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.

In the Loop: Stout competition

Three-time reigning Nashville winner Carl Edwards isn't exactly the runaway favorite in this Saturday's Pepsi 300.

Statistically, Clint Bowyer is a notch better than Edwards at the 1.33-mile concrete track in three important catergories: Driver Rating, Average Running Position and Laps in the Top 15. Edwards does lead Bowyer in a key speed category -- Fastest Laps Run. The defending series champion has 210 Fastest Laps Run in his five races at Nashville, compared to Bowyer's 153.

Bowyer has one win at Nashville, the second race there in 2005 -- a race Edwards did not run. Edwards has won three there, but only two when Bowyer was also running. His victory there last year was won without Bowyer in the field. He led a race-high 74 laps that event.

But other drivers have a chance of knocking Edwards off his pedestal. Scott Wimmer (No. 29 Chevrolet) has a solid chance to win his first race since 2003. Wimmer, who has three consecutive top-10 finishes at Nashville, has a Driver Rating of 118.7, an Average Running Position of 4.5 and 72 Fastest Laps Run in his two races there since 2005.

Also watch for Nashville native Bobby Hamilton Jr. to have a strong showing. Last season, he racked up finishes of ninth and 13th, notching some solid stats in the process.

In the two races in 2007, Hamilton had a Driver Rating of 94.0, an Average Running Position of 8.9 and 447 Laps in the Top 15, which was all but three of the total laps.

Series regular Steve Wallace (No. 66 Chevrolet) could also vie for his first victory. In his four Nashville races -- all top-15 finishes -- Wallace has a Driver Rating of 85.1, an Average Running Position of 13.0 and 684 Laps in the Top 15 (76 percent).

Television coverage

The Nationwide Series makes its first appearance of the season on ESPN with coverage beginning at 2 p.m. ET Saturday.

Allen Bestwick will host NASCAR Countdown with analysis by 1989 Cup Series champion Rusty Wallace and Brad Daugherty, a former winning team owner in the now-Nationwide and Truck series, in the ESPN pit studio.

ESPN2 airs live coverage of Friday's Nationwide Series practice at Nashville at 2:30 p.m. ET, and taped coverage of final practice airs at 11 a.m. ET Saturday.

Marty Reid will be the lead announcer, joined in the booth for analysis by Wallace and two-time Cup champion crew chief Andy Petree.

Jamie Little, Mike Massaro, Shannon Spake and Vince Welch will report from the pits, while two-time Cup Series champion crew chief Tim Brewer will be in the ESPN DISH Tech Center.

The race will be simulcast on ESPN Deportes, the domestic Spanish-language network.

Notes, etc.

• The track surface and time of year will be factors on Saturday.

"Concrete tracks have a tendency to tighten a bit as they get rubbered in," series director Joe Balash said. "That makes it a little easier for drivers to turn the car because they don't have to anticipate how much the track will change or 'come to' them.

"The concrete is less susceptible to temperature changes; asphalt gets greasy and slick when its hot. But not so with concrete tracks, especially in the early spring where the outdoor temperature varies so much.

"Racers race for different things. That guitar is important to people. The uniqueness of that trophy is important," he said.

• Phoenix Racing, Jay Robinson Racing and Rusty Wallace Racing have made driver changes that will be in effect at Nashville.

Tennessee's own Sterling Marlin will be in the No. 1 Chevrolet, replacing Johnny Sauter (read more).

Kenny Wallace will move to the No. 28 Chevrolet for the remainder of the season; Brian Keselowski had been manning that car (read more).

David Stremme is now in the No. 64 Chevrolet in place of Chase Austin.

• The NASCAR Nationwide Series has its first open week of the season next week but teams will be busy Monday and Tuesday as the third test of the year takes place at Richmond International Raceway on March 24-25.

• Dollar General, sponsor of the No. 32 Toyota of Denny Hamlin, is a Nashville-based company and is assisting the area Red Cross and other corporations with fund-raising to aid in relief efforts due to devestating tornadoes that hit the Nashville area and Middle Tennessee in early February. Dollar General pledged $100,000 toward the relief fund which was set to reach $500,000.