The Alsco 300 is set to go off July 8th at 8:30 pm E.T. on NBC Sports Network. Brad Keselowski is the race’s defending champion. He will look to make it two in a row at Kentucky Speedway on Friday night. The NASCAR full-timer held off Joe Gibbs Racing’s Erik Jones and Kyle Busch to drive on to victory. Keselowski will look to build off his dominate performance in at Daytona International Speedway in the Sprint Cup series.
Erik Jones came up one spot short of winning his first race at Kentucky Speedway last year. Jones led 22 laps in the contest and is fast once again. The up and comer posted the fastest time in the second practice round on Thursday. His speed of 186.245 miles per hour was clearly the fastest speed on the track. It looks as though Joe Gibbs Racing is dialed in again for the Alsco 300. All three of the drivers posted the top three practice times in the second round.
Daniel Suarez powered his #19 Arris Toyota to the second fastest time in practice. The Mexican born driver knows how to get himself around the 1.5 mile paved oval in Kentucky. He finished just behind Kyle Busch for a fourth place finish in last years event. Suarez is also the current Xfinity Series points leader and looks to build on that lead with his performance on Friday evening.
Defending Sprint Cup champion Kyle Busch will once again get behind the wheel of a Xfinity Series hot-rod. Busch came up short last night when he was spun into the wall in the Camping World Truck Series event. As a result, his teammate William Byron took home the record setting 51st win for Kyle Busch Motorsports.
The #18 Nos Energy Drink Toyota piloted by Busch, was third fastest in the second practice round. Now that the NASCAR stand-out’s truck series record is in the bag, he can go all out for victory in the Alsco 300. “Rowdy” has to be on the top of enthusiast’s lists to drive on to victory lane tonight.
Last years race winner Brad Keselowski will look to make it two in a row at Kentucky Speedway in the Alsco 300. The Penske owned driver led 72 laps of the 200 turned the last time he sat behind the wheel of an Xfinity car at this venue.
Keselowski will have his work cut out for him on Friday night in the Alsco 300. All of the Joe Gibbs Racing teammates seem to have figured out the new pavement at the upgraded track. His #22 Discount Tire Ford sped off to the fourth fastest time in the second round of practice.
JR Motorsport’s Elliott Sadler will hope to gain some ground on the Xfinity Series points leader Daniel Suarez. He currently sits second in the Xfinity Series point standings, just six back of the leader. Sadler drove his One Main Chevrolet to a fifth place finish in last years contest at Kentucky.
The savvy veteran was just a little better than average in the second round of practice. He posted the 12th best time but only turned 17 laps during the warm-up. Sadler also breached the top ten times in the first practice heat for the Alsco 300.
Ty Dillon hopes to move out of the third spot in the Xfintiy Series point chase in the Alsco 300. Dillon found a way to led 15 laps in the last event here but was caught in the middle for the race’s re-start and settled for a 15th place finish. Furthermore, Dillon drove his Red Kap/Alsco Chevolet to the fourth fastest time in the first go around of practice. His times dipped off a bit in the second round but it’s clear Dillon will be fast in tonight’s race.
There is a good mix of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series regulars and Xfinity Series hot-shots among the fastest drivers. Judging from the Camping World Truck Series that was ran last night, there should be plenty of competitive racing. The new speed acquired coming out of Turn 2 should make for some interesting entries into Turn 3.
The drivers need to make adjustments on the fly after rubber has been laid down over the course of the race. The competitor’s that can do that the best will have their car set up for success in the closing laps of the Alsco 300 at Kentucky Speedway.
2016 Xfinity Series Point Standings:
1. Daniel Suarez 8 499 0 0 15 1 1 6 12 1 1 0
2. Elliott Sadler 7 493 -6 -6 15 0 1 5 12 0 2 0
3. Ty Dillon 4 483 -16 -10 15 1 0 5 9 0 3 0
4. Justin Allgaier 3 462 -37 -21 15 0 0 6 12 2 4 0
5. Brendan Gaughan 4 449 -50 -13 15 0 0 2 7 0 6 1
6. Erik Jones # 14 442 -57 -7 15 4 2 8 9 2 7 1
7. Brandon Jones # 2 429 -70 -13 15 0 0 0 7 0 5 -2
8. Brennan Poole # 3 422 -77 -7 15 0 0 1 6 1 8 0
9. Darrell Wallace Jr. 3 394 -105 -28 15 0 0 2 5 1 9 0
10. Ryan Reed 1 366 -133 -28 15 0 0 0 1 1 10 0
11. Ryan Sieg 0 350 -149 -16 15 0 0 1 2 0 12 1
12. Blake Koch 1 341 -158 -9 15 0 0 0 2 1 11 -1
13. Ross Chastain 2 334 -165 -7 15 0 0 0 0 0 13 0
14. Jeremy Clements 1 306 -193 -28 15 0 0 1 1 2 14 0
15. Dakoda Armstrong 0 301 -198 -5 15 0 0 0 0 1 15 0
16. Jj Yeley 1 274 -225 -27 14 0 0 0 0 2 17 1
17. Garrett Smithley # 0 270 -229 -4 14 0 0 0 0 0 18 1
18. Jeb Burton 1 260 -239 -10 11 0 0 0 1 1 16 -2
19. Ryan Preece # 1 242 -257 -18 15 0 0 0 0 4 19 0
20. Ray Black Jr. # 1 201 -298 -41 15 0 0 0 0 3 20 0
21. Bj McLeod # 0 196 -303 -5 15 0 0 0 0 4 21 0
22. Joey Gase 0 189 -310 -7 15 0 0 0 0 3 22 0
23. Mario Gosselin 0 144 -355 -45 11 0 0 0 0 2 24 1
24. Alex Bowman 2 141 -358 -3 4 1 0 2 4 0 23 -1
25. Justin Marks 0 138 -361 -3 8 0 0 0 0 3 25 0
26. David Starr 0 126 -373 -12 8 0 0 0 0 3 26 0
27. Harrison Rhodes 0 108 -391 -18 9 0 0 0 0 3 27 0
28. Mike Harmon 0 102 -397 -6 12 0 0 0 0 2 28 0
29. Jeff Green 2 100 -399 -2 13 0 0 0 1 11 30 1
30. Derrike Cope 0 92 -407 -8 11 0 0 0 0 2 29 -1
31. Ryan Ellis 0 87 -412 -5 7 0 0 0 0 1 33 2
32. Corey Lajoie 0 74 -425 -13 4 0 0 0 0 1 31 -1
33. Drew Herring 0 62 -437 -12 3 0 0 0 0 1 32 -1
34. Todd Peck 0 55 -444 -7 7 0 0 0 0 2 34 0
35. Benny Gordon 0 51 -448 -4 3 0 0 0 0 1 43 8
36. Carl Long 0 49 -450 -2 9 0 0 0 0 7 35 -1
37. Martin Roy 0 48 -451 -1 4 0 0 0 0 1 36 -1
38. Sam Hornish Jr. 5 45 -454 -3 1 0 1 1 1 0 37 -1
39. Morgan Shepherd 2 45 -454 0 11 0 0 0 0 11 40 1
40. Brandon Gdovic 0 38 -461 -7 2 0 0 0 0 0 38 -2
