On Friday Night, the NASCAR Xfinity Series set off to complete the second leg of the Kentucky Speedway doubleheader, with the Alsco 300 – the longer of the two races scheduled for this weekend. While the second race was more tame than the first, the results never fail to provide some interesting statistical nuggets that may blow you mind.
Jesse Little, Austin Cindric, Jeremy Clements and Anthony Alfredo were only some of the drivers who were able to have some solid runs Friday Night in Kentucky and are looking to continue their momentum for when the series heads to Texas Motor Speedway next weekend.
JR Motorsports Has Banner Night at Kentucky Speedway.
.@JRMotorsports (with drivers Annett, Allgaier, Hemric & Gragson) place all four cars inside the top-ten tonight at @KySpeedway, for the first time since last fall at @phoenixraceway and the second straight year at Kentucky.#NASCAR | @NASCAR_Xfinity | #Alsco300 pic.twitter.com/8uIEOBn6AZ
— Joseph Srigley (@joe_srigley) July 11, 2020
JR Motorsports had a banner night on Friday Night with all four of their cars finishing inside the top-ten at Kentucky Speedway, despite some last-lap contact between Michael Annett and Daniel Hemric. For the first time this season, the team was able to bring home all four cars inside the top-ten – a feat they last accomplished November 2019 at Phoenix Raceway, when Justin Allgaier went to victory lane for JRM.
The finishes were not easy to come by tonight for JR Motorsports, as both Justin Allgaier and Daniel Hemric had to start at the rear of the field in a backup car due to crashes from Thursday Night’s event. Allgaier then had early problems, when he was forced to pit early in the race with a flat tire, working all night to try and get back on the lead-lap before finally doing so late in the race.
Justin Allgaier Earns Landmark Top-Five Finish Friday at Kentucky.
.@J_Allgaier's top-five finish driving for @JRMotorsports tonight at @KySpeedway is his 88th career top-five, the most of all active NASCAR Xfinity Series regulars, breaking out of a tie with @buckcentral10.#NASCAR | @NASCAR_Xfinity | #Alsco300 pic.twitter.com/SO8zjKGcRh
— Joseph Srigley (@joe_srigley) July 11, 2020
Justin Allgaier’s top-five finish Friday Night at Kentucky Speedway was a significant one for the Riverton, Illinois-native, as Allgaier’s 88th top-five finish in the NASCAR Xfinity Series allowed him to surpass 2000 NXS Champion Jeff Green as the active NASCAR Xfinity Series driver with the most top-five finishes. Allgaier’s 88 top-fives are a far cry from the all-time leader Kyle Busch – who has an incredible 219 top-five finishes in 355 starts — but allows him to rank 15th all-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
Austin Cindric Goes Back-To-Back at Kentucky, But it Isn’t The First Time….
.@AustinCindric (P1) wins back-to-back races this weekend at @KySpeedway for @Team_Penske, the second time in his career he has gone back-to-back (first two wins came in succession last season)#NASCAR | @NASCAR_Xfinity | #Alsco300 pic.twitter.com/lrsOV4Pjj9
— Joseph Srigley (@joe_srigley) July 11, 2020
Austin Cindric put on a dominating performance all weekend long at Kentucky Speedway, winning Thursday Night’s Shady Rays 200 after playing catch-up to Noah Gragson all night long, then dominating Friday Night’s Alsco 300, leading 130 laps en route to his fourth career NASCAR Xfinity Series victory, and just his second on an oval. Cindric isn’t a stranger to going back-to-back though, as when Cindric went to victory lane for the first time in his career last summer at Watkins Glen, he was able to follow it up just one week after with his second-career NASCAR Xfinity Series victory at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
Chase Briscoe Continues His Hot Streak at Kentucky.
.@ChaseBriscoe5 (P2) earns his fourth consecutive top-five finish tonight at @KySpeedway, a career-best streak for the @StewartHaasRcng driver.
