The April 3 race at Nashville Superspeedway is the next Nationwide Series race on the 2010 schedule, and it's the fifth race of the season. That means that it's the last race that teams will be relying on 2009 owner points to guarantee starting spots. Unlike in the Sprint Cup Series where the top-35 are guaranteed spots on the starting grid each week, only the top-30 are guaranteed spots in the Nationwide Series.
With only one race to go before race teams begin to use current points to guarantee their spots, several full-time competitors head into Nashville on the verge of not being among the top-30 when the series goes from 2009 points to current 2010 points the following race weekend.
As the points stand now, rookie Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is on the outside looking in in the 32nd position. He'll head into Nashville 31 points behind 30th-place Josh Wise.
"We're definitely in a hole right now, but I've been so focused on just finishing that I forgot about the racing part," Stenhouse said. "I've decided to drive like I used to in my sprint car and that is to run the race to be competitive and not run to just finish.
Fortunately for everyone else, Stenhouse is the only driver who has competed in every event so far to find himself outside the top-30. But there are a handful of other drivers who find themselves in danger of falling out as they teeter on or just above the cutoff line.
Wise, another driver who has competed in all four races so far, sits perfectly atop the bubble in 30th, just 13 points ahead of 31st. Colin Braun and Brian Keselowski aren't far ahead of 30th-place Wise.
"The team has performed better each week, especially on pit stops," Braun said. We just need to continue to show improvement every weekend, and the results will hopefully come," Braun said.
Stenhouse's teammate and fellow rookie, Braun, is only three points ahead of Wise and a scant 16 points in front of Willie Allen, who is the first driver out in 31st. Meanwhile, Keselowski occupies the 28th spot, just 19 points ahead of 31st.
Kelly Bires has competed in three of the four races so far, but he plans to run the remainder of the schedule. He's in better shape right now that Keselowski, Braun, and Wise, but not by much. He finds himself only 25 points ahead of 31st heading into Nashville.
It's not really all gloom and doom for these drivers. They will all have a chance to further solidify their top-30 sport or climb into the top-30 when the series heads to Nashville next weekend. And if they don't make it, they, like everyone else outside the coveted top-30, will have shots to race their way in to the field each week until they manage to climb into the top-30 in points. But as any driver who has had to race his way in will say, it's a lot less stressful to head into a race weekend, knowing you're guaranteed a starting spot.
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Comments
Remember that the top 30 rule is based off of owner points not driver points. In that case Stenhouse's #16 team is actually 35th and well outside the top 30. The team on the bubble right now is the #7 car that has been driven by Danica Patrick and Scott Wimmer this season. The #88 car of Kelly Bires is actually pretty safe in 19th spot because of the points Dale Jr. scored for that team when he raced that car at Daytona.
Yes, and I mentioned that in the article. However, I didn't take into consideration the No. 7 car and cars that have been driven by more than one driver this season. I guess I should have looked into that. Thanks for pointing it out.
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