NASCAR America: Should Sprint Cup drivers be allowed in Xfinity races?

After a weekend that saw Sprint Cup regular Kyle Busch win the Xfinity race at Kansas Speedway and Cup driver Kyle Larson hinder Xfinity title contender Erik Jones‘ chances of a win or strong finish, talk has again surfaced on if Cup drivers should be competing in the Xfinity Series.

Earlier this week, NASCAR executiveSteve O’Donnell told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio that fans should “stay tuned” for an announcement “fairly soon” on the issue.

With all of that brewing, NBC Sports analysts Jeff Burton and Parker Kligerman debated the issue.

“It’s a very difficult solution,” Burton said on NASCAR America. “The reason I became a Cup driver is because of the opportunity to run in the Xfinity Series and race against Harry Gant, Mark Martinand Dale Earnhardt. Every now and then I could run with them. If none of them were there, I could win. But that propelled me, that gave me the opportunity to get to the Cup Series. A Cup owner, Billy Stavola and Mickey Stavola, they watched me run in the Xfinity Series, they said, ‘Hey that guy every now and then can run with Mark Martin, maybe he can be a Cup driver.’ Without that opportunity I don’t think I’m ever a Cup driver.

“I will say this, when I raced against Mark Martin, he didn’t drive (in the Xfinity Series) for Jack Roush. When I raced (against) Harry Gant, he did not drive for his Cup team. When I raced Dale Earnhardt, he ran his Xfinity team out of a small shop on his property. I wasn’t racing against Richard Childress Racing. I was racing against smaller race teams. As the Xfinity Series has evolved, they’re not miniature Cup teams.”

Burton also said that permitting Cup drivers to race in the series allows Xfinity drivers to stand out to show that they can compete in the Cup level.

Kligerman said: “I’m going to play some devil’s advocate with you and say, ‘OK, if tomorrow Kyle Busch and all the other Sprint Cup regulars could not run the Xfinity Series, then we would not evaluate drivers, young drivers coming up by saying ‘If they can beat Kyle Busch or beat Brad Keselowski.’ ”

Burton noted that “the way we’ve always done things doesn’t mean that is the right way to do it. Racing is always an evolution … and we need to be looking at better ways to do things.”

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

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

LOGANO WINS AT CHARLOTTE, XFINITY ROUND OF 8 FIELD SET

Joey Logano came on strong late to win the NASCAR XFINITY Series Drive for the Cure 300 Presented by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Sunday. The win is Logano's second of the season and 27th of his XFINITY career.

The Team Penske driver was one of five drivers to run both events on Sunday at Charlotte, joining Kyle Larson, Austin Dillon, Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski.

Logano led 12 laps en route to the win at the 1.5-mile track, surging late to overtake a dominant car driven by Larson, who led 165 laps and finished fourth.

Elliott Sadler finished second, with Daniel Suarez in third and Erik Jones rounding out the top five. The top-five effort from Jones secured his spot in the Round of 8 of the first XFINITY Series Chase. Suarez and Sadler won the races at Dover and Kentucky, respectively, to earn their Round of 8 spots.

The following drivers will join them in the next round: Justin Allgaier, Brendan Gaughan, Ryan Reed, Blake Koch and Darrell Wallace Jr.

The four drivers eliminated from the postseason were: Ty Dillon, Brennan Poole, Ryan Sieg and Brandon Jones.

Dillon's 11th-place finish left him one point behind Wallace for the final spot in the Round of 8 field. A battery issue around Lap 120 spoiled a top-five run for Poole and led to an 18th-place finish.

Sunday's race was originally scheduled for Friday night but rain and the remnants of weather from Hurricane Matthew moved the start time to immediately following the Charlotte NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event.

The XFINITY Series Chase will kick off its Round of 8 at Kansas Speedway on Saturday with the Kansas Lottery 300 (3 p.m. ET on Oct. 15, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

Kyle Larson fastest in final Xfinity Series practice at Charlotte

Kyle Larson was fastest in final Xfinity Series practice Thursday evening at Charlotte Motor Speedway with a lap of 185.198 mph.

