LOUDON, NH. – Although John Hunter Nemechek earned his season-best third victory last week in a dramatic overtime finish in Atlanta, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver was still only able to separate himself from fellow three-race winner, Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Hill by 16 points atop the points standings in what has been a thrilling and tight contention for the 2023 Regular Season Championship.
The series arrives at the 1.058-mile New Hampshire Motor Speedway for Saturday’s Ambetter Health 200 (3 p.m. ET on USA Network, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) where the competition has historically been wide open for the Xfinity Series championship regulars.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series there has featured a wide range of race winners – 27 different trophy-winners in the event’s 35-race history.
Defending race winner, JR Motorsports’ driver Justin Allgaier is the only series full-timer to have hoisted the lobster after a Xfinity Series race at New Hampshire. In fact, he’s been particularly good at the track with eight top-10 finishes in 11 starts, highlighted by that victory last year. He is currently fourth in the series’ tight championship battle, 54 points behind Nemechek, but only nine points behind third place driver Cole Custer.
The Stewart-Haas Racing driver Custer has a similarly positive track record at The Magic Mile with top-10 finishes in all three of his previous starts and he won pole position for the 2019 race. New Hampshire is a significant place for Custer’s career. He earned his first national series win in the 2014 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race there becoming the youngest winner in series history at the age of 16 years, 4 months and 22 days. He’ll get two chances at the traditional lobster hoist in Loudon, as will also compete in the NASCAR Cup Series race for Rick Ware Racing on Sunday.
With nine races still remaining to set the 12-driver Playoff field, not only is the Regular Season Championship is still very much up for grabs, but that Playoff list remains hotly contested. There have been seven race winners to secure their postseason bid leaving five more positions still to be decided in the next two-month run.
Custer’s SHR teammate Riley Herbst is currently in the 12th position in the standings – only six points ahead of Parker Kligerman, a Connecticut native who is making his first Xfinity Series start at New Hampshire since 2013, when he finished 20th in his debut there.
Of note, NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series regular Rajah Caruth will drive the No. 44 Alpha Prime Racing Chevrolet this weekend – his fifth start in the series.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series gets underway with practice at 5:05 p.m. ET on Friday followed by qualifying at 5:35 p.m. ET – both sessions air live on USA Network and will be streamed on the NBC Sports App.
Source: Holly Cain/NASCAR Wire Service
