2017 Sparks Energy 300
| Race details | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Race 9 of 33 in the 2017 NASCAR Xfinity Series | |||||
| Date | May 6, 2017 | ||||
| Official name | 26th Annual Sparks Energy 300 | ||||
| Location | Lincoln, Alabama, Talladega Superspeedway | ||||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||||
| Course length | 2.66 miles (4.28 km) | ||||
| Distance | 113 laps, 300.58 mi (483.736 km) | ||||
| Scheduled distance | 113 laps, 300.58 mi (483.736 km) | ||||
| Average speed | 139.068 miles per hour (223.808 km/h) | ||||
| Pole position | |||||
| Driver | Kaulig Racing | ||||
| Time | 52.188 | ||||
| Most laps led | |||||
| Driver | Justin Allgaier | JR Motorsports | |||
| Laps | 24 | ||||
| Winner | |||||
| No. 98 | Aric Almirola |
Network |
FOX | ||
| Announcers | Adam Alexander, Michael Waltrip, Kevin Harvick | ||||
| Radio in the United States | |||||
| Radio | Motor Racing Network | ||||
The 2017 Sparks Energy 300 was the ninth
superspeedway. The race took the scheduled 113 laps to complete. At race's end, Aric Almirola, driving for Biagi-DenBeste Racing, would take the lead with four to go and defend fiercely to win his third and to date, his only win of the season.[1] To fill out the podium, Elliott Sadler of JR Motorsports and Joey Logano of Team Penske
would finish second and third, respectively.
Background
Talladega Superspeedway, originally known as Alabama International Motor Superspeedway (AIMS), is a
Camping World Truck Series. Talladega is the longest NASCAR oval with a length of 2.66-mile-long (4.28 km) tri-oval like the Daytona International Speedway
, which also is a 2.5-mile-long (4 km) tri-oval.
Entry list
- (R) denotes rookie driver.
- (i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.
Practice
First practice
The first practice session was held on Friday, May 5, at 10:30 AM CST, and would last for 55 minutes.[2] Blake Koch of Kaulig Racing would set the fastest time in the session, with a time of 49.722 and an average speed of 192.591 miles per hour (309.945 km/h).[3]
| Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Time | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11 | Blake Koch | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 49.722 | 192.591 |
| 2 | 62 | Brendan Gaughan | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 49.732 | 192.552 |
| 3 | 2 | Ben Kennedy (R)
|
Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 49.784 | 192.351 |
| Full first practice results | ||||||
Second and final practice
The second and final practice session, sometimes referred to as Happy Hour, was held on Friday, May 5, at 12:30 PM CST, and would last for 55 minutes.[2] Brandon Jones of Richard Childress Racing would set the fastest time in the session, with a time of 52.381 and an average speed of 182.814 miles per hour (294.211 km/h).[4]
| Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Time | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 33 | Brandon Jones | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 52.381 | 182.814 |
| 2 | 11 | Blake Koch | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 52.508 | 182.372 |
| 3 | 21 | Daniel Hemric (R) | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 52.623 | 181.974 |
| Full Happy Hour practice results | ||||||
Qualifying
Qualifying was held on Saturday, May 6, at 9:30 AM CST.[2] Since Talladega Superspeedway at least 2 miles (3.2 km) in length, the qualifying system was a single car, single lap, two round system where in the first round, everyone would set a time to determine positions 13-40. Then, the fastest 12 qualifiers would move on to the second round to determine positions 1-12.[5]
Blake Koch of Kaulig Racing would win the pole, setting a time of 52.188 and an average speed of 183.490 miles per hour (295.299 km/h) in the second round.[6]
B. J. McLeod was the only driver to fail to qualify.
Full qualifying results
| Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Time (R1) | Speed (R1) | Time (R2) | Speed (R2) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11 | Blake Koch | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 52.465 | 182.522 | 52.188 | 183.490 |
| 2 | 88 | Kasey Kahne (i) | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 52.498 | 182.407 | 52.296 | 183.112 |
| 3 | 21 | Daniel Hemric (R) | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 52.636 | 181.929 | 52.491 | 182.431 |
| 4 | 2 | Ben Kennedy (R)
|
Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 52.748 | 181.542 | 52.493 | 182.424 |
| 5 | 33 | Brandon Jones | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 52.582 | 182.116 | 52.529 | 182.299 |
| 6 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 52.748 | 181.542 | 52.640 | 181.915 |
| 7 | 3 | Ty Dillon (i) | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 52.761 | 181.498 | 52.646 | 181.894 |
| 8 | 22 | Joey Logano (i) | Team Penske | Ford | 52.521 | 182.327 | 52.650 | 181.880 |
| 9 | 9 | William Byron (R) | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 52.777 | 181.443 | 52.676 | 181.791 |
| 10 | 20 | Erik Jones (i) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 52.747 | 181.546 | 52.678 | 181.784 |
| 11 | 16 | Ryan Reed | Roush Fenway Racing
|
Ford | 52.701 | 181.704 | 52.884 | 181.076 |
| 12 | 48 | Brennan Poole | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 52.607 | 182.029 | 53.338 | 179.534 |
| Eliminated in Round 1 | ||||||||
| 13 | 00 | Cole Custer (R) | Stewart-Haas Racing
|
Ford | 52.781 | 181.429 | - | - |
| 14 | 1 | Elliott Sadler | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 52.800 | 181.364 | - | - |
| 15 | 28 | Dakoda Armstrong | JGL Racing | Toyota | 52.813 | 181.319 | - | - |
| 16 | 42 | Tyler Reddick | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 52.839 | 181.230 | - | - |
| 17 | 62 | Brendan Gaughan | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 52.884 | 181.076 | - | - |
| 18 | 18 | Daniel Suárez (i) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 52.925 | 180.935 | - | - |
| 19 | 19 | Matt Tifft (R) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 52.928 | 180.925 | - | - |
| 20 | 23 | Spencer Gallagher (R) | GMS Racing | Chevrolet | 52.945 | 180.867 | - | - |
| 21 | 5 | Michael Annett | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 52.953 | 180.840 | - | - |
| 22 | 6 | Bubba Wallace | Roush Fenway Racing
|
Ford | 53.102 | 180.332 | - | - |
| 23 | 98 | Aric Almirola (i) | Biagi-DenBeste Racing | Ford | 53.170 | 180.102 | - | - |
| 24 | 24 | Scott Lagasse Jr. | JGL Racing | Toyota | 53.421 | 179.255 | - | - |
| 25 | 4 | Ross Chastain | JD Motorsports | Chevrolet | 53.490 | 179.024 | - | - |
| 26 | 13 | Mark Thompson | MBM Motorsports | Toyota | 53.527 | 178.900 | - | - |
| 27 | 25 | Chris Cockrum | Chris Cockrum Racing
|
Chevrolet | 53.557 | 178.800 | - | - |
| 28 | 74 | Mike Harmon | Mike Harmon Racing | Dodge | 53.642 | 178.517 | - | - |
| 29 | 0 | Garrett Smithley | JD Motorsports | Chevrolet | 53.663 | 178.447 | - | - |
| 30 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | RSS Racing | Chevrolet | 53.772 | 178.085 | - | - |
| 31 | 14 | J. J. Yeley | TriStar Motorsports | Toyota | 53.776 | 178.072 | - | - |
| 32 | 99 | David Starr | BJMM with SS-Green Light Racing | Chevrolet | 53.836 | 177.874 | - | - |
| 33 | 89 | Morