NASCAR heads to Chicagoland Speedway this weekend as the Monster Energy Cup Series Playoffs begin with the Round of 16. For the XFINITY Series and the Camping World Truck Series, it’s the last race of the regular season. The Truck Series Chicagoland 225 kicks off the competition Friday evening on FSl. On Saturday afternoon the XFINITY Series hits the track for the Chicagoland 300 and the Cup Series Tales of the Turtles 400 closes out the activities at 3 p.m. Sunday on NBCSN.
Please check below for the complete schedule of events. All times are Eastern.
Thursday, September 14
On Track:
3:30-4:25 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series Practice (Follow live)
6:30-7:25 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series Final Practice (Follow live)
Friday, September 15
On Track:
12:30-1:55 p.m.: Cup Series Practice – NBCSN (Canada: TSN 2)
2-2:55 p.m.: XFINITY Series Practice – NBCSN (Canada: TSN GO)
4-4:50 p.m.: XFINITY Series Final Practice – NBC Sports App (Canada: TSN GO)
5:05 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series Keystone Light Pole Qualifying – FS1
6:45 p.m.: Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – NBCSN (Canada: TSN GO)
8:30 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series Chicagoland 225 (150 laps, 225 miles) – FS1
Garage Cam: (Watch live) 12 p.m.: Cup Series
1:30 p.m.: XFINITY Series
Press Conferences: (Watch live) 11:30 a.m.: Jennifer Jo Cobb, Matt DiBenedetto, Jeffrey Earnhardt, John Hunter Nemechek, Matt Tifft and Darrell Wallace Jr.
12 p.m.: Michael Annett, Dakoda Armstrong and Brendan Gaughan
6 p.m.: Dale Earnhardt Jr. 7:30 p.m.: Post-Cup Series Qualifying
11 p.m.: Post-Camping World Truck Series Race
Saturday, September 16
On Track:
11:30 a.m.-12:20 p.m.: Cup Series Practice – CNBC (Canada: TSN GO)
12:35 p.m.: XFINITY Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – NBCSN (Canada: TSN GO)
2-2:50 p.m.: Cup Series Final Practice – NBCSN (Canada: TSN 5)
3:30 p.m.: XFINITY Series Chicagoland 300 (200 laps, 300 miles) – NBCSN (Canada: TSN 5)
Press Conference: (Watch live) 6 p.m.: Post-XFINITY Series race
Sunday, September 17
On Track:
3 p.m.: Cup Series Tales of the Turtles 400 (267 laps, 400.5 miles) – NBCSN (Canada: TSN 4)
Press Conference: (Watch live) 6 p.m. Post-Cup Series Race
Follow @angiecampbell_ for the latest NASCAR news and feature stories.
Race Details:
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race: TheHouse.com 225 Rlace: Chicagoland Speedway Date: Friday, Sept. 15 Time: 8:30 p.m. ET TV: FS1, 8 p.m. ET Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Distance: 225 miles (150 laps); Stage 1 (Ends on lap 35), Stage 2 (Ends on lap 70), Final Stage (Ends on lap 150)
NASCAR XFINITY Series Race: TheHouse.com 300 Place: Chicagoland Speedway Date: Saturday, Sept. 16 Time: 3:30 p.m. ET TV: NBCSN, 3 p.m. ET Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Distance: 300 miles (200 laps); Stage 1 (Ends on lap 45), Stage 2 (Ends on lap 90), Final Stage (Ends on lap 200)
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Race: Tales of the Turtles 400 Place: Chicagoland Speedway Date: Sunday, Sept. 17 Time: 3 p.m. ET TV: NBCSN, 2:30 p.m. ET Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Distance: 400.5 miles (267 laps); Stage 1 (Ends on lap 80), Stage 2 (Ends on lap 160), Final Stage (Ends on lap 267)
The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and the NASCAR XFINITY Series head to Richmond Raceway this weekend. This will be the last race of the regular season for the Cup Series, setting the field for the 16-driver playoffs. Both races will be televised on NBCSN.
Please check below for the complete schedule of events. All times are Eastern.
