Wednesday, May 6, 2009

The Long John Silver’s 200


News & Notes


The race … The Long John Silver’s 200 is the annual NASCAR Camping World Series East-West combination race. It marks the third event on the 2009 schedule for the NASCAR Camping World Series East and the fifth event of the year for the NASCAR Camping World Series West. It is the only East-West combination event this season for the NASCAR Camping World Series.


The procedure … The starting field is 44 cars, including provisionals. The first 38 cars will qualify through two-lap time trials. The remaining six spots will be awarded through the provisional process. The race will be 200 laps (175 miles).

The track … Iowa Speedway is a .875-mile paved oval with compound banking of 12-14 degrees in the corners, 10 degrees in the front stretch and four degrees in the back stretch. The facility, which opened for operation in 2006, is located east of Des Moines in Newton. This marks the third consecutive year for the track to host the East-West combination race.


The records … Qualifying: Kevin Harvick, May 20, 2007, 133.775 mph. 23.547 seconds, Race: Brian Ickler, May 18, 2008, 85.216 mph, 2 hours 3 minutes 13 seconds.


The Showdown … The overall winner of the Long John Silver’s 200 will earn a protected spot in the postseason NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown. Jason Bowles, Matt DiBenedetto, Eric Holmes, Brian Ickler, Greg Pursley have already earned spots with their victories this season.


On point … Championship Points will be awarded based on a driver’s finish versus other drivers in their series. For example, the top-finishing East driver will receive 180 points regardless of overall finish, and same for the West.


Busch Set To Race At Iowa


Just about every time Kyle Busch has taken to the track this year, he’s been a threat to win. The recently turned 24-year-old has eight wins in 24 starts in the three NASCAR national series. He will look to add another series to his win list at Iowa, as he is entered to run the No. 18 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing.


"We're teaming up with Toyota of Des Moines, they've been good supporters of mine,” Busch said in the national teleconference Tuesday. “We're looking forward to bringing it up there and hopefully winning a race on Sunday so they can sell more cars on Monday."


Busch will look to continue one trend and end another. Each of the past two years, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver to run at Iowa(Kevin Harvick in 2007 and Kasey Kahne in 2008), has won the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Challenge in Charlotte, N.C., the night before. But they have failed to win at Iowa. In fact, Busch’s current NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teammate, Joey Logano, made a big splash as a then 16-year-old when he outran runner-up Harvick.


“Hopefully we'll have a good enough car where we can do the same thing,” Busch said of Logano’s win. “I'm looking forward to it.”


Official NASCAR Release By Kevin Green


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