Brian Scott started on the pole. It was his first pole of 2013 and his first since the Chicago race in 2011. The race went green and Scott immediately jumped out to the lead. He was able to make it back around to lead the first lap of the race. It was a short time before the first caution of the race waved on lap 14. Robert Richardson Jr. went into turn 1 hard and made slight contact with Ryan Ellis. Richardson went for a spin in turn 1, but he did not hit the wall and continued on without damage. Matt DiBenedetto received the lucky dog. The race went back green once again and Brian Scott jumped out to the lead on the restart. After thirty laps in the run, Matt Kenseth made it up to Scott's back bumper, but he could not get past him and the lead widened. Early on, Scott looked like the driver to beat. This led to the second caution of the race on lap 67. Debris was spotted on the backstretch of the track. Nelson Piquet Jr. received the lucky dog. The race was not filled with too much strategy as each stop taken by the drivers in the race resulted in four tires. All the lead lap drivers came in and received four tires with Brian Scott holding the lead and Brian Vickers coming out second. But Vickers would not get to restart there.
When Vickers was exiting pit road, he seemed to be going really fast. He was, in fact, and was busted for speeding on pit road. This would result in him starting from the back of the field and losing all his track position. Now, he would have to move through the hornets' nest to get back up front and it would be tough. The race went back green and Brian Scott once again jumped out to the lead. By this time, Scott had easily passed his mark of fourteen laps led on the season. In fact, he would lead more laps in the race than in his entire career in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. Matt Kenseth once again made a charge at Scott for the lead, but Scott was able to hold him off once again. This led to the third caution of the race on lap 133. Justin Allgaier got loose underneath Trevor Bayne in turn 3 and went for a spin. Allgaier backed into the outside wall and received a little bit of damage, but he was able to continue on. Landon Cassill received the lucky dog. Once again, all the lead lap drivers came to pit road for four tires with Brian Scott coming out as the leader. During the stops, a race and Owner Points Championship contender would have trouble.
Brad Keselowski came into the pits with a spot up front in the field. His team had done good on the previous stop, but they would have trouble on this one. The jack dropped while the stop was going on and the team had to pick the car up to get it back underneath. This cost them a lot of time and track position as Keselowski went back to fourteenth place. He would be in the hornets' nest like Brian Vickers earlier and he would have to make it back up to the front. The race went back green once again and Brian Scott jumped out to the lead. Matt Kenseth once again made a challenge for the lead from Scott, but Kenseth could not pass him. After leading all of the laps up to this point in the race, it looked like we might see history in the 1,000th NASCAR Nationwide Series race. This led to the fourth caution of the race on lap 172. Jamie Dick locked up his tires in turn 3 while underneath Jeff Green. Jamie went up the track and made contact with Green causing Green to have most of the left side sheetmetal ripped off the side of his car. He had a good bit of damage, but he was able to continue on in the race. Nelson Piquet Jr. received the lucky dog. All the drivers came down pit road for four tires with Brian Scott once again taking the lead. The race went back green and a race contender would have trouble on the restart.
Running in second on the restart, Matt Kenseth held his position as the field went into turn 1. Kenseth would soon have trouble as he got loose in the same turn. His car drifted up track and drivers began to go by him on the inside. He fell all the back to eighth and would have to fight his way back through the field. This left Brian Scott out front without a major contender near him, but one would soon come about. Brad Keselowski went into second after Kenseth's trouble on the restart and Keselowski began to catch up to Scott. It looked like Brad K would get by for the lead in lap traffic, but Scott was able to distance himself after making it through the lap traffic. Scott still had lead all the laps and it looked like he would finish the race leading, but the fifth caution waved on lap 230. Sam Hornish Jr. bumped Hal Martin in turn 2 and caused Martin to go up the track. Martin rode the outside line and then hit the wall slightly exiting turn 2, but he did not receive much damage and was able to continue on. Johanna Long received the lucky dog. All the drivers came down pit road for their final four tire pit stop of the day and Brian Scott once again held the lead. The race went back green and Brian Scott jumped out to the lead. It seemed like he would be able to lead all the laps, but the sixth caution on lap 235 slowed the race down again. Sam Hornish Jr., Austin Dillon, Justin Allgaier, and Matt Kenseth went into turn 3 four wide with Kenseth on the outside. All four made contact and Kenseth ended up hitting the outside wall. The other three did not have much damage, but Kenseth had a good bit of damage and would not return to the race. Jeff Green received the lucky dog. None of the leaders pitted and the race went back green. Brian Scott made his first mistake of the night and spun his tires on the restart. Brad Keselowski ran side by side with him as they entered turn 1. Keselowski had the momentum and took the lead exiting turn 2. Before Scott had a chance to pass him back and keep the laps led streak going, the seventh and final caution waved on lap 240.
