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Open Race Thread: NASCAR Nationwide Series O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 | Texas Motor Speedway

Apr 14, 2012, 12:11 AM UTC

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After a two-week Easter break, NASCAR returns to action on a Friday night for the Nationwide Series O’Reily Auto Parts 300 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Elliott Sadler has found new life in the Nationwide Series this year after just missing out on the championship in 2011. He’s won two races to start the year and has embraced new crew chief Luke Lambert’s win-or-go-home attitude.

That combination could leave the Nationwide regulars helpless to stop him from winning his first Series championship.

That list will not include polesitter Paul Menard, a Cup regular, who has returned to Nationwide competition on a mission to return to victory lane for the first time since his Brickyard 400 breakthrough last summer.

Menard’s No. 33 Chevrolet ran a lap in 29.717 seconds at 181.714 mph to outpace Danny Hamlin for the coveted pole position.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Austin Dillon and Elliott Sadler) complete the starting top 5.

Conspicuous by his absence is Trevor Bayne, who was pulled from the no. 60 after failing to secure sponsorship and will miss tonight’s race. This is disappointing for the young Roush-Fenway driver who entered this weekend sitting fourth in points, just 34 markers behind Sadler.

The reality is that sponsors value a partial-season of support at the Sprint Cup level in 2012 more than a full-schedule in the Nationwide Series. This has to be alarming for NASCAR, who appears helpless to support their full-time Nationwide Series superstars.

Changes to the Nationwide business model has to be discussed before the sport loses the opportunity to manufacture new stars.

But that will come later. Tonight should produce good racing and the weather that once threatened tonight's race appears to have broken up.

Menard, Hamlin, Kurt Busch, Kasey Kahne, Joey Logano, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Brad Keselowski are the Sprint Cup regulars competing in tonight's race.

Live television coverage will start on ESPN at 8 p.m. EST and will feature the voices of Allen Bestwick, Andy Petree and Dale Jarrett. For those who are away from the television or prefer the radio broadcasts, goprn.com will stream the race live on any supported computer or mobile device.

A complete starting lineup can be found after the jump. See you in the comments section!

Qualifying Results
Texas Motor Speedway
2012 O'Reilly Auto Parts 300
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Fri, April 13, 2012 @ 06:12 PM Eastern
Track Qualifying Record: Jeff Green 04/06/02 27.908 193.493

Pos	Car	Driver	Team	Time	Speed	Fastest	Next
1	33	Paul Menard(i)	Menards/Rheem Chevrolet	29.717	181.714	0.000	0.000
2	18	Denny Hamlin(i)	SportClips Toyota	29.886	180.687	0.169	0.169
3	6	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Pure Michigan Ford	29.934	180.397	0.217	0.048
4	3	Austin Dillon #	American Ethanol Chevrolet	29.974	180.156	0.257	0.040
5	2	Elliott Sadler	OneMain Financial Chevrolet	29.979	180.126	0.262	0.005
6	54	Kurt Busch(i)	Monster Energy Toyota	30.085	179.491	0.368	0.106
7	88	Cole Whitt #	TaxSlayer.com Chevrolet	30.103	179.384	0.386	0.018
8	38	Kasey Kahne(i)	Great Clips Chevrolet	30.224	178.666	0.507	0.121
9	30	Steve Arpin	Mike's On The Rocks Chevrolet	30.232	178.619	0.515	0.008
10	44	Mike Bliss	TriStar Motorsports Toyota	30.264	178.430	0.547	0.032
11	11	Brian Scott	Dollar General Toyota	30.299	178.224	0.582	0.035
12	20	Joey Logano(i)	GameStop/Batman 2 DC Super Heroes Toyota	30.357	177.883	0.640	0.058
13	22	Brad Keselowski(i)	Discount Tire Dodge	30.382	177.737	0.665	0.025
14	12	Sam Hornish Jr.	Wurth Dodge	30.383	177.731	0.666	0.001
15	70	Johanna Long #	Foretravel Chevrolet	30.383	177.731	0.666	0.000
16	31	Justin Allgaier	Brandt Chevrolet	30.392	177.678	0.675	0.009
17	7	Danica Patrick	GoDaddy.com Chevrolet	30.394	177.667	0.677	0.002
18	43	Michael Annett	Pilot/Flying J Ford	30.530	176.875	0.813	0.136
19	09	Ryan Truex	Grime Boss Toyota	30.587	176.546	0.870	0.057
20	5	Dale Earnhardt Jr.(i)	Degree Chevrolet	30.675	176.039	0.958	0.088
21	08	Kyle Fowler	Randy Hill Racing Ford	30.757	175.570	1.040	0.082
22	10	Jeff Green	TriStar Motorsports Toyota	30.826	175.177	1.109	0.069
23	81	Jason Bowles #	American Majority Toyota	30.839	175.103	1.122	0.013
24	01	Mike Wallace	G&K Services Chevrolet	30.857	175.001	1.140	0.018
25	4	Danny Efland	Danny Efland Racing Chevrolet	30.903	174.740	1.186	0.046
26	41	Timmy Hill	Poynt.com Ford	30.939	174.537	1.222	0.036
27	40	Erik Darnell	TheMotorsportsGroup.com Chevrolet	30.954	174.452	1.237	0.015
28	19	Tayler Malsam(i)	G-Oil Toyota	30.969	174.368	1.252	0.015
29	15	Blake Koch	Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet	30.973	174.345	1.256	0.004
30	27	David Ragan(i)	Mercury Ford	30.993	174.233	1.276	0.020
31	39	Kelly Bires	Fenton Motors Ford	31.000	174.194	1.283	0.007
32	42	Josh Wise(i)	Key Motorsports Chevrolet	31.011	174.132	1.294	0.011
33	87	Joe Nemechek	SWM International Toyota	31.019	174.087	1.302	0.008
34	75	Scott Riggs(i)	RWR Chevrolet	31.019	174.087	1.302	0.000
35	47	Scott Speed(i)	Key Motorsports Chevrolet	31.026	174.048	1.309	0.007
36	46	Chase Miller	Key Motorsports Chevrolet	31.035	173.997	1.318	0.009
37	51	Jeremy Clements	US Petroleum Consulting Chevrolet	31.088	173.700	1.371	0.053
38	52	Tim Schendel	Metro Ministries Chevrolet	31.317	172.430	1.600	0.229
39	23	Robert Richardson Jr.	Tia Rosa/Embassy Suites Chevrolet	31.337	172.320	1.620	0.020
40	50	TJ Bell	Gulf Coast Software Chevrolet	31.473	171.576	1.756	0.136
41	24	Benny Gordon #	Silestone/Dillon Manufacturing Chevrolet	31.488	171.494	1.771	0.015
42	14	Eric McClure	Hefty/Reynolds Wrap Toyota	31.599	170.891	1.882	0.111
43	74	Kevin Lepage	Koma Unwind Chevrolet	31.664	170.541	1.947	0.065