|| *Comments on the 2011 Iowa John Deere Dealers 250:* View the most recent comment <#98> | Post a comment <#post> 1. Schroeder51 posted: 05.22.2011 - 5:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) First win in over a year for a NNS regular. 2. Rusty posted: 05.22.2011 - 5:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) A Nationwide regular! First time with the new points system that a driver who wins the race actually recieves points in the Nationwide Series. 3. Anonymous posted: 05.22.2011 - 5:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Good race. I think this was the break out race for Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and the hot seat is now on David Ragan. Ricky during this race showed his potential by passing the lead multiple times on Carl Edwards on the track. 4. ericthenau posted: 05.22.2011 - 5:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hooray for Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. for getting his first NASCAR Nationwide Series victory! 5. cjs3872 posted: 05.22.2011 - 5:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Yes, and the "REAL" future of Roush Racing (the best hope, anyway, whether or not Trevor Bayne ever does get healthy) gets his first NNS win. The difference between Ricky Stenhouse and Trevor Bayne is that, to me, Stenhouse is aggressive, and that Bayne, to me, is conservative, like Benny Parsons and Terry Labonte. Stenhouse actually TOOK the lead from Edwards late in the race, while in his Daytona 500 win, Bayne INHERITED the lead from David Ragan. even after that, he wanted to give the race to Tony Stewart by following him. So don't be surprised if Stenhouse is in Roush's #6 car next year, because David Ragan's days in that car are now, in my mind, officially numbered. That is, unless, Edwards, for some reason, leaves the #99 car, then Stenhouse would probably get that ride, whether or not the #6 car opens up. If nothing else, Stenhouse's win make him a candidate for the #21 car for the 600 and upcoming races that teams intends to run later in the year (unless Bayne makes a miraculous recovery. After all, if Bayne couldn't run a 150-mile race with three breaks in the action, how can he run a race four times as long?) 6. RCRandPenskeGuy posted: 05.22.2011 - 5:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Congrats to Ricky Stenhouse and the #6 team on winning, and beating their teammate (who's a Cup star) to do so. First win for a Nationwide regular since Justin Allgaier won at Bristol in March 2010. Let's see how this season goes for Stenhouse before dubbing him as David Ragan's replacement. Even if he contends for or wins the championship this year, I still think he might need one more year of Nationwide before going to Cup. 7. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.22.2011 - 5:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) YES! I broke my vow not to watch anymore Truck or NWide races after a staggering 2 week run. When I found out only 2 Cup guys would be in it, and I remembered how much ass this track kicks, I decided to watch. And damn if the two Cup guys didn't almost win the damn thing. But they didn't, Stenhouse beat them. Congrats to Ricky. And thanks to Jack Roush for having patience with him and actually allowing him to develop. Last year, I thought he was pure dog meat as a racer. I was wrong, and I am glad to be wrong. He has really taken to this new Mustang. Keep kicking ass Ricky! I think, as cjs mentioned, he may be the next guy at Roush instead of Trevor (who in all fairness is really good himself and has a great future ahead of him). Hey NASCAR: GIVE IOWA A CUP DATE!!! The racing here is outstanding. Compare all the side by side racing to last night's garbagefest of an All Star Race at Charlotte. This track needs to be bought by ISC (because that is the only way they'll give it a Cup date) and give one of Kansas' dates and Chicago's date to this track for two 400 lap Cup races. Give the Mid Western fans something good to watch live for once. 8. the MAN posted: 05.22.2011 - 5:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) HELL YEAH STENHOUSE!!! 9. Mike posted: 05.22.2011 - 6:05 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Third race in a row that qualifying's been rained out. 10. Eric posted: 05.22.2011 - 6:15 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Iowa can't get a cup date because there are enough cup dates in the Midwest region thanks to Kansas having 2 cup dates. The only way Iowa has chance is if Indianapolis Motor Speedway leaves the cup schedule. That is possible down the road because right now the ticket sales at Indy are worse than they were last year at the same time last year. That is not a good sign because In 2010, Indianapolis Motor Speedway had its worst attendance for a cup date with 140,000 fans. That is still a lot of fans, but that was the 2nd year in a row that there was big drop in attendance after the 2008 tire fiasco over there. The day that there is around 50,000 to 70,000 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway is the day that Nascar needs to decide that they shouldn't be there anymore. The fact is 60,000 to 70,000 fans at a track that holds 240,000 isn't a good percentage at all. 11. potatosalad48 posted: 05.22.2011 - 6:17 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Holy crap, a Nationwide regular grows a pair and beats a Cup guy in a Nationwide race. Congratulations, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., you deserve this one. 12. AlmirolaFan88 posted: 05.22.2011 - 6:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Weekend sweeep for Roush Fenway Racing, they won every race they entered. Ragan(Showdown) Edwards(All-Star race), and Stenhouse Jr. today. RAB Racing continues their impressive journey from a backmarker team that struggled just to qualify for races just 2 years ago with John Wes Townley, to a team that's won a race, and now is a respectable Toyota team that competes for Top 10's on a regular basis. Great run for Kenny Wallace in his 500th career Nationwide start. Another embarrasing run for Aric Almirola today, his pit crew gave him great track position, but for whatever reason, he couldn't keep up. I worry if he dosen't get it together soon, he'll get Kelly Bires'ed. 13. Smokefan05 posted: 05.22.2011 - 6:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Atta a boy Stenhouse. Rick Wreckhouse is your no longer your nickname (atleast according to me). Your a winner, good job. I'm gonna be honest here, the only i thought that a N'wide guy would win a race would be to wreck a Cup driver to do it. But thank goodness i was wrong about that. Kenny Wallace gets another top 10. I hope he gets one more shot at Cup before he reries. 14. Schroeder51 posted: 05.22.2011 - 6:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Don't ask me why, but I have a sneaking suspicion that Aric Almirola and Brian Scott will be canned before the year is over. 15. cjs3872 posted: 05.22.2011 - 6:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Bayne may have a good future, not a great one, if he can get well, but is also one of those drivers that the other competitors already know they can take advantage of. That's another reason why Stenhouse has the inside track for the #6 car. Racing drivers, like other professional athletes, have a mental book on their competitors, and know which drivers they can take advantage of (Bayne, Regan Smith, Kasey Kahne, etc.), and which drivers they can't take advantage of (Calr Edwards, the Busch brothers, Brad Keselowski, Juan Montoya, etc.), and I think Stenhouse falls into the latter grouping. That's one reason Earnhardt, Sr. was such a great competitor. He knew who he could take advantage of (Bill Elliott, Terry Labonte, Darrell Waltrip, Benny Parsons, etc.) and which drivers he couldn't (Richard Petty, Bobby Allison, Cale Yarborough, Tim Richmond, Rusty Wallace, Geoff Bodine, etc.) and incorporated that into his race strategy, depending on how the race went. He knew that if he got aggressive with one of the drivers in the former group, he would get away with almost every tim, without reprisals, but if he tried to muscle one of the drivers in the latter group, that he knew that he could expect payback somewhere down the line. 16. 