|| *Comments on the 2012 Pioneer Hi-Bred 250:* View the most recent comment <#66> | Post a comment <#post> 1. Rusty posted: 05.20.2012 - 5:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. was the class of the field. It was his from the start. Darrell Wallace, Jr. makes an impressive Nationwide series debut with a 9th place finish. I hope he finds success, a successful African American driver is nothing but good for the sport. 2. Kyle posted: 05.20.2012 - 5:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) FIRST!!!!! nobody had anything for stenhouse today. kurt was surprisingly calm after being wrecked on the last lap. McDowell apoligizing to him first thing after the race may have helped him calm down. speaking of McDowell he gets in the same equipment brian scott has done nothing with in the last year and half and finishes third (after a late speeding penalty) and darrell wallace jr (in his first career start) finished 8th with. if not for his dad's money, i don't think scott would have a ride anywhere in nascar. 3. Kyle posted: 05.20.2012 - 5:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) damn! @rusty you beat me to it this time. 4. 10andJoe posted: 05.20.2012 - 5:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Drew Herring qualified the #54, Matt Carter qualified the #87, Charles Lewandoski qualified the #44. 5. Corn posted: 05.20.2012 - 5:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sam Hornish lost a tire in turn 2 on the last lap and smacked the wall but still made it back around to finish the race. 6. 18fan posted: 05.20.2012 - 5:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Darrell Wallace was impressive to me and once again Brian Scott was the worst of the Gibbs cars, and he has the most experience in Nationwide cars of the three, yet still finishes and runs the worst. 7. Darrell posted: 05.20.2012 - 5:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Mods, please ban Kyle if he insists on writing "FIRST!!!" on every page. There's no need for his spam. 8. Anonymous posted: 05.20.2012 - 5:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Disgusting amount of start-and-park entries 9. Damon posted: 05.20.2012 - 5:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Danica apparently has Jeff Gordon's luck 10. The Deuce posted: 05.20.2012 - 6:15 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Darrell Wallace, Jr. makes an impressive Nationwide series debut with a 9th place finish. I hope he finds success, a successful African American driver is nothing but good for the sport." I agree, but he's going encounter a whole mountain of s*** on his way to becoming successful. First off you're going to have media hype that equals or even exceeds Danica's from the mainstream media, and unfortunately, he's going to encounter a lot of racism and prejudice in certain areas of the country. Let's face it, NASCAR fans aren't exactly a bastion of sensitivity and open-mindedness. There are going to be folks from an older generation that remember when someone like Darrell Wallace wouldn't even be able to use the same bathroom or water fountains as everyone else in cities like Talladega or Darlington, and that was the way they liked it. He's going to have to deal with rude signs, rude gestures, racial slurs shouted from a distance, confederate flags, jokes that aren't meant to be mean but are in bad taste, just to name a few. If he can put all of that garbage out of his mind and just go out and race, he'll be great for the sport. I've been following him for a few years, I think he has the talent to succeed. 11. joey2448 posted: 05.20.2012 - 6:17 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Yes, post #8, I too am disgusted by the number of start and park entries. But on a nicer note, good to see a number of young drivers making their way up to the big leagues, like Darrell Wallace Jr, Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott, Ryan Truex, etc...it seems like for several years now there have been a lack of rookies, especially in the Cup series. I mean, Kevin Conway winning ROTY in 2010? C'mon! 12. TheTruthâ?¢ posted: 05.20.2012 - 6:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Danica apparently has Jeff Gordon's luck" lol, the last unlucky race she had was 5 races ago when she blew up. The only other unlucky finish she's had this year in Nationwide was at Daytona when Cole Whitt got her sideways entering 3 while trying to latch on. So in other words, no. 13. 1995z71 posted: 05.20.2012 - 6:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Drew Herring should be in the #11 instead of Brian Scott. Travis Pastrana had a faulty fuel line. Update: Whitt vs. Patrick Whitt-9 Patrick-1 14. TheTruthâ?