NASCAR Xfinity Series drivers will need to bring their A-game for the A-Game 200 at Dover Motor Speedway (1:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, April 29 on FS1, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR radio) for their 10th race of the 2023 season.
This will be the 77th NASCAR Xfinity Series race hosted at Dover Motor Speedway. The previous 76 races have produced 52 different race winners and 48 different pole winners. Eight races have been won from the pole or first starting position, most recently by Kyle Larson in 2017.
Two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch holds the record for most Xfinity Series wins (five) and laps led (1,349) on the Monster Mile and he’s tied with Justin Allgaier for most top 10s (15).
Reigning Cup Series champ Joey Logano holds a few records himself – he snagged the race record in 2013 with a speed of 131.219 mph and is tied with Harry Grant for most poles at five.
On-track activity for the NASCAR Xfinity Series will kick off on Friday, April 28 with practice at 3:05 p.m. ET followed by qualifying at 3:35 p.m. ET on FS1.
Conquering the Monster Mile: Will they do it again?
This weekend’s A-Game 200 has three drivers who have already triumphed at Dover Motor Speedway entered and will be heading back to the track with the hopes of finding themselves in Victory Lane yet again – Justin Allgaier, Cole Custer and Josh Berry.
Allgaier first conquered the Monster Mile in 2018 after completely dominating the race, leading 104 of the 200 laps. One win wasn’t enough for the JR Motorsports driver as he came back in 2020 to show that his 2018 victory was not from luck. He once again took control of the race, leading 120 laps of the race. He is currently riding a streak of nine consecutive top 10 finishes at the track. In total, Allgaier has 22 starts at Dover, posting two wins (2018, 2020), 11 top fives, 15 top 10s and has led 514 laps.
Custer’s win came in 2019 after starting the race from the third position. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver has made six Xfinity Series starts at Dover Motor Speedway, posting one win (2019), four top fives, five top 10s and has led 224 laps. His last start at Dover in the Xfinity Series was in 2019, but he hasn’t taken a break from the Monster Mile. From 2020 to 2022, he made four starts at the track in the NASCAR Cup Series, posting two top 10s.
Berry is the most recent Xfinity Series driver to claim a victory at the Monster Mile. The JR Motorsports driver has only made two starts at the track but has already proved to be a force in the field. In his debut at the track in 2021, he posted a runner-up finish and then came back the following year (2022) to snatch his win.
Big Money: Custer cashes in; Dover to host final round of Dash 4 Cash
After scoring a top-five finish, Stewart-Hass Racing’s Cole Custer cashed in the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash bonus, beating out Josh Berry, John Hunter Nemechek and Sammy Smith who all fell victims to the wild racing expected at Talladega Superspeedway last weekend.
Now, Custer will have the opportunity to win the final round of Dash 4 Cash at Dover Motor Speedway, this time alongside new competitors. Joining him in the race for the bonus will be Jeb Burton (Talladega winner), Sheldon Creed and Parker Kligerman.
Coming off a win at Talladega, Jordan Anderson Racing’s Jeb Burton will be looking to carry his new momentum into Dover. He has made five starts at the one-mile track, posting one top-10 finish (2020).
Richard Childress Racing’s Sheldon Creed made his first start at Dover Motor Speedway last season where he posted an eighth-place finish. Creed has yet to post a win in the Xfinity Series, but is coming off a runner-up finish last weekend at Talladega and did well on Phoenix’s one-mile track earlier this season (third). In his nine starts this season, he has posted two top fives and five top 10s.
Parker Kligerman heads into the weekend with three Xfinity Series starts at Dover Motor Speedway to his career. In his three appearances, he’s posted one top-10 finish. The Big Machine Racing driver hasn’t raced in a Xfinity Series race at Dover Motor Speedway since 2013, but has run in NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series races at the track in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020.
NASCAR Xfinity Series standings shakeup after ‘Dega
The NASCAR Xfinity Series is heading into its 10th race of the 33-race season and five drivers have earned their spot in the Playoffs with their respective wins – Austin Hill (Daytona, Las Vegas, Atlanta), John Hunter Nemechek (Auto Club, Martinsville), Sammy Smith (Phoenix), Chandler Smith (Richmond) and Jeb Burton (Talladega). With 16 races left in the regular season and seven spots still up for grabs a lot can happen over these next few months.
Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Hill currently sits atop the NASCAR Xfinity Series standings with 328 points, but Joe Gibbs Racing’s John Hunter Nemechek isn’t giving him much wiggle room, sitting just four points behind with 324.
Kaulig Racing’s Chandler Smith slides in at third with 309 points and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Riley Herbst, who is still itching to post his first NASCAR Xfinity Series win but has made the Playoffs in all three of his full-time seasons in the Series, sits in fourth with 296 points.
JRM teammates Josh Berry and Justin Allgaier sit in fifth and sixth, respectively. One of the two could very well clinch their spot in the Playoffs this weekend at Dover Motor Speedway as both drivers have won at the track.
Cole Custer (-49) and Sheldon Creed (-52) take up the next two slots in the standings and Sammy Smith takes up the ninth spot with 258 points.
Daniel Hemric (-73) and Parker Kligerman (-81) are currently in 10th and 11th, respectively. Sam Mayer takes up the final Playoff spot at the moment with 237 points. Mayer ran his first full-time season last year and made it into the 2022 Playoffs, ultimately finishing seventh in the overall standings.
NASCAR PR
