NATIONWIDE Emerson Radio 250
Final
for this game
Emerson Radio 250 Preview
Sep 5, 2008 - 10:21 AMSeptember 5, 2008
Richmond International Raceway
Richmond, Virginia
Race 28 of 34 on the Nationwide Series circuit
TV: ESPN2, 7:30 p.m. EDT
Laps: 250
Track length: 0.75 miles
Race length: 187.5 miles
Qualifying record: Kurt Busch, 129.348 mph (May 2004)
Race record: Dale Jarrett, 104.928 mph (September 1995)
DRIVERS TO WATCH
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Clint Bowyer
Team: Richard Childress Racing
Car: No. 2 Chevrolet Monte Carlo
2008 Earnings: $791,545
Remains the series leader with 3,913 points, though he has
just one victory this season - when he gambled and stayed out
during a rain delay to win at Bristol; followed with second at
Nashville and third at Texas; is 204 points ahead of Brad
Keselowski after finishing seventh at Camping World RV Service
300 last weekend; through first 27 races has nine top fives and
22 top 10s; 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 overall last
year after running just 22 races, winning at Phoenix and
Richmond; tough time here a year ago as he finished 33rd.
Carl Edwards
Team: Roush Fenway Racing
Car: No. 60 Ford Fusion
2008 Earnings: $895,105
Finished second last week in Fontana and remains third in the
standings with 3,691 points; narrowed gap on Bowyer from 241
points to 222 with that effort and is just 18 points back of
Brad Keselowski; with 11th top five finish, bounced back nicely
from disappointing 37th-place finish at Bristol a week earlier -
his worst showing of the year excluding Darlington, where a
wreck left him in 43rd; defending series champion has three wins
this year; won for the second time this season at Gateway, then
followed up with an 11th at O'Reilly; also won at Milwaukee,
then followed up with a fifth at New Hampshire and 11th at
Daytona; ran second at Dover; was fourth at Atlanta after being
wrecked by Mark Martin at Las Vegas, winding up 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; posted a second-place finish here last
year.
Brad Keselowski
Team: JR Motorsports
Car: No. 88 Chevrolet Monte Carlo
2008 Earnings: $938,971
Second-year driver moved up to second in the standings after
winning at Bristol, but followed that effort with his worst
performance of the year - placing 33rd last week in Fontana;
was within 122 points of series leader Clint Bowyer after
Bristol, but now faces a 204-point deficit; followed up his
first series win at Nashville by running fourth at Kentucky and
eighth at Milwaukee; through first 27 races has 15 top 10s and
nine top fives; finished third at Lowe's and posted consecutive
fourth-place finishes at Bristol and the first Nashville race;
has only four finishes of 20th or worse this season; finished
25th in points last season and third in Rookie of the Year
standings; joined Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s JR Motorsports team in
July last season; finished 38th here last season.
Joey Logano
Team: Joe Gibbs Racing
Car: No. 20 Toyota Camry
2008 Earnings: $431,808
Finished third in California last week to earn third top-five
finish of the year; young phenom finished 16th at Bristol after
running seventh at Michigan and Watkins Glen over previous two
races; his car failed post-race inspection at Michigan when a
magnet was found underneath the gas pedal in order to influence
dyno test; finished 17th at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve for only
his second finish outside the top 10 this season; won his first
race and second pole at Kentucky in his third series start;
captured the pole at Nashville in just his second series start;
was tapped by Greg Biffle early in that race and wound up a
disappointing 31st; finished sixth at Dover in his highly
anticipated debut in one of NASCAR's top series a week after
turning 18; in previous race finished second to Carl Edwards
at Milwaukee; won the 2007 NASCAR Busch East Series
championship as a rookie; signed a development deal with Joe
Gibbs Racing in 2005; was dubbed the "Real Deal" by Mark Martin
when he was 15; is Tony Stewart's Sprint Cup replacement in the
No. 20 Toyota next season.
David Ragan
Team: Roush Fenway Racing
Car: No. 6 Ford Fusion
2008 Earnings: $650,415
Sixth in the standings - 485 points back - after ninth-place
finish at Fontana; has failed to finish higher than ninth in
nine consecutive races; is running both series this year; ran
25th at Bristol; through first 27 races has four top fives and
16 top 10s; 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; 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 39th as a rookie here last year.
David Reutimann
Team: Michael Waltrip Racing
Car: No. 99 Toyota Camry
2008 Earnings: $703,815
Has pulled "double-duty" in 2008 after finishing second to Carl
Edwards in the standings last season; remains a distant fourth
in the standings, 410 points behind Clint Bowyer, after
back-to-back eighth-place finishes at Bristol and Fontana; is
winless this year with 13 top 10 finishes and seven top five
performances; ran 15th at Michigan; placed 26th at O'Reilly
after finishing 13th at Kentucky; started season with a 14th at
Daytona and ran fourth at California; ran 25th at Las Vegas,
10th at Atlanta and third in the Sharpie Mini 300; 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 23rd in this race
last year.
2007 Top 10
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1. Kyle Busch (5), Chevrolet
2. Carl Edwards (60), Ford
3. Ryan Newman (12), Dodge
4. Matt Kenseth (17), Ford
5. Mike Bliss (22), Dodge
6. Brian Vickers (10), Toyota
7. Denny Hamlin (20), Chevrolet
8. Scott Wimmer (29), Chevrolet
9. Kasey Kahne (9), Dodge
10. Jason Keller (11), Chevrolet
Past Champions
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2007 Kyle Busch, Chevrolet
2006 Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet
2005 Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet
2004 Robby Gordon, Chevrolet
2003 Johnny Sauter, Chevrolet