¢ posted: 05.20.2012 - 6:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) For those not keeping track; Cole Whitt - 9 Danica Patrick - 1 15. irony posted: 05.20.2012 - 6:45 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Geezus people. Danica was within 3 cars of Cole (in front or behind) the whole race. It was her best short track race to date, 50-ish laps in the top 10. I put her down a bit earlier this year for not showing progress, but now she is. 16. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.20.2012 - 6:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Back to back to back, The House always wins in Iowa. What I have taken from this race is that there is a lot of talent in the NWide Series. Time to give some of these guys a shot in Cup and clean out some of the hangers on in Cup. Very impressed by Darrell Wallace, looks like he has a good future. In regards to an earlier post, I think he will be ok for the most part as far as encountering racism. Not saying he will never hear any slurs thrown his way (anyone caught doing so needs a lifetime ban from any NASCAR sanctioned track), but one thing I have noticed from going to NASCAR races is that the fans in the stands are getting younger and younger. That bodes well for tolerance. Forget about Danica vs Whitt, in the 7 races they have run together, Danica has only finished ahead of Johanna Long and her shoestring team 4 times. Johanna is the real model for female racers to follow. Hope she eventually gets a high dollar ride. 17. RCRandPenskeGuy posted: 05.20.2012 - 7:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The future of Roush Racing once again impresses, covering the field all day long. I wish Jack could have been able to keep UPS on the #6, they would have been a good fit for Ricky once he was ready to go into Cup. I once thought Brian Scott would be doing the same thing Ricky Stenhouse is doing now, winning races and battling for the Nationwide championship. Obviously he has fallen WAY short of that. Glad to see Sam Hornish maintaining his top 5 position in points. I don't know if or when Penske would bring him back into Cup, but hopefully it will be when Sam has the necessary seat time and no sooner. 18. Kyle Nocooter posted: 05.20.2012 - 7:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) OMG 18EINTH!!!!!!!111!!!1! 19. 10andJoe posted: 05.20.2012 - 7:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) - 9 start-and-park teams. (Gase had a legitimate engine failure and I'll give the 39 the benifit of the doubt.) 20. Kirk posted: 05.20.2012 - 7:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This S&P stuff is getting ridiculous. If NASCAR ever did anything right, they'd cut the field down a little. Nothing crazy...just cut it to 40 or so. I understand these teams are trying to establish themselves - one of the highlights of any NNS race for me is Morgan Shepherd making the field - but nine cars quitting in the first 12 laps is pathetic. 21. Paul posted: 05.20.2012 - 7:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #20 - If they cut the field to just 40 cars, then we'd still have six cars that start & park and only 34 scheduled to run the distance anyways. Your plan would just take away money from the teams that S&P, plus it would increase the chances that a full distance team fails to qualify as there would be fewer spots in the field. I don't like S&P's either, but it is what it is. Reducing the number of cars would bring the same result, only that more teams would lose money in the process. 22. 1995z71 posted: 05.20.2012 - 8:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Forget about Danica vs Whitt, in the 7 races they have run together, Danica has only finished ahead of Johanna Long and her shoestring team 4 times. Johanna is the real model for female racers to follow. Hope she eventually gets a high dollar ride. " Totally agree,I believe Johanna Long is the most talented female in NASCAR, which isn't saying a lot but she still has some pretty good talent lol. Ricky 3 in a row at Iowa, pretty damn good. 23. hyperacti posted: 05.20.2012 - 8:37 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) On the contrary, I think the field size should be /increased/ 24. Schroeder51 posted: 05.20.2012 - 8:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) As disgusting as the amount of S&P entries are, at least it's not as bad as 2003 at Pikes Peak, where literally almost half the field was parked in the garage by lap 50 of 250. I remember watching that race too. Really hard crash by Jeff Green in this one, glad to see he's alright. And I've had just about enough of Kyle and his "FIRST!" comments, as well. I've had to deal with enough of these stupid "FIRST!" comments on Youtube, and now they're here as well. Do people actually get some kind of meaning in their lives from doing that? 25. Red posted: 05.20.2012 - 9:37 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "And I've had just about enough of Kyle and his "FIRST!" comments, as well" Go easy on Kyle, he's probably about 12 years old. We were all in middle school once... 26. Rob posted: 05.20.2012 - 9:45 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I missed this one because it was Bump Day at Indy and it was a Nationwide race on a Sunday, thats rare. But it looks like I missed a real snoozer. Glad my guy the ex dirt tracker won though. 