Briscoe also keeps his Top-20 streak alive, extending it to seventeen.#NASCAR | @NASCAR_Xfinity | #Alsco300 pic.twitter.com/p2u2jVEZeY
— Joseph Srigley (@joe_srigley) July 11, 2020
Chase Briscoe has been a fine example of consistency that will lead you to a championship, putting forward great runs inside the top-five every weekend in order to earn himself some solid points and momentum for the next race at Texas Motor Speedway.
Through 15 races this season, Briscoe has five wins and nine top-five finishes – furthermore proving that consistency will not be an issue when it comes time to claim the championship this November –.
Briscoe’s four straight top-five finishes mark a career-high streak for the Indiana-native and his 17 straight top-twenties are by far a series high.
Kaulig Racing Bringing The Heat in Summer Months.
.@Justin_Haley_ (P3) & @RossChastain both earn their sixth top-five finish of 2020 for @KauligRacing tonight at @KySpeedway, the most by one driver for that team.
This also marks the sixth straight race Kaulig has had a car finish top-five.#NASCAR | @NASCAR_Xfinity | #Alsco300 pic.twitter.com/H6fRnmNM89
— Joseph Srigley (@joe_srigley) July 11, 2020
There is no denying that Kaulig Racing has performed at the highest level in the team’s history, claiming two victories this season with AJ Allmendinger and Justin Haley, as well as 14 of the team’s 25 top-five finishes.
Haley and Chastain – the two full-time drivers for Kaulig Racing this season — have both earned a career-high six top-five finishes, already exceeding Kaulig Racing’s single-season record. In fact, over the last six races, Kaulig Racing has had at least one car finish inside the top-five, and has had multiple cars inside the top-five in four of those six races – proving the team is already in championship form.
It is fair to say that Kaulig has continued to move their way closer and closer to the top of the grid, but could 2020 be the season they clinch their first NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship?
Ross Chastain Getting Closer to Smashing Watermelons for Kaulig Racing.
.@RossChastain (P4) earns his second straight top-five finish and his fifth in the last six races driving for @KauligRacing tonight at @KySpeedway.
Chastain's six top-fives, matches his total from his 158 starts prior to this season.#NASCAR | @NASCAR_Xfinity | #Alsco300 pic.twitter.com/AkpDRBRIKB
— Joseph Srigley (@joe_srigley) July 11, 2020
Ross Chastain has obviously been impressive throughout his NASCAR Xfinity Series career, always known for quietly clicking off good finishes for the equipment he is in. Many thought that would be the case this season as well, as fans were sure that Chastain would be a force to be reckoned with this season, but through fifteen races this year, he really hasn’t done so. Instead, in typical Ross Chastain fashion, the Florida-native has clicked off a string of impressive finishes for Kaulig Racing – who’s No. 10 sits 4th in series owner standings despite missing the season opener at Daytona — notching his eighth consecutive top-ten finish and a series-high thirteenth top-ten Friday Night at Kentucky Speedway.
Over the last six races, Chastain has finished inside the top-five in five of them, quietly getting closer and closer to his first victory of the 2020 season. In Chastain’s prior 158 NASCAR Xfinity Series starts for a JD Motorsports, Chip Ganassi Racing and Kaulig Racing, Chastain had only earned a total of six top-five finishes, a number which he has easily matched, just shy of the halfway point in the season.
It isn’t a radical conclusion that Ross Chastain will more than likely find his way into victory lane at least once this season, and with the positive momentum on his side, it could be sooner rather than later.
The Pastabilities are Endless for Anthony Alfredo’s Rookie Season.
.@anthonyalfredo (P6) earns his sixth top-ten finish tonight at @KySpeedway, driving for @RCRNXS / @RCRracing.
