Xfinity Series News (7158)
NASCAR Xfinity Series News
The first round of the NASCAR Xfinity Series will end Saturday at Dover International Speedway, and Ross Chastain is pointing toward a spot in the second round.
Entering Saturday’s Bar Harbor 200, Chastain sits eighth in playoff points. After Saturday’s 200-miler, the top eight drivers will advance to the second round and will be the only drivers remaining in the hunt for the championship. Chastain is nine points in front of Austin Cindric for the eighth spot.
Chastain, driving in the playoff group for the first time this season, will be in the No. 4 JD Motorsports with Gary Keller Chevrolet Saturday. His car is being sponsored by the Delaware Office of Highway Safety and its “Use Your Melon, Drive Sober Arrive Alive DE” campaign.
Chastain has raced in seven Xfinity events at the Dover mile track and has a best finish of 12th – twice.
“It’s a big weekend for us, obviously,” Chastain said. “It’s difficult to predict what might happen with the other guys in the playoffs, but we probably need a good finish to move into the second round. You can get in trouble really easily at Dover, so we’ll have to be on our toes.”
Practice is scheduled at 12:05 and 2:30 p.m. Friday. Qualifying is set for 12:05 p.m. Saturday, with the race to follow at 3 p.m.
JDM PR
When Ross Chastain scored the first victory of his NASCAR Xfinity Series career last month at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, he celebrated by smashing a watermelon.
This was a bit odd, but it fit. Chastain’s family has a huge watermelon farm in Florida.
Now, entering this week’s race at Dover International Speedway, Chastain is taking a different approach.
The Delaware Office of Highway Safety is sponsoring Chastain’s No. 4 JD Motorsports with Gary Keller Chevrolet in Saturday’s Bar Harbor 200 Xfinity race in support of the office’s “Use Your Melon, Drive Sober Arrive Alive DE” campaign.
The intent is to focus on impaired driving and its dangers. Safe drivers “use their melons,” in other words.
“It’s a great concept and one we’re happy to be partnered with,” said Chastain, who’s in eighth place in the Xfinity playoffs. “We drive really fast on the racetrack, but it’s not possible to overemphasize how important safe driving is on our highways. Use your melon, folks. It works.”
The Office of Highway Safety will be emphasizing the drive sober campaign throughout the state as the focus is on Chastain and his bright red race car at Dover.
JDM PR
One of the longest – and strongest – partnerships in NASCAR’s Xfinity Series will be extended for another race this weekend as JD Motorsports with Gary Keller and Heroes Haven join hands at Dover International Speedway.
Heroes Haven will sponsor driver Garrett Smithley’s No. 0 Chevrolet in Saturday’s Bar Harbor 200 Xfinity race at Dover. Heroes Haven and JD Motorsports have a history dating back four years.
Heroes Haven celebrates the heroes of the armed services and first responders who have endured injuries and other difficulties relating to their service. Heroes are invited on hunting and fishing expeditions and to other special events. For four years, selected heroes have served as honorary crewmen for the JD Motorsports team at Dover. They receive special passes and a crew uniform and are involved with the team during the afternoon race.
“We’re always thrilled to work with the folks at Heroes Haven,” said team owner Johnny Davis. “They do such great work. It’s our honor to welcome the heroes they send along to us. They get to enjoy the race weekend, but it’s really the team and our guys that benefit from this great association.”
Soldier Philip Lee Cooper will be this weekend’s special guest at Dover.
The Heroes Haven logo will ride on the rear quarter-panels of Smithley’s bright red car in the Xfinity playoff race.
“We couldn’t be prouder than to be with the team again at Dover,” said Ken Adams of sponsor Melvin Joseph Construction. “Johnny and his guys always do a great job hosting our heroes and making the weekend enjoyable for everybody. It’s one of the highlights of our year. We’re so happy to be able to make it a special weekend for Philip Cooper.”
JDM PR
Katherine Legge finished 33rd Saturday in the Drive for the Cure 200 Xfinity Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
The race was Legge’s fourth this season with JD Motorsports with Gary Keller. She drove the No. 15 Chevrolet.
The race was the first on the roval, a combination of the CMS oval and infield road course. It was a tricky test for the entire Xfinity field.
Legge has run three road-course events and an oval race for JD Motorsports this season.
Chase Briscoe won the race, and Christopher Bell kept the point lead.
