the glen xfinity

I'll do a final Cup Series update on Saturday night.  Today I want to post a few Xfinity Series notes.  It won't be as specific or complete as I'd like because practice was essentially a rain out.  Only a few cars actually took time and none ran actual race speed laps due to rain and a wet track.  No rain is expected for the race, so nothing from practice will carry over to the race.  Plus we won't know the starting order until shortly before the race.  But I do want to give you a few guidelines and general driver targets to help you navigate the time crunch and set those lineups between qualifying and race time.

• The race is only 82 laps.  So only 20.5 points available for laps led and 41 points available for fastest laps.  Position difference and raw finishing position will be more important this week.
  

There are six Cup guys running this race.  Here is how I would rank them:

• Joey Logano has the best history at The Glen.  He's started from pole the last three races and won two of them.  He finished 2nd in the other race during that time.  He's expensive, but probably worth it.
  
• AJ Allmendinger is running in the 23 car.  It's a good, but not top tier, team.  He hasn't run at Watkins Glen in an Xfinity car, but he did dominate the last Xfinity road course race he was in back in 2013 at Mid Ohio.  With his road course talent and somewhat reduced salary, I'll rank him second.
  
• Brad Keselowski overall has a very good history at The Glen.  But he hasn't dominated Xfinity races there like one would expect.  He hasn't won there since five years ago and had a very bad run two years ago.  Of the most expensive guys, Logano has the edge.  I do really like Brad here, but I'm concerned about his salary and performance in the most recent races.
  
• Kyle Larson is running in the 42 for Chip Ganassi.  Loads of talent there, obviously, but he's had very little Xfinity success here.  No wins and the last race he blew an engine so finished 40th after starting 3rd.  Can use in tournaments, but probably an avoid in cash games at this salary.
  
• Aric Almirola is running in the 98, which is also a decent team.  Almirola doesn't have a real good road course history, so he's not a must have by any means.  At the salary, I'd probably stay away unless he starts further back.
  
• Austin Dillon much the same story here.  Not a good road course background and I'm only interested if he's starting further back.
  

Here are the Xfinity Series regulars I'm most interested in:

• Ross Chastain has been pretty reliable in road course races finishing most of the recent races in the mid-teens.  19th, 14th and 17th in the last three at WG.
  
• Justin Allgaier has been really strong, but a notch below guys like Logano and Allmendinger.  So there's probably no way to fit his salary with the other two.
  
• Daniel Hemric is a pretty strong and consistent option.  11th at WG last year, but ran 2nd at the Mid Ohio road course last year too.
  
• Joey Gase is a decent cheap option because he usually races OK and there's no risk of a start and park situation.
  
• JJ Yeley would be another salary saving option if you can confirm the team is going to try to run the whole race.  They are an occasional start and park team. 
  
• Ryan Sieg, Jeremy Clements and David Starr are all guys who attempt to run full races.  None are going to get spectacular results, but they should be good for a few positions gained and you know they will try to run a full race.
  
• There are a number of one off guys doing this race who don't normally race in the Series.  They worry me especially since there will be no practice before the race.  Expect problems from them on pit road and otherwise.  I'm generally planning to avoid except possibly in tournaments.
  
• Lastly, on Christopher Bell.  I love the guy, have been pushing him really hard the last few weeks and winning a lot of money with him.  But he's got a dirt track background and very little road course experience.  This is his first race at The Glen.  I'm sure he's been living in a simulator trying to get ready for this, but the lack of practice really has me off him this weekend.  I just don't think it makes sense to spend up for him in a situation like this.