The 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series was the 29th season of the NASCAR Nationwide Series, the second-tier professional stock car racing series sanctioned by NASCAR in the United States. Beginning at Daytona International Speedway, the season included thirty-five races, which ended with the Ford 300 at Homestead–Miami Speedway. Brad Keselowski clinched the drivers' championship during the O'Reilly Auto Parts Challenge at Texas Motor Speedway, two races before the season finale at Homestead, while Joe Gibbs Racing won the owners' championship (for the No. 18 car, driven by Kyle Busch and Brad Coleman). Toyota won the manufacturers' championship with 240 points.
During the 2009 off-season, NASCAR announced few calendar changes, including moving the race at Memphis to Gateway due to the closure of Memphis. The short track of Milwaukee was also replaced with the road course at Road America, which hosted its first NASCAR race since a Cup race in 1956.
This was also the last season where Cup Series drivers could run for points in the series. NASCAR implemented this change after Cup drivers won the Busch/Nationwide championship over the series regulars for the fifth straight year in 2010.
Schedule
Schedule changes: Phoenix and Nashville moved ahead of Texas in April. The spring race at Dover preceded the Charlotte weekends due to the extra week in May before Memorial Day. Because of the closure of the Memphis track, Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Illinois, also hosted a second race in October. Milwaukee was dropped from the schedule due to issues with the promoters, as the Wisconsin State Fair was attempting to hire a new promoter following the previous promoter's sanctioning fee nonpayment. That date went to Road America.
2010 Nationwide Series schedule Round Date Race Site Winner 1 February 13 DRIVE4COPD 300 Daytona International Speedway Tony Stewart 2 February 20 Stater Bros. 300 Auto Club Speedway Kyle Busch 3 February 27 Sam's Town 300 Las Vegas Motor Speedway Kevin Harvick 4 March 20 Scotts Turf Builder 300 Bristol Motor Speedway Justin Allgaier 5 April 3 Nashville 300 Nashville Superspeedway Kevin Harvick 6 April 9 Bashas' Supermarkets 200 Phoenix International Raceway Kyle Busch 7 April 19 O'Reilly Auto Parts 300 Texas Motor Speedway Kyle Busch 8 April 25 Aaron's 312 Talladega Superspeedway Brad Keselowski 9 April 30 BUBBA Burger 250 Richmond International Raceway Brad Keselowski 10 May 7 Royal Purple 200 presented by O'Reilly Auto Parts Darlington Raceway Denny Hamlin 11 May 15 Heluva Good! 200 Dover International Speedway Kyle Busch 12 May 29 TECH-NET Auto Service 300 powered by Carquest Charlotte Motor Speedway Kyle Busch 13 June 5 Federated Auto Parts 300 Nashville Superspeedway Brad Keselowski 14 June 12 Meijer 300 Kentucky Speedway Joey Logano 15 June 19 Bucyrus 200 presented by Menards Road America Carl Edwards 16 June 26 New England 200 New Hampshire Motor Speedway Kyle Busch 17 July 2 Subway Jalapeño 250 powered by Coca-Cola ♣ Daytona International Speedway Dale Earnhardt Jr. 18 July 9 Dollar General 300 Chicagoland Speedway Kyle Busch 19 July 17 Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250 Gateway Motorsports Park Carl Edwards 20 July 24 Kroger 200 O'Reilly Raceway Park Kyle Busch 21 July 31 U.S. Cellular 250 Iowa Speedway Kyle Busch 22 August 7 Zippo 200 at The Glen Watkins Glen International Marcos Ambrose 23 August 14 Carfax 250 ♣ Michigan International Speedway Brad Keselowski 24 August 20 Food City 250 Bristol Motor Speedway Kyle Busch 25 August 29 NAPA Pieces d'Auto 200 presentee par Dodge Circuit Gilles Villeneuve Boris Said 26 September 4 Degree V12 300 Atlanta Motor Speedway Jamie McMurray 27 September 10 Virginia 529 College Savings 250 ♣ Richmond International Raceway Kevin Harvick 28 September 25 Dover 200 Dover International Speedway Kyle Busch 29 October 2 Kansas Lottery 300 Kansas Speedway Joey Logano30 October 9 CampingWorld.com 300 Auto Club Speedway Kyle Busch 31 October 15 Dollar General 300 ♣ Charlotte Motor Speedway Brad Keselowski 32 October 23 5-Hour Energy 250 Gateway Motorsports Park Brad Keselowski 33 November 6 O'Reilly Auto Parts Challenge Texas Motor Speedway Carl Edwards 34 November 13 WYPALL* 200 powered by Kimberly-Clark Professional Phoenix International Raceway Carl Edwards 35 November 20 Ford 300 Homestead–Miami Speedway Kyle Busch
♣ – This race was run using the new Nationwide Series Car of Tomorrow.
