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Tag: NASCAR Xfinity Series

  • XFINITY Series Could Also Benefit From Limiting Number of Cup Drivers Per Race

    XFINITY Series Could Also Benefit From Limiting Number of Cup Drivers Per Race

    NASCAR recently announced that they will be further limiting the number of races in the XFINITY Series and Camping World Truck Series that Cup drivers can attempt. This will go a long way toward helping the regulars in those divisions stand out and ultimately decide the championship properly amongst themselves. This is good news for the regulars, as many who have been deprived of succeeding on track will now have a chance to shine, with drivers like Brennan Poole, Blake Koch, and Brandon Jones all finally able to show the rest of the NASCAR world what they can do.

    However, in the events where Cup drivers such as Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson, and Joey Logano compete, it’s always noticeable that they’re the ones who immediately run to the front and dominate, leaving the regulars behind. At one point during Saturday’s XFINITY event at Watkins Glen, the top-six were all Cup drivers (Busch, Larson, Logano, Brad Keselowski, Erik Jones, and Paul Menard). In the end, Busch took yet another checkered. Meanwhile, the highest finishing regular was Justin Allgaier in fourth. The next regular was Brendan Gaughan, who finished ninth.

    This isn’t a respectable statistic for a division that boasts how “Names Are Made Here.” How does one “make a name” by running fourth, ninth, and 12th on a weekly basis? Ticket sales and attendance are down and have been declining since the other two national touring divisions in NASCAR became feeder series instead of having their own identity. This is why that, along with limiting Cup attempts in the XFINITY/CWTS, the number of Cup drivers who do compete should also be limited as well.

    By limiting the amount of Cup drivers in a XFINITY/CWTS race, other drivers on the rise can have a chance to shine as well. Ryan Preece, the winner at the standalone Iowa XFINITY event in July, wouldn’t have had to wait as long as he did to show how capable he was behind the wheel if Joe Gibbs Racing was forced to take a look at him earlier. Drivers, in general, wouldn’t have had to wait so long and languish in the dark before eventually giving up. NASCAR would be seeing new faces and sponsors and wouldn’t have to worry about diminishing field numbers and trying to drag fans to the track.

    This is an old argument, but remember the Busch Series (now XFINITY) of the 90s’? Take 20 years ago, in 1997, for example. In 30 races, five Cup drivers won 13 races. In 1996, in 26 races, four Cup drivers won 11 races. Moving forward to 1998, in 31 events, five Cup drivers won nine races. Although the numbers in ’96 and ’97 seem like a lot, truth be told they weren’t winning over half of the races. In the 2017 XFINITY Series meanwhile, three regulars have won five races in 20 races. That number will change once the playoffs kick off next month, but it’s still a glaring thing to see.

    It’s not that the Cup drivers should get out and stay out of the XFINITY Series and CWTS. Instead, it’s that they’re playing in the minor leagues and stealing the show. MLB players don’t drop to the MiLB to play for fun. NFL players don’t go to indoor football games and try to steal the show or look to play in the NCAA again just for kicks. So why is it okay for Cup drivers to take over XFINITY and Truck Series events?

    It isn’t. Competing in them is one thing, but taking over the whole show is another thing entirely and should be dealt with. Say, limit the amount of Cup drivers per race to four. Details such as equipment can be discussed later, although it is prudent to bring up the brief period in the late 00s’ when drivers such as Jamie McMurray and Greg Biffle were racing for Brewco Motorsports in the Busch Series, Brewco being an organization that was primarily a Busch Series staple.

    Earlier this season the argument was made that Cup drivers in the XFINITY Series and Truck Series “brought sponsorship and funds” to those divisions. One has to wonder where those efforts really show, or if they even really benefit the series. Therefore, stating the obvious, why should that be an excuse for them? The funds and sponsorship excuse isn’t a valid claim, especially when other drivers are left in the dust. So why should the division(s) still cater to the Cup stars?

    When in doubt, look at both standalone Iowa events in the XFINITY Series this year. Names that don’t normally run up front were stealing the show. No Cup drivers to pollute the ranks. That said, we need more races like that in the XFINITY Series if we want to make the XFINITY Series/CWTS great again.

