NASCAR XFINITY Series

Next Race: Furious 7 300

The Place: Chicagoland Speedway

The Date: Saturday, Sept. 19

The Time: 6 p.m. (ET)

TV: NBCSN, 5:30 p.m. (ET)

Radio: MRN, SiriusXM Ch. 90

Distance: 300 miles (200 laps)

 

Joe Gibbs Racing Returns to Pull 2015 Sweep at Chicagoland

Joe Gibbs and the No. 54 Toyota team relished the spoils of Victory Lane thanks to the skills of Erik Jones back in June when the NASCAR XFINITY Series made its first stop at Chicagoland Speedway. This weekend, the Joe Gibbs Racing camp looks to sweep both XFINITY Series races at Chicagoland Speedway in 2015 and has tapped Daniel Suarez, Matt Kenseth and the series’ all-time winningest driver Kyle Busch to carry out the feat.

Joe Gibbs Racing is now tied with Richard Childress Racing for the most series wins at Chicago with four victories each.

Kyle Busch will be in the No. 54 this weekend. He has made 11 starts at Chicago posting three wins which is tied for the series most with Kevin Harvick; seven top-fives and an average finish of 12.0.

Kenseth has made eight starts at Chicago posting three top-fives, five top-tens and average finish of 10.8.

Suarez has made two starts at Chicago posting a best finish of seventh earlier this season.

Last season, JR Motorsports swept both races at Chicago in the first season the track had hosted more than one race in a year – Chase Elliott in June and Kevin Harvick in September.

Consistent Chris Buescher Tough to Catch

For the 15th time in 25 starts, ‘Mr. Consistent’ Chris Buescher, posted a top-ten finish and sustained his points lead over second-place Chase Elliott by -21, and third-place Ty Dillon by -27.

Buescher has been the series standings leader for the last 16 races, dating back to May 17 at Iowa Speedway.

Buescher’s 2015 season has been nearly flawless. In 25 starts this season, he has posted two wins at Iowa-1 and Dover-1, 11 top-fives, 15 top-tens and an average finish of 8.3. He has zero DNFs and his worst finish of 2015 is 20th. Buescher has led 263 laps this season, 5.9% of his laps completed.

Chicagoland Speedway is a track Buescher has excelled at. In three starts at the 1.5-mile speedway, Buescher has posted one top-five and two top-tens. His average finish at Chicago is an 8.3.

Chase Elliott Looks to Make it Back-to-Back Victories

JR Motorsports star Chase Elliott snapped a 39-race winless streak last weekend at Richmond International Raceway to claim his fourth career XFINITY Series victory. The 19-year-old Dawsonville, Georgia native now sits second in the XFINITY Series standings and wants to make it back-to-back wins and close the gap on standings leader Chris Buescher in the Furious 7 300.

Back in the winning saddle again, Elliott has posted one win at Richmond-2, ten top fives, 20 top-tens and an average finish of 9.2 in 2015.

Elliott is no stranger to consecutive wins in the XFINITY Series. The 2014 series champ did it last season winning at Texas and then Darlington.

This weekend, Elliott will need to ride the momentum of last week to continue his push for the 2015 title. Elliott has made three starts at Chicago, posting one win in June, 2014, two top-tens and an average finish of 8.3.

Ty Dillon Still Among the Scramble for the Title

Despite dropping to third in the XFINITY Series standings this past weekend at Richmond — six points behind second-place Chase Elliott and 27 points back from standings leader Chris Buescher — Ty Dillon is still in the thick of the scramble for the title this season.

Dillon’s performance in 2015 has been solid. In 25 starts, he has posted seven top-fives, 18 top-tens and an average finish of 9.0.

With eight races to go this season, any mistakes by the top-three in points will be vastly exacerbated by the lack of time left in the season to recover in the standings. In the last eight races last season, Chase Elliott had the best average finish at 7.6, followed by Dillon at 10.1 and Buescher at 10.8.

Who Needs a Win Most? Winless Streaks to Watch

With Chase Elliott snapping a 39-race winless streak last weekend at Richmond International Raceway; it shined a light on the list of drivers dealing with a winless streak, begging the question, who needs a win the most among the championship contenders?