18fan posted: 05.22.2011 - 6:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) It looks like it will be Sadler, Sorenson, Stenhouse, and maybe Allgaier fighting for the championship 17. Anonymous posted: 05.22.2011 - 6:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "That's one reason Earnhardt, Sr. was such a great competitor. He knew who he could take advantage of (Bill Elliott, Terry Labonte, Darrell Waltrip, Benny Parsons, etc.) and which drivers he couldn't (Richard Petty, Bobby Allison, Cale Yarborough, Tim Richmond, Rusty Wallace, Geoff Bodine, etc.) and incorporated that into his race strategy, depending on how the race went. He knew that if he got aggressive with one of the drivers in the former group, he would get away with almost every tim, without reprisals, but if he tried to muscle one of the drivers in the latter group, that he knew that he could expect payback somewhere down the line." hahahaha, I love when R-R posters pull stuff like this out of their asses. 18. BIMMERTECH posted: 05.22.2011 - 7:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Hey NASCAR: GIVE IOWA A CUP DATE!!!" - Um, NO! They would just pair it with the nationwide race and 10 cup guys would run in it and everybody will bitch about it. Plus, the nationwide series needs its own schedule. This was a prime example that the nationwide series can survive on it own. The stands were packed. And i'm not gonna buy that bullshit that they were all there to see Carl Edwards. 19. Anonymous posted: 05.22.2011 - 7:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I think its time for the "Brian Scott Project" to end. 20. RaceFanX posted: 05.22.2011 - 7:17 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Twin sisters Angela and Amber Cope make thier Nationwide series debuts. Derrike's neices were a bit of a roadblock though to faster cars, both spun out to cause cautions and Amber then caused the wreck that took out Brian Scott and was parked by NASCAR for it. 21. Anonymous posted: 05.22.2011 - 7:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Where is all the complaining about Cup regulars being in this race? Or could it be that most people really don't mind them there at all as long as they don't win? Hypocrites. At least try to be consistent. Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski should still be getting strung up for their presence in this race, regardless of where they finish. I guess when you're too dumb to understand what's really going on in NASCAR, you're also too dumb to remember to lodge your usual complaints. Strange how so many of the people who claim to be "done with this series" still watched this race. Funny, it's almost as if none of them realize anyone can go back and look at old race threads to call them on their lies. Here, I'll get the ball rolling. Brad Keselowski is a complete tool for being in this race. Would it be so bad to skip this one, Brad? Do you really need the ego boost that comes from flying hundreds of miles overnight to make a Nationwide race in Iowa, the night after you stunk it up in the All Star race? Even Kyle Busch had the decency to skip this one (something not one single person here will give him credit for, I'm sure). And Carl Edwards, really, you HAD to race here less than 24 hours after winning a million dollars in Charlotte? How insecure are you? As long as these guys are in a race, all the usual people that complain about the same BS every week, should be in these threads saying the same thing. The fact that no one is doing it calls into question their entire belief system, and makes me wonder if they only complain because they're biased against Kyle Busch and will complain about anything he does regardless. I repeat: hypocrites. 22. Rotor77 posted: 05.22.2011 - 7:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Bimmertech-Iowa could still get a Cup date without having to have a Nationwide companion race. They could throw the trucks in with it (like Pocono), or just run a standalone Cup race, kind of like they do at Infineon. 23. cjs3872 posted: 05.22.2011 - 7:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Anonymous, all great champion athletes, regardless of what sport it is, have to have a mental book on his competition, and then be able to use it to their advantage. I was just using Dale Earnhardt, Sr. as an example, but I could use just about any other champion to bring out that point as well. That point being that you have to know yuor opposition, their strengths and weaknesses, and then use that information to your best advantage, and Earnhardt was probably better at that than anyone else in my years of watching NASCAR, and it's been over 20. He knew who he could rough up, and he knew who he couldn't rough up. Believe me, the top drivers of today have a similar book and use it to their advantage. Drivers like Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, and Tony Stewart also use that to their advantage. It may well be a different group of drivers, but the idea is the same. Know your competition, their strengths and weaknesses, and use that information to their advantage. A good example is the 2004 spring race at Darlington. Jimmie Johnson knew he could be aggressive in his efforts to hold off Bobby Labonte, which he successfully did. There's no way that he would have ever been able to race Stewart, or Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch, Greg Biffle that same way today, because he knew that he would never get away with it. But he knew he could with Bobby Labonte. 24. Bronco posted: 05.22.2011 - 7:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) First win for a Nationwide regular in well over a year, and Ricky did it by beating no less than last night's All-Star race winner. Possibly the first Nationwide win by a driver from Mississippi? Herring and McDowell were both strong in their one off runs, both managed to lead laps after starting on the front row. Aside from Villeneuve, Carpentier or Fellows, one of who will likely win at Road America or Montreal, the next non Cup driver to win in Nationwide this year is going to be Elliott Sadler. He's due. 25. BrianVickers83fan posted: 05.22.2011 - 8:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I Know if Kyle Busch was in the race, he would have won Although Congrats to Ricky Stenhouse Jr 26. cjs3872 posted: 05.22.2011 - 8:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Not just that, Bronco, but aside from Lake Speed (1988 Spring Darlington race), I can't recall anyone from Mississippi (or Louisiana, for that matter) ever winning a race in any of NASCAR's three major series. But expect Stenhouse to be the first driver from the Gulf region (east Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi) to be a major star in NASCAR since the reign of the Allisons (unless I missed someone I don't know about). 27. cjs3872 posted: 05.22.2011 - 8:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The Allisons, of course, called Alabama (another Gulf region state) home, though Bobby and Donnie were actually from Miami, FL. 28. Schroeder51 posted: 05.22.2011 - 9:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I'm half waiting for someone to say this race was rigged. 29. cjs3872 posted: 05.22.2011 - 9:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Anonymous, I've never had a problem with Cup drivers being in Nationwide or Truck Series races. Actually, I thinkn that gives the full-time drivers in those series a good measuring stick as to where they stand. The problem I have is the Cup TEAMS running the full Nationwide Series with their budgets. And that only got started with a decision made in late 2001 when NASCAR decided to have final practice for the Cup series before the Nationwide series race. When it was after the Nationwide series races, only two Cup teams, Roush Racing and Richard Childress Racing had entries in the NNS, and each only ran one full-time car. Now you've got Gibbs running two cars, Childress only recently got out of the NNS, Roush running three cars in each race until this past one. Hendrick also had a full-time NNS team, but disbanded that years ago. Now I have no problem with Kevin Harvick and dale Earnhardt, Jr. running NNS teams full-time, even if it is with full-time Cup drivers. But the boom for full-time Cup teams running the NNS series began with the NNS race/NSC practice switch a decade ago. Because of that, some of those teams, especially Roush, began using the NNS race as a free practice session for the Cup race the following day at the events in which the NNS race was a companion race to the Cup race. 30. Smokefan05 posted: 05.22.2011 - 9:42 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Agree with most of what post #21 says. I've said this on another thread, one car for cup drivers that runs half the races, it earns no points (driver and owner) and no money. If the cup driver wins, any money he would have earned goes to the highest finishing regular. 