On Thursday Night the NASCAR Xfinity Series went to Kentucky Speedway for the first-half of the series’s second-ever doubleheader weekend. The Shady Rays 200 was run on Thursday Night and provided numerous surprises, as well as scary wreck at the end of the race, that left Ronnie Bassett, Jr.’s No. 90 DESTROYED.
Kyle Weatherman, Jesse Little, Chase Briscoe and Riley Herbst were only some of the drivers who had noteworthy runs Thursday Night at Kentucky, and are hoping to continue their forward momentum in Friday Night’s Alsco 300
Career Best Finishes:
2nd: No. 18 – Riley Herbst – Joe Gibbs Racing
8th: No. 47 – Kyle Weatherman – Mike Harmon Racing
13th: No. 08 – Joe Graf, Jr. – SS Greenlight Racing
Best Runs of 2020
1st: No. 22 – Austin Cindric – Team Penske
2nd: No. 18 – Riley Herbst – Joe Gibbs Racing
5th: No. 1 – Michael Annett – JR Motorsports
8th: No. 47 – Kyle Weatherman – Mike Harmon Racing
13th: No. 08 – Joe Graf, Jr. – SS Greenlight Racing
16th: No. 13 – Chad Finchum – MBM Motorsports
19th: No. 90 – Ronnie Bassett, Jr. – DGM Racing
Kyle Weatherman Continues to Show Promise with Mike Harmon Racing’s No. 47.
.@KyleWeatherman (P8) earns his career-best finish tonight at @KySpeedway and the first top-ten finish for @MhrRacing in the team's history.
Weatherman's 3 straight Top-15's are the best for Mike Harmon Racing, who only had one Top-15 finish prior to 2020#NASCAR pic.twitter.com/TLz8oq02oJ
— Joseph Srigley (@joe_srigley) July 10, 2020
Kyle Weatherman and Mike Harmon Racing have been a fantastic pair when it comes to the NASCAR Xfinity Series this season, as Weatherman earned his third straight top-fifteen finish on Thursday Night at Kentucky. Not only was it a career best streak for Weatherman – who prior to this season had never scored a top-fifteen finish in the NASCAR Xfinity Series — but it was also a career-best streak for Mike Harmon Racing, who had only earned one top-fifteen finish prior to this season.
In 2020, teammates Kyle Weatherman and Bayley Currey have picked up a total of four lead-lap finishes for Mike Harmon Racing, doubling the team’s previous season best of two, set in 2018 and 2019. Weatherman’s third lead-lap finish this season tied him with team owner Mike Harmon for the most lead-lap finishes driving for Mike Harmon Racing.
Jesse Little Continues a HOT STREAK at Kentucky.
.@jesselittle97 (P14) earns his seventh consecutive top-twenty finish driving for @JDMotorsports01 tonight at @KySpeedway.#NASCAR | @NASCAR_Xfinity | #ShadyRays200 pic.twitter.com/r0ZftzFXSL
— Joseph Srigley (@joe_srigley) July 10, 2020
Jesse Little has easily been one of the more quiet drivers in the NASCAR Xfinity Series this season, driving the No. 4 for JD Motorsports, a car that has a long-running tradition of its drivers outperforming expectations.
While Little isn’t competing for top-fives and top-tens at this point in the season, he has been able to string together a solid run of finishes driving for Johnny Davis, earning his seventh straight top-twenty finish in his rookie season last night at Kentucky.
Little’s streak is tied for the second longest in the NASCAR Xfinity Series right now, with Chase Briscoe having the longest streak at sixteen straight top-twenties, and Ross Chastain and Michael Annett both tying Little’s mark of seven, which includes his first top-ten at Pocono.
Chase Briscoe Continues to Nickel-and-Dime His Way Closer to A Championship.
