The Auto Lotto 200 at New Hampshire Speedway is set to go off on Saturday, July 16th at 4:00 pm E.T. on the NBC Sports Network. NASCAR’s Kyle Busch once again looks to have his #18 NOS Toyota dialed in for the contest. Busch was second fastest in the first practice round and sat atop the board after the second.
He will begin the race out front after capturing his 53rd Xfinity Series pole position award. The defending Sprint Cup champion has won here in four of the last seven Xfinity Series races. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin won here last year from the pole position. He dominated the contest by leading 145 of the 200 laps turned and won by .512 seconds.
Erik Jones, Kyle Busch’s teammate, will start in the second spot for the Auto Lotto 200. Jones posted the fastest time in the first practice round and carried that speed over to qualifying. The rookie has already collected to wins on the 2016 season.
Furthermore, both races were Dash 4 Cash events that paid the driver $100,000 dollars for each victory. His first victory came at Bristol Motor Speedway in April and his second at Dover in May. Jones has found success on the smaller ovals this year and could give Kyle Busch all he can handle Saturday afternoon.
Full-time Sprint Cup driver Brad Keselowski sits behind Kyle Busch for the start of the Auto Lotto 200. Keselowski just captured his fourth Sprint Cup Series victory at Kentucky last weekend. The momentous driver raced his way to a third place result in last years event here. He is no stranger to victory lane at New Hampshire Speedway. Keselowski won here in 2012 and again in 2014.
Daniel Suarez will put the peddle to the metal out of the fourth spot when the green flag drops for the Auto Lotto 200. The third Joe Gibbs Racing teammate is currently the Xfinity Series points leader. Suarez finished in fifth in his most recent race at the speedway. Obviously, the three teammates sitting in the top five will be tough to navigate through on Saturday.
Alex Bowman rounds out the top five in the fifth qualifying position. The crafty driver will be pulling double duty this weekend. He will drive the #88 Genesis Break Light Chevrolet of JR Motorsports in the Xfinity contest. Bowman was ninth fastest in the opening practice round and improved to sixth in the second.
The following day he will also buckle up in Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s #88 Sprint Cup hot-rod for the main event. Earnhardt Jr. was not cleared to compete on Sunday due to a concussion he suffered in last week’s race at Kentucky. As a result, Bowman will try to lead the Hendricks Motorsport’s car to glory on Sunday.
Elliott Sadler, Alex Bowman’s teammate, is slated in the sixth starting position. Another JR Motorsports speedster will look to make his way past the Joe Gibbs Racing trio ahead of him. Sadler did not compete in last years Xfinity Series event at New Hampshire but has plenty of experience behind the wheel at the track. The veteran showed plenty of speed in the practice rounds by landing inside the top ten on both occasions.
Austin Dillon and his little brother Ty Dillon sit in the seventh and tenth spots for the start of the Auto Lotto 200. Big brother posted the fourth fastest time in the second practice round and little brother finished in second. Both drivers finished in the top ten in last years contest. Austin Dillon was runner-up to Denny Hamlin’s dominate performance.
Ty Dillon showed consistent speed but failed to lead a lap in last year’s race. He crossed the finish line with a sixth place performance. Both brothers will also work together to get themselves up front and into the clean air. Ty Dillon currently sits third in the Xfinity Series points race and desperately needs to capture a win. As a result, he would guarantee himself a place in the Xfinity Series playoffs.
2016 NASCAR Xfintiy Series Points Standings:
1. Daniel Suarez 8 537 0 0 16 1 1 7 13 1 1 0
2. Elliott Sadler 7 528 -9 -9 16 0 1 5 13 0 2 0
3. Ty Dillon 5 518 -19 -10 16 1 0 5 10 0 3 0
4. Erik Jones # 15 480 -57 -38 16 5 2 9 10 2 6 2
5. Brendan Gaughan 4 477 -60 -3 16 0 0 2 7 0 5 0
6. Justin Allgaier 3 472 -65 -5 16 1 0 6 12 2 4 -2
7. Brandon Jones # 2 459 -78 -13 16 0 0 0 7 0 7 0
8. Brennan Poole # 3 454 -83 -5 16 0 0 1 7 1 8 0
9. Darrell Wallace Jr 3 430 -107 -24 16 0 0 3 6 1 9 0
10. Ryan Reed 1 378 -159 -52 16 0 0 0 1 1 10 0
11. Ryan Sieg 0 371 -166 -7 16 0 0 1 2 0 11 0
12. Blake Koch 1 368 -169 -3 16 0 0 0 2 1 12 0
13. Ross Chastain 3 354 -183 -14 16 0 0 0 0 0 13 0
14. Jeremy Clements 1 331 -206 -23 16 0 0 1 1 2 14 0
15. Dakoda Armstrong 0 324 -213 -7 16 0 0 0 0 1 15 0
16. Jj Yeley 1 298 -239 -26 15 0 0 0 0 2 16 0
17. Garrett Smithley # 0 287 -250 -11 15 0 0 0 0 0 17 0
18. Ryan Preece # 1 268 -269 -19 16 0 0 0 0 4 19 1
19. Jeb Burton 1 260 -277 -8 11 0 0 0 1 1 18 -1
20. Ray Black Jr # 2 224 -313 -36 16 0 0 0 0 3 20 0
21. Bj McLeod # 0 214 -323 -10 16 0 0 0 0 4 21 0
22. Joey Gase 0 203 -334 -11 16 0 0 0 0 3 22 0
23. Justin Marks 0 167 -370 -36 9 0 0 0 0 3 25 2
24. David Starr 0 146 -391 -21 9 0 0 0 0 3 26 2
25. Mario Gosselin 0 144 -393 -2 11 0 0 0 0 2 23 -2
26. Alex Bowman 2 141 -396 -3 4 1 0 2 4 0 24 -2
27. Mike Harmon 0 113 -424 -28 13 0 0 0 0 2 28 1
28. Harrison Rhodes 0 111 -426 -2 10 0 0 0 0 4 27 -1
29. Jeff Green 3 109 -428 -2 14 0 0 0 1 12 29 0
30. Derrike Cope 0 98 -439 -11 12 0 0 0 0 3 30 0
31. Ryan Ellis 0 87 -450 -11 7 0 0 0 0 1 31 0
32. Corey Lajoie 0 74 -463 -13 4 0 0 0 0 1 32 0
33. Drew Herring 0 62 -475 -12 3 0 0 0 0 1 33 0
34. Todd Peck 0 62 -475 0 8 0 0 0 0 3 34 0
35. Benny Gordon 0 51 -486 -11 3 0 0 0 0 1 35 0
36. Tj Bell 0 50 -487 -1 4 0 0 0 0 0 42 6
37. Alex Guenette 0 49 -488 -1 4 0 0 0 0 1 43 6
38. Carl Long 0 49 -488 0 9 0 0 0 0 7 36 -2
39. Morgan Shepherd 2 49 -488 0 12 0 0 0 0 12 39 0
40. Martin Roy 0 48 -489 -1 4 0 0 0 0 1 37 -3
41. Sam Hornish Jr. 5 45 -492 -3 1 0 1 1 1 0 38 -3
42. Brandon Gdovic 0 38 -499 -7 2 0 0 0 0 0 40 -2
43. Chris Cockrum 0 38 -499 0 4 0 0 0 0 2 41 -2
44. Cody Ware 0 34 -503 -4 5 0 0 0 0 3 44 0
45. Scott Lagasse Jr. 0 28 -509 -6 2 0 0 0 0 0 45 0
46. Dylan Lupton 0 27 -510 -1 2 0 0 0 0 1 46 0
47. Bobby Gerhart 0 27 -510 0 3 0 0 0 0 1 47 0
48. Brandon McReynolds 0 18 -519 -9 1 0 0 0 0 0 48 0
