Brad Keselowski won. I long for the day I get to praise another Nationwide-only Winner. Reed Sorenson is now 70 points back of Ricky Stenhouse and 50 points back from second place Elliott Sadler.
Let’s take a different look at the Turner Motorsports situation shall we? Turner Motorsports purchased Braun Racing late last year. When they did, they inherited Reed Sorenson and Jason Leffler. Turner’s first order of business was to find a replacement for Brian Scott, who had been released much in the same way that Reed Sorenson was realeased this year. Turner managed to get Justin Allgaier, who Penske had released due to sponsorship troubles and kept both Sorenson, who was part time until Brian Vickers developed blood clots, and Jason Leffler. Now think of this as a football team. Think of Reed Sorenson as the quarterback that was drafted by the previous GM. What we normally see in the NFL is a new coach or GM comes in and he has his own ideas on who should be the face of the franchise. So often a guy gets cut or traded so the new regime can install their own guy and that is what is happening here. Now remember what Turner Motorsports was before they bought Braun Racing, they were a truck team with two drivers hand picked by Harry Turner, Ricky Carmichael and James Buescher. So don’t be surprised if the #32 Chevy gets a new driver for 2012 in James Buescher. Buescher is close to winning Turner it’s first Nascar Championship and is poised to make the jump to Nationwide Racing.
Turner has no loyalty to Reed Sorenson because Turner simply inherited him with the #32 team. Yes, Sorenson had a good year, but he was 49 points back when Turner pulled the plug on him. Sorenson needed a lot of help to win the championship. He would have needed both Elliott Sadler and Ricky Stenhouse to both have bad weeks in order to get back on top of the standings. It wasn’t out of reach, but for a team like Turner Motorsports that is losing it’s long time sponsor in Dollar General to Joe Gibbs next year, it was important for the team to get wins, not top tens. Reed Sorenson is a consistant driver, but he hasn’t been able to find victory lane on a consistant basis. Why else would Turner put Mark Martin into the car earlier in the year. I still feel it’s wrong to end the dream of a driver when he is clearly still in the hunt, but I also understand that Turner has big plans for his team, and with Justin Allgaier and Reed Sorenson only having a win a peice means he has a long way to go. I would expect to see Jason Leffler lose his ride as well, but Great Clips may want him to remain in the car. If Great Clips would rather see Ricky Carmichael or James Buescher in the car, Leffler will be released.
Results and Points after the JUMP! As well as an updated Nationwide Chase!
Pos | Pos | No | Driver | Team | Laps | Points | Status |
1 | 2 | 22 | Brad Keselowski | Discount Tire Dodge | 200 | 0 | Running |
2 | 1 | 60 | Carl Edwards | Fastenal Ford | 200 | 0 | Running |
3 | 12 | 2 | Elliott Sadler | OneMain Financial Chevy | 200 | 41 | Running |
4 | 4 | 33 | Paul Menard | Rheem / Menards Chevy | 200 | 0 | Running |
5 | 9 | 6 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr | RickyvsTrevor.com Ford | 200 | 39 | Running |
6 | 19 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Hunt Brothers Pizza Chevy | 200 | 0 | Running |
7 | 8 | 18 | Joey Logano | GameStop / Batman Arkham City Toyota | 200 | 0 | Running |
8 | 14 | 32 | Brian Vickers | Dollar General Chevy | 200 | 0 | Running |
9 | 17 | 16 | Trevor Bayne | RickyvsTrevor.com Ford | 200 | 35 | Running |
10 | 3 | 20 | Ryan Truex # | Martin Truex Jr. Foundation Toyota | 200 | 34 | Running |
11 | 21 | 31 | Justin Allgaier | Brandt Chevy | 200 | 33 | Running |
12 | 7 | 88 | Aric Almirola | Degree MEN / HyVee Chevy | 200 | 33 | Running |
13 | 10 | 38 | Jason Leffler | Great Clips Chevy | 200 | 32 | Running |
14 | 6 | 70 | David Stremme | ForeTravel Motorcoach Chevy | 200 | 0 | Running |