The series rolls on to Dover, Del. for an Oct. 6 race.
JDM PR
Garrett Smithley finished 25th Saturday in the Drive for the Cure 200, the first race for the new Charlotte Motor Speedway roval course.
The 2.28-mile track used portions of the CMS oval and the infield road course. Xfinity drivers were the first to test it in race competition.
Smithley’s 25th-place run on the lead lap puts him 20th in Xfinity points in the No. 0 JD Motorsports with Gary Keller Chevrolet.
“It was a wild day,” Smithley said. “Everybody was kind of jumping out into the unknown. The course was tight and fast, and it would have been easy to crash. I’m happy to bring the car home in one piece.”
Chase Briscoe won the race, and Christopher Bell kept the point lead.
The series rolls on to Dover, Del. for an Oct. 6 race.
JDM PR
Lawson Aschenbach finished 21st Saturday in the Drive for the Cure 200 in his first appearance in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in three years.
Aschenbach, a sports car veteran, returned to JD Motorsports with Gary Keller to drive the No. 01 Chevrolet in the first race on the roval, a combination of the CMS oval and road course. He finished on the lead lap with a strong run.
Aschenbach drove one race for JD Motorsports in 2015.
Chase Briscoe won the race, and Christopher Bell kept the point lead.
The series rolls on to Dover, Del. for an Oct. 6 race.
JDM PR
Ross Chastain stayed solidly in the hunt for the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship with a 12th-place finish in the Drive for the Cure 200 Saturday at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Chastain sits eighth in the playoff point standings, nine points above the cutoff line heading into the final race of the first round next weekend.
Chastain attacked the new roval course, which combines portions of the CMS oval and the twisting road course. It was one of his best runs of the year in the JD Motorsports with Gary Keller No. 4 Chevrolet.
“The guys gave me a great car, and we got the job done,” Chastain said. “I had no clear idea what to expect on this course, but we had a good day. It feels good to be in the picture in the playoffs. We’ll shoot to make the second round next week.”
Chase Briscoe won the race, and Christopher Bell kept the point lead.
The series rolls on to Dover, Del. for an Oct. 6 race.
JDM PR
Vinnie Miller in his first start for BJ McLeod Motorsports NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) team, posted a 31st place finish in the inaugural Blue Cross North Carolina 200 on the Roval at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
The Metamora, MI native placed the No. 78 JAS Expedited Trucking Camaro in the 40th position on the starting grid for the 55 Lap race.
Miller recently signed a two-year contract with BJ McLeod Motorsports, Inc. and was able to get a jump start on the 2019 NXS season driving the No. 78 Camaro for the final six races of the 2018 schedule.
The NXS Rookie has had three previous starts on road courses in 2018 posting a best finish of 27th at Road America in August.
“I had a really good first weekend with my new team,” Vinnie Miller said. “It was a crazy week prior trying to get everything switched over so quickly. It worked out well and I was able to learn a ton from my BJ McLeod Motorsports team. We accomplished all the goals we set before the race and came home with a solid finish for the No. 78 JAS Expedited Trucking team. I can’t thank BJ (McLeod) and the guys on this team for making me feel so comfortable my first weekend with them. We’ll head to Dover and see if we can beat our 22nd place finish from the spring race.”
The NASCAR Xfinity Series heads to Dover International Speedway for the Bar Harbor 200 Saturday, October 6th.
For more information about BJMM, please visit www.bjmcleodmotorsports.com.
BJMM PR
Gase Finishes 23rd in the Inaugural Running of the ROVAL at Charlotte Motor Speedway
01 Oct 2018 Written by Steven B. WilsonThe NASCAR XFINITY Series went in to the weekend with some uncertainty on how the newly transformed Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL would be. However, the Go Green Racing team was confident they would have a solid run after some goods runs at the series’ previous road courses. With the XFINITY Series never running on the brand new course, NASCAR allowed teams two extra practice sessions that began on Thursday. That way the drivers could get acclimated to the track before official practice sessions began on Friday.
Thursday was a successful day for Gase as he got familiar with the course. When the testing sessions had concluded he felt more confident in the braking zones and shift points for Friday’s official practices. Thursday’s testing session also allowed the Agri Supply / Sparks Energy team to make adjustments to get the car better yet; and after Gase’s first run in official practice he already noticed a positive difference. Just in his first run he had picked up his lap time by over a second. When practice was all said and done Gase would end the day in 23rd with his fastest lap coming on old tires.
