Saturday Phoenix Xfinity race: Start time, TV info, weather

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Justin Allgaier is expected to be among the contenders in Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Phoenix Raceway.

To date, the season has been a success but also a frustration for Allgaier. He has finished third at Daytona, third at Auto Club Speedway and second at Las Vegas. So close — but no Victory Lane.

Allgaier has an excellent history at Phoenix with two wins, two second places and nine top-five runs.

Details for Saturday’s Xfinity race at Phoenix Raceway

(All times Eastern)

START: The command to start engines will be given at 4:38 p.m. by Michael Dersken of United Rentals. The green flag is scheduled at 4:47 p.m.

PRERACE: Xfinity garage opens at 10:30 a.m. … Practice begins at 12:35 p.m. … Qualifying begins at 1:05 p.m. … The invocation will be given at 4:30 p.m. by Antoine Anderson, lead pastor of 2:Ten Church. … The national anthem will be sung by Sam Saxton at 4:31 p.m.

DISTANCE: The race is 200 laps (200 miles) on the 1-mile track.

STAGES: Stage 1 ends at Lap 45. Stage 2 ends at Lap 90.

STARTING LINEUP: Phoenix Xfinity starting lineup

TV/RADIO: FS1 will broadcast the race at 4:30 p.m. … NASCAR Raceday airs at 3:30 p.m. on FS1. … Motor Racing Network coverage begins at 4 p.m. and also will stream at mrn.com. SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will carry the MRN broadcast.

FORECAST: Weather Underground — Mostly cloudy skies with a high of 80 and zero percent chance of rain at teh start of the race.

LAST TIME: Ty Gibbs won last November’s Xfinity race at Phoenix and took home the series championship. Playoff contenders Noah Gragson (second) and Justin Allgaier (third) followed.

Sonoma Cup starting lineup

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SONOMA, Calif. — Denny Hamlin earned his 38th career Cup pole Saturday at Sonoma Raceway.

Tyler Reddick, who drives for the 23XI Racing team Hamlin co-owns with Michael Jordan, qualified second. Michael McDowell, Christopher Bell and AJ Allmendinger completed the top five.

MORE: Sonoma Cup starting lineup

Ryan Blaney, who took the points lead last week, qualified 31st. William Byron, who is second in the points, qualified 26th.

Chase Elliott, returning from a one-race suspension, qualified 10th. Grant Enfinger qualified 35th for Noah Gragson, who is sitting out this week after suffering concussion-like symptoms from a crash last weekend at WWT Raceway.

Denny Hamlin wins Cup pole at Sonoma

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SONOMA, Calif. — Denny Hamlin won the pole for Sunday’s Cup race at Sonoma Raceway, as Toyota took five of the top eight spots in Saturday’s qualifying session. It is Hamlin’s 38th career Cup pole.

Hamlin led the way with a lap of 92.178 mph. Tyler Reddick, who drives for the 23XI Racing team Hamlin co-owns with Michael Jordan, qualified second (92.068 mph), giving Toyota ownership of the front row.

MORE: Sonoma Cup starting lineup

Toyota, which struggled at road courses for much of last year, had only one of its drivers qualify in the top 10 at Circuit of the Americas, the only road course race this season.

Michael McDowell qualified third for Ford after a lap of 92.060 mph. Christopher Bell put his Toyota fourth after a lap of 91.877 mph. AJ Allmendinger was the top Chevrolet, qualifying fifth after a lap of 91.873 mph. Toyota also had Ty Gibbs (91.819 mph) sixth and Martin Truex Jr. (91.736) eighth.

The top two drivers in the points did not fare well in qualifying. Ryan Blaney, who took the points lead last week, qualified 31st. William Byron, who is second in the points, qualified 26th.

Chase Elliott, returning from a one-race suspension, qualified 10th. Grant Enfinger qualified 35th for Noah Gragson, who is sitting out this week after suffering concussion-like symptoms from a crash last weekend at WWT Raceway.

Sonoma Xfinity starting lineup: Kyle Larson wins pole

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SONOMA, Calif. — Kyle Larson will start on the pole for Saturday’s inaugural Xfinity Series race at Sonoma Raceway.

Larson won the pole with an average speed of 91.393 mph around the 1.99-mile road course. Justin Allgaier joins Larson on the front row after a lap of 90.562 mph. Sheldon Creed (90.429 mph) qualified third. Aric Almirola (90.375) will start fourth. AJ Allmendinger (90.274) will start fifth.

MORE: Sonoma Xfinity starting lineup

MORE: Alpha Prime Racing’s road woes don’t keep team from competing

Larson is one of seven Cup drivers entered. The others are Almirola (starting fourth), Allmendinger (fifth), Ty Gibbs (seventh), Ross Chastain (15th), Daniel Suarez (17th) and Ty Dillon (32nd).

The green flag is scheduled to wave at 8:20 p.m. ET Saturday on FS1.

Could Daytona International Speedway host NFL games?

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The president of Daytona International Speedway says track officials plan to speak with the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars about hosting the team’s games if Jacksonville’s stadium is renovated.

The Jaguars will need a temporary home site if plans go forward to renovate the team’s stadium. Daytona International Speedway has been mentioned as a possible candidate. The Jaguars released details Wednesday of what the stadium will look like after the renovation project.

Provided the project is approved by the city of Jacksonville, it is believed the Jaguars would need to find another home site for a couple of seasons while work is being done to its stadium. Daytona International Speedway is among possible sites for the Jaguars to play. More than 100,000 people saw Ricky Stenhouse Jr. win this year’s Daytona 500.

“Daytona International Speedway is a world-renowned sports and entertainment venue and hosts a full schedule of events each year,” said Frank Kelleher, president of Daytona International Speedway, in a statement. “As good neighbors in the Florida sports community, DIS will be speaking with the Jacksonville Jaguars to see if we can assist them with their potential upcoming facility needs around our scheduled events.”

Daytona International Speedway hosted Soccer Fest in July 2022. An announced crowd of 7,573 fans saw the Orlando Pride and Racing Louisville play in a National Women’s Soccer League game at Daytona.