Alfredo has now scored four sixth-place finishes, including a pair of them this weekend at Kentucky. #NASCAR | @NASCAR_Xfinity | #Alsco300 pic.twitter.com/xx5D8tWNHw
— Joseph Srigley (@joe_srigley) July 11, 2020
Anthony Alfredo (AKA “Fast Pasta”) has been proving his worth this season in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving a partial schedule for Richard Childress Racing which is scheduled to include at least sixteen events, in hopes of going full-time and running for the championship in 2021. In Alfredo’s nine starts this season, the 21-year old has earned a total of six top-ten finishes, two of which came this weekend at Kentucky Speedway.
Alfredo has been incredibly consistent, boasting a 9.2 average finish – which ranks 5th of all drivers who have run five or more events this season — and recording a sixth-place finish on four occasions, half of which occurred this weekend at Kentucky.
The Connecticut-native, Alfredo, will run the No. 21 next weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, before taking more than a month off before his next race at Dover in August.
Noah Gragson Flipping The Switch on 2020 Season.
.@NoahGragson (P7) led a total of 37 laps tonight at @KySpeedway, marking the 13th race that Gragson has led this season driving for @JRMotorsports, besting his total of 12 from 2019.#NASCAR | @NASCAR_Xfinity | #Alsco300 pic.twitter.com/oXTCoTXRdz
— Joseph Srigley (@joe_srigley) July 11, 2020
Noah Gragson has flipped the switch on his career in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2020, already picking up two victories this season at Daytona and Bristol, along with being in contention to win the majority of the races this season. Gragson – who will be driving for his life this season, as his plans beyond this year are not set in stone — has led laps in thirteen of the fifteen events this season, already surpassing his total of twelve from his rookie season.
Riley Herbst Making Monster Improvements In Performance.
.@rileyherbst (P10) earns back-to-back top-tens for the third time in his career, driving for @JoeGibbsRacing tonight at @KySpeedway.
Herbst was the best finisher out of his JGR teammates in both races this weekend at Kentucky.#NASCAR | @NASCAR_Xfinity | #Alsco300 pic.twitter.com/HZ3EZFOYog
— Joseph Srigley (@joe_srigley) July 11, 2020
Riley Herbst has continued to chug along this season, working his hardest to try and get his Monster Energy Supra into the top-five and potentially even victory lane this season. The-21-year old Joe Gibbs Racing driver took a step twords making that happen this weekend at Kentucky Speedway, as a pair of top-ten finishes – including his second career top-five in Thursday’s Shady Rays 200 — in the two events this weekend earned him some solid points as well as some solid momentum heading into next weekends event at Texas.
Herbst further proved his worth this weekend by being the top-finishing Joe Gibbs Racing driver and the only one of Joe Gibbs Racing’s three drivers to finish inside the top-ten this weekend at Kentucky Speedway.
Jeremy Clements Back-On-Track After Dismal Start to 2020.
.@JClements51 (P11) earns his fourth straight top-fifteen finish, for a total of nine so far this season tonight at @KySpeedway, driving for @JCR_Clements51.#NASCAR | @NASCAR_Xfinity | #Alsco300 pic.twitter.com/P5qQBQjype
— Joseph Srigley (@joe_srigley) July 11, 2020
Jeremy Clements had a dismal start to the 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series season, finishing 28th or worse in four of the first six races of the season, relegating him to 22nd in series standings after Charlotte’s race in May. However, Clements has begun to pick it up in recent weeks, earning seven top-fifteen finishes in the nine races since Charlotte, carrying the No. 51 up to 14th in standings, with a legitimate shot at making it into the playoffs this season.
Clements’s 11th and 12th-place finishes were his two best finishes at Kentucky Speedway, a track he has raced at a total of eighteen times throughout his NASCAR Xfinity Series career.
Jesse Little Trying to “Top 15 ‘Em to Death” with JD Motorsports.
