NASCAR Xfinity Series

Next Race: Contender Boats 250

The Place: Homestead-Miami Speedway

The Date: Saturday, February 27

The Time: 4:30 p.m. ET

TV: FS1, 4 p.m. ET

Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Distance: 250.5 miles (167 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 40),

Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 80), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 167)

NASCAR Xfinity Series

First timer Ty Gibbs clobbered the Daytona Road Course

Ty Gibbs, grandson of team owner Joe Gibbs, made history last weekend at the Daytona Road Course. Gibbs, who was making his first career start in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, won the race in the No. 54 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing and added his name to the list of drivers that won in their first Xfinity start.

Dale Earnhardt was the first to make history at Daytona International Speedway in February 1982. Joe Ruttman did it at Dover International Speedway in May 1982. Ricky Rudd won in his first career start at Dover International Speedway in May of 1983. Terry Labonte did it in October 1985 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Prior to Gibbs’ win, Kurt Busch did it in April 2006 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Gibbs also became the youngest driver to win a NASCAR Xfinity Series road course event at 18 years, 4 months and 16 days. The record was previously held by the second-place finisher, Austin Cindric, at 20 years old.

JGR’s Daniel Hemric in the No. 18 and Brandon Jones in the No. 19 finished third and fourth and Jeb Burton in the No. 10 for Kaulig Racing rounded out the top five.

The 52-lap race on the 3.610-mile road course had 11 different lead changes and seven cautions for 14 laps. Gibbs crossed the finish line 1.726-seconds before Cindric.

There were 1,408 green flag passes (33.5 per green flag lap).

This weekend the NASCAR Xfinity Series heads to Homestead-Miami Speedway for the Contender Boats 250 on Saturday, February 27 at 4:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

The race will be 250.5 miles and 167 laps with Stage 1 ending on Lap 40 and Stage 2 ending on Lap 80.

Cindric will start on the pole for Saturday’s race with Hemric joining him on the front row. Harrison Burton and Brandon Jones will take the second row.

Homestead’s History

Saturday’s Contender Boats 250 at Homestead-Miami Speedway will be the 28th NASCAR Xfinity Series race held at the 1.5-mile track.

Last season, Harrison Burton won the first race at Homestead-Miami, leading only the final two laps before taking home his second career victory.

Chase Briscoe went on to win the second race at the Florida track after leading only 11 laps. Noah Gragson in the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet led a race-high 81 laps and ended up finishing fifth.

Brandon Jones finished second, while Ross Chastain finished third and AJ Allmendinger finished fourth.

The race had six cautions for 28 laps and 20 lead changes. The Margin of Victory was .072 seconds.

The inaugural NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Homestead-Miami was on November 5, 1995 where Dale Jarrett took home the win and Joe Nemechek won the pole award.

There have been 20 different pole winners and 20 different race winners at the track in the Xfinity Series.

Burton’s win last season made him the youngest series winner at the track (19 years, 8 months, four days).

Tyler Reddick holds the race record from November 17, 2018 at 140.515 mph.

There have been five races won from the pole and or first starting position.

Joe Nemechek holds the record for the most races run at Homestead in the Xfinity Series (19). Kyle Busch, Jeff Green, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano and Tyler Reddick are all tired for the most pole wins (2). Joe Nemechek also holds the record for the most wins at the track (3). Kyle Busch and Mark Martin are tied for the most top fives (7) and Matt Kenseth has the most top 10s (10). Kyle Busch has led the most laps at Homestead-Miami with 487.

Three drivers in history got their first Xfinity Series career win at the track: Cole Custer (2017), Kasey Kahne (2003) and Regan Smith (2012).

Most recent numbers at Homestead-Miami Speedway:

• There were 20 lead changes and eight different leaders in the most recent race at the track.

• There were six cautions for 28 laps and only nine cars finishing on the lead lap.

• There were 31 total cars running at the finish.

• The winner led only 11 laps.

Eyes on Harrison

Harrison Burton made a statement last season in his rookie year with Joe Gibbs Racing in the Xfinity Series, winning four races, making it to the Playoffs and winning Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors.

He’s started out this season just as strong, too. In the first two races of the season, Burton finished third in the season-opener at Daytona International Speedway and finished sixth last weekend at the Daytona Road Course. He’s already led a total of 31 laps in both races with his new crew chief, Jason Ratcliff, on the pit box.

Heading into this weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Burton has some momentum on his side having won this race last season. It was his second career win after winning at Auto Club Speedway to start the 2020 season.

Burton started from the pole in the June race and led only two laps en route to the victory. He had a strong final restart that put him out front and took control of the final two laps.

Last season’s race had 18 lead changes and five cautions for 25 laps. Burton’s Margin of Victory over second-place finisher Austin Cindric was .179 seconds.

Burton has the fourth-best driver rating at Homestead-Miami Speedway at 101.5 and the second-best driver rating this season at 113.3

NASCAR Xfinity Series, Etc.

Ferrucci making NASCAR debut on Saturday: Former Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year, Santino Ferrucci, is scheduled to make his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut this weekend for Sam Hunt Racing. He will pilot the No. 26 Toyota Supra and is scheduled to run the next five races for the team.

Nemechek joining Sam Hunt Racing: John Hunter Nemechek is heading back to an Xfinity car in May for the first time since 2019. Nemechek will join Sam Hunt Racing in the No. 26 Toyota in select races this season, starting at Dover International Speedway. Nemechek is running fulltime in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series for Kyle Busch Motorsports and joins a Sam Hunt Racing lineup that includes Brandon Gdovic, Kris Wright and Santino Ferrucci.

JGR announces remainder of Ty’s schedule: After his NXS debut at the Daytona Road Course and claiming his first win, JGR announced the reminder of Ty Gibbs’ schedule for 2021 in the Xfinity Series. He’ll be back at Phoenix Raceway, Martinsville Speedway, Darlington Raceway, Dover International Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Pocono Raceway, Road America, Watkins Glen International, Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, Michigan International Speedway, Richmond Raceway, Charlotte ROVAL and Kansas Speedway.

Sunoco Rookie update: With his win last week at the Daytona Road Course, Ty Gibbs is currently leading the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings with 50 points and one award. Ryan Vargas is sitting in second with 20 points and one award coming from the season-opener. Josh Berry is in third, Jordan Anderson fourth and Sam Mayer fifth. Anderson and Mayer both have not made a start in 2021 yet.

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