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Hot or Not: Xfinity Series’ Owens Corning Atticat 300 at Chicagoland Speedway

ChiagoXfinity

The Xfinity Series will have the 1.5-mile Chicagoland Speedway all to itself this weekend for the Owens Corning Atticat 300. It’s the 14th race of the Xfinity Series’ 2015 season and the first of two races on the oval this year.

Here’s a look at which drivers are on a hot streak and those who have gone cold entering Saturday night’s race, which starts at 9:30 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1.

After winning in his first Xfinity Series race back from injury last weekend, Kyle Busch won’t be in this weekend’s race. His No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota will be driven by Erik Jones.

Who is hot entering Chicagoland:

Chris Buescher:


  • Won two of the last four races and leads the points by a season high 25 points.
  • Finished in the top six in four of the last five races and has seven top-five finishes in 2015 which is tied for the most with Austin Dillon.
  • Finished eighth at Chicagoland last July, his only top-10 finish there in two races.

Ryan Blaney:


  • Finished 34th at Dover in his last start due to contact with Brian Scott that sent him to the garage and ended a 13-start streak of top-10 finishes that included 11 top fives.

Austin Dillon:


  • Finished in the top five in seven races in 2015 including the last three.
  • Both of his wins in 2015 came on 1.5-mile tracks from the pole after leading 87 percent of the laps raced.

Ty Dillon:


  • Finished in the top 10 in nine of the 13 races in 2015 including five of the last seven races, all four of his top-10 starts in 2015 came in the last five races.
  • Started and finished in the top 10 in both of his Xfinity Chicagoland starts with a best finish of
    fifth in this race last year.

Chase Elliott:


  • Finished in the top 10 in a series high 11 races in 2015 (all but the two plate races) and finished runner-up in two of the last four.
  • Earned one of his three wins of 2014 in the first Chicagoland race.

Erik Jones:


  • Finished in the top 10 in seven of his last nine Xfinity start.
  • Led 70 laps at Dover in his last start but finished ninth after being busted for speeding as the leader on Lap 184 of 200.
  • Started fourth and finished seventh at Chicagoland last July in his only NASCAR start there.

Elliott Sadler:


  • Finished in the top 10 in four of the last five races including his season best finish of fifth at Michigan last week.
  • Finished in the top 10 in all but one of the last seven races at Chicagoland including a win
    in this race in 2012.

Who is not hot entering Chicagoland:

Brendan Gaughan:


  • Finished in the top-10 in only two of the last six races after starting the season with four top-10s in the first seven races.
  • Has not gained points on the leader since he finished second at Auto Club Speedway.

Brennan Poole:


  • Finished ninth at Las Vegas in his Xfinity debut but does not have a top-10 finish in his seven races since.
  • Finished 28th or worse in two of the last three races.

Daniel Suarez:


  • Has only one top-15 finish in the last five races.
  • Sixth-place finish at Charlotte is his only lead-lap finish in the last five races.

Darrell Wallace Jr.:


  • Cut a tire from while running second at Dover with seven laps to go, finishing 17th. Spun from 15th with 19 laps to go after contact with Gaughan and finished 15th at Michigan.

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