Jun 3, 2008 - 5:25 PM
0 shoutsJune 7, 2008 Nashville Superspeedway Lebanon, Tennessee Race 15 of 35 on the Nationwide Series circuit
Laps: 225 Track length: 1.33 miles Race length: 300 miles
Qualifying record: Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 166.515 mph, 2004 Race record: Carl Edwards, Ford, 129.949 mph, 2007
DRIVERS TO WATCH ----------------
Clint Bowyer Team: Richard Childress Racing Car: No. 2 Chevrolet Monte Carlo 2008 Earnings: $448,775
Scheduled to pull double duty in both the Sprint and Nationwide series this season; took a gamble and stayed out during a rain delay to win at Bristol; followed with second at Nashville and third at Texas; sits atop the standings, 121 points ahead of Kyle Busch after finishing ninth at Dover; finished 19th at Atlanta after a third at Las Vegas; started the year with a 25th at Daytona, then rebounded with a ninth at California; ran a full Busch series slate in 2005 and 2006, finishing second and third, respectively, in the final standings; finished 12th last year after running just 22 races, winning at Phoenix and Richmond; finished second here last year to Carl Edwards.
Carl Edwards Team: Roush Fenway Racing Car: No. 60 Ford Fusion 2008 Earnings: $447,480
Finished second at Dover two weeks after running dead last at Darlington; sits third in the standings, 144 points behind Bowyer; ran fourth at Atlanta after being wrecked by Mark Martin at Las Vegas and finished 14th; opened defense of his series title with a 10th at Daytona and fifth at California; clinched last season's title at Texas, three races before the end of the season; was the runner-up to Kevin Harvick two seasons ago; despite late struggles still had a series-best 21 top-10 finishes and 15 top-fives last season; led in the series standings for 33 consecutive weeks prior to Daytona this year; in 35 starts last season had four wins, trailing only Harvick, who had six; won this race the last two seasons; plans to run "double-duty" slate again this season to defend his title.
Jason Leffler Team: Braun Racing Car: No. 38 Toyota Camry 2008 Earnings: $427,597
Finished third in the overall standings last season; remains eighth in the standings despite running 27th at Dover; opened the season with a 19th at Daytona and 11th at California; took a hit in Las Vegas, finishing 39th; earned his first career Nationwide victory at Indianapolis last year, which gave Toyota its first series victory; started the season with four DNFs in the first six races, but had none after that; finished with seven top-fives and 11 top-10s; was inconsistent though with eight finishes of 30th or worse in 35 races last year; finished third in this race last year.
Joey Logano Team: Joe Gibbs Racing Car: No. 20 Toyota Camry 2008 Earnings: $24,968
Finished sixth at Dover in his highly anticipated debut in one of NASCAR's top series a week after turning 18; won the 2007 NASCAR Busch East Series championship as a rookie; won the Carolina 500 during his ARCA RE/MAX Series debut at Rockingham Speedway; signed a development deal with Joe Gibbs Racing in 2005; was dubbed the "Real Deal" by Mark Martin when he was 15.
David Ragan Team: Roush Fenway Racing Car: No. 6 Ford Fusion 2008 Earnings: $346,345
Another driver who is running both series this year; finished 29th at Dover, falling to seventh in the standings; ran ninth at Daytona and 12th at California to start the season, then posted a 10th at Las Vegas, ran 16th at Atlanta and was eighth at Bristol; was eighth at Texas and fifth at Phoenix; finished fourth at Richmond to jump up two spots to fourth in the standings; had an impressive rookie season, finishing fifth overall and winning the Raybestos Rookie of the Year by 27 points over Marcos Ambrose; scored four top-five and eight top-10 finishes in 2007, but also had eight finishes of 30th or worse; finished seventh in this event last season.
David Reutimann Team: Michael Waltrip Racing Car: No. 99 Toyota Camry 2008 Earnings: $399,710
Plans to run full "double-duty" schedule again in 2008 after finishing second to Edwards in the standings last season; sits fourth in the standings after running fourth at Dover; started season with a 14th at Daytona and ran fourth at California; ran 25th at Las Vegas, 10th at Atlanta and third at Bristol; last year had better finishes than Edwards in 10 of the last 15 races and scored the most points in the series after the midseason point; earned his first series win at the second Atlanta race; finished with five top-fives and 12 top-10s; finished ninth in this race last year.
2007 Top 10 ----------- 1. Carl Edwards (60), Ford 2. Clint Bowyer (2), Chevrolet 3. Jason Leffler (38), Toyota 4. Scott Wimmer (29), Chevrolet 5. Regan Smith (4), Chevrolet 6. Jason Keller (11), Chevrolet 7. David Ragan (6), Ford 8. Todd Kluever (16), Ford 9. David Reutimann (99), Toyota 10. Aric Almirola (20), Chevrolet
Past Champions -------------- 2007 Carl Edwards 2006 Carl Edwards 2005 Clint Bowyer 2004 Jason Leffler 2003 Scott Riggs 2002 Jack Sprague
