Summer streak crucial for NBS regulars to gain points

The time for Busch Series regulars is now.

For three consecutive weeks, beginning with Saturday's Federated Auto Parts 300 at Nashville (6:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2), the Busch Series is at a different location than the Cup Series. Although several drivers -- nine this weekend -- will attempt to run both schedules during that span, it plays directly into the hands of those drivers whose No. 1 focus is on Saturdays rather than Sundays.

"I'm really looking forward to Nashville," said rookie Marcos Ambrose, who finished 17th at the track in April after starting on the outside pole.

By the Numbers

Clint Bowyer has never finished worse than fifth at Nashville, but he has just one victory there.

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Ambrose jumped from 13th to eight in the series standings after finishing sixth last weekend at Dover.

"Nashville is going to be my first track where I will be racing for a second time in the Busch Series, so I think it is a really good breakout race for us," he said.

That's the case for a lot of drivers who will be looking to make up ground as four of the top 10 drivers are not racing at Nashville: Kevin Harvick (second), Matt Kenseth (fourth), Casey Mears (seventh) and Jeff Burton (10th).

While points leader Carl Edwards continues his bid for the title by trying to win his third consecutive Nashville race, the shuffle in the entry list leaves a chance for potential shakeup in the standings.

It's assured Edwards will leave Nashville with the points lead, with his astonishing 472-point advantage heading into the race. And Harvick will remain in second, as he has a 200-point lead ahead of third-place Dave Blaney. But Blaney will race on Saturday and can cut his deficit significantly.

"I'm feeling pretty confident heading back to Nashville," said Blaney, who ran with the leaders all day in April and wound up third in his first trip to the track. "We ran really well there earlier this year. Really, all the Toyotas performed well there so we are very optimistic this could be the place where we get our first win of the season."

David Reutimann stands to gain on fourth-place Kenseth. He is currently 80 points back.

But it's Pos. 7-12 that could really see things get jumbled. Only 37 points separate seventh-place Mears and 12th-place David Ragan. A good finish could propel Ragan into the top 10 considering that Mears and Burton are staying in Pocono for the Cup race this weekend.

That said, a good finish is something that has eluded Ragan as of late. After a pair of decent runs at Richmond and Darlington, he followed with a 25th at Charlotte and a crash at Dover (32nd). He crashed and finished 36th in the April race at Nashville.

"I am hungry for a good finish this week," Ragan said. "The key to success will be taking care of our equipment and racing a little smarter than the two previous weeks. It is very important to get back on the right foot this weekend."

To do that, he'll be among the nine drivers traveling between Nashville and Pocono to compete in both races. Auggie Vidovich will be his substitute for any practice and qualifying time he will be forced to miss.

Whether the traveling will take its toll or not remains to be seen. It hasn't in the past. Edwards won last year's June race after traveling between both locations.

"It's not too bad," said Clint Bowyer, who has never finished worse than fifth at Nashville and will pull double-duty this weekend. "Our plan was to use Richard's [Childress] jet but he's out of the country, so Kevin [Harvick] has agreed to let me use his plane and it's a little faster than mine. A fast airplane helps, and Kevin's is plenty fast."

But it's not airplanes with which the Busch regulars are concerned. The only travel they're focused on is getting to the front of the pack on Saturday and gaining ground in the standings at the end of the night.

"Our team is growing every week," Ambrose said. "I'm feeling more comfortable behind the wheel and we're starting to run better in practice and qualifying as well. It's just a matter of time before we turn all that promise into great results."

That time has come.