Erik Jones ran down Elliott Sadler with just nine laps remaining and then held off Kyle Larson to win the NASCAR Xfinity Series Drive for Safety 300. The victory sealed Ryan Sieg and Blake Koch as the last two drivers to claim the final positions in the Chase for the championship.
At the ripe age of 20, Erik Jones won his NASCAR Xfinity Series-high fourth triumph of 2016. The victory awarded Jones the top seed for the seven-race Chase. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver also claimed the Truck Series title a year ago. Next year he will move up to race with the big dogs in the Sprint Cup Series.
“It was tough,” said Erik Jones, who won for the second time at the 1.5-mile track and the fourth time in his rookie year. “We were in a good spot on tires, but we were also pretty far back. I think we restarted sixth there.
“I didn’t know if my Hisense Camry was going to have enough time to get back up to the front, but we had a really good restart and got clear to third and then just had to go chase Elliott down. It was a matter of time before we got around him. What an awesome day!” commented Jones.
Erik Jones has been the only Xfinity Series racer to have consistent success on the second-level circuit. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Daniel Suarez and Elliott Sadler are the only other full-time Xfinity Series competitors to win an event in 2016. Sadler finished in third. He was followed by Daniel Suarez in fourth and teammate Justin Allgaier rounded out the top five in fifth.
Sprint Cup champion Kyle Busch dominated most of the Drive for Safety 300 race. The defending Sprint Cup champion led 154 of the first 181 laps turned. To his dismay, Busch cut a rear tire and spun out. Clint Bowyer also regained the lead on the re-start with 14 laps to go before JR Motorsports Elliott Sadler blew by him.
Unfortunately, Clint Bowyer could not stave off the hard charging Erik Jones in the closing laps of the Drive for Safety 300. Bowyer, a former Xfinity Series champion, finished out his day in the sixth position. Furthermore, it was the salty veteran’s first time racing in an Xfinity Series event since 2012.
Kyle Busch, the top-seed in the Sprint Cup Chase this year, won the Truck Series race Friday night before failing a post-race inspection. He beat Jones off pit road during a green-flag stop with just over 40 laps remaining and held the lead after a later restart.
Rowdy Busch seemed to be off to his second win in as many days, until his tire blew. The veteran Xfinity driver recovered from his late race debacle to finish in 13th. When all was said and done, 11 different speedsters led at least one lap. As a result, the top eight drivers in the finishing order all found their way to the front.
Sprint Cup Series regular Kyle Larson, also overcame a pit road speeding penalty and finished second behind Erik Jones. It was the crafty youngsters eighth top five result in only 12 appearances this season. Larson led nine laps in his #42 ENEOS Chevrolet in the Drive for Safety 300 at Chicagoland Speedway on Saturday.
“I knew I could also get the top lane going, but I also knew when I got the top going, Erik would move up just when I got to him,” Larson said. “He did, but I also tried to carry a lot of throttle off of (Turn) 2 and maybe get a run on him, but I also got into the wall.”
Saturday’s Results for the Drive for Safety 300 at Chicagoland:
1. (5) Erik Jones, Toyota, 200 laps, 0 rating, 44 points.
2. (8) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 200, 0, 0.
3. (4) Elliott Sadler, Chevrolet, 200, 0, 39.
4. (2) Daniel Suarez, Toyota, 200, 0, 38.
5. (3) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 200, 0, 37.
6. (7) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 200, 0, 0.
7. (9) Joey Logano, Ford, 200, 0, 0.
8. (12) Brendan Gaughan, Chevrolet, 200, 0, 34.
9. (6) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 200, 0, 0.
10. (40) Brandon Jones, Chevrolet, 200, 0, 31.
11. (10) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 200, 0, 30.
12. (17) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 200, 0, 29.
13. (1) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 200, 0, 0.
14. (19) J.J. Yeley, Toyota, 200, 0, 27.
15. (13) Blake Koch, Chevrolet, 200, 0, 26.
16. (18) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 200, 0, 25.
17. (20) Ryan Preece, Chevrolet, 200, 0, 25.
18. (23) David Starr, Chevrolet, 199, 0, 23.
19. (26) Garrett Smithley, Chevrolet, 199, 0, 22.
20. (15) Darrell Wallace Jr, Ford, 198, 0, 21.
21. (11) Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, 198, 0, 20.
22. (21) Dakoda Armstrong, Toyota, 198, 0, 19.
23. (29) Martin Roy, Chevrolet, 198, 0, 18.
24. (25) B J McLeod, Ford, 197, 0, 17.
25. (22) Timmy Hill, Toyota, 196, 0, 0.
26. (31) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, 196, 0, 15.
27. (33) Ryan Ellis, Ford, 194, 0, 14.
28. (32) Ray Black Jr, Chevrolet, 184, 0, 13.
29. (34) Jordan Anderson, Chevrolet, transmission, 151, 0, 0.
30. (36) Mike Harmon, Dodge, fuelpump, 126, 0, 11.
31. (28) Jeff Green, Toyota, garage, 110, 0, 10.
32. (14) Ryan Reed, Ford, accident, 101, 0, 9.
33. (27) Travis Kvapil, Ford, engine, 82, 0, 0.
34. (35) Morgan Shepherd, Chevrolet, handling, 49, 0, 7.
35. (39) Spencer Boyd, Chevrolet, garage, 43, 0, 0.
36. (38) Dexter Bean, Chevrolet, reargear, 36, 0, 5.
37. (30) Derrike Cope, Chevrolet, accident, 27, 0, 4.
38. (37) Carl Long, Dodge, garage, 16, 0, 3.
39. (16) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, fuelpump, 9, 0, 2.
40. (24) Matt DiBenedetto, Toyota, electrical, 3, 0, 0.
RACE STATISTICS:
Average Speed of Race Winner: 120.576 mph.
Time of Race: 2 hours, 29 minutes 17 seconds
Margin of Victory: 0.392 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 8 for 38 laps.
Lead Changes: 22 among 11 drivers.