.@ChaseBriscoe5 (P4) continues his impressive streak top-twenty finishes, with his sixteenth tonight at @KySpeedway driving for @StewartHaasRcng.#NASCAR | @NASCAR_Xfinity | #ShadyRays200 pic.twitter.com/UdQxfgPmpc
— Joseph Srigley (@joe_srigley) July 10, 2020
.@ChaseBriscoe5 (P4) earns his third consecutive top-five finish tonight at @KySpeedway, driving for @StewartHaasRcng, tying a career-best streak.#NASCAR | @NASCAR_Xfinity | #ShadyRays200 pic.twitter.com/k1rFY86sEm
— Joseph Srigley (@joe_srigley) July 10, 2020
Chase Briscoe was an obvious choice to be a championship contender this season, but there aren’t a lot of people who could have predicted this level of success from the Stewart-Haas Racing driver – who said at the beginning of the season that he needed to score eight to ten wins to consider this season successful.
Briscoe’s season has gotten off to a successful start to say the least, with a series-leading five wins, eight top-fives and fourteen top-twenty finishes through fourteen events this season, including a career-high three straight top-fvie finishes (which includes two wins at Indianapolis’ Road Course and Pocono.)
Briscoe’s No. 98 team has been calm in the face of adversity as well, after making up six laps at Homestead after a piece of ballast fell from the car. Briscoe’s crew chief, Richard Boswell, was suspended for the next four events. In those four races, Briscoe scored three victories with interim crew chief Greg Zipadelli.
Gragson, Chastain & Briscoe Establishing Themselves as Early Title Contenders.
Only @NoahGragson, @ChaseBriscoe5 and @RossChastain have been running at the end of all fourteen @NASCAR_Xfinity Series races this season.
In 50 starts, Gragson has finished 49 of them, finishing 42 out of 50 on the lead lap.#NASCAR | @KySpeedway | #ShadyRays200 pic.twitter.com/3vifEPWskZ
— Joseph Srigley (@joe_srigley) July 10, 2020
Noah Gragson, Chase Briscoe and Ross Chastain have all established themselves as early contenders for the 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series championship, as all three drivers have finished all fourteen events this season.
Briscoe – 5 Wins, 8 T5’s, 11 T10’s, 2 Stage Wins – 27 Playoff Points – Rank: 1st
Gragson – 2 Wins, 8 T5’s, 10 T10’s, 7 Stage Wins – 17 Playoff Points – Rank: 2nd (-16)
Chastain – 0 Wins, 5 T5’s, 12 T10’s, 0 Stage Wins – 0 Playoff Points – Rank: 4th (-48)
Anthony Alfredo Continues to Drive Like a Veteran in His Rookie Season.
.@anthonyalfredo (P6) earns his fifth top-ten finish in eight races this season, not once finishing outside the top-twenty.
Alfredo's AVG Finish (9.625) is fourth of all drivers who have run more than five events this season.#NASCAR | #ShadyRays200 pic.twitter.com/KTB34HTvvX
— Joseph Srigley (@joe_srigley) July 10, 2020
Anthony Alfredo has continued to put forward impressive results, earning his fifth top-ten finish in eight races this season, not once finishing outside the top-twenty – which is an impressive feat by a rookie driver.
Alfredo’s 9.625 average finish, ranks fourth of all drivers who have made more than five NASCAR Xfinity Series starts this season.
Ross Chastain Continues His Career-High Top-Ten Streak at Kentucky.
.@RossChastain (P3) earns his 7th consecutive top-ten finish and his 12th in the last 13 races tonight at @KySpeedway for @KauligRacing.
Prior to this season Chastain had never scored more than two consecutive top-ten finishes.#NASCAR | @NASCAR_Xfinity | #ShadyRays200 pic.twitter.com/0Kf64EzMak
— Joseph Srigley (@joe_srigley) July 10, 2020
Ross Chastain is infamous for over-performing in his equipment. So when Chastain announced he would be running for Kaulig Racing full-time in 2020, many people were under the impression that he would be visiting victory lane frequently. Although that hasn’t happened so far this year, Chastain has been able to set a career-high streak of top-ten finishes with his seventh straight top-ten at Kentucky on Thursday Night.
Riley Herbst Continues to Show Improvement at Kentucky
.@rileyherbst (P2) ties his career-best finish tonight at @KySpeedway, tying his runner-up finish earlier this season at @ACSupdates.