Friday, September 8
On Track: 8-9:55 a.m.: XFINITY Series Practice – NBC Sports App (Follow live)
10-10:55 a.m.: Series Practice – NBCSN
12-1:25 p.m.: Cup Series Final Practice – NBCSN
4:15 p.m.: XFINITY Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – NBCSN
5:45 p.m.: Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – NBCSN
7:30 p.m.: XFINITY Series Virginia529 College Savings 250 (250 laps, 187.5 miles) – NBCSN
Garage Cam: (Watch live)
11:30 a.m.: Cup Series
Press Conferences: (Watch live)
9 a.m.: Joey Logano
9:15 a.m.: Matt Kenseth
11 a.m.: Elliott Sadler, William Byron
11:15 a.m.: Denny Hamlin
1:50 p.m.: Dale Earnhardt Jr.
2:20 p.m.: Martin Truex Jr.
3:15: Erik Jones
6:30 p.m.: Post-Cup Series Qualifying
10 p.m.: Post-XFINITY Series Race
Saturday, September 9
On Track:
7:30 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Federated Auto Parts 400 (400 laps, 300 miles) – NBCSN
Press Conference: (Watch live)
11 p.m.: Post-Cup Series Race
Follow @angiecampbell_ for the latest NASCAR news and feature stories.
Race Details:
NASCAR XFINITY Series Race: Virginia529 College Savings 250 Place: Richmond Raceway Date: Friday, Sept. 8 Time: 7:30 p.m. ET TV: NBCSN, 7 p.m. ET Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Distance: 187.5 miles (250 laps); Stage 1 (Ends on lap 75), Stage 2 (Ends on lap 150), Final Stage (Ends on lap 250)
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Race: Federated Auto Parts 400 Place: Richmond Raceway Date: Saturday, Sept. 9 Time: 7:30 p.m. ET TV: NBCSN, 7 p.m. ET Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Distance: 300 miles (400 laps); Stage 1 (Ends on lap 100), Stage 2 (Ends on lap 200), Final Stage (Ends on lap 400)
DARLINGTON, S.C. — Once in awhile, a particular driver catches your eye and you think to yourself, this one has possibilities.
In April 2014, I wrote, ‘Jeremy Clements’ recipe for success is a combination of talent, tenacity and mathematical wizardry. Throw some sponsorship dollars and a little luck into the mix and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him standing in victory lane.’
Almost 3 1/2 years later, Clements finally captured his first career XFINITY win at Road America and I can’t help but feel a sense of pride in his accomplishments.
For him, it’s a childhood dream come true.
“It’s what a lot of people dream about, myself included,” Clements told me, “competing and then winning a race in the next level. I’m extremely pleased. And obviously it makes me want more, so I can taste it again. Hopefully, it’s the first of many.”
That sweet taste of success in a national series was a long time coming. He began racing go-karts when he was seven-years-old, thanks to his grandfather, Crawford Clements.
“My grandfather was a crew chief for Rex White and Buck Baker in the 1960s,” Clements said, “and they won a championship. So he’s the one who got all this started. It was very special. He was in his upper 60s at that time and I learned a ton from him. He’s the reason I started racing. He was very smart and he could figure out how to make cars go faster. He was always a whiz with carburetors. We could use him today, I promise you that.
“He passed away in ‘96 from lung cancer when I was about 11; I owe it all to him. I know he’s smiling down from heaven and I can’t wait to talk to him one day about all this and how it went down. I’m sure he’s proud of me.”
Clements won 47 feature events in go-karts before moving on to dirt track racing. He began racing four cylinders on dirt in 1999 and over the next three years, he scored wins in over 50 feature events as well as two track championships.
In 2002, he began competing in the Late Model division winning nine races and the championship at Cherokee Speedway. On October 25, 2002, Clements made his first ARCA Series start at Talladega Superspeedway.
The following year he competed in Late Models and made five more starts in the ARCA Series with three top-10 finishes. His first start in the XFINITY Series came in 2003 when Clements was 18-years-old. In 2011 he began competing full-time in the series with a career total of one win, two top fives and 13 top 10s in 257 starts.
Those numbers take on more significance when you realize that Jeremy Clements Racing is a small family-owned team with limited funding and a full-time staff of only four people.
While Clements is basking in the afterglow of a trip to Victory Lane, he’s focused on what comes next – the Playoffs.
“We’re trying to get ready for the Playoffs and trying to learn as much as we can to apply toward Kentucky, Dover, Charlotte,” Clements said. “Those are the first three and we want to try to make it to the next round, we don’t want to be a team that gets knocked out in the first round of the playoffs.”
