NASCAR 09: Nationwide Series Preview

Defending Series Champion: Clint Bowyer

2008 In Review: Carl Edwards gave it everything he had to pick up his second straight Nationwide Series crown – even winning the season finale at Homestead – but Clint Bowyer’s consistency carried him to the series title. Bowyer only won one race in 2008, compared to seven wins and 19 top-5s for Edwards. Even winning three of the last four races couldn’t vault Edwards over Bowyer, because the driver of the Richard Childress Racing No. 2 was just too consistent.

Finishes of 25th at Watkins Glen and 37th at Bristol over the summer all but doomed Edwards’ title hopes, despite his late-season run. Brad Keselowski was the series’ top driver who wasn’t a Sprint Cup regular, winning two races and finishing third in the point standings (a full 338 points behind Bowyer – Edwards finished 21 points back).

Keselowski established himself as a title threat as the season progressed, thanks to 11 top-5s and 20 top-10s. His first career win came at Nashville, and Keselowski followed that with a win over Bowyer at Bristol in August. Keselowski finished 17th or worse in four of the season’s last nine races, and even when he ran well, it wasn’t enough to keep up with Edwards and Bowyer.

Still, Keselowski learned a lot in 2008 – lessons he could use in a title run this season.

Joe Gibbs Racing ran away with the owner’s title, thanks to the strength of the No. 20 car. Four drivers won races in that car last season – Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano – and the No. 18 was strong as well. So strong were the JGR rides that NASCAR made horsepower rule changes in the middle of the season … changes that seemed to have no effect.

Season Preview: Clint Bowyer won’t repeat, since he won’t be running a full-time schedule. Joey Logano will only run 24 races in the No. 20 GameStop Toyota, focusing instead on his Sprint Cup ride; otherwise, he might be a preseason favorite as well. Same goes for the likes of Kevin Harvick, David Ragan, Denny Hamlin and Jeff Burton.

The safe bet, though, is probably Carl Edwards. The 2007 series champion finished second last year, but more important is the fact that Edwards is affiliated with a full-time Sprint Cup program. The last three Nationwide Series champions – Bowyer, Edwards and 2006 champion Kevin Harvick – have all been full-time Cup drivers, and expect that trend to continue in 2009 – even with such stars as Logano and Brad Keselowski challenging every week.

Martin Truex Jr., in 2004 and 2005, is the last driver to win the series title without pulling double-duty in the Cup Series, but even then, he was affiliated with a Dale Earnhardt, Inc. team in the middle of its heyday.

Joe Gibbs Racing will be strong again this season, especially since Kyle Busch is planning to run the full schedule in the No. 18 car. Busch finished sixth in the standings last year, despite only starting 30 of the 35 races. Then again, winning 10 of those 30 starts will give anyone a boost in the points. If the boy can keep his head on straight, he could just challenge Edwards for the crown.

As much as I would love to give Keselowski a chance, or even someone like a Mike Bliss or a Jason Keller (or even youngster Justin Allgaier, who’ll run Penske’s No. 12 Dodge), this is pretty much going to be a two-horse race between Edwards and Busch.

Still, Keselowski is the best hope for the Nationwide-only drivers, since he’ll be running the full schedule and his JR Motorsports-owned No. 88 Chevy is affiliated with Hendrick Motorsports. Keselowski will win a few races this season and finish in the top five in the points, but once again, look for a Cup guy to hoist the trophy at Homestead.

And look no further than Cousin Carl.

Team to Watch: The No. 18 Toyota of Kyle Busch. 2008 was The Kyle Busch Show in all three national touring series – well, until the Chase started, anyway – and now that Busch is running the full schedule, he has to automatically be considered a championship contender. Pencil Busch for at least five wins this season, and if the consistency follows suit, fans should be prepared to swallow their pride and add the word “champion” to Busch’s name.

Predicted 2009 Champion: Carl Edwards

Predicted 2009 Rookie of the Year: Scott Lagasse Jr.

