The NASCAR XFINITY Series heads to the Charlotte Motor Speedway for the 34th annual Drive for the Cure 300 presented by Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina. The race on Friday evening will mark the 29th event of the season for the series in 2015. Brad Keselowski, entered to pilot the No. 22 Team Penske Racing Ford, comes into the weekend as the defending race winner.
The entry list features 40 different drivers. Some of these include Harrison Rhodes, BJ McLeod, Erik Jones, Brad Keselowski, TJ Bell, Austin Dillon, Timmy Hill, Brennan Poole, Kasey Kahne, Ryan Ellis and Ryan Truex. No drivers will go home after qualifying on Friday.
The No. 22 Team Penske Racing Ford goes into the 1.5-mile Charlotte Motor Speedway sitting 61 owner points ahead of the No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. The No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing team has gained 21 points on the No. 22 Ford in the last three races and has the best average finish of 4.4 in the last 10 races. Team Penske will capture their third XFINITY Series owner championship if the No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota is unable to catch them in the final five races of the year.
Two NASCAR Camping World Truck Series regulars will join the NASCAR XFINITY Series at Charlotte. Who are those two drivers? John Wes Townley and Erik Jones. Townley enters the weekend fresh off a victory last Saturday night at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Townley will pilot the No 25 Zaxby’s Chevrolet for his father as Jones will step behind the wheel of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota with sponsorship from Gamestop.
Daniel Suarez has a 25-point lead over Darrell Wallace Jr. in the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings with five NASCAR XFINITY Series races remaining in 2015. Suarez has captured six top five and 13 top 10 finishes so far this year. The native from Mexico has also earned three poles and has an average finish of 12.7 going into the weekend.
NBC Sports Network will have coverage of the race starting at 8:00 p.m. ET. on October 9. The Performance Racing Network will provide live radio coverage of the event.
About Me: Brett has been following the sport of NASCAR since the beginning of the 2006 NASCAR Sprint Cup season. Since Brett was 13, he has had a passion of chasing a job in sports that not many get the opportunity of doing. He has been in the NASCAR media since the middle of the 2010 season. Since then, he has been a part of many racing podcast shows to improve his talents. He has written for racingonfuel.com and theracingwheel.com. Currently, Brett writes for motorsportsnat.com and TracksideChatter.com. You can find him on twitter @NASCAR_Brett.
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