31. 18fan posted: 05.22.2011 - 9:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #29- The main problem with that change was that it coincided with the removal of a lot of the short tracks and the series gained a lot more companion races. 32. cjs3872 posted: 05.22.2011 - 9:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) That was also true, as the entire sport was going through a transition, and that was part of it. But I still maintain the biggest problem where the full-time Cup series teams running the NNS (or Busch Series as it was known then) was the free practice session, full with adjusting the cars during the NNS races, which gave the teams running the NNS races a substantial advantage in the Cup race the following day, because they knew what the track was going to do, and what the tires were going to do, even though the cars were not entirely compatible. Roush was the first car owner to exploit the advantages of this, closely followed by Childress, Hendrick, and Gibbs. That was also during the period of the explosion of young talent. But with the well now pretty dry, there should be a way for more young talent to grow and flourish, and that maybe splitting the series more often is a good idea. The problem is, where would the series go to split off from the Cup Series during the summer months? 33. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.22.2011 - 9:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "That's one reason Earnhardt, Sr. was such a great competitor. He knew who he could take advantage of (Bill Elliott, Terry Labonte, Darrell Waltrip, Benny Parsons, etc.) and which drivers he couldn't (Richard Petty, Bobby Allison, Cale Yarborough, Tim Richmond, Rusty Wallace, Geoff Bodine, etc.) and incorporated that into his race strategy, depending on how the race went. He knew that if he got aggressive with one of the drivers in the former group, he would get away with almost every tim, without reprisals, but if he tried to muscle one of the drivers in the latter group, that he knew that he could expect payback somewhere down the line." You are right. Although he messed with Geoff Bodine a lot. He knew Geoff would try to pay him back, but wasn't good enough to do so without sidetracking his own race. It was a way of eliminating a potential competitor by getting him to focus on something other than winning. Earnhardt was good at this. I don't know if JJ is as capeable of this because he doesn't need to be. His competition does a good enough job of sidetracking themselves without him (see Harvick and Hamlin at Dover last year). Although the way he got Denny to completely throw in the towel with one race still to go last year reminded me of Mark at Atlanta in 1990. 34. 00andJoe posted: 05.22.2011 - 10:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Congrats Ricky! -Drew Herring scores his best career Nationwide finish, his previous best being 15th in the July Iowa race last year. -Daryl Harr scores his best career Nationwide finish, his previous best being 35th at Phoenix in February. -Jennifer Jo Cobb scores her best career Nationwide finish, her previous best being 29th at Texas earlier this year. -First career Nationwide start for Angela Cope and Amber Cope. 35. Cooper posted: 05.22.2011 - 10:10 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 21. Anonymous posted: 05.22.11 - 7:19 pm 110% Correct. 36. TheTruthâ?¢ posted: 05.22.2011 - 10:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I don't think David Ragan is on the hot seat, really. Stenhouse has improved greatly and had a true accomplishment today. But let's remember that David Ragan won 2 Nationwide races, including Bristol over Edwards, Keselowski, Harvick, Kenseth, & Bowyer. Not trying to belittle Stenhouse, just trying to say that Ragan has done this before and this isn't proof that Stenhouse needs to run the 6 ASAP. I get a kick out of the certain bitter anonymous posters that continue to post week after week. "Where is all the complaining about Cup regulars being in this race?" Pretty simple. Less cup regulars = less to complain about. However, I still see people complaining. "Brad Keselowski is a complete tool for being in this race. Would it be so bad to skip this one, Brad? Do you really need the ego boost that comes from flying hundreds of miles overnight to make a Nationwide race in Iowa, the night after you stunk it up in the All Star race? Even Kyle Busch had the decency to skip this one (something not one single person here will give him credit for, I'm sure)" Brad didn't stink it up in the All Star, he had an issue with brakes. After getting it fixed, he was back to being one of the faster cars in the field. It isn't like he decided last night that he needs to run Iowa now. He's in the car because the sponsors want him in the car and he was scheduled to run this race (among others) for a long time. Before this season, they were hoping to get the sponsor to want Kligerman in the 22 a bunch but it hasn't panned out that way thusfar. Also Kyle Busch didn't "have the decency to skip this one", it just so happens that McDowell brought a LOT of cash to the table. Kyle has been pretty open about wanting to race Nationwide all the time, and was vocally frustrated with not running for the championship last year. Now Kyle runs more truck & Nationwide races than anyone in the Cup field, do you complain about him being a tool when he runs all those races? Did you complain about Harvick for running the East Series race a day after winning the All Star event? How about Kasey Kahne doing the same thing? How about Kyle Busch winning the Iowa East race a day after "stinking it up" in the All Star? Probably not, since all you wanna do is talk crap to anybody, especially the Kyle Busch haters. 37. Cooper posted: 05.22.2011 - 10:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Brad didn't stink it up in the All Star, he had an issue with brakes. After getting it fixed, he was back to being one of the faster cars in the field." TheTruth...I think Anonymous was just trying to prove a point. If not then he has to rewatch BK passing the leader and driving away from the field! I missed this race altogether, but damn look at old Kenny Wallace go! Only 63 points behind the points lead and 7th in the standings. Good for him. 38. David H posted: 05.22.2011 - 10:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "But expect Stenhouse to be the first driver from the Gulf region (east Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi) to be a major star in NASCAR since the reign of the Allisons (unless I missed someone I don't know about)." The Labonte Brothers? 