The Nationwide Series took to the short track of Richmond on Friday night and with Carl Edwards up in the booth calling the race for the TV broadcast; it was pretty entertaining on all fronts.

Brad Keselowski started on the pole and three of the top five starters were full time Sprint Cup drivers. Keselowski, Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick all started towards the front of the field and stayed there throughout the entire night. Point’s leader Sam Hornish Jr started third and Kenny Wallace rounded out the top 5 starters.

Kyle Busch was leading with just over 20 laps to go and it looked like it was going to be win number 5 for the No. 54 until Keselowski made the pass for the lead with 10 to go and took the checkers to Victory Lane. Harvick and Busch finished close behind.

Brian Vickers was the highest finishing Nationwide Series regular when he came in fourth followed by Regan Smith coming home fifth. Elliott Sadler drove home with a sixth place finish with Sam Hornish Jr, Kyle Larson, Travis Pastrana, and Reed Sorenson rounding out the top 10.

The first caution of the race flew on lap 27 when Dexter Stacy hit the wall. By then, there had already been four different leaders at the front of the pack. Stacy’s wreck caused a five minute red flag due to the amount of oil on the track.

Hornish took the lead on the restart but was eventually taken over by Elliott Sadler on lap 89. He would lead until the lap 101 when Alex Bowman blew a right front tire and hit the outside wall. Bowman would continue and finish 27th.

Harvick and Sadler started up front on the restart and Harvick got a jump and took the lead. Laps 145 and 152 saw cautions for Kenny Wallace and Juan Carlos Blum and on the lap 158 restart Keselowski fought past Kevin Harvick and got his first lead since the beginning of the night.

Harvick would take the lead back on lap 169 and continued to lead the pack until a lap 190 spin by Tanner Berryhill caused yet another caution. The final laps of the race were nothing but yellow after yellow, one even involving three Championship contenders, Austin Dillon, Brian Scott and Justin Allgaier.

On the lap 220 restart, Keselowski and Harvick were battling for P1 with Busch lurking in P3. Busch overtook them both on lap 225 and would continue to lead until a caution by Kenny Wallace would bunch the field up once again. Busch took the lead on the restart but Keselowski shot past him on lap 240 and went on to win the race.

Hornish still leads the point’s standings by one with Regan Smith nipping at his heels. Brian Scott, Justin Allgaier and Elliott Sadler finish out the top 5 in points standing. The Nationwide Series will be back on track this weekend at Talladega Super Speedway.

The Nationwide Series is back on track this weekend in Richmond and you can probably take a guess as to who is going to be the favorite to win the ToyotaCare 250.

Kyle Busch is back in the No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota and after winning two thirds of the Nationwide Series races already this season; he is definitely a fan favorite for Richmond as well. Busch has a great history at the .75 mile track. He has won 4 out of the last 5 Nationwide races held here as well as taking the checkered flag last night in Denny Hamlin’s Short Track Showdown. Busch definitely knows how to get around this track.

But Busch isn’t the only one I would watch tonight. Reigning Sprint Cup Series Champion Brad Keselowski was fastest in practice yesterday and is expected to be fast yet again today. Keselowski has had an average showing so far this season in the Nationwide Series.

Rookie Alex Bowman was tailing Keselowski in practice yesterday by just a few tenths to hold onto second place. He is making his 11th start in the series and definitely knows how to wheel a car. He will definitely be one to keep an eye on for tonight’s ToyotaCare 250.

JR Motorsports driver Regan Smith sat comfortably in 4th place after yesterday’s practice sessions. Smith came out of the gate hot at the end of last season by scoring a trip to Victory Lane in his first time behind the wheel of his new JRM ride at Homestead. He has been a strong force throughout most of the season thus far and looks to have a strong car here at Richmond.

Point’s leader Sam Hornish Jr and the man on his tail, otherwise known as Austin Dillon, were among the top-10 in practice yesterday and will be strong throughout tonight’s race as well. Any one of these great drivers above could go to victory lane tonight, but the biggest hurdle they are going to have to get over isn’t the track, it’s a fellow driver: Kyle Busch. Tune in tonight to the ToyotaCare 250 from Richmond, you might just see a new driver in Victory Lane.

It’s a family affair for JR Motorsports at Richmond International Raceway this weekend. Jeffrey Earnhardt, the 23-year old son of Kerry Earnhardt, and Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s nephew, will be driving the No. 5 CorvetteParts.net Chevrolet. It will be his first time behind the wheel of this car.