27. Schroeder51 posted: 05.20.2012 - 10:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) It might just be me but I thought this race was more fun to watch than the All-Star Race. 28. 10andJoe posted: 05.20.2012 - 10:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Dominance =/= snoozer. This was a very fun race to watch. 29. cjs3872 posted: 05.20.2012 - 11:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Why is anyone surprised by the high number of start-and-park entries. I predicted last week that would happen without the Cup stars in the field. I said there might be as much as one-third of the field start-and-park, and while there wasn't quite that many (there were 9-11, depending on how you count them), the number of start-and-parks were totally predictable. And it would have been worse if Joe Gibbs had decided not to run all three of his cars. And let's not forget the seven start-and-parks in the Sprint Showdown last night, which did comprise one-third of the field of 22 starters for that event. And that's only going to get worse as the season goes on, particularly in the Nationwide Series during the time it's split off from the Cup Series in about a month's time. Only 32 cars attempted to go the distance in this race. I predict less than 30 will try to go the distance in some of the other stand-alone races later this year. 30. Schroeder51 posted: 05.21.2012 - 12:04 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I'm not surprised by the higher number of S&Ps in this race-that's been a trend the past decade at stand alone races, probably going back to that '03 Pikes Peak race. That said, I'm kind of sad the stand alone races are becoming fewer and fewer with each passing year...I predict within 10-15 years, the Cup and Nationwide schedule might very well be exactly the same. 31. 18fan posted: 05.21.2012 - 12:22 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jack, you need to get your sponsorship situation figured out so Ricky can run full-time in Cup. 32. 10andJoe posted: 05.21.2012 - 1:34 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) >that's been a trend the past decade at stand alone races, probably going back to that '03 Pikes Peak race. Further than that; the inagural Las Vegas race had several teams rolling backup cars off the truck and blow-dryering off one of their numbers (i.e. the 40's backup car becoming the 0) to S&P, and Pikes Peak always had a horrible car count. 33. palo_s posted: 05.21.2012 - 8:10 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) #16: "Forget about Danica vs Whitt, in the 7 races they have run together, Danica has only finished ahead of Johanna Long and her shoestring team 4 times. Johanna is the real model for female racers to follow. Hope she eventually gets a high dollar ride." If I use your logic on Cup: Danica is better than Jeff Gordon because she finished before him in Daytona and Darlington.. I know, you know it is ridiculous statement, but same ridiculous is your statement.. I fan both, I dont know who is better, maybe Johanna, maybe Danica.. But Johanna made average performance in Iowa.. 34. palo_s posted: 05.21.2012 - 8:15 am Rate this comment: (0) (1) #12: "lol, the last unlucky race she had was 5 races ago when she blew up. The only other unlucky finish she's had this year in Nationwide was at Daytona when Cole Whitt got her sideways entering 3 while trying to latch on. So in other words, no." You dont forget Gatorade Duel, Daytona 500.. Talladega - she had overheating problem, she also collected in McLure crash (Sadler hited her) and Hornish send her into wall.. 35. palo_s posted: 05.21.2012 - 8:17 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) #15: Cole was 13th, Danica 15th, Danica was second behind Whitt, when tire blow.. 36. TheTruthâ?¢ posted: 05.21.2012 - 12:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "As disgusting as the amount of S&P entries are, at least it's not as bad as 2003 at Pikes Peak, where literally almost half the field was parked in the garage by lap 50 of 250." There were 11 parks that race compared to 9 (maybe 10 with Morgan) in this one 37. NazRacePhan posted: 05.21.2012 - 1:12 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Not the same...... was a little sad, since this was always Nazareth weekend... been 8 years! :o( 38. Schroeder51 posted: 05.21.2012 - 1:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #36 Actually, I just looked at that race's results and there were FOURTEEN parked cars in that race, plus two cars involved in an early crash that likely would have parked it as well. 39. Talk4Tar posted: 05.21.2012 - 1:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #37: A true shame. I always loved Nazareth. And one of my favorite drivers (from my hometown) always did great there, Tim Fedewa. 