Race Weekend Central

4 Nationwide Stars Have Extra Incentive Friday Night at Charlotte

CONCORD, N.C. – Four Nationwide Series Drivers will be running with a little extra incentive on Friday night (Oct. 14) – $100,000 worth of incentive, to be exact. The Dollar General 300 Miles of Courage is the final race in the series’ Dash 4 Cash program, which pits the four top finishers in the Richmond race against each other for the bonus money.

The program pits four drivers against each other in four races throughout the year: Daytona in July, Iowa in August, Richmond in September and Charlotte in October. At Daytona, the top four in the standings were eligible for the bonus, then for the three remaining races, the field was determined by the top-four eligible drivers from the previous race in the program.

There was an additional $600,000 on the table for any driver who could win all four Dash 4 Cash awards, but that will not be taken home this year. To win the bonus, the driver does not need to win the race, but he must finish ahead of the other three eligible drivers Reed Sorenson won the bonus at both Daytona and Iowa, but Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won the award at Richmond.

Friday night’s participants are Stenhouse, Elliott Sadler, Ryan Truex and Kenny Wallace.

In addition to the driver bonuses, a fin will also take home $100,000 on Friday night. Four fans won a trip to Charlotte to see the race and will be randomly paired with the four drivers. The fan whose driver wins the bonus will also receive the prize.

The four drivers had some different answers when asked Thursday how they would spend the money if they won. Sadler, whose wide is pregnant with their second child, said he would buy her a gift.

“My wife has always wanted a swimming pool, so after the Daytona race, when were running for the Dash 4 Cash (at Richmond), I told her, ‘if we win this Dash 4 Cash, I’ll get you a swimming pool.’ And so I had to go to the hardware store and get an above ground pool because we lost that one on the last lap. So we’ll try again.”

Stenhouse and Wallace both had similar plan for the money – save it. “I don’t even have a house yet,” said Stenhouse, “so I need to keep saving.”

“I would save it, too,” added Wallace. “When Felix [Sabates] fired me in 1993, I’ll never forget that as long as I live. I swore nobody would have me by the throat again. I’m like a gerbil, so I’ll save that money for a rainy day.”

Finally, Truex, who is racing on a limited schedule, said that he would spend the money to attempt another race this year. “I’m gonna go race again,” Truex said. “I’m going to try to run Homestead or Texas if I can. That’s close to enough money to run a race, so I think that would be a good way to spend it.”

About the author

Amy is an 20-year veteran NASCAR writer and a six-time National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) writing award winner, including first place awards for both columns and race coverage. As well as serving as Photo Editor, Amy writes The Big 6 (Mondays) after every NASCAR Cup Series race. She can also be found working on her bi-weekly columns Holding A Pretty Wheel (Tuesdays) and Only Yesterday (Wednesdays). A New Hampshire native whose heart is in North Carolina, Amy’s work credits have extended everywhere from driver Kenny Wallace’s website to Athlon Sports. She can also be heard weekly as a panelist on the Hard Left Turn podcast that can be found on AccessWDUN.com's Around the Track page.

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