NASCAR Nationwide Series Dash 4 Cash begins

Friday night’s Firecracker 250 serves as the qualifying race for the NASCAR Nationwide Series Dash 4 Cash which will take place during the ensuing four weeks.

The first four finishers at Daytona who are eligible for Nationwide Series driver points will qualify for weekly $100,000 prizes in each of the next four races to be run at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Chicagoland Speedway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Iowa Speedway,

Should one driver win all four awards and win the final race of the series at Iowa outright, Nationwide Insurance will award that driver a $600,000 bonus for $1 million in total prize money.

“Ten thousand dollars is a ton of money for a Nationwide driver,” said series points leader Elliott Sadler. “So not only are we trying to race for the win this weekend, we’re also trying to be part of the Nationwide Series Dash 4 Cash.”

It’s also a lot of money for a fan – four of whom who registered at www.NASCAR.com/Dash4Cash will receive expense-paid trips to Iowa and be randomly paired with the eligible D4C drivers in the race. The fan paired with the winning driver will also win $100,000.

“Most of all, it brings a lot of attention to our sponsors,” Sadler said. “Our sponsors love it when you’re part of that Dash 4 Cash. I like the new format with five weeks in a row on a lot of different styles of race tracks.”

Sadler says the major concern for drivers in Friday’s race will be the potential for overheating. “Running in a pack this weekend, we’re going ro run hot,” he said. “The biggest issue is the radiator intake grille opening is so small, so you’re really going to have to watch your water temperature.”