Their game plan is simple. It includes “not making any mistakes and finishing each race,” he explained. “Some of those guys are gonna have problems. They’ll wreck trying to race each other and if we can just be smart, be there at the end, get a good finish and I think we can possibly move on to the next round.”
To say it’s been a year to remember is quite the understatement. In addition to the NASCAR XFINITY Series victory, Clements also got married in May. He doesn’t know what impact the win will have on his future but he is certain of one thing.
“I’m very blessed to be able to do both in the same year, that’s pretty dang cool,” he said. “I’ll never forget this year regardless of what happens.”
Follow @angiecampbell_ for the latest NASCAR news and feature stories.
DARLINGTON, S.C. —Denny Hamlin took the lead on the final restart, passing Joey Logano with a last lap inside crossover move to win the Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200 Saturday at Darlington Raceway. It was his fifth XFINITY win at Darlington.
“Just a really good restart, got through (Turns) 1 and 2 really good, just held it wide open through l and 2,” Hamlin said after the race, “great run by the 22 (Logano) getting back to me there on the last lap. I think that was a throwback to Dale Earnhardt there in Turns 3 and 4.”
Logano led a race-high 58 laps in his No. 22 Ford and was disappointed with his second-place finish.
“Obviously, second hurts, Logano said. We want to win every one of them and we just got out-motored. He went through the gear box and got position on me and off he went. He had me at his right-rear quarter, which allowed him to stay wide open and clear me. I thought I had a run down the backstretch. He knew what I was thinking and I knew what he was thinking. I was just hoping that I got up to the wall and was able to rotate when I got there, but I just got tight when I got there.”
Harvick was also a strong contender in the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 41 Ford, leading 54 laps during the race, but had to settle for third.
‘We had a great Hunt Brothers Ford,” he said, but “it just didn’t wind up working out there at the end. I wound up on the bottom and I kept my foot in it over there, got loose underneath the 20. We weren’t the strongest for five or 10 laps and that didn’t really work out with that short run there at the end and we got stuck on the bottom. We got loose and then we got freight-trained, but just a great car. It wound up being a great race and that’s all you can ask for.”
Erik Jones scored fourth place with William Byron rounding out the top five finishers. Elliott Sadler remains the points leader with a 91 point advantage over second-place Byron.
Follow @angiecampbell_ for the latest NASCAR news and feature stories.
DARLINGTON, S.C. — The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and the XFINITY Series head to Darlington Raceway as the Camping World Truck Series travels to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Darlington will close out the “The Official Throwback Weekend of NASCAR” with The Bojangles’ Southern 500 Sunday at 6 p.m.
There are 40 drivers on the entry list for the Southern 500 battling for a berth in the Cup Series playoffs as the regular season winds down with only two more chances to secure a spot. Tune into NBCSN for coverage of the Cup and XFINITY Series events while FS1 will televise the Truck Series race.
Please check below for the complete schedule of events. All times are Eastern.
Friday, September 1
On Track-Darlington:
12-12:55 p.m.: XFINITY Series Practice – NBCSN
1-1:55 p.m.: Cup Series Practice – NBCSN
2:30-3:25 p.m.: XFINITY Series Final Practice – NBCSN
3:30-4:55 p.m.: Cup Series Final Practice – NBCSN
Press Conferences: (Watch live)
10:15 a.m.: Jeremy Clements
10:30 a.m.: Elliott Sadler
11:45 a.m.: Jimmie Johnson
12 p.m.: Chase Elliott
12:15 p.m.: Clint Bowyer and Mark Martin
2:45 p.m.: Martin Truex Jr.
5:20 p.m.: Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Garage Cam: (Watch live)
11:30 a.m.: XFINITY Series
12:30 p.m.: Cup Series
Saturday, September 2
On Track-Darlington:
12:05 p.m.: XFINITY Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – NBCSN
1:45 p.m.: Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – NBCSN
3:30 p.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series Sports Clips Haircuts VFW 200 (147 laps, 200.8 miles) – NBCSN
Press Conferences: (Watch live)
2:30 p.m.: Post-Cup Series Qualifying
6 p.m.: Post-NASCAR XFINITY Series Race
On Track-Canadian Tire:
9:30 a.m.: Camping World Truck Series Practice (Watch live)
11:35 a.m.: Camping World Truck Series Final Practice (Watch live)
5:30 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series Keystone Light Pole Qualifying – FS2
Sunday, September 3
On Track-Canadian Tire:
2 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series Chevrolet Silverado 250 (64 laps, 157.37 miles) – FS1
On Track-Darlington:
6 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Bojangles’ Southern 500 (367 laps, 501.3 miles) – NBCSN
Press Conference: (Watch live)
2 p.m.: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Darrell Waltrip
3 p.m.: Bill Elliott
10:30 p.m.: Post-Cup Series Race
Follow @angiecampbell_ for the latest NASCAR news and feature stories.
