NASCAR XFINITY Series
Next Race: Hisense 200
The Place: Dover International Speedway
The Date: Saturday, Oct. 3
The Time: 3:30 p.m. (ET)
TV: NBCSN, 3 p.m. (ET)
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM Ch. 90
Distance: 200 miles (200 laps)
Dover Bound: Chris Buescher Returns to Complete the Sweep
Roush Fenway Racing’s Chris Buescher returns to Dover International Speedway for the Hisense 200 hoping to see Victory Lane Déjà vu and complete the single-season sweep at the Monster Mile.
Earlier this season, Buescher and crew chief Scott Graves played the fuel mileage strategy to perfection beating second-place finisher and 2015 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Challenger Matt Kenseth by more than 11 seconds at Dover.
This weekend, Buescher will attempt to pull off the sweep, becoming the seventh driver in series history to carry out the feat: Robert Pressley (1992), Todd Bodine (1993), Randy LaJoie (1996), Kyle Busch (2010 and 2014), Carl Edwards (2011), Joey Logano (2012 and 2013; four straight).
Buescher has made three starts, posting one win, two top-fives and an average finish of 5.3.
Blaney Wants to Make It Back-to-Back Wins
Coming off his second win of the season last weekend at Kentucky, Ryan Blaney reports to Dover with one thing on his mind – win again.
Blaney wants to go back-to-back and win two consecutive races, a feat that has not been achieved this season.
Blaney’s chances are good. He will be strapping into the car owner points leading Team Penske No. 22 Ford at Dover. This season the No. 22 team has posted six wins (series-most) and led a total of 1,270 laps of a possible 4,846 (26.2% – series-most).
Blaney has made two series starts at Dover posting a best finish of 13th in 2012. Earlier this season at Dover he started ninth but finished 69 laps down in 34th after being caught in an accident.
Dillon Looking to Continue to Chop into Buescher’s Standings Lead
Second in points, Richard Childress Racing’s Ty Dillon has broken out the small axe and is chopping into the standings lead that Chris Buescher is trying to keep up, but to no avail.
Dillon knocked six points off Buescher’s lead from 25 points to 19 following his runner-up finish that saw 43 laps led at Kentucky Speedway last weekend.
Dillon struts into Dover knowing his biggest competition took the checkered earlier this season. But don’t think his momentum stalls. Dillon has made five starts at Dover and has posted four top-tens and an average finish of 11.4.
Six to Go: Can Elliott Find the Gear He Needs?
With big plans to move up to the Sprint Cup Series on the horizon next season, Chase Elliott has just six races to go to catch XFINITY Series standings leader Chris Buescher and second-place Ty Dillon if he wants to win consecutive championships. Elliott could become just the sixth driver in series history to win back-to-back titles, much like his JR Motorsports owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. did in 1998-’99.
Elliott is 25 points back from Buescher heading to Dover this weekend. In his sophomore season, Elliott has posted one win, 11 top-fives and a series-leading 21 top-tens, a consistency that has kept him in contention for the title.
Elliott, 19, has performed well at Dover. In three starts he has two top-fives and an average finish of 4.5 – his sixth-best on the active schedule.
The next six races are pivotal for Elliott; fortunately for him he has an average finish in the top-ten at four out of the six tracks – Dover, 4.5; Kansas, 10.0; Charlotte, 17.7; Texas, 4.3; Phoenix, 7.0; Homestead-Miami, 17.0.
Sunoco Rookie Update: Suarez and Wallace
Rookie contenders, Daniel Suarez and Darrell Wallace Jr., continue to showcase their skills while competing in the NASCAR XFINITY Series as they contend for the Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors this season.
Daniel Suarez has made 27 starts in 2015, posting three Coors Light poles, six top-fives, and 12 top-tens. He now leads the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings by 23 points over second-place. Suarez is tied with former Sunoco Rookies of the Year Austin Dillon (2012) and Kenny Wallace (1989) for the third-most Coors Light poles by a Sunoco Rookie in the NXS during their rookie season; behind Kyle Busch (5) and Carl Edwards (4).
But don’t count out Darrell Wallace Jr. just yet; with six races remaining he still could make up more ground. Darrell scrapped three points from Suarez’s rookie points lead this past weekend at Kentucky dropping it to 23 points. Wallace posted his 11th top-ten finish in the process.
Heading to Dover, Wallace will be making his third start at the Monster Mile this weekend; in his previous two starts he has posted two Coors Light poles and an average finish of 14.5.
Suarez made his series début at Dover earlier this season where he started fourth but finished 19th.