40. Schroeder51 posted: 05.21.2012 - 1:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I miss Nazareth too. Hell, I miss a lot of the tracks they don't go to anymore, like Nazareth, Pikes Peak (in spite of the fact it usually had a large number of cars that parked, I actually DID like the track), Gateway, Myrtle Beach, South Boston, Memphis, and now ORP. I really dislike the fact they decided to move the Nationwide race from ORP to Indianapolis Motor Speedway itself. That really shows me that someday not too far off in the future, the Cup and Nationwide schedules will probably be EXACTLY the same. I can see it happening; every Cup race having a companion Nationwide race. 41. cjs3872 posted: 05.21.2012 - 2:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I watched some of the races from Nazareth on television, and I have to say that was one of the worst tracks ever for racing. It was a one-groove track and the only way to pass someone was to knock him out of the way in a stock car race. The straightaways were short and the track measured nine-tenths of a mile. In fact, passing was so extremely difficult and cautions were so numerous that A.J. Foyt once gambled on trying to win an IndyCar race there in 1995 with diver Eddie Cheever with a one-stop strategy in a 200-mile race, and it came within a half lap of working. The only good thing about Nazareth was the warm-up lanes that eventually came to Indy in 1993 in the name of safety. But you couldn't race there, either in IndyCars or stock cars. And as for NASCAR moving the Nationwide Series date from IRP (which it should always go by) to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, that was a move that should have been made long ago, because the facilities at IRP were sub-standard and attendance barely reached 15,000 due to the low amount of seating. The IRP oval was never meant to hold a major league racing series for those reasons. In fact, it wasn't until about the mid-90s that a real pit road came to that track. The only reason the Nationwide and Truck Series ran there as long as they did was Tony George's insistance that NASCAR not move those dates to the speedway, but I think NASCAR wanted to move those dates to the speedway as far back as the late 1990s. 42. TheTruthâ?¢ posted: 05.21.2012 - 2:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I gave a few of those cars the benefit of the doubt, as some of the parkers who went a number of laps would race one week and park the next. If the 52 was a legit engine issue at Iowa, then I guess it's 10 on this race vs 14 @ Pikes Peak 43. Schroeder51 posted: 05.21.2012 - 3:10 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Really, if you ask me, I'd actually prefer the stock cars not race at Indy at all. Not because I'm an Indycar purist, but because it's not really a track designed for stock car racing. It can accommodate stock cars, but the races there have been well below-par. Really, there are quite a few other tracks I could say that about as well, such as California, Michigan, and Pocono. I realize that NASCAR is all about the money, though (hence why they would dump tradition and move the Labor Day race from Darlington to California in the first place), so it does me no good to point this out as NASCAR will probably never get rid of these tracks (Indy especially). 44. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.21.2012 - 4:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I didn't think Nazareth was that bad. At least it was different and a true Busch Series event. A nice change of pace. And I have made my feelings about the move from IRP to IMS quite clear. Although I have nothing but the utmost respect for Indianapolis Motor Speedway and all the history and tradition behind it, and what it has meant to American motor racing (it pretty much set the template for major league auto racing that we still follow today, over 100 years later), if adding a desting to be boring NWide race to the track is what they need to do to "rejuvenate the Brickyard" for stock cars, then I would like to see NASCAR just drop the Crown Royal Presents the Brickyard Allstate Andre Kristacovitchlalinski, Jr 400 at The Brickyard. Yes it was a tremendous honor to be invited on such hallowed grounds in House of Greatness. But at what point do we quit pissing on their carpet? "But Johanna made average performance in Iowa." In WELL below average equipment. At Age 19. 