15 | 15 | 7 | Danica Patrick | GoDaddy.com Chevy | 200 | 29 | Running |
16 | 25 | 62 | Michael Annett | Pilot Travel Centers / Flying J Toyota | 200 | 28 | Running |
17 | 5 | 11 | Brian Scott | Shore Lodge Toyota | 200 | 27 | Running |
18 | 28 | 30 | James Buescher | Sporting Kansas City Chevy | 200 | 0 | Running |
19 | 11 | 09 | Kenny Wallace | Family Farmers Toyota | 200 | 25 | Running |
20 | 16 | 66 | Steve Wallace | 5-hour Energy Toyota | 199 | 24 | Running |
21 | 13 | 87 | Joe Nemechek | AM FM Energy / Southerlands Toyota | 199 | 23 | Running |
22 | 23 | 19 | Mike Bliss | Spirit Halloween Chevy Chevy | 199 | 22 | Running |
23 | 27 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | RepairableVehicles.com Chevy | 199 | 22 | Running |
24 | 32 | 01 | Mike Wallace | I Hate Steven Singer! Chevy | 199 | 20 | Running |
25 | 18 | 81 | Blake Koch # | Daystar.com Dodge | 198 | 19 | Running |
26 | 24 | 82 | Reed Sorenson | K Love Dodge | 198 | 18 | Running |
27 | 33 | 89 | Morgan Shepherd | ABLE / Victory in Jesus Racing Chevy | 198 | 17 | Running |
28 | 37 | 52 | Kevin Lepage | RepairableVehicles.com / Crowne Plaza Chevy | 197 | 16 | Running |
29 | 41 | 39 | Joey Gase | Go Green Racing / JoeyGase.com Ford | 196 | 15 | Running |
30 | 39 | 28 | Derrike Cope | MAXelence.com Dodge | 193 | 14 | Running |
31 | 36 | 14 | Eric McClure | Hefty / Reynolds / Sam’s Club Chevy | 188 | 13 | Running |
32 | 42 | 23 | Angela Cope | blkbeverages.com/MillenniumSpaSalon Chevy | 167 | 12 | Accident |
33 | 40 | 40 | Josh Wise | Cajun Industries Chevy | 138 | 11 | Engine |
34 | 31 | 15 | Timmy Hill # | Poynt.com Ford | 87 | 10 | Engine |
35 | 35 | 71 | Matt Carter | Lilly Trucking Ford | 18 | 9 | Start and Park |
36 | 22 | 03 | Scott Riggs | North Texas Pipe Chevy | 13 | 8 | Start and Park |
37 | 38 | 75 | Carl Long | Lilly Trucking Ford | 13 | 7 | Start and Park |
38 | 34 | 41 | Johnny Chapman | Lillly Trucking Chevy | 12 | 6 | Start and Park |
39 | 26 | 46 | Chase Miller | Curtis Key Plumbing Chevy | 10 | 5 | Start and Park |
40 | 30 | 47 | Charles Lewandoski # | Curtis Key Plumbing Chevy | 5 | 4 | Start and Park |
41 | 20 | 44 | Jeff Green | Tri Star Motorsports Chevy | 3 | 3 | Start and Park |
42 | 29 | 50 | T.J. Bell | LibertyTireRecyclers/PinnacleRubber Chevy | 3 | 0 | Start and Park |
43 | 43 | 27 | J.J. Yeley | 31W Insulation Ford | 2 | 0 | Start and Park |
Only Six drivers are still mathmatically eligible for the Championship at this point. With four races to go, it’s Ricky Stenhouse’s to lose. Reed Sorenson will continue to run with MacDonald Motorsports and his chances are heavily cut due to lack of equipment. Here’s how the points look heading into the home streatch:
POS | Driver | Points | Back | Wins |
1 | RICKY STENHOUSE JR. | 1064 | 2 | |
2 | ELLIOTT SADLER | 1044 | -20 | 0 |
3 | REED SORENSON | 994 | -70 | 1 |
4 | ARIC ALMIROLA | 984 | -80 | 0 |
5 | JUSTIN ALLGAIER | 972 | -92 | 1 |
6 | JASON LEFFLER | 916 | -148 | 0 |
7 | KENNY WALLACE | 866 | -198 | 0 |
8 | STEVE WALLACE | 839 | -225 | 0 |
9 | BRIAN SCOTT | 838 | -226 | 0 |
10 | MICHAEL ANNETT | 832 | -232 | 0 |
11 | MIKE BLISS | 742 | -322 | 0 |
12 | TREVOR BAYNE | 733 | -331 | 0 |
And of course, here’s Troy J’s Nationwide Chase:
Reg Pos | Chase Pos | Numb | Driver | Chase Points | Chase Behind | Reg Behind |
1 | 1 | 6 | Ricky Stenhouse | 2236 | 0 | 0 |
2 | 2 | 2 | Elliott Sadler | 2218 | -18 | -20 |
4 | 3 | 88 | Aric Almirola | 2214 | -22 | -80 |
5 | 4 | 31 | Justin Allgaier | 2203 | -33 | -148 |
10 | 5 | 62 | Michael Annett * | 2183 | -53 | -232 |
9 | 6 | 11 | Brian Scott * | 2180 | -56 | -226 |
6 | 7 | 38 | Jason Leffler | 2176 | -60 | -148 |
11 | 8 | 19 | Mike Bliss * | 2173 | -63 | -322 |
3 | 9 | 32 | Reed Sorenson | 2172 | -64 | -70 |
12 | 10 | 16 | Trevor Bayne * | 2165 | -71 | -331 |
8 | 11 | 66 | Steve Wallace * | 2163 | -73 | -225 |
7 | 12 | 09 | Kenny Wallace * | 2152 | -84 | -198 |
*-Eliminated in Regular Points System |
Next week we head to Charlotte before the Nationwide Drivers take a week off. Enjoy!