With only seven races remaining to set the 12-driver NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff field, Saturday‘s BetRivers 200 (4:30 p.m. ET, The CW, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Dover Motor Speedway could play a big role in the championship outlook.
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Four teams are represented among the top five drivers in the championship standings, with reigning series champion, JR Motorsports‘ Justin Allgaier, holding a 59-point advantage over Haas Factory Team driver Sam Mayer atop the current rankings. Allgaier (2018 and 2020) joins two-time defending race winner Ryan Truex as the only multi-time race winners at the Dover mile.
But Mayer, who boasts an impressive 11 top-10 and eight top-five finishes through the first 19 races — his 15 top-15 showings are a season best — is hoping Dover‘s Monster Mile will be where he celebrates his first victory of the season. The 21-year-old Mayer was third in last year‘s race and is a perfect three-for-three in top-10 finishes there.
A victory for the Ford driver Mayer Saturday afternoon would halt a record 11-race winning streak for Chevrolet this season. The bowtie has won 17 of 19 races.
It‘s Joe Gibbs Racing, however, that boasts the most wins at Dover — 15. Its lineup of Xfinity Series championship hopefuls includes a pair of talented rookies in William Sawalich and Taylor Gray and along with veteran Brandon Jones and this week, former NASCAR Cup Series star Aric Almirola in the No. 19 JGR Toyota.
The three full-time drivers have all turned in standout summers with the rookie Sawalich coming off a career-best third-place showing on the Sonoma road course last week. Jones just scored his best two-stage efforts of the season at Sonoma. Gray arrives fresh off his ninth top-10 finish of the season in California and is a former ARCA Menards Series winner at Dover, leading 116 of 125 laps to win from pole position in 2022.
Interestingly, it‘s cousins Jeb and Harrison Burton, who are straddling the playoff line. Jeb Burton, driver of the No. 27 Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet, holds a 16-point advantage over Harrison Burton, driver of the No. 25 AM Racing Ford, for that 12th and final playoff position.
Jeb Burton has finished 13th or better in five of his seven Dover starts, with a best finish of seventh in 2020. Harrison Burton has similar encouraging statistics with three top-10s in four starts and a top effort of fifth place — also in 2020.
MORE: Xfinity Series schedule
The entire series, however, must find a way to best the mighty JR Motorsports team, which has won 10 races this season with six different drivers. It is coming off a phenomenal showing at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway where five drivers finished among the top-10 and 18-year-old phenom Connor Zilisch claimed his third win of the season.
Zilisch now ties his teammate, Allgaier, and Richard Childress Racing‘s Austin Hill for most wins on the season. They are the only competitors with multiple trophies.
NASCAR Cup Series regular Ross Chastain will steer the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet this weekend and two-time defending Dover race winner Truex will drive the No. 24 Toyota for Sam Hunt Racing. NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series standout Rajah Caruth is hoping to make his first Xfinity Series start of the season. He‘s entered in the Jordan Anderson Racing No. 32 Chevrolet. In addition, ARCA Menards Series rising star Lavar Scott will also be attempting to make his Xfinity Series career debut this weekend in the No. 45 Alpha Prime Racing Chevrolet.
Practice is at 11 a.m. Saturday followed immediately by Kennametal Pole Qualifying at 12:05 p.m. — both sessions available on The CW App. Brandon Jones is the defending Xfinity pole-winner.
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