NASCAR NATIONWIDE SEASON IN REVIEW WEEK 13

DAYTONA BEACH, Florida – There have been seven different race winners in 2008 in the NASCAR Nationwide Series: Tony Stewart (Daytona, California, Talladega and Darlington), Kyle Busch (Texas, Phoenix and Mexico City), Mark Martin (Las Vegas), Matt Kenseth (Atlanta), Clint Bowyer (Bristol), Scott Wimmer (Nashville) and Denny Hamlin (Richmond).

Series Record

Denny Hamlin won at Richmond, scoring the fifth consecutive victory for Joe Gibbs Racing. It is the first time in the history of the NASCAR Nationwide Series that an owner posted five straight wins. Three different drivers posted victories for JGR – Kyle Busch (Texas and Phoenix in the No. 18 and Mexico in the No. 20),

Tony Stewart (Talladega in the No. 20) and Hamlin (in the No. 20). Stewart extended the Gibbs streak to six races with his victory at Darlington (the fourth straight for the No. 20).

Jack Roush recorded four consecutive victories in 2000 (Rockingham through Darlington) with Mark Martin winning Rockingham, Atlanta and Darlington (in the No. 60) and Jeff Burton winning Las Vegas (in the No. 9).

2008 Season Highlights

• Tony Stewart won the season-opening race at Daytona, then repeated his trip to Victory Lane in the second race (California). It was just the third time in NASCAR Nationwide Series history a driver had won the first two races of the season (Dale Earnhardt in 1986 and Chad Little in 1995).

• Mark Martin won the third race of the season (Las Vegas) – ending Stewart’s bid to become the first driver to win the first three races of a season in NASCAR Nationwide Series history.

• Matt Kenseth posted the first victory for Ford in 2008 with his win at Atlanta – making three different manufacturers to win in the first four races.

• Clint Bowyer won at Bristol, becoming the 10th consecutive different race winner at the Tennessee short track.

• Kyle Busch posted his first NASCAR Nationwide Series victory of 2008 with his win at Texas. Busch has won in all three of NASCAR’s national series this season, making this the fourth consecutive season he has done so. Only two other drivers have accomplished the feat – Kevin Harvick in 2003 and Terry Labonte in 1995.

• Kyle Busch became the second repeat winner with his victory at Phoenix. Like Tony Stewart, Busch’s wins came in consecutive races.

• Kyle Busch posted his third consecutive victory of 2008 with his win in Mexico City. Busch’s victories all came on different type tracks.

• Tony Stewart won his second restrictor-plate race with his victory at Talladega.

• Tony Stewart won his fourth race of the season and the sixth consecutive for Joe Gibbs Racing with his win at Darlington – his first there in any NASCAR series.

Qualifying

• 104 drivers have attempted to qualify for at least one race this season.

• There have been five different pole winners in 2008: Tony Stewart (two), Kyle Busch (two), Brian Vickers (one), Colin Braun (one), Kasey Kahne (one) and Carl Edwards (one).

• Brian Vickers posted his second career pole, at Las Vegas. Vickers’ previous pole had come at Rockingham in November 2003.

• Colin Braun won the pole at Mexico City in his third series start.

• Qualifying was canceled at California, Atlanta, Bristol and Texas.

• 38 drivers have posted at least one top-10 start this season, led by Clint Bowyer with 12.

• Mark Green qualified fourth at Richmond – his best start since Rockingham (fifth) in October 1998. It was just his 25th top-10 and fifth top-five start in 237 series races.

The Races

• 99 drivers have qualified for at least one NASCAR Nationwide Series race this season.

• 38 drivers have registered at least one top-10 finish in 2008, led by Clint Bowyer with nine.

• Four races have been extended by green-white-checkered finishes in 2008.

First-Timers

James Buescher (Phoenix) Colin Braun (Mexico City) None

Kevin O’Connell (Mexico City)

Ryan Hackett (Richmond)

Top-10 Finish Laps Led

Bryan Clauson (Daytona) Dario Franchitti (Texas)

Dario Franchitti (Las Vegas) Dwayne Leik (Talladega)

Cale Gale (Nashville)

Steven Wallace (Mexico City)

Chase Miller (Darlington)

NASCAR Nationwide Series – Season In Review

• The lap-leader performance of the pole winner (or driver that started first in cases of no qualifying):

Led First Lap 6

Led Any Laps 11

Led Most Laps 3

• The race winner’s starting positions:

Pole 3

2nd-5th 3

6th-10th 3

11th-30th 2

31st or beyond 1

• The lap-leader performance-of-the-race winner:

Led First Lap 3

Led Most Laps 7

Led Mid-Race Lap 5

Led With 10 to Go 9

Led With One to Go 12

Note: Mid-Race lap is as scheduled regardless of shortened or extended race length.

Laps Led

• 36 drivers have led at least one lap this season.

• Kyle Busch has led 632 laps in 2008 – more than any other driver.

• Kyle Busch (five), Tony Stewart (three), Clint Bowyer (one), Mark Martin (one), Scott Pruett (one) and Carl Edwards (one) have each led the most laps in a race this season. Rookie Performance

• One rookie finished in the top 10 at Daytona: Bryan Clauson. It was also his career-first top-10 finish in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. Clauson was also the highest-finishing rookie at Richmond.

• Dario Franchitti finished sixth at Las Vegas – posting his first career NASCAR Nationwide Series top 10. He has been the highest-finishing rookie six times.

• Cale Gale has been the highest-finishing rookie twice, Patrick Carpentier twice and Chase Miller once.

Owner Highlights

• Though Clint Bowyer leads the driver point standings by 112, the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 leads the owner point standings by 127 points over the No. 2 of Richard Childress Racing. The No. 20 has posted six victories and eight top-10 finishes.

NASCAR Nationwide Series – Season In Review

Penalties

• There have been 192 on-track penalties issued this season.

• Penalty Recap:

Pitting Before Pit Road is Open 77

Too Fast Entering Pit Road 16

Too Fast Exiting Pit Road 10

Others 89

Manufacturer

• Toyota leads in the manufacturer point standings with 86 points. Chevrolet is in second with 76. Ford has 59 points while Dodge has 43.

• Toyota has eight victories, Chevrolet three and Ford one.

Notebook

• Steven Wallace and David Stremme finished fifth and sixth, respectively at Richmond – the first time two Rusty Wallace, Inc. drivers have posted top-10s in the same race. They repeated the performance exactly at Darlington the following week.

Behind the Numbers

Speed MOV Leaders Changes Cautions Laps

Lead

Lap DNFs

Daytona 154.154 0.259 8 16 4 12 24 9

California 141.769 2.408 9 11 5 19 21 13

Las Vegas # 108.118 0.586 11 15 13 55 14 17

Atlanta 131.290 0.159 11 22 8 30 16 10

Bristol * 78.874 UC 3 6 7 37 17 10

Nashville 134.095 0.578 5 10 3 20 8 8

Texas 151.707 1.041 8 12 4 13 14 9

Phoenix # 98.764 0.241 5 14 9 36 15 12

Mexico 68.124 0.737 7 10 7 18 30 10

Talladega 133.111 0.302 9 15 8 27 13 20

Richmond # 96.238 0.789 4 3 8 41 16 6

Darlington # 107.139 0.814 8 11 8 36 11 20

Average 116.949 0.719 7.333 12.083 7.000 28.667 16.583 12.000

# - Extended Race * - Shortened Race

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