Race Details:
NASCAR XFINITY Series
Race: Sport Clips Help a Hero 200 Place: Darlington Raceway Date: Saturday, Sept. 2 Time: 3:30 p.m. ET TV: NBCSN, 3 p.m. ET Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Distance: 200.8 miles (147 laps); Stage 1 (Ends on lap 45), Stage 2 (Ends on lap 90), Final Stage (Ends on lap 147)
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Race: Chevrolet Silverado 250 Place: Canadian Tire Motorsport Park Date: Sunday, Sept. 3 Time: 2:30 p.m. ET TV: FS1, 2 p.m. ET Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Distance: 157.37 miles (64 laps); Stage 1 (Ends on lap 20), Stage 2 (Ends on lap 40), Final Stage (Ends on lap 64
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Race: Bojangles’ Southern 500 Place: Darlington Raceway Date: Sunday, Sept. 3 Time: 6 p.m. ET TV: NBCSN, 5:30 p.m. ET Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Distance: 501.3 miles (367 laps); Stage 1 (Ends on lap 100), Stage 2 (Ends on lap 200), Final Stage (Ends on lap 367)
The Johnsonville 180 at Road America will go down as the best XFINITY Series race of 2017, if not one of the best races of the NASCAR season, period. There was plenty of on-track action, drama, spinouts, a first-time winner, and nine of the top-15 drivers scoring their season-best finishes.
One thing that was noticeably absent on a day that saw Jeremy Clements drive a nine-year-old chassis to Victory Lane were Monster Energy Cup drivers, a group that has won more races in the XFINITY Series in 2017 than XFINITY Series regulars. For that matter, it was a rare setting Sunday in which the field actually consisted more of XFINITY teams than Cup teams.
NASCAR has taken steps to try to remedy this situation for the regulars by limiting the number of XFINITY Series and Camping World Truck Series races in which Cup drivers can compete. For the 2018 NASCAR season, that number looks to go even lower, a move which frustrated some of the Cup contingent who regularly compete in those divisions such as Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch.
Early in August Harvick spoke on the matter on his SiriusXM NASCAR show Happy Hours.
“Just let them race,” he said. “Who cares? Why not just let them race. I don’t understand it. That’s what we do. We race cars, we race trucks, we race late models. That’s what we did all our life, we raced. I don’t know why all of a sudden it’s become a problem.’’
Harvick’s argument centered around the idea that up-and-coming drivers could learn a lot from the Cup drivers moonlighting in the lower divisions. This is an age-old argument used since the early days of “Buschwhacking,” when the series was the Busch Grand National Series, but it’s also an idea that some of the lower division regulars have taken issue with.
“The way you make it to the bigs in every other sport is to consistently beat everyone else at lower levels,” explained Tommy Joe Martins, Owner/Driver of the No. 44 Martins Motorsports NASCAR Camping World Truck Series entry. “Cup drivers aren’t helping XFINITY/Truck Series drivers develop. At all. They’re hurting them. They’re taking the spotlight off of them in a sport where your ability to compete comes down to your ability to draw fans and sponsors to you.”
XFINITY Series regular Joey Gase, driver of the No. 52 Jimmy Means Racing entry, is a little more generous regarding learning from the Cup drivers in the lower divisions.
“We do learn from the Cup drivers when they come down and do the lower series,” Gase said, “although, the drivers that are in equal equipment will learn more from them than the drivers who are not. I think NASCAR limiting [Cup drivers] to seven races is good because that will still mean there is at least one cup driver in majority of the races.”
However, there are drivers like Truck Series competitor John Hunter Nemechek who do believe in the education value of racing against Cup drivers in the lower divisions.
Photo by: Simon Scoggins
“Any time you’re able to race against the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup guys, or even the XFINITY Series guys, they can help you as a driver learning how to race, some of their techniques, what they’re doing better than you, where they’re faster,” said Nemechek. “It definitely helps you overall to be able to race against them and beat them and kind of show your talent.”
