GTP NASCAR Nationwide Series // Season Report/Points // Champions!

Race Results @ Nascar Espana

*denotes driver's points are illegible towards the Drivers' Championship due to driving in the GTP Nascar Sprint Cup Championship.
DNS = Did not start
DSQ = Disqualified



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Daytona 100 Race Preview

As Buzz Aldrin once said, 'drivers energise your groundcraft.' We head back to Daytona Beach, FL for Round 6 of this enthralling season. Its been a month since we last visited the superspeedway and we expect a sell-out crowd and field for this weekend's race.

The Championship battle is just starting to heat up with the Joe Gibbs crew leading the charge from the mid-pack to the front. Currently if all drivers dropped a race thus far, this would be the top 8.

1. Smuffy
2. Carbonox (-7)
3. TRYNOR (-12)
4. Cowboys (-13)
5. Dave (-20)
6. fastfox (-36)
7. Nater (-37)
8. Damage (-48)

Of course, the season still has a long way to go and it is unlikely Carbonox will drop a points from rounds 1 - 5. Nonetheless with the top 5 separated by 20 points and many Sprint Cup regulars making way for fresh meat, we expect a hugely exciting next 7 races. With over 29 different drivers taking to the track this season and 18 Nationwide drivers making up the grid, I must praise team owners and all the drivers for making this season as full-up and exciting as possible.

Might I just add, your two worst points finishes are the two races that are automatically dropped excluding the season finale so it could be races 10 and 11 or 3 and 7.

For this week's special preview, Chqr goes 'Through the Field.'

1st. Carbonox (73 points, net 62 points)
Carbonox - an alien to the GTP Oval scene in 2012 has proved all of his critics wrong by proving his proven driving talent in other 'road course series' over in the Nascars and IROC. For me, Carbonox is one of the most gifted drivers and in the mightily competitive single-make series, he is able to take pole in exceedingly fast times from drivers twice his age. Such is his proven talent, I fully expect a call-up to take part in one or two Sprint Cup races this year. He is the only driver thus far to have participated in every race. After winning the Preseason race, he'll be wanting to prove lightning does strike twice and potentially steer clear of the ensuing pack.

2nd. Smuffyatfcp (69 points, net 69 points)
Smuffy has been a familiar face in the Sprint Cup and took it on himself to take a step back to the Nationwide and boy has he shown how well he can run if he strings a few races together. With a win and two runners up places in the 3 official oval races thus far, he is definitely the 'ACDC' of the Nationwide cars. For those who do not know ACDC, smuffy is the 'Oval Master.' That said, his road course form isn't too shabby either with a top ten in a highly competitive field last weekend. I also expect a call-up from Ken and a few offers this postseason whatever the outcome.

3rd. TRYNOR88 (57 points, net 57 points)
TRYNOR has been the heart and soul of JRM this season. From an unfortunate start, he has rallied up the standings and is on a fine vein of form with a win last weekend. Team owner, Niop has found potentially a protege and the Canadian is yet to finish outside of the top-ten in all races thus far. TRYNOR will be looking to this weekend looking to change his Daytona fortunes around. He could be seen as the 'dark horse' of this championship but he is actually very much a favourite. The one to watch.

4th. Cowboys965 (56, net 56 points)
A mere net 6 points behind Carbonox, Cowboys has steadily improved this season from a 5th place run in Race 1 to a 3rd last weekend - testament to how consistent he's been this season. He is fuelling JGR's surge to the top of the standings and alongside the hardworking fastfox and freshman Nater, he is in a very strong stable as of late. A win this weekend will help close the gap amongst the top two even further.

5th. D4LVY_ (42 points, net 42 points)
D4 driving the 42 has 42 points and a net 42 points after 5 races this season. After missing out in the 1st race and some bad luck at Indy, he has pedalled away from the midfield battle to begin to join the Championship hunt. Especially chosen by JRM Nationwide Manager, Knelly, he has definitely scouted a competent driver. Dave will be looking at clawing back a relatively small deficit on the top 4.

6th. fastfox400 (33 points, net 33 points)
Despite missing two races, fastfox has enjoyed a splendid career in Nascar to date. Finishing in the top ten every race he's participated in, he'll be looking to show his magnificent preseason Daytona form back in Daytona this weekend.

7th. Nater_Racing21 (32 points, net 32 points)
One of the latecomers to the Nationwide field, he has definitely made his presence felt and has been bumper to bumper with teammate fastfox on the track and on the standings. Aside from Nascar, Nater has enjoyed a fabulous GTP career with a superb start in the sister IROC series and he'll be looking to translate recent form in his Chevrolet Camaro to his Toyota Camry.

8th. DamageNano (21 points, net 21 points)
DamageNano is another latecomer to the Nascar scene and has been one of the cogs churning in the refreshed JRM camp. Despite missing the top ten and suffering a disconnection on his last two outings respective in his Chevrolet, he'll be looking to make amends this weekend.

Remember to tune in for the race, live and uninterrupted on Reflex TV from 18:00 BST, never miss a lap!

Chqr – Nationwide Series Co-Race Director

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