Daniel Suarez takes Xfinity Chase lead in race dominated by Sprint Cup drivers

Ray Slover

Daniel Suarez takes Xfinity Chase lead in race dominated by Sprint Cup drivers image

Victory belonged to Kyle Larson on Saturday at Texas. But the Xfinity Series' Chase championship got a bit more interesting because of who didn't win.

Teammates Erik Jones and Daniel Suarez finished ahead of Elliott Sadler, in fourth through sixth, in the O'Reilly Auto Parts Challenge. But two races into the competition's Round of 8, none of the Xfinity Chase drivers has won his way to the championship race.

MORE: Sprint Cup starting lineup | Eight to watch | Chase pressure building

One race remains, next week at Phoenix, before the final four title competitors is decided.

The race results were important only in terms of the Chase. Larson took the lead from Brad Keselowski on the final restart. Keselowski led a race-high 145 of 200 laps. Kevin Harvick, who remains in the Sprint Cup Chase and needs a big finish on Sunday, was third in the Xfinity race.

Sadler entered the race tied with Suarez for the Xfinity Chase points lead. Jones was fifth. With the victory, Suarez is one point ahead of Sadler.

The Round of 8 standings after two races: 1. Suarez; 2. Sadler; 3. Jones; 4. Blake Koch; 5. Justin Allgaier; 6. Ryan Reed; 7. Darrell Wallace Jr.; 8. Brendan Gaughan.

Here are the results of Saturday's Xfinity Series race, the O'Reilly Auto Parts Challenge, at Texas Motor Speedway. (C) — Xfinity Chase participant.

Pos. Driver Points
1 Kyle Larson
2 Brad Keselowski
3 Kevin Harvick
4 Erik Jones (C) 3065
5 Daniel Suarez (C) 3075
6 Elliott Sadler (C) 3074
7 Austin Dillon
8 Brennan Poole
9 Matt Tifft
10 Justin Allgaier (C) 3058
11 Darrell Wallace Jr. (C) 3039
12 Ryan Reed (C) 3054
13 Ryan Sieg
14 Blake Koch (C) 3059
15 Brendan Gaughan (C) 3036
16 Ty Dillon
17 JJ Yeley
18 Jeremy Clements
19 Brandon Jones
20 Dakoda Armstrong
21 Ross Chastain
22 Ryan Preece
23 Corey Lajoie
24 David Starr
25 Garrett Smithley
26 Clint King
27 Ray Black Jr.
28 BJ McLeod
29 Austin Theriault
30 Martin Roy
31 Joey Gase
32 Mike Harmon
33 Ryan Ellis
34 Matt Waltz
35 Brandon Hightower
36 Matt DiBenedetto
37 Dexter Stacey
38 Timmy Hill
39 Morgan Shepherd
40 Jeff Green

 

Ray Slover