Gateway to Success

July 16, 2008 10:35am CDT

The NASCAR Nationwide series doesn’t have far to travel this week. After carrying their fight into the night at Chicagoland Speedway last Friday, Nationwide drivers stay in Illinois and venture to Gateway International Raceway. The racing will be quite different on these tracks; whereas Chicagoland is a 1.5-mile unrestricted, intermediate speedway, Gateway is a 1.25-mile flat track. Plus this week’s event will be held during the daylight hours.

There are fewer “Claim Jumpers” in this week’s field. The Sprint Cup series is taking the weekend off to prepare for arguably the second-most prestigious race of the year: The Allstate 400 at The Brickyard. That leaves Saturday’s race wide open for a “Nationwide Regular” victory.

Claim Jumpers

Fantasy owners will need to take weekly favorite Kyle Busch off their rosters this week for only one reason: He's not racing. Although he is not making the trip to Gateway, there are other “Claim Jumpers” who can fill the void nicely.

Carl Edwards has been the best on the short, flat tracks this year. In three starts, he has a win at The Milwaukee Mile and top-fives at Phoenix International Raceway and New Hampshire Motor Speedway. He has been no slouch in his career at Gateway. During the last three years, he has managed a win in 2006, a third in 2005 and a sixth in 2007. Since “Concrete Carl” won in Milwaukee four races ago, he has had just one top-10. This would be a great time for him to rekindle the fire.

Clint Bowyer is having a spectacular Nationwide season. Although he has just one win—he went to victory lane at Bristol Motor Speedway when rain halted the event—he has only failed to finish in the top-10 three times. NASCAR, however, is a sport about the present, and Bowyer exceeds the standard in that category. He rolls into Gateway with 10 consecutive top-10s. His last trip to Gateway was in 2006, and he finished second that day.

Reed Sorenson needs some success. His Sprint Cup season has been downright horrendous and his status for 2009 is in doubt. He has made just one Nationwide start this season, and that ended in a 29th at Talladega SuperSpeedway. Things will be different at Gateway. While he only has three career starts there, they have resulted in two wins in 2005 and 2007 and a fourth in 2006. Winning on the junior circuit is not the same as winning in the senior division, but it will certainly help him regain his confidence.

Nationwide Regulars

After weeks of waiting, fantasy owners can put Joey Logano back on their rosters. If you are not already there, this is a good time to hop on his bandwagon. With Tony Stewart’s impending departure from Joe Gibbs Racing, all eyes are on the teenager. Logano already has a win in the Nationwide series, but a victory just a week after Stewart’s announcement will have the entire industry calling for him to take over the No. 20 Toyota in the Sprint Cup series. Logano has never started a junior series race at Gateway, but it won’t hold him back. He had the same scenario at the sister track of Milwaukee and walked away in second.

Scott Wimmer shines in the “opportunity races,” those that feature few “Claim Jumpers.” His first win of the season was at Nashville Superspeedway, and then he was seventh in Mexico City. He followed that with another top-10 at Nashville, a second at Kentucky Speedway and a sixth at Milwaukee. His solid numbers on the short, flat tracks—three top-fives and six top-10s in his last eight starts on the low-banked speedways—predicts a good day for him this week. Don’t forget that he was second at Gateway in 2007.

Jason Keller has not enjoyed his last two trips to Gateway, but he will return to his former glory this week. From 1997 to 2004, he started all eight races at the Illinois track and earned six top-fives and seven top-10s. In 2005 and 2007 (he skipped the 2006 race there) he was 33rd and 30th. When he gets back to Gateway this week, he will have momentum on his side. He enters the weekend with a 10-race streak of top-20s, including top-10s at Milwaukee, Kentucky and Darlington Speedway. Look for him to get back into the top-10 this week.

Power Rankings for short flat tracks (known, expected entrants)