39. Bronco posted: 05.22.2011 - 10:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Another embarrasing run for Aric Almirola today, his pit crew gave him great track position, but for whatever reason, he couldn't keep up. I worry if he dosen't get it together soon, he'll get Kelly Bires'ed." I think you're right, and I'm shocked that the best he has done this year are a few 9th and 10th place runs in a JRM car. He is already a full race's points out of the lead and he isn't competitive on a weekly basis. He was doing much better last year and he scored a top five in the Homestead Cup race, so I don't think its an issue of driver talent. "Brad didn't stink it up in the All Star, he had an issue with brakes." To clarify, there was no issue with his brakes, not until after he had smacked the wall heavily in the opening laps. 40. cjs3872 posted: 05.22.2011 - 11:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The Labonte brothers are from Corpus Christi, which is at about the Southern tip of Texas. I consider the Gulf region to be east Texas (from about Houston and Galveston), Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, though the Florida panhandle also qualifies. But the Labonte brothers were certainly mainstays at the front for about 30 years. But, on a sadder note, I'm sad to hear about the terrible tornado that has struck a little while ago in 2010 Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400 winner Jamie McMurray's hometown of Joplin, MO. My thoughts are with everyone there, as well as anyone else in the path of those horrible storms. First, there was the storms that hit Alabama, Georgia, and the Carolinas, and now this. While we communicate about racing here, and have our disagreements, an event like this really puts things in their proper perspective. Suddenly, Jack Roush's dominant weekend at both Charlotte and Iowa, as well as the happeneings at Indy, as well as the NBA Conference Semi-finals don't seem to mean very much now. My best wishes to those impacted by the second mega-tornado to hit this year. 41. RCRandPenskeGuy posted: 05.22.2011 - 11:16 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Denny Hamlin's 2010 season reminded me of Carl Edwards' 2008 season. Every week, they seemed to have more speed than the driver who won the championship, but a mistake by each (Carl causing the big one at Dega and taking himself out in the process, Denny wrecking himself at Homestead early) caused them both to practically give away the title. Also, in both campaigns they had won a bunch early in the season, didn't win much in the mid-point before reverting back to winning status towards the end of the year. 42. CFob posted: 05.23.2011 - 1:09 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "To clarify, there was no issue with his brakes, not until after he had smacked the wall heavily in the opening laps." You meant to say he didn't hit the wall until he had an issue with the brakes. 43. Anonymous posted: 05.23.2011 - 1:20 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I'm not impressed by this victory. Winning in a watered down field doesn't do anything for me, because that's exactly what a Late Model Sportman's Series regualar is supposed to do. When it happens with all the Strictly Stock guys in the field, then it'll mean something. 44. I Love Japan posted: 05.23.2011 - 1:42 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Dear gawd post #43, it's not 1950 anymore. Heck Strictly Stock wasn't even used in 1950. Drew Herring I think has potential. I look for him to be in Cup by 2014. 45. cjs3872 posted: 05.23.2011 - 7:09 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) #43, you'd be correct if Stenhouse inherited the the lead due to something happeneing to the leaders, but he took the lead from Edwards on the track late in the race (and not just that one time, either) and legitimately earned that victory, and I wouldn't be surprised if that's just the first of three or maybe four this year, because even before this victory, Stenhouse had been the only NNS-only driver to consistently run with the top Cup drivers that were running the NNS races this year. 46. Neal posted: 05.23.2011 - 7:57 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Only 2 Cup drivers in the field and yet the track still sells out? So much for the asinine "the Nationwide Series needs the Cup drivers" excuse. Wake up NASCAR and get the Cup interlopers out of the lower-tier series. 47. cjs3872 posted: 05.23.2011 - 8:59 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Neal, the problem isn't the Cup drivers as much as it is the Cup TEAMS (and their budgets) running in the NNS. Back 20, 25 years ago, when the Cup drivers wopuld run in the NNS races, it would either be with cars that they (the Cup drivers) owned, or with other owners not in any way affiliated with Cup teams (for example, Harry Gant would run in cars owned by Ed Whitaker, who had run sporadically in Cup races, but not at the time that Whitaker ran in the NNS series). 48. dUDE gUY posted: 05.23.2011 - 10:48 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) The first Nationwide race of the year I regret missing. Great job Stenhouse Jr, holding off the two cup drivers in the field for your first career win. Awesome. cjs3872, I agree. Cup driver in NNS equipment is fine, like Biffle has done a few times over the years, or NNS driver in Cup equipment is fine as well. But Cup guys in Cup equipment are almost guaranteed to stink up the show. 49. AlmirolaFan88 posted: 05.23.2011 - 11:39 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Those days when Cup drivers would occasionally drive NNS equipment were long ago though. It's hard to tell exactly what IS NNS equipment anymore. Mark Martin and Kasey Kahne drive for Turner Motorsports. Sure, they may only compete in the Nationwide and Truck Series, but they're still a Hendrick supported, conglomerate powerhouse team. It's not like we'll ever see competitive single car Nationwide only teams like Herzog Motorsports and Reiser Enterprises again.....or even Baker Curb and NEMCO Motorsports back in it's prime days. Even Phoenix Racing, their done racing full time in this series. :( But looking back at the Las Vegas race page, no one cried sour grapes when Martin won for Turner, so I guess that's good enough. 50. cjs3872 posted: 05.23.2011 - 11:44 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) To me, there's a substantial difference between running for an actual Cup team and running for a NNS or Truck Series team that's affiliated with a Cup team, but not a Cup team itself. 51. Toledo posted: 05.23.2011 - 12:37 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I will forever root against Ricky Stenhouse after what he pulled at Toledo in 2008. No matter how many times he takes the checkered flag first, Ricky will never be a "Winner" in my book. Nor will he ever be a "Champion", kind of what Sharpie said about Kurt Busch after he paraded around Arizona like a fool. I'm glad to see a Nationwide Series regular win a race, but I am disappointed that it was Stenhouse. 52. cjs3872 posted: 05.23.2011 - 1:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Yes, that was cheap what he tried, and Scott Speed made sure he didn't get away with it, even if cost himself the ARCA championship, handing it to Justin Allgaier. But that doesn't, in any way, effect the value of Stenhouse's win on Sunday. If anything, it may increase it's value, because he was able to fully redeem himself from his disastrous blunder in that 2008 ARCA season finale. 53. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.23.2011 - 5:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Only 2 Cup drivers in the field and yet the track still sells out? So much for the asinine "the Nationwide Series needs the Cup drivers" excuse. Wake up NASCAR and get the Cup interlopers out of the lower-tier series." Exactly. 54. cjs3872 posted: 05.23.2011 - 8:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) DaleSrFanForever, the race was far from a sellout, in fact, the posted attendance dropped nearly 32.5% from the last NNS race at Iowa, from 56,000 to 37,811, a drop of 18,189 fans from the previous event at the same track. Attendance stats courtesy of racing-reference.info. 55. cjs3872 posted: 05.23.2011 - 8:12 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sorry, DSFF, I apologize to you, you were just quoting another poster, Neal. My apologies to you, DSFF. But the attendance numbers are facts, according to racing-reference.info. And the drop of attendance from 56,000 to 37,811 is still a drop of nearly 32.5%, or over 18,000 customers. Where I come from, that's far from a sellout. 56. cjs3872 posted: 05.23.2011 - 8:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I discovered the reason for the sharp drop in attendance. Apparently the extra attendance figures from the race last August were from temporary seaating, so this race was closer to a sellout than I thought. Sorry, Neal amnd DSFF for my David Ragan-sized miscue. 