Nashville's stand-alone offers plenty of excitement

The first stand-alone event of the Nationwide Series season at Nashville Superspeedway has plenty of drama attached to it.

First and foremost, who's got something for Carl Edwards (No. 60 Ford), the reigning series champion who has three consecutive victories at Nashville?

Clint Bowyer (No. 2 Chevrolet) thinks he does. His victory last week at Bristol Motor Speedway propelled him into second place in the point standings. Bowyer won his first series race on the 1.333-mile track in 2005.

Fast facts

What	Pepsi 300
When	Green, 3:15 p.m. ET Sat.
TV	ESPN, 2 p.m. ET
Radio	MRN (Sirius Ch. 28), 3 p.m. ET

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Two-time series champion Kevin Harvick isn't racing this weekend, leaving the door wide open for a new leader. Bowyer's ready to walk through but Edwards is only one point behind him in third.

In fact, Harvick's 49-point cushion over Bowyer is the largest difference between one position and the next in this week's top-10 rankings where eight of the 10 are full-time series regulars.

A spot in the top 10 isn't out of the question for Nashville native Bobby Hamilton Jr. (No. 25 Ford). He's only 30 points out of 10th as he heads to his home track.

But it's a win at Nashville that drives Hamilton to circle this event on his calendar each year.

Just ask Tony Stewart about Indianapolis as far as what a home track win means. Hamilton feels the same about Nashville. He won't be satisfied until he holds aloft one of the most sought-after trophies in NASCAR -- a one-of-a-kind Gibson guitar custom-designed by Sam Bass. The closest Hamilton has come is a runner-up finish in 2002.

Opportunity for up-and-comers

The first stand-alone event of the season offers series regulars a prime opportunity to get into Victory Lane. It's also a chance for up-and-comers to gain experience.

Landon Cassill (No. 5 Chevrolet) and Colin Braun (No. 16 Ford) are in line for their season and track debuts, and Bryan Clauson will make his first start in the No. 40 Dodge after four previous starts in Chip Ganassi's 41 Dodge. Chase Miller (No. 9 Dodge) is set for his season debut -- he made his series debut at Nashville last June.

Braun and Brad Coleman (No. 27 Ford) will meet for the first time in their NASCAR careers at Nashville, but the native Texans are familiar with one another. In 2005, they set a world record as the youngest team in the Rolex 24 at Daytona (seventh in GT). Both were 16. A good showing has added importance to Coleman, who competes full time for Nashville-based Baker Curb Racing. He also made his series debut at the track in 2006.

"Nashville provides a great opportunity for more rookies to showcase their talent and gives our second- and third-year drivers a great shot at a win," Nationwide Series director Joe Balash said.

Strictly speaking: Nashville

• Along with Clint Bowyer, Jason Leffler (No. 38 Toyota) earned his first series win at Nashville in 2004.

In addition to Chase Miller and Brad Coleman, Kelly Bires (No. 47 Ford), Cale Gale (No. 33 Chevrolet) and David Stremme (No. 64 Atreus Chevrolet) also made their series debuts at Nashville.

• Nashville native Stewart Cooper joined Braun Racing late last season to lead Leffler, and the No. 38 Toyota team, in 2008.

Cooper's career began at the Nashville Fairgrounds where he served as crew chief on Casey Atwood's late-model team and followed Atwood to the then-Busch Series and Brewco Motorsports (now BakerCurb Racing) where he was promoted to crew chief in 2005.

During his tenure, Cooper led his team to a total of eight wins, seven poles, 32 top-five and 79 top-10 finishes.

• Thanks in part to the rainy weather the Nationwide Series has experienced during the first few weeks of the season, Brad Keselowski and his No. 88 Chevrolet team have spent some time playing "Guitar Hero."

Keselowski hopes to trade the video-game experience for real-time strumming. If he wins the race and earns the Gibson guitar trophy, the JR Motorsports driver says he'll take on the challenge of learning to play a real guitar.

• Rising country-music artist James Otto will be displayed on the hood of Mike Harmon's No. 84 Chevrolet at Nashville. Otto is a member of "Muzik Mafia," a group of Warner Bros. Records artists that include Big and Rich, Gretchen Wilson, Cowboy Troy and John Anderson, among others.

• If Carl Edwards captures a fourth consecutive victory at Nashville, he will become only the fourth driver in series history to accomplish that feat at one track. (Continued)