Saturday Indianapolis Motor Speedway Nationwide Notebook:
Ty Dillon’s Win More Potent Than Just First Career-Win:
Of course, Ty Dillon’s win in Saturday afternoon’s Lilly Diabetes 250 at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway was life-changing for the Richard Childress Racing driver.
Dillon won one of the biggest Nationwide races of the year in front of his entire family and grandfather Richard Childress. But, maybe the underlining notion is who the former ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards champion actually beat to score his first career win in just his 31st start.
Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano, Paul Menard and Kyle Larson were the big heavy hitters running double-duty this weekend at IMS that decided they wanted to dabble in Saturday’s 100-lap race. And they all finished in the top-10.
Of course, Dillon showed speed throughout the weekend and lined up third for his Indianapolis debut, but did anyone actually think the driver of the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro would actually have enough to out-duel some of the sports finest?
Probably not.
But, a relentless rookie without air conditioning nonetheless was able to out master Kyle Busch on the final restart and lead just the final 24 laps to give the Richard Childress Racing organization their third win of the season.
“I knew if I could get in front of him (Kyle Busch), I could hold him off for another turn and another turn and then all I had to was stay consistent and not mess up. I knew I had to clear him getting off into the corner, and whether it meant hitting the wall I was going for it. I don’t hold back. When I have an opportunity I try to give it all I’ve got, and I’d rather hit the wall and say you know, I gave it all I got, then feel like I didn’t give it enough.”
And yet a powerful hound of grizzly bears behind him would not be enough for the 22-year old to make a make a mistake and be eaten alive. Dillon hit his marks. Hit them right. And won in the No. 3.
That’s pretty cool.
Oh, on top of his hay day purse, Dillon also collected the $100,000 bonus for the Nationwide Dash4Cash.
Dismal Season For James Buescher Continues:
When RAB Racing with Brack Maggard announced in the off season that Plano, Texas native James Buescher would pilot the No. 99 Rheem Toyota Camry for the 2014 NASCAR Nationwide Series, mixed emotions poured in.
Now, just past the halfway point in his first full season of Nationwide competition, expectations haven’t been met and results are lacking. And lacking, may be an understatement.
Saturday’s 21st place finish in the Lilly Diabetes 250 didn’t help matters either. To add insult to injury, RAB Racing also missed the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race with reining NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion Matt Crafton after failing to qualifying Saturday afternoon.
“Today’s result isn’t what we were hoping with our Rheem Toyota team,” said Buescher. “After we fell down a lap during the green-flag pit stops we fought back to get In position but different pit strategies in front of keep us a lap down. Overall, the handling on our Rheem Camry was decent after we made some adjustments, we just lacked some speed throughout the weekend. It would have been great to secure a solid finish in front of all the Rheem guests that we had in attendance today but we’ll learn from today and move onto Iowa next weekend and try to put another tally in the top-10 column.”
Buescher’s comments seemed to show optimism, but what if they can’t better their 19th-place finish they maneuvered at the 0.875-mile oval in May? Then what? Their running out of options.
Team owner Robby Benton has made several changes within his Nationwide program hoping to lift his Nationwide team off the ground, but it’s evident that something is still missing in the puzzle.
Not even a recent chief change from Chris Rice to Matt Lucas has lifted Buescher to his second top-10 finish of the season. It’s been 11 races since Buescher steered his Toyota to his lone top-10 finish of the year. 11 races ago in fact at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway in April. The team has also gone through a rash of spotters too.
There comes a point in the season where all the cards needs to be laid out and a meeting of the minds occurs to determine if this relationship is worth salvaging. No question Buescher can get the job done, he’s proven that many times over. RAB Racing has also proven that they can put fast cars on the track, but was this unique relationship doomed from the start?
True, Buescher, the 2012 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion is (still) racing, but at what cost? It can’t be fun for him, the team or sponsors.
Alex Bowman proved last season with two poles, two top-fives and six top-10s that RAB belongs in Nationwide. Even Blake Koch stormed into the Nationwide spotlight with a career-performance at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway, but the flaming torch they hailed last season seems to be losing whatever’s left of its flame and quickly.
Now, it’s a waiting game to see whether the team’s year can be saved, before that flame burns out.
Permanently.
Dash4Cash Set For Final Round:
The third round of the 2014 edition of the Nationwide Dash4Cash was claimed by another Chevrolet driver Saturday afternoon at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but there’s still one more opportunity to win.
Regan Smith (New Hampshire), Brian Scott (Chicago) and Ty Dillon (Indianapolis) all have added $100,000 to their bank accounts over the last three weeks and all three winners will have another chance in the final round of the Dash4Cash next Saturday night at Iowa Speedway.
With their finishes on Saturday afternoon at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Dillon, Scott, Trevor Bayne and Regan Smith will duke it out for the final Nationwide-sponsored Dash4Cash in the August 2 running of the U.S. Cellular 250.
So what’s even better about Iowa Speedway? Four race fans with an all expensed paid trip to the 0.875-mile paved oval will be randomly paired with each qualifying driver. If their driver wins, they also win $100,000.00.
Go ahead, take the rest of the year off. Nationwide is on your side.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