#top15emtodeath https://t.co/0ytptSAuPi
— Jesse Little (@jesselittle97) July 11, 2020
Jesse Little has been impressive this season driving the No. 4 for JD Motorsports, posting eight consecutive top-twenty finishes with his pair of fourteenth-place finishes at Kentucky Speedway. Little – son of NASCAR racer Chad Little, and a rookie of the year contender in the NASCAR Xfinity Series — also earned the third and fourth best finishes for JD Motorsports at Kentucky, and the best finish for JD Motorsports’ No. 4 at the track, which has a history of performing well at mile-and-a-half racetracks such as Kentucky.
SSGLR Gets the Greenlight After Strong Streak of Finishes.
.@GarrettSmithley (P17) earns @SSGLR0708's No. 07 their fourth Top 20 finish in the last five races, with the help of @graygaulding, @carsonrware and @buforjm.
SSGLR now has seven consecutive starts with a car finishing inside the Top 20.#NASCAR | @NASCAR_Xfinity | #Alsco300 pic.twitter.com/HOQOAsTLeU
— Joseph Srigley (@joe_srigley) July 11, 2020
Garrett Smithley had a quiet run on Friday Night, bringing home the No. 07 SS Greenlight Racing Chevrolet home in 16th at Kentucky, the fourth top-twenty finish for the No. 07 in the last five races, thanks to co-drivers Jade Buford, Gray Gaulding and Carson Ware.
Smithley’s top-twenty also continued a streak of seven consecutive races where one of SS Greenlight Racing’s cars has finished inside the top-twenty, between the driver of the No. 07 and Joe Graf, Jr. – driver of SS Greenlight Racing’s No. 08.
Track Position, Track Position, Track Position at Kentucky Speedway this Weekend.
Per #NASCAR there were a total of 1,984 green flag passes made in this weekend's @NASCAR_Xfinity Series doubleheader at @KySpeedway.@HomesteadMiami was home to a double-header earlier this season that featured more passes in each race than the entire weekend at Kentucky. pic.twitter.com/gzaPC652FX
— Joseph Srigley (@joe_srigley) July 11, 2020
.@AustinCindric, @ChaseBriscoe5, @Justin_Haley_, @RossChastain, @anthonyalfredo, @MichaelAnnett & @JClements51 all ran inside the Top 15 in every single lap of tonight's #Alsco300 at @KySpeedway.
Cindric ran 335/336 laps this weekend inside the Top 15.#NASCAR | @NASCAR_Xfinity pic.twitter.com/6eA0tJoLEZ
— Joseph Srigley (@joe_srigley) July 11, 2020
This weekend, Kentucky Speedway’s NASCAR Xfinity Series events have made it clear that it is difficult to pass at the 1.5 mile facility, with the PJ1 “Traction Compound” being put down in only a lane and a half – making it nearly impossible to make a pass on the inside lane.
Track position was important this weekend, and the drivers that did the best job of maintaining it throughout the day, ended up coming home with great finishes on both Thursday and Friday.
Austin Cindric, Chase Briscoe, Justin Haley, Ross Chastain, Anthony Alfredo, Michael Annett & Jeremy Clements were all able to keep thier cars inside the top-fifteen positions for the entirety of Friday’s Alsco 300, earning themselves solid finishes and solid points to build momentum closing on the playoffs.
Cindric – the winner of both Thursday’s Shady Rays 200 and Friday’s Alsco 300 — stayed inside the top-fifteen in 335 of the 336 laps run this weekend, even after starting 15th in Friday’s event after a top-fifteen invert.
Austin Cindric Uses Incredibly Fast Car to Earn 1st & 2nd Oval Wins.
This weekend at @KySpeedway, @AustinCindric ran the fastest lap on the track on 108 different laps.
