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Heading to Loudon, Carl Edwards trails by 127 points behind Kyle Busch and hopes to close the gap in the NASCAR Nationwide Series point standings. Carl finished in the top five at this race last year and hopes to take home the win Saturday when the race starts at 3PM on the ABC network.

We think that NASCAR and the Sprint Car Series has an opportunity, right now, to turn things around in the ratings. The sanction should let the drivers be themselves much like Kyle Busch as last weekend at Pocono when he destroyed an expensive custom built guitar. Much like some the rock stars do in their performances on stage. His explanation was that he wanted to give his winning crew a memento. Some of what we are talking about is drivers and crewman involved in some on track controversy including physical contact.

I’ve covered a lot of NASCAR races in my days but I have never been so shocked, stunned, angry, and just plain disgusted as I was at the end of the Federated Auto Parts 300 at the Nashville Superspeedway last Saturday night.

After the little display of disrespectful actions of Kyle Busch in Victory Lane I left the track without staying for the after race activities which I usually do. I just could not get the images of what he did out of my mind.

NASCAR on Fox posted a 3.7/7 for primetime racing from Richmond, off -12 percent from last year’s 4.2/8. FOX’s 3.6/7 primetime average was just good enough to win the night, edging out second-place NBC’s 3.5/6, CBS’ 3.4/6, and ABC’s 2.5/5. For the season-to-date, NASCAR On FOX is averaging a 4.7/10, down -15 percent from last year’s 5.5/11.

This came from the jayski.com and stockcargazette.com webpages.

Matt Kenseth benefitted from a late race caution to win the Diamond Hill Plywood 200 at the famed Darlington Raceway.

Kenseth, driving for Roush Fenway Racing mounted a late race charge and was running second behind Kyle Busch.

Busch who completely dominated the event by leading 143 of the races 153 circuits was in first with Kenseth picking up as much as three tenths of a second per lap as the race was in its closing laps.

Kenseth caught Busch with two laps remaining but before the former Sprint Cup champion could mount a pass the yellow flag came out after Scott Lagasse and Joe Nemecheck got together on the back stretch.

The caution set up a green-white-checker finish.

Richmond produced a wild finish this time last year. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was on a 71 race drought and within just 3 laps of a victory when he slammed into the wall in turn 3 after Kyle Busch slid up the track into his No. 88 as they both battled for the lead on lap 398. Kyle was showered with beer cans over the catch fence as the cars circled the track under caution before the green white checkered.

This weekend, Denny Hamlin will try to break an 0-for-6 streak at Richmond International Raceway. A win at RIR is one the native of nearby Chesterfield, Va. wants more than any other – and he has come very close in the past.

Hometown success is a statistical phenomenon in NASCAR. For the most part – and for whatever reason – drivers excel when the pressure is on to perform in front of the home crowd.

Take a look at a few drivers who have been geographically linked to a home track…

(photo by Icon Sports Media)

Roush Fenway driver David Ragan took his first ever win in the NASCAR Nationwide series as he battled Ryan Newman in a green-white –checker finish to win the Aarons 312 at the Talladega Superspeedway.

Ragan who started off the point in the overtime restart joined the rest of the top five drivers in a game of follow the leader as Dale Earnhardt Jr. led the field though the final lap.

The field broke pack as the cars entered the tri-oval towards the checkered flag with pole sitter Ryan Newman having the advantage.

Ragan held momentum with a push form Joey Longano and moved along side Newman, making contact and pulling forward to take the win 0.030 seconds.

Brad Keselowski Had a good showing at Nashville Superspeedway last weekend, posting a third place finish after starting 19th in the field, but quickly headed to the front of the line with a fast car and great pit stops during the entire day.

“Joey Logano and Kyle Busch were pretty much the class of the field,” Keselowski said. “I just couldn’t get to them on those last couple restarts. I’m really pleased with this third-place run though for sure. I’m even more proud of my guys and the work they did on pit road. Getting me those five spots early in the race was key to our success and I can’t thank them enough for their hard work week in and week out.”

Joey Logano might want to invest in lessons for the new Gibson, hand painted by artist Sam Bass, Les Paul edition guitar he won at Nashville Superspeedway Saturday. He took the lead for good with nine laps to go in the race to finish ahead of Kyle Busch. The pair of Joe Gibbs racing team members swapped the lead back and forth for a total of 172 of the 225 laps in the race.

Carl Edwards started on the pole but the strong Gibbs team was no match for Number 60 Save-A-Lot Foods Ford.

During Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Nashville SuperSpeedway, Joe Nemechek took a wild tumble through the frontstrech grass, turning over and landing back on the track, ending his day in a brand new car with only seven laps remaining in the race. The #87 car, driven by Nemechek, was listed as owner Andrea Nemechek with Crew Chief Phillippe Lopez, and Nationwide Insurance ‘Dash For Cash’ as sponsor.

Kyle Busch dominated and won the NASCAR Nationwide series O’Reilly 300 at the Texas Motor Speedway.

In doing so, Busch became the first Nationwide driver to win a series event at the facility from the pole.

The win marked Busch’s third consecutive series win at the race track. Incredibly the Las Vegas native led 178 of 200 circuits: Setting a new track record for laps led. Combined laps from his last three starts have Busch taking the point for 475 of 600 circuits at the Texas track.

David Reutimann showed his muscle taking the pole position on the fastest NASCAR track on the circuit, Texas Motor Speedway. Reutimann said the car felt great in practice and he knew he had a good car right “out of the box”.

Jeff Gordon, in his DuPont Chevrolet, took the other spot on the front row. Gordon missed the pole by .048 of a second from the number one spot.

Matt Kenseth, David Regan, and Paul Menard fill the top five positions.

Kasey Kahne, Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch, Jimmie Johnson, and Joey Logano rounded out the top ten. Mark Martin, who was fastest in the first practice, slipped on his qualifying lap ended up in the twenty-third starting position.

Kyle Busch won the pole Thursday night for Saturday’s Nationwide Series O’Reilly 300. Busch won both of the Nationwide Series races at Texas Motor Speedway last year and has positioned himself for making it three consecutive.

Matt Kenseth will start second and Paul Menard qualified third. Fourth will show David Ragan with Jeff Burton rounding out the top five. Carl Edwards, Terry Cook, Tony Stewart, Dale Jr., and Joey Logano finish out the top ten.

Those that did not qualify were #40 Scott Wimmer, #43 Josh Wise, #26 Brian Keselowski, #49 Kertus Davis; and #31 Kerry Earnhardt.

Photo by MotorSportsNews.Net(work) photographer Steve Langley

Heading into Martinsville this weekend, Kyle Busch is looking as the favorite to win.

He finished in the number one spot in the last two races and came darn close to winning the season opener at Daytona, with a runner up spot to Todd Bodine, who won the race.

Thirty-six trucks have claimed their spots to an uncontested starting position without any of them going home due to not making it on qualifying time.

Weather could play a factor in qualifying and teams could start by owners points. This will be an advantage to some teams as to where their pit stalls will be located. Martinsville has a very long, slow pit road, and races have been won and lost from those tight spaces which can be very hectic and dangerous.