Xfinity Series

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Xfinity Series
Current season NASCAR Xfinity Series 2018
NASCAR Xfinity Series logo.png
Vehicle type Stockcar
Country or region United States
Current name NASCAR Xfinity Series
Previous names Budweiser Late Model Sportsman Series, NASCAR Busch Grand National Series, NASCAR Busch Series, NASCAR Nationwide Series
First season 1950
driver 40
vehicles Chevrolet Camaro , Ford Mustang , Toyota Camry
tires Goodyear
Official website nascar.com

The NASCAR Xfinity Series is an American stock car motorsport series. It is considered the "second division" of NASCAR and is the springboard for many drivers into the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series . The races often take place as part of the Cup Series and are usually held one day before the Cup race.

The car of Daniel Suárez, the 2016 Xfinity master

history

Busch Series logo
Nationwide Series logo.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series emerged from the old "Sportsman Division" of NASCAR, which was thought of as a "short track" racing series in the 1950s. In 1968 the series got the name "Late Model Sportsman" and one also began to drive on bigger tracks like the Daytona International Speedway . The drivers use used Grand National (now Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series ) vehicles. There were V6 used engines.

Today's Xfinity Series was founded in 1982. From 1982 to 1983 it was initially called the “Budweiser Late Model Sportsman Series”, but in 1984 it was renamed the “Busch Grand National Series”. 1994 was supposed to be the last year in which the V6 engines were used, but some teams also used the V6 engines in 1995 in “short track” races. From the 1995 season, the cars were then more and more adapted to the vehicles of the Winston Cup. Since the 2004 season, the "Grand National" was no longer part of the series title, so the series was officially called the "NASCAR Busch Series". For the 2008 season , it was renamed "NASCAR Nationwide Series". The underlying contract with the new title sponsor, Nationwide Insurance , ran for a total of seven years. On September 3, 2014 it was announced that Xfinity had signed a contract as the main sponsor for a period of 10 years and that the series will be called the “NASCAR Xfinity Series” from the 2015 season.

On March 5, 2005, the Xfinity Series drove its first race outside the USA at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City , Mexico . The race was won by Martin Truex Jr. who became champion in the same season.

On July 2, 2010, vehicles of a new generation were used for the first time at Daytona International Speedway , which are similar to the Car of Tomorrow of the Cup Series. In the 2016 season, a chase based on the Chase for the Cup was held for the first time .

Dash 4 Cash

The Dash 4 Cash Races, introduced in 2009, are a series of races in which increased prize money is paid out to the best-placed Xfinity driver. Several changes have been made to the system over the years:

From 2009 to 2010 there were 4 races per season, in which the winner received 25,000 US dollars in addition to the regular prize money. If any of these races were won by a driver who was not active full-time, the money would be distributed to the next Dash 4 cash race. An additional $ 50,000 was also paid out to the driver who collected the most points in the four races.

In 2011 the prize money was increased to 100,000 US dollars, and only four drivers competed for the prize money. In the first Dash 4 Cash race in Daytona, the drivers who have collected the most points in the previous races of the season were qualified. The winner and the three drivers with the best result of the previous Dash 4 Cash race were qualified for the next race. There was an additional $ 600,000 in prize money for winning all four races, so the total prize money would have been $ 1 million. However, this was not achieved by any driver.

From 2016, heat races will be held before the four Dash 4 cash races, all drivers who have qualified on an uneven starting position start in the first heat, those with an even start in the second. The two best drivers in each heat can then fight for the prize money in the main race.

Bushwhackers

"Buschwhackers" are drivers who compete in the Monster Energy Cup Series as well as in the Xfinity Series. The name goes back to the time when the Xfinity Series was still called the Busch Series. Since the founding of the Xfinity Series, there have always been drivers in the Cup Series who have used their day off to compete in the Xfinity Series. A common reason for this is training for the cup race on the next day. It is criticized that the cup drivers steal the young drivers the chance of victories, on the other hand the Xfinity drivers have the opportunity to learn from experienced drivers. It is also argued that the Xfinity Series arouses greater media and fan interest through the participation of well-known cup drivers.

