All eyes, both fans and Sprint Cup teams and drivers, will be on this race today. The two main stories about this race will be; 1) The battle for the Nationwide Championship and 2) How the new racing surface is going to affect the racing on the track. Of course this may not be exactly in the right order.
The Championship is effectively down to Stenhouse and Sadler. Will the younger driver prevail with youthful enthusiasm or will the seasoned veteran be hungry enough to prevail and win his first Championship?
For more on this check out what NASCAR RNR’s Troy J had to say.
I imagine that there will be more curious eyes peering from the garage area than normal for a Nationwide race because of the new pavement. Will there be two grooves or just one like pre-paved Bristol? Will the racing surface hold up or come apart like Texas years ago? And so on …
There will be a lot to learn from today’s race and the answers may be hard learned for some of the drivers on the track.
For more info and opinion about this subject check out what NASCAR RnR’s very own NASCAR Krissy had to say.
Starting line-up and ‘in-depth race discussion’ after the jump – see you there!
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Starting line-up via nascar.com.
| POS | CAR | DRIVER | MAKE | SPONSOR | SPEED | TIME | BEHIND |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 88 | Aric Almirola | Chevrolet | Suave Men | 132.910 | 27.086 | Leader |
| 2 | 60 | Carl Edwards | Ford | World Financial Group | 132.905 | 27.087 | -0.001 |
| 3 | 16 | Trevor Bayne | Ford | Air Hogs | 132.758 | 27.117 | -0.031 |
| 4 | 33 | Clint Bowyer | Chevrolet | Rheem Heating, Cooling & Water Heating | 132.734 | 27.122 | -0.036 |
| 5 | 12 | Sam Hornish Jr. | Dodge | Alliance Truck Parts | 132.358 | 27.199 | -0.113 |
| 6 | 2 | Elliott Sadler | Chevrolet | OneMain Financial | 132.270 | 27.217 | -0.131 |
| 7 | 31 | Justin Allgaier | Chevrolet | Brandt / Monterey AgResources | 132.265 | 27.218 | -0.132 |
| 8 | 20 | Ryan Truex* | Toyota | Martin Truex Jr. Foundation | 132.008 | 27.271 | -0.185 |
| 9 | 18 | Joey Logano | Toyota | GameStop | 131.975 | 27.278 | -0.192 |
| 10 | 22 | Brad Keselowski | Dodge | Discount Tire | 131.965 | 27.280 | -0.194 |
| 11 | 6 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Ford | Ford. Drive one. | 131.661 | 27.343 | -0.257 |
| 12 | 09 | Kenny Wallace | Toyota | Toyota | 131.449 | 27.387 | -0.301 |
| 13 | 81 | Blake Koch* | Dodge | Daystar.com | 131.430 | 27.391 | -0.305 |
| 14 | 87 | Joe Nemechek | Toyota | AMFMEnergy.com / Pellet & Wood Stoves | 131.133 | 27.453 | -0.367 |
| 15 | 30 | James Buescher | Chevrolet | Exide Batteries | 131.047 | 27.471 | -0.385 |
| 16 | 147 | Scott Speed | Chevrolet | Curtis Key Plumbing | 131.009 | 27.479 | -0.393 |
| 17 | 19 | Mike Bliss | Chevrolet | Millennium Salon / Spa Software & Element Payment Services | 130.947 | 27.492 | -0.406 |
| 18 | 38 | Jason Leffler | Chevrolet | Great Clips | 130.766 | 27.530 | -0.444 |
| 19 | 62 | Michael Annett | Toyota | Oakley / Pilot Flying J | 130.416 | 27.604 | -0.518 |
| 20 | 70 | David Stremme | Chevrolet | Foretravel Motorcoach | 130.392 | 27.609 | -0.523 |
| 21 | 89 | Morgan Shepherd | Chevrolet | Victory In Jesus | 130.317 | 27.625 | -0.539 |
| 22 | 66 | Steve Wallace | Toyota | 5-Hour Energy | 130.241 | 27.641 | -0.555 |
| 23 | 182 | Reed Sorenson | Dodge | Foametix / Bullet Liner | 130.142 | 27.662 | -0.576 |
| 24 | 11 | Brian Scott | Toyota | Shore Lodge | 130.067 | 27.678 | -0.592 |
| 25 | 7 | Danica Patrick | Chevrolet | GoDaddy.com | 129.954 | 27.702 | -0.616 |
| 26 | 49 | Mark Green | Chevrolet | Acredale Vending | 129.580 | 27.782 | -0.696 |
| 27 | 134 | Ricky Carmichael | Chevrolet | Monster Energy | 129.566 | 27.785 | -0.699 |
| 28 | 44 | Jeff Green | Chevrolet | TriStar Motorsports | 129.538 | 27.791 | -0.705 |
| 29 | 171 | Matthew Carter | Chevrolet | Rick Ware Racing | 129.408 | 27.819 | -0.733 |
| 30 | 23 | Robert Richardson Jr. | Chevrolet | North Texas Pipe | 129.255 | 27.852 | -0.766 |
| 31 | 104 | Tim Andrews | Ford | Go Green Racing | 129.055 | 27.895 | -0.809 |
| 32 | 39 | Matt Frahm | Ford | TSP Powder Coating | 129.037 | 27.899 | -0.813 |
| 33 | 141 | Johnny Chapman | Chevrolet | Rick Ware Racing | 128.963 | 27.915 | -0.829 |
| 34 | 180 | D.J. Kennington | Dodge | Northern Provincial Pipelines | 128.788 | 27.953 | -0.867 |
| 35 | 15 | Timmy Hill* | Ford | Poynt / Lilly Trucking of Virginia | 128.631 | 27.987 | -0.901 |
| 36 | 01 | Mike Wallace | Chevrolet | I Hate Steven Singer | 128.438 | 28.029 | -0.943 |
| 37 | 52 | Kevin Lepage | Chevrolet | Tilted Kilt Sports Bar | 128.393 | 28.039 | -0.953 |
| 38 | 14 | Eric McClure | Chevrolet | Hefty BlackOut / Reynolds | 128.329 | 28.053 | -0.967 |
| 39 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | Chevrolet | Phoenix Automotive Cores | 127.918 | 28.143 | -1.057 |
| 40 | 40 | T.J. Duke | Chevrolet | Curtis Key Plumbing | 127.244 | 28.292 | -1.206 |
| 41 | 28 | Derrike Cope+ | Chevrolet | Maxelence | 125.274 | 28.737 | -1.651 |
| 42 | 32 | Ron Hornaday+ | Chevrolet | Dollar General | 124.057 | 29.019 | -1.933 |
| 43 | 146 | Chase Miller | Chevrolet | Curtis Key Plumbing | 128.659 | 27.981 | -0.895 |
| Did Not Qualify | |||||||
| 44 | 113 | Jennifer Jo Cobb* | Dodge | Lerner and Rowe | 127.060 | 28.333 | -1.247 |
| 45 | 175 | Carl Long | Ford | Rick Ware Racing | 126.529 | 28.452 | -1.366 |
| 46 | 142 | Josh Wise | Chevrolet | Curtis Key Plumbing | 124.827 | 28.840 | -1.754 |
| 47 | 202 | Daryl Harr | Chevrolet | WestWorld Computers | 107.985 | 33.338 | -6.252 |
