For Ryan Reed, there’s magic in the air at the Birthplace of Speed.
Reed went to Victory Lane at Daytona International Speedway in February 2015 and hadn’t won since—until Saturday night, when he held off Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series veteran Kasey Kahne in overtime to claim victory in the Powershares QQQ 300 NASCAR XFINITY Series season opener.
With the race going four laps past its scheduled distance of 120 laps, and with the series running NASCAR’s new three-stage event format for the first time, Reed blocked Kahne in turn two on the first of two overtime laps and stalled his momentum. Continue reading →
Kyle Busch’s domination of Saturday’s Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway was about the only predictable thing that happened in the first race of the Round of 8 in the inaugural NASCAR XFINITY Series Chase.
In winning his fourth XFINITY race at the 1.5-mile track, his ninth of the season and the 85th of his career—extending his own series record—Busch led 150 of 200 laps, passing Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Daniel Suarez after a restart with 13 circuits remaining.
“It was a hard-fought battle,” said Busch, who had surged to a lead of 7.961 seconds before the first caution slowed the field on lap 57. “Seemed like it was going to be easy for us. We had a super-fast car, and when we were out front, I could take it easy on those long runs and we could drive away.
“The car would turn so well. A lot of things were trying to work against us at the end of the race. We were able to persevere and do the right things and have lucky restarts and be in the right grooves and not get caught up in the mêlée that was happening.”
NASCAR XFINITY Series teams will race 300 miles over 200 laps in the Kansas Lottery 300 on Saturday, October 15th at 3 pm ET at Kansas Speedway. Television coverage begins on NBC at 2:30 pm ET with radio coverage on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.
What to Watch For: The NASCAR XFINITY Series kicks off the Round of 8 of its inaugural Chase. The eight drivers remaining are Daniel Suarez, Elliott Sadler, Justin Allgaier, Erik Jones, Brendan Gaughan, Ryan Reed, Darrell Wallace Jr. and Blake Koch. Continue reading →
CHARLOTTE, NC – OCTOBER 09: Joey Logano, driver of the #12 PPG Ford, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR XFINITY Series Drive For The Cure 300 Presented by Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina at Charlotte Motor Speedway on October 9, 2016 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Jerry Markland/NASCAR via Getty Images)
If stealing a race were against the law, there would be an arrest warrant out for Joey Logano on Sunday night.
Grabbing the lead from Kyle Larson after a restart on lap 183 of 200, Logano held off a charging Elliott Sadler by 0.462 seconds to win the Drive for the Cure 300 NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the event that trimmed the inaugural NASCAR XFINITY Chase field from 12 drivers to eight.
Larson, who led 165 laps and at one point had the lead lap to himself, closed on Logano with three circuits left but brushed the turn two wall on lap 197 and fell to fourth at the finish behind Sadler and Daniel Suarez. Continue reading →
