Tag: Xfinity Series

NASCAR provides two major updates to the rulebook in 2023

NASCAR has provided two major updates to the rulebook following the race weekend at the Chicago Street Course in early July.

NASCAR has made two notable changes to the rulebook in response to the race weekend at the Chicago Street Course in early July. Overall, the sport’s first race on a street course was a success as Shane van Gisbergen won in his debut; however, the race was shortened due to darkness. This came after the race was almost postponed to Monday due to weather.

In the rulebook, NASCAR has changed the wording to indicate that races will end with a clock instead of dictating a final lap due to “unforeseen circumstances.” This means the sport could have instituted a running clock during Chicago instead of racing back to a specific lap. The rule change helps teams prepare for any unforeseen circumstance that may occur.

The other change relates to NASCAR’s testing regulations following van Gisbergen’s victory in Chicago and the addition of several other new drivers during the 2023 season. The new regulations state a driver must have two of the following to test a Cup Series car, alongside everything else that is required:

  • Championship(s) in a major series (F1, Formula E, IndyCar, WEC, IMSA, DTM, NASCAR Cup, Supercars, WRC, MotoGP, Superbike)
  • Multiple wins and podium finishes in a major series
  • Major race wins (LeMans, Bathurst, Monaco Grand Prix, Indy 500, Daytona 500, 24 Hours of Daytona, Baja 1000)
  • Significant media presence/following (racing star power)

Overall, these testing changes should help NASCAR with its new draw for international drivers as it allows them to have a better chance at testing. Meanwhile, the new procedure for ending races due to unforeseen circumstances also helps control the unpredictably and chaos seen in Chicago from a race team perspective.

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Darlington race schedule: Cup and Xfinity Series start times

Check out the weekend schedule at Darlington Raceway for the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series!

NASCAR is heading to Darlington Raceway and it is set to be a very exciting weekend of racing. The weather has cleared out of Darlington, SC and the Cup Series is ready to kick off the Round of 16 with the Cook Out Southern 500. Meanwhile, the Xfinity Series features the final race of the regular season that Cup Series drivers can run due to the finale next weekend.

The Xfinity Series will kick off the weekend on Saturday afternoon while the Cup Series tackles its first playoff event on Sunday evening. One driver may clinch their way into the Round of 12 and not have to worry about the next two race weekends.

Here’s the full weekend schedule for Darlington, with start times and broadcast information for each session:

NASCAR Cup Series:

Saturday: Practice (12:35 p.m. ET, USA Network), Qualifying (1:20 p.m. ET, USA Network)

Sunday: Cook Out Southern 500 (3:00 p.m., USA Network)

NASCAR Xfinity Series:

Saturday: Practice (10:35 a.m. ET, NBC Sports App), Qualifying (11:05 p.m. ET, NBC Sports App), Sports Clips Haircuts VFW Help A Hero 200 (3:30 p.m. ET, USA Network)

Denny Hamlin to drive No. 19 Xfinity car for Joe Gibbs Racing at Darlington

Denny Hamlin will drive the No. 19 Xfinity car for Joe Gibbs Racing at Darlington Raceway this weekend.

[autotag]Joe Gibbs Racing[/autotag] listed Trevor Bayne as the driver of the No. 19 car for the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Darlington Raceway this weekend; however, Bayne will no longer pilot the entry after an expected change to the entry list.

[autotag]Denny Hamlin[/autotag] will drive the No. 19 entry for Joe Gibbs Racing at Darlington as it represents his first Xfinity Series event of the 2023 NASCAR season. Hamlin hasn’t competed in the NASCAR division since the 2021 season when he scored a 12th-place finish at Darlington. Typically, the driver of the No. 11 Cup car races the Xfinity Series event at the venue in September.

In 2022, Hamlin was replaced by teammate Christopher Bell after he suffered effects from a crash the previous week at Daytona International Speedway. While the Joe Gibbs Racing driver is still battling lingering effects from a crash at the Coca-Cola 600, this won’t stop him from pursuing two victories at Darlington this weekend.

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NASCAR entry lists at Darlington, notable entries for Cup and Xfinity

Check out the NASCAR entry lists for this weekend’s races at Darlington Raceway, including notable entries in the Cup and Xfinity Series.

NASCAR is heading to Darlington Raceway as the Cup Series starts the Round of 16 and the Xfinity Series continues its push toward the playoffs. There were plenty of notable drivers at Daytona International Speedway and the upcoming weekend is set to match that same energy.

