Why NASCAR fans shouldn’t switch off this weekend
Yes, the Cup cars are taking a break but both the Xfinity and Trucks are at road courses - two races you won't want to miss.
Ryan Blaney wins ahead of German Quiroga
NASCAR Media
No Sprint Cup Series race this weekend? No problem.
NASCAR takes its Xfinity and Camping World Truck series on the road – literally – during the Cup series’ final off-weekend of the season.
The Xfinity series competes at 3 p.m. ET Saturday at Road America (NBC Sports Network) while the Truck series heads north of the border for the Chevrolet Silverado 250 at 1:30 p.m. ET Sunday at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park (Fox Sports 1).
Points tighten in Xfinity race
When Chris Buescher faltered with a fuel-pickup problem on the green-white-checkered restart last weekend at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, the Xfinity points leader faded to an 11th-place finish.
Ty Dillon motored to a third-place showing, closing the gap between the two to just 19 points headed into this weekend’s race.
Buescher’s slide could continue as he struggled in his only start at Road America last season. He started ninth but finished 18th. Dillon also struggled, starting seventh but finishing 19th.
Cup series regular and Wisconsin native Paul Menard is competing in Saturday’s race, driving Richard Childress Racing’s No. 33 Chevrolet.
Chances are the series will see a new winner at the track – only one former winner is entered, last year’s winner, Brendan Gaughan.
Mosport stop in Trucks could send points race wide open
Current Trucks points leader Tyler Reddick has never raced at a road course. Erik Jones started and finished third in his lone start at Mosport last season. Two-time series champion Matt Crafton has finishes of sixth (2014) and 10th (2013) in his two starts on the road course.
If Reddick or Jones, both 19, were to win the championship, they would become the youngest Truck title winner in its history, supplanting Austin Dillon, who accomplished the feat in 2011 at the age of 21 years, 6 months and 22 days.
Crafton is chasing his third consecutive Trucks championship. Last year, he became the first driver to successfully defend a series title.
Alex Tagliani, who won the pole for this race a year ago, returns to compete again driving the No. 29 Ford for Brad Keselowski Racing. He finished 16th in the race. Tagliani finished second to winner Regan Smith in this year’s Xfinity Series race at Mid-Ohio.
Gray Gaulding will make his debut for Kyle Busch Motorsports this weekend, driving the No. 54 Toyota. Gaulding, 17, started second and finished fourth in last season’s race at Mosport.
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