The Xfinity Series championship could not be any closer with eight races remaining before the Playoffs. Veteran Elliott Sadler and second-year series competitor Daniel Hemric are tied atop the standings entering Saturday’s Lakes Region 200 (4 p.m. ET, NBCSN, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) – a race neither driver has won before.
Sadler has led the standings for the vast majority of the season. He started off with an amazing streak of 12 top-10 finishes in the JR Motorsports’ No. 1 OneMain Financial Chevrolet but has had tough luck as of lately. He’s had only two top 10s in the last five races.
Simultaneously, Hemric’s Richard Childress Racing’s No. 21 High Point Casino Chevrolet has benefitted from a summer surge. He’s on a streak of eight straight top-10 finishes and has seven top-three finishes on the season. He was runner-up last week at Kentucky.
Sadler has five top-10 finishes in 14 New Hampshire starts, including the last two races there. He’s led only six laps in the last nine races, however. His best career finish at the tough miler is fourth, coming in 2005.
Hemric has only one previous start at the track, starting fifth and finishing 12th there last year.
Source: Holly Cain | NASCAR Wire Service