“I definitely think that racing against them every time that you’re on the track, whether it’s practice, qualifying, or the race, you’re always learning and as a driver you want to learn as much as you can to be able to beat them one day.”
Cup drivers racing in the lower series isn’t a new dilemma that the sport is facing, and granted, it does have its merits for Cup drivers looking for an edge on the weekend. Dale Earnhardt Sr. made 136 starts in the XFINITY Series between 1982 and 1994, winning 21 times. In that same span of years, Harry Gant made 128 starts and also earned 21 wins. Mark Martin made 25 starts in the NCWTS starts between 1996 and 2011, scoring seven wins.
Although drivers like Busch, Harvick, and Brad Keselowski have all voiced displeasure at being limited in the lower divisions, XFINITY and Truck Series regulars do seem to be happy with the new rule.
“The way I look at it is, of course, the Cup regulars and drivers that are already in top rides are against it because it will limit them from driving or they are already in top equipment so it doesn’t matter to them,” Gase continued. “If you ask a full-time driver in the XFINITY or Truck Series I’m sure at least 80 percent are happy for the rule. Brad [Keselowski] tweeted he thinks if a Cup driver wants to drive in XFINITY or Truck Series they should be in equipment they own and I love that idea. Brad is all about giving back to the sport and helping up and coming drivers and I think that is awesome. I do think Cup drivers should be able to race in the XFINITY and Truck Series but on a limited basis like we are starting to see now.”
Martins took it one step further saying NASCAR’s theory that letting top tier talent play in the lower division is good for the sport, is, at it’s core, flawed.
“[You’re] never going to hear that in any other sport,” he said. “Then be audacious enough to defend it by saying they just love to play – and then that it’s good for the whole sport for them to be down there? It’s inconceivable to me.”
This isn’t to say that Cup drivers should be banned completely from racing in the lower tier divisions. But their dominance isn’t as beneficial to the XFINITY and NCWTS divisions as one would like to believe. In 2017 only four XFINITY regulars have gone to Victory Lane for a total of six wins in 23 events, while in the Truck Series there has been more parity; five regulars have gone to Victory Lane in 14 events and have won nine times.
What does that tell the other teams looking to grow and earn their place in the sport? What kind of growth does that encourage? NASCAR is a performance-driven sport, where the better a driver is the more guaranteed their growth and longevity is. Yet there are several XFINITY-only and NCWTS-only teams who may have a dream-driver – accessible, charming, a draw for the fans, and extremely talented, only to be hindered by a Cup team stealing the show in a lower-division race.
When NASCAR announced the further limitations to Cup drivers attempting to partake in racing in the lower divisions, Busch was open in his disdain for the new limitations during an interview on SiriusXM NASCAR.
“But if we keep continuing to put the limits on it, I’m going to tell you right now, if the limits to the Truck Series go to zero, I’m done,” Keselowski stated. “So you wouldn’t see Kyle Busch Motorsports teams out on the race track. That’s just the way I’m going to make it and we’ll see how that progresses as the years go along. You know, the XFINITY Series side, I’m sure Joe’s [Gibbs] frustrated. I know I’m frustrated. We’ll just continue to race the races we’re allowed to run with the sponsorship that we have. We got great partners.”
Another popular claim used frequently in this argument is that top-tier drivers like Busch, Harvick, Keselowski, and Larson racing in the lower divisions is that their participation brings funds, sponsorship, and attention to the divisions. However, according to regulars partaking in those divisions, that’s not entirely the case.
“They do bring funds to the top teams that they are racing for but that is not the case for the smaller teams,” said Gase. “A few of the top drivers say if they couldn’t race in the lower series it would risk the [Cup affiliated teams] and they would have to shut down, but I think that would be okay. That would help equal out the rest of the field and would let smaller teams come into the sport and fill in the gaps.”
Nemechek echoed Gase’s sentiments, saying, “I think when the Cup stars come down to run Trucks or XFINITY, it does bring funds and sponsorships, but to their own teams. It doesn’t necessarily help out other teams that they don’t own or drive for. I really don’t see those funds or sponsorships from where I’m in the Truck Series, maybe if I was driving for one of them or their teams you would see those funds trickling down to help out the program, help out the team, just to be able to use more resources and funding to make your equipment better.”
Martins offered a similar, more pointed, take.
“Funds to where?” he asked. “To their teams? That’s not helping Martins Motorsports. That’s not helping me. Their teams making more money isn’t helping the NASCAR economy. If anything it’s hurting it. They use the money to further develop the trucks and drive the price up for other teams in the series.”
Considering that the involvement of Cup drivers in lower divisions piloting Cup-funded equipment affects the respective regulars more than NASCAR realizes, they should take them into account more than anything. If a Cup driver threatens to fold their lower division efforts, the sanctioning body should take into consideration that it won’t mean a loss to the sport.
Instead, all they have to do is just check social media following a race at Iowa, Gateway, Road America, or even Mosport. When a XFINITY or Truck Series event has more regulars than outsiders and has regulars running at the front and winning, it’s a plus for that division. On top of that, it encourages growth in the sport. Any fan or competitor could tell you that that is a good thing.
So the next time a rule change affects lower divisions, instead of leaning on what a Cup regular has to say, what the division regulars have to say may have more gravity in regards to competition.
The battle for victory in Sunday’s Johnsonville 180 at Road America came down to a pair of drivers who have never won a NASCAR XFINITY Series race.
But it was Jeremy Clements’ day to shock the world by earning his first career win after 256 XFINITY starts.
“I don’t even know what to say,” Clements said in Victory Lane. “I’m just shocked.”
It came down to a breathtaking showdown between Clements and Matt Tifft in the closing laps. Clements gave up the lead with nine laps remaining after trying to stretch out his fuel with the hopes of catching a late-race caution, relinquishing the lead to Tifft.
But that wasn’t the last we would hear from Clements. Four fresh Goodyear tires allowed him to rocket back to the front and challenge the 21-year-old Joe Gibbs Racing driver.
With two laps remaining, Clements and Tifft made contact which sent them both spinning as Clements attempted a pass for the lead. Clements was able to quickly get back on track and take the lead away.
“I want to say sorry to Matt Tifft,” Clements added. “I definitely didn’t mean to spin him out there. I got in there hot and we collided. That was my fault, that was definitely not his fault.”
“Obviously, no matter what, it’s tough,” Tifft said. “I wish we could have raced it out to the last lap. It’s tough to come that close.”
With the victory, the 32-year-old from Spartanburg, S.C. is now locked into the 12-driver XFINITY Series playoffs.
James Davison, driving the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, quickly took the lead away from pole-sitter Austin Cindric on the first lap of the race.
Davison ran away with Stage 1, leading nine of the 10 laps and beating second-place Justin Marks by more than two seconds. Cindric, Brennan Poole and Just Allgaier rounded out the top five.
Davison was later busted for speeding on pit road during pit stops at the stage break, while Cindric spent an extended amount of time on pit road repairing front-end damage suffered from contact with Marks in Stage 1.
Elliott Sadler, who was among many drivers who stayed out to gain track position after the first stage, jumped out to the lead for the first time in Stage 2.
But it was Daniel Hemric who took the lead away from Sadler on the restart following a Lap 14 caution for Ryan Sieg. Hemric was able to hold on to win the second 10-lap stage.
Leading the race, Hemric’s strong day turned into heartbreak after he received a pit-road speeding penalty during a round of pit stops in the final stage. Hemric led 10 laps prior to the misfortune.
Multiple cars were involved in a huge dustup toward the front of the field during the final lap of Stage 2 after Ross Chastain made contact with Marks, sending him sliding into Davison.
After leading 11 of the first 20 laps, Davison was forced to retire from the race due to a cracked radiator.
The XFINITY Series will be back in action for NASCAR’s throwback weekend at Darlington Raceway with the Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200 (3:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM).
Australian racer James Davison led final NASCAR XFINITY Series practice Saturday afternoon at Road America.
Davison clocked a best lap of 181.691 mph in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota as he preps for just his third career start in the series. The Aussie, who has raced in the Indianapolis 500 three times, will turn 31 the day after Sunday’s Johnsonville 180 (3 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM).
Justin Marks, who led the opening 55-minute practice, was fast again in the late session, uncorking a 108.614-mph lap to place second on the leaderboard. Marks will make just his second start of the season Sunday in the Chip Ganassi Racing No. 42 Chevrolet.
Rookie Austin Cindric, 18, was third-fastest in both sessions as he tunes up for his XFINITY debut in the Team Penske No. 22 Ford. Cole Custer (108.235 mph) and Brennan Poole (107.887), both of whom had slight off-course ventures, completed the top five in final practice.