45. Daniel posted: 05.21.2012 - 4:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Charlotte Entry List: -Angela Cope in the #00 -Kyle Fowler in the #08 -Danny Efland in the #4 -Eric McClure back in the #14 -J.J. Yeley in the #17 -Denny Hamlin in the #18 -Joey Logano in the #20 -Joey Coulter in the #21 -Brad Keselowski in the #22 -Robert Richardson Jr. in the #23 -Casey Roderick in the #24 -James Buescher in the #30 -Kevin Harvick in the #33 -Reed Sorenson in the #98 for the returning Biagi's 46. cjs3872 posted: 05.21.2012 - 5:10 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Well DSFF, unlike Nazareth, which had a pitiful track for racing, IRP actually was a good track for racing. The problems there had more to do with the facilities and the lack of seating (and the lack of a suitable pit road for close to 15 years after NASCAR first brought it's Busch series to IRP). Also, and I had forgotten to mention this, but I don't really think NASCAR ever liked the idea of some of it's top drivers shuttling off to IRP during the Brickyard weekend to race there, though there was nothing NASCAR could do to stop it. They wanted their top drivers to focus on the Brickyard 400, and the drivers that were shuttling off to IRP were clearly not focused squarely on the Brickyard 400. Maybe another reason for moving the Nationwide race to IRP is so that the drivers wouldn't shuttle back and forth to run both races on the same weekend when there is such a big race to be run. And Nazareth Speedway was built, in large part, as a test track for Roger Penske, as well as somewhat of a replacement for Langhorne, though it was built many years after Langhorne's final race. And what is it about Pennsylvania and odd (and dangerous) race tracks? Langhorne was a true 1-mile circle, Pocono is a 2.5-mile triangle with two of the three longest straightaways in the sport, and Nazareth was a 0.9-mile, 5-turn oval. And Langhorne was the most dangerous track ever created and Pocono is the most dangerous track today. 47. Billy Bad Butt posted: 05.21.2012 - 5:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I was afraid Kurt was going to miss the top-5 when he spun on the final lap, but he had an impressive slide to keep going and finish 5th! It's interesting how even though old racetracks might've not had the best racing, everyone longs to have them back. I think Nazareth had ok racing, and one race there a year would be ideal. 48. Kyle posted: 05.21.2012 - 6:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) it would be impossible for them to ever race at nazareth again, the track has been torn down. i would like to see pike's peak back though. and i will NEVER attend another race until they bring back my hometrack, lucas oil raceway. 49. Spen posted: 05.22.2012 - 12:37 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Cjs: Pennsylvanians are suicidal. Remember the nut who ran on the back stretch at Pocono and nearly got run over by Kyle Petty? That's your normal Pennsylvanian. 50. palo_s posted: 05.22.2012 - 12:49 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) #45: "In WELL below average equipment. At Age 19." Bull.. Johanna was one of slowiest cars on track.. Richmond was great.. 51. 10andJoe posted: 05.22.2012 - 3:38 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) And yet she still finished. Danica didn't. "To finish first, you must first finish." 52. Spen posted: 05.22.2012 - 6:57 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) DSFF: "WELL below average equipment" As Nationwide-only teams go, MLM's fairly respectable. You saw how well they were doing last year with David Frickin' Stremme behind the wheel, right? If they ever got a quality driver (Jeff Green, maybe?) they'd be a consistent top 15 car. Personally, if I were a rookie, MLM would be an ideal team to drive for. It's small enough that you wouldn't be under much pressure to get immediate results, but good enough to occasionally pull off an impressive run. Basically a 'third-teir' team. Kinda like Diamond Ridge Racing, or Larry Hedrick's team back in the nineties. 53. Schroeder51 posted: 05.22.2012 - 12:12 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) There's been more than one nut to run out on the track at Pocono, actually...I watched the highlights of the second race there from 2003 and the broadcast crew mentioned that under a caution flag for Ricky Rudd's car stopping on the track, a "fan" ran out onto the race track and disappeared over the wall. Sheesh. If that happens again, odds are someone is going to get hit and it will NOT be a pretty picture...although I don't think it would be too undeserved. 