KENTUCKY PRIMED TO PRODUCE ANOTHER FIRST-TIME WINNER IN 2014

Trevor Bayne

September 19, 2014 – Kentucky Speedway is the last standalone event on the schedule and possibly the perfect stage for the series’ sixth first-time winner to pop up in the VisitMyrtleBeach.com 300 Victory Lane (Sept 20 at 7:00 p.m. on ESPN).

In a competitive season that has seen 15 different winners in 26 races it should be no surprise that of the 15, five were first time series winners. Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Brendan Gaughan, Ty Dillon and Chris Buescher all have captured the checkered flag this season. So who’s next?

Six of the top-eight drivers in the series standings have a win this season; the two odd men out are Brian Scott and Trevor Bayne.

Richard Childress Racing’s Brian Scott sits fifth in the driver standings having posted three Coors Light poles, five top fives, 16 top 10s and a career-best average finish of 9.9. Scott is on the cusp of breaking through and getting his first win. His season-to-date Driver Rating is 100.2, also a career-best through 26 races. Scott has made seven starts at Kentucky with a best finish of eighth earlier this season.

Roush Fenway Racing’s Trevor Bayne might be going full-time in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series next season but by no means does he want to close this season out winless. Bayne is sixth in the standings after posting one Coors Light pole, five top fives, 17 top 10s and an average finish of 10.7. His season-to-date Driver Rating of 92.1 is the second-best in his career through 26 races. Bayne has made six starts at Kentucky posting a best finish of 11th in 2011.

Of Kentucky Speedway’s 16 previous NASCAR Nationwide Series races, five were won by first-time winners, David Gilliland (2006), Stephen Leicht (2007), Joey Logano (2008), Austin Dillon (2012) and last year’s event winner Ryan Blaney (2013).

 

JR MOTORSPORTS CONTINUES HOLD ON STANDING LEAD

Chase Elliott

May 30, 2014 – JR Motorsport’s (JRM) drivers Regan Smith and Chase Elliott are the 1-2 punch combo that has much of the NASCAR Nationwide Series reeling. Smith and Elliott have held the series standings lead the whole season, swapping the points lead twice through 11 races. Call it what you will, but these two have Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s organization on the path to its first series title.

However, Elliott felt the sting of a poor finish (37th) which dropped him from first to third in the standings. He is now 28-points off the points lead held by his teammate (Smith).

“I can tell you one thing, we have some work to do before heading to Dover,” said Elliott. “Anything short of winning is just not good enough.  This team can get the job done, so we’ll prepare to rebound next weekend.”

While Elliott rebounds, Smith continues to be unrelenting with his consistency. He posted a series leading 11th top-10 finish of the season last weekend at Charlotte.

The JRM duo heads to Dover with quite different agendas. Smith is looking to improve on his recent performances (average finish of 20.1) at Dover and hold on to the points lead; while Elliott is making a series track debut and attempting to make up the points he lost last weekend.

That may mean the time to capitalize is now for Elliott Sadler, currently second in the standings, five points off the lead. Of the top three drivers in points, Sadler has the best pre-race Driver Rating (90.0) and Average Running Position (12.8) at Dover.

Also Trevor Bayne, fourth in the standings 35 points behind Smith, will take a crack at closing the gap in the points this weekend. In five starts, Bayne has an average finish of 10.8 and a pre-race Driver Rating of 94.9 (7th-best) at Dover. In other good news, Bayne signed a full-time deal to drive the Roush Fenway Racing No. 6 in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 2015.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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TREVOR BAYNE HEADS HOME IN BETTER PLACE THAN LAST YEAR

Trevor Bayne

March 13, 2014 – What a difference one year can make. After the first three races of 2013, Trevor Bayne sat eighth in the standings, 32 points behind leader Sam Hornish Jr. The Tennessee driver had a respectable pair of fourth-place finishes to ease the burn of a disappointing 31st in the season-opening race at Daytona.

Fast forward to 2014 and Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series Drive to Stop Diabetes 300 presented by Lilly Diabetes at Bristol Motor Speedway. Bayne returns to his home state and track in a much better position – second place in the standings, three points behind current leader Regan Smith. Bayne arrives at his home track with a streak of five consecutive top-10 finishes dating back to last season, with finishes of third, seventh and eighth to start this year.

In 10 series starts at the .533-mile short track, Bayne has three top 10s, including a sixth-place finish in his most recent visit. In the 2013 March event, he finished 12th after pacing the field for 13 laps.

