With the Sprint Cup Series taking the weekend off, all eyes are on the Xfinity Series as they head to the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio on Saturday.
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One week after tackling the 7-turn road course at Watkins Glen, the Xfinity Series gets to do it all over again, this time at the 13-turn, 2.4-mile paved course for the Mid-Ohio Challenge this weekend. The Lexington, Ohio track was originally opened in 1962 as a 15-turn course, but it underwent a major refurbishment in 1990 and again in 2006 to its current configuration.
On-track activities begin Friday at 9:00 a.m. for the first of two practice sessions with the second set to start at 11:35 a.m. Fans can follow the live scoring at NASCAR.com. At 6:15 p.m., Xfinity Series Coors Light Pole qualifying begins and can be seen live on USA Network.
The Mid-Ohio Challenge is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. on Saturday where drivers will run 75 laps (169.35 miles) and will be televised by USA Network instead of its usual home on NBC Sports Network due to Olympic coverage.
Last year David Ragan took the lead from Alex Tagliani on the final lap for the win, however, he is not scheduled to defend his title. Tagliani is also scheduled to skip the event. Ty Dillon and Ryan Blaney are the only Sprint Cup regulars in the field leaving the door open for an Xfinity driver to add to their win total or hit the winner’s circle for the first time.
Erik Jones (3 wins), Elliott Sadler and Daniel Suarez are the only Xfinity regulars to notch a win this year while Blake Koch is holding down the 12th and final Chase spot, two points ahead of Ross Chastain, nine over Dakoda Armstrong and 14 on top of Jeremy Clements.
After this weekend, there are only five more races left in the regular season and the Round of 12 to go for the championship begins at Kentucky Speedway on September 24.