The first name that arises among the victory starved is Roush Fenway Racing’s Elliott Sadler. Sadler is now fifth in points, having posted four top-fives and 12 top-tens in 25 starts this season. His last win came at Talladega Superspeedway on May 3, 2014 a total of 49 races ago. His best finish since his last win was a second-place showing in the 2015 season opener at Daytona. Sadler has made 12 starts at Chicago posting one win in 2012, six top-tens and an average finish of 14.0.

The driver with the next-longest stretch since his last win is Richard Childress Racing’s Ty Dillon, with 39 races since his last win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 26, 2014. Dillon is now third in the series standings, having posted seven top-fives, 18 top-tens and an average finish of 9.0. Dillon’s best finish since his last win was a third-place result posted four times: Kentucky in 2014, Daytona-1, Atlanta and Mid-Ohio in 2015.

Sunoco Rookie Update: Top-Three of 2015

The 2015 Sunoco Rookie of the Year class is outstanding this season. Below is a quick snapshot of the top three rookies in the standings and how they have progressed this season:

1.) Daniel Suarez with Joe Gibbs Racing, No. 18, is from Monterrey, Mexico now leads the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings by 30 points over second-place Darrell Wallace Jr. In 25 starts this season, Suarez has posted two poles, six top-fives, 11 top-tens and an average finish of 12.7. Suarez’s best finish this season was second at Bristol Motor Speedway.

2.) Darrell Wallace Jr. with Roush Fenway Racing, No. 6 team, from Mobile, Alabama is now second in the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings, just 30 points behind Suarez. In 25 starts this season, Wallace has posted one pole, two top-fives, nine top-tens and an average finish of 12.5. Wallace posted his best finish of the season with a fifth-place, twice – Charlotte and Road America.

3.)  Ross Chastain with JD Motorsports, No. 4 team, is from Alva, Florida and is now third in the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings, 80 points back from the standings leader Daniel Suarez and 50 points back from second-place Darrell Wallace Jr. Chastain has posted four top-ten finishes this season. His average finish in 25 starts in 2015 is 20.3. Chastain’s best finish was in the season opener at Daytona where he placed ninth.

Furious 7 Star Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges is Grand Marshal at Chicago

Big news for Chicagoland Speedway this weekend as Furious 7, the $1.5 billion worldwide box-office blockbuster and most successful installment of the Fast & Furious franchise will be the title sponsor for its XFINITY Series race at Chicagoland. The Furious 7 300 will feature cast member Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges as the Grand Marshal.

Seven Former XFINITY Series Champions Made the Chase

Of the 16 drivers that made the 2015 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, seven are former XFINITY Series champions – Dale Earnhardt Jr. (1998, 1999); Kevin Harvick (2001, 2006); Martin Truex Jr. (2004, 2005); Carl Edwards (2007); Clint Bowyer (2008); Kyle Busch (2009) and Brad Keselowski (2010).

NASCAR in Illinois

NASCAR has held 73 national series events (NSCS 16, NXS 34, NCWTS 23) in the state of Illinois among five different tracks.

The first NASCAR national series event was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held in Willow Springs, Illinois at Santa Fé Speedway in 1954 – the event winner was Dick Rathmann (72.216 mph, 1:23:05, 07-10-1954).

The XFINITY Series has held 34 races among two tracks in the state of Illinois at Chicagoland Speedway with 19 and Gateway Motorsports Park with 15.

The first XFINITY Series race held in Illinois was at Gateway Motorsports Park in 1997 – won by Elliott Sadler (78.803 mph, 3:48:25, 07/26/1997).

Four drivers posted their first XFINITY Series career win at Chicagoland Speedway: Casey Mears, Johnny Sauter, Jimmie Johnson and Justin Labonte.

Illinois Drivers in NASCAR

There have been 78 different drivers competing in a NASCAR national series race have their home state recorded as Illinois. Of the 78 Illinois drivers, only 14 have competed in the XFINITY Series. Of the 14 Illinois drivers to compete in the XFINITY Series, only two have won – Justin Allgaier with three wins and Bobby Dotter with one win. Allgaier is the only Illinois native to win an XFINITY Series race at Chicagoland Speedway (2011).

Milestones Watch

Matt Kenseth with 29 XFINITY Series wins can become just the sixth driver in series history to post 30 or more series wins in his career with a victory this weekend.