Between 2006 and 2010 the championship was won exclusively by bushwhackers, as a reaction to this, drivers were only allowed to collect points in one of the 3 NASCAR series from 2011 onwards. Even so, few races were won by Xfinity riders in the years that followed. In 2017, a rule will come into force that limits drivers who have been active in the Cup for more than 5 years to 10 races in the lower series. In addition, no cup drivers are allowed to take part in the Chase and Dash 4 Cash races.

vehicles

Blake Koch's Chevrolet Camaro

Vehicles called Car of Tomorrow (CoT) have been in use since 2010 , which are supposed to offer more safety and lower costs. The design concept was also changed, the vehicles were now based on the pony cars . The CoT was similar to the Car of Tomorrow of the Cup Series, which was used in the Cup from 2007 to 2012. It was possible to convert Cup vehicles to Xfinity vehicles at low cost, as some components were identical.

In the Xfinity series, a carburettor engine is used, which with around 650 to 700 hp has slightly less power than the injection engine of the Cup series. Xfinity vehicles are around 50 kg lighter, 18 cm longer and 2 cm narrower than the current Generation 6 vehicles in the Cup. With a larger splitter and rear spoiler, the Xfinity vehicles generate more downforce than cup vehicles and are therefore easier to drive.

Specifications

  • Displacement: 5.86 liters (358 in³) bumpers - V8
  • Translation: four-speed gearbox, manual transmission
  • Weight:
    • min. without driver and petrol: 1451 kg
    • min. with driver and petrol: 1542 kg
  • Power:
    • unthrottled: 650–700 hp (485–522 kW)
    • throttled: about 450 PS (335 kW)
  • Fuel: 98 octane ; Unleaded petrol
  • Filling capacity of the tank: 68 liters
  • Fuel delivery: carburetor
  • Air-fuel mixture ratio: 12: 1
  • Self priming
  • Wheelbase: 2.8 m (110 inches)
  • Steering: Power - recirculating ball steering

Vehicle models used

Budweiser Late Model Sportsman Series (1982-1983)

ford

General Motors

Busch Grand National Series (1984-2003)

Chrysler

ford

General Motors

Busch Series (2004-2007)

Chrysler

ford

General Motors

Toyota

Nationwide Series (2008-2014)

Chrysler

ford

GM

Toyota

Xfinity Series (from 2015)

Chrysler

ford

GM

Toyota

Record lists

Most wins

space driver Victories
1 Kyle Busch 86
2 Mark Martin 49
3 Kevin Harvick 46
4th Carl Edwards 38
5 Brad Keselowski 34

Drivers marked in bold are still active.

Status: November 24, 2016

Champions of the series

See the list of NASCAR champions for a detailed description

Sportsman Division Champions

Late Model Sportsman Division Champions

Budweiser Late Model Sportsman Series Champions

Busch Grand National Series Champions

Busch Series Champions

Nationwide Series

Xfinity Series

Xfinity Series Rookie of the Year Award Winner (Best Newbie)

For a full account of the best newcomers, see NASCAR Rookie of the Year Award

Xfinity Series Most Popular Driver Award Winner

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Nationwide Insurance to be sponsor of No. 2 series. NASCAR, October 3, 2007, accessed November 18, 2008 .
  2. ↑ motorsport-total.com
  3. ^ Kentucky Speedway to be Included in New Nationwide Insurance "Dash 4 Cash". (No longer available online.) In: www.kentuckyspeedway.com. Archived from the original on December 2, 2016 ; accessed on November 24, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.kentuckyspeedway.com
  4. ↑ dash-4-cash . ( nascar.com [accessed November 24, 2016]).
  5. ↑ Dash 4 Cash 101: What you need to know . ( nascar.com [accessed November 24, 2016]).
  6. ↑ nascar-rules-changes . ( nascar.com [accessed November 24, 2016]).
  7. ↑ New participation guidelines put limits in place for 2017 . ( nascar.com [accessed November 24, 2016]).
  8. ↑ Anatomy of XFINITY car . ( nascar.com [accessed December 6, 2016]).
  9. ↑ foustr: Tech Talk - Nationwide Series. In: Fan4Racing Blog and Radio. January 26, 2013, accessed December 13, 2016 .

Web links