It’s been three races since a NASCAR Xfinity Series full-timer celebrated in Victory Lane this season so there’s plenty of motivation on the grid for Saturday night’s Tennessee Lottery 250 at Nashville Superspeedway (7:30 p.m. ET on CW Network, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Hill was the last of the championship-eligible drivers to win a race, doing so April 26 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. And he is the only Xfinity Series regular to score top-10 finishes in the last four Nashville races.
Historically-speaking, Nashville has been a challenge for the series’ championship contenders. Seven different drivers have won the last seven races. Reigning series champ, JR Motorsports’ Justin Allgaier is the only fulltime driver with an Xfinity Series win at the 1.33-mile track, claiming the trophy in 2022 after leading 134 of the 188 laps and beating Trevor Bayne by an impressive 4.513-seconds.
Allgaier, a two-race winner already this season and the current championship leader by a healthy 72-points over three-race winner Hill, has seven top-five finishes in the opening nine races, but has suffered through some erratic finishes of late – a pair of top-10s alternating with finishes of 21st (Rockingham, N.C.) and 35th (Texas).
One driver to keep an eye on this weekend is Haas Factory Team’s Sam Mayer, the only championship contender among the top six in points without a trophy this season. He’s never finished worse than 10th at Nashville and has a pair of top-five showings in three races at the track.
The competition level in the series is so high right now, the past three races coming to Nashville have been decided by a pass in the final two laps.
Keep an eye out for rookie Connor Zilisch, whose runner-up effort last week in the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet moved him up six positions in the Xfinity Series championship standings to sixth place. This will be his Nashville Superspeedway debut.
“I’m really looking forward to going to Nashville for the first time,” said the 18-year-old Zilisch, who leads the series Rookie of the Year standings by six-points over his teammate Carson Kvapil. “It’s such a cool city and I’ve raced at the Fairgrounds before, but this will be my first time racing at the NASCAR track in Nashville.
“I have some laps on the simulator and it’s definitely a technical racetrack. I’m looking forward to figuring it out quickly and keeping the momentum up from Charlotte.”
Last week’s NASCAR Cup Series race winner, Ross Chastain, will be driving the No. 9 Chevrolet for JR Motorsports. Former NASCAR Cup Series regular Aric Almirola, who won at Phoenix earlier this year, will be back behind the wheel of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. And Katherine Legge will be driving the No. 32 Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet.
Practice is set for 2:05 p.m. ET on Saturday followed by Kennametal Pole Qualifying at 3:10 p.m. ET – both sessions airing live on the CW APP. Ty Gibbs, who is not racing this weekend, started from pole position last year. Kyle Busch (2021) is the last polesitter to win the race.