In a press release on JRMracing.com, the young Earnhardt expressed his gratitude towards his uncle. “This whole experience has been awesome for me.  I can’t thank Kelley and Dale Jr. enough for this chance,” he said. “Hopefully I can go and represent them well and give the fans a good show. My goal this year is to get as much seat time as I can to learn and become a better driver.”

He had no idea his uncle was even considering him as potential driver for the No. 5 car.

 “I was really surprised when Dale Jr. called me about this. I’ve never really gone and asked for a ride. I want to make sure I earn what I get,” he said.

Richmond has a rich Earnhardt history dating back to Ralph Earnhardt’s first start at the facility in 1957. Since then, there has been five generation of Earnhardt’s that has taken to the Virginian track. Together, they have 12 wins; six from Dale Sr. and six from Dale Jr, and Jeffrey Earnhardt could possibly make it 13.

Earnhardt has competed in multiple NASCAR sanctioned events including the NASCAR East Series.

“Doing it the hard way makes me appreciate this opportunity even more. The past couple years have been tough,” he said.  “All the hard work and the struggles have helped me mature as a driver and a person. We’re going to go out there, have fun and maybe open some more doors in the process.”

Also a MMA competitor, Earnhardt knows how to work hard to get what he wants and driving his uncle’s car at Richmond is no different. He has already made 15 starts in the Nationwide Series over the last few years including 5 already this season, but this will be the first with JR Motorsports. With a big fan base and great talent, this 23 year old is destined to do great things.

The youngest Busch brother has won four of the six Nationwide Series races this season, a second place finish and one finish outside of the top 30. Every race he runs he seems to dominate the competition, pretty much excluding all other drivers from a possible win. He isn’t running for the Championship, he is just doing it for fun, but has he overstayed his welcome?

Kyle Busch is no stranger to Victory Lane. He has well over 100 victories in all three of NASCAR’s top series combined. After missing the Chase last year in the Sprint Cup Series, it seems like Busch is out to prove to everyone, including himself that he can still win.

Well, he has definitely proved that, but has he gone too far? The Nationwide Series is supposed to be a place for drivers to learn and grow. It’s a series that is not quite as tough as the Sprint Cup Series yet still very competitive. It’s supposed to be a series for drivers to race it out and improve their skills eventually working their way into the big leagues of Sprint Cup. Lately though, it has become the Kyle Busch Show.

He has been in every race this season in the Nationwide Series and besides the Daytona opener where he experienced engine troubles; he has won, or at least finished second, every time. If you take to Twitter any given Saturday, or the occasional Friday, during a Nationwide Series race, you can find the majority of tweets to be about Busch. They aren’t usually positive and happy tweets either. Many people are tuning out of the Nationwide races because they know it’s just going to be another “Kyle Busch Show.”

It’s clear to see that Busch is destroying the Nationwide Series this season, in more ways than one. He is destroying it in terms of coming in and winning every weekend and he is destroying it in terms of fans and followers. I honestly don’t mind seeing full time Cup driver’s race in the Nationwide Series, but don’t do it every weekend. Let the Nationwide Series full-timers battle it out for the win instead of second place.

Busch will be behind the wheel of the No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota this weekend at Richmond and putting money on his win would be a pretty safe bet. Besides already having four wins this season, Busch has won four out of the last five Nationwide races at this track. Kyle Busch can wheel a race car; there is no doubt about that, but I think it is time he hangs up his Monster Energy helmet for a while and focus solely on his Race for the Chase.

The NASCAR Nationwide Series is back in action this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway! There are a variety of Sprint Cup drivers scheduled to be in the field including Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth, Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, and Dale Earnhardt Jr which means this could just be another race dominated by these Cup drivers.

Looking back at the season thus far, only one Nationwide Series regular has won a race. Tony Stewart took top honors at the Daytona season opener and Kyle Busch has won at Phoenix, Bristol and Fontana. In Las Vegas though, Championship contender Sam Hornish Jr. found Victory Lane followed closely by second place Kyle Busch. Busch is in the field again this weekend and if his streak continues, he could quite possibly find Victory Lane once again.

During Thursday’s practice session at the track known as the Wild Asphalt Circus, Busch was third on the board falling behind Nationwide Series regulars Regan Smith and Austin Dillon. Smith turned his best lap in 29.825 seconds at a speed of 181.056 mph, while Dillon topped out at 180.977, just behind Smith’s time.

Kenseth and Kahne were also among the top-10 during the first practice session and look to be strong contenders in Friday’s race. Other notables in the top 10 in practice were Hornish Jr. and Trevor Bayne, both Nationwide Series Championship contenders.

The O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 is scheduled to start at 8:30pm EST on ESPN2 so don’t forget to tune in and see if Kyle Busch can continue his winning streak.