The NASCAR Xfinity Series continues its positive competitive momentum with a doubleheader weekend at Kentucky Speedway featuring the Shady Rays 200 tonight (8 p.m. ET on FS1, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) followed by the Alsco 300 on Friday (8 p.m. ET on FS1, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Historically-speaking, the 1.5-mile Kentucky Speedway certainly presents a wide-open opportunity for the 2020 Xfinity Series championship favorites. The last three races have been won by Tyler Reddick (2017), Christopher Bell (2018) and Cole Custer (2019), the three top title contenders in the last two years who now make up three-fourths of the NASCAR Cup Series rookie class.
Stephen Leicht is the only current Xfinity regular that has won at Kentucky previously (2007). But the series’ competitors will have two chances this week.
Chase Briscoe’s dramatic victory on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course last weekend – his series-best fifth victory of the season – extended his championship lead to 21 points over Noah Gragson. And Briscoe becomes only the second driver in Xfinity Series history to earn five or more wins in the opening 13 races – matching the legendary Sam Ard who accomplished it back in 1984.
“It’s weird to say, but I feel like I’ve always thrived under pressure,” Briscoe said of his hard-earned early season glory. “I set a goal for myself and the team has stuck behind me, but it’s kind of like Babe Ruth calling his shot. I knew if I did that, I had to back it up.
“I’ve always fed on the pressure. You go back to the [Charlotte] ROVAL and I won it (in 2019). A lot of people don’t realize I didn’t have a ride if I didn’t win that race. Sleeping on couches, volunteering in race shops and only having one race to prove myself, I had to do the best I could.”
It’s certainly been a competitive showcase for Briscoe, but one he knows includes a host of other drivers ready to seize upon their own opportunity and assets.
Sitting third in the championship, behind the two-race winner Gragson is Ross Chastain. He trails Briscoe by 55 points with Austin Cindric on Chastain’s heels, 61 points back.
Briscoe was fifth last year in his only Kentucky Xfinity Series start. Gragson was sixth.
Popular driver Ross Chastain is still looking for his first victory of 2020, but has been consistently challenging for that trophy. He is currently on a streak of seven top-10 runs answering a third place at Homestead, Fla. last month with back-to-back runner-up showings at Talladega, Ala. and Pocono. He finished sixth at Indianapolis. Chastain has eight Xfinity Series starts at Kentucky but his lone top 10 – 10th place – came in his first try back in 2014.
The 21-year old Austin Cindric led 21 laps last weekend at Indianapolis (second only to race winner Briscoe’s 30 laps out front) and finished fifth after a spirited last lap run to the checkered with veteran A.J. Allmendinger. This will be his third Kentucky start. He won the pole position there last year but his best finish (10th) was in his first start in 2017. He has celebrated in the Bluegrass state’s Victory Lane scoring the 2016 ARCA Menards Series race win in 2014
The veteran Justin Allgaier, who is ranked sixth in the championship, has the most Kentucky starts among the driver standings top 10. In 13 races the driver of the No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet has nine top-10 finishes including the last five races. His career-best finish there is third (in 2017) and he led 32 laps in 2018, finishing fourth. He is coming off a pair of top-10 finishes at Pocono (sixth) and Indianapolis (seventh).
This will mark the Xfinity Series Kentucky debut for 19-year old Harrison Burton. The son of NASCAR star Jeff Burton opened the season with an incredible run of 10 straight top-10 finishes including his first career series win at California before the COVID-19 pandemic and then Homestead after the sport’s re-start. However, the driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota is eager to snap an unfortunate streak of three finishes of 25th or worse, including DNFs at Talladega, Ala. and Pocono, Pa. He led the driver standings following his Fontana win, but is now seventh in points – 135 behind leader Briscoe. In his only previous Kentucky start – last year in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series – Burton started sixth and finished third.
Source: Holly Cain | NASCAR Wire Service