Teams and drivers
Complete schedule Manufacturer Team No. Driver Crew chief Chevrolet Day Enterprise Racing 05 Jeff Green Newt Moore Willie Allen Victor Gonzalez Jr. David Starr Blake Koch JD Motorsports 01 Mike Wallace Patrick Magee Randy Hood JR Motorsports 7 Danica Patrick (R) Tony Eury Jr. Jim Long Scott Wimmer Landon Cassill Steve Arpin Josh Wise J. R. Fitzpatrick Aric Almirola 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Tony Eury Sr. Kelly Bires Jamie McMurray Coleman Pressley Ron Fellows Elliott Sadler Greg Sacks Steve Arpin Aric Almirola Josh Wise Key Motorsports 40 Mike Bliss Gary Showalter Jeff Green Kevin Harvick, Inc. 33 Kevin Harvick Ernie Cope Mike Bliss Ron Hornaday Jr. Elliott Sadler Max Papis ML Motorsports 70 Shelby Howard Chris Rice ML Motorsports Jay Robinson Racing Mark Green Curtis Aldridge Skip Eyler NEMCO Motorsports 87 Joe Nemechek Mike Boerschinger Jarit Johnson Antonio Pérez Paulie Harraka R3 Motorsports 23 Robert Richardson Jr. John Quinn Steve Plattenberger Walter Giles Jeff Kirkendall Coleman Pressley Johnny Sauter Alex Kennedy Marc Davis Peyton Sellers Richard Childress Racing 21 John Wes Townley Dan Deeringhoff Gere Kennon Jr. Clint Bowyer Scott Riggs Tim George Jr. Austin Dillon Faith Motorsports Morgan Shepherd Patrick Bryant Tri-Star Motorsports 34 Tony Raines Scott Eggelston Dave Fuge Charles Lewandoski 35 Jason Keller Bryan Berry Tony Ave Antonio Pérez Tony Raines Dodge Penske Racing 12 Justin Allgaier Chad Walter 22 Brad Keselowski Paul Wolfe 26 Parker Kligerman Chris Carrier Sam Hornish Jr. K-Automotive Motorsports Brian Keselowski Todd Gault Dave Fuge David Ingram Jr. Wesley Gonder Johnny Chapman Dennis Setzer Baker Curb Racing 27 Andrew Ranger Gary Grossenbacher Ricky Viers Jeff White Steve Kuykendall Jonathan Reese Ford Greg Biffle Johnny Sauter Scott Wimmer Owen Kelly Justin Lofton Jennifer Jo Cobb Kelly Bires Drew Herring Nelson Piquet Jr. Josh Wise Danny O'Quinn Jr. Brad Baker Hermie Sadler Alex Kennedy Chase Mattioli Roush Fenway Racing 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (R) Ben Leslie Mike Kelley Brian Ickler Billy Johnson 16 Colin Braun (R) Eddie Pardue Ricky Viers Chad Norris Matt Kenseth Brian Ickler Erik Darnell Trevor Bayne 60 Carl Edwards Drew Blickensderfer Mike Beam 98 Paul Menard Matt Puccia Team Rensi Motorsports 24 Eric McClure Chris Wright D. J. Kennington Toyota Diamond-Waltrip Racing 99 Trevor Bayne Jerry Baxter Ryan Truex Martin Truex Jr. Germain Racing 15 Michael Annett Ryan Fugle Joe Gibbs Racing 18 Kyle Busch Jason Ratcliff Brad Coleman 20 Joey Logano Kevin Kidd Denny Hamlin Matt DiBenedetto Rusty Wallace Racing 62 Brendan Gaughan Wes Ward Brad Parrott Larry Carter Jason Overstreet 66 Steve Wallace Scott McDougall DodgeFord MacDonald Motorsports 81 Michael McDowell Patrick Donahue FordToyota RAB Racing 09 Scott Riggs Ben Gable Jason Bowles Chad McCumbee Patrick Sheltra Hermie Sadler Sean Caisse Robby Benton Scott Zipadelli Robb Brent Ken Schrader Landon Cassill Kevin Hamlin John Wes Townley Boris Said Kelly Bires Brian Scott (R) Toyota Chevrolet Braun Racing Turner Motorsports 10 Jason Leffler Scott Zipadelli Stewart Cooper Tripp Bruce Shannon Rursch Jeff Stankiewicz David Reutimann Chad Blount Mikey Kile Casey Mears Reed Sorenson Kelly Bires Tayler Malsam Derrick Griffin Josh Wise Ricky Carmichael James Buescher (R) Scott Wimmer 11 Brian Scott (R) Billy Wilburn Jeff Stankiewicz Stewart Cooper James Buescher (R) David Reutimann Brad Sweet 32 Brian Vickers Trent Owens Reed Sorenson Jacques Villeneuve 38 Kasey Kahne Stewart Cooper Scott Zipadelli Tripp Bruce Rich Lavallette Eddie Pardue Jason Leffler Jay Robinson Racing 28 Kenny Wallace Jay Robinson Curtis Aldridge Chris Diederich
Limited schedule