NASCAR Xfinity Series at Darlington 2015: Full Schedule, Standings and Preview
One week after Paul Menard's victory at Road America, NASCAR's Xfinity Series next moves to Darlington for the VFW Sport Clips Help a Hero 200.
In the process, the series welcomes back even more Sprint Cup regulars to the fray after the drivers took a week off, including Menard, Kyle Busch and others.
Last year at this high-profile event, Chase Elliott took home the top prize. Saturday, he and plenty others near the top of the leaderboard will once again look to move past one another while fending off the Sprint Cup drivers.
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With so much at stake, it's not an event to miss. Here's a look at the important info.
Schedule for Xfinity Series at Darlington
| Friday, September 4 | 1-1:55 p.m. | Practice | NBCSN |
| Friday, September 4 | 3-4:25 p.m. | Final Practice | NBCSN |
| Saturday, September 5 | 11:45 a.m. | Qualifying | NBCSN |
| Saturday, September 5 | 3:30 p.m. | VFW Sport Clips Help a Hero 200 | NBCSN |
Tickets: ScoreBig.com
Xfinity Series Standings
| 1 | Chris Buescher | 835 |
| 2 | Chase Elliott | 819 |
| 3 | Ty Dillon | 816 |
| 4 | Regan Smith | 785 |
| 5 | Elliott Sadler | 750 |
| 6 | Darrell Wallace Jr. | 736 |
| 7 | Brian Scott | 723 |
| 8 | Daniel Suarez | 717 |
| 9 | Brendan Gaughan | 705 |
| 10 | Ryan Reed | 631 |
Full standings available at ESPN.com.
Drivers to Watch
Paul Menard
Menard took care of business last weekend, as he tends to do when he suits up for the Xfinity Series.
The win at Road America after leading an impressive nine of the 45 laps means he's finished in the top 10 in five of his six starts at the series this year.
For a driver attempting to keep his head above water when it comes to the Chase, Menard needed the momentum. He spoke with NASCAR.com's Chris Knight about his late approach while fending off Ryan Blaney:
"I was saving as much as I could under caution, but then when we fired off I was just chattering the left rear tire really bad. It took a couple of laps for it to come in, then the (No.) 22 started burning his stuff up, but it just didn't fire off very good in the end, but it came to us.
"
It was an impressive performance all around by the Richard Childress Racing driver, and it's clear he wants to use the Xfinity Series as a potential jumping pad for further momentum.
Like last week, Menard remains one of the most important faces to watch. He's a threat every time out, which could throw a wrench in how the Xfinity leaderboard plays out.
Kyle Busch
Everyone knows the story of Busch by now, the summer's hottest driver who missed a large chunk of the season but now looks headed for the Chase anyway after a medical exemption from NASCAR.
In fact, this weekend it looks like Busch could clinch his Chase berth. Before, though, he's going to test his mettle with a bit of a warm-up at the Xfinity event.
If Menard is a threat, Busch is the favorite. Last time he suited up for the Xfinity Series, he won in Bristol after leading 89 laps. The time before that? A 53-laps-led win at The Brickyard. In fact, he's won three of his six appearances, and only one finish came outside the top 10.
Suffice it to say, another win wouldn't be a major surprise. Busch hasn't been as hot at the Sprint Cup level as of late, with two top-10 appearances in his last three, but it's why he's going back to the Xfinity Series in the first place.
There's never a good excuse to take eyes off Busch.
Regan Smith
Perhaps no Xfinity driver has more at stake Saturday than Regan Smith.
Chris Buescher continues to fend off Elliott at the top with Ty Dillon close behind, but it's Smith in fourth place who took a dip last weekend. Rather than making a serious push for upward movement, he finished eighth at the tricky road course.
He took to Twitter after to explain the issues:
In such a light, it's impressive he finished so high at all. Before the event, his stated goal was to drive like first place was still an option.
“I think we’re still in it, we’re racing like we’re still in it and the mindset is to go out and do everything we can to lead laps and win races,” Smith said, per Jerry Bonkowski of NBCSports.com. “If you do that, you close up on points quicker than you can even imagine."
There is little doubt Smith and his team still carry the same mindset. He won at Mid-Ohio three events ago and still hasn't finished outside of the top 10 since, so another strong showing could put him back into the thick of things instead of letting Elliott Sadler and others get closer in his rearview mirror.
Provided his car runs well this weekend, look for Smith to make a push to recover lost ground. If the last three races are any indication, he's hot enough to shake up the leaderboard.
Stats and info courtesy of ESPN.com unless otherwise specified.
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