Herbst's top-five means that every driver to run for @JoeGibbsRacing this season, has multiple top-five finishes.#NASCAR | #ShadyRays200 pic.twitter.com/UR8t2GVVCo
— Joseph Srigley (@joe_srigley) July 10, 2020
So far this season, Riley Herbst has been under constant criticism for not meeting expectations for a Joe Gibbs Racing NASCAR Xfinity Series driver, with teammates Harrison Burton and Brandon Jones already visiting victory lane this season.
However, Herbst has continued to show improvement as the season runs deeper, earning his second top-five finish of the season Thursday Night at Kentucky Speedway, tying his career-best from earlier this season at Auto Club. Whether or not Herbst can carry this momentum into the next couple races in yet to be seen, but the rookie driver should have some more confidence in himself entering the series’ next few races.
Austin Cindric FINALLY Gets to Victory Lane on A Oval!
.@AustinCindric (P1) earns his third career @NASCAR_Xfinity Series victory tonight at @KySpeedway and the 71st victory for @Team_Penske/
Cindric's finish allows his to exceed his top-five total from his rookie season, only 14 races into 2020. #NASCAR | #ShadyRays200 pic.twitter.com/0RJDqjwkSk
— Joseph Srigley (@joe_srigley) July 10, 2020
Austin Cindric’s victory in Thursday Night’s Shady Rays 200 marked the second time in 2020 that a self-proclaimed road course driver as gone to victory lane on an oval track, first happening this season when AJ Allmendinger went to victory lane at Atlanta with Kaulig Racing.
Cindric’s Shady rays 200 victory is his third career win and the 71st win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for Team Penske, one of the NASCAR Cup Series teams that fields an entry in the series.
The North Carolina-native’s eight top-five finishes in 2020 already surpasses the number of top-fives from his rookie season in 2018, where he drove for a combination of Team Penske and Roush Fenway Racing.
2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series Stat Overview:
Wins – Briscoe (5) Gragson & H. Burton (2) Cindric, Haley, B. Jones, Allmendinger, Ky. Busch (1)
T5’s – Briscoe, Gragson & Cindric (8) H. Burton (7) Chastain & Haley (5) B. Jones (4) Allmendinger & Ky. Busch (3)
T10’s – Chastain (12), Briscoe (11) Gragson, Cindric & H. Burton (10) Haley (9), B. Jones (7) Allgaier & Annett (6)
T20’s – Briscoe (14) Gragson, Chastain, Haley, Annett (12) Cindric & H. Burton (11)
Laps Led – Gragson (431) Allgaier (319) Cindric (311) Briscoe (280) Ky. Busch (217) Chastain (169) H. Burton (135)
AVG Fin. – Allmendinger (5.2) Briscoe (6.8) Gragson (7.9) Chastain (8.6) Alfredo (9.6) Haley (9.8)
RAF – Gragson, Briscoe & Chastain (14) Haley, Miller, Labbe & Sieg (13) McLeod, Little, Snider, Annett & H. Burton (12)
LLF – Gragson, Chastain, H. Burton & Briscoe (12) Cindric, Haley & Brown (10) Annett, Jones & Herbst (9)
Laps – Gragson (2,228) Briscoe (2,227) Haley (2,218) Allgaier (2,180) Chastain (2,179) Little (2,151) Snider (2,141)
NASCAR Xfinity Series Regulars (Career Metrics):
Wins – Green (16), J. Nemechek (16), Allgaier (11), Briscoe (7), Allmendinger (4), Cindric (3).
T5’s – Allgaier & Green (87), J. Nemechek (74), Cindric (29), Hemric (25), Briscoe (22), Gragson (19).
T10’s – Allgaier (182), Green (131), J. Nemechek (126), Annett (69), B. Jones (57), Cindric (47), Yeley (46).
Laps Led – Green (4,629), J. Nemechek (2,906), Allgaier (2,813), Cindric (657), Chastain (563), Briscoe (522)
RAF (%) – Gragson (98.00%), Briscoe (92.19%), Labbe (91.67%), Chastain (90.70%), Haley (90.00%)
LLF (%) – Gragson (84.00%), Allgaier (75.00%), H. Burton (73.91%), Hemric (73.33%), Haley (72.00%)
