It seems hard to believe, but just three races remain in the 2015 NASCAR XFINITY Series campaign.
The series just completed a 16-week stretch with no off-weekends that began at Daytona International Speedway in July and culminated at Kansas Speedway. Back at Chicagoland in June, the last race prior to the off-weekend, I wrote that when this stretch was completed, a driver would emerge as the championship favorite.
That driver pilots the No. 60 Ford for Roush Fenway Racing. While many expected Chase Elliott to defend his series championship before his promotion to the Sprint Cup Series next season, it’s been Chris Buescher that has maintained the lead since his trip to victory lane at Iowa Speedway back in May. Continue reading →
Kyle Busch, driver of the #54 Monster Energy Toyota, takes the checkered flag to win the NASCAR XFINITY Series Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway on October 17, 2015 Photo – Chris Trotman/Getty Images
Kyle Busch, driver of the #54 Monster Energy Toyota, celebrates after winning the NASCAR XFINITY Series Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway on October 17, 2015 Photo – Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images
Kyle Busch, driver of the #54 Monster Energy Toyota, celebrates with a burnout after winning the NASCAR XFINITY Series Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway on October 17, 2015 Photo – Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images
Kyle Busch, driver of the #54 Monster Energy Toyota, celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR XFINITY Series Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway on October 17, 2015 Photo – Todd Warshaw/Getty Images
Kyle Busch, driver of the #54 Monster Energy Toyota, celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR XFINITY Series Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway on October 17, 2015 Photo – Matt Sullivan/Getty Images
Overcoming obstacles in the NASCAR XFINITY Series is commonplace for Kyle Busch.
In Saturday’s Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway, Busch brushed aside a pit road speeding penalty, a hole in the nose of his No. 54 Toyota, a pit stop that dropped him to seventh for the next to the last restart, an unwelcome green-white-checkered-flag restart and a teammate who had the fastest car for much of the afternoon.
The result was Busch’s 75th XFINITY Series victory, extending his own record. Busch won for third time at Kansas and for the fifth time in 20 starts this season. Continue reading →
Roush Fenway Racing’s Chris Buescher is now leading the NASCAR XFINITY Series standings by 26 points over second-place Chase Elliott with just four races remaining in the season. Buescher does control his own destiny – but it’s tough, very tough. If he finishes second in the next four races, he’ll clinch no matter what any other driver does.
Buescher came to this point in the season by being impressively consistent. In 29 starts, he has posted two wins at Iowa and Dover with 11 top-fives and 19 top-tens – that’s a top-ten finishing percentage of 65.5%. And, his average finish this season is an 8.1 – best among championship contenders. Continue reading →
Austin Dillon, driver of the #33 Rheem Chevrolet, poses with the Coors Light Pole Award after qualifying for pole position NASCAR XFINITY Series Drive for the Cure 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on October 9, 2015 Photo – Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images
Austin Dillon, driver of the #33 Rheem Chevrolet, leads the field past the green flag to start the NASCAR XFINITY Series Drive for the Cure 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on October 9, 2015 Photo – Sarah Crabill/Getty Images
Austin Dillon, driver of the #33 Rheem Chevrolet, leads the field on the first lap of the NASCAR XFINITY Series Drive for the Cure 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on October 9, 2015 Photo – Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images
Austin Dillon, driver of the #33 Rheem Chevrolet, takes the checkered flag to win the NASCAR XFINITY Series Drive for the Cure 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on October 9, 2015 Photo – Sarah Crabill/Getty Images
Austin Dillon, driver of the #33 Rheem Chevrolet, celebrates with a burnout after winning the NASCAR XFINITY Series Drive for the Cure 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on October 9, 2015 Photo – Sarah Crabill/Getty Images
Austin Dillon, driver of the #33 Rheem Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR XFINITY Series Drive for the Cure 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on October 9, 2015 Photo – Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images
When NASCAR comes to Charlotte Motor Speedway, Austin Dillon doesn’t mind being a creäture of habit.
After experienced veterans Kyle Busch and Kasey Kahne knocked themselves out of contention 151 laps into Friday night’s Drive for the Cure 300 NASCAR XFINITY Series race at the 1.5-mile track, Dillon streaked away from Erik Jones to win by 2.809 seconds over the Joe Gibbs Racing driver.
With the victory, Dillon completed a season sweep at Charlotte, both wins coming from the pole position. The triumph was Dillon’s third of the season in the XFINITY Series and the sixth of his career.
Dillon’s closest call came not on the track, but during the pre-race ceremony. A fireball from one of the skyrockets used to liven up the proceedings dropped out of the evening sky and singed Dillon’s firesuit. Continue reading →
