NASCAR Xfinity Series at Chicagoland 2015: Full Schedule, Standings and Preview
The NASCAR Xfinity Series returns to the Windy City on Saturday for the Owens Corning AttiCat 300 as the young guns once again look to fend off the Sprint Cup regulars.
Things didn't go as planned for the younger drivers last weekend in Michigan, where Kyle Busch, 30, made his return to the series and bested a competitive field to seize the checkered flag.
While it was a heartwarming moment for the veteran who returned off a serious injury he suffered earlier in the season, the leaderboard outlook didn't change much as the field continues to chase Chris Buescher.
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The same might not apply after the event in Chicago, so let's take a look at the details to know.
Schedule for Xfinity Series at Chicagoland
| Friday, June 19 | 3:30-4:55 p.m. | Practice | Fox Sports 2 |
| Friday, June 19 | 7-7:55 p.m. | Final Practice | Fox Sports 2 |
| Saturday, June 20 | 5:15 p.m. | Qualifying | Fox Sports 2 |
| Saturday, June 20 | 9:30 p.m. | Owens Corning AttiCat | Fox Sports 1 |
Owens Corning AttiCat 300 Entry List
| 1 | Elliott Sadler |
| 2 | Ross Chastain |
| 3 | Brian Scott |
| 4 | Ty Dillon |
| 5 | Harrison Rhodes |
| 6 | Darrell Wallace Jr. |
| 7 | Regan Smith |
| 8 | Blake Koch |
| 9 | Chase Elliott |
| 10 | Derek White |
| 11 | Cale Conley |
| 12 | Jimmy Weller |
| 13 | Ryan Reed |
| 14 | Daniel Suarez |
| 15 | Jeff Green |
| 16 | Ross Kenseth |
| 17 | Ryan Blaney |
| 18 | Eric McClure |
| 19 | Dylan Lupton |
| 20 | CJ Faison |
| 21 | J.J. Yeley |
| 22 | Austin Dillon |
| 23 | Ryan Sieg |
| 24 | Carl Long |
| 25 | Brennan Poole |
| 26 | Dakoda Armstrong |
| 27 | David Starr |
| 28 | Jeremy Clements |
| 29 | Joey Gase |
| 30 | Erik Jones |
| 31 | Chris Buescher |
| 32 | Brendan Gaughan |
| 33 | Derrike Cope |
| 34 | Mike Harmon |
| 35 | Ben Rhodes |
| 36 | Morgan Shepherd |
| 37 | Mario Gosselin |
| 38 | Peyton Sellers |
Xfinity Series Standings
| 1 | Chris Buescher | 489 |
| 2 | Ty Dillon | 464 |
| 3 | Chase Elliott | 454 |
| 4 | Regan Smith | 434 |
| 5 | Darrell Wallace Jr. | 428 |
| 6 | Elliott Sadler | 414 |
| 7 | Brian Scott | 394 |
| 8 | Ryan Reed | 378 |
| 9 | Brendan Gaughan | 378 |
| 10 | Daniel Suarez | 369 |
Full standings available at ESPN.com.
Drivers to Watch
Chris Buescher
Things could have gone better last week for Buescher, 22, who leads the series despite a fourth-place finish in Michigan.
After taking a late lead before a caution with about 30 laps left, the Roush Fenway Racing driver fell behind as the veteran Busch made his move. Still, crew chief Scott Graves seemed happy with the progress:
The performance makes it nine top-10 finishes on the season with two wins in his last four starts.
Given his recent momentum and an eighth-place finish last year in Chicago, it shouldn't come as a surprise if Buescher comes up with a third win and puts some serious distance between himself and the rest of the leaderboard this weekend.
Elliott Sadler
It seems veteran Elliott Sadler is just getting heated up as summer kicks into high gear.
While he's been floating around the top 10 for a decent amount of time, Sadler jumped closer to the lead than usual this week thanks to a fifth-place finish in Michigan, the best performance of his Xfinity season.
To top it all off, Sadler's rise couldn't come at a better time—the 40-year-old seems to love Chicagoland Speedway, where he has 11 starts, one win, two top-five finishes and six top-10 finishes in the Xfinity Series.
Sadler spoke on the matter in a press release, per SpeedwayMedia.com:
"Chicagoland Speedway is one of my favorite race tracks that we visit on the NASCAR XFINITY Series schedule. I celebrated in Victory Lane in 2012 and I’ve been fortunate enough to bring home a handful of top-10’s and top-five finishes from Chicagoland. The timing couldn’t be any better for our No. 1 OneMain Financial Ford Mustang team.
"
Now would be the time for Sadler to capitalize on a mixture of momentum and familiarity to make a move up the leaderboards.
Already well within reach of a jump, look for Sadler to leave it all on the track.
Chase Elliott
Speaking of a smooth momentum-history combination, Chase Elliott might have Sadler beat in the department.
The 19-year-old put on a dominant performance last year, leading 85 laps en route to the victory in Chicago. Now pair it with last week in Michigan, where the JR Motorsports driver was the series' best hope at stopping a Chase Cup regular from stealing the show.
Try as he may, Elliott lost the head-to-head duel with Busch down the stretch, surrendering the outside and finishing second.
"I'll be honest, second does not feel as good as it should. I thought we had a NAPA Auto Parts Chevy good enough to compete today," Elliott said after the race, per DawsonNews.com.
A top-10 finisher in 11 of his 13 starts this year with the series, there's no reason to think Elliott won't be right in the thick of things down the stretch. He almost tasted victory last week against a fresh veteran and stole the show last year, so look for him to make another strong push as he attempts to climb the leaderboard.
Stats and info courtesy of ESPN.com unless otherwise specified.
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