Xfinity Series

Daniel Suarez scores first Xfinity victory

June 11, 2016UncategorizedDaniel Suarez, Joe Gibbs Racing, Michigan International Raceway, NASCAR, Xfinity Serieschasingthescoreboard Leave a comment

NASCAR XFINITY Series Menards 250 Presented by Valvoline

Photo by Jerry Markland

Daniel Suarez clinched his first career NASCAR Xfinity victory during the Saturday afternoon Menard’s 250 at Michigan International Speedway.

Suarez passed Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch in the closing laps of the event. Busch dominated the event, leading 88 of the 125 laps, but came up short for his fifth Xfinity Series victory this season. He finished second.

Suarez was penalized after speeding during a pitstop on lap 32, but gradually recovered to battle for the win.

“I just have no words honestly. I don’t think I can speak English or Spanish right now honestly,” Suarez said. “I can’t thank these guys enough for all the hard work.”

It was only a matter of time that Suarez would be in victory lane. Suarez was the 2015 rookie of the year and has continued his momentum this season. Suarez currently leads the Xfinity standings 18 points ahead of JR Motorsports driver Elliott Sadler.

“Honestly, I was trying as hard as possible. I was driving a little more on the edge,” Suarez said. “Honestly, I was maybe risking a little more than I should have. Everything was about the win so I was trying as hard as possible and it seemed like we were good in points, but not very good in wins. I was just very hungry and I know this team was at the same spot, we were very hungry to win races and finally we got the first one.”

Suarez dedicated the win to Erik Jones and his late father, who passed away Tuesday after battling cancer. Jones took to Twitter before the race to announce the news. Jones displayed his father’s name on the No. 20 Reser’s Fine Foods Toyota instead of his own to pay tribute. He finished fourth.

Suarez won by 0.281 seconds on his 48th start. He looks for his second win June 19th, 1:30 PM/ET on FS1.

Bubba Wallace finishes season best at Dover

May 14, 2016UncategorizedBubba Wallace, Darrell Wallace Jr, Dover International Speedway, NASCAR, Roush Fenway Racing, Xfinity Serieschasingthescoreboard Leave a comment

Darrell “Bubba” Wallace Jr finished second at Dover International Speedway Saturday afternoon in the Ollie’s Bargain Outlet 200, a best Xfinity career finish.

Wallace’s began his weekend a bit rocky. The Roush Fenway driver was forced to go to a backup car after making contact with the wall during practice.

“Finishing second after the weekend started that’s not what we had in mind for sure, we just wanted to get outta here with a clean race and not another tore up racecar.” Wallace said, “I felt like if we could carry on what we had at the beginning of the heat race into the main, we would have a really good race. And it worked out. The credit goes to my guys obviously.”

Wallace stayed out under caution after Brendan Gaughan spun on lap 189 and helped push Erik Jones toward his second win of the year.

“We were kinda in the cat-bird seat, I was hoping Erik would mess up” Wallace said “But it’s really hard to mess up in those cars.”

Wallace credited his crew chief and team for their hard work toward the 2nd place finish with new sponsor Loud Mouth Exhaust.

“That was a good call by Seth. He’s known for making some gutsy calls. It worked out in our favor”

This is only Wallace’s second top-5 finish of the 2016 season, his last was at California in March.

Elliott Sadler wins in Xfinity overtime at Talladega

May 1, 2016UncategorizedElliott Sadler, JR Motorsports, NASCAR, Talladega SuperSpeedway, Xfinity Serieschasingthescoreboard Leave a comment

Photo Credit:Jared C. Tilton

NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Elliott Sadler prevailed in overtime at Talladega Superspeedway for his first victory of the 2016 season.

Sadler was declared the winner of the Sparks Energy 300 after a last lap wreck froze the field and NASCAR reviewed the footage to determine a leader from the time the caution came out.

“People don’t know how hard it is to win these races. It’s very emotional,” Sadler said while choking back tears. “It’s a great birthday gift to me. Man, we needed this win.”

Joey Logano was leading the final lap of the Xfinity race when Elliott Sadler began challenging him for the lead. Logano blocked high to defend his position, but was spun by Sadler when he returned low to block. Logano smacked the wall and came to a stop near the start/finish line.

“I had my plan made up,” Sadler said “I tried to get to the outside of Joey and he made a great block.”

Three drivers waited inside their cars for official results of a winner. Brennan Poole and JR Motorsports teammates Elliott Sadler and Justin Allgaier were all unsure if they were leading at the time that the yellow flag was thrown.

Brennan Poole crossed the finish line first, however NASCAR officials declared Sadler the official winner because he was the leader at the time of the caution.

“Just glad that they were able to take the time to get it right, and happy they are able to get the trophy to the rightful winner,” Poole said. “I just wish it was us. I thought we had it, just a little shy there.”

Allgaier was hit by Poole and was unclear whether he was leading at the time the caution was thrown. “I didn’t want to get out of my car because that seems like giving up,” Allgaier said. “The tape is the tape. It’s tough to lose one when it’s that close. They got it right.”

Allgaier and Poole finished 2nd and 3rd, respectively.

Sadler ended an almost two year drought and secured his place in the Chase for the championship. Just two drivers have secured their spot in the first year of the Xfinity Chase, seven of the first nine races have been won by Sprint Cup regulars.