Starting Lineup
Cindric becomes first to win back-to-back in one series at same track in same weekend
Team Penske’s Austin Cindric not only broke through and got his first and second win of 2020, guaranteeing his spot in the Playoffs, but he also etched his names in the record books becoming the first driver in NASCAR national series history to win in consecutive days at the same track in the same series.
With two wins the 21-year old Cindric is now third in the NASCAR Xfinity Series driver standings, just 33 points back from Chase Briscoe in the series standings lead. Cindric’s victories also boosted his Playoff point total to 15 – third-most in the series. In 15 starts this season, the Mooresville, North Carolina native has racked up two wins (Kentucky sweep), nine top fives (tied with Briscoe for series-most), and 11 top 10s.
Expect Cindric to keep the pressure on his competitors this weekend as Texas Motor Speedway has been one of his better tracks. In four starts he has posted two top fives and three top 10s. Plus, he leads all drivers entered this weekend in average finish at Texas with a 6.5.
Six Pack: Five different winners in last five races
This weekend will be the 39th running of a NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Texas Motor Speedway. Interestingly, the last five series races at the track have had five different winners – Erik Jones (2017), Ryan Blaney (2018), Cole Custer (2018), Kyle Busch (2019) and Christopher Bell (2019). This weekend Kyle Busch is the only previous Texas winner entered in Saturday’s My Bariatric Solutions 300 (at 3 p.m. ET on NBCSN, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) putting the odds in the favor of the streak continuing.
The 38 previous NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Texas have produced 24 different poles winners and 19 different race winners. Not surprisingly the one who could end the different winners streak, the Joe Gibbs Racing superstar, Kyle Busch, leads the series in just about every significant stat at Texas – poles (four), wins (nine), top fives (16), top 10s (17 – tied with Kevin Harvick and Matt Kenseth) and laps led (1,686).
This weekend’s race will be 200 laps (300 miles) and will be broken up into three stages. The first two stage will be 45 laps each and the final stage is 110 laps.
One driver to watch to keep the Xfinity different winners streak alive at Texas is Kaulig Racing’s Ross Chastain. The eighth generation watermelon famer turned NASCAR driver finished second in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff race at Texas Motor Speedway last season leading 29 laps in the race. Chastain is already having a strong start to his 2020 season; he is currently ranked fourth in the series driver standings – the highest ranked driver without a win. In 15 starts this season he has collected six top fives and 13 top 10s – both career-bests – including two runner-up finishes (Talladega, Pocono).
Sunoco Rookie Spotlight: JGR’s Riley Herbst grabs a gear
Sunoco Rookie of the Year
Rookies
Points
Harrison Burton
492
Riley Herbst
376
Jesse Little
274
Joe Graf Jr.
202
Myatt Snider
155
Kody Vanderwal
90
Kentucky Speedway was good to Joe Gibbs Racing’s Riley Herbst who won back-to-back Sunoco Rookie of the Race awards for finishing runner-up Thursday night (a career-best finish) and then 10th on Friday night. As a result, Herbst leap-frogged Ryan Sieg in the standings and is now in 10th, 69 points up on fellow Sunoco rookie Myatt Snider in 13th the first spot outside the Playoff cutoff.
The 21-year old is second in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings, 116 points back from Harrison Burton, who is currently in the rookie standings lead. In 15 starts this season, Herbst has put up two top fives and eight top 10s.
This will be Herbst’s series track debut at Texas Motor Speedway this weekend. Of the six rookies this season, Herbst’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Harrison Burton is the only one with previous Xfinity Series experience at the 1.5-mile track – he made his series track debut last November he started second and finished seventh.
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