Kyle Busch wins Kansas Lottery 300, few Xfinity Chase drivers left unscathed

 Kyle Busch led 150 of 200 laps Saturday in winning the Xfinity Series’ Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway.

Busch earned his 85th Xfinity win and ninth of the year.

Busch did it in a race where only three of the eight remaining Chase drivers finished on the lead lap. Busch had been a lap down and took a wavearound after a caution came out in the middle of green-flag stops.

“There was a lot of things trying to work against us there towards the end,” Busch said. “We just persevered and made it through everything.”

Busch has won the past three Xfinity race at Kansas Speedway.

All five Chase drivers who finished off the lead lap were involved in accidents with less than 35 laps left in the race.

Busch was followed by Elliott Sadler,Daniel Suarez, Joey Logano and Kyle Larson. The third Xfinity Chase driver on the lead lap was Blake Koch (ninth).

MORE: Race results

MORE: Point standings

WHO HAD A GOOD RACE: Elliott Sadler finished second, earning his 15th straight top 10 … Daniel Suarez led six laps and finished third, his seventh top five in eight races … Regan Smith finished sixth for his first top 10 in three Xfinity starts this year … Matt DiBenedetto finished 11th. In 15 Xfinity starts this season, it’s only the second race he’s finished.

WHO HAD A BAD RACE: Cole Custer was involved in three cautions, including a five-car wreck on Lap 165 that collected Chase drivers Darrell Wallace Jr and Justin Allgaier. Custer finished 35th, Wallace 33rd and Allgaier 14th … Brendan Gaughan was another Chase causality, spinning out of Turn 4 with 23 laps left and slid through the grass, receiving significant damage. After being cleared in the medical center, Gaughan dashed back to his car, returning to the race with less than 10 laps left and finishing 31st … Erik Jones raced up front most of the day until contact with Kyle Larson on a restart with 24 to go sent him into Ty Dillon. Jones’ Toyota began smoking from damage, and he pitted before finishing 15th, one lap down.

NOTABLE: If Team Penske’s No. 22 car does not win the Nov. 5 race at Texas Motor Speedway, it will have been a full year since the team’s last victory.

NEXT:  O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge at Texas Motor Speedway on Nov. 5 at 3:30 p.m. ET

Results and stats for Xfinity Series race at Kansas

Kyle Busch once again dominated to win a Xfinity Series race, claiming victory in the Kansas Lottery 300 for his ninth win of 2016.

Busch was followed by Elliott Sadler,Daniel Suarez, Joey Logano and Kyle Larson.

Only three Xfinity Chase drivers finished on the lead lap.

The race had 10 cautions for 51 of the 200 laps.

Click here for full race results

Elliott Sadler, Daniel Suarez tied for points lead after Kansas

Elliott Sadler and Daniel Suarez are tied for the Xfinity Series points lead after the Kansas Lottery 300. Sadler finished second, and Suarez was third.

Each has 3,039 points after the opening race of the second round of the Xfinity Chase.

Filling out the top five is Blake Koch (-7),Justin Allgaier (-12) and Erik Jones (-12).

Click here for the full Xfinity Series point standings

Upon Further Review: Charlotte chaos changes Chase for title contenders

CONCORD, N.C. — As smoke poured from his engine and the leaders sped away, Denny Hamlin lamented his fate.

“Denny Hamlin luck in the Chase,’’ he radioed his team. “That gets you every time.’’

Just when it seemed as if the top eight Chase drivers could relax after four foes suffered misfortune Sunday, Hamlin saw his comfortable points bulge waste away quicker than a before and after picture.

He was one of five Chase drivers to finish 30th or worse at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He became the oddity that could throw this Round of 12, which includes a cutoff race at Talladega Superspeedway, into chaos.

Before Hamlin’s woes, it appeared the top eight Chase drivers would hold a healthy advantage on the four — Austin Dillon, Chase Elliott, Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick — who suffered from miscalculations, miscues and mischievous machinery.

Just before Hamlin’s engine blew while running second, he had a 31-point lead on those outside a transfer spot.

At that point, it appeared as if Dillon and Elliott would be 19 points out of the cutoff spot. In the two previous years of the elimination format, only one driver more than 15 points out of the final transfer spot after the opening race in the second round advanced. That was Brad Keselowski. He did so by winning at Talladega in 2014. No one so far back made it on points.

After Hamlin’s woes put him in the final transfer spot in the standings, Dillon and Elliott found themselves only three points behind him.

Now, there are two Chases. Those in the top seven can take fewer risks because the penalty of losing points could be critical with Talladega looming in two weeks. The bottom five, including Hamlin, are in a race among themselves for the final transfer spot if they can’t win this weekend at Kansas or the following week at Talladega.

“All I can do is try to run as fast as I can,’’ Hamlin said. “I won’t be able to control what any of my competitors do. All I can do is try to go to Kansas and try to win, go to Talladega and try to win.’’

Last year, Hamlin’s luck saw him fail to advance from the second round. He entered the cutoff race at Talladega second in the standings, 18 points ahead of the cutoff. He failed to make transfer after an issue with the roof hatch and then was collected in a last-lap crash.

Teammate Kyle Busch had it worse in 2014. Busch was second in the standings, 26 points ahead of the ninth place, the first driver outside a cutoff spot entering Talladega and was eliminated after a crash when hit from behind by Dillon.

Logano, who finished 80 laps behind the leaders Sunday after suffering two tire issues and slamming the wall twice, joked that if he had finished only two laps down, “I could have had a good points day.’’

Had he done so, he would have finished 23rd instead of 36th and those extra 13 points would have put him in the final transfer spot instead of Hamlin.

That’s how volatile Sunday was for some Chase contenders. Now, it impacts decision drivers and crew chiefs will make the next two weeks.

“We’re not in must-win, but we’re in can’t-screw-up mode,’’ Logano said.

HAIRY SITUATION

Blake Koch thought he’d have some fun after making the inaugural Xfinity Chase.

He decided to mimic hockey players who grow beards during the playoffs and do it for NASCAR’s version of the playoffs.

Truth be told, Koch, figured he’d have the beard for only the first three races and then could shave, but he’ll keep it going after advancing to the Round of 8 after Sunday’s race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

“I’m a pretty optimistic person, but I expected us to make the Chase, not to really transfer to the next group of eight,’’ he said. “That’s really tough to do. If I would have known that, I wouldn’t have set to growing this Chase beard because it’s going to get long now.

“I thought it was going to be a three-week beard. It’s going to be an eight-week beard, at least, maybe nine weeks.’’

Koch advanced with a team that has 16 employees and moved shops during the season. They prepared cars for Dover in May with flashlights because their new shop didn’t have power yet.

“I think that’s definitely the biggest story of the first round, Blake and his guys making the second round,’’ said Elliott Sadler, who advanced to the Round of 8 via his win at Kentucky Speedway. “The start-up team and where Blake came from last year to this year, congratulations, that to me is a job well done.’’

PIT STOPS

— Kurt Busch and Brad Keselowski are tied with the best average finish in the eight races on 1.5-mile tracks. Both have a 7.0 average. Keselowski finished seventh on Sunday; Busch eighth. Three of the last six races, including the season finale at Homestead, are on 1.5-mile tracks.

— For the first time in this Chase, there were multi-car accidents. In the first three Chase races, there were seven cautions for spins or accidents. All had been single-car incidents. Sunday, two of the five cautions for accidents featured multiple cars, including the 12-car incident off a restart.

— Last year, Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick were 1-2 in the points after the opening race in the second round. This year, they are 11th and 12th.

— Kasey Kahne’s third-place finish was his best result since his win at Atlanta in Sept. 2014 — a span of 77 races.

— Danica Patrick’s 11th-place finish Sunday was her best result of the year. Her previous best was 13th at Dover in May.

— Five of the top-10 finishers Sunday were drivers not eligible for the title. They were Kasey Kahne (finished third), Ryan Newman (fourth), Kyle Larson (fifth), Tony Stewart (ninth) and Jamie McMurray (10th).

— Tony Stewart’s ninth-place finish snapped a streak of seven consecutive finishes of 13th or worse.

— Michael McDowell’s 14th-place finish was his second top-15 result in his last four starts.

Watch LIVE:NASCAR America at 6 p.m. ET: Dover recap, look back at Tony Stewart’s final season

A 90-minute episode of NASCAR America begins at 6 p.m. ET on NBCSN and recaps the first elimination race of the Chase for the Sprint Cup.
Mike Massaro hosts with Dale Jarrett and Parker Kligerman in Stamford, Connecticut. Jeff Burton joins them from Burton’s Garage.
In today’s show:
• The Round of 16 is complete as four drivers have been eliminated from the Chase for the Sprint Cup. Gone are Kyle Larson, Jamie McMurray, Chris Buescher and Tony Stewart. The second round is set and the 12 drivers in it are led by Martin Truex Jr., after winning two of the first three Chase races. Jarrett, Kligerman and Burton weigh in on the advances and the surprises, comparing how they their Chase Grids compared to the actual after results of the opening round.
• NASCAR America takes a look back at Tony Stewart’s storied career. He has been eliminated from the playoffs after finishing 13th at Dover. Our analysts reveal how they will remember Tony Stewart’s final season.
• We’ll also feature Sunday morning’s Xfinity Series race where Daniel Suarez joined Elliott Sadler in the second round of the Xfinity Chase. We’ll also get reaction from top-seeded Erik Jones, who now faces elimination this week at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
If you can’t catch the show on TV, you also can watch it via the online stream at http://nascarstream.nbcsports.com
If you plan to stream the show on your laptop or portable device, be sure to have your username and password from your cable/satellite/telco provider handy so your subscription can be verified.
Once you plug-in that information, you’ll have access to the stream.
Click here at 6 pm ET to watch live via the stream.

Xfinity Chase grid:Erik Jones on outside ahead of elimination race

With only one race left in the first round of the Xfinity Chase, the No. 1 seed and favorite to win it all isn’t in the top eight.
Erik Jones sits at 10th on the Chase grid, four points out of eighth after a DNF and a 16th-place finish in the first two races.
Also outside the top eight, which will advance to the second round, are Ty Dillon (-3), Ryan Sieg (-10) and Brandon Jones (-18).
Daniel Suarez locked himself into the second round with his Dover win. He’s ahead of Elliott Sadler on the grid after having top-two finishes in both races.
The eight drivers in the next round will be decided by the Drive for the Cure 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway Friday night.
Click here to view the Xfinity Chase grid.

BRUCE: XFINITY CHASE INTENSITY RATCHETS UP AGGRESSION

SPARTA, Ky. -- Was Saturday night's opening Chase race for NASCAR’s XFINITY Series an example of good, hard racing or a case of folks driving over their heads?

That depends on who one asked afterward.

Race winner Elliott Sadler wasn’t pointing fingers, and race winners have rarely been heard to utter a discouraging word. But the JR Motorsports driver said he did notice an uptick in intensity during the VisitMyrtleBeach.com 300 at Kentucky Speedway.

"About halfway through the race, it was 'note to self; you can tell it's the Chase because it was caution after caution after caution," Sadler said afterward. "People were tense, eager, frustrated, nervous. A lot of different things going on with drivers right now ... trying to make it to the second (round).

"I think people are giving each other less room. Restarts are crazy in the back."

They were crazy up front, too. The race, which kicked off a seven-race, two-round elimination playoff for the series, saw the caution flag fly a track record 12 times. More than one-fourth of the race (64 laps) was run under the yellow. Yes, there was even a brief (5 min., 34 sec.) red-flag period.

Erik Jones, the top seed and regular-season leader in race wins, got crossed up while racing with Ty Dillon and both the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota and the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet ended up in the wall.

RELATED: See the wreck the caught two title contenders

Each is now outside eighth place in points with two races to try and improve their standing; only the top eight (with the exception of a Chase race winner that might be 9th-12th) advance to the second round.

Not surprisingly, Jones wasn't particularly pleased with the early ending to his night and said later that the aggressive driving does cause one to approach the race differently.

"Yeah, it makes me try to stay out of trouble," he said. "I didn't want to have something like that happen. ... You try to play defense some. I was for sure."

Of course, there was the matter of a reconfigured track that sports new asphalt and distinctly different turns. That, too, played a role in the difficulties for some.

And that was to be expected, said Brendan Gaughan, driver of the No. 62 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing.

"It didn't seem like it was any more aggressive than normal," Gaughan said after finishing sixth.

"It's a very narrow race track here right now. That Turn 3 is treacherous, man. There's no grip on the entry, there's no width on the entry. It's a treacherous, treacherous place at the moment. ...

"It's still Kentucky. I love it."

The fight to advance into the next round began early, but it's not the only battle going on and Saturday night's race brought some of that to light.

In addition to the driver's championship, there's an owners title at stake and a couple of teams didn’t forget about that.

At the end of the regular season, the No. 2 team of RCR was atop the owners' standings, followed by the No. 18 of Joe Gibbs Racing, the No. 1 of JRM with Sadler behind the wheel, and the No. 22 of Team Penske.

Chevy, Toyota, Chevy and Ford. You think those folks aren't paying close attention?

RCR brought in Sam Hornish Jr. to keep the No. 2 team in the hunt; Penske handed the reins to Sprint Cup driver Ryan Blaney.

Sadler got the win, but a solid fifth-place run by Matt Tifft put the JGR No. 18 atop the owners' standings. JRM (No. 1) now sits second thanks to the victory while Hornish, who finished fourth, kept the RCR entry in the mix -- it's now third.

Blaney did not fare badly but the way it all shook out left him third on the track and the team now fifth in the owners' battle.

Dover, a fast, unforgiving mile of concrete, is up next. Some folks will be looking to rebound, some looking to continue to ride a hot start.

If Kentucky was any indication, they better hope they can just hang on.

Sadler Makes History, Wins And Advances

Elliott Sadler makes the most of a late-race restart at Kentucky Speedway to win the first ever NASCAR XFINITY Series Chase race and advances to the Round of 8.

Results from the Xfinity Series race at Richmond

Kyle Busch took the lead on Lap 51 and never looked back Friday night at Richmond en route to his eighth Xfinity win of the season.

It was the 84th win of Busch’s career and his sixth at Richmond.

Busch’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Erik Jones, finished second followed by Brad Keselowski, Elliott Sadler, and Justin Allgaier.

Ty Dillon, Austin Dillon, Daniel Suarez, Alex Bowman, and Brennan Poole rounded out the top 10.

Results:

KYLE BUSCH DOMINATES FOR XFINITY WIN AT RICHMOND

RICHMOND, Va. -- With one ferociously fast pit stop, Kyle Busch erased a lackluster qualifying effort and cruised to victory in Friday night’s Virginia529 College Savings 250 at Richmond International Raceway.

A master at getting on and off pit road in minimal time, Busch entered the pits in fourth place under the first caution of the race after a tap from J.J. Yeley sent Justin Marks spinning into the frontstretch grass on Lap 48.

Busch was first off pit road -- decisively -- and at that point it was game over, thanks for playing, and Busch was well on the way to his sixth NASCAR XFINITY Series victory at Richmond, his eighth in 14 starts this season and the 84th of his career, extending his own gargantuan series record.

"I never would have guessed that," Busch exulted on the team radio before he started his celebratory burnout. "Great pit stop! Awesome!"

Before the second caution flew on Lap 164 of 250, Busch had a lead of 7.312 seconds and had lapped up to eighth place in the running order before a cycle of green-flag stops began.

Busch finished 6.453 seconds ahead of Joe Gibbs Racing teammate and runner-up Erik Jones, who ran the same setup Busch had in his No. 18 Toyota. The victory marked a decisive return to form for the reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup champion, who had crashed out of his two previous XFINITY races.

"I just doubted our car today," said Busch, who led 197 laps and scored a perfect driver rating of 150.0. "It just wasn’t right. We just kind of missed it all through practice. It wasn’t good there, and then we qualified, and it was just a handful in qualifying. We didn’t qualify very well -- seventh. That’s not very well for my expectations.

"We worked on it there at the start of the race. We were really out of control and loose, and I got to fourth, I thought that was kind where we were going to be. But my guys had an awesome pit stop, got me out front, and (crew chief) Chris Gayle made some really smart adjustments to it that first time on pit road.

"After that, it was lights out. It was on a rail from there."

Jones could only admire the skill of his more experienced teammate --  when he was close enough to see Busch ahead of him, that is.

"Not much to say," said Jones, whose two laps led during a cycle of green-flag pit stops constituted the only interruption to Busch’s charge to the finish. "He had the same setup as us. He’s just that good. It’s unfortunate. We’ve run second to him a number of times this year.

"I wish all those were wins, but we’ve been getting stronger every time."

Brad Keselowski ran third, followed by XFINITY regulars Elliott Sadler, the series leader, and Justin Allgaier. Ty Dillon, polesitter Austin Dillon, Daniel Suarez, Alex Bowman and Brennan Poole completed the top 10.

Ryan Reed, the last driver to finish on the lead lap, clinched a spot in the inaugural XFINITY Series Chase with an 11th-place run, leaving two berths still open heading to the Sept. 17 cutoff race at Chicagoland Speedway.

Elliott Sadler remains Xfinity point leader after Richmond

Elliott Sadler continues to sit atop the Xfinity Series point standings following a fourth-place finish Friday night at Richmond.

Sadler extended his lead to 58 points over Daniel Suarez. The top 40 drivers did not change positions in points following the Virginia 529 College Savings 250.

With an 11th-place finish, Ryan Reed became the 10th driver to lock himself into the Chase. Two spots remain in the 12-driver playoff field.

Tonight’s Xfinity race at Richmond: Start time, weather, TV/radio info and more

Tonight marks the next-to-last race before the inaugural Xfinity Chase field is set. Three of the 12 spots remain open heading into the Virginia 529 College Savings 250 at Richmond International Raceway.

Ryan Reed, Blake Koch and Ryan Sieg hold the final three spots. Dakoda Armstrong is the first driver out of a transfer spot, 18 points behind Sieg.

Here’s all the info for tonight’s race:

(All times are Eastern)

START: ABLE Advocates Catherine Beck and Natalie Beck will give the command start engines at 7:37 p.m. The green flag is set for 7:44 p.m.

DISTANCE: The race is scheduled for 250 laps (187.5 miles) around the 0.750-mile track.

PRERACE SCHEDULE: The Xfinity garage opened at 7 a.m. The driver/crew chief meeting is at 3:45 p.m. Driver introductions are at 7 p.m.

NATIONAL ANTHEM: The St. Gertrude’s Girls Choir will perform the anthem at 7:31 p.m.

TV/RADIO: NBCSN will broadcast the race with its coverage beginning at 7 p.m. with Countdown to Green, followed by the coverage of the race at 7:30 p.m. Motor Racing Network’s radio broadcast begins at 7 p.m. and also can be heard at mrn.com. SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will have MRN’s broadcast.

FORECAST: The wunderground.com site predicts a temperature of 84 degrees at race time with a 0 percent chance of rain at the start of the race.

LAST TIME: Dale Earnhardt Jr. led 128 of 149 laps to give JR Motorsports the victory in April. Ty Dillon was second with Earnhardt’s teammate, Elliott Sadler, third. In this race a year ago, Chase Elliott won for JR Motorsports with Kyle Busch second and Brian Scott third.

STARTING LINEUP: Qualifying at 4:15 p.m.

Elliott Sadler extends Xfinity points lead after Darlington win

Elliott Sadler extended his points lead to 54 points after his victory in Saturday’s Xfinity Series race at Darlington Raceway.

Daniel Suarez remains second in the season standings. The top 26 drivers did not change positions in the points after the race.

NASCAR America at 6 p.m. ET: Joe Gibbs Racing’s Darlington success, Elliott Sadler interview

Today’s episode of NASCAR America is the last preview of this weekend at Darlington Raceway before cars get on the track Saturday. The episodes airs from 6 – 7 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

Dave Briggs hosts with Brian Vickers in Stamford, Connecticut. Steve Letarte joins them from Burton’s Garage

On today’s show:

· We’ve focused on the Chase bubble drivers entering the Southern 500, but today we’ll weigh the chances of those farther back in the Chase standings to figure out who’s capable of a season-saving win.

· All four Joe Gibbs Racing drivers have won at Darlington in the past. After a so-so weekend in Michigan, can JGR get back to their winning ways at the Lady in Black?

· Xfinity Series veteran Elliott Sadler calls into the show to talk about his chances this weekend at Darlington – and his special throwback with a connection to NASCAR on NBC’s Dale Jarrett.

· In our Social Pit Stop, Dale Earnhardt Jr. tweets about meeting a 90-year old fan, Matt Kenseth throws out the first pitch at a Phillies game, and Kyle Larson hands out school supplies to local students in Darlington, South Carolina.

If you’re not near a TV, you can watch online or on the NBC Sports app at the NASCAR stream on NBC Sports. If you plan to stream the show on your laptop or portable device, be sure to have your username and password from your cable/satellite/telco provider handy so your subscription can be verified.

Once you enter that information, you’ll have access to the stream.

Elliott Sadler retains Xfinity point lead after rain-filled race at Mid-Ohio

Elliott Sadler is still the leader in the Xfinity Series point standings following his ninth-place finish at Mid-Ohio.

Sadler has a 25-point lead over Daniel Suarez, who finished 23rd.

The top 19 positions in the standings remained unchanged from last week.

Here are the point standings following the 21st race of the year.

Today’s Xfinity race at Indianapolis: start time, weather, TV/radio info and lineup

Today’s Lilly Diabetes 250 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway features the final Xfinity Dash 4 Cash event of the season. That means heat races. Each heat race will be 20 laps, followed by the main event, which will be 60 laps.

Here’s all the info you need for today’s race.

(All times are Eastern)

START: Rudy Juarez, a Lilly Diabetes guest, will give the command 15 minutes after the second heat race ends. The green flag will wave eight minutes after the command.

DISTANCE: The race is scheduled for 60 laps (150 miles) around the 2.5-mile speedway.

HEAT RACES: The first heat race is scheduled to take the green flag at 3:45 p.m. The second heat race is scheduled to take the green flag 23 minutes after the completion of the first heat race. Both heat races are 20 laps (50 miles) around the 2.5-mile speedway.

PRERACE SCHEDULE: The Xfinity garage opens at 7 a.m. The driver/crew chief meeting is at 1:20 p.m. Driver introductions are at 3 p.m.

NATIONAL ANTHEM: Country music artist Amanda Jo will perform the anthem at 3:31 p.m.

TV/RADIO: NBCSN will broadcast the race with its coverage beginning at 3 p.m. with Countdown to Green. Performance Racing Network’s radio broadcast begins at 8 p.m. and also can be heard at goprn.com. SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will have PRN’s broadcast.

FORECAST: The wunderground.com site predicts a temperature of 90 degrees at race time with a 6 percent chance of thunderstorms.

LAST TIME: Kyle Busch passed Ryan Blaney on the last lap when Blaney was slowed by a lapped car. Blaney finished second with Daniel Suarez third, Paul Menard fourth and Elliott Sadler fifth.

STARTING LINEUP: Qualifying at 11:40 a.m.

Suarez remains in Xfinity Series points lead after Daytona

Even though he was involved in a late wreck and finished 32nd in Friday’s Subway Firecracker 250 at Daytona International Speedway, Daniel Suarez remains atop the NASCAR Xfinity Series point standings.

But things remain tight between Suarez, second-ranked Elliott Sadler (just six points behind) and third-ranked Ty Dillon (16 points behind Suarez).

Here’s how the standings stack up as the series leaves Daytona:

Follow the leader: JR Motorsports carries Dale Jr.’s mantle in Xfinity plate races

The last time the Xfinity Series visited Daytona International Speedway, the race ended in the familiar sight of a bunch of drivers trying – and failing – to chase down a car with the No. 88 on its side.

But for once, the driver who emerged from the car wasn’t Dale Earnhardt Jr., who has won 10 times at Daytona in the Sprint Cup and Xfinity Series. It was Chase Elliott, who got to celebrate with Earnhardt the team owner.

Elliott’s win – his first on a restrictor-plate track – was the third JR Motorsports triumph at Daytona in five starts. It followed a sweep of the 2014 races by Regan Smith and Kasey Kahne.

In addition to his win in February, Elliott also earned the pole in both Sprint Cup plate races.

Like its owner, JR Motorsports’ restrictor-plate success is not limited to the Florida coast. The team has returned from Talladega Superspeedway victorious twice since 2013. Elliott Sadler claimed the win in May’s race after he was ruled to be the leader when the caution came out on the final lap.

“Our restrictor-plate program is very good right now,” Sadler said in a press release. “We had the lead at Daytona on the last lap to start the season and we just won Talladega a few weeks ago. We’re in a position, being locked in the Chase, where we can go down this weekend and be aggressive and do everything we can to just focus on winning the race.”

Sadler’s win gives JRM five in the last 10 races on plate tracks with four different drivers. The team’s avg finish of 4.57 in the first two plate races of 2016 is five positions better than any other team.

JRM will have Elliott, Sadler and Justin Allgaier on the track for this weekend’s Firecracker 250. The three drivers combined have three plate wins. Allgaier has three top fives in 17  Xfinity starts at plate races.

If one of them winds up in victory lane, it would make JR Motorsports the third team to sweep the Xfinity Series’ three plate races. The last two were Joe Gibbs Racing in 2008 and Dale Earnhardt, Inc. in 2003.

That year, Earnhardt pulled the feat off himself, leading 227 laps on the way to three wins.

Suarez still No. 1 in Xfinity Series standings after Sunday’s race at Iowa

Daniel Suarez maintained his lead in the NASCAR Xfinity Seres standings after finishing fourth in Sunday’s American Ethanol E15 250 at Iowa Speedway.

Suarez leads second-ranked Elliott Sadler by 21 points, followed by Ty Dillon (-35), Justin Allgaier climbed one spot to fourth (-68) andBrandon Jones climbed one spot to fifth (-73).

Erik Jones, who won the pole for Sunday’s race but had a disappointing finish due to fuel issues, dropped three places in the rankings, from fourth to seventh (-79).

Here’s an interesting twist: race winner Sam Hornish Jr., who has not raced since last November’s Sprint Cup Series season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, jumped 86 places to rank 37th after Sunday’s race.

Here’s how the Xfinity Series standings look after Iowa:

Ben Kennedy fastest in first Xfinity Series practice at Iowa

In his first career Xfinity Series practice session, Ben Kennedy was the fastest driver on the track.

Driving the No. 2 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing, Kennedy took a speed of 132.448 mph to the top of the chart during the series’ first practice at Iowa Speedway.

Kennedy is making his Xfinity Series debut in the American Ethanol E15 250.

Following Kennedy was Sam Hornish Jr., who is competing in his first NASCAR race of the season. Hornish also had the best 10-lap average speed at 129.419 mph.

Filling out the top five was Elliott Sadler, Erik Jones and Daniel Suarez.

Speed chart