Xfinity Category

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer In a final round of qualifying that featured a great mix of veteran and youth, Christopher Bell turned a lap at 181.76 mph (30.60 seconds) to take the top spot for Saturday afternoon’s NASCAR XFINITY Series Rinnai 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Bell, in his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, edged out Joey Logano to earn his second series pole in just his 10th start. “This one’s probably a little bit more enjoyable,” Bell said with a large grin when asked if this poleRead More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer  Just one week after a record-setting finish, the NASCAR Xfinity Series is back in action at Atlanta Motor Speedway for the Rinnai 250. Cup drivers, debuts, series regulars looking to rebound, and stage racing are just some of the storylines heading into the second race of the season. Coverage for the Rinnai 250 is scheduled to start Saturday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. ET. Atlanta has hosted the second race of the season since the 2015 season. In 26 races at the 1.54-mile D-Shaped Oval, 18Read More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer  Joe Gibbs Racing is beginning to complete their Xfinity Series drivers’ lineup as they add Kyle Benjamin to the fold. Benjamin will drive the JGR No. 18 Toyota Camry at Atlanta Motor Speedway on February 24, and Iowa Speedway on July 28. At Atlanta, he will carry the PEAK Antifreeze & Coolant sponsorship. Benjamin competed in five races last year for JGR. He qualified an impressive second in his debut at Richmond Raceway. Benjamin went on to score two pole positions at Pocono Raceway andRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer The JD Motorsports quartet stayed with the lead pack all afternoon and after five overtime attempts, two of their entries finished inside the top-10 in Saturday’s PowerShares QQQ 300 at Daytona International Speedway for the second consecutive year. Leading the way was 25-year-old Garrett Smithley, bringing the No. 0 Flex Seal Chevrolet Camaro home in fifth after overcoming a spin in the tri-oval grass on Lap 106. Ryan Truex had a strong run and tried to pass Smithley at the entrance of Turn 4, butRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – In a day race that ended under the lights, with the closest margin of victory in NASCAR history, Tyler Reddick finished Saturday’s PowerShares QQQ 300 less than three inches ahead of JR Motorsports teammate Elliott Sadler. In the last of five overtimes, after a stoppage of 5 minutes, 27 seconds, and on the 23rd extra lap, Reddick made a move to the outside off Turn 4 and won a drag race with Sadler to the stripe after their cars bumpedRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – For the second day in a row at the World Center of Racing, one of the smaller teams in the NASCAR garage was celebrating a top-five finish when the checkered flag flew. Kaz Grala, who pilots the No. 24 Ford for JGL Racing, provided the cause for celebration, surviving Saturday’s PowerShares QQQ 300 at Daytona to bring his team a fourth-place finish. The top-five marks the second straight race at Daytona that JGL entries scored top-five finishes after Dakoda Armstrong andRead More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer It was a long and rough day, but Spencer Gallagher still had career day in the PowerShares QQQ 300. Gallagher had both a career best qualifying effort and finish in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Although, he had to survive multiple overtime attempts on his way to a sixth-place finish. Gallagher nearly didn’t make it to the finish at Daytona International Speedway. After avoiding ‘The Big One’ on the first overtime attempt, he found trouble in the second overtime event. Gallagher spun off the nose ofRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The closest finish in NASCAR…ever. Elliott Sadler just wishes he would have been on the winning side of it. Falling 0.000 seconds short to his JR Motorsports teammate Tyler Reddick, Sadler had to settle for second place at Daytona for the third time in his Xfinity Series career and the third straight race at restrictor plate tracks. “I’ve been close here a lot of times, but this one hurt a lot today because you didn’t know,” said Sadler. “Did we? OrRead More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer  Ryan Truex hasn’t missed a beat. Despite a move from the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series to the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Truex scored a top-10 finish in his first Xfinity Series race since 2015. Truex survived five overtime attempts to finish seventh in the PowerShares QQQ 300. In the previous four overtime attempts, he snuck through the mayhem to emerge unscathed. The amount of fuel was also in question with the multiple overtime attempts, but was not a factor. On the final overtime attempt, TruexRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Failing to finish before reaching halfway of stage one wasn’t the way NASCAR Xfinity Series rookies Christopher Bell and Austin Cindric wanted to start out their season. The high-profile drivers competing for Rookie of the Year honors were both involved in a Lap 10 crash in Saturday’s Powershares QQQ 300 at Daytona International Speedway. Battling for seventh, Cindric’s No. 60 Pirtek Ford was sandwiched between Tyler Reddick and Daniel Suarez exiting Turn 3 as he fought an ill-handling car the moment the green flag dropped.Read More