With a trip to New England in the rearview, the NASCAR Xfinity Series has its sights set on Music City this weekend for the Tennessee Lottery 250 on Saturday, June 29, at 5 p.m. ET on USA Network, the NBC Sports App, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
The 1.33-mile concrete track in Lebanon, Tennessee will be hosting its 25th NASCAR Xfinity Series race since opening in 2001. Throughout that span, there have been 17 different race winners and 16 different pole winners. Only three drivers have won from the pole or the first starting position, most recently by Kyle Busch in 2021.
Recent NASCAR Hall of Fame Inductee and 2007 NASCAR Xfinity Series Champion Carl Edwards holds multiple records at Nashville Superspeedway, including the most wins (five), most top fives (11), and most top 10s (12). Two-time NASCAR Cup Series champions Joey Logano and Kyle Busch are each tied for the most poles won at Nashville with three a piece.
This weekend’s slate of on-track action all takes place on Saturday, June 29, beginning with practice at 12:05 p.m. ET followed by qualifying at 12:45 p.m. ET on USA Network and streaming on the NBC Sports App.
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Next Race: Tennessee Lottery 250
The Place: Nashville Superspeedway
Track Length: 1.33 Mile Concrete Oval
The Date: Saturday, June 29
The Time: 5 p.m. ET
The Purse: $1,420,381
TV: USA, 4:30 p.m. ET
Radio: PRN, 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)
Past guitar winners at Nashville Superspeedway’s Victory Lane
Only two drivers entered in the Tennessee Lottery 250 this weekend have had the privilege of holding the signature electric guitar trophy in Victory Lane – Justin Allgaier and AJ Allmendinger.
Saturday’s race will mark the 10th start for Allgaier at Nashville Superspeedway. In his nine previous starts, he’s garnered one win, five top fives, five top 10s, and one pole while leading 203 laps and completing 1,918 of the 1,923 total laps ran.
Allmendinger returns to Nashville as the reigning winner of last year’s race. In just three previous starts coinciding with NASCAR’s return to Nashville after a 10-year hiatus, he has accumulated a win, two top fives, and two top 10s while completing all but one lap.
Xfinity Series drivers to watch: Nashville edition
As Justin Allgaier and AJ Allmendinger look to repeat their success at Nashville, others will also be vying to earn their first victory in Music City.
Making his first Xfinity Series start of 2024 will be the 2018 and 2019 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Tyler Reddick for Sam Hunt Racing. Reddick, driving the No. 26 car this weekend, made just two starts last season with a 36th-place finish at Fontana and a 13th-place outing at Las Vegas. Having never ran a Xfinity car at Nashville prior to Saturday’s event, Reddick will seek to become the third full-time Cup driver to steal a win in the Xfinity Series in the last four races (Kyle Busch; 2021 and AJ Allmendinger; 2023) while also looking to earn the first win in team history for Sam Hunt Racing.
While remaining atop the NASCAR Xfinity Series points standings, last year’s champion Cole Custer comes into Nashville still winless in 2024. However, the driver of the No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford has good reason to remain positive as his previous trip to the track involved a pole win and 32 laps led. Looking to build off of last year’s ninth-place result, expect Custer to be in the mix and try to earn Ford their first victory at Nashville since Carl Edwards in 2011.
Custer’s Stewart-Haas Racing teammate, Riley Herbst, finished runner-up in last year’s event and hopes to end one spot better at the conclusion of Saturday night. In his three starts at Nashville, the No. 98 pilot has two top fives and three top 10s with an average finish of fifth and a result no worse than 10th. Still looking to get into the win column in 2024, watch for Herbst to place together another strong run enroute to a Playoff berth.
Xfinity Series Playoff picture following New Hampshire
With NASCAR Cup Series regular Christopher Bell taking the checkered flag for Joe Gibbs Racing in last weekend’s Xfinity Series event, six spots still remain to clinch a berth in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs with just 10 races left in the regular season.
Six drivers including Chandler Smith, Austin Hill, Sam Mayer, Shane van Gisbergen, Justin Allgaier, and Jesse Love have each earned a spot in the Playoff grid by virtue of wins this season.
Drivers Cole Custer (points leader with 589), Sheldon Creed (+100 to the cutoff), Riley Herbst (+94), AJ Allmendinger (+59), Parker Kligerman (+52), and Sammy Smith (+31) currently hold the six remaining spots to fill out the rest of the Playoff picture, respectively.
