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Nationwide Championship Push: The Virginia 529 College Savings 250 Preview and Open Race Thread

Sep 7, 2012, 9:49 PM UTC

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When the Sprint Cup Chase starts up next week, all eyes tend to gravitate to it. That means that the Nationwide and Truck Series races get even less coverage. We have been doing a bit of a disservice to our fans by not having as much Nationwide and Truck series coverage as we should, just as it’s been hard to get our readers to strike up a conversation about the two other series. A mix of personal (a baby on the way) and professional (job really taking off) has held me back from posting consistently here at NASCAR RnR - I intend to change that and come back from the ashes.

We have just 9 races left in the Nationwide Championship battle. Elliott Sadler and Ricky Stenhouse have been battling back and forth this entire season and look to have an even closer battle then last year. Don’t count out Austin Dillon and Sam Hornish either.

Starting Line-Up and More after the Jump!

POS	CAR	DRIVER	MAKE	SPONSOR	SPEED	TIME	BEHIND
1	6	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Ford	Ford EcoBoost	122.822	21.983	Leader
2	3	Austin Dillon*	Chevrolet	American Ethanol	122.294	22.078	-0.095
3	33	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	Armour	122.294	22.078	-0.095
4	12	Sam Hornish Jr.	Dodge	Detroit Genuine Parts	122.023	22.127	-0.144
5	60	Travis Pastrana	Ford	Ford EcoBoost	121.803	22.167	-0.184
6	18	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	Sport Clips	121.797	22.168	-0.185
7	11	Brian Scott	Toyota	Dollar General	121.649	22.195	-0.212
8	70	Johanna Long*	Chevrolet	KeenParts.com	121.490	22.224	-0.241
9	44	Mike Bliss	Chevrolet	TriStar Motorsports	121.463	22.229	-0.246
10	31	Justin Allgaier	Chevrolet	Brandt	121.436	22.234	-0.251
11	51	Ty Dillon	Chevrolet	Wesco	121.245	22.269	-0.286
12	2	Elliott Sadler	Chevrolet	OneMain Financial	121.212	22.275	-0.292
13	43	Michael Annett	Ford	Pilot Flying J	121.049	22.305	-0.322
14	87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	AM-FM Energy Wood & Pellet Stoves / AC General	120.968	22.320	-0.337
15	30	James Buescher	Chevrolet	ABF	120.870	22.338	-0.355
16	46	Chase Miller	Chevrolet	The Motorsports Group	120.805	22.350	-0.367
17	54	Kurt Busch	Toyota	Monster Energy	120.633	22.382	-0.399
18	10	Jeff Green	Toyota	TriStar Motorsports	120.622	22.384	-0.401
19	88	Cole Whitt*	Chevrolet	Hyland's Leg Cramps	120.552	22.397	-0.414
20	20	Darrell Wallace Jr.	Toyota	Dollar General	120.552	22.397	-0.414
21	81	Jason Bowles*	Dodge	MacDonald Motorsports	120.434	22.419	-0.436
22	4	Jeremy Clements	Chevrolet	stjude.org	120.385	22.428	-0.445
23	38	Brad Sweet*	Chevrolet	Great Clips	120.369	22.431	-0.448
24	7	Danica Patrick	Chevrolet	GoDaddy.com	120.353	22.434	-0.451
25	47	J.J. Yeley	Chevrolet	Curtis Key Plumbing	119.707	22.555	-0.572
26	108	Paulie Harraka	Ford	Randy Hill Racing	119.675	22.561	-0.578
27	22	Ryan Blaney	Dodge	Snap-On Tools	119.628	22.570	-0.587
28	40	Erik Darnell	Chevrolet	Key Motorsports	119.511	22.592	-0.609
29	42	Josh Wise	Chevrolet	Key Motorsports	119.485	22.597	-0.614
30	19	Tayler Malsam	Toyota	G-Oil / Noah's Light Foundation	119.448	22.604	-0.621
31	01	Mike Wallace	Chevrolet	JD Motorsports	119.232	22.645	-0.662
32	41	Timmy Hill	Ford	Lilly Trucking CDL Driver Search	119.163	22.658	-0.675
33	199	Ryan Truex	Toyota	Toyota Care	119.074	22.675	-0.692
34	117	Tanner Berryhill	Toyota	Race City Steel / Nationalcashlenders.com	119.058	22.678	-0.695
35	86	Kevin Lepage	Ford	Qello Corp. / Trivette Trucking	118.864	22.715	-0.732
36	15	Matthew Carter	Chevrolet	Rick Ware Racing	118.765	22.734	-0.751
37	175	Scott Riggs	Chevrolet	Rick Ware Racing	118.733	22.740	-0.757
38	171	Carl Long	Chevrolet	Rick Ware Racing	118.240	22.835	-0.852
39	23	Robert Richardson Jr.	Chevrolet	North Texas Pipe	117.744	22.931	-0.948
40	39	Dexter Stacey	Ford	MattiesPlaceRocks.com	117.560	22.967	-0.984
41	14	Eric McClure+	Toyota	Hefty / Reynolds Wrap	117.030	23.071	-1.088
42	124	Derek White+	Toyota	OCR Gaz Bar	114.315	23.619	-1.636
43	100	Blake Koch	Chevrolet	Ruch Motorsports	118.110	22.860	-0.877

Did Not Qualify
44	52	Joey Gase*	Chevrolet	BBB.org	117.888	22.903	-0.920
45	50	David Starr	Chevrolet	MAKE Motorsports	117.366	23.005	-1.022
46	89	Morgan Shepherd	Chevrolet	Shepherd Racing Ventures	117.208	23.036	-1.053
47	174	Mike Harmon	Chevrolet	Koma Unwind Relaxation Drink	116.858	23.105	-1.122

There were 47 teams entered this week, which is a whole lot more then we normally see entered in a Nationwide Race. Only 43 teams made the race. Just a few teams to look out for this week:

#08- Paulie Harraka will make a start in the Nationwide Series after learning that he will not run all 25 Truck races this year. Harraka may be a start and parker this week though.
#12- Sam Hornish has learned that he will not be in the #22 Ford as Joey Logano will take over for A.J. Allmendinger. Hornish has been told that he may be in a third Penske Ford next season if sponsorship can be found. If not, expect Hornish to return to the Nationwide Series full time next year.
#20- Darrell Wallace Jr will make another start for Joe Gibbs Racing. Reports are coming out that Elliott Sadler may be joining Joe Gibbs full time next year, which may end Darrell Wallace Jr and Ryan Truex's chances of a full time ride. Adding Matt Kenseth to the stable may mean we will see the 2003 Sprint Cup Champion back in the Nationwide Series next year.
#22- Ryan Blaney has a huge opportunity to make a name for himself this week with a top five finish this week.
#51- New Truck Series winner Ty Dillon will make another start for Jeremy Clements this week. Dillon will return to the Truck Series next year and hopes to follow in his brother's footsteps with a Championship.
#60- Here's an odd name on the Entry List, Travis Pastrana moves over to the Roush Fenway part time ride for a run. Pastrana was all but done in the Nationwide Series this year until he teamed up with Roush. Ryan Truex is in the RAB Racing Toyota, back in a number that cut him when Michael Waltrip owned the team.

That's right, it's Friday Night Racing, under the lights at Richmond! Tune in at 7 eastern for the Live running of the Virginia 529 College Savings 250 on ESPN2! Enjoy!