  • NASCAR sets further cap on Cup interloping in XFINITY and Truck

    NASCAR sets further cap on Cup interloping in XFINITY and Truck

    Come next season, there’ll be further limits to the number of races Cup drivers may run in the lower tiers.

    NASCAR announced today that starting in 2018, Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers, with more than five years of driving experience, will be limited to seven non-playoff race starts in the XFINITY Series and five in the Camping World Truck Series. For playoff races, all Cup drivers, regardless of experience, will be barred from running any of the playoff races. The latter rule is also in play for all four XFINITY Series Dash 4 Cash races.

    This cap is down from 10 XFINITY starts and seven Truck starts that was put in place for this season.

    Rumors on possible changes had circulated since the possibility of changes were hinted at by XFINITY Series Managing Director Wayne Auton at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 21. NASCAR Executive Vice-President and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O’Donnell said on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio a few days later that talks on the matter were “pretty far down the line.”

    The guidelines were implemented because of fan feedback on Cup interlopers in XFINITY and Truck competition, according to NASCAR Senior Vice-President of Racing Operations Jim Cassidy.

    “Any time we implement a change, we’re going to monitor it closely and make sure we’re measuring the level of success or making sure that if there’s an opportunity to make it even better, then we will,” Cassidy told NASCAR.com. “In this case, we really like what we’ve seen and in talking with all the other stakeholders that we would normally talk to, this has been a very popular subject over a long period of time.

    “We’re certainly excited to see what happens during the playoffs, but based upon the feedback that we’ve had, we were fortunate enough not to have to wait till the playoffs to come up with this next round of limitations. It’s good, it’s working in all respects, and this next layer just provides additional opportunity to focus on those drivers coming up through.”

  • The White Zone: NASCAR May Have Validated its Presence at Indianapolis

    The White Zone: NASCAR May Have Validated its Presence at Indianapolis

    When NASCAR announced they would be implementing a new convoluted package at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway this year, a package that included restrictor plates and aero ducts near the grille area, I was incredibly skeptical that it would work. And honestly, why shouldn’t I be? I’ve heard this story from NASCAR before, that what they’re trying will “enhance” the racing, only for it to royally bomb. This came across as just another attempt by the sanctioning body to save a race weekend at a track that never was and never will be suited for stock car racing.

    But then race day arrived, we saw the results firsthand and Saturday’s XFINITY Series Lilly Diabetes 250 was phenomenally serviceable.

    While in the past, the lead car had a greater aero advantage and could simply pull away from the cars behind, the trailing cars this time around could reel in the lead cars.

    Well, that’s all fine and dandy for cars down through the running order, but what about getting to the lead car? I won’t say the leader didn’t still have an aero advantage, but it was much more negated than in any previous race at the Brickyard, be it XFINITY or the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

    The numbers show that there were 16 lead changes, a new track record in the XFINITY Series (it was previously nine lead changes). However, those numbers don’t tell you that 10 of those took place during pit cycles (green and/or yellow). So we’re left with six that occurred on-track during green flag racing, which, proportionally, is on the lower end of what I’d expect for a XFINITY Series race not held at Daytona or Talladega.

    Hence, this is why I say this race was “phenomenally serviceable.” It was better than anything I’ve seen previously at the Brickyard, but this package could still use some work, especially on long runs. If you didn’t get a great restart, passing was, while not impossible or even difficult, a little harder.

    That’s not just my view, that’s also the view of No. 22 Team Penske Ford driver Joey Logano.

    “The package was really interesting. You had to race really smart,” he said in his post-race press conference. “For us, we may not have had the fastest Discount Tire Ford, so I had good restart early in the race and was able to get some track position. Then our pit crew and everyone did a great job of maintaining that track position. You just had to be smart on restarts and knowing when to race guys and when to just keep momentum because if you started losing momentum you lost five or six spots. Being smart inside the car was key. I just wanted a faster car. That would have been key to do that to go up there and race with those guys.”

    Teammate Brad Keselowski was also asked if this package is the way to go for at Indianapolis.

    “Not the restrictor plate, but the air ducts are the way to go, for sure,” he said. “That was a huge gain and something I’ve been pushing on NASCAR for a while, so it’s good to see them do it and give it a shot over there.”