57. Neal posted: 05.23.2011 - 10:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) cjs3872 - No biggie on the seating miscue, it happens. Now, as far as the Sprint Cup teams being a bigger problem than the Sprint Cup drivers, I disagree. For the most part there's a reason why the Sprint Cup drivers are where they are...they're better drivers. Top-to-bottom the talent level in Sprint Cup is leaps and bounds ahead of the talent level in the Nationwide Series. If you take Kyle, Carl, and a Nationwide Series regular and put them all in "Nationwide Only" equipment, Kyle and Carl would kick the regular's ass 9 times out of 10. It's kinda like thinking that you've got a chance to beat Tiger Woods at a round of golf if you can just convince him to use rented clubs. 58. cjs3872 posted: 05.23.2011 - 11:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) That may be true, Neal. But, if you didn't have the Cup teams participating, the NNS or Truck Series drivers would be on a more level playing field, because the disparity in the budgets would be far less. I also saw Ricky Stenhouse's interview tonight on NASCAR Hub, and he said that if Trevor Bayne had been healthy, that he would have been right up there for the win with himself and Carl Edwards. Who's he trying to kid? Trevor would've been back in about seventh through tenth place, where he usually is, becuase he drives totally differently from the other two. Bayne seems to race to finish races while Stenhouse and Edwards race to lead and win. There's a big difference between the two. And all you have to do is look at restarts. Early in the year, it wasn't uncommon for as many as ten cars to pass Bayne on restarts. (That happened at both Las Vegas and California.) So Bayne would never have been where Stenhouse and Edwards were, but rather, he would probably have been back about where Kenny Wallace and Justin Allgaier was. 59. Spen posted: 05.24.2011 - 2:08 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Gosh, can you make a single post without bashing Trevor Bayne? We get it, you think he's overrated, now move on to another subject, please. 60. TheTruthâ?¢ posted: 05.24.2011 - 3:36 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Can't say I agree regarding Bayne... he's been aggressive in several instances. Some people just struggle on restarts, which can also depend on the track. Brad Keselowski has had a lot of issues with restarts in the past, but I wouldn't say he's a conservative driver. Bayne has overdriven race cars just the same as Ricky has but he hasn't torn as many up. If you watch a lot of Bayne's Cup races this year for example, it was pretty evident that Trevor was pushing the car. He was catching fence way often. I just can't see how anyone could say Trevor races to finish races. I mean, we're talking about the guy who went a number of races in a row racing side by side with Kyle Busch among others up front while driving the MWR #99. 61. cjs3872 posted: 05.24.2011 - 9:28 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Yes TheTruth, California is an example, where he tried to go into the high groove when there wasn't one and brushed the wall as a result, ruining his day. And, yes, there is something to be said about a driver that doesn't tear up cars. And he has made mistakes (particularly at Phoenix when he misjudged a car going into a corner, though I don't think there's ever been a driver that hasn't made that mistake). And by the way, driving more on the consistent side isn't a crime. (And yes, I often confuse diving consistently with driving conservatively.) Some of the greatest drivers in history have driven that way. They include Benny Parsons and Terry Labotne in NASCAR. And let's not forget Rick Mears, and Al Unser, Sr. and Jr. They were never accused of being overly aggressive. In fact, Mears lost the Indy races in 1982 and 1986 by not being aggressive. (And won the Indy race in 1991 with the boldest pass for the lead ever in that event.) Mears, and the Unsers I mentioned won 102 races (Unser, Sr. 39, Unser, Jr. 34, and Mears 29) including 10 Indianapolis 500s and eight championships. (Even Bobby Unser, one of the most aggressive drivers in history, won and finished second at Indy in 1974 and '75 when he drove conservatively.) They were all drivers that were known for bringing their cars home. Some drivers are just more consistent at bringing their cars home than others. It'll be interesting to see how Bayne races, when and if he comes back from whatever it is that has been ailing him, now that he's out of the championship hunt, as to whether or not he's willing to take more chances. And your point about racing Kyle Busch is accurate, especially at Iowa last summer (I watched a significant part of that race), when he had that string of three consecutive poles (and top 5 finishes in all three of those races), which is proof that he is a fast driver. As for his problem on restarts, Jeff Gordon had the exact same problem last year, which probably cost him anywhere between two and four wins last year.(Martinsville, where he was too conservative, Phoenix, where he spun his tires, and Richmond, where a better restart on the final one might also have won him the race are three examples.) 62. cjs3872 posted: 05.24.2011 - 9:37 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) And Spen, I disagree with you, in fact, I rate Trevor Bayne's Daytona 500 victory right up there with Johnny Rutherford's 1974 Indy win as two of the biggest feel-good victoies in auto racing history. And Trevor is a very good driver, perhaps better than he even thinks he is. (A thought that the late Johnny Boyd once had about Billy Vukovich II.) And comparing his style to Benny Parsons and Terry Labonte. Well, Parsons won 21 races, including the 1975 Daytona 500 and 1980 World 600, as well as the 1973 Cup championship. Labonte won 22 times, including 2 Southern 500s, and won 2 Cup championships and the 1989 IROC championship. Bayne would probably put up similar numbers, if he recovers. And his Daytona 500 win proved he has a very cool head in the pressure situations, and it doesn't get more pressurized than leading on the way to winning the Daytona 500. After all, while the veteran drivers were crashing and making one mistake after another, he was absolutely flawless. 63. cjs3872 posted: 05.24.2011 - 11:15 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Also of note, there have been three drivers in the Nationwide Series and Cup Series combined to score their maiden voyage to victory lane this year. (Trevor Bayne in the Daytona 500, Regan Smith in the Southern 500, and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. in this race.) All three races had the same thing in common: Carl Edwards finished in second place in all three. Also, as all three of those drivers proved, they were able to perform their best under pressure, and for the first time under that pressure, which is even more amazing. After all, the sternest test any athlete can face is what they do when the pressure's on, especially for the first time, and they all passed with flying colors. After all, some of the greatest drivers have made some rather awful gaffes late in races while seemingly on their way to victory. Included among them was Emerson Fittipaldi in the 1994 Indianapolis 500, who pressed way too hard to lap Al Unser, Jr. when, even with a pit stop he had to make, he was probably still going to win going away, David Pearson inexplicably tangled with Cale Yarborough coming to 2 laps to go in the 1975 Daytona 500, a race he had in the bag (though Pearson still blames Cale Yarborough), and Juan Montoya (who won the 2000 Indianapolis 500) speeding on pit road for no reason when he had the 2009 Brickyard 400 won, are just some examples of great drivers making mysterious gaffes in big races they had won, and there are plenty of others, as well (Bill Elliott hitting the wall late in the 1986 Southern 500 while leading, for example). So for Stenhouse, Smith, and most natably of all, Bayne to be unflappable in the pressure moments when they had never bben there before, is remarkable. (Bayne's performance tops the others by a wide margin because of the venue and the event in terms of performing under pressure.) 64. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.24.2011 - 4:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Sorry, Neal amnd DSFF for my David Ragan-sized miscue." HA! It's ok. I think Bayne is doing pretty good. Yes he's made mistakes, especially in Cup, but he was rushed to a more expansive schedule too soon. It's an understandable mistake in some respect, he won the Daytona 500 outright, it would be tough to go back to being an NWide regular. I think his illness (assuming it gets 100% cured and doesn't do permanent damage to him) will be a help to him. It will slow down his ascent which was being rushed way too much. 65. cjs3872 posted: 05.24.2011 - 4:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Agreed, if you need to look at an example of going too far the ladder too fast, look at Casey Atwood. But I also think that Bayne may wind up being one of those drivers that does better in Cup than he would in the NNS. His racing temperment seems to be more sutied for the longer races. His seemingly more patient style on the track, which may hinder him in the Nationwide Series' shorter races, may actually be more beneficial for him in the Cup Series in the longer races that series runs. In other words, his sixth-tenth place runs in the NNS may turn into top 5s in the Cup Series. And remember, Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, and Jeff Gordon didn't set the world on fire when they ran in the NNS. Gordon only won three times (though that was due to overaggressiveness) before going to Cup (he won two more NNS races since, including his final one, to date). Johnson won only once in the NNS before going to Cup (and hasn't won in the NNS since in his sporadic appearances. And Stewart didn't even win a NNS race until 2005, the year of his SECOND Cup Series title. 66. Talon64 posted: 05.24.2011 - 6:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I don't think David Ragan is on the hot seat, really. Stenhouse has improved greatly and had a true accomplishment today. But let's remember that David Ragan won 2 Nationwide races, including Bristol over Edwards, Keselowski, Harvick, Kenseth, & Bowyer. Not trying to belittle Stenhouse, just trying to say that Ragan has done this before and this isn't proof that Stenhouse needs to run the 6 ASAP." The difference between Stenhouse and Ragan's NNS wins is that Ragan was already on his 3rd season of running both Cup and Nationwide when he finally got his 2 NNS wins; Ragan was benefitting from track time in two series, versus just 1 for Stenhouse. It took Ricky 51 Nationwide starts to get his first NASCAR win, versus 196 starts for Ragan between Trucks, Nationwide and Cup. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. becomes the 129th driver in Nationwide Series history to win a race, and the 7th different driver to win in Nationwide driving for Jack Roush (Mark Martin, Jeff Burton, Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards and David Ragan). Ricky's win ended a 42 race win drought for full time Nationwide-only drivers dating back to March 2010 when Justin Allgaier won at Bristol. Ricky also picked up his series-leading 9th top 10 of the season, and with 4 top 5's he surpasses his 2010 totals in only 12 starts (32 starts last season). It's Roush's 116th win in Nationwide, 4th this season and 8th win between Cup and NNS in 2011. Carl Edwards gets his 6th runner-up finish between Cup and NNS this season (4 point-paying wins, 1 in Cup and 3 in NNS). It's Roush's first 1-2 finish in Nationwide since Ragan and Carl at Bristol in 2009. This is the 3rd time in the last 5 years that the All Star race winner finished 2nd in a lower tier series race in the same weekend (Harvick to Joey Logano in 2007, Kahne to Brian Ickler in 2008). Brad Keselowski gets his 3rd top 5 in 3 Iowa NNS starts. Reed Sorenson's 77 laps led in the race is the 3rd most in his NNS career, and the first time he'd led the most laps in a race since Gateway in 2007 (95 laps, won the race). Sorenson has back-to-back top 5's for the first time since the first 2 races of 2011, and it's his 6th top 10 in the last 7 races; a 7.2 average finish in that stretch, and his points scored is 2nd only to... Elliott Sadler, who is tied for the series-lead in top 5's with Kyle Busch at 7. They've all come in his last 9 starts (5.6 average finish, outscoring everyone by 45 points). Kenny Wallace made his 500th career Nationwide start, and his 6th place finish is his best since finishing 3rd at Memphis back in 2008. He's 1 top 10 back of Jack Ingram for 6th all time. Michael McDowell gets just his 7th top 10 in 73 Nationwide starts, and led a career-high 19 laps. Justin Allgaier finishes 8th for a 2nd straight year at Iowa. James Buescher has back-to-back top 10's for the first time in Nationwide, getting his 2nd top 10 in 5 starts this season (15.0 average finish). Austin Dillon gets his 2nd top 10 in 2 starts this season, and 3rd in 9 career Nationwide starts. Steve Wallace gets his 3rd 11th place finish of 2011. Drew Herring started on pole thanks to qualifying being rained out, and led his first career laps in Nationwide (39 total) to finish 12th in his 5th career start. Jeremy Clements gets his best finish of 2011 in 14th, just his 3rd top 20 finish (22.6 average finish, 15th in the standings). Blake Koch was the highest finishing rookie in the race in 21st. He's 3rd in the ROTY standings, 11 points behind leader Timmy Hill with 1 less start; Ryan Truex is 2nd, 9 points back with 2 less starts. 67. cjs3872 posted: 05.24.2011 - 6:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) And lets not forget, Talon64, that Ragan's first NNS win at Talladega was somewhat marred by the fact that he put his teammate Matt Kenseth on his roof late in that race. (There was no such incident that I know that marred his win over Edwards in Bristol.) And again it's ironic that half of Edwards' second-place finishes sop far this year were to driver earning the first major NASCAR victories. 68. cjs3872 posted: 05.24.2011 - 6:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I'm not sure it belongs here, but did anyone hear about Kyle Busch getting ticketed for going 83 MPH OVER THE SPEED LIMIT? If he's not careful, he's going to kill himself or someone else. And I thought he drove dangerously ON the track sometimes. But apparently what he does on the track is NOTHING compared to what just got caught doing. I hope, for his safety alone, not to mention anyone else's, that Mike Helton, Joe Gibbs, or Jimmy Makar, or maybe even his brother Kurt, gives him the riot act before this becomes another Rob Moroso situation from back in 1990. 69. Eric posted: 05.24.2011 - 7:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I just read it. I know Kyle got a new sports car, but that is no reason to do that. I am saying because my dad owned very fast car back in a part of the 1970's before I was born and he followed the rules of the road despite that fact. My dad had a Dodge Charger sometime in 1970's with a lot of horsepower under the hood. Kyle needed to be taken to the woodshed for that one. I understanding wanting to do "waddle she do" with his new sport car, but do it in an area that isn't a public road at least. 70. TheTruthâ?¢ posted: 05.24.2011 - 10:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "The difference between Stenhouse and Ragan's NNS wins is that Ragan was already on his 3rd season of running both Cup and Nationwide when he finally got his 2 NNS wins; Ragan was benefitting from track time in two series, versus just 1 for Stenhouse." Yes, Ricky improved to a frontrunner quicker. David improved to consistent, good runs fairly quickly on the Nationwide side. The amount of time it took to get better shouldn't matter though. I don't feel that Ragan is on the hot seat because Stenhouse isn't a step up right now. Maybe he will be a step up very soon, but for now, Stenhouse isn't doing things in a Nationwide car that Ragan hasn't. Putting Stenhouse in the 6 likely wouldn't help at this point... but it could in the future if Ricky keeps getting better. I'm looking at the two drivers as how they stand now, and not how quickly it took for them to get their first wins. 71. cjs3872 posted: 05.25.2011 - 9:16 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) We also know that Roush is somewhat of a gambler when it comes to moving his drivers up. In 2001, he moved Kurt Busch up to the Cup Series straight from the Truck Series when many people thought he should have moved Greg Biffle, who was more a proven commodity. That, however, turned out pretty well for him in the short time that Kurt ran with Roush, as he bagged one championship and about 12-15 wins (I don't currently know exactly how many races he won with Roush). Biffle won the NNS (then the Busch Series) championship in 2002, and was moved up to Cup in 2003, and although he has had some success (including winning the Firecracker 400 as a rookie and later the Southern 500 twice), his success has not, in my opinion, equaled what Busch did with Roush in the Cup Series. But of course, with every successful gamble you take on drivers, there are more than a few that don't materialize. (Wally Dallenbach, Jr., Kevin Lepage, as well as some of his lower series failures). So picking which drivers to move up, and when to move them up, can be a pretty substantial gamble. 