Austin Dillon, driver of the #3 Advocare Chevrolet, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., driver of the #6 Ford EcoBoost Ford, lead the field to start the NASCAR Nationwide Series Virginia 529 College Savings 250 at Richmond International Raceway on September 7, 2012
Photo – Todd Warshaw/Getty Images
The Virginia 529 College Savings 250 returns to Richmond International Speedway with the Nationwide Series drivers ready to race, on Friday, September 6th. Television coverage begins at 7pm on ESPN and radio coverage on MRN, Sirius XM, channel 90.
More than 21 years ago NASCAR consolidated their Late Model Sportsman Division into a national touring series, now known as the Nationwide Series. It was on February 13, 1982, the newly created division held its inaugural event – the Goody’s 300 – at Daytona International Speedway with Dale Earnhardt taking the checkered flag.
Twenty-three champions and 136 different winners later, NASCAR’s second series will host its 1,000th race this Friday at Richmond International Raceway. Richmond hosted the series’ second race with Tommy Houston as the race winner.
The series’ first 999 races have played host to some of the most exciting on-track action in motorsports with its unique blend of veteran drivers and those trying to earn a seat in NASCAR’s top series, the Sprint Cup Series. There are many recognized names of drivers honing their skills in the Nationwide Series and gone on to championship-winning careers in NASCAR’s premier series including, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth and Brad Keselowski.
Take a look at a few of the brightest moments in the first 999 series races:
- October 31, 1982 – Jack Ingram wins the first championship at Martinsville Speedway.
- October 28, 1984 – Sam Ard wins his second of two championships, becoming the first two-time champion. Seven other drivers have since joined that list.
- July 2, 2010 – The new NASCAR Nationwide Series car debuts at Daytona with Dale Earnhardt Jr finding victory lane in the No. 3 carrying the Wrangler paint-scheme made famous by his father.
- August 20, 2010 – Kyle Busch wins the Food City 250 at Bristol Motor Speedway after winning the Camping World Truck Series event two nights earlier. He would go on to win the Sprint Cup Series race the following event to become the only driver to sweep all three national series events at the track in the same weekend.
- August 26, 2011 – A little more than a year later, Busch returned to Bristol’s victory lane. This time the win marked his 50th triumph in the series surpassing Mark Martin as the all-time wins leader. Since then Busch has added ten more victories to his résumé.
There are an array of drivers who are still trying to make a series run at the title, but two drivers have clearly separated themselves from the rest – points leader, Sam Hornish Jr and Austin Dillon.
Hornish extended his lead from six to ten points over Dillon, after finishing third in Saturday’s Atlanta race – the highest-finishing series regular in eight events, including a victory at Las Vegas earlier this season. His average finish in those eight races is an amazing 2.125. The three-time IndyCar Series champion and 2006 Indianapolis 500 champion has a best finish of fifth at Richmond in the Nationwide series with a pair of seventh-place performances in six starts.
Dillon finished eighth at Atlanta, staying close to Hornish in the point standings. Dillon won the 2011 Camping World Truck Series title, but has not found victory lane this season. He does have 15 top-ten finishes with six poles, including four that came in consecutive weeks. In four starts at the 0.75-mile track, Dillon has two top-tens – a ninth and a sixth-place finish. In the April race earlier this year, an accident ended his race early, leaving him with a 35th-place finish.
Following Dillon in the point standins are Elliott Sadler (-26), Regan Smith (-29) and Justin Allgaier (-47) in the standings. Brian Vickers (-52), Kyle Larson (-67), Brian Scott (-67), Trevor Bayne (-71) and Parker Kligerman (-118) round out the top-ten.
With only nine races remaining for the season, the fight for the owner’s title is just as tight as the drivers’ battle.
Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 54 driver Kyle Busch, after finishing as runner-up at Atlanta, is only 11-points behind Penske Racing’s Joey Logano, having shaved the lead down from 16-points. Logano piloted Penske’s No. 22 car to a sixth-place finish at Atlanta, but Brad Keselowski will take the seat this weekend at Richmond.
The No. 22 and No. 54 teams are so equally matched in terms of driver skill and quality of machine that every weekend, the two teams are favorites to run at the front of the pack. Through 24 races this season, the two teams together have 17 wins – No. 22 has eight, while the No. 54 has nine.
Virginia native and driver of Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 11, Elliott Sadler will run a special paint scheme this weekend, honoring Jack Ingram, who won the series’ inaugural championship in 1982 and is a 2014 NASCAR Hall of Fame Inductee.
After making his Nationwide Series début earlier this year at Richmond, Ryan Reed returns to the track in Roush Fenway Racing’s No. 16 Drive to Stop Diabetes car. Supporters of the American Diabetes Association submitted images representing what ‘A Day in the Life of Diabetes’ means to them for a chance to have their photos included in the paint scheme.
