NASCAR XFINITY Series is preparing to race the Overton’s 200 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, on Saturday, July 15th at 4 pm ET. Coverage begins at 3:30 pm ET on NBC Sports Network PRN, and  SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Drivers are racing 211.6 miles over 200 laps with Stage 1 ending on lap 45, Stage 2 on lap 90 and the last stage ending on the last lap 200.

What To Watch For

The last five XFINITY Series races at New Hampshire saw winners from the Coors Light Pole – a series record for any track.

Brendan Gaughan hopes to make a playoff push with ten races left in the regular season. He sits 22 points below Blake Koch on the cutoff line.

Cole Custer, who became the youngest winner in NASCAR national series history when he won at New Hampshire in the Camping World Truck Series in 2014, makes his track XFINITY Series debut.

Kyle Busch goes for his 175th NASCAR national series victory.

NHMS Six Pack:

Series Record of Five Consecutive Wins from the Pole could be Extended to Six

New Hampshire Motor Speedway will set the stage for the Overton’s 200 this Saturday, and offers the chance for XFINITY Series competitors to extend the series record of five consecutive wins at the track from the Coors Light Pole to six.

The streak of wins from the pole at New Hampshire began in 2012 when Brad Keselowski pulled into Victory Lane after leading 131 of 200 laps. The next four series races at NHMS followed suit, Kyle Busch won from the pole after leading 141 laps in 2013, then Brad Keselowski won again from the pole in 2014 after leading 152 laps. The third driver to win from the pole at New Hampshire was Denny Hamlin after leading 145 of the 200 laps in 2015. But it was Kyle Busch’s dominant win last season from the Coors Light Pole leading 190 of 200 laps (95%) that set the new series record of five consecutive wins from the pole at one track.

The previous record for consecutive NASCAR XFINITY Series wins from the pole at one track was four; held by Rockingham Speedway (1982-1984) – David Pearson (’82), Dale Earnhardt (’83), Sam Ard (Mar. ’84) and Geoff Bodine (Oct. ’84).

Two of three drivers entered this weekend and have contributed to the current streak. The series leader in poles (four) at New Hampshire, Brad Keselowski, will be in the No. 22 Team Penske Ford, and the series win leader at New Hampshire (five), Kyle Busch, will be in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.

Race to the Playoff: 

Ten Races Left in the XFINITY Series Regular Season

With just ten races left in the regular season, the 2017 XFINITY Series playoff picture is starting to take shape.

Three series title contenders have locked themselves into the post-season on wins – William Byron (two victories), Justin Allgaier (one) and Ryan Reed (one), leaving nine spots up for grabs.

Rank	Driver	Points	Race Wins	Playoff Points	Pts Back From Cutoff
1	William Byron	533	2	11	In On Wins
2	Justin Allgaier	520	1	7
3	Ryan Reed	354	1	5
4	Elliott Sadler	578	0	4	300
5	Daniel Hemric	396	0	1	118
6	Brennan Poole	395	0	0	117
7	Cole Custer	368	0	0	90
8	Matt Tifft	357	0	0	79
9	Dakoda Armstrong	338	0	0	60
10	Michael Annett	334	0	0	56
11	Darrell Wallace Jr.	321	0	1	43
12	Blake Koch	300	0	1	22
13	Brendan Gaughan	278	0	1	-22

Of the nine drivers now in the title hunt who have yet to win this season, three will be making their series track debuts at New Hampshire this weekend – Richard Childress Racing’s Daniel Hemric, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cole Custer and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Matt Tifft. Of the six remaining drivers who have made starts at New Hampshire, here are their average finishes at NHMS: Brennan Poole (8.0), Darrell Wallace Jr. (10.0), Michael Annett (12.2), Elliott Sadler (15.6), Dakoda Armstrong (21.0) and Blake Koch (29.2).

Worth noting, Darrell Wallace Jr. is not entered in this weekend’s event, opening the door for Brendan Gaughan (13th and outside the playoff, 22-points back from 12th) to move up into a playoff spot. Gaughan has made five series starts at New Hampshire, posting two top-tens and an average finish of 13.4.

Four 2017 Sunoco Rookies have the Playoff in their Site

The playoff is just around the corner, and four young rising superstars in the XFINITY Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year program have put themselves in contention to make the 2017 post-season. This weekend, all four rookies will be making their series track debuts at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in the Overton’s 200 on July 15. 

William Byron – Leading the quartet of 2017 rookies in playoff contention is JR Motorsports driver William Byron. The 19-year-old from Charlotte, North Carolina, is starting to look like the prodigy car owner Rick Hendrick professed he would be at the season-opening car owner press conferences in Daytona. He has posted two wins (Iowa and Daytona), five top-fives, ten top-tens and an average finish of 10.4 in 16 starts this season. Oh, and on top of all that, he leads the series in playoff points with 11 and would now be the No. 1 seed going into the playoffs. 

Daniel Hemric – Richard Childress Racing’s Daniel Hemric has yet to win this season but is a comfortably ahead of 13th (+118 points) in the driver standings, and most likely make the post-season. The 26-year-old from Kannapolis, North Carolina, has improved since the drop of the first green flag. In 16 starts, he has posted a pole, two top-fives, six top-tens and an average finish of 16.1. 

Cole Custer – Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cole Custer is  90 points ahead of 13th in the driver standings with a good shot to make the playoffs with ten races to go. Custer has been scaling the driver standings over the last eight races, climbing from 12th to sixth. In 16 starts this season, the 19-year-old from Ladera Ranch, California, has posted two top-fives, six top-tens and an average finish of 17.2.   

Matt Tifft – Joe Gibbs Racing’s Matt Tifft is the last Sunoco Rookie who is now in the position to make the XFINITY Series playoffs. Tifft is 79 points ahead of 13th-place in the driver standings following Kentucky. The 21-year-old from Hinckley, Ohio, has posted four top-tens and an average finish of 16.0 this season.

New Hampshire and the XFINITY Series

The Overton’s 200 this Saturday, July 15, is the 31st time the XFINITY Series has competed in the state of New Hampshire – all at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

The very first XFINITY Series race held at New Hampshire Motor Speedway was on July 15, 1990, and winning the event was Tommy Ellis (Buick) after leading 89 laps.

The Coors Light pole award in the XFINITY Series at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, has 18 different winners led by Brad Keselowski with four.

Race winners in the XFINITY Series at New Hampshire include 25 different drivers, led by Kyle Busch with five victories.

Kyle Busch holds both the series qualifying record (131.916 mph, 07/13/2013) and the race record (111.925 mph 06/27/2009) at NHMS.

A total of 15 drivers who have made at least one start in a NASCAR national series event has their home state recorded as New Hampshire. Of the 15 New Hampshire drivers, 11 made at least one start in the XFINITY Series; led by Jamie Aube with 46 series starts. Aube is the only driver from New Hampshire to win a NASCAR national series race. Aube, from Bow, New Hampshire, won with Oldsmobile at Oxford Plains Speedway on July 12, 1987.

There are no active drivers from the state of New Hampshire competing this weekend.

Also Noteworthy…

Milestones: Kyle Busch will attempt to record his 175th NASCAR national series victory (MENCS 38, NXS 88, NCWTS 48) this weekend at NHMS – second-most all-time behind Richard Petty’s 200. 

Double Duty Drivers: There are five Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers on the entry list for the Overton’s 200 this weekend, and will be pulling double duty – Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, Reed Sorenson, Ty Dillon and Kyle Larson.