After a race that saw JR Motorsports’ Justin Allgaier land in Victory Lane for the first time this season, the NASCAR Xfinity Series will be taking the week off before heading back to the action at Charlotte Motor Speedway for the BetMGM 300 on Saturday, May 25 at 1 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Charlotte Motor Speedway has hosted 78 NASCAR Xfinity Series races, producing 39 different race winners and 50 different pole winners. Thirteen races have been won from the pole or first starting position, most recently by Justin Allgaier in last year’s race.
NASCAR Cup Series two-time champion, Kyle Busch, holds many Xfinity Series records at Charlotte Motor Speedway, including most wins (nine), most top fives (19), most top 10s (22), laps led (1,475) and lead lap finishes (22).
A few others have also etched their names in the Charlotte Motor Speedway record book:
- Race record: Mark Martin – 155.799 mph
- Qualifying record: Jimmie Johnson – 187.735 mph
- Most poles: Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth – four
Drivers will kick off the fun with practice at 3:35 p.m. ET followed by qualifying at 4:05 p.m. ET on Friday, May 24.
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Next Race: BetMGM 300
The Place: Charlotte Motor Speedway
Track Length: 1.5 Mile Asphalt Oval
The Date: Saturday, May 25
The Time: 1 p.m. ET
The Purse: $1,383,384
TV: FOX, 12:30 p.m. ET
Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 300 miles (200 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 45),
Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 90), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 200)
Xfinity Series Playoff Outlook: Who’s in following Darlington?
The NASCAR Xfinity Series is now 11 races in and with a win by Justin Allgaier last weekend at Darlington Raceway, another Playoff spot has been claimed. With five drivers locked in by virtue of their wins, which leaves just seven spot still up for grabs when the series returns at Charlotte.
Let’s take a look at who’s in and who is still in the hunt:
| NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff Projection Following Darlington Raceway – 5/11/2024 | |||||||
| Rank | Driver | Points | Starts | Race Wins | Stage Wins | Playoff Pts | +/- Cutoff |
| 1 | Austin Hill | 430 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 12 | In On Wins |
| 2 | Chandler Smith | 425 | 11 | 2 | 3 | 13 | |
| 3 | Jesse Love # | 373 | 11 | 1 | 4 | 9 | |
| 4 | Justin Allgaier | 373 | 11 | 1 | 6 | 11 | |
| 5 | Sam Mayer | 264 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 5 | |
| 6 | Cole Custer | 427 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 177 |
| 7 | Riley Herbst | 337 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 87 |
| 8 | AJ Allmendinger | 309 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 59 |
| 9 | Sheldon Creed | 306 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 56 |
| 10 | Parker Kligerman | 306 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 56 |
| 11 | Anthony Alfredo | 270 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| 12 | Brandon Jones | 262 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| 13 | Sammy Smith | 250 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -12 |
| 14 | Ryan Sieg | 249 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -13 |
| 15 | Shane Van Gisbergen # | 235 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -27 |
| 16 | Brennan Poole | 213 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -49 |
| 17 | Parker Retzlaff | 191 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -71 |
| 18 | Leland Honeyman # | 170 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -92 |
| 19 | Jeremy Clements | 166 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -96 |
| 20 | Josh Williams | 160 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -102 |
| 21 | Jeb Burton | 155 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -107 |
| 22 | Kyle Weatherman | 150 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -112 |
| 23 | Ryan Ellis | 141 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -121 |
| 24 | Blaine Perkins | 127 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -135 |
| 25 | Hailie Deegan # | 122 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -140 |
No pain, no gain: Xfinity Series drivers running at North Wilkesboro
Although the NASCAR Xfinity Series has the weekend off, there are a few drivers who will be using the weekend to get some extra seat time at North Wilkesboro Speedway.
Kaulig Racing’s AJ Allmendinger will be joining in on the All-Star fun and competing in Sunday night’s race behind the wheel of the No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet. With his win at the Charlotte ROVAL last season, he is eligible to run in the All-Star Race. Although he did not compete in last year’s All-Star Race, he did run in the All-Star Open where he finished fifth.
JR Motorsports’ Sammy Smith will be getting behind the wheel of the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet for the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race on Saturday night in the Wright Brand 250. This will be his second start in the series this season. His first was earlier this year at Martinsville where he finished eighth.
Part-time Joe Gibbs Racing driver Aric Almirola will also be joining in on the Truck Series action at North Wilkesboro, piloting the No. 16 Toyota for Hattori Racing Enterprises. This will mark his first CRAFTSMAN Truck Series start since the 2012 season.