The2011 NASCAR Nationwide Series was the 30th season of theNASCAR Nationwide Series, the second-tier professionalstock car racing series sanctioned byNASCAR in the United States. The season included thirty-four races, beginning with theDRIVE4COPD 300 atDaytona International Speedway and ending with theFord 300 atHomestead-Miami Speedway. During the 2010 season,NASCAR announced a few notable calendar changes, including race additions atIowa Speedway andChicagoland Speedway, and the removal ofGateway International Raceway from the schedule.Jack Roush won the Owners' Championship, whileRicky Stenhouse Jr. ofRoush Fenway Racing won the Drivers' Championship with a second-place finish at thefinal race of the season.Ford won the Manufacturers' Championship with 212 points.

• Turner Motorsports ran four full-time teams during the season and switched toChevrolets. They also usedHendrick Motorsports engines as well as getting technical support fromKevin Harvick, Inc.

Discontinued/suspended operations

• Germain Racing discontinued their Nationwide Series team this season becauseMichael Annett and sponsorPilot Travel Centers moved toRusty Wallace Racing. They, however, ran the No. 15 Toyota at Daytona withTodd Bodine sponsored by Tire Kingdom. Germain transferred the owners points of the No. 15 over toRick Ware Racing who ran the No. 15 Ford for rookie Timmy Hill starting at Phoenix. Hill could not run Daytona because he was under 18.
• Richard Childress Racing has merged its Nationwide program withKevin Harvick, Inc.
• Roush Fenway Racing discontinued the No. 98 car due to Paul Menard leaving for KHI. The owner points were sold toGo Green Racing.
• Due to a lack of sponsorship,Baker Curb Racing suspended all operations indefinitely for the season, though there are reports of the team putting together a car for CanadianJ. R. Fitzpatrick for Daytona
• Due to the new rules package for the Nationwide Series,K-Automotive Motorsports decided to shut down its Nationwide program and focus on runningBrian Keselowski in theSprint Cup Series for Rookie of the Year.
• Stratus Racing Group failed to run a car during the season because owner/driverDerrike Cope moved back to Jay Robinson Racing after a 4-year hiatus from the team.

• Aric Almirola drove forJR Motorsports this season in the 88 car.^[1]
• Colin Braun was released byRoush-Fenway Racing because the team was focusing on sponsorship forCarl Edwards,Ricky Stenhouse Jr. andTrevor Bayne for this season.^[2]
• Elliott Sadler drive for KHI during 2011 in the 2 car.
• Sam Hornish Jr. drove the No. 12 Dodge for 10 races due to the No. 77 Sprint Cup team being renumbered to the No. 22 in The Cup Series.

Entering the series

• Travis Pastrana was to make his NASCAR debut withPastrana-Waltrip Racing, running 7 races this season with sponsorship fromBoost Mobile, beginning atIndianapolis.^[3] However, due to injuries sustained atX Games XVII, his debut was delayed until 2012.
• Pastrana-Waltrip Racing intended to fieldRyan Truex for 20 races for ROTY honors, but the team was forced to pull out of the championship due to a lack of sponsorship.
• ARCA driverTimmy Hill ran forRookie of the Year honors withRick Ware Racing.
• Jennifer Jo Cobb was aROTY campaigner with2nd Chance Motorsports and planned to run the full season. However, she got into an heated argument with team owner Rick Russell at Bristol, and ran a few races withRick Ware Racing.

