- AJ Allmendinger, driver of the #22 Discount Tire Ford drives during practice for the Nationwide Childrens’s Hospital 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on August 15, 2013
Photo – Chris Trotman/Getty Images
Nationwide Series drivers début their first 203.22 mile, 90 lap race at Mid-Ohio on Saturday, August 17th with a green flag at 2:30pm ET. The Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is the series’ second road course event in two weeks and television coverage begins at 2pm on ESPN with radio coverage on MRN and Sirius XM channel 90.
Only 12 race events remain before a new NASCAR Nationwide Series Champion is known and predicting the outcome is becoming more difficult with every passing weekend. After Saturday’s race at Watkins Glen, only 74-points separate the top-ten drivers in the point standings. Tenth-place Parker Kligerman could theoretically make up the difference in only two races, although that’s not likely.
More uncertainty looms with the series making its inaugural trip to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio. The 2.258-mile, 13-turn road course is the second road course in as many weeks and the third and last one of the season.
There are 42 drivers vying for a spot in the race, but there’s one looking forward to the green flag more than the rest. Sam Hornish Jr grew up about 2-1/2 hours west of the track in Defiance, Ohio. Hornish is now second in points and only three markers behind Austin Dillon. A win at Mid-Ohio in front of his hometown crowd would mean a lot to 34-year-old Hornish; more than winning at any other track and would likely return the driver to the points lead.
Beyond the home-field advantage, Hornish is the only driver in the top-ten that has raced in a major national series event at the track. Finishing 14th in the IndyCar Series race in 2007, a year before Hornish came to NASCAR full-time.
And there’s more not-so-good news for Hornish’s competitors. In seven road course races for the Nationwide Series, Hornish has five consecutive top-five finishes and two poles, including a fifth-place finish at Road America in June and a runner-up performance last weekend at The Glen. For the season, Hornish has one victory and five second-place results as the highest-finishing point-eligible series regular.
Right now, its Austin Dillon holding the points lead for the third week in a row, but his lead is shrinking to only three-points over Hornish. Regan Smith is five markers behind the leader and following is Elliott Sadler (-12) and Brian Vickers (-18).
Now add to the mix that racing on road courses requires a unique set of skills that will sometimes challenge drivers groomed for the oval tracks. There are some full-time drivers in NASCAR’s three national series proving they have the talent for both. Others are what some would describe as road course specialists or ‘ringers.’
And there are plenty of ringers on hand for the Children’s Hospital 200 on Saturday afternoon. Those on the entry list include, Ron Fellows, Stanton Barrett, Michael McDowell, AJ Allmendinger, Max Papis, Owen Kelly, Tomy Drissi and Marcos Ambrose. Ambrose is the only driver in this group competing full-time in the Sprint Cup Series.
These eight drivers have a combined nine victories, 27 top-fives, 34 top-tens and seven poles at road courses on the Nationwide schedule. Ambrose and Fellows lead the others with four victories each, followed by Allmendinger posting his only Nationwide road-course victory earlier this season at Road America.
The Nationwide Children’s Hospital 200 will have a special meaning for ten children seeing their faces and names navigating the track’s 13 turns.
That’s because ten patient champions from the Nationwide Children’s Hospital in nearby Columbus, Ohio, were paired with drivers who are from or now live near a participating patient’s hometown. Each patient and race team collaborated to create a paint scheme depicting that child’s likeness or name.
The ten patients and their race cars are Peyton Ostrowsky of Winston-Salem, NC, and the No. 2 Chevrolet of Brian Scott; Noah Nickodemus of Raleigh, NC, and the No. 3 Chevrolet of Austin Dillon; Gage Williams of Sevierville, TN., and the No. 6 Ford of Trevor Bayne; Hannah Hiller of Guilford, NC., and the No. 7 Chevrolet of Regan Smith; Caden Bowers of Yorktown, VA, and the No. 11 Toyota of Elliott Sadler; Grant Reed of Mansfield, OH, and the No. 12 Ford of Sam Hornish Jr., Marcus Harris of Carolina Shores, NC, and the No. 31 Chevrolet of Justin Allgaier; Ryan Katz of Reistertown, MD., and the No. 60 Ford of Travis Pastrana; Payton Julian of Mansfield, OH, and the No. 77 Toyota of Parker Kligerman; and Janet Gregory of Granville, OH, and the No. 99 Toyota of Alex Bowman. Thirteen-year-old cancer survivor and Ohio State fan Grant Reed, who successfully battled a brain tumor he nicknamed “Michigan,” will preside over the race as Grand Marshal.
Chad Hackenbracht, is driving the No. 44 this weekend, and will also drive in front of family and friends at Mid-Ohio. His hometown of New Philadelphia, Ohio, is about two hours away from the road course. Tim Cowen of nearby Ashland, Ohio, is also entered in the race, and if he’s makes the field, it will be his inaugural start in the series. NASCAR Whelen Euro Series driver Anthony Gandon of Bayonne, France, will attempt to make his second national series start this Saturday.
