Smith, Sadler Pressure Packed Championship Run Continues
The Nationwide Series is heading into an open weekend giving drivers a chance to catch their breath before taking on their longest stretch on the schedule.
After 12 races, first place Regan Smith and second place, Elliott Sadler have a mere four-point difference in the series standings. Smith and Sadler are the class of the series, but they’re watching their rear view mirror for third-place Chase Elliott, a two-time winner and rookie contender.
Smith is leading the series with 12 top-ten finishes, including the season-opening win at Daytona. While Sadler has an average finish of 8.6 with five top-five finishes including a win at Talladega.
The series approaches a long 18-week stretch of consecutive races from Iowa (13th race of the season) to Charlotte (30th race of the season). During the same stretch last year, Smith had an average finish of 12.8, while Sadler’s was at 10.5.
Coming at no surprise, both drivers are looking to tie-up this long stretch of racing that unraveled their title hopes in 2013.
“There is always pressure,” said points leader Regan Smith. “We want to win, we want to be up front and we want to win championships. That doesn’t change. All last season did was make me more experienced and knowledgeable as to how to go through the season when it gets down to crunch time and the points become pressure-packed.”
Smith is accomplishing his goals this season with a season-to-date Driver Rating of 99.8 and Average Running Position of 8.8. But with Sadler’s season-to-date Driver Rating of 101.6 and Average Running Position of 8.6, so similar to Smith’s, fans will see a tight championship race in the rest of the season.
Do the Rookies have enough stamina for the long run?
This year’s Nationwide rookie class is one of the best. But there are three that stand out in a review of their stats through 12 races.
Chase Elliott – Not only does he have a 33-point lead in the rookie standings, he also has two wins (Texas, Darlington), six top-fives, nine top-tens with an average finish of 9.4. He also has led the overall series driver standings for five races this season and now sits third in points, 22 behind the leader, Regan Smith.
Ty Dillon – Following in his brother Austins footsteps, Ty is driving the famed No. 3 car this season and is second in the Rookie of the Year standings. Dillon has posted nine top-ten finishes and pole so far. His average finishing position is 9.7. Dillon is fifth in the overall driver point standings, 34 points back from Regan Smith.
Chris Buescher – Competing against his cousin (James) this season, Chris is third in the rookie standings and ninth in the overall driver point standings. Separated by 64 points from Chase Elliott in the Rookie of the Year standings, Buescher has posted one top-five and four top-tens this season. His average finish in 2014 is 14.3.
Elliott, Dillon, Buescher and the rest of the class of young talent will test their racing career stamina following this break, as none have ever faced before. Dillon has the most experience at long schedule stretches, from participating in the Camping World Truck Series.
This past week, Regan Smith and Chase Elliott hit the red carpet at the CMT Music Awards on Wednesday. The JR Motorsports teammates also participated in the Nationwide Insurance jingle contest during the red-carpet activities.
After Kyle Busch’s third series victory of the season and 66th of his career last weekend at Dover and for the fifth time in the last seven seasons, he has a winning percentage of 30% or higher. Busch has made ten series starts this season.