Erik Jones, looking to avoid Chase elimination in the Charlotte cutoff race, was second at 184.995 mph with Joey Logano third (184.856 mph), Daniel Suarez (184.332 mph) fourth, and Brandon Jones (184.150 mph) fifth. Larson and Logano are two of five Sprint Cup Series drivers entered in Friday night’s Drive for the Cure 300.

Rounding out the top 10 were Blake Koch (183.830 mph), Justin Allgaier (183.592 mph), Ty Dillon (183.411 mph), Ryan Sieg (182.803 mph), and Austin Dillon (182.636 mph).

There was a brief red flag during the session when Brandon Hightower got loose and crashed off Turn 4.

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.

First Chase Race For Jones, Dillon Ends In Trouble

Late in the race Erik Jones slips getting into Turn 3 and takes out fellow Chase contender, Ty Dillon, at Kentucky Speedway.

Jones 'I Just Couldn't Hang On To It'

Erik Jones discusses his race-ending mistake in the final laps at Kentucky Speedway, which collected fellow Chase driver, Ty Dillon.

ERIK JONES HOLDS OFF LARSON TO WIN AT CHICAGOLAND

Holding off a fast-charging Kyle Larson in the closing laps of Saturday's XFINTY Series' Drive for Safety 300, Erik Jones took his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to Victory Lane in the regular season finale at Chicagoland Speedway. Jones took the lead for good from JR Motorsports' Elliott Sadler with less than 10 laps remaining in the 200-lap event to post his fourth XFINITY Series win of the season.

Larson crossed the start-finish line second in his No. 42 Chevrolet, while Sadler came up third in the No. 1 Chevrolet. Joe Gibbs Racing's Daniel Suarez and JR Motorsports' Justin Allgaier completed the top 10.

Saturday's race at Chicagoland marked the final race before the inaugural XFINITY Series Chase playoffs, officially setting the 12-car field. Jones came out on top of the Chase Grid, followed by Sadler, Suarez, Allgaier, Ty Dillon, Brendan Gauaghan, Brennan Poole, Brandon Jones, Darrell Wallace Jr., Ryan Reed, Blake Koch and Ryan Sieg.

Friday night's Camping World Truck Series winner Kyle Busch nearly made it two-for-two at Chicagoland, dominating with a race-high 154 laps led. But a blown tire at Lap 182 sent Busch's No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota spinning and left him with little time to rebound, resulting in a 13th-place finish.

Reed brought out the fifth caution of the afternoon when his No. 16 Roush Fenway Racing Ford made contact with the wall after getting close to Larson's No. 42 Chevrolet. Having sustained right-front damage, the team elected to bring the car to the garage for repairs and Reed was ultimately scored 32nd.

The XFINITY Series returns to the track Sept. 24 at Kentucky Speedway (8 p.m. ET, NBCSN/PRN/SiriusXM) for the first race in the Chase.

This story will be updated.

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 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.

Rookies make NASCAR history with weekend sweep of national series

If it wasn’t for quite a bit of fog, last weekend’s slate of NASCAR action likely wouldn’t have been that different from many race weekends the last two decades.

Fog forced NASCAR to halt the Sprint Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway 22 laps from its scheduled distance, giving the win to Chris Buescher, one of the Rookie of the Year contenders. That sealed a milestone that had never been accomplished since the Camping World Truck Series debuted in 1995.

Buescher’s win meant Rookie of the Year contenders in all three national series – Sprint Cup, Xfinity and the Camping World Truck Series – swept the weekend.

The feat was started by William Byron, who won in the Truck series. It was his fifth win of the year, which set a Truck series record for rookies. Later Saturday night, Erik Jones led 154 laps at Iowa Speedway en route to winning his third race of the year.

Then Buescher’s team gambled on Monday during pit stops, putting his No. 34 Ford out front just in time for fog to cover all of Turn 1.

