(Please Note: My apologies to Troy and everyone else for not getting this posted in a timely fashion, I went out of town for a few days and left my computer sitting in the front hallway by the front door - Bob)
Stenhouse picks up where he left off: The Sam’s Town 300 Review (Better Late Than Never Edition)
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Last year it took until race 12 for a Nationwide-only driver to win. This year, all three winners are non-Cup series regulars. Buescher is a truck regular, last week we had 2011 runner-up Elliott Sadler, and this week it’s the 2011 Nationwide Champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Stenhouse won in true Roush fashion, he didn’t have the strongest car to start but through adjustments and great pit work Stenhouse got the car locked in with 55 laps to go and never looked back. It was a great way for Ricky to prove that he’s ready for another Championship run this year.
While one Roush driver was celebrating, the other was saying goodbye to his Championship chances for the second straight year. Trevor Bayne, who sits just 19 points back in 4th place, will not be entered next week due to lack of sponsorship and funding (please note this was written before Bayne’s announcement this week - more on that later). Roush can only run one of the two drivers for the full year, and the choice was made easy with Stenhouse defending his championship. Bayne last year had to miss a few weeks due to lyme disease. Roush Fenway will be a one car team next week. It’s quite a change from a team that once ran four full time cars in the Nationwide Series.
Results and More after the jump!
| Finish | Qual. | Driver | Team | Laps | Status |
| 1 | 6 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford | 200 | Running |
| 2 | 7 | Mark Martin | 18 Interstate Toyota | 200 | Running |
| 3 | 1 | Elliott Sadler | 2 OneMain Financial Chevrolet | 200 | Running |
| 4 | 14 | Trevor Bayne | 60 Roush Fenway Racing Ford | 200 | Running |
| 5 | 9 | Brendan Gaughan | 33 South Point Chevrolet | 200 | Running |
| 6 | 22 | Cole Whitt | 88 TaxSlayer / Air Hogs Chevrolet | 200 | Running |
| 7 | 3 | Austin Dillon | 3 American Ethanol / AdvoCare Chevrolet | 200 | Running |
| 8 | 8 | Justin Allgaier | 31 Brandt Chevrolet | 200 | Running |
| 9 | 13 | Sam Hornish Jr. | 12 Alliance Truck Parts / Dodge Dealers Dodge | 200 | Running |
| 10 | 2 | Kasey Kahne | 38 Great Clips Chevrolet | 200 | Running |
| 11 | 18 | Kenny Wallace | 09 RAB Racing Toyota | 200 | Running |
| 12 | 12 | Danica Patrick | 7 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet | 200 | Running |
| 13 | 21 | Michael Annett | 43 Pilot Travel Centers / Flying J Ford | 200 | Running |
| 14 | 11 | James Buescher | 30 Turner Motorsports Chevrolet | 200 | Running |
| 15 | 19 | Mike Bliss | 44 Bandit Toyota | 200 | Running |
| 16 | 17 | Tayler Malsam | 19 G-Oil Chevrolet | 200 | Running |
| 17 | 24 | Mike Wallace | 01 The Gun Store Chevrolet | 198 | Running |
| 18 | 32 | Blake Koch | 41 Poynt Chevrolet | 198 | Running |
| 19 | 15 | Johanna Long | 70 Foretravel / Biomet Chevrolet | 198 | Running |
| 20 | 31 | Joe Nemechek | 87 AM FM Energy Toyota | 198 | Running |
| 21 | 25 | Jeremy Clements | 51 GoodInfo.com Chevrolet | 197 | Running |
| 22 | 43 | Morgan Shepherd | 89 GoodInfo.com Chevrolet | 197 | Running |
| 23 | 5 | Brad Keselowski | 22 Discount Tire / Dodge Dealers Dodge | 196 | Running |
| 24 | 40 | Robert Richardson | 23 North Texas Pipe Chevrolet | 196 | Running |
| 25 | 27 | Eric McClure | 14 Hefty / Reynolds Wrap Toyota | 196 | Running |
| 26 | 42 | Danny Efland | 4 JD Motorsports Chevrolet | 194 | Running |
| 27 | 10 | Jason Bowles | 81 American Majority Toyota | 188 | Running |
| 28 | 16 | Kyle Fowler | 08 Randy Hill Racing Ford | 165 | Out of race |
| 29 | 35 | Tim Schendel | 52 Means Motorsports Chevrolet | 164 | Running |
| 30 | 29 | Benny Gordon | 24 SR2 Motorsports Toyota | 146 | Running |
| 31 | 38 | T.J. Bell | 50 Turbine Powered Technology Chevrolet | 140 | Out of race |
| 32 | 36 | Derrike Cope | 28 JPO Absorbents Chevrolet | 137 | Out of race |
| 33 | 20 | Kyle Busch | 54 Monster Energy Toyota | 127 | Running |
| 34 | 4 | Brian Scott | 11 Dollar General Toyota | 94 | Out of race |
| 35 | 34 | Erik Darnell | 40 The Motorsports Group Chevrolet | 91 | Out of race |
| 36 | 37 | Jennifer Jo Cobb | 13 Glen Lerner Dodge | 72 | Out of race |
| 37 | 30 | Joey Gase | 39 Go Green Racing Ford | 41 | Out of race |
| 38 | 23 | J.J. Yeley | 27 GC Motorsports International Ford | 39 | Out of race |
| 39 | 33 | Chase Miller | 46 The Motorsports Group Chevrolet | 6 | Start and Park |
| 40 | 28 | Jeff Green | 10 TriStar Motorsports Toyota | 4 | Start and Park |
| 41 | 39 | Josh Wise | 42 The Motorsports Group Chevrolet | 4 | Start and Park |
| 42 | 26 | Scott Speed | 47 The Motorsports Group Chevrolet | 3 | Start and Park |
| 43 | 41 | Mike Harmon | 74 American Heroes / Boston's Ford | 3 | Start and Park |
I hope it wasn’t lost on anyone that Mark Martin got beat by a Roush #6 Ford. Don’t look now, but Austin Dillon and Cole Whitt are going to make this Rookie of the Year an interesting one. Both are in the top five in points after three races. Here’s how it shakes down:
| Rank | Car # | Driver | Points | Starts | Wins | Top 5 | Top 10 | Poles |
| 1 | 2 | Elliott Sadler | 131 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| 2 | 3 | Austin Dillon | 116 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| 3 | 6 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 114 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 4 | 60 | Trevor Bayne | 112 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 5 | 88 | Cole Whitt | 109 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 6 | 12 | Sam Hornish Jr. | 98 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 7 | 19 | Tayler Malsam | 90 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 8 | 43 | Michael Annett | 82 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 9 | 31 | Justin Allgaier | 76 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 10 | 41 | Blake Koch | 66 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Its time to start looking at the Owner Points battles. There are two every year. The Owner’s Championship and the fight for the top 30 to get locked in every week. Here’s the top of the charts:
| Rank | Car # | Team | Points | Starts | Driver |
| 1 | 2 | Richard Childress Racing | 131 | 3 | Elliott Sadler |
| 2 | 33 | Richard Childress Racing | 117 | 3 | Brendan Gaughan |
| 3 | 3 | Richard Childress Racing | 116 | 3 | Austin Dillon |
| 4 | 6 | Roush Fenway Racing | 114 | 3 | Ricky Stenhouse |
| 5 | 60 | Roush Fenway Racing | 112 | 3 | Trevor Bayne |
| 6 | 30 | Turner Motorsports | 109 | 3 | James Buescher |
| 7 | 88 | JR Motorsports | 109 | 3 | Cole Whitt |
| 8 | 22 | Penske Racing South | 107 | 3 | Brad Keselowski |
| 9 | 12 | Penske Racing South | 98 | 3 | Sam Hornish |
| 10 | 38 | Turner Motorsports | 97 | 3 | Kasey Kahne |
We have two more races before we go to the new Owner points to decide who is locked in. After race five we will take a two week break before returning to Nationwide Action. Here’s how things look after three races:
| Rank | Car # | Team | Points | Starts | Driver |
| 27 | 09 | RAB Racing | 56 | 3 | Kenny Wallace |
| 28 | 01 | JD Motorsports | 56 | 3 | Mike Wallace |
| 29 | 08 | Randy Hill Racing | 51 | 3 | Casey Roderick |
| 30 | 23 | R3 Motorsports | 51 | 3 | Robert Richardson |
| 31 | 11 | Joe Gibbs Racing * | 48 | 3 | Brian Scott |
| 32 | 50 | Make Motorsports * | 48 | 3 | T.J. Bell |
| 33 | 81 | MacDonald Motorsports * | 45 | 3 | Jason Bowles |
| 34 | 39 | Go Green Racing * | 41 | 3 | Joey Gase |
| 35 | 52 | Means Motorsports * | 39 | 3 | Tim Schendel |
| * Not In |
Join us later today for the preview of Short Track Racing at Bristol. Enjoy!
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