Xfinity – Inside Circle Track

NASCAR Features Archive by category "Xfinity"

John Hunter Nemechek focused on Xfinity title as Cup opportunity awaits

After a lackluster 2020 season in the NASCAR Cup Series with Front Row Motorsports, driver John Hunter Nemechek opted to leave the sport’s top division to accept a ride in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series with Kyle Busch Motorsports thinking it would be better to run up front at a lower level than to run mid-pack at the top. At the time of that move, some questioned the decision but the Mooresville, North Carolina native quickly silenced the doubters by scoring five wins and placing third in the final 2021 Truck Series standings. Now, Nemechek is in prime position to…

Trevor Bayne on his limited racing opportunities: “We’re only here to win”

If you think you have had some hectic days, you might need to check with Trevor Bayne and let him tell you about this last Thursday and Friday. Within a 24-hour time period the 32-year-old driver from Knoxville, Tennessee was in a maternity unit witnessing the birth of his fifth child then running 300 laps in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race on the high banks of the Bristol Motor Speedway. It was a wild series of events for the former Daytona 500 winner making only his second NASCAR start of the 2023 season for Joe Gibbs Racing. “It has, it’s…

Austin Hill making bid to show Cup teams he is worthy

There is no doubt that whenever a NASCAR Xfinity Series race is held on one of the super speedway style tracks Austin Hill will be among the contenders for the win. The 28-year-old driver’s victory on Saturday in the Raptor King of Tough 250 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway was his third triumph out of five races so far in 2023 and his second(combined with Daytona) on the tracks that call for drafting and pack racing. In all, Hill has amassed five wins at Daytona and Atlanta(since the reconfiguration) in the Xfinity Series and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. The…

Jeremy Clements hoping to parlay Playoff eligibility into more support

Jeremy Clements experienced the highest of highs and the lowest of lows in the hours and days following his win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at the Daytona International Speedway. The euphoria of winning on that form of racing’s biggest stage and earning a spot in the NASCAR Playoffs was soon replaced by the news that his car’s engine manifold had been deemed illegal at the NASCAR R&D Center. While the Spartanburg, SC driver and his family-owned team were allowed to keep the win, his Playoff eligibility was stripped along with crew chief Mark Setzer being suspended and fined….

Trevor Bayne “expects to win” in JGR Xfinity ride

Although some inside the sport of racing knew who he was already, Trevor Bayne exploded onto the motorsports radar of everyone who evenly remotely followed the sport in 2011 when he won the Daytona 500 in only his second NASCAR Cup Series start. It appeared to be a Cinderella story that was too good to be true for the then 20-year-old driver, and in some ways, it proved to be exactly that. The Knoxville native had, before 2011, spent a little more than a full season driving Toyotas in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for Michael Waltrip Racing. It was following…

Daniel Hemric ready to face the challenge of his new opportunity

For the better part of a decade, followers of NASCAR racing have thought that Daniel Hemric was a highly talented driver who was on the cusp of a major breakthrough season. That big win or that groundbreaking moment was due at any time was the belief of many. But when the Kannapolis, North Carolina driver landed a full-time ride in the NASCAR Cup Series in the No. 8 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing in 2019, the results fell short of expectations. Hemric’s one and only full season at the top level of the sport netted no wins and only one…

Noah Gragson earns Xfinity Championship 4 spot with dramatic Martinsville win

October 30, 2021 By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service MARTINSVILLE, Va. – To get to the Championship 4, you have to drive like a champion. That’s what Noah Gragson did on Saturday night in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff race Dead On Tools 250 at Martinsville Speedway. Faced with the necessity of winning the race to keep his NASCAR Xfinity Series title hopes alive, Gragson did just that, pulling off a dramatic pass of Daniel Hemric from the outside lane in the first attempt at overtime and holding off series leader Austin Cindric in the second extra period. With Cindric’s…

Brandon Brown secures first Xfinity Series victory at Talladega

Oct. 2, 2021 By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service TALLADEGA, Ala. – As he crossed the finish line under caution on a dark race track, Brandon Brown surrendered to the emotion of his first victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. “Thank God,” Brown exulted. “We did it. We did it. We won!” On a day of unexpected victories at Talladega Superspeedway—a track where the unexpected sometimes seems commonplace—Brown had a narrow lead three-wide with Justin Allgaier and Brandon Jones at the previous scoring loop when NASCAR called the fifth caution of the race on Lap 102 for a multicar wreck…

Sam Mayer excited, nervous for Xfinity Series debut

One of the most highly touted young drivers in quite some time will make his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut the day after his 18th birthday this Sunday when he takes the green flag in the Pocono Green 225 at the Pocono Raceway. Sam Mayer will be driving the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro for JR Motorsports at the triangle-shaped track located in eastern Pennsylvania. The Franklin, Wisconsin native was the youngest NASCAR sanctioned champion ever when he earned the title on the NASCAR K&N East Series back in 2019 at the age of 16. He was the winner of a NASCAR…

Decision to keep Austin Cindric in Xfinity Series for additional year paying off

There is sometimes a tendency to rush young race car drivers up to the highest levels of the sport too quickly. History offers numerous examples of those who were pushed up the ladder to the NASCAR Cup Series before they were ready then ultimately came crashing down. However, Team Penske fought the temptation to do that very thing with 22-year-old Austin Cindric after he was crowned the 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion. Instead, the driver was left on that tour for another year to add to his experience level and to build confidence. Now five races into the 2021 season,…