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Carl Edwards will try to become the first back-to-back winner at Memphis and just the second driver to score two victories there.Memphis standalone race offers chance to stand out
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The final standalone race of the season provides a better chance for a Nationwide Series-only regular to come away with a victory and pocket the $25,000, "Dash 4 Cash" bonus. A better chance, but not great.
Only four Sprint Cup Series regulars will make the trek from Martinsville, but two of them -- David Reutimann and Carl Edwards -- are the past two winners at Memphis Motorsports Park.
5.0Average finish for David Reutimann in three starts at Memphis. He has a victory and a runner-up finish the past two years there in the same car in which he is entered this week -- the No. 99 Toyota.
29.7Difference in average starting position (38.2) and average finish (8.5) for Carl Edwards. He has rallied to post top-five finishes in three of his four races at MMP, including a win from the 34th starting position last year. Only one winner has started farther back (Clint Bowyer, 35th, in 2005.)
Furthermore, only four Nationwide races this season have been won by a non-Cup regular and three of those were by Brad Keselowski, who also has a Cup victory this year.
But still, there is hope.
7Races at Memphis won by a non-Cup regular.
21Place of finish for Matt Kenseth in his only start at Memphis, in the first race there in 1999.
Coverage of the Kroger on Track for the Cure 250 (Entry List | Tickets
) begins at 3 p.m. ET Saturday on ESPN2.
2Consecutive years in which a driver has earned his first series pole: Marcos Ambrose (2007) and James Buescher ('08). Ambrose finished fourth; Buescher 19th.
4Winners to start on the front row, including two from the pole: Jeff Green (1999) and Martin Truex Jr. (2004).
4Top-10s in as many starts for Mike Bliss. He has two top-fives including a runner-up finish in 2007.
4Top-10s in six starts for Scott Wimmer, including a victory in 2002.
8Cautions in last year's race, second-fewest in track history. That comes on the heels of the record 25 cautions in the 2007 race.
10Starts for Jason Keller, the only driver to have competed in every race at Memphis. He leads all drivers with six top-10s, including a runner-up finish in 2003 -- his only top-five.
THE BUSCH WATCH
Kyle Busch scored his first victory since mid July last week and now has seven, three off the record 10 he matched last year and shares with Sam Ard.
5Years since Kyle Busch last raced at Memphis. He's made only two starts there, finishing 16th in 2003 and 14th in '04.
THE WOW FACTOR
6Drivers to finish on the lead lap in last year's race, fewest in track history. In the previous nine races, the fewest number of drivers to finish on the lead lap was 15 in 2002.
THE SUPER LOOPER
108.0Driver Rating for Jason Leffler in the past two races at Memphis. That's an 18.8 improvement from his overall Driver Rating.
Driver Rating (since 2005, four races)
| Pos. | Driver* | Starts | Rating | Pct. Laps / Top 15 | Avg. Run Pos. | Avg. Fin. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | David Reutimann | 2 | 131.8 | 97.8 | 4.4 | 1.5 |
| 2. | Mike Bliss | 2 | 121.6 | 98.2 | 5.3 | 4.5 |
| 3. | Carl Edwards | 4 | 106.5 | 72.4 | 11.6 | 8.5 |
| 4. | Scott Wimmer | 2 | 95.7 | 59.1 | 13.7 | 14.0 |
| 5. | Tony Raines | 1 | 91.1 | 55.5 | 14.9 | 8.0 |
| 6. | Jason Leffler | 4 | 89.2 | 67.4 | 13.2 | 18.8 |
| 7. | Kenny Wallace | 3 | 86.7 | 58.0 | 13.2 | 11.7 |
| 8. | Jason Keller | 4 | 85.6 | 55.0 | 15.7 | 13.8 |
| 9. | Landon Cassill | 2 | 85.5 | 71.1 | 12.8 | 16.5 |
| 10. | Mike Wallace | 3 | 79.4 | 58.6 | 16.1 | 15.0 |
• Loop Data Statistics: Season-to-Date Box Score | * Entered in this race only
BLAST FROM THE PAST
15Career wins for two-time series champion Randy LaJoie, the last coming at Memphis in 2001. LaJoie, who won back-to-back titles in 1996-97, made his last series start in 2006. In 19 years he made 250 starts with 62 top-fives and 118 top-10s.
Winners at Memphis
| Year | Driver | Make | Year | Driver | Make | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Jeff Green | Chevrolet | 2004 | Martin Truex Jr. | Chevrolet | |
| 2000 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | 2005 | Clint Bowyer | Chevrolet | |
| 2001 | Randy LaJoie | Chevrolet | 2006 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | |
| 2002 | Scott Wimmer | Pontiac | 2007 | David Reutimann | Toyota | |
| 2003 | Bobby Hamilton Jr. | Ford | 2008 | Carl Edwards | Ford |
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| POPULAR ALERTS | ||||
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Nationwide Series
Standings
| Pos. | +/- | Driver | Points | Behind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | -- | Kyle Busch | 5,004 | Leader |
| 2. | -- | Carl Edwards | 4,809 | -195 |
| 3. | -- | Brad Keselowski | 4,732 | -272 |
| 4. | -- | Jason Leffler | 4,019 | -985 |
| 5. | -- | Justin Allgaier | 3,632 | -1,372 |
| 6. | -- | Steve Wallace | 3,523 | -1,481 |
| 7. | +1 | Mike Bliss | 3,514 | -1,490 |
| 8. | -1 | Jason Keller | 3,495 | -1,509 |
| 9. | -- | Brendan Gaughan | 3,403 | -1,601 |
| 10. | -- | Michael McDowell | 3,185 | -1,819 |
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