NASCAR Nationwide Picks: There is a red hot race at the top of the Nationwide Series standings as Regan Smith and Elliott Sadler are beck and neck with rookies Chase Elliott and Ty Dillon right behind. With the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series taking the weekend off the Nationwide Series has the stage to itself. The EnjoyIllinois.com 300 will take place Saturday night at the Chicagoland Speedway with coverage on ESPN2 starting at 8 PM ET. This is the 18th race of the season in the Nationwide Series.
Chicagoland Speedway
The Chicagoland Speedway is 1.5 miles in length with 18 degree turn banks with a front stretch banking of 11 degrees and a backstretch bank of five degrees. The track opened in 2001 and has a seating capacity of 75,000. The Nationwide Series began to run there in 2011 as the Sprint Cup Series has been in Chicago since 2001. Joey Logano was the winner last year with Elliott Sadler taking the checkers in 2012 and Justin Algaier winning in 2011.
Current Nationwide Series Standings
Regan Smith is in first place with 611 points as he won the opening race of the year at Daytona but has not posted a win since although he has been remarkably consistent with just two finishes out of the top ten so far this season.
Elliott Sadler has 603 points with one win and five finishes out of the top ten on the season.
Chase Elliott has two wins and 598 points good for third place and has five finishes outside the top ten.
Ty Dillon has 577 points good for fourth place in the standings and is yet to win a race and has six finishes outside the top ten.
Rounding out the top ten of the Nationwide Series standings are Brian Scott with 560 points, Trevor Bayne with 553 points, Brendan Gaughan with 493 points, rookie Chris Buescher with 470 points, James Buescher with 470 points, and rookie Ryan Reed with 456 points.
Our Pick
Elliott Sadler has a total of nine career starts at Illinois and has one career win with two top five and four top ten finishes. Sadler has become one of the more consistent and dependable drivers on the Nationwide Series circuit and gets the call here!