Custer and Poole weren’t alone in veering off course. Dexter Bean also left the pavement early on, and Nicolas Hammann’s slide into the Turn 3 sand with three minutes remaining brought a slightly early end to the session.
Spencer Gallagher, 14th-fastest in final practice, stalled on the track when his GMS Racing No. 23 Chevrolet ran out of fuel.
Elliott Sadler, the series’ points leader, was 15th-fastest in the JR Motorsports No. 1 Chevrolet.
Marks Sets Early Pace in First Practice
Justin Marks rose to the top of the leaderboard in Saturday’s opening practice for the NASCAR XFINITY Series at Road America, completing a 1-2 sweep for Chip Ganassi Racing drivers.
Marks registered a fast lap of 107.923 mph on the sprawling 4.048-mile road course in the Ganassi No. 42 Chevrolet. Marks will be prepping for his fourth Road America start in Sunday’s Johnsonville 180 (3 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM).
Brennan Poole was second-fastest in the 55-minute session, steering the Ganassi No. 48 Chevy to a 107.846-mph lap. Austin Cindric was third, readying for his XFINITY Series debut in the Team Penske No. 22 Ford.
Justin Allgaier and former Road America winner Brendan Gaughan completed the top five on the speed chart.
Series points leader Elliott Sadler was 18th-fastest (106.070 mph) in the JR Motorsports No. 1 Chevrolet.
A handful of drivers had relatively harmless off-course excursions in the tricky Turn 5 section. Among those were Matt Tifft, Ben Kennedy and Spencer Gallagher. Ryan Reed also went off the track in the Turn 11 kink late in the session but managed to keep his car off the wall.
The Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota of Christopher Bell completed just one lap in practice before he drove to the garage. His crew spent the remainder of the session making an engine change.
Four teams were docked 15 minutes of practice time for infractions incurred last weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway. Richard Childress Racing teammates Daniel Hemric and Kennedy each had 15-minute deductions because their cars failed the Laser Inspection Station twice at Bristol. The No. 16 Ford of Ryan Reed and the No. 74 Dodge of John Graham were held because their cars were late for Bristol inspection.
[pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/NXS-Final-Practice-Results-Road-America-August-2017.pdf” title=”NXS Final Practice Results Road America August 2017″]
This week, the NASCAR XFINITY Series travels to Road America for the last road course event of the 2017 season while the Monster Energy Cup Series and the Camping World Truck Series are enjoying a week off from competition. The on-track action begins Saturday with practice while the Johnsonville 180 race closes out the weekend at 3 p.m. on NBC. Only four races remain in the XFINITY Series regular season.
In the seven XFINITY events hosted by the track, we’ve seen seven different winners – Carl Edwards (2010), Reed Sorenson (2011), Nelson Piquet Jr. (2012), AJ Allmendinger (2013), Brendan Gaughan (2014), Paul Menard (2015) and Michael McDowell (2016). Expectations are high that we will see a different winner Sunday as Brendan Gaughan is the only driver entered who has previously won at Road America.
JR Motorsports’ Elliott Sadler is the current points leader, a position he’s held for the last 10 races. Sadler heads into the weekend confident that JR Motorsports is the team to beat with all four drivers poised to make the playoffs. Teammates William Byron and Justin Allgaier occupy second and third place in the standings with Michael Annett in 11th place.
“I would say right now, JR Motorsports has a leg-up on the competition,” Elliott Sadler stated after his third-place finish last week at Bristol. “I think we are the favorites to win the championship. We just have to go make it happen.”
Please check below for the complete schedule of events. All times are Eastern.
Saturday, August 26
On Track:
2-2:55 p.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series Practice at Road America on NBCSN
4-4:55 p.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series Final Practice at Road America on NBCSN
Sunday, August 27
On Track:
11:45 a.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying on CNBC
3 p.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series Johnsonville 180 (45 laps, 182.16 miles) on NBC
NASCAR XFINITY Series Race: Johnsonville 180 Place: Road America Date: Sunday, Aug. 27 Time: 3 p.m. ET TV: NBC, 2:30 p.m. ET Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Distance: 182.16 miles (45 laps); Stage 1 (Ends on lap 10), Stage 2 (Ends on lap 20), Final Stage (Ends on lap 45)
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