NASCAR

 

NATIONWIDE REGULARS HAVE HISTORY, AND KNOW WHAT IT TAKES TO WIN IN VEGAS

Bayne has never finished lower than sixth

March 06, 2014 – The last two NASCAR Nationwide Series races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway have seen series regulars celebrate in Victory Lane: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (2012) and Sam Hornish Jr. (2013). Saturday’s Boyd Gaming 300 could continue that streak with a handful of drivers as the most likely to pull the trifecta off.

A quick scan of Loop Data from the past nine series races at Las Vegas have a combination of Trevor Bayne, Ty Dillon, Brendan Gaughan, Elliott Sadler and Brian Scott appearing in the top five in several categories: average driver rating, quality passes, green-flag speed, fastest laps run, fastest on restarts, laps led, laps in top 15 and average running position.

In four starts at the “Diamond in the Desert,” Bayne has never finished lower than sixth. He led 21 laps in last year’s race before finishing fourth for the second consecutive season. His best finish at the 1.5-mile speedway is ninth (2012) in three NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts.

Dillon has only one series start at Vegas, which came last year where he finished 11th after starting fifth. In two NASCAR Camping World Truck Series events, he has finished of 10th and fourth.

Last season, Gaughan finished fifth in the NASCAR Nationwide race at Vegas, his best finish in three starts. In 2003, he won the truck series race at Vegas to go along with five top-10 finishes. In all, he has 18 national series starts in the desert.

With 19 national series starts, Sadler has the most starts in Vegas among the group, having competed at the track in only the top two series. In seven NASCAR Nationwide events, he’s only finished outside the top 15 once, including a third-place finish in 2012. In the premier series, Sadler turned in a career-best sixth-place performance during the 2004 season.

In last year’s NASCAR Nationwide race, Scott posted his best finish of ninth at the track. In his three other starts, he placed 31st, 14th and 34th. His average finishing position in three truck series races is 20.7.

One interesting note, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series regular Kyle Busch has never won in a NASCAR Nationwide event at his hometown track.

Credit: NASCAR

 

COULD THIS BE ELLIOTT SADLER’S SEASON?

March 05, 2014 – With high expectations going into 2013, Elliott Sadler fell short of his title hopes, and was not part of the championship conversation for much of the year. After two races this season, however, it seems as though the Joe Gibbs Racing driver has rebounded.

He is currently third in the points standings, just six points behind leader Regan Smith and one behind Trevor Bayne. In the season-opening race at Daytona, Sadler finished fifth after starting fifth. Saturday at Phoenix, he finished sixth, and was the highest-finishing championship contender.

Sadler, who was the runner-up in the 2011 and 2012 standings, has two top-five finishes in seven series starts at Las Vegas Motor Speedway – the site of this Saturday’s Boyd Gaming 300. In last year’s race, the Virginia native finished fifth.

 

REGAN SMITH RETURNS HOME IN HOPES OF REGAINING THE LEAD

August 07, 2013 – Over the last seven races, Regan Smith of Cato, N.Y., has compiled 189 points in the NASCAR Nationwide Series championship standings. On the surface that might seem like a healthy amount of points.

After analyzing the stats of his fellow top-10 drivers over the same time period, however, a different picture is painted.

Smith’s points tally of 189 ranks last among all drivers currently in the top 10, indicative of the slide he has taken during that time. Granted he is currently tied with Sam Hornish Jr. for second, 14 markers behind Austin Dillon, and led the standings for 10 consecutive weeks (Talladega through New Hampshire). It was only eight races ago, however, when Smith finished first at Michigan and left the Wolverine State with a 58-point advantage in the standings.

Austin Dillon has led all drivers in the top 10 with 270 points collected over the last seven races, followed by Elliott Sadler (255), Brian Vickers (249), Kyle Larson (248) and Hornish (247). Brian Scott (226), Trevor Bayne (220), Justin Allgaier (212), Parker Kligerman (212) and Smith round out the top 10.

With the series heading to New York for Saturday’s Zippo 200 at Watkins Glen, Smith hopes he’ll be able to reclaim his spot atop the standings in front of a hometown crowd. In six national series start at The Glen, Smith has one top-10 finish, which was a ninth-place performance in last year’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. In two NASCAR Nationwide starts at the 2.45-mile road course, Smith has finishes of 19th and 23rd. He struggled in the first road-course event of the season at Road America, where he finished 32nd.

Dillon, who took over the points lead from Hornish two races ago at Indy, is seeking advice from teammate and road-racing specialist Max Papis to ensure that Watkins Glen doesn’t present any hiccoughs. Dillon’s only series start at The Glen resulted in a 23rd-place finish. Earlier this season at Road America, he finished 10th.