Kentucky Speedway grabs the spotlight with their last standalone race for the Nationwide Series’ on Saturday, September 21st. Fans expect lots of racing action for 300-miles, 200-laps in the Kentucky 300. Television coverage on ESPNEWS begins at 7pm ET with the green flag waving around 7:30pm ET. Radio coverage is on PRN, Sirius XM, channel 90.
After finishing third at Chicagoland Speedway last weekend, Sam Hornish Jr adds another point to his lead over Austin Dillon in the point standings. At the same time Dillon minimized the difference by finishing fourth, just one spot behind Hornish. This weekend Hornish is looking to further extend his 17-point lead.
With no Sprint Cup drivers in the field this Saturday, Hornish and Dillon are fan favorites to visit victory lane. A win for either driver would create momentum for the last seven races of the season as both are making their run for the championship.
Kentucky Speedway is hosting the sixth standalone Nationwide Series race this year. Winners of the four of five standalone races include AJ Allmendinger, victorious at Road America and Mid-Ohio; Joey Logano at Chicagoland; and Brad Keselowski in the August race at Iowa. Amazingly all four of these wins were in Penske Racing‘s No. 22. The lone outsider is Trevor Bayne in Roush Fenway’s No. 6, with his win at the first standalone event of the season at Iowa Speedway in June.
With his Penske Racing No. 12, Hornish has three top-ten finishes in three starts at Kentucky Speedway. Last season he finished sixth and second in two trips to the 1.5-mile speedway and in June this year, he placed ninth for an average finish of 5.7.
Also with three Nationwide races at Kentucky, Dillon has a slightly better record than Hornish, including his season sweep at the track in 2012. In the track’s June race, Dillon’s finish of sixth and in three Camping World Truck series starts at Kentucky, he has finishes of second, 14th and ninth.
The Camping World Truck Series teams are off this weekend, but several are still ‘racing’ during their down time. Several Truck series regulars are moonlighting this weekend in the Nationwide Series Kentucky 300.
Jeb Burton is making his Nationwide Series début behind the wheel of the No. 34 Turner Scott Motorsports car. In his lone Truck series start at the track he finished ninth. Dakoda Armstrong, in the No. 21 Richard Childress Racing car, is making his fifth start in the series, but this is his first start at Kentucky Speedway. In four Camping World Truck Series’ starts Armstrong’s best finish is ninth. Joey Coulter is making his Nationwide Series Kentucky début in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing machine, with fourth-place as his best Camping World Truck Series finish.
The Camping World Truck Series’ points leader, Matt Crafton is competing in his third Nationwide Series race, driving the No. 33 for Richard Childress Racing. In his series début at Kentucky earlier this year, Crafton finished third, after leading eight laps. And Ryan Blaney is piloting Penske Racing’s No. 22 in his 15th Nationwide Series’ start. Blaney finished ninth in this same event last year and placed 15th in his only other start at Kentucky.
And the Championship competition is getting even tighter as another victory for Kyle Busch and the No. 54 team cuts into Penske Racing’s No. 22 lead in the owner’s championship battle.
At Chicagoland, the No. 54 driven by Kyle Busch had a dominating victory by leading 195 of 200 laps and beating Joey Logano’s No. 22 to the finish line by 1.615-seconds. The win cut into the No. 22’s 18-point advantage, now at just a 13-point difference.
In 26 races, three different drivers – Brad Keselowski, Logano and AJ Allmendinger – have all taken the No. 22 to victory lane for a total of nine trips. Single-handedly, Busch has captured the checkered flag ten times this season, while driving the No. 54 and is now tied for second on the all-time single-season wins list. Busch holds the record, with 13 wins in 2010.
Elliott Sadler is making his 675th national series start at Kentucky. The Virginia native has 20 Camping World Truck starts, 223 Nationwide and 431 Sprint Cup Series‘ starts in 19 years. Jeffrey Earnhardt is attempting to make his 25th career start this weekend and if he succeeds, it will be his Kentucky debut in the series.
Nationwide Series regulars Joe Nemechek and Brian Vickers are pulling double-duty this weekend, competing Saturday night at Kentucky and then running Sunday afternoon in the Sprint Cup Series’ race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