72. cjs3872 posted: 05.25.2011 - 9:17 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I think we can also add David Ragan to that list of gambles that did not pay off for Roush. 73. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.25.2011 - 1:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @ post 65: I agree. The NWide Series isn't the best indicator for Cup success. Heck, just one guy has gone on to win the Cup championship after winning the Busch/NWide title, and that was Bobby Labonte. One factor that has to be looked at is quality of equipment. JJ drove for the start up Herzogs, Gordon drove for Bill Davis, and Tony was driving for JGR part time between Indy starts back when their Busch cars weren't all that competitive. They certainly weren't the same as the Toyotas they are dominating with now with 128 and Logano. And a good test study that shows how different Cup is from NWide is Logano and 128. In every NWide start, Logano is up front, contending for wins, and winning the pole in the majority of his races. And of course 128 is winning at a historic rate in NWide (as well as the Trucks), and although he is doing well in Cup, averages about 3 wins per year, which is basically one month's worth of wins for 128 in NWide. 74. cjs3872 posted: 05.25.2011 - 2:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Also, I hear that Roush is holding Trevor Bayne out for another week. That may be one of the smartest decisions he's ever made. Running him this week would have been a big mistake (especially in the 600), considering what he's been going through. Instead, he's starting Bayne out slowly, as he should, running him next week in the preliminary race only. The only comparible situation to this was the Tim Richmond case in 1987. Richmond and car owner Rick Hendrick decided to make the All-Star Race Richmond's comeback race, since it was only 200 miles in length. The first full race that Richmond ran was at Pocono (which he won). Pocono was a wise choice since it was quite possibly the easiest track on the circuit on a driver, physically. So starting Bayne out slowly is not only the most prudent option, by in my opinion, the only viable one. After all, running Bayne in the races this week, especially the 600, may have resulted in a replay of the Dale Earnhardt, Sr. incident at the start of the 1997 Southern 500 when he blacked out. 75. cjs3872 posted: 05.25.2011 - 4:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) By the way, doesn't anyone find it ironic that Kyle Busch's speeding ticket (128 MPH in a 45) came on the 30th anniversary of the horrible crashes of Danny Ongais at Indy (not to mention the horrible pit fire in Rick Mears' pit at Indy moments before Ongais' terrible accident) and Donnie Allison and Dick Brooks in the World 600, as well as bizarre incident of Bobby Unser and Mario Andretti both passing cars under the caution at the three-quarter mark of the Indianapolis 500 1981. (Unser passed eight cars and Andretti passed three. Unser was later penalized one position, which was later rescinded, while Andretti was never penalized for his rule violation.) Heck, nearly one-third of the field never got the green flag to start that race at Indy because they had already passed the S-F line. So May 24, even off the track, continues to be a bizarre day in the motorsports world with Kyle Busch's idiotic stunt. 76. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.25.2011 - 5:45 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I agree bringing Bayne back for the 600 would be a mistake. I like your Tim Richmond example, how they used the short All Star race as a stepping stone to see if he could handle the 500 mile races. I think they should have Trevor running just the NWide Series for a few weeks before bringing him back to Cup. Let him work his way back up. Like you said, we definitely don't want another '97 Southern 500 incident (although that was an out of nowhere situation that never got fully explained). Watching him just pass out on the first lap, I was sure his career was done at the time. Oddly enough, after his '01 Daytona wreck, even as safety workers swarmed his car, I thought "Eh, he'll be alright". It wasn't until they interviewed a spooked Schrader, somebody who can find the humor in seemingly anything, that I got worried. 77. Talon64 posted: 05.25.2011 - 6:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Stenhouse is going to make his Cup debut subbing in for Bayne in the #21 for the Coke 600. Bayne will be back in the car for the Nationwide race at Chicagoland and his next Cup start will be at Michigan. 78. cjs3872 posted: 05.25.2011 - 9:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Well, DSFF, the Tim Richmond situation was the only example of a prominent driver being sick like this in modern history that I can think of. And nobody wants Bayne to end up like richmond, no matter the reason. As for the Dale, Sr. incident at the 1997 Southern 500 being unexplained, the Bayne sickness may very well be equally unexplained, as I can't believe it was just the insect bite, now closing in two months ago, that did it, though it is almost certainly a partial cause. (Could it be a blood infection of some kind caused by the bite?) I still think that Bayne's condition is far more serious than anyone is letting on. (Probably for confidential reasons, which I can understand, since Bayne's true condition is not really any of our business, unless he or someone close to him wants to disclose it. After all, NFL legend Walter Payton was FORCED to reveal his condition because vicious rumors were going around, and he felt the need to tell everyone to stop the rumors. He broke down and cried at the end of that press conference. He died not long afterwards.) Meanwhile, talk about pressure. If having two cup drivers breathing down your neck, waiting for you to make the mistake that would open the door for their victory, just how would it feel to drive a legendary car for a legendary team, filling for the driver that won the series' biggest race, the Daytona 500 for that team? That's exactly where Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. is, as he has been tabbed as Bayne's fill-in driver for the 600. Every move he makes will be scrutinized like never before. I mentioned in an earlier post that Stenhouse performed incredibly under pressure for the first time battling for a victory. But last Sunday's pressure is absolutely nothing compared to sitting in for a Daytona 500 champion, even if he is your (Roush Racing) teammate and best friend. What if he crashes in qualifications and doesn't make the race? What if drivers overaggressively in the race and takes out a respected driver, possibly even a teammate. Another thing that not having Bayne in the car may do is that if it rains all day and no practice takes place (which it is not forecast to do), that car, which would be locked in based on Bayne's Daytona 500 victory, may not make the race, due to not entering the most previous three races. (I believe the guarnteed starting position in case of complete wash outs go to the driver, not the team. If I'm wrong about that, and it is a winning team, then disregard this portion of this comment.) 79. cjs3872 posted: 05.25.2011 - 9:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) When I mentioned the Payton illness and his press conference to tell everyone to stop the rumors in the last post, I meant that he was forced to tell everyone what he had. Sorry about any confusion. 