CupScene.com

(By Greg Engle)

Posted: Saturday,May 30th, 2009

(By Tim Tuttle and Roger Kuznia,Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service)

With momentum built from six straight top-10 finishes, Jason Leffler will make his 200th career start Saturday in the Nationwide Series in the Heluva Good! 200 at Dover International Speedway.

Leffler, driving Braun Racing’s No. 38 Toyota, has second places at Phoenix and Darlington and sixths at Nashville, Talladega and Lowe’s in his impressive run up to third in the points, but he still trails leader Kyle Busch by 173.

“This Great Clips team has been consistently strong all season and we all feel like a win is just around the corner,” Leffler said. “Hopefully, we can get it done at Dover this weekend.”

Leffler has two Nationwide victories, at Nashville in 2004 and O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis in 2007. At the Monster Mile, Leffer has three top-fives including a third in 2005 in 11 starts. Leffler has a victory at Dover, in the Camping World Truck Series in 2003.

“Dover has been a pretty good track for me over the years,” Leffler said. “My first NASCAR win came at Dover when I was racing in the truck series, so it’s a special place for me. Dover is a really fun racetrack. It’s similar to Bristol with the high banking, but it’s got the feel of a superspeedway.

“It’s easy to forget that it’s only a one-mile track because of the speeds you’re carrying. It’s really narrow, so there’s not a whole lot of room to negotiate. Being able to charge hard into the corners so you can keep up your momentum on the straightaways is really important.”

Busch won last fall’s race at Dover, completing a season sweep for the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota. Denny Hamlin won in the spring. Hamlin began a three-race Dover winning streak for Gibbs with a victory in the No. 20 Toyota in the fall race in 2007.

“Everyone back at our Nationwide shop does such an outstanding job of having the car prepared for this track that I feel good about it,” Busch said. “I know Jason (Ratcliff, crew chief) and everyone on the 18 team will be ready and hopefully we can keep the streak going at Dover. The guys have given me cars capable of winning, but we’ve just had some bad luck the last two races (Darlington, Charlotte) in particular. I’m hoping we can have some things fall our way this weekend.”

Busch has two wins in the 11 races this season and has a 73-point lead over Carl Edwards, who is still looking for his first win of 2009.

Greg Biffle, with two wins in five starts this season, Ryan Newman, David Ragan, Joey Logano (returning to the track where he made his series debut in 2008, finishing sixth), Clint Bowyer, Brian Vickers, Kevin Harvick, Paul Menard, Scott Speed and Joe Nemechek are the other Sprint Cup regulars entered at Dover.

Jeffrey Earnhardt, the 19-year-old grandson of the late Dale Earnhardt, will attempt to make his Nationwide debut Saturday.

Three to watch

Mike Bliss, No. 1: Bliss, who gained four spots in the points standings after winning last week’s race at Lowe’s, is positioned for another strong run this weekend. He has three top-10 finishes in the last four races at Dover, finishing second in the fall race last year to Kyle Busch.

Carl Edwards, No. 60: Edwards has done everything but win so far this year. He’s earned four poles, seven top-five finishes and led 380 laps. Edwards did win this race two years ago, leading 122 of the 200 laps and has finished no worse than sixth since.

Joey Logano, No. 20: Can you believe it’s already been a year since Logano made his series debut at Dover? The 19-year-old has finished no worse than 12th since Daytona and already has one win (Nashville).

Track chatter

Justin Allgaier: “I am excited to go to Dover. I have seen the last couple race tapes and it looks like a blast. You carry a lot of speed into the corners, and (you) have to really get your car to rotate through the corners to be fast. I know (crew chief) Chad (Walter) will bring a package that will be good. We have had a good couple of weeks and need to continue to finish races in the top 15. We are getting into the part of the schedule where we are racing every week. I really like that.”

Doug Randolph, crew chief for Clint Bowyer: “The title (Monster Mile) definitely suits Dover well. It can bite a driver or team at any time. I’ve been hit twice on pit road while working as an over-the-wall crew member, so I’m excited they have rebuilt it. Also, the track is known for multicar accidents because the racing is so tight and fast-paced. If we avoid the accidents and get our car to handle to Clint’s liking, I think we’ll be successful this weekend.”

Fast facts

What: Heluva Good! 200
Where: Dover International Speedway; Dover, Del.
When: Saturday, 2:30 p.m. ET
TV: ABC, 2 p.m.
Radio: MRN/Sirius XM Satellite Ch. 128
Track layout: 1-mile oval
Race distance: 200 laps/200 miles
2008 winner: Denny Hamlin
2008 polesitter: Carl Edwards
Points leaders: 1. Kyle Busch, 1,714; 2. Carl Edwards, 1,641; 3. Jason Leffler, 1,541; 4. Joey Logano, 1,495; 5. Brad Keselowski, 1,473; 6. Jason Keller, 1,296; 7. David Ragan, 1,285; 8. Brendan Gaughan, 1,237; 9. Mike Bliss, 1,234; 10. Justin Allgaier, 1,210.