That is nearly one third (32.14%) of the laps that the @NASCAR_Xfinity Series ran this weekend, and 40.14% of the laps ran under green.#NASCAR | @NASCAR_Xfinity | #Alsco300 pic.twitter.com/0g0dm142DD
— Joseph Srigley (@joe_srigley) July 11, 2020
Austin Cindric had a very fast car this weekend at Kentucky Speedway, winning both Thursday and Friday’s events in the bluegrass state. Cindric’s No. 22 Snap-On Ford Mustand was a bullet, recording the fastest lap on the racetrack 108 times, which amounts to 40.14% of the green flag laps run this weekend at Kentucky Speedway.
2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series Stat Overview:
WINS:
- Chase Briscoe (5)
- Noah Gragson, Austin Cindric & Harrison Burton (2)
- AJ Allmendinger, Kyle Busch, Brandon Jones & Justin Haley (1)
T5’s:
- Austin Cindric & Chase Briscoe (9)
- Noah Gragson (8)
- Harrison Burton (7)
- Ross Chastain & Justin Haley (6)
- Brandon Jones (4)
T10’s:
- Ross Chastain (13)
- Chase Briscoe (12)
- Noah Gragson & Austin Cindric (11)
- Justin Haley & Harrison Burton (10)
- Riley Herbst (8)
T20’s:
- Chase Briscoe (15)
- Noah Gragson, Ross Chastain, Justin Haley, Michael Annett (13)
- Austin Cindric, Harrison Burton (12)
- Justin Allgaier, Riley Herbst, Brandon Brown, Jesse Little (11)
- Ryan Sieg, Myatt Snider, Brett Moffitt (10)
Laps Led:
- Noah Gragson (468)
- Austin Cindric (441)
- Justin Allgaier (319)
- Chase Briscoe (282)
- Kyle Busch (217)
AVG Finish:
- AJ Allmendinger (5.2)
- Chase Briscoe (6.5)
- Noah Gragson (7.9)
- Ross Chastain (8.3)
- Anthony Alfredo (9.2)
RAF:
- Noah Gragson, Chase Briscoe & Ross Chastain (15)
- Justin Haley, Vinnie Miller & Alex Labbe (14)
- BJ McLeod, Jesse Little, Ryan Sieg, Michael Annett & Harrison Burton (13)
LLF:
- Noah Gragson, Ross Chastain, Chase Briscoe & Harrison Burton (13)
- Austin Cindric & Justing Haley (11)
- Michael Annett, Riley Herbst & Brandon Brown (10)
- Justin Allgaier, Brandon Jones & Jeremy Clements (9)
- Ryan Sieg, Myatt Snider & Anthony Alfredo (8)
Laps Run:
- Noah Gragson (2,428)
- Chase Briscoe (2,427)
- Justin Haley (2,418)
- Justin Allgaier (2,380)
- Ross Chastain (2,379)
NASCAR Xfinity Series Regulars (Career Metrics):
WINS:
- Jeff Green, Joe Nemechek (16)
- Justin Allgaier (11)
- Chase Briscoe (7)
- A.J. Allmendinger, Austin Cindric (4)
- Harrison Burton, Noah Gragson, Ross Chastain, Brandon Jones (2)
T5’s:
- Justin Allgaier (88)
- Jeff Green (87)
- Joe Nemechek (74)
- Austin Cindric (30)
- Daniel Hemric (25)
T10’s:
- Justin Allgaier (183)
- Jeff Green (131)
- Joe Nemechek (126)
- Michael Annett (70)
- Brandon Jones (57)
Laps Led:
- Jeff Green (4,629)
- Joe Nemechek (2,906)
- Justin Allgaier (2,813)
- Austin Cindric (787)
- Ross Chastain (568)
RAF (%) :
- Noah Gragson (98.04%)
- Chase Briscoe (92.31%)
- Alex Labbe (91.80%)
- Ross Chastain (90.75%)
- Justin Haley (90.20%)
LLF (%):
- Noah Gragson (84.31%)
- Justin Allgaier (75.08%)
- Harrison Burton (75.00%)
- Daniel Hemric (73.68%)
- Justin Haley (72.55%)
