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Federated Auto Parts 300 Preview

Jun 3, 2008 - 9:25 PM

June 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
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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