• Wednesday, May 8th, 2024
• NASCAR Wire Service -

NASCAR Xfinity Series takes on Darlington Raceway

NASCAR Xfinity Series takes on Darlington Raceway

The NASCAR Xfinity Series was off last weekend but will be back in action this weekend at Darlington Raceway for the Crown Royal Purple Bag Project 200 on Saturday May 11 at 1:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Darlington Raceway nicknamed the track ‘too tough to tame,’ has hosted 67 Xfinity Series races, producing 36 different race winners and 32 different pole winners.

Of the 67 races, 15 have been won from the pole or first starting position, most recently by Denny Hamlin in 2017.

A few drivers have made a name for themselves at Darlington Raceway by leading the Xfinity Series in key statistical categories:

NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin leads the Xfinity Series with the most wins (eight), most poles (eight), most top fives (14), most top 10s (18), and most laps led (972) at Darlington.

Denny Hamlin: race record (141.355 mph) – 9/5/2015

Carl Edwards: qualifying record (176.994 mph) – 5/9/2008

Xfinity Series drivers will kick off their weekend on Friday, May 10 with practice at 5:05 p.m. ET followed by qualifying at 5:35 p.m. ET on FS1.

Darlington: The Track ‘Too Tough To Tame’… for some

Darlington Raceway may not be “too tough” for some drivers after all as three drivers in the field have conquered the 1.366-mile track and will be pushing to land themselves in Victory Lane yet again as they look to score their first win of the season – JR Motorsports teammates Justin Allgaier and Brandon Jones, and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cole Custer.

Allgaier is a force to be reckoned with at Darlington, with two wins (2021, 2022), seven top fives and 13 top 10s in his 17 starts. He’s had a string of strong finishes in his last six starts at the track, all in the top 10.

Jones’ win at Darlington came in 2020 after taking the lead from Ross Chastain in the final two laps. In his 12 starts, he’s posted one win (2020), two top fives and five top 10s.

Custer has never had a bad race at Darlington, posting a win in 2019 and a top five finish in four out of his five starts. His only finish outside the top five was in his debut at the track in 2017 where he finished ninth.

Throwin’ back at Darlington Raceway

This weekend is NASCAR’s official throwback weekend, and the Xfinity Series drivers are excited to show off their paint schemes at the track.

Take a look at the paint schemes that have been announced thus far:

Cole Custer’s No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford will pay homage to the 2006 car that Johnny Sauter drove for Haas CNC Racing in the Xfinity Series.

Riley Herbst’s No. 98 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford will be a throwback to his family’s racing history with Terrible Herbst Motorsports in the 1990s/early 2000s.

Justin Allgaier’s No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet will pay tribute to one of the first trucks, a 1948 REO, that BRANDT utilized during the early days of the company.

Sammy Smith’s No. 8 JR Motorsports Chevrolet will honor Harrold Annett and TMC’s first entry into motorsports with sprint car driver Mike Brooks.

Brandon Jones’ No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet will pay homage to Dale Earnhardt’s Jr. 2018 Hellmann’s primary.

Ryan Ellis’ No. 43 Alpha Prime Racing Chevrolet will honor Cole Trickle.

Brennan Poole’s No. 44 Alpha Prime Racing Chevrolet will pay homage to Kyle Petty’s iconic 1997 paint scheme at Darlington Raceway.

Parker Kligerman’s No. 48 Big Machine Racing Chevrolet will throw it back to team owner Scott Borchetta’s championship winning truck at Nashville, complete with a nod to his wife with the “Thanks Sandi” decal on the B post.

Sheldon Creed’s No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota will be a throwback to Off-Road truck legend Ivan Stewart.

Shane van Gisbergen’s No. 97 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet will honor Marcos Ambrose’s 2012 Watkins Glen win.

Jeremy Clements’ No. 51 Jeremy Clements Racing Chevrolet will pay tribute to Robert Pressley.

Painting the Playoff picture heading into Darlington

NASCAR Xfinity Series drivers have 10 races under their belts and the Playoff spots are slowly but surely being filled. Of the eight different winners in 10 races this season, only four of them have clinched their spot in the 2024 Playoffs by virtue of wins – Austin Hill (Daytona, Atlanta), Chandler Smith (Phoenix, Richmond), Sam Mayer (Texas), and Jesse Love (Talladega).

Chandler Smith currently holds the lead in the Xfinity Series points standings with 394 points. Although yet to post a win this season, Cole Custer is right on his tail, just one point back.

Sliding in at third is Austin Hill (-17) with his rookie Richard Childress Racing teammate Jesse Love right behind him in fourth (-57).

Also, searching for a win this season is series veteran Justin Allgaier, who sits in fifth in the standings with 313 points (-81). Riley Herbst (-91), AJ Allmendinger (-99) and Sheldon Creed (-117) assume the next three spots.

Parker Kligerman has had some solid finishes this season, putting him at ninth in the points standings with 261 points (-133). Anthony Alfredo (-147), Sammy Smith (-147) and Brandon Jones (-162) round out the top 12 in points with Ryan Sieg still in the Playoff hunt with 225 points and some near wins the last few weeks.

NASCAR Xfinity Series, Etc.

JR Motorsports adds six races to Carson Kvapil’s NXS schedule – Carson Kvapil will be running six additional NASCAR Xfinity Series races this season behind the wheel of the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet.

His first of the six races will be this weekend at Darlington Raceway, followed by New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Michigan International Speedway, again at Darlington in the fall, and then Talladega Superspeedway.

Kvapil has only made two starts thus far in the Xfinity Series at Martinsville and Dover, already making some impressive finishes (fourth and second, respectively).

Double duty at Darlington – Two Cup Series drivers will be double dipping this weekend at Darlington and will be competing for a win in the Xfinity Series’ Crown Royal Purple Bag Project 200 on Saturday – William Byron and John Hunter Nemechek.

Byron will be getting behind the wheel of the No. 17 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. This will be his second Xfinity Series start of the 2024 season and his second at Darlington in the series. His first was in 2017 where he posted a fifth-place finish.

Nemechek will pilot the No. 26 Sam Hunt Racing Toyota for his sixth Xfinity Series start of the 2024 season. In his five starts thus far, he’s posted one win (Las Vegas), two top fives and three top 10s.

He’s made five starts in the Xfinity Series at Darlington, posting three top fives, four top 10s and has won the pole twice (2023).

• Crown Royal Purple Bag Project 200
• Pole Winner: Cole Custer
• Age: 26
• Team: No 00 - Haas Automation Throwback Ford
• Owner: Stewart Haas Racing
• Crew Chief: Jonathan Toney
• Start positions set by NASCAR's Performance Metrics Qualifying (PMQ)
• Cole Custer won the Pole Award for the Crown Royal Purple Bag Project 200 by having the highest total PMQ
• PMQ is a total number calculated on four performance metrics from the previous race:
• 15% of the driver's fastest lap time position
• 25% of the driver's final race finish position
• 25% of the owner's final race position
• 35% of the Owner Points position

• Drivers Entered: 38
• Laps Scheduled: 147
• Margin of Victory: 03.407 Seconds
• Time of Race: 1 Hours 48 Minutes 58 Seconds
• Average Speed: 110.567
• Cautions: 5 for 31 laps
• Lead Changes: 5
• Green Flag Passes: 997 (8.6 passes per green flag lap)

• Crown Royal Purple Bag Project 200
• Race Winner: Justin Allgaier
• Age: 37
• Team : No 7 - BRANDT Heritage Chevrolet
• Owner: Kelley Earnhardt-Miller
• Crew Chief: James Pohlman
• Justin Allgaier won the Crown Royal Purple Bag Project 200, his 24th victory in 449 Xfinity Series races
• This is his first victory and fifth top-10 finish in 2024
• This is his third victory and 14th top-10 finish in 18 races at Darlington Raceway
• Austin Hill (second) posted his sixth top-10 finish in six races at Darlington Raceway It is his eighth top-10 finish in 2024
• Cole Custer (third) posted his sixth top-10 finish in six races at Darlington Raceway
• Jesse Love (eighth) was the highest finishing rookie
• Austin Hill leads the point standings by 3 points over Cole Custer