After weeks of short track action, the NASCAR Xfinity Series moves to the biggest track on the schedule, the 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway for Saturday afternoon’s Ag-Pro 300 (4 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Neither of last year’s Talladega race winners – defending champ Noah Gragson nor A.J. Allmendinger – are competing this weekend making Jordan Anderson Racing’s Jeb Burton the only former Talladega winner in the field. And the second-generation NASCAR driver has top-10 efforts in half his six starts on the big track.
Current championship points leader – and last week’s Martinsville (Va.) Speedway winner – John Hunter Nemechek is making his first Xfinity Series start at Talladega since 2021. His best finish in three Talladega Xfinity races is sixth place in 2019.
With the victory in Martinsville last weekend, however, the driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota brings plenty of momentum to the big track. Nemechek is one of only two multi-race winners this season (also Austin Hill), has led the most laps (340) and is tied with JR Motorsports driver Josh Berry for most top-fives (three) and top-10s (seven).
Hill, who trails Nemechek by 21 points heading into Saturday’s race, has certainly been strong at Talladega, but never had his efforts rewarded with a trophy. This year’s three-race winner led the most laps in both Talladega Xfinity races last season only to suffer a DNF in the spring race and a 14th-place finish after winning pole position in the Fall race. He has a pair of top-10 finishes and led laps in four of this five NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series start at the track.
The coveted $100,000 Dash 4 Cash prize will be awarded Saturday afternoon. In addition to Nemechek – who won last week’s money at Martinsville – Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cole Custer and Nemechek’s JGR teammate Sammy Smith and JR Motorsports Josh Berry are eligible for the bonus. Whoever finishes highest among those four will take home the money. And the top-four Dash 4 Cash-eligible drivers out of Saturday’s race will then contend for the check in next week’s race at Dover, Del. – the final race the six-figure incentive bonus is awarded in 2023.
Those same four drivers should make it very interesting, considering their season to date. Berry is ranked fifth in the championship, only 43 points behind Nemechek. Smith, who won at Phoenix, is seventh in points and Custer, a former two-time Xfinity Series championship runner-up is eighth in the standings.
Qualifying for the Ag-Pro 300 is Friday evening at 5:30 on FS1.
TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!
