The NASCAR Xfinity Series will have a two-week break before making its way back to the track on June 25 at Nashville Superspeedway for the Tennessee Lottery 250 at 3:30 p.m. ET on USA Network, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR radio – the 15th race of the season.
Drivers are coming off an inaugural race at Portland International Raceway that saw AJ Allmendinger etch his name in the history books as the track’s first-ever Xfinity Series winner. The win marked his 12th overall in the Xfinity Series and his eighth series victory on a road course – the most all-time in the series.
Myatt Snider, who got started in the Xfinity Series in 2020 after four years in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, posted his best finish this season thus far – runner up. Although Snider isn’t having quite the year he was hoping for, he might just be developing a knack for road courses as his next best finish this season was at COTA (sixth).
Fans saw Austin Hill and JR Motorsports teammates Josh Berry and Justin Allgaier round out the top five at Portland.
All five of these drivers will head into Nashville Superspeedway with at least one race under their belt and all but one has posted a top-10 finish at the 1.33-mile track. But if there’s any speculation on who could possibly head to Victory Lane on June 25 at Nashville, Allgaier would be at the top of the list.
Allgaier has seven starts at Nashville Superspeedway putting up four top fives and four top 10s; including a second-place finish last season.
Nashville Superspeedway has hosted 22 NASCAR Xfinity Series races producing 15 different pole winners and 14 different race winners. Carl Edwards leads the series in wins at Nashville Superspeedway with five victories (2006, 2007 sweep, 2011 sweep).
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch won last season’s Xfinity Series race at Nashville.
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Next Race: Tennessee Lottery 250
The Place: Nashville Superspeedway
The Date: Saturday, June 25
The Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
The Purse: $1,319,713
TV: USA, 3 p.m. ET
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 250.04 miles (188 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 45),
Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 90), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 188)
Playoff Bubble: Who’s In?
We’re 14 races in and seven drivers have already clinched their spots in this season’s Playoffs with their respective wins – Ty Gibbs, Noah Gragson, AJ Allmendinger, Justin Allgaier, Brandon Jones and Austin Hill – leaving just five spots up for grabs.
Currently in the eighth position is JR Motorsports’ Sam Mayer with a 137-point cushion ahead of the Playoff cutoff. Although he has yet to post a win this season, don’t be surprised if he joins JRM teammates Gragson, Allgaier and Berry on this season’s winners list as he has posted seven top fives and eight top 10s thus far.
Sliding into the ninth-place position is Daniel Hemric with 389 points, one top five and six top 10s. Twenty three points behind Hemric sits Landon Cassill, who is having a career-year, with three top fives and seven top 10s.
Rounding out the last two slots in the current Playoff outlook are Stewart-Haas Racing’s Riley Herbst (77-point cushion ahead of the cutline) and RSS Racing’s Ryan Sieg (58-points above the cutline).
Herbst had rough finishes in the last two Xfinity Series races but was previously riding a streak of six consecutive top 10 finishes, so he still has plenty of time to get back on track. His best finish this season thus far was a third place at Darlington Raceway. Considering that Darlington Raceway and Nashville Superspeedway are almost identical in length, perhaps he’ll finally make his way to Victory Lane and clinch his spot in the Playoffs.
On the cusp of the postseason cutline is Anthony Alfredo in 13th, the first spot outside the Playoffs, but he’s 58 points behind Ryan Sieg in 12th. Alfredo scored his first career pole last weekend and is hoping to run well next when he makes his series track debut at Nashville. Alfredo is chasing Sieg in the points, and Sieg made his series track debut at Nashville last season posting a 16th-place finish.
NASCAR Xfinity Series, Etc.
Austin Hill is still the Xfinity Sunoco Rookie to beat – The 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year class now has 14 races under their belts heading into this two-week hiatus before Nashville Superspeedway.
Austin Hill has led the pack all season long and has already clinched his Playoff spot with his win in the season opener at Daytona. He currently sits with 416 points, one win, six top fives and seven top 10s. Sheldon Creed slides in next with 217 points and six top 10s.
Sitting in third is Kyle Sieg with 99 points, followed by Jesse Iwuji with 38 points.
