NASCAR Nationwide Picks: It will be a big weekend for NASCAR fans with the NASCAR Nationwide Series and Sprint Cup Series both in action at the most famous venue in Motor Sports, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The Nationwide Series will get things started off on Saturday and with both series in action for the weekend that means that there will be plenty of crossover drivers from the Sprint Cup Series that will run in Saturday’s Nationwide Series race. The Lily Diabetes Indiana 250 will take place from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday with a telecast on ESPN starting at 4 PM ET.
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a mostly asphalt surface track with bricks at the start finish line. The track is a rectangular oval configuration with four turns and turn banks ranging from 9 to 12 degrees with a length of 2.5 miles. The seating capacity is 257, 325. The NASCAR Nationwide Series moved to the Brickyard in 2012 after running at the Lucas Oil Raceway for 30 years. Kyle Busch was the winner last year with Brad Keselowski winning in 2012. Both Busch and Keselowski are Sprint Cup regulars.
Current Nationwide Standings Leaders
Rookie Chase Elliott now leads the Nationwide Series Standings after his win last week at Chicago with 656 points as Regan Smith, who has led most of the year, is now in second place with 639 points, followed by Elliott Sadler at 636.
Sprint Cup Drivers Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick, and Kasey Kahne have all posted Nationwide Series wins this year. Busch has three wins, Harvick and Keselowski each have two wins and Kahne has one win.
Top Nationwide Performers at the Brickyard
Keselowski won his only previous Nationwide Series start at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Other Sprint Cup crossover drivers with one start at the Brickyard include Denny Hamlin (4th place), Kevin Harvick (5th place), and Matt Kenseth (7th place).
Drivers with starts in each of the two previous Nationwide Series races at the Brickyard include Joey Logano, who has an average finish of 5th place with one top five and two top ten finishes. Paul Menard has an average finish of 7.0 with a pair of top ten finishes.
Our Pick
Kyle Busch gets the nod in this one.
