Nu Way 200 Sauced by Blues Hog<\/a>\u00a0(6:30 p.m. CT, TV: The CW Network, Radio: MRN Radio) serve as the series\u2019 regular-season finale that will have the final hand in determining the 12-driver field that will qualify for the playoffs.<\/p>\nEight drivers \u2013\u00a0Connor Zilisch, Justin Allgaier, Sam Mayer, Jesse Love, Austin Hill, Brandon Jones, Sammy Smith\u00a0and\u00a0Nick Sanchez \u2013\u00a0already have secured berths with a victory this season while\u00a0Carson Kvapil\u00a0locked in the ninth with his points standing. That leaves three berths available for drivers to secure with a win in the Nu Way 200 Sauced by Blues Hog or through points. Drivers already qualified for the Playoffs are still incentivized with the opportunity to gain some valuable playoff points to better position them for a post-season run.<\/p>\n
The Xfinity Series opens the weekend\u2019s on-track action with a 50-minute practice session Friday beginning at 4:05 p.m. CT. Qualifying will be held Saturday beginning at 2 p.m.<\/p>\n
Here are \u201cFive Things To Watch\u201d at the\u00a0Nu Way\u00a0200 Sauced by Blues Hog:<\/p>\n
1)\u00a0\u00a0Not even a broken collarbone can slow down 19-year-old rookie phenom\u00a0Connor Zilisch. Since having surgery Aug. 12 where he had a plate and more than 10 screws inserted to stabilize and help heal the collarbone following his Victory Lane fall at Watkins Glen, Zilisch has won the ensuing two races from the pole. He started the Aug. 22 race at Daytona, but was forced to exit the JR Motorsports entry during a caution on Lap 13 due to the pain. He was replaced by\u00a0Parker Kligerman, who went on to win the race but NASCAR rules credit the driver who started the race with the victory. Zilisch showed no ill effects from the injury this past Saturday at Portland International Raceway, where he won the pole and led 70 of the 78 laps en route to the overtime victory. It was his eighth on the season, allowing Zilisch to break the series record for most wins by a rookie (7) that was previously held by\u00a0Christopher Bell.<\/p>\n
2)\u00a0\u00a0Heading into Saturday\u2019s\u00a0Nu Way 200 Sauced by Blues Hog, the three drivers currently in points position to make the\u00a012-driver playoff field are\u00a0Sheldon Creed\u00a0of the Haas Factory Team,\u00a0Taylor Gray\u00a0of Joe Gibbs Racing and\u00a0Harrison Burton\u00a0of AM Racing. Currently 13th\u00a0and looking in from the outside is\u00a0Jeb Burton\u00a0of Jordan Anderson Racing. Creed is 10th\u00a0and 65 points ahead of Burton while Gray is up 60 and his cousin Harrison by 31. Should an eligible driver who has not currently qualified for the playoffs win the race, it would bump one of the three depending on where they sit in points following the regular-season finale. All four have made at least one NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series start at WWT Raceway. Creed has had the most success with victories in 2020 and \u201921. Gray has raced at WWT Raceway the last four seasons with a best finish of 12th\u00a0in 2021. Harrison Burton made a start in 2019 and finished 16th\u00a0while Jeb made a visit in 2014 and finished 18th.<\/p>\n
3)\u00a0\u00a0The talented 2025 Xfinity Series rookie class already has three of the eight with a secured playoff berth. Joining Zilisch is\u00a0Carson Kvapil\u00a0of JR Motorsports and\u00a0Nick Sanchez\u00a0of Big Machine Racing. A fourth \u2013 Gray \u2013 is in the mix to possibly grab a berth via points if he doesn\u2019t win at WWT Raceway. Kvapil\u2019s sixth-place finish this past Saturday at Portland locked him into a playoff berth via points. His season has been highlighted by five top-five finishes, including runner-up finishes at Bristol Motor Speedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway. Sanchez has six top-five performances on the season, led by his first career series win at Atlanta in late June. The rookie class flexed their collective muscle at Portland by taking the top four finishing positions and five of the first six.<\/p>\n
4)\u00a0\u00a0It has been 15 years since the Xfinity Series has competed at WWT Raceway, but there are actually two full-time drivers in the field who previously raced at the 1.25-mile oval.\u00a0Justin Allgaier,\u00a0the 39-year-old defending series champion with JR Motorsports, has made three career starts, with his most recent one in 2010 being his best performance. He won the pole and went on to finish third.\u00a0Jeremy Clements, the 40-year-old veteran with Jeremy Clements Racing, also has made three starts and his best finish also came in 2010 when he was 10th.\u00a0<\/p>\n
5)\u00a0\u00a0The list of former Xfinity Series winners at WWT Raceway reads like a \u201cWho\u2019s Who\u201d of Cup Series stars. WWT Raceway hosted 15 races from 1997-2010 and the previous winners included NASCAR Hall of Famer\u00a0Dale Earnhardt Jr.\u00a0(1998, \u201999 winner), 2025 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee\u00a0Carl Edwards\u00a0(2006, \u201908, \u201910), 2015 and \u201919 Cup Series champion\u00a0Kyle Busch\u00a0(2009), 2014 Cup Series champ\u00a0Kevin Harvick\u00a0(2000, \u201801) and 2012 Cup Series champ\u00a0Brad Keselowski\u00a0(2010). And add in\u00a0Greg Biffle\u00a0(2002) for good measure, a 19-time Cup Series race winner who also was the 2002 Xfinity Series champion and 2000 CRAFTSMAN Truck Series champ.<\/p>\n
About World Wide Technology Raceway<\/p>\n
World Wide Technology Raceway (WWTR) is the home of NASCAR, INDYCAR and NHRA racing in St. Louis\u2019 Metro East region. Located just five minutes from downtown St. Louis and covering 700 acres, WWTR is the largest outdoor entertainment facility in the area. WWTR\u2019s facilities include a 1.25-mile superspeedway; 1\/4-mile drag strip; 2.0-mile road course; the Gateway Kartplex state-of-the-art karting facility; and the adjacent Gateway National Golf Links. WWTR and Owner & CEO Curtis Francois have been recognized with several awards, including: 2023 St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame induction; 2023 Innovation in Philanthropy Award by the St. Louis Business Journal; 2022 Explore St. Louis Hospitality Hero Recognition; 2022 Best in Show and Best Event & Festival from the Illinois Governor\u2019s Conference on Tourism; 2021 Comcast Community Champion of the Year; 2021 Jack Buck Award; 2020 NASCAR Drive for Diversity Track Award; 2018 Innovator Award from the St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission; 2017 Outstanding Facility of the Year Award from the Race Track Business Conference; and the 2017 Spirit of St. Louis Award from the St. Louis Attractions Association. Our mission: We are committed to making a difference in our community, while providing first-class entertainment and memories that last a lifetime.<\/p>\n
Source: World Wide Technology Raceway<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Xfinity Series returns to World Wide Technology Raceway for the first time since 2010. Regular-season finale will determine…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":129920,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[70],"tags":[425,99],"class_list":["post-129919","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nascar","tag-nascar","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129919","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=129919"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129919\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/129920"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=129919"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=129919"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=129919"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}