.jpg)
Landon Cassill was the first driver on the track for the thirty minute first round. Most of the drivers were waiting for new rubber to be laid on the track before they went out, but Cassill put down a decent lap early. Cassill was the fastest driver for the early part of the round, but many of the heavy hitters were still waiting on pit road. Ten minutes in, Chase Pistone was the first of the heavy hitters to head on track and he jumped to the top of the board easily as the rest of the field still remained on pit road. With fifteen minutes left, Brad Keselowski decided to head on track and he sailed to the top of the board with a fast lap over the rest of his competitors. After Keselowski's run, the rest of the field began to head on track. A minute later, Brian Scott bested the Team Penske driver to jump to the top of the board. The rest of the pack quickly ran laps and with ten minutes remaining, every driver had recorded a lap. Just four minutes later, the battle for the twelfth and final transfer spot into the final round began to heat up. Brendan Gaughan, Josh Berry, Ty Dillon, Chris Buescher, Dylan Kwasniewski, and others were looking to move on to the ten minute final round. These drivers began to mix it up and switch positions as the final minutes clicked down. With a minute left, Chase Pistone was on the bubble spot. The red and black flag waved to end the round and the shake up had ended with Pistone still the last guy to move on. Brian Scott remained the fastest driver in the round. Trevor Bayne, Chase Elliott, Elliott Sadler, Regan Smith, Michael McDowell, Ryan Reed, Josh Berry, Brad Keselowski, Sam Hornish Jr., and Chris Buescher moved on while Brendan Gaughan, Ty Dillon, James Buescher, and others missed the final round. After a rather calm thirty minutes, ten minutes would decide the pole winner for the second race at Iowa on the year for the Nationwide Series.
Trevor Bayne was the first driver on track for the ten minute second and final round. He ran a very good lap to start the round, but the other eleven drivers would be gunning for his time. They began to file onto the speedway and it looked like at least one would surpass Bayne, but they all fell short. Chase Pistone was the last to turn a time of the twelve drivers and he could not best Bayne with three minutes to go. If no one went back on track, Bayne would easily win the pole. With a minute and a half left, though, Brad Keselowski had something to say about that. He went on track to turn a lap and he laid down a time two one thousandths of a second better than Bayne's to take the provisional pole with only one minute remaining. Bayne wasn't going to settle for second as he went back on track. He took the green and came back around to complete his lap in the final seconds. He crossed the line ahead of the red and black flag and he beat Brad Keselowski to take the pole. No drivers could head on track to beat him and Bayne was given his first pole of the year in the Nationwide Series. Bayne is always fast at Iowa and it doesn't seem today will be different.
Trevor Bayne has been a key driver in the NASCAR Nationwide Series for a good many years now, but next year he will be heading to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Tonight, Bayne has a chance to take a pole position to a win in the series as he looks to possibly take a championship. This track was the sight of his last win in the series in 2013 and he has been known to run well here. In fact, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who drove the number six before Bayne, won at this track three times before heading to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and Bayne has picked up where he left off. Tonight could be the chance for a Ford to enter victory lane and Bayne could be the driver to do it. Brad Keselowski is another Ford driver who has a chance to win and he will look for that win from a second place starting spot. Regan Smith will look to take his second win of the season with a third place starting spot at Iowa. Brian Scott is still searching for his first Nationwide win, but a fourth place starting spot at a track that is similar to Richmond, which is one of his favorite ones, could be the chance for that victory. Michael McDowell will also look for his first Nationwide win as he takes the wheel of a Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. The rest of the Nationwide field follows behind this top five with a good many competitive drivers looking to win the race from the top ten. This race at Iowa Speedway is a stand alone event for the series, meaning that the Cup Series is not in town. That means only one Cup driver is in the race and the Nationwide field will have a chance to win a race. It will definitely be a good Saturday night fight. Will Trevor Bayne take another win at Iowa in the series, will Sam Hornish Jr. repeat after his May win, will Brad Keselowski fly in from Pocono to steal the win, or will another driver take the win at the short track? We only have to wait a little while to find out the answers to these questions and a whole lot more.
(More Stats Down Below!)
Top 5 Qualifiers (With Times):
1st: Trevor Bayne 23.558 (133.713 mph)
2nd: Brad Keselowski 23.577 (133.605 mph)
3rd: Regan Smith 23.612 (133.407 mph)
4th: Brian Scott 23.620 (133.362 mph)
5th: Michael McDowell 23.686 (132.990 mph)
Notables Not in Top 5 (With Times):
6th: Chase Elliott 23.695 (132.939 mph)
7th: Sam Hornish Jr. 23.776 (132.487 mph)
8th: Elliott Sadler 23.845 (132.103 mph)
13th: Brendan Gaughan 23.811 (132.292 mph)*
15th: Ty Dillon 23.926 (131.656 mph)*
18th: James Buescher 24.013 (131.179 mph)*
(*: These drivers were fast enough to be in the top twelve, but they did not make the final round.)
DNQs: None
Credits:
-My Own Notes
-Statistics:
http://www.nascar.com/en_us/nationwide-series/leaderboard/leaderboard-qualification.html
http://racing-reference.info/getqualify/2014-20/B
-Image:
https://twitter.com/NASCAR_NNS/status/495697212622376961/photo/1
No comments:
Post a Comment