Buescher was the first rookie contender to win a Sprint Cup race since Joey Logano did at New Hampshire in 2009. Before that it had only been four times since 2005: Kyle Busch at Phoenix (2005), Denny Hamlin in Pocono I and II (2006) and Juan Pablo Montoya at Sonoma (2007).

Buescher’s win was also his first Sprint Cup top-10 finish, which came a week after his career-best finish of 14th at Indianapolis. The Prosper, Texas, native is one of just five drivers to have earned their first top 10 via a win.

Before him it was Trevor Bayne (2011), Brad Keselowski (2009), Jamie McMurray (2002) and Mark Donohue (1973).

Erik Jones fastest in third Xfinity practice at Kentucky

Erik Jones continues to flex his muscle at Kentucky Speedway as he paced the third practice session on Thursday afternoon with a lap of 187.800 mph. Daniel Suarez (187.396) and Kyle Busch (187.084) were the only other drivers to break the 187 mph mark as they clocked in second and third fastest. Ty Dillon (184.395) was fourth quick and Ryan Blaney (183.561), in a second Team Penske car, rounded out the top five.

Jones, Suarez, and Busch were also the fastest three in the previous session.

The Xfinity Series will have one final practice session at 7 p.m. with teams anticipating the weather conditions will mirror those expected at race time on Friday night.

Here are the speeds from the third session.

DeWalt expands sponsorship with Joe Gibbs Racing

Joe Gibbs Racing announced Thursday that DeWalt will be the primary sponsor for 15 NASCAR Sprint Cup races next season for the No. 20 team for Joe Gibbs Racing.

Matt Kenseth‘s team needed sponsorship after Dollar General announced May 23 that it was not returning to the sport.

“I’m looking forward to getting the DeWalt colors back to victory lane,” Kenseth said at Daytona International Speedway.

Car owner Joe Gibbs was asked if this meant a contract extension for Kenseth. Gibbs said: “Our plan is Matt is going to retire here.”

DeWalt also announced that it has added four races as primary sponsor for Kenseth’s No. 20 team this year — Chicago, Dover, Kansas and Homestead. DeWalt will provide primary sponsorship for six Xfinity races this season with Erik Jones and Daniel Suarez for Joe Gibbs Racing.

Gibbs said that the organization feels “pretty confident” about filling the remaining sponsorship gaps on Kenseth’s car for next season.

Kenseth enters Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400 — which can be seen on NBC — with a win and is 10th in the season standings. DeWalt is Kenseth’s sponsor this weekend and also will be on Jones’ car for Friday’s Xfinity race on NBCSN.

Erik Jones makes return to Truck series at Gateway

Thanks to a scheduling conflict for part-time driver Cody Coughlin, defending Camping World Truck Series champion Erik Joneswill make his first start of the season in the series this weekend at Gateway Motorsports Park.

Jones will start in the No. 51 Toyota due to Coughlin, Kyle Busch Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing agreeing Coughlin should devote his weekend to his championship efforts in the CRA Super Series (Super Late Model) and CRA/JEGS All-Star Tour (Pro Late Model).

The Drivin’ for Linemen 200 would have been Coughlin’s fourth of 11 scheduled starts this season. Instead Jones, a full-time driver in the Xfinity Series, will be in a truck for the first time since clinching the title at Homestead-Miami Speedway last November.

It will be Jones’ third start at Gateway. However, the 20-year-old failed to finish in his first two starts due to a crash and an electrical problem.

“It’s a place I took a liking to after making my first laps there in 2014,” Jones said in a press release. “We were really fast there the last two years, just didn’t have good endings. It’s always tough to pass there, so you need to qualify well and keep good track position if you are going to get a win.”

Jones did earn the pole at Gateway last year and led 84 laps before he dropped out of the race after 145 laps.

If Jones earns a win Saturday, it would be the 50th for Kyle Busch Motorsports. Of the 49 it has so far, Jones has been responsible for seven of them.

Jones is currently seventh in the Xfinity Series standings after earning two wins so far this season.

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