In just a few hours, the 2nd NASCAR race of the afternoon will start when the Nationwide Series drops the green flag on the Nationwide Children’s Hospital 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Today’s standalone event at Mid-Ohio will feature 39 drivers from a class of Nationwide Series regulars and part time drivers. As a result of a rather young field, two of the experienced road course racers participating in today’s event are among the heavy favories in both Sam Hornish Jr and Alex Tagliani. Find out our thoughts on today’s race as we provide our Nationwide Children’s Hospital 200 race picks:
Sam Hornish Jr will enter Saturday’s Nationwide Children’s Hospital 200 as the race’s overall favorite. The #54 car has been very impressive thus far this weekend finishing 1st in practice 1, 3rd in final practice, and Hornish also won the pole for today’s race. The entire Nationwide Series field has very little experience at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course as this is just the 2nd Nationwide Series race in the course’s history. However, Hornish did finish 3rd in this race a year ago making him the highest finisher from that race that is participating today. Thus far, Hornish has proved the he is the guy to beat.
Another guy with some experience is Alex Tagliani. Tagliani is a part time driver in the #22 for Penske Racing. Tagliani performed well earlier this season at Road America. In fact, the former IndyCar driver was in position to win before running out of gas under caution as the final restart approached. Tagliani has more experience than any other driver at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course with several appearances in bothy IndyCar and Cart series. In Friday practices, Tagliani was fast but a bit inconsistent. The 40 year old driver will start 2nd today and is the biggest favorite outside of Hornish to take home the checkered flag.
Outside of the top two drivers, there is a fairly steep drop off to the rest of the competition and their chances to pull out a victory. However a couple of guys that may be worth a look include Chris Buescher and Regan Smith. Buescher has a pretty solid road course resume if you look back to his ARCA and K&N Pro Series stats. Smith on the other hand is another under rated road course guys. There is a reason that he filled in last week for Tony Stewart at Watkins Glen and that is because he has a lot of road course talent. Smith has been fast since unloading finishing in the top 4 in both of Friday’s practices and he may just be worth the gamble this afternoon.
Nationwide Children’s Hospital 200 Race Picks
Sam Hornish Jr (+110) (3.5 units): fastest in practice 1, 3rd in final practice, starting on pole
Regan Smith +975 (1 unit): top 4 in both practices, solid road racer, starting 8th