Landon Cassill bumped Travis Pastrana exiting turn 2 and Pastrana went for a spin. At the same time, Johanna Long bumped Cassill and caused him to spin. Pastrana and Cassill made contact on the backstretch as they both spun, but they were able to get back going with a little bit of damage. Nelson Piquet Jr. received the lucky dog. With this caution, a driver other than Brian Scott had led a lap. Now, Brad Keselowski held the lead and looked to win the race. The race went back green for the final time and Brad Keselowski jumped out to a very quick lead over Regan Smith, who had got by Brian Scott in turn 1. It looked like Keselowski had jumped the restart, but NASCAR did not hand down a penalty and Keselowski cruised to his twenty fifth career NASCAR Nationwide Series victory. Brian Scott came so close to winning his first race and lead all the laps in the process, but he came just short.
Brad Keselowski has been one of the dominators in the NNS this year along with Kyle Busch Keselowski has won almost half the races he has attempted and had a streak of winning fourth straight NNS races he was in. Today, he added to those four wins with his second NNS win of the season at Richmond. Kyle Busch, who is a factor in every race he is a part of, was not as competitive in the race today. He struggled in practice and had an uncharacteristic seventh place starting spot. Busch had to fight his car the entire race and barely grabbed a fourth place finish. This allowed the #22 team to hold onto the lead in the Owner Points battle. At the same time, the battle for the Nationwide Series championship heated up as well. Sam Hornish Jr. held onto his points lead, but Austin Dillon, Elliott Sadler, and Regan Smith still proved that they are in the battle. With only eight races to go, the battle should continue to heat up and become even crazier. The series heads to the 1.5 mile oval known as Chicagoland Speedway. Will Elliott Sadler win two years in a row at Chicagoland, will Brad Keselowski continue his streak of winning NNS races, or will a championship contender move his way to the points lead? We will have to find out next Saturday afternoon.
(More Stats Down Below!)
Cautions:
1st Caution: Lap 14- Robert Richardson Jr. went for a spin in turn 1 after slight contact with Ryan Ellis.
2nd Caution: Lap 67- Debris was spotted on the backstretch of the track.
3rd Caution: Lap 133- Justin Allgaier got loose underneath Trevor Bayne in turn 3 and backed into the outside wall.
4th Caution: Lap 172- Jamie Dick locked up his tires in turn 3 and made contact with Jeff Green causing part of the left side sheetmetal on Green's car to be ripped off.
5th Caution: Lap 230- Sam Hornish Jr. bumped Hal Martin in turn 2 causing Martin to ride the outside line and make slight contact with the outside wall.
6th Caution: Lap 235- Sam Hornish Jr., Austin Dillon, Justin Allgaier, and Matt Kenseth went into turn 3 four wide with Kenseth on the outside. The four made contact and Kenseth ended up hitting the outside wall.
7th Caution: Lap 240- Landon Cassill bumped Travis Pastrana in turn 2 and caused Pastrana to spin while Johanna Long bumped Cassill and caused him to spin. Pastrana and Cassill would end up making slight contact.
Lucky Dogs:
1st Caution: Matt DiBenedetto
2nd Caution: Nelson Piquet Jr.
3rd Caution: Landon Cassill
4th Caution: Nelson Piquet Jr.
5th Caution: Johanna Long
6th Caution: Jeff Green
7th Caution: Nelson Piquet Jr.
Top 5 Finishers:
1st: Brad Keselowski
2nd: Brian Scott
3rd: Regan Smith
4th: Kyle Busch
5th: Trevor Bayne
Notables Not in Top 5:
6th: Sam Hornish Jr.
7th: Brian Vickers
8th: Elliott Sadler
10th: Jamie McMurray
12th: Austin Dillon
20th: Travis Pastrana
35th: Matt Kenseth
36th: Parker Kligerman
Credits:
-My Own Notes
-Statistics:
http://www.nascar.com/en_us/nationwide-series/leaderboard/leaderboard-live.html
http://racing-reference.info/race/2013_Virginia_529_College_Savings_250/B
-Image:
https://twitter.com/NASCAR/status/376162697600962560/photo/1/large
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