    Bottom line, this package could use some work, but it’s the direction in which to go for Indianapolis. While I still believe the XFINITY Series belongs at Indianapolis Raceway Park (or Lucas Oil Raceway or whatever name the track goes by now), at least the race it was replaced with is no longer an absolute joke. Also, whoever at NASCAR concocted this deserves a raise and/or promotion.

    That’s my view for what it’s worth.

  • Multi-Car Melee Rocks Initial Start of XFINITY Kentucky Race

    Multi-Car Melee Rocks Initial Start of XFINITY Kentucky Race

    SPARTA, Ky. — A combination of games played on the restart and other drivers trying to get a jump on the start resulted in a multi-car accident on the initial start of the day-late NASCAR XFINITY Series race in the Bluegrass State.

    Coming to the start/finish to take the initial start of the day-late Alsco 300 at Kentucky Speedway, Kyle Busch — rather than accelerate in the restart zone, as most drivers do — waited for the flagman to start the race.

    The rest of the field, probably anticipating Busch to accelerate in the restart zone, tried to time the start to get a jump on those ahead. This caused a stack up near mid-pack, resulting in Blake Koch ramming into the back of Brendan Gaughan, turning him up into the left-front wheel of Brandon Jones and came back down and made contact with Michael Annett.

    Ryan Reed received significant damage after he slammed into the back of Koch.

    Gaughan continued on in the race, only to crash out a few laps later when his car slammed the wall in Turn 2.

    Reed leaves eighth in points, 224 behind Elliott Sadler. Koch leaves 12th in points, 278 behind Elliott Sadler, with Gaughan in 13th behind 300.

  • Kyle Busch Stretches Fuel to Win in XFINITY at Kentucky

    Kyle Busch Stretches Fuel to Win in XFINITY at Kentucky

    SPARTA, Ky. — Kyle Busch demonstrated new tires weren’t entirely superior to worn tires and stretched his fuel to win the day-late NASCAR XFINITY Series Alsco 300 at Kentucky Speedway.

    After caution flew with 34 laps to go, he made the decision to stay out when race leaders Erik Jones and Ryan Blaney pitted. He took off on the restart and extended his record number of victories in the NASCAR XFINITY Series.

    He noted in victory lane that the win didn’t come easy and it was challenging.

    “That’s what racing is all about, these guys keep getting better and we just bide our time a little bit as well today. We did what we needed to do to be there at the end and gave it our best opportunity there. We took four tires and that kind of got us behind there with two pit stops to go and then some of those guys came in again. Obviously our car was really fast out front and once I got in clean air I didn’t think anybody had anything for us,” Busch said.

    It’s his 88th career victory in 333 XFINITY Series starts.

    Blaney rallied from an outside tire violation to finish runner-up and Jones rounded out the podium.

    Kevin Harvick and Ty Dillon rounded out the top-five.

    Joey Logano, William Byron, Justin Allgaier, Daniel Hemric and Tyler Reddick rounded out the top-10.

    RACE RECAP

    The field barely made it to the start/finish line for the initial start of the race before the accordion effect of stack up of cars resulted in a multi-car wreck on the frontstretch. It only went two laps green before a wreck in Turn 2, Brendan Gaughan, brought out the second caution on the eighth lap.

    The longest green flag run of the first stage was the second on the Lap 15 restart, stretching 11 laps, before caution, a scheduled competition flew on Lap 26

    On the Lap 6 restart, Jones passed teammate Busch exiting Turn 2 to take the lead and drove on to win the first stage. When he pitted under the caution, Blaney, who pitted under the competition caution, assumed the race lead and won a caution-free second stage with ease.

    With tire falloff not being as steep this weekend, he elected not to pit, as did the first 16 cars.

    Jones and Busch took the fight to Blaney on the Lap 100 restart, especially when he got loose exiting Turn 4, allowing the two of them to get to his inside. With a three-wide battle for first coming to the start/finish line, Busch edged out Jones and Blaney to retake the lead.

    When Joey Gase’s engine expired in Turn 2, spilling fluid down the backstretch, the leaders pitted, Jones took just two tires and exited with the race lead.