Changed teams

• Paul Menard moved toKevin Harvick, Inc., after two years withRoush-Fenway Racing.^[4]
• Michael Annett, along with sponsorPilot Travel Centers, moved toRusty Wallace Racing this season, after two seasons withGermain Racing, replacingBrendan Gaughan, who is heading back to theCamping World Truck Series with that team.^[5]
• Justin Allgaier joinedTurner Motorsports this season, after two years withPenske Racing.^[6]
• Trevor Bayne signed withRoush-Fenway Racing during the2010 season afterDiamond Waltrip Racing was unable to renew their contract and has now signed on for a full year with the team. He'll drive the No. 16 vacated byColin Braun.
• Eric McClure and sponsorHefty leftTeam Rensi Motorsports after two years to drive forTriStar Motorsports in 2011^[7]
• Brian Scott was released byTurner Motorsports during the 2010 season and finished the season withRAB Racing. Scott moved toJoe Gibbs Racing to drive their No. 11 Toyota with Kevin Kidd as crew chief.
• Kenny Wallace drove forRAB Racing this season, after three seasons withJay Robinson Racing.^[8]
• Mike Bliss leavesKey Motorsports to drive forTriStar Motorsports in the No. 19 Chevrolet.
• Scott Wimmer returned to full-time status for 2011, driving Key Motorsports' No. 40 Chevrolet.
• Jeremy Clements drove his No. 51 full-time in 2011, leaving Davis Motorsports.
• Shelby Howard left ML Motorsports before theAaron's 312.David Stremme andDennis Setzer filled the seat.
• Reed Sorenson was released byTurner Motorsports before theKansas Lottery 300. Sprint Cup driverBrian Vickers replaced him for Kansas, Charlotte, and Texas.
• Derrike Cope moved back to Jay Robinson Racing after 4 years of driving his own car.

Exiting the series

• Brendan Gaughan returned to theCamping World Truck Series this year withGermain Racing, bringing sponsorSouth Point Hotel, Casino & Spa along with him.

2010 NASCAR K&N East Series ChampionRyan Truex was intended to run 10–20 races withPastrana-Waltrip Racing, and was the early favorite to win Rookie of the Year. However, sponsorship issues sidelined Truex's bid for the title, forcing him to sit out most of the season. He was later tabbed byJoe Gibbs Racing to drive their No. 20 Toyota late in the season.Blake Koch, returning to NASCAR after sitting 2010 out due to losing sponsorship, was to drive the No. 81 alongside veteranDonnie Neuenberger. However, Koch picked up sponsorship fromDaystar Television Network, which eventually expanded to sponsoring Koch for the full year.Rick Ware Racing development driverTimmy Hill was 17 years old when the Nationwide Series hit Daytona, and thus was not approved to run until the next week in Phoenix.Jennifer Jo Cobb's rookie season was hampered by a fallout with2nd Chance Motorsports owner Rick Russell over starting and parking, and she briefly moved toRick Ware Racing before moving her own team up to Nationwide with limited success.Charles Lewandoski intended to make ten races forTriStar Motorsports, but ended up running some start and park efforts withKey Motorsports.

The RotY lead would be contested mostly by Hill and Koch, who were tied heading into the season finale at Homestead. However, Hill prevailed over Koch and became the youngest Rookie of the Year in series history.

• Gateway International Raceway was removed from the schedule.^[11]
• Nashville Superspeedway's second race moved to late July.
• Iowa Speedway andChicagoland Speedway received a second race date.
• Michigan International Speedway's race moved from August to June.^[12]
• Kentucky Speedway's race date moved to July.^[12]
• Phoenix International Raceway's spring race moves from April to February.
• The fall race atAuto Club Speedway was discontinued due to low sales and was replaced by the aforementioned Chicagoland June race.

The 2011 series seen a rule change aimed at limiting the impact ofdrivers racing in multiple series. According to a story reported by NASCAR.com on January 11, 2011, drivers were allowed to earn points in only one of NASCAR's three national series in a given season. This is enforced on NASCAR's annual license application form, which now requires drivers to indicate the series championship for which they wish to compete. This had the effect of preventing full-timeCup drivers from competing for theNationwide Series title, although they were still able to run in all Nationwide races. Ineligible drivers still accumulated owner points for team standings that determine the Owner's Championship and exemptions (top 30 full-time teams that have attempted every race are guaranteed to start the race).^[13] This and other changes were officially announced by NASCAR president and CEOBrian France on January 26.^[14]

France also announced major changes to the points system in all three national touring series. Effective during the season, the winner of each race received 43 points, with a one-point decrease for each successive finishing position (42 points for second, 41 for third, and so on). The race winner also received three bonus points, with single bonus points being awarded to all drivers who led a lap and to the driver who led the most laps. This means that a race winner was assured of either 47 or 48 points, while a second-place finisher earned at most 44.^[14]

The closed-loop fueling system previously introduced in the Truck Series, which eliminates the catch can man from the pit crew, debuted in all three national series.^[14]

TheCar of Tomorrow was used for all races in 2011.^[15]

(key)Bold - Pole position awarded by time.Italics - Pole position set by final practice results. * – Most laps led.