McDowell, Papis transfer

Michael McDowell and Max Papis were the two highest finishing drivers from those outside the top 35 in points, which means they will race in the Daytona 500.

Our View McDowell finished 14th and Papis finished 15th, but all that matters is they have qualified for NASCAR's Super Bowl.

Most impressively, Papis held onto a transfer position by staying out on old tires. That could make him one of this season's favorite dark horses.

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N'Wide: McDowell to McDonald Motorsports

Michael McDowell will pilot Randy McDonald's No. 81 Nationwide Series Dodge in 2010, according to a Press Release by the team. This team will run full time.

Our View McDonald Motorsports has improved slightly in recent seasons. With McDonald behind the wheel, however, this could be a breakout year.

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McDowell, K Hamlin and Gilliland in jeopardy

Michael McDowell (in the No. 36 this week), Kevin Hamlin (37) and David Gilliland (04) were the three slowest drivers among the go or go homers and as such are in the greatest jeopardy of going home.

Our View Each of these drivers are most likely start and park drivers, so fantasy owners will be unaffected if they fail to make the Price Chopper 400 by Kraft Foods.

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N'Wide: Nashville lineup, with avg. start/fin

Kyle Busch stole the show by earning the pole for the Federated Auto Parts 300, but the driver in second made the most noise. In only his second Nationwide career start and hailing from just up the road in Knoxville, Tenn. Trevor Bayne held off the remainder of the competitors in a Michael Waltrip Toyota and will start from the outside pole.

They call this an opportunity race for a reason. Busch and sixth-place qualifier Carl Edwards are the only two Cup regulars in the show and that allowed some unfamiliar names to grace the top of the charts. Michael McDowell (third), Brad Coleman (fourth) and Scott Lagasse Jr. (fifth) rounded out the top five.

Look for some new faces at the front of the pack when the checkers wave as well.

Lineup, with average start/finish

Start	Driver	Avg. Fin	Avg. Start	Attempts
1	Kyle Busch	17.43	9.63	8
2	Trevor Bayne		2.00	1
3	Michael McDowell	15.00	3.00	2
4	Brad Coleman	26.50	16.80	5
5	Scott Lagasse Jr	10.00	21.50	2
6	Carl Edwards	4.13	6.56	9
7	Brendan Gaughan	17.00	10.50	2
8	Mike Bliss	13.20	11.45	11
9	Stephen Leicht	16.00	9.60	5
10	Brad Keselowski	17.20	18.17	6
11	Jason Keller	14.53	13.38	16
12	Jason Leffler	15.56	15.20	10
13	Sean Caisse		13.00	1
14	John Wes Townley	18.00	16.00	2
15	Cale Gale	23.00	16.33	6
16	Steve Wallace	15.29	15.25	8
17	Willie Allen	33.00	27.50	2
18	Kevin Conway	31.00	19.50	2
19	Ricky Stenhouse Jr	23.00	12.00	2
20	Mark Green	27.50	28.44	9
21	Bobby Hamilton Jr	14.36	10.00	12
22	Burney Lamar	12.50	18.00	5
23	Johnny Chapman	39.67	32.50	4
24	Justin Allgaier	29.00	16.50	2
25	Brian Keselowski	41.00	29.00	2
26	Kertus Davis	35.25	28.33	9
27	Erik Darnell		27.00	1
28	Kenny Wallace	15.33	18.92	13
29	Robert Richardson	32.00	37.75	4
30	Eric McClure	31.57	34.88	8
31	Michael Annett	19.00	22.00	2
32	Kelly Bires	8.00	17.40	5
33	Scott Wimmer	10.50	16.91	11
34	Casey Atwood	16.33	23.50	4
35	Shelby Howard	14.00	35.00	2
36	Brad Baker	22.83	29.71	7
37	Brandon Whitt	30.00	39.00	2
38	Marc Davis		38.00	1
39	Kevin Lepage	25.20	28.17	6
40	Tony Raines	20.25	21.33	9
41	Mike Harmon	37.50	38.89	9
42	Danny O'Quinn Jr	21.60	23.17	6
43	Morgan Shepherd	36.00	38.00	7
DNQ	Daryl Harr
DNQ	Justin Hobgood	41.00	32.00	1

More Nationwide Newsbreakers

N'Wide: Leffler tops Nashville practice 1

Jason Leffler posted the fastest lap of the first practice session. He posted a speed of 159.811 mph.

Our View: Leffler was followed by Michael McDowell, Stephen Leicht (practicing Clint Bowyer's car), Sean Caisse and Scot Lagasse Jr. With less than a handful of Claim Jumpers in the field this week, the Nationwide Regulars have a chance to shine.

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More Nationwide Newsbreakers

N'Wide: McDowell admits "monster" is scary

Heading into the weekend's Nationwide race, Michael McDowell admits that Dover International Speedway can be a little intimidating, saying "“The ‘Monster Mile’ is a bit more scary than the monster statue out front, for sure. I was a little intimidated the first time I came here in the Cup car. We ran decent, but most importantly, I learned a lot about racing the track and being comfortable in the seat. Dover is most like a high speed rollercoaster ride.”

Our View: This will be McDowell's first Nationwide start and he hasn't been overly impressive in Cup with a best of 29th in two starts.

N'Wide: McDowell gets three more races

Michael McDowell and JTG Daugherty Racing has received funding for three more races in the No. 47 car, according to SceneDaily.com.

Our View: McDowell has posted two Nationwide top-10s and several top-20s, so if you caught him on the right week, he's produced for you. Unfortunately, he's been hard to handicap.