In the Cup Series, Carson Hocevar will drive the No. 42 car for Legacy Motor Club in what will be his second career start at NASCAR’s top level. Meanwhile, Ryan Newman returns to the No. 51 car for Rick Ware Racing for his second race at Darlington during the 2023 NASCAR season.

As for the Xfinity Series, Kyle Busch will pilot the No. 10 car for Kaulig Racing in his final start of the season. If Busch fails to win, it will mark the first time he has not won a race in an Xfinity Series season since 2012, excluding 2022 when he “retired” from the division.

Kyle Larson will also look to defend his Xfinity Series win at Darlington in the spring by driving the No. 17 car for Hendrick Motorsports. Finally, Ross Chastain rounds out the Cup Series drivers in the Xfinity Series race with him wheeling the No. 91 car for DGM Racing.

There are several new drivers on the entry lists for this weekend’s NASCAR races as the sport is poised for one of its biggest weeks of the 2023 season to this point.

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JR Motorsports’ driver lineup receives a big update for 2024 NASCAR season

A notable driver has officially announced they will be with JR Motorsports in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for the 2024 season.

[autotag]JR Motorsports[/autotag] needs to replace Josh Berry in the No. 8 car for the 2024 NASCAR season. This comes after the announcement that Berry would drive the No. 4 Cup car in place of Kevin Harvick at Stewart-Haas Racing next year. Also, there could be more than one seat open as JR Motorsports co-owner Kelley Earnhardt Miller previously said one driver has been signed for 2024. The identity of that driver may have been released on Friday night.

According to [autotag]Brandon Jones[/autotag] in an interview with Fronstretch, he will return to the No. 9 car for JR Motorsports in 2024 as he signed a multi-year deal with the organization. Currently, Jones sits 88 points below the playoff cut-line in a likely must-win situation. There are only two races left in the NASCAR Xfinity Series regular season at Darlington Raceway and Kansas Speedway.

It would be surprising to see a JR Motorsports driver miss the playoffs; however, Jones would still have another opportunity even if this does happen in two weeks.

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Justin Allgaier holds off Sheldon Creed in thrilling Xfinity Series win at Daytona

Justin Allgaier narrowly edges Sheldon Creed for the NASCAR Xfinity Series victory at Daytona International Speedway.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series put on a show at Daytona International Speedway but only one driver can come out on top. JR Motorsports driver [autotag]Justin Allgaier[/autotag] narrowly beat Richard Childress Racing driver Sheldon Creed by 0.005 seconds, which ties for the fourth-closest finish in NASCAR Xfinity Series history.

Allgaier’s victory marks his second of the 2023 NASCAR season and his first on a superspeedway track. It also represents the second straight victory for JR Motorsports after Sam Mayer won at Watkins Glen International last weekend. The driver of the No. 7 car now receives a boost as he pushes for a regular-season title.

There are now two races remaining in the 2023 Xfinity Series season with the next event coming at Darlington Raceway next weekend.

Wawa 250 Powered by Coca-Cola top-10 finishing order:

  1. No. 7 Justin Allgaier
  2. No. 2 Sheldon Creed
  3. No. 11 Daniel Hemric
  4. No. 48 Parker Kligerman
  5. No. 00 Cole Custer
  6. No. 31 Parker Retzlaff
  7. No. 39 Ryan Sieg
  8. No. 78 Anthony Alfredo
  9. No. 08 Gray Gaulding
  10. No. 10 Justin Haley

Brandon Jones involved in hard wreck at Daytona, hurts playoff chances

Brandon Jones was involved in a violent wreck in the Xfinity Series race at Daytona International Speedway, which hurts his playoff chances.

[autotag]Brandon Jones[/autotag] entered Daytona International Speedway with a 61-point deficit to the playoff cut-line in the NASCAR Xfinity Series but that gap will widen after the checkered flag. Jones was involved in a nasty wreck in Stage 2 after B.J. McLeod Motorsports driver Anthony Alfredo came up the track on the front stretch.

The No. 9 car was promptly destroyed and will not finish the event. Other drivers, such as Justin Allgaier, Justin Haley, Brett Moffitt, Ryan Sieg, Connor Mosack, and Joe Graf Jr. were involved as well. A replay of the accident can be seen below as the Xfinity Series continues racing at Daytona.

Jones will likely need to win to make the 2023 Xfinity Series playoffs now as there are two races remaining in the regular season at Darlington Raceway and Kansas Speedway.

Daytona and Milwaukee race schedule: Cup, Xfinity, and Truck start times

Check out the weekend schedule at Datyona International Speedway for the Cup and Xfinity Series and the Milwaukee Mile for the Truck Series!

The NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series are heading to Daytona International Speedway in what is expected to be an intense weekend of racing. Meanwhile, the NASCAR Truck Series is set to return to the Milwaukee Mile for the first time since the 2009 season.

The Xfinity Series will start out the weekend on Friday night as drivers look to secure a victory with three races left in the regular season. On Saturday night, the Cup Series has its final race of the regular season with notable drivers, such as Chase Elliott, in a must-win situation. Finally, the Truck Series will be live on Sunday afternoon for the second race of the Round of 10.

Here’s the full weekend schedule for Daytona and Milwaukee, with start times and broadcast information for each session (all ET):

NASCAR Cup Series:

Friday: Qualifying (5:05 p.m., USA Network)

Saturday: Coke Zero Sugar 400 (7:00 p.m., NBC)

NASCAR Xfinity Series:

Friday: Qualifying (3:00 p.m., NBC Sports App/USA Network at 4:00 p.m.), Wawa 250 (7:30 p.m., USA Network)

NASCAR Truck Series:

Saturday: Practice (2:00 p.m., No TV)

Sunday: Qualifying (11:30 p.m., FOX Sports 2), Clean Harbors 175 (4:00 p.m., FOX Sports 1)

NASCAR entry lists at Daytona and Milwaukee, notable entries for Cup

Check out the NASCAR entry lists for the races at Daytona and Milwaukee, including notable entries in the Cup, Xfinity, and Truck Series.

NASCAR is heading to Daytona International Speedway and the Milwaukee Mile in what is expected to be a crazy weekend. The Cup and Xfinity Series will be in Daytona while the Truck Series returns to Milwaukee for the first time since the 2009 season.

In the Cup Series, the most notable entry is Riley Herbst driving the No. 36 car for Front Row Motorsports, as first reported by MotorsportsWire on X. The entry will be prepped by Stewart-Haas Racing and sponsored by Monster Energy Zero Sugar. Meanwhile, Brennan Poole will drive the No. 15 car for Rick Ware Racing, even though he is not present on the Xfinity Series entry list.

Also, Chandler Smith comes back to the Kaulig Racing program in the Cup Series after missing out on the 2023 Daytona 500. Finally, Austin Hill will pilot the No. 62 for Beard Motorsports.

As for the Xfinity Series, Ty Gibbs returns to the No. 19 car for Joe Gibbs Racing in his fourth straight race in the entry. Speaking of returns, Jordan Anderson will drive the No. 27 car for his own race ream while Natalie Decker pilots the No. 53 car for Emerling-Gase Motorsports at Daytona.

Finally, the Truck Series heads to Milwuakee with Derek Kraus behind the wheel of the No. 7 truck for Spire Motorports. There are also a few other notable entries, such as Matt Mills at Kyle Busch Motorsports and Dexter Bean at Blackjack Racing.

There are several new drivers on the entry lists for this weekend’s NASCAR races as the sport is poised for its biggest weekend of the 2023 season to this point.

Sam Mayer steals second career Xfinity victory at Watkins Glen

Sam Mayer dumps Ty Gibbs on the final restart to secure his second career NASCAR Xfinity Series win at Watkins Glen International.

The endings of road course events in the NASCAR Xfinity Series are always full of drama and the race at Watkins Glen International did not disappoint. Despite leading a race-high 70 laps, Joe Gibbs Racing driver Ty Gibbs did not cross the finish line as the winner. In fact, it was the driver that ruined his day.

On the final restart, JR Motorsports driver [autotag]Sam Mayer[/autotag] dumped Gibbs going into Turn 1 and ended up claiming his second career Xfinity Series victory at Watkins Glen. It would have been Gibbs’ second straight win in the series but Mayer made sure that did not happen. In fact, both of Mayer’s victories have come due to mass chaos in the closing laps of road courses.

There are now three races remaining in the 2023 Xfinity Series season with the next event coming at Daytona International Speedway next weekend.

Shriners Children’s 200 top-10 finishing order:

  1. No. 1 Sam Mayer
  2. No. 2 Sheldon Creed
  3. No. 48 Parker Kligerman
  4. No. 91 Ross Chastain
  5. No. 24 Connor Mosack
  6. No. 20 John Hunter Nemechek
  7. No. 00 Cole Custer
  8. No. 16 Chandler Smith
  9. No. 17 Alex Bowman
  10. No. 27 Jeb Burton