11 | Brian Scott | Shore Lodge Toyota | 84 | Running |
| 15 | 12 | 6 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | RickyvsTrevor.com Ford | 84 | Running |
| 16 | 14 | 66 | Steve Wallace | 5-hour Energy Toyota | 84 | Running |
| 17 | 10 | 30 | James Buescher(i) | AccuDoc Solutions Chevy | 84 | Running |
| 18 | 9 | 38 | Jason Leffler | Great Clips Chevy | 84 | Running |
| 19 | 27 | 62 | Michael Annett | Pilot/Flying J Toyota | 83 | Running |
| 20 | 26 | 1 | Mike Wallace | JD Motorsports Chevy | 83 | Running |
| 21 | 22 | 21 | Tim George Jr. | Applebee's/Potomac Family Dining Group Chevy | 83 | Running |
| 22 | 23 | 19 | Mike Bliss | TriStar Motorsports Chevy | 83 | Running |
| 23 | 25 | 23 | Alex Kennedy | Primalyn Ent/Dream Factory Chevy | 82 | Running |
| 24 | 31 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | Clements Racing Engines Chevy | 82 | Running |
| 25 | 24 | 39 | Casey Roderick | ACU/Randy Hill Racing Ford | 82 | Running |
| 26 | 33 | 97 | Kyle Kelley | Jamison Chevy | 81 | Running |
| 27 | 34 | 75 | Tomy Drissi(i) | Alvin & the Chipmunks-Chipwrecked Ford | 79 | Running |
| 28 | 39 | 40 | Josh Wise | Key Motorsports Chevy | 78 | Running |
| 29 | 37 | 81 | Blake Koch # | Daystar.com Dodge | 77 | Running |
| 30 | 42 | 28 | Derrike Cope | MAXelence.com Chevy | 69 | Transmission |
| 31 | 32 | 15 | Timmy Hill # | Rick Ware Racing Ford | 66 | Running |
| 32 | 18 | 9 | Kenny Wallace | Toyota Toyota | 64 | Overheating |
| 33 | 41 | 70 | Dennis Setzer | ML Motorsports Dodge | 63 | Brakes |
| 34 | 40 | 89 | Morgan Shepherd | Victory in Jesus Racing Chevy | 56 | Oil Pump |
| 35 | 35 | 14 | Eric McClure | Hefty BlackOut/Reynolds Chevy | 53 | Accident |
| 36 | 28 | 64 | Jason Bowles | Aspen Dental Toyota | 52 | Transmission |
| 37 | 20 | 53 | Andrew Ranger | Bollegraaf/Lobo USA Dodge | 42 | Suspension |
| 38 | 21 | 67 | J R Fitzpatrick | Go Canada Racing Ford | 34 | Transmission |
| 39 | 38 | 52 | Dan Clarke | couponchad.com Chevy | 21 | Engine |
| 40 | 36 | 49 | Mark Green | Jay Robinson Racing Chevy | 6 | Start and Park |
| 41 | 30 | 82 | JJ Yeley(i) | Crusader Staffing Dodge | 4 | Start and Park |
| 42 | 29 | 13 | TJ Bell(i) | DrivenMale.com Dodge | 4 | Start and Park |
| 43 | 43 | 44 | Jeff Green | TriStar Motorsports Chevy | 1 | Start and Park |
Jimmie Johnson had a really nice run, but still could not get his second win in the Nationwide Series.
| Pos | Car # | Driver | Points | Wins |
| 1 | 6 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 816 | 2 |
| 2 | 32 | Reed Sorenson | 806 | 1 |
| 3 | 2 | Elliott Sadler | 792 | 0 |
| 4 | 88 | Aric Almirola | 746 | 0 |
| 5 | 31 | Justin Allgaier | 736 | 1 |
| 6 | 38 | Jason Leffler | 703 | 0 |
| 7 | 09 | Kenny Wallace | 686 | 0 |
| 8 | 66 | Steve Wallace | 636 | 0 |
| 9 | 11 | Brian Scott | 626 | 0 |
| 10 | 62 | Michael Annett | 623 | 0 |
Aric Almirola was able to make up some ground on Ricky Stenhouse and is right back in the fight.
| Pos | Car # | Owner | Points |
| 1 | 18 | Joe Gibbs | 871 |
| 2 | 32 | Sandra Turner | 835 |
| 3 | 60 | Jack Roush | 833 |
| 4 | 6 | Jack Roush | 816 |
| 5 | 33 | Delana Harvick | 796 |
| 6 | 2 | Delana Harvick | 792 |
| 7 | 22 | Roger Penske | 785 |
| 8 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 746 |
| 9 | 20 | Joe Gibbs | 740 |
| 10 | 31 | Steve Turner | 736 |
Nothing much has changed in the top 10 or the top 30 locked in drivers. As long as we don’t have another locked in team miss a race, things will probably stay the same.
| Pos | Car # | Owner | Points |
| 31 | 89 | Morgan Shepherd | 349 |
| 32 | 40 | Curtis Key Sr. | 332 |
| 33 | 52 | Jimmy Means | 319 |
| 34 | 41 | Rick Ware * | 243 |
| 35 | 12 | Roger Penske * | 197 |
| 36 | 13 | Jennifer Jo Cobb * | 144 |
Next week we head back to Montreal for, in my opinion, the second best Road Course behind Road America. Join us later in the week for a preview of the NAPA Auto Parts 200. Enjoy!
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