2009 Schedule:

Feb. 14 - Daytona International Speedway

Feb. 21 - Auto Club Speedway

Feb. 28 - Las Vegas Motor Speedway

March 21 - Bristol Motor Speedway

April 4 - Texas Motor Speedway

April 11 - Nashville Superspeedway

April 17 - Prhoenix International Raceway

April 25 - Talladega Superspeedway

May 1 - Richmond International Raceway

May 8 - Darlington Raceway

May 23 - Lowe's Motor Speedway

May 30 - Dover International Speedway

June 6 - Nashville Superspeedway

June 13 - Kentucky Speedway

June 20 - The Milwaukee Mile

June 27 - New Hampshire Motor Speedway

July 3 - Daytona International Speedway

July 10 - Chicagoland Speedway

July 18 - Gateway International Raceway

July 25 - O'Reilly Raceway Park

Aug. 1 - Iowa Speedway

Aug. 8 - Watkins Glen International

Aug. 15 - Michigan International Speedway

Aug. 21 - Bristol Motor Speedway

Aug. 30 - Circuit Gilles Villeneuve

Sept. 5 - Atlanta Motor Speedway

Sept. 11 - Richmond International Raceway

Sept. 26 - Dover International Speedway

Oct. 3 - Kansas Speedway

Oct. 10 - Auto Club Speedway

Oct. 16 - Lowe's Motor Speedway

Oct. 24 - Memphis Motorsports Park

Nov. 7 - Texas Motor Speedway

Nov. 14 - Phoenix International Raceway

Nov. 21 - Homestead-Miami Speedway

NASCAR 09: Camping World Truck Series preview

With the 2009 NASCAR season less than a month away, what better time than now to get you ready for when the engines finally fire at Daytona? We'll start today with a look at the 2009 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, which will kick things off on Friday, Feb. 13 with the NextEra Energy Resources 250.

Nationwide Series and Sprint Cup Series season previews will be posted within the next couple days.

2009 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series

Defending Series Champion: Johnny Benson

2008 In Review: Benson clinched the 2008 title when the checkered flag waved at Homestead, edging Ron Hornaday by seven points in what’s widely considered the closest championship race in series history. Hornaday won a series-high six races to Benson’s five, and both drivers finished the season with 14 top-5s and 18 top-10s.

So why did Benson win the title? Consistency.

Hornaday finished 23rd or worse seven times last season, including twice in the last five races. Benson, meanwhile, only had five finishes worse than 11th all season. Benson did finish 25th in the next-to-last race of the season at Phoenix, but Hornaday finished 26th in that same race. When Hornaday ran out of fuel in Memphis and finished 29th, Benson won the race.

Season Preview: A new title sponsor signals a new beginning of sorts for the Camping World Truck Series, and is a coup of sorts considering how tough sponsorship dollars are to find in these economic conditions. That Camping World was willing to spend dollars and resources to increase its exposure level and commitment to NASCAR by sponsoring one of the three national touring series says a lot about NASCAR’s commercial viability.

But let’s keep our focus on the track, shall we?

Johnny Benson may be the defending series champion, but he’ll come into the 2009 season with a bit of uncertainty. His No. 23 Bill Davis Racing team is no more, leaving Benson with the No. 1 Toyota fielded by Red Horse Racing. He will have crew chief Trip Bruce, but how Benson fares in the new, unproven ride remains to be seen.

Things will stay the same for Ron Hornaday this season, as he’ll pilot the Kevin Harvick Inc. No. 33 alongside crew chief Rick Ren. That combination led to a series-high six wins last year and a second-place finish in the season standings – which could’ve easily been a series title had Hornaday not finished 23rd or worse seven times.

Already a series champion, look for Hornaday to take advantage of Benson’s new surroundings and pounce on the competition this season. KHI’s trucks are often the class of the field – especially with Bill Davis Racing out of the picture – and with a little more consistency, Hornaday could very well be looking at series championship number three.

Also watch the KHI stable for Ricky Carmichael’s NASCAR debut. The motocross champion will be trying to break into NASCAR by driving the No. 4 truck for Kevin Harvick in 14 races in 2009, and is eligible for Rookie of the Year honors. He’s already cut his teeth in regional touring series, so look for Carmichael to show some teeth when it comes to stock-car (or truck, in this case) racing.

Team to Watch: Randy Moss Motorsports will switch to Toyotas in 2009, with Jayski.com reporting that Tayler Malsam will take over the No. 81. Team owner Randy Moss (New England Patriots wide receiver) is rumored to be trying to start a second team for veteran Mike Skinner. If true, Skinner gives RMM an instant competitive advantage – not to mention it give Moss a lot of credibility as a NASCAR team owner.