54. cjs3872 posted: 05.22.2012 - 12:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Spen, I was referring to the tracks built in Pennsylvania. While I applaud them for being "out of the box" with them, two of the three I mentioned were, or are incredibly dangerous, and you couldn't race on the other. And the incident you mention is hrdly the only one ever to take place in a NASCAR race. Remember the incident at Watkins Glen when a "fan" ran out on to the track a number of years ago? And certainly Pocono is not the only track to have wildlife problems. The Indianapolois Motor Speedway has also had those problems. In 1971, Bobby Unser actually hit a bird while trying to qualify for the Indianapolis 500. Unser later qualified on the front row. And in 1988, a caution flag had to be thrown in the Indianapolis 500 because Rick Mears and Al Unser, Sr., who were battling for the lead and eventually finished first and third in that race, ran over a rabbit on the backstretch about 300 miles into that race. Adn there have been other incident of that type at other tracks, as well. 55. Spen posted: 05.22.2012 - 6:01 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) My point basically was that Pennsylvanians are crazy, so any track they build would be similarly crazy. 56. 10andJoe posted: 05.22.2012 - 6:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Elliott Sadler and team were penalised 6 points (car too low). 57. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.22.2012 - 6:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) When Johanna finishes ahead of Danica, Brian France has to attend his own funeral as a guy named Phil Shifley. Don't attend your own funeral as a guy named Phil Shifley. I have cable think it is much better than having satellite. But those commercials are hilarious. 58. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.22.2012 - 6:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hey, looking down the running order, I just now noticed Sam Hornish's sponsor. How cool is it to see a Roger Penske car with a sponsor with the word "Genuine" in it? That brings back some awesome memories. 59. Talon64 posted: 05.22.2012 - 6:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. picks up his 5th career Nationwide Series victory, and tied Joey Logano for the most so far in 2012 with 3. It's his 9th consecutive top 6 finish, during which he has 3 wins, 6 top 3's and a 3.0 average finish. It's his 3rd consecutive win at Iowa Speedway, but after leading a combined 66 laps in his first two wins he rattled off a career-high 209 laps led on Sunday (818 in his first 82 starts). He becomes the 50th driver in series history to lead 1000 career laps (1,027), and championship rival Elliott Sadler's just ahead of him in 49th (1,032). Elliott Sadler earned his 13th career #NNS pole and 2nd of 2012. 7 of his poles have come since going back down to NNS full time in 2011. After starting the season with 4 straight top 5 finishes, Sadler went 5 straight without one before his runner-up finish (8th in his career and first since 2005 at Charlotte). Through all of 2011, Stenhouse (8) and Sadler (3) combined for 11 top 3 finishes. 10 races into 2012 and they've already matched that, 6 for Stenhouse (leads all drivers) and 5 for Sadler (tied with Keselowski for 2nd). Michael McDowell tied his best career finish with a 2nd straight 3rd place finish (in his starts), his first two career top 5's after none in his first 76 series starts. Since he started driving for JGR last season he has 2 top 5's, 5 top 10's, 1 pole and a 7.3 average finish. Austin Dillon was the highest finishing rookie of the race in 4th; he's 2nd in the series with 6 top 5's in 2012 but 4th is as high as he's finished. As pointed above, the top 2 in points in front of him have combined for 11 top 3 finishes so far this season. It's his first top 5 and 2nd top 10 in 3 Iowa starts in Nationwide (won there in Trucks in 2011). Kurt Busch picks up his 2nd top 5 in 6 Nationwide starts this season, and 10th in 18 career starts (8.6 avg fin). With 5 top 10's in 6 starts in 2012, the #54's up to 11th in the owners points just 2 points behind the #88 for 10th. Justin Allgaier finishes a season-best 6th, his 5th top 10 of the season. At this point last season he had 3 top 5 finishes and was leading the points, but is 7th so far in 2012. It's his best finish and 3rd top 10 in 5 Iowa starts. Cole Whitt picks up his 3rd straight top 10 finish, after just 2 in the first 7 races of the season. Parker Kligerman ties his best career finish of 8th in his first series start of 2012. It's his 4th top 10 in 16 career Nationwide starts. Darrell Wallace Jr. finishes 9th in his series debut. It's just the 4th top 10 for the #20 JGR team in 8 starts, their only top 5 being Logano's Darlington win. Brendan Gaughan picks up his 20th career top 10 in NNS, and 3rd in 4 starts in 2012 for RCR. 60. cjs3872 posted: 05.22.2012 - 8:05 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 