    Back to green on lap 137, Blaney caught him with less than 50 laps to go and spent a number of laps applying the pressure, until a solo-spin in Turn 2 by Ray Black Jr. with 34 to go brought out the eighth caution, setting up the run to the finish.

    OTHER CAUTIONS

    Paul Menard brought out a caution on Lap 104 when he got loose and rear-ended the Turn 2 wall.

    NUTS & BOLTS

    The race lasted two hours, 30 minutes and 56 seconds at an average speed of 119.258 mph. There were seven lead changes among four different drivers and eight cautions for 44 laps.

    Elliott Sadler leaves with a 45-point lead over Byron.

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  • XFINITY Race at Kentucky Postponed to Saturday at Noon

    XFINITY Race at Kentucky Postponed to Saturday at Noon

    SPARTA, Ky. — The NASCAR XFINITY Series Alsco 300 at Kentucky Speedway has been postponed to Saturday at noon ET due to rain showers approaching the track.

    Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer, announced the decision, stating,  “NASCAR and Kentucky Speedway have decided to postpone tonight’s NASCAR XFINITY Series race until tomorrow. Fan safety is our No. 1 priority. Due to extreme weather forecasted deep into this evening, we did not see any opportunity to get the race completed tonight.”

    Tomorrow’s forecast has only a 10 percent chance of rain in the afternoon (Weather.com).

    Kyle Busch will lead the field to the green flag at noon. The race will be broadcast on NBCSN with radio coverage provided by PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

     

  • Kyle Busch Takes Pole Position in XFINITY at Kentucky

    Kyle Busch Takes Pole Position in XFINITY at Kentucky

    SPARTA, Ky. — Kyle Busch will lead the field to the green flag tonight after winning the pole for the Alsco 300 at Kentucky Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota nabbed pole position with a final round time of 29.681 and a speed of 181.935 mph. Erik Jones will start second in his No. 20 Gibbs Toyota with a final round time of 29.730 and a speed of 181.635 mph. Ryan Blaney will start third in his No. 12 Team Penske Ford with a final round time of 29.776 and a speed of 181.354 mph. Joey Logano will start fourth in his No. 22 Penske Ford with a final round time of 29.913 and a speed of 180.524 mph. William Byron rounded out the top-five in his No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet with a final round time of 29.975 and a speed of 180.150 mph.

    Tyler Reddick, Brennan Poole, Cole Custer, Paul Menard and Daniel Hemric will round out the top-10.

    Kevin Harvick and Ty Dillon will round out the 12 drivers that made the final round of qualifying.

    With 43 cars entered, three — Brandon Brown, Quintillion’s Houff and Morgan Shepherd — failed to make the race.

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  • Kyle Busch Fastest in Final XFINITY Practice

    Kyle Busch Fastest in Final XFINITY Practice

    SPARTA, Ky. — Kyle Busch topped the chart in final NASCAR XFINITY Series practice at Kentucky Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was the fastest with a time of 29.607 and a speed of 182.389 mph. Ryan Blaney was second in his No. 12 Team Penske Ford with a time of 29.744 and a speed of 181.549 mph. Brandon Jones was third in his No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet with a time of 29.794 and a speed of 181.245 mph. Tyler Reddick was fourth in his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet with a time of 29.811 and a speed of 181.141 mph. Erik Jones rounded out the top-five in his No. 20 Gibbs Toyota with a time of 29.860 and a speed of 180.844 mph.

    Brennan Poole, Daniel Hemric, Ty Dillon, Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top-10.

    Blaney posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 179.970 mph.

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  • When We Last Came to Kentucky

    When We Last Came to Kentucky

    SPARTA, Ky. — Last time NASCAR ventured into the Bluegrass State, carnage was the name of the game with the XFINITY Series. Erik Jones dominated the race, only to see his hopes dashed by a late race wreck, Ash Ketchum offered himself as a peace offering to a hoard of attacking Spearow and…okay, that last one was actually from the first episode of Pokémon, but needless to say, a lot happened.

    When all was said and done, Elliott Sadler stood victorious while dominant drivers of the night Jones and Ty Dillon were defeated by the same race-ending wreck. While Jones recovered from this setback and was among the championship four XFINITY drivers in last November’s Ford 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Dillon couldn’t recover and was knocked out in the first round.

    This 12-caution 13-car behind the wall standalone XFINITY Series race was arguably the most carnage-filled and chaotic of any race during the XFINITY Series playoffs last season.

    Carnage was the case with last July’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race, in which 10 of the 11 cautions were related to a wreck or spin. Surprisingly, mayhem wasn’t the case with last July’s XFINITY and Truck race.

    The number of wrecks we did see, however, shouldn’t come as a surprise, given that the track was completely resurfaced for the first time in its history in January of that year. You should expect more of the same this time around with the additional layer of asphalt laid down by the track last October.

    And when you ask drivers, like Jones, they’ll tell you it’s essentially a full repave.

    “It’s back to, you know, a full repave again essentially,” he said. “They came and they did the tire dragon before we got on track but it rained the entire first day so it washed it all off and then had to kind of run it back in, so it felt like Texas really – just a full repave. Hopefully with the trucks being out there all day yesterday, truck race tonight, XFINITY practice today, it’ll be pretty worked in for the Cup cars here tomorrow, but it’s still a whole new repave, a whole new deal again.”

  • Byron Goes Back to Back in XFINITY at Daytona

    Byron Goes Back to Back in XFINITY at Daytona

    William Byron is now a two-time race winner in the NASCAR XFINITY Series after surviving two late Big One’s in the day-late Coca-Cola Firecracker 250 at Daytona International Speedway.

    Restarting in overtime, Byron led the field onto the backstretch when Spencer Gallagher was turned into the wall, triggering a multi-car pileup on the final lap. While the wreck itself started prior to the overtime line, the caution wasn’t thrown until after race leader Byron crossed the line, ending the race.

    “It’s just a credit to all these guys,” Byron said in victory lane. “We’re extremely blessed to be here and it’s just a lot of hard work from these guys to be here.”

    It’s his second XFINITY Series win in 15 starts.

    Teammate Elliott Sadler brought his car home second while Dakoda Armstrong rounded out the podium.

    Jeb Burton and David Starr rounded out the top-five. Brennan Poole, Joey Logano, Joey Gase, Brendan Vaughan and BJ McLeod rounded out the top-10.

    Poole led the field to the green flag last night at 7:49 p.m. He and Ben Kennedy battled for the lead the first three laps, with Kennedy taking control on the fourth. Blake Koch powered by Kennedy on the high side, dropped down in front and took the lead on the fifth lap.

    Caution flew for the first time on the eighth lap for rain, and the race was eventually pushed back to Saturday at noon.

    After another short delay, we returned to green the following day on Lap 14.

    Koch swapped the lead with Daniel Suarez for a lap, on Lap 17, before taking it back on Lap 18 and winning the first stage.

    Justin Allgaier opted not to pit and assumed the race lead, which he lost to Poole on the ensuing restart.

    Lightning brought out the third caution on lap 37, halting the race for roughly two and a half hours.

    Resuming racing on Lap 41, the lead turned into a frenzy, with it going from Kennedy to Ty Dillon and Poole.

    Caution flew on lap 50 for a six-car wreck on the frontstretch.

    Elliott Sadler took the lead under the caution when the leaders pitted and drove on to win the stage.

    The lead went to Byron, who decided not to pit under the stage break.

    The action in the third stage was briefly toned down, with the outside line vanishing for three laps. But Dillon, who got shuffled out of the bottom from third, pulled the outside line back toward the front and reclaimed the lead with 16 laps to go.

    A two-car wreck in the tri-oval brought out the sixth caution with 14 to go.

    The race returned to green for two laps with 10 to go before a two-car wreck in the tri-oval, this time collecting race leader Dillon and Poole,  and brought out the seventh caution.

    With Logano leading the way, the race resumed with four to go. Racing down the backstretch with three to go, he was bumped out of line and traveled over the grass (but didn’t damage the splitter).

    Caution flew for the eighth time with two to go for a 16-car wreck on the backstretch, setting up the run to the finish.

    The race lasted two hours, 13 minutes and 56 seconds at an average speed of 116.476 mph. There were 18 lead changes among 19 different drivers and nine cautions for 35 laps.

    Sadler leaves with a 59-point lead over Byron.

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