Predicted 2009 Champion: Ron Hornaday

Predicted 2009 Rookie of the Year: Ricky Carmichael

2009 Schedule:

Feb. 13 - Daytona International Speedway

Feb. 21 - Auto Club Speedway

March 7 - Atlanta Motor Speedway

March 28 - Martinsville Speedway

April 25 - Kansas Speedway

May 15 - Lowe's Motor Speedway

May 29 - Dover International Speedway

June 5 - Texas Motor Speedway

June 13 - Michigan International Speedway

June 19 - The Milwaukee Mile

June 27 - Memphis Motorsports Park

July 18 - Kentucky Speedway

July 24 - O'Reilly Raceway Park

Aug. 1 - Nashville Superspeedway

Aug. 19 - Bristol Motor Speedway

Aug. 26 - Chicagoland Speedway

Sept. 5 - Iowa Speedway

Sept. 12 - Gateway International Raceway

Sept. 19 - New Hampshire Motor Speedway

Sept. 26 - Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Oct. 24 - Martinsville Speedway

Oct. 31 - Talladega Superspeedway

Nov. 6 - Texas Motor Speedway

Nov. 13 - Phoenix International Raceway

Nov. 20 - Homestead-Miami Speedway

Offseason Musings

Okay, so I never wrote a wrap-up after the season finales at Homestead last month -- sue me. Work has been hectic of late, and let's face it: what more is there to say about Jimmie Johnson winning his third straight Sprint Cup title?

That's what I thought. Moving on ...

In With the New

Jamie McMurray won't be the only driver at Roush-Fenway coming to Daytona next February with a new crew chief. The team announced on Tuesday at the Drew Blickensderfer, who helped Carl Edwards finish second in the 2008 Nationwide Series behind Clint Bowyer, will be Matt Kenseth's new crew chief in the No. 17 in 2009.

This makes Kenseth's third crew chief in the last three years. After running him whole career with Robbie Reiser calling the shots, Kenseth went 2008 with Chip Bolin on the pit box. The team struggled early and never found that consistency, and Kenseth went winless for the first time since 2001.

Though I'm generally one to not change crew chiefs (or head coaches) after just one year, it was clear Kenseth and Bolin didn't have the right mix that translated to on-track success. Edwards, Greg Biffle and even David Ragan outran Kenseth for much of the year, even though Kenseth is the only one in the Roush garage with a Cup title to his name. If Jack Roush felt something had to be done, then let's trust his judgement.

Besides, he could've done much worse than Blickensderfer. Edwards won seven of the last 19 Nationwide races with Blickensderfer calling the shots, nearly overtaking Bowyer for his second straight series title. Blickensderfer also worked with Kenseth in the Nationwide Series, guiding him to three wins before taking over for Edwards mid-season.

All in all, I think this is a good move, and it wouldn't surprise me to see Kenseth back to his competitive, consistent self in 2009. He could even see Victory Lane a few times.

Only Themselves to Blame

While I grant that what's happening to Petty Enterprises is sad, I can't help but only feel but so bad. After all, if the organization hadn't fallen as far behind as it had over the past 15 years, this pending merger with Gillett Evernham Motorsports might not be happening, and 2000 Cup Series champion Bobby Labonte might not be looking for a ride.

The famed No. 43 hasn't won a race since 1999, and the No. 45 is likely a thing of the last -- leaving Kyle Petty's future up in the air. A proposed merger is said to not include Kyle, while Richard Petty -- you know, The King, he of 200 NASCAR wins and seven titles -- will be on board, though no one's sure in what capacity. Sponsorship is an issue (as it is with most teams), but the fact remains:

Petty Enterprises fell behind as Rick Hendrick, Jack Roush, Joe Gibbs and Richard Childress proceeded to take over the sport. People are resources became what defined success in the Sprint Cup Series, and the fact is, Petty fell way behind on that. Now the company's trying to play catch-up, when the nationwide economic crisis is making everything a little tighter for everyone.

I hope Petty can get things right and keep the No. 43 on the track, just as I hope that ride one day sees Victory Lane again. But while everyone looks at that organization as a victim, I see it more as an offender; that company had a chance to change with the times over the past decade, but it didn't.

Petty has no one to blame for this mess but itself.

The Cool Kid

Brad Keselowski is like that kid you knew in high school. You know, the slightly sweeby one who's all cool and respected cause he's friends with the cool kid?

Make no mistake -- I'm not calling Keselowski a dweeb. But he was named the Nationwide Series Most Popular Driver last week, and for anyone who wants to know why, I simply point to his car owner:

Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Junior is so popular, fans can buy a plush doll of his black boxer, Killer. It's popularity by association; if you're friends with the cool kid, you're automaticall cool. Keselowski certainly helped himself by winning two races and finishing third in the final series standings -- the highest-finishing Nationwide-only driver -- but in the end, it comes down to the guy signing the checks.

Keselowski is also a humble guy, one who in spite of his success still realizes he's not quite ready to be a full-time Cup driver. He wants to run the full 2009 Nationwide schedule, while racing in select Cup events -- then, when Mark Martin goes to part-time work in 2010, Keselowski's transition to Cup could begin in earnest.

Joey Logano might have all the hype, but Keselowski is the man as far as the fans are concerned.