Jones speeds to first XFINITY Series victory at Texas

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Teenager Erik Jones turned his first NASCAR Xfinity Series pole  at Texas Motor Speedway into his first series victory Friday night, schooling NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stars Brad Keselowski and Dale Earnhardt Jr. en route to the checkered flag in the 19th annual O’Reilly Auto Parts 300.

Jones, 18, held off Keselowski on a restart on lap 175 of the scheduled 200 around Texas Motor Speedway’s high-banked, 1.5-mile quad-oval for a margin of victory of 1.624-seconds in the first night race of the season. Jones’ first series win came in his ninth start. In the process Jones became the second-youngest series winner at Texas at 18 years, 10 months, 11 days—a record set last year by Chase Elliott at 18 years, 4 months and 7 days when he scored his first series victory in this event. Continue reading

The Hot, Hotter and Hottest Drivers of the NASCAR Xfinity Series

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Which drivers are hot, hotter and hottest in the NASCAR Xfinity Series as teams head into Texas Motor Speedway for the O’Reilly Auto Parts 300.  

The NASCAR Xfinity Series prides itself as the series ‘where driver’s names are made’ and that is clear when you look at the top-five in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points; three of the top-five are former Xfinity Series champions, including two-time series champions Kevin Harvick (2001, 2006), Martin Truex Jr. (2004, 2005) and Brad Keselowski (2010).

So who in the Xfinity Series is  standing out through the first five races of the season. Take a look at the hottest championship contending drivers in 2015:   Continue reading

Sprint Cup Series at Fontana Preview and Fantasy Picks

Zachs-SCS-Preview-Fantasy-PicksHere are my picks for the Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway, on March 22, at 3:30 pm ET on FOX

Contenders

Kurt Busch– Jamie McMurray said it best on twitter in saying,

“The 41 and 4 are in another league right now”.

After a strong showing last week Kurt is on the right track and has been fast all weekend. Look for him and teammate Kevin Harvick to battle it out this weekend. 

Kyle Larson– Larson is a guy who can find speed  by being able to race two grooves and adjust throughout the race. Winning is first Xfinity series race here last year, wouldn’t it be something to see him pull his first Sprint Cup race a year later?

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Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Preview & Fantasy Picks

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Here are my Preview and Fantasy Picks for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 8, 2015. Watch the action at 3:30 pm ET on FOX.

Favorites

 

  1. Jimmie Johnson – Fastest in the last two practices, and coming off a win last week. Chad Knaus also seems to have this aero package nailed down. All I have to say is watch out…
  2. Kevin Harvick  – Hard to count him out anywhere with how dominant he was last year. He was a bad restart away from giving Johnson a race for the end last week. He has also been fast all weekend.
  3. Joey Logano –  Joey will be very fast and will lead the first chunk of the race as he seems to do from week to week. Reason he is not higher is because Todd Gordon was out done last weekend and failed to respond to track conditions like the Nos. 48, 4 and even the No. 2 did.
  4. Dale Earnhardt Jr – Had a very fast car here last year and has said throughout the weekend that he has liked the car. Whenever he has a car he is comfortable with, it is very common to see him out front. Expect another top-five this weekend.

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Austin Dillon holds off charging Ryan Blaney for XFINITY win in Las Vegas

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As dominant as Austin Dillon was in Saturday’s Boyd Gaming 300 NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, he had to give his utmost effort in the closing laps to hold off charging Ryan Blaney for the victory.
 
Dillon led 183 of the 200 laps at the 1.5-mile speedway, but Blaney had a tire advantage at the end of the race, thanks to a late pit stop after his car snapped loose and knocked Erik Jones into the outside wall at the exit from Turn 4.
 
After restarting fifth with 21 laps left, Blaney charged to the front, making up a deficit of more than 1.5 seconds and forcing Dillon to block him repeatedly during the last three laps. Blaney ran out of room in the final corner, his No. 22 Ford turning sideways and tagging the outside wall as Dillon crossed the finish line with an advantage of .664 seconds.

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