10andJoe, the reason for the 6-point penalty (which I still say is a strange number) is that NASCAR officials realized last year that six points is roughly equilvaent to the 25-point penalty that the same infraction resulted in prior to last year. Frankly, I would either like to see that infraction penalized 5 or 10 points, or possibly no points at all, and a heftier monetary fine, but I know why the penalty is what it is. But NASCAR always has reasons for it's penalties, no matter how bizarre at times. Back in the 1974 season finale at Ontario, CA, Bobby Allison won the race, but in post-race inspection, his car was deemed to have run afoul of the rulebook. NASCAR president Bill France, Jr. fined the Roger Penske team, for which Bobby Allison was driving at the time, $9,100, which needless to say, was a very strange amount. Well, it turns out that when France was thinking about how much to fine the Penske team, he was looking at a plane and saw "9100" on the plane and decided to fine the Penske team $9,100 at that time. 61. Schroeder51 posted: 05.22.2012 - 10:01 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) cjs...when you are talking about the incident at Watkins Glen...you are talking about that incident a few years ago where a fan stepped out onto the race track under a red flag and tried to get a driver's (I think it was Matt Kenseth, correct me if I am wrong) autograph? That guy was either dedicated, drunk, or very crazy-I think a combination of all three. 62. cjs3872 posted: 05.22.2012 - 10:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) That's correct. Strange things like that aren't confined to Pennsylvania. Another poster had stated that they're suicidal in Pennsylvania, and I just said that those kinds of things, such as spectators running on to the track have happened at other tracks, and I cited the incident at Watkins Glen you spoke of. I also mentioned, since there have been incidents at Pocono involving wildlife, that there have been incidents at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway involving wildlife, including one where a battle for the lead in the Indianapolis 500 in 1988 ran afoul of a rabbit on the backstretch. 63. TheTruthâ?¢ posted: 05.25.2012 - 2:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "And as for NASCAR moving the Nationwide Series date from IRP (which it should always go by) to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, that was a move that should have been made long ago, because the facilities at IRP were sub-standard and attendance barely reached 15,000 due to the low amount of seating." Go look at the Nationwide attendance numbers at IRP. In the last 8 years, the worst attendance I saw was 35,000. And yeah, most short tracks don't have as nice of facilities as a lot of the bigger tracks. A lot of people would rather see some short tracks on the schedule though, much like how the Nationwide Series used to be. When you compare IRP's attendance vs other tracks, there was basically zero difference. 34k were at the Iowa race on Sunday. 23k Darlington. 40k Fontana. 42k Richmond. 36k Phoenix. And last year, when IRP had 36k, we saw plenty of races in the 20s at 1.5 milers on Cup companion weekends. I'm guessing the Indy Nationwide race will of course see a boost in attendance being that it's the first Nationwide race ever at IMS and I believe they have some other events going on that day, but it's more of a move into generic "follow Cup series around" racing 64. 10andJoe posted: 05.26.2012 - 7:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #24 sponsor: West Virginia Miners Baseball/Linka K. Epling 65. Nascar Lead Lap Points posted: 10.10.2016 - 11:26 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Driver Changes #44 Charles Lewandoski TriStar Motorsports Toyota Mark Smith #54 Drew Herring Monster Energy Toyota Kyle Busch #87 Matt Carter AM/FM Energy Pellet & Wood Stoves Toyota Joe Nemechek 66. Dion posted: 08.01.2020 - 11:03 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Bubba in his debut became the fourth black driver in Xfinity Series history and the first to ever finish in the top 10. Bill Lester was first black driver to run an Xfinity Series race in 1999. Chase Austin was the second in 2007. Marc Davis was the third in 2008. Following Bubba's debut, Ryan Gifford was 5th black driver with his 2013 debut Ryan finished 9th in his first race. Ryan and Bubba are the only black Drivers in series history with top 10s. Bubba has 35 top 10s, 6 top 5s in 85 career races as of Aug. 1, 2020. The sixth and final black driver in Xfinity history was Ernie Francis Jr. in 2017 at Road America. Heard from a source that Jesse Iwuji might be the next to debut in the series at Road America Aug. 8, 2020. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: