The NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) makes its annual trip to Watkins Glen International for the Zippo 200. This is the 10th running of the race since the Glen was brought back on the schedule in 2005.
Defending race winner Brad Keselowski is back and looking to repeat his 2013 victory. The Michigan driver held off Sam Hornish, Jr. in last year’s Zippo 200 to claim his first NASCAR win at Watkins Glen. Penske Racing finished 1-2 in the race and will look to duplicate that come Saturday, as the team has entered a second car, the No. 12, with Joey Logano.
The last two seasons has been the No. 22 and 54 teams dominating week in and out. The No. 22 has a one point lead on the 54 team in the owner standings. The same one point gave the Penske 22 team the owner’s championship last season, the margin back to the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing team.
Kyle Busch has never won a NNS race at the Glen, and his hopes to were cut short last year after a spin on the first turn of the race, before being pile-driven by another car and putting the 54 car behind the wall. Busch has been close on several occasions, including back-to-back runner-up finishes to Marcos Ambrose in 2008 and 2009.
Ambrose makes his return to NNS this weekend by running double-duty in the No. 09 Stanley Tools Ford. His regular Cup number, 9, belongs to the JR Motorsports team of Chase Elliott, since that team is running the full season. The last time Ambrose ran a NNS race at the Glen in 2010, he found himself in victory lane. There have been some changes since Ambrose’s last start, as the 2010 win was with the old car.
“The speed is lower in the Nationwide car which helps brakes and gives you more time to think about what you are doing,” Ambrose said of the current NNS car. “You can be a little more aggressive because you can set the car up stiffer because it doesn’t have to absorb that horsepower and brake pressure.”
Ambrose has three NNS wins at the Glen, which all are consecutive from 2008 to 2010. The Australian driver and Terry Labonte are the only drivers with three consecutive NNS wins at Watkins Glen.
Paul Menard returns to the seat of the No. 33 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing (RCR). Menard made his Sprint Cup debut at Watkins Glen in 2003. The RCR driver picked up his first NNS win in eight years at Michigan in June. Menard’s crew chief, Nick Harrison, looked over the effort of the No. 3 RCR truck with Austin Dillon last weekend at Pocono that went on to win the Pocono Mountains 150.
The track qualifying record could be in jeopardy as Sam Hornish, Jr. owns the current title with a speed of 123.291 mph set last year.
Matt Kenseth and Kyle Larson round out the big name Cup drivers for Saturday’s Zippo 200.
Alongside the Cup drivers, there is also a battle for the NNS championship. Rookie Chase Elliott currently leads the point standings by two over his JR Motorsports teammate, Regan Smith. The top four drivers are only separated by 12 points as it appears to be a four-horse race at the moment. Trevor Bayne and Brian Scott are lurking in fifth and sixth respectively, both 41 points back, and are ready to pounce if any of the top four drivers have any issues.
The 10th annual Zippo 200 at the Glen will start at 2 p.m. and will be shown live on ABC.
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- Kenseth returns to victory lane, Penske wins owner’s title - November 16, 2014
- Penske powers to top spot, Keselowski on pole - November 15, 2014