Nationwide stand-alone events are underrated treats

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So, it’s the time of year again when NASCAR’s second series branches off for 6 of the next 9 races from Sprint Cup. The drivers and teams in the series look forward to this stretch, as they’re the main event in town and the Cup drivers, although increased from years past, isn’t nearly as dominating. For the fans, I think we enjoy this stretch as well. I enjoy getting to see what some of these guys can do when they’re elevated to competing for top 5s and top 10s, instead of top 15s and top 25s. There are always good stories that come from these stretches of races. Consider last year, when we had Stephen Leicht battle Brad Coleman for his first career win, and who can forget Aric Almirola’s “win” at Milwaukee. That race, the eyes of many, led him to a Cup ride at DEI. At IRP, Jason Leffler wheeled the Great Clips Toyota to victory lane in a thrilling late-race battle.

Go back to 2006 for this stretch of races and remember what happened. At Kentucky, David Gilliland defied the odds and captured a win in an unsponsored, part-time effort. A few months later, he was racing for Robert Yates. The next week at Milwaukee, Paul Menard delivered his first win and moved to Cup the following year. This time of year is great for Nationwide action, arguably tracks like Nashville, Kentucky, and Milwaukee produce action and delivers a good balance to the Cup races at Pocono, Michigan, and Sonoma.

As for this weekend, the series is coming off Brad Keselowski’s first career win at Nashville, and the ranks of first-time winners could grow by one more, considering the previous two winners (Gilliland and Leicht) recording their first wins here. The candidates to do the same begin with a kid that has a pretty decent car, and recorded his first pole last week: Joey Logano. I would also keep an eye on Landon Cassill, Chase Miller, Kelly Bires, and the guy who finished second last year, Brad Coleman. They’ll have to hold off the Cup trifecta of Clint Bowyer, Kyle Busch, and Carl Edwards to do it, though. That’s no small task. My pick however will be a combo of seeking a first win and also competing in Cup: I’m talking about David Ragan, of course. After a year and a half of competition in the series, Ragan is due for a win. I can’t think of anywhere better than Kentucky for it to happen.

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