Fans had started to flow into the grand stands at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The green flag had waved and the highly anticipated Drive for the Cure 200 on the ROVAL had begun. The field had only completed one full lap before the first caution had come out for debris on the front stretch. It wasn’t before long they would go back to green with 12 laps remaining in the 15 lap stage. They would remain under the green for the remainder of the stage. After the first run Gase reported that he needs to turn a bit better and he needed better forward drive. With that in mind, CC Donahue would call for some packer out of both fronts and an air pressure adjustment for the Agri Supply / Sparks Energy No. 35.
They would get the green to start the second stage that would end up being about 13 laps. Despite there being a handful of spin-outs during the stage (spin-outs that happened right in front of Gase), the stage was caution free. Gase and the spotters did a great job navigating through the carnage unscathed throughout the stage and kept the car clean to bring it to the end of the stage in 20th. Under the stage caution, Gase told Donahue that everything that run was better but now he felt like he was hitting the splitter a little bit through the backstretch chicane. Therefore Donahue would put packer back in the left front to go with fresh tires and fuel.
The final stage was under way and the field hadn’t made it through the first turn before stacking them up. Again, this all happened right in front of Gase but he and the spotters did a great job getting through it all without a scratch. They would only see one more caution for some debris on the backstretch before the checkered flag would fly. Gase would fight his way through the twists and turns of the ROVAL and bring it to the checkered flag in 23rd.
Despite there being a fair share of wrecks throughout the 55 laps; there wasn’t much for attrition throughout the field. The ROVAL kept throwing curveball after curveball at Gase with multiple wrecks happening in front of his purple and black machine. But he did a great job keeping the car clean and brought it home in one piece.
Last weekend at the ROVAL was the last of four road courses the series travels to. This weekend the team will head back up to Dover, Delaware to take on the Monster Mile for the final time of the 2018 campaign. Gase finished 20th in the Sparks Energy Inc Chevy at Dover back in May.
Joey Gase PR
Boyd would roll off from the 35th position for the Drive for the Cure 200 presented by Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina. The green flag waved and the inaugural Roval race from Charlotte was underway! It only took two laps for the first caution of the day to wave after the 36 car of Alex Labbe stalled on track. Boyd came down pit road to top off on fuel. Surprisingly the remainder of the opening stage went caution free. Daniel Hemric captured the stage one win. Spencer received the free pass and was back on the lead lap. Boyd came down pit road for four tires, fuel, and adjustments to help his car turn better in the right-hand turns.
Stage two began and it was same song, different verse. Each driver tiptoed their way around the Roval, racing extremely cautiously. Everything was clean and green until on lap 27 the 39 of Ryan Sieg made contact with the 7 of Justin Allgaier. The contact completely tore up the front of the 39 car, but no caution was displayed. Christopher Bell scored the stage two victory and Boyd was yet again the beneficiary of the free pass.
The final stage got underway, and the first multi-car pile up took place in turn one. Several cars pancaked the outside wall and bounced off each other to bring out the fourth caution of the day. Boyd continued his cautious approach into the final stage, and found himself as high as 23rd. After an aggressive restart, Boyd dropped a few positions and fought to get back into his rhythm. With just 14 laps remaining the fifth and final caution was displayed for debris on the backstretch. Shockingly the final laps went green. Chase Briscoe would score his first career Xfinity win, with Boyd bringing home the special edition pink & camouflage Grunt Style Chevrolet in the 29th position.
After the race Boyd reflected, “Well that was an interesting race to say the least. I think everyone was really surprised we didn't see a lot more attrition during the race, but I guess after we saw so many incidents in practice everyone decided to play it safe. Our approach was very similar to that of a super speedway race, simply hang back and avoid the accidents. We may have even been a little too conservative at times, but it was a fun race overall. I really enjoyed the opportunity to race for breast cancer survivor, Liz Alarik, as well as many other women who have been affected by breast cancer."
A 29th place finish keeps Boyd rooted to 25th in driver standings. The NASCAR Xfinity Series will visit The Monster Mile next week at Dover International Speedway for the first elimination race of the playoffs. Race coverage of the Bar Harbor 200 will begin 3:00 PM ET Saturday October 6th on NBCSN.
Spencer Boyd PR
|
|
|
|
GMS Racing PR
