NASCAR Xfinity Series at Kentucky 2015: Full Schedule, Standings and Preview
NASCAR takes Kentucky by storm this week for events in all three of its Series, perhaps none more interesting than the Xfinity dash at Kentucky Speedway.
Things continue to get choppier and more convoluted on the Xfinity leaderboard as Chris Buescher attempts to hold his lead tight. Last week in Daytona, where Austin Dillon survived late chaos to win, did nothing short of shuffle names around on the leaderboard.
With the outlook altered as things continue to heat up, the event in Kentucky might prove one of the most important of the year.
As such, let's take a moment to break it down in detail.
Schedule for Xfinity Series at Kentucky
| Thursday, July 9 | 2-3:25 p.m. | Practice | NBCSN |
| Thursday, July 9 | 4-4:55 p.m. | Final Practice | NBCSN |
| Friday, July 10 | 3:45 p.m. | Qualifying | NBCSN |
| Friday, July 10 | 7:30 p.m. | XFINITY Series Kentucky | NBCSN |
Xfinity Series Standings
| 1 | Chris Buescher | 560 |
| 2 | Chase Elliott | 526 |
| 3 | Ty Dillon | 517 |
| 4 | Regan Smith | 493 |
| 5 | Elliott Sadler | 489 |
| 6 | Darrell Wallace Jr. | 472 |
| 7 | Brian Scott | 453 |
| 8 | Ryan Reed | 441 |
| 9 | Brendan Gaughan | 438 |
| 10 | Daniel Suarez | 437 |
Full standings available at ESPN.com.
Drivers to Watch
Brendan Gaughan
The event in Kentucky isn't an easy one to figure out.
Over the last four seasons, as many drivers have won the dash. Brendan Gaughan is one of those, along with Kevin Harvick, Ryan Blaney and Brad Keselowski.
Perhaps no driver needs it more than Gaughan, though.
The Kevin Harvick team member lost a spot in the standings after a 25th-place finish in Daytona despite starting ninth. He still owns a pair of top-10 finishes over the course of his last four outings, but the slip might continue if he doesn't turn things around after his worst finish since the start of May.
Gaughan has the potential and talent to start back up the leaderboard, but he continues to approach now-or-never time.
Ty Dillon
One of the other losers after last week's event was Ty Dillon, who suffered even more on the leaderboard after an iffy performance.
Despite starting sixth, Dillon finished 26th at Daytona, and as a result he fell one spot down the leaderboard to third, allowing Chase Elliott to pass him and begin a serious pursuit of Buescher.
There is good news, though. Last year in Kentucky, Dillon cruised to a seventh-place finish. He also took ninth two events ago in Chicago, so if he can turn things around, his poor form at DIS may prove an anomaly as opposed to a budding trend.
One thing is for sure—Dillon cannot afford another gaffe, not with Regan Smith, Elliott Sadler and others closing in behind him.
According to an entry list obtained by NASCAR Talk, Kyle Busch will throw his name in the Xfinity ring this week.
While many will clamor over Busch's surprise win at the road course of Sonoma to give himself a major boost in the Chase after NASCAR granted him a medial exemption, perhaps more impressive is his last Xfinity outing.
There, Busch breezed to a checkered flag in his return to the Series from injury, besting the field in Michigan in mid-June.
It's important for Busch to remain in form and capitalize on every opportunity to improve if he wants to make the Chase. His return to Daytona last week, the site of his injury, left him in yet another wreck.
Busch vented to Jenna Fryer of the Associated Press on the matter (via the Denver Post): "It’s practice, you don’t need to be up a guy’s left rear. I rolled out and got out of the gas I don’t know how many times just to not run into the car in front of me because it’s not that time of the game to go.”
There's little doubt Busch views the Xfinity event as a way to remain in form and shake off the wreck, not to mention the 17th-place finish that followed.
One of the greatest Xfinity drivers in history wants another win, and it's up to the non-Sprint Cup drivers fighting it out on the leaderboard to stop him.
Stats and info courtesy of ESPN.com unless otherwise specified.
.jpg?w=480 "APTOPIX NASCAR Charlotte Auto Racing")
.png?w=600 "Landing Spots For NBA Free Agents ✈️")
.jpg?w=600 "NFL star fakes injury at Savannah Bananas game")