80. Dodge posted: 05.26.2011 - 7:40 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) (I believe the guarnteed starting position in case of complete wash outs go to the driver, not the team. If I'm wrong about that, and it is a winning team, then disregard this portion of this comment.) FYI: It is both. If Trevor was to race say the 38, that car would be locked in AND the 21, whoever would drive it, (in this case Stenhouse) would also get in as long as the team's entry was before the entry deadline. Last case for this was last year. The 09 won in 2009 with Brad Keselowski in the car, when he moved to Penske, the 09 was able to make races if rain cancelled qualifications, they were still listed above the teams that were higher (36 and so on) on the starting lineup due to that win, as long as the entry deadline was met. I think winning driver(s) gets in first and then the winning owner(s) get in then the owner points till they have 43 cars to race. 81. cjs3872 posted: 05.26.2011 - 12:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Thank you very much, Dodge, for clarifying the rule to me and everyone else that posts here. I only thought that the winning driver would get a pass on that rule. Maybe you should try to get a commentator's role with one of the networks that carry the sport, since at least one of the networks hires commentators that don't even know all the rules. 82. cjs3872 posted: 05.26.2011 - 12:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) So then it would go by past champions, past winning drivers during the season, past winning owners during the season, and then back to the owner point standings until the field is full in the case of a complete washout, including practice, I assume. 83. Talon64 posted: 05.26.2011 - 5:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) With Stenhouse's win, non-Cup drivers have now won 19 out of 187 races since 2006. Which means Cup drivers have won 89.8% of the races. 84. Dodge posted: 05.26.2011 - 8:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "So then it would go by past champions, past winning drivers during the season, past winning owners during the season, and then back to the owner point standings until the field is full in the case of a complete washout, including practice, I assume." I am almost certain that the teams are given a 2 year pass if they win, just like the AllStar race. When Brad Keselowski won in the 09 in '09, they were still able to start ahead in 2010 as well if qualifications were rained out. "Thank you very much, Dodge, for clarifying the rule to me and everyone else that posts here. I only thought that the winning driver would get a pass on that rule. Maybe you should try to get a commentator's role with one of the networks that carry the sport, since at least one of the networks hires commentators that don't even know all the rules." Thank you but I gotta admit, the reason why I know so much about that rule is that I read it on JAYSKI a while back. That would be an ideal job, though. I am one of the controversial posters at times. People may not like what I put at times, but I have always had that issue so by now I am used to it but I do consider others insight as well to help me out to see their point of view and politely debate or try to. 85. Dodge posted: 05.26.2011 - 8:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Forgot to say yes, it goes past champions(Most recent on down that are entered), then winning drivers from the last year and current and then the winning owners from the last year and current then the remaining spots, if any, go to the teams below the 35th owner points. In the unique position where you have several new teams without owner points, then I believe it goes to the practice speeds. If no practice is used, it goes by the qualifying number that they pull. They still do that just for the new teams in case inclement weather interrupts qualifications. 86. RCRandPenskeGuy posted: 05.27.2011 - 1:09 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Let's hope that somehow, the Nationwide regulars can continue to cut down on the Cuppers' win percentage, although I doubt that will be happening anytime soon. Speaking of which, I'm glad Brad won't be running the #22 for a couple of races this year. Maybe next season he'll only do companion races (hopefully). 87. A-Frame43 posted: 05.27.2011 - 4:16 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) cjs3872, you could stand to do a lot less posting and a lot more reading. You could start by looking up the meaning of the word "irony". There's nothing ironic at all about the scenario you mentioned in post #75. Its barely coincidental. I think you were merely looking for a way to show off and you failed. 88. cjs3872 posted: 05.27.2011 - 4:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) No, A-Frame43, I just think that it was odd that it Kyle Busch's idiotic traffic stunt occurred on the 30th anniversry of those terrible accidents and odd occurrences. Sorry you thought that way. I do like to be informative, however. Ironic might not have been the right choice of words, but it was the only one I could think of at that time. Thanks for your concern, however. 89. Dodge posted: 05.27.2011 - 6:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) cjs3872 I wouldn't worry about A-Frame43 or if anybody bashes you. I don't like being bashed but have in a way accepted it though it is not right. The comment that you made was YOUR OPINION. We are allowed to voice our opinion and if someone don't like it, then that is their problem. If they don't like your posts, then they can skip over them. 90. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.27.2011 - 8:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) cjs, some people just don't like discussion. They just like to throw darts. 91. A-Frame43 posted: 05.28.2011 - 1:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Dodge, you are allowed to have your opinion and so am I. My opinion is that he's an idiot. Your opinion may differ. That's what makes this country great. 92. Eric posted: 05.28.2011 - 2:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) cjs3872, It is something that you shouldn't concern with. The only warning I have to give you is if you mention anything bad Kyle did such as speeding, some people on this site are going to call you a troll, hater, jealous, whatever automatically by Kyle Busch fans. 93. NazRacePhan posted: 05.30.2011 - 8:32 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Strange fact... fist time in series history qualifying was rained out 3 weeks in a row! 94. Windows Millennium Edition posted: 03.13.2016 - 3:05 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Withdrew: WD|Daryl Harr|02|iWorld|?|Chevrolet WD|Trevor Bayne|16|RickyVsTrevor.com|Jack Roush|Ford 95. Maverick posted: 09.05.2016 - 6:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Roush's huge success in the Xfinity series can attributed almost to extreme Buschwhacking. This was just his TENTH Xfinity win by a series regular, and only 23 of their 137 wins came by regulars. Thankfully, Edwards left the 60 after 2011, and they haven't Buschwhacked since. 96. Paul posted: 01.27.2017 - 1:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) There were two substitute drivers on-hand for this standalone race at Iowa Speedway: #22 - Sam Hornish, Jr. (sub for Brad Keselowski) [Hornish practiced the car] #60 - Brian Ickler (sub for Carl Edwards) [Ickler practiced the car] Both Hornish and Ickler would have also qualified their respective cars, but qualifying got rained out. Chris Buescher was originally going to do the same in the No. 16 car for Trevor Bayne, but that car wIthdrew before the race. 97. Anonymous posted: 04.17.2021 - 6:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Larry Carter was Michael Annett's crew chief not Jason Overstreet. 98. Rich posted: 04.24.2021 - 2:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Allen Bestwick along with Andy Petree and Dale Jarrett were the commentators. Dave Burns along with Mike Massaro and Shannon Spake were the pit road reporters. Tim Brewer was at the Craftsman tech garage. Nicole Briscoe and Brad Daugherty were in the ESPN pit studio. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: