The NASCAR Xfinity Series stages its next-to-last race of the regular season Saturday afternoon at Richmond Raceway.
The last three playoff spots remaining in the 12-driver field are held by Jeremy Clements (+78), Brandon Jones (+65) and Riley Herbst (+46). Noah Gragson locked into the postseason with his win last week at Darlington Raceway.
The race for the regular season championship and 15 playoff points also continues at Richmond. A.J. Allmendinger’s lead is down to a single point over Austin Cindric.
Finally, Dale Earnhardt Jr. will run his lone Xfinity race of the season. Earnhardt, who has run one race per season since 2018, finished fifth in his last race at Homestead-Miami Speedway in June 2020.
Details for Saturday’s Richmond Xfinity race:
(All times are Eastern)
START: Bruce Bartzen, Recreation Lead NAS Hampton Roads Naval Air Station (Virginia Beach, Virginia.) will give the command to start engines at 2:38 p.m. … The green flag is scheduled to wave at 2:45 p.m.
PRERACE: Xfinity garage opens at 8 a.m. … Drivers report to pre-race at 1:55 p.m. … Driver introductions are at 2 p.m. … The invocation will be given by Anthony Poindexter of Salem Fields Community Church (Fredericksburg, Va.) at 2:30 p.m. … The national anthem will be performed by the Brass Quintet from the Official Chorus of the U.S. Air Force at 2:31 p.m.
DISTANCE: The race is 250 laps (187.5 miles) on the .75-mile short track.
STAGES: Stage 1 ends at Lap 75. Stage 2 ends at Lap 150.
TV/RADIO: NBCSN coverage begins with Countdown to Green at 2 p.m., leading into race coverage at 2:30 p.m. … Motor Racing Network’s radio coverage begins at 2 p.m. and also will stream at MRN.com; SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will carry the broadcast.
STREAMING: NBCSN
FORECAST: Weather Underground’s forecast calls for mostly sunny skies, a high of 81 degrees, and dry conditions around the start of the race.
STARTING LINEUP: Richmond Xfinity starting lineup
LAST YEAR: Justin Allgaier swept the Xfinity Series’ doubleheader weekend. In Race 1, Allgaier passed Justin Haley for the lead with 29 laps to go and went on to win. In Race 2, Allgaier led a race-high 135 of 250 laps on his way to victory.