Nationwide Richmond International Raceway Notebook:
Chase Elliott Inches Closer To First Championship:
It ain’t over yet by any means, but Chase Elliott strengthened his chances at his first NASCAR Nationwide Series championship on Friday night with another impressive performance in his rookie season.
The driver of the No. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet Camaro earned his 12th top-five finish of the season and second consecutive runner-up finish at the 0.875-mile oval after finishing second in May to JR Motorsports teammate Kevin Harvick.
And to the surprise of many, Elliott was just as disappointed Friday night with second, as he was nearly fourth months ago.
“Much like Kevin (Harvick), I feel like we fought the same things really from the time we unloaded I think all the way throughout practice, I felt like our cars were very, very similar throughout the race tonight,” said Elliott. “Like he said, we were a little off from the time we unloaded, fighting a little bit of this or that and there were times I thought we had our car driving okay, just didn’t quite have the speed and needed a little bit of grip here and there.
“From the spring race to now, I don’t really know if we got any better. If anything, we were on par for a little bit worse or somewhere close. Still a lot of work to do. We’ll try to get better before next spring.”
Elliott added, “Unless you win the race and even when do win the race, you always got work to do. Definitely not satisfied with finishing second, I don’t think anyone is. We’ll get to work.”
Of course, winning is no easy task for Elliott when it comes to racing against the super stars of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Race winner Kyle Busch scored his fifth win at Richmond and Cup ace Harvick sandwiched the Dawsonville, Georgia native, but at a period of the season where Elliott should be thinking about championship points, he’s still focused on winning races.
“To go out and try to compete and try to win races, if you can do those things, the points lead will take care of itself,” he said. “The way you show up and giving it your best effort to win a race, I feel like that’s the same effort you need to give to win a championship. To me, our goals don’t change, my goals don’t change, Greg’s (Ives, crew chief) goals don’t change, nobody goals change and they’re not going to. We show up each week and we want to try to contend for wins and if we can do that, then that’s the best way to get points, to try and compete and win races. I don’t plan to do anything differently than I’ve done all year long.”
Elliott’s mindset though helped him achieve his 19th top-10 run of the season extended his points lead over teammate Regan Smith with eight races remaining.
Not only is the 18-year old gunning after the driver’s championship, but he is also the leading the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings over Ty Dillon.
Brian Scott Stays Consistent; Delivers Another Top-Five:
Richard Childress Racing’s Brian Scott came up short at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway on Friday night, again.
The two-time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series winner didn’t earn his third consecutive Nationwide pole at the track, but the Boise, Idaho native did earn his fifth top-five finish of the year, a single-season record.
Furthermore, Scott negotiated his third straight top-10 finish at Richmond, while continuing to make a dent against his other competitors in the NASCAR Nationwide Series championship standings.
Scott struggled with the handling of his No. 2 Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff Chevrolet Camaro throughout the 250-lap race, but a strong pit stop by his RCR team gave the 26-year old the track position he needed to claim his 15th top-10 finish of the year, also a personal best.
“It was loose in, tight center and horrible drive off,” said Scott. “I feel like a lot of people fought the same issue with this tire, but just missed the setup a little from where we wanted to be.”
With eight races left, he stands fifth in the championship standings, three points behind fourth place competitor Elliott Sadler.
“We have a really good stretch of races coming up and we are excited about fighting for this championship,” Scott added. “We are clawing our way bit by bit into this battle and the only person that we are not closing points on is the 9 (Chase Elliott). If the 9 has one bad race, it’s going to be a five person battle and with our consistency, I like our chances.”
Next weekend, Scott heads to Chicagoland Speedway, by far one of his best tracks on the NASCAR Nationwide Series circuit. In eight starts, he has earned two poles, two top-fives and four top-10 finishes, and a $100,000 bonus in July for winning the Nationwide Dash 4 Cash incentive.
In Important Race, Ryan Ellis Finishes 24th:
It was a small victory for Ryan Ellis Friday night at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway.
At times, the part-time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver contended for a top-20 finish in the No. 93 Kappa Signma Fraternity Dodge Charger, but instead Ellis finished a respectable 24th for JGL Racing.
Earlier this week, Ellis, a standout road racer attracted enough sponsorship dollars from his college fraternity, Kappa Signma to compete in his second full race of the season. The Ashburn, Virginia native started 29th, but methodically kept up with the track conditions and found himself eclipsing his previous best at Richmond, a 31st last year with SR2 Motorsports.
“It was really exciting to drive the No. 93 Kappa Signma Dodge Charger for JGL Racing and the Military Heroes Campaign at Richmond,” sounded Ellis. “The car was great all night, but we were a little too lose that last run and it cost us a few spots. Regardless, I am really excited to get my best finish ever and feel like I have learned a lot, especially considering this is only my third full-race in Nationwide. I’m really thankful for the opportunity JGL Racing gave me.”
Ellis’ next planned “full” race in NASCAR competition is expected next month at Talladega (Ala.) Superspedway driving the No. 28 FDNY Chevrolet Silverado for FDNY Racing.
Tanner Berryhill Fails To Qualify; Puts Circumstance Into Perspective:
Failing to qualify for a race is the worst. Just ask Tanner Berryhill.
The likable NASCAR Nationwide Series missed Friday night’s Virginia529 College Savings 250 by a few thousands of a second and instead of competing in a race where he made his Nationwide debut in 2012, he found himself in the empty backstretch grandstands watching the 250-lap race by himself.
Berryhill, the Bixby, Oklahoma native tweeted a selfie Friday night of his whereabouts and also interacted with members of the media and fans saying: “Ain’t going to do any good to pout!”
It’s been an extremely rough season for Berryhill and his family-owned Vision Racing team. After failing to qualify for the season-opener at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, the team has been plagued by accidents, mechanical failures and rotten race luck. The team earned their best finish of the season last month at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, where Berryhill wrestled his No. 17 Dodge to a career-best 17th.
But for those who know Berryhill, his character stood out Friday night in the worst of situation a racecar driver could possible imagine, but the 20-year old inhaled the lesson he learned for a third-time this season and will look for a rebound at Chicagoland Speedway, a track he has four prior starts at.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