On the outside looking in, Ryan Sieg (-31), Anthony Alfredo (-71), and Brandon Jones (-82) currently serve as the first three drivers below the postseason cut line.
| Rank | Driver | Points | Starts | Race Wins | Stage Wins | Playoff Pts | +/- Cutoff |
| 1 | Chandler Smith | 574 | 16 | 2 | 5 | 15 | In On Wins |
| 2 | Austin Hill | 521 | 16 | 2 | 2 | 12 | |
| 3 | Sam Mayer | 424 | 16 | 2 | 1 | 11 | |
| 4 | Shane Van Gisbergen # | 384 | 16 | 2 | 1 | 11 | |
| 5 | Justin Allgaier | 547 | 16 | 1 | 10 | 15 | |
| 6 | Jesse Love # | 466 | 16 | 1 | 4 | 9 | |
| 7 | Cole Custer | 589 | 16 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 205 |
| 8 | Sheldon Creed | 484 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 |
| 9 | Riley Herbst | 478 | 16 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 94 |
| 10 | AJ Allmendinger | 443 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 59 |
| 11 | Parker Kligerman | 436 | 16 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 52 |
| 12 | Sammy Smith | 415 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 |
| 13 | Ryan Sieg | 384 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -31 |
| 14 | Anthony Alfredo | 344 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -71 |
| 15 | Brandon Jones | 333 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -82 |
| 16 | Brennan Poole | 293 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -122 |
| 17 | Parker Retzlaff | 287 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -128 |
| 18 | Josh Williams | 251 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -164 |
| 19 | Jeremy Clements | 244 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -171 |
| 20 | Leland Honeyman # | 228 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -187 |
| 21 | Jeb Burton | 212 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -203 |
| 22 | Kyle Weatherman | 211 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -204 |
| 23 | Ryan Ellis | 207 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -208 |
| 24 | Blaine Perkins | 177 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -238 |
| 25 | Hailie Deegan # | 165 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -250 |
NASCAR Xfinity Series, Etc.
Noah Gragson to make second Xfinity start of the season – Noah Gragson will make his second NASCAR Xfinity Series start of 2024 this weekend at Nashville Superspeedway driving the No. 30 Ford Mustang for Rette Jones Racing.
A prominent program in the ARCA Menard’s Series, Rette Jones Racing recently expanded its motorsports platform this year to run a part-time Xfinity schedule with Gragson. Back in May, the team made their first start in the BetMGM 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, coming away with a 10th-place finish.
Currently, Gragson and the team are also slated to race at Michigan International Speedway on August 17 and Darlington Raceway on August 31.
Carson Kvapil earns his fifth Xfinity start of 2024 – Carson Kvapil will be making another run behind the wheel of the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro at Nashville Superspeedway. It will mark the fifth start of the season for the 21-year-old second-generation driver after a fourth-place debut at Martinsville, a runner-up finish at Dover, a 19th-place outing at Darlington, and a fifth-place result last weekend at New Hampshire.
“It’s going to be cool to go to Nashville this weekend with this No. 88 Chevrolet team,” Kvapil said. “We’ve had some really good runs so far, been really competitive and had some opportunities to win races at Dover and New Hampshire, and I feel like we can do it again at Nashville.”
Earlier this week, it was also announced that Kvapil will be piloting the No. 88 for at least four more races this season. His remaining schedule includes trips to Indianapolis, Michigan, Darlington, and Talladega.
Ross Chastain to run for DGM Racing at Nashville – Last year’s Ally 400 winner Ross Chastain will be driving the No. 92 car for DGM Racing this weekend at Nashville Superspeedway. This will be his second start of the season after a ninth-place result at Iowa Speedway.
The Tennessee Lottery 250 will also be the first time Chastain has ever run an Xfinity car at Nashville Superspeedway, with three previous starts in the NASCAR Cup Series (including a win) and one start in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series in 2021.
Sunoco Rookie of the Year update – With 466 points, Jesse Love of Richard Childress Racing continues to hold strong as the leader of the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings for all of 2024. So far, he’s tallied one win, three top fives, and seven top 10s.
The only other rookie to reach Victory Lane this year, Shane Van Gisbergen, has done so twice and trails Love in the standings with 384 points.
Leland Honeyman has accumulated 228 points as of this weekend, while Hailee Deegan and Dawson Cram round out the rookie standings with 165 and 106 points to each other’s names, respectively.