Xfinity: Three Things to Know after Dover
The second race in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Chase saw Daniel Suarez punch his ticket for the Round of 8. The race also saw struggles by Erik Jones and Ty Dillon, while underdogs Blake Koch and Brennan Poole find themselves in position to advance.
The Drive Sober 200 at Dover International Speedway was delayed from a scheduled Saturday start because of rain and raced Sunday before the Sprint Cup race. Sprint Cup regulars Kyle Busch, Joey Logano and Austin Dillon, all three drivers are in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, decided to sit the Xfinity Race out and avoid running a possible total of 600 miles at Dover in one day.
Here are the three things you need to know after the second Xfinity Chase race at Dover.
Erik Jones is having some bad luck
Dover didn’t do Erik Jones any favors and he now finds himself on the outside looking in.
Jones sits in 10th position, four points out of the 8th and final spot to advance. How did the top Chase seed end up in this spot exactly? Well, a 16th place finish at Dover didn’t help. But it wasn’t for a lack of trying.
Jones led 54 laps early but after falling back midway through the race, Jones found himself back inside the top-ten. But the long green flag run at the end of the race caused Jones to pit in order to not run out of fuel. This resulted in Jones finishing 16th, two laps down.
Jones heads to Charlotte Motor Speedway, a track where he crashed out in May and finished 31st. Jones has raced better at Charlotte though, finishing 15th and second in his two races there in 2015. Jones can win, as evident from his four wins this season, and a win right now would go a long way to keep his title hopes alive.
Blake Koch had a chance to shake things up
Blake Koch finished 14th at Dover, one lap down and now sits 7th place in the standings, just four points ahead of the 9th place driver. But it could have been a larger margin. The underdog of the Xfinity Series Chase could have positioned himself even better if not for a strategy miscue.
Koch was leading the race beginning at lap 127. When the caution came out on lap 139, Koch had trapped some of the race leaders a lap down and as other drivers took to pit road, and limited the number of drivers left on the lead lap .
Unfortunately for Koch, he was forced to pit while pit road was closed and had to restart at the tail end of the longest line. This eliminated any advantage he would have had and any chance of truly shaking the Chase standings up.
Oct 1, 2016; Dover, DE, USA; Xfinity Series driver Ty Dillon (3) leaves the track before the start of the Drive Sober 200 at Dover International Speedway. NASCAR postpones race to Sunday due to rain. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Ty Dillon is still digging his way out
Ty Dillon finished second at Dover but is still on the outside of the Chase bubble heading to Charlotte.
Dillon didn’t lead any laps but positioned himself well in case the dominant car of the day, Daniel Suarez, found trouble in the closing laps. By finishing second, Dillon now sits 9th in the standings, three points behind 8th place Brennan Poole.
Dillon needed a win at Dover to secure his spot in the Round of 8 and now finds himself battling Erik Jones to escape elimination. The good thing for Dillon is that he is headed to Charlotte, a track where he has four top ten finishes in his five career Xfinity Series races.
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