The NASCAR Xfinity Series kicks off the inaugural chase this weekend at Kentucky Speedway in the VisitMyrtleBeach.com 300. This is the final NASCAR Xfinity Series standalone event.
41 drivers will be competing for 40 spots in the Saturday night spectacle. Ryan Blaney is the only NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver making the trip from New Hampshire Motor Speedway to Kentucky Speedway. Austin Cindric will practice the car in Friday’s sessions, and Blaney will qualify and race the car on Saturday.
This will be the 21st race for the Xfintiy Series at Kentucky. There have been 15 different pole winners with Joey Logano as the youngest and Jay Sauter as the oldest. There have been 12 different race winners with Brendan Gaughan as the oldest and Logano as the youngest. Seven different races have been won from the pole. Kyle Busch was the last driver to do so back during July’s Alsco 300. In 2012, the race record was set by Austin Dillon at a speed of 151.643 mph. In the July race, Kyle Busch set a new track record at a speed of 187.318 mph.
Drivers are excited about the return to Kentucky.
“Our OneMain Camaro has been really fast every single week and we have been very strong at the mile-and-a-half tracks, so we are going to stay true to what our No. 1 team does every weekend. We have a lot of momentum on our team right now and we have been running extremely well the last six weeks. We have high expectations for Kentucky. We would love to go there and set the pace and get a win, but I think we are going to be fast enough to be in position to get a lot of points and move on,” said Elliott Sadler, who is seeded second in the chase.
“I’m really looking forward to getting back to Kentucky. We scored a top-five there in July and I’m confident we can back that up this weekend with our Bleacher Report Mustang. We need to get all we can with the Chase kicking off this weekend and make sure we are in a good position come the end of the race,” said Darrell Wallace Jr.
“When Richard Childress Racing gave me the original schedule of the races that they wanted me to run, I was excited to see Kentucky Speedway on there. I immediately thought, ‘yeah, that’s my kind of racetrack.’ I liked the old, wore-out, bumpy surface it had. But, then I remembered they had the repave and the track has really changed. I did get an opportunity to watch the XFINITY Series race at Kentucky in the spring. Austin (Dillon) did a great job and brought home a second-place finish. He gave Kyle (Busch) quite the run for his money there at the end. RCR has done a lot of work on their program for Kentucky and have put together a solid package to give us a good shot at the win. That’s how this team is, they work hard to get better and get to where they want to be. It’s going to be different for me going there, just from all the things I saw from watching it on television. I think you’ll still see some of the old characteristics where it’s tricky to get into Turn 3 and really keep the car underneath of you,” said Sam Hornish Jr.
The VisitMyrtleBeach.com 300 will be 200 laps. NBCSN will have coverage of practice on Friday beginning at 3:30PM EST and 6:00PM EST. Qualifying will be help on Saturday, September 23rd, at 4:30PM EST on NBCSN. Performance Racing Network will begin coverage of the race beginning at 7:30PM EST, and NBCSN will begin coverage at 8:00PM EST.
- Busch Sweeps at Bristol - August 20, 2017
- Busch Wins UNOH 200 From Pole - August 17, 2017
- Busch Scores NCWTS Bristol Pole - August 16, 2017