Busy weekend for double-duty drivers

NEWTON - Brad Keselowski was able catch a bite to eat, chowing down some potatoes in the back of his trailer after a couple qualifying laps. Paul Menard barely made his turn to qualify.

They are just two of the NASCAR drivers redefining what it means to moonlight.

Eight drivers were set to compete in both Saturday's NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Iowa Speedway and the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Pocono RaceWay in Long Pond, Pa., on Sunday. The race tracks are almost 1,000 miles apart, causing the drivers and staff to make the trip two times in as many days.

“It's busy,” said driver Brad Keselowski, who is in his first season driving both series. “Try to get a little bit of sleep when you can. Try to eat when you can and talk to you when I can. You've got to make it work.”

Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Reed Sorenson, Kevin Harvick, Carl Edwards, Michael McDowell, Joe Nemechek and Paul Menard qualified for the Sprint Cup's Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 before qualifying and racing in the Nationwide Series U.S. Cellular 250 Saturday.

Keselowski, the Nationwide Series points leader and 25th in Sprint Cup, qualified 11th for the Sprint Cup race, while Harvick starts 14th, Busch and Menard open in the 21st and 23rd spots, respectively, and Edwards earned the 25th position. The Sprint Cup race is scheduled for today at noon.

Qualifying can be the toughest task on a weekend like this.

“The hardest part is getting right in and qualifying,” Keselowski said. “Those are the two most pressure-filled laps of the weekend, whether you've been at the track or not.”

Keselowski leases his own plane and said there's no other way to make it work. He arrived in newton at 2:30 p.m., giving him just enough time to meet with his team and get readjusted.

“Just kind of cover the basics of what's going on,” said Keselowski, who qualified fourth for the Nationwide race. “Try to get settled in, get changed, and re-acclimate.

“We had a good car and got a good lap in. Having fast race cars is all on the team. It's not much (because of) me.”

Taking on such a big task hasn't hurt their performances. Double-duty drivers own five of the six top spots in the Nationwide points standings. Harvick, Busch and Edwards are in the top 10 in both. Harvick currently holds the lead in Sprint Cup, sitting sixth in Nationwide. Busch has eight Nationwide wins and sits fourth and sixth in Nationwide and Sprint Cup, respectively. Edwards is second, trailing, Keselowsk by 205 points in the Nationwide standings, and 10th in Sprint Cup.

On Saturday, Edwards, Harvick and Paul Menard were still in flight as the race track prepared for qualifying. Down time is scarce on weekends the two series don't run at the same track.

Harvick was in flight 90 minutes prior to the start of Nationwide qualifying. Once he arrived, he planned to rush to the race track for a quick meeting with his team and then hop behind the wheel to determine his starting position.

Menard, who is fifth in the Nationwide Series points standings, didn't even have that much time to settle in here. His team meeting was a 30-second chat with Brian Ickler, who was in place to qualifying the team's car in case Menard didn't make it in time.

He was the third driver to take the track for qualifying and arrived at his car at 3:03 p.m., two minutes before the start.

The convenience of a landing strip just West of the speedway helps with the chaotic schedule, especially when Menard proved every minute counts. Keselowski praised the Iowa Speedway designers for their forethought.

"We make it less hectic for them here," Iowa Speedway Vice President of Promotions and Communications Craig Armstrong said. "It's just a five minute cart ride."

Keselowski said a driver really has to enjoy what he's doing to dedicate so much effort to drive both series. Most important might just be surrounding yourself with people you enjoy.

“It's fun for me,” Keselowski said. “It's kind of an interesting challenge through the summer and I feel lucky to get to do it.”