Photo Credit: Noel Lanier
Erik Jones proved this past weekend that the Sprint Cup Series drivers can be beat in the XFINITY Series as he held off Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson en route to scoring his first victory of the year, and locking himself into the XFINITY Chase. Oh, and he took home the $100,000 Dash for Cash bonus in the process.
Jones has a good chance of going back-to-back like his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Busch did earlier this year with three in a rows. The youngster has the best average finish of all drivers at Richmond International Speedway, with a 4.5, after finishes of fourth and fifth in his first two starts. He has also been each weekend this year, posting five top-fives in seven starts to currently sit second in points.
With another $100,000 up for grabs this weekend virtue of the D4C program, who has the best shot of taking it home, and possibly beating the Cup regulars in the process?
Justin Allgaier has been consistent this year so far with JR Motorsports as he hasn’t finished outside of the top-12 all season, with a top-10 in each of the last six races. He is also coming off of a strong finish at Bristol Motor Speedway after finishing fifth, notably the second best series regular. Richmond hasn’t been the best track for him in the past, though, as he has only three top-10s in 10 starts, highlighted by a third place finish in 2011.
Daniel Suarez currently leads the points standings, six points ahead of Jones. He has been solid so far this season, posting six top-10s in the first seven races this season. Though like Allgaier, the Virginia based track hasn’t treated him well in the past with only one top-10 in three past starts.
“I’m looking forward to Richmond and the second Dash 4 Cash race of the season,” he said. “I think it’s a great program that XFINITY has put together and one the fans seem to really enjoy! We’ve had decent runs at Richmond over the past couple of years, and I’m looking forward to continuing the hot start our Juniper Networks team has had so far in 2016 and qualifying for the Dash 4 Cash again. This is a big race weekend for our Toyota Racing family and I would like nothing more than to deliver them a win on Saturday afternoon!”
Ty Dillon knows how to run well at Richmond as he has posted a top-10 finish in each of his last three starts. He’s also done well so far this year, with four top-10 finishes. Notably, he wasn’t a threat last weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway, though, running in the back half of the top-10 much of the race en route to finishing seventh.
“Richmond may be one of the most challenging short tracks on the NASCAR circuit mainly because the two ends of the race track are very different,” he noted. “It takes every minute of practice to get our car’s balance to where we need it to be. The racing is always great because of the high-speeds and difficulty it takes to pass. You really need to be on your game during the race and be able to communicate well with your crew chief to make the right adjustments.”
Richard Childress Racing could have a pair of drivers at the front when the race is over, as the other Jones – Brandon Jones – may be up front with Dillon when the race is over. Brandon has been impressive so far this season, turning a lot of heads in his first full season behind the wheel of an XFINITY Series car with four top-10s so far this season. Unfortunately, Bristol didn’t go as he would’ve hoped, though, as he finished 11th.
“It’s hard to transition from the smaller motor in the K&N Pro Series East car to the bigger motor and additional horsepower that we run in the NASCAR XFINITY Series,” he commented of his yearso far. “There’s a bit of a difference in the aero packages as well. It really helps that I’ve run laps at Richmond before, even in a different series. That in itself is an advantage. I think we’ll already be a step ahead of where we would be if I hadn’t run a few races here. I won’t need to use the first practice to learn the track. I already have a good understanding of the line and can really focus on the balance of the car.”
Until Bristol, it looked as though Elliott Sadler may be one of the first drivers to break through as he hadn’t finished outside of the top-10 in the first six races. Unfortunately, it was the half-mile that ended his string as he finished 15th after dealing with an ill-handling car throughout the weekend. Richmond also isn’t the best track for him to head to, either, as he has failed to finish in the top-10 the past two seasons. Before that, though, he did have a string of four straight top-10 finishes.
Darrell Wallace Jr. is also hoping to get his season back on track as he had a tire issue, resulting in a 25th place finish. Certainly a pair of finishes outside of the top-10 in the last two weeks aren’t how he wanted to have his year go after finishing third at Auto Club Speedway. Breaking into the top-10 would certainly be a feat this weekend for Wallace, though, as he hasn’t posted a top-10 at Richmond in the past two years.
“Richmond is always a fun track to race on,” he commented. “It has a lot of character to it and I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do with our Ford EcoBoost Mustang on Saturday afternoon.”
While this group seems poised for success, there are a pair of drivers that could shake things up – Matt Tifft and Cole Custer.
Tifft will be making his first start of the season behind the wheel of the No. 18 for Joe Gibbs Racing, the same car and team that Busch won three races in a row with. Tifft has ran three races so far this season with JGL Racing, posting a best finish of 20th at Texas Motor Speedway. He could easily break into the top-10 this weekend.
Cole Custer will be making his XFINITY Series debut for JR Motorsports in a fourth car for the organization. Custer has impressed so far in the Camping World Truck Series, posting two wins and 10 top-10s in 22 starts. It’ll be interesting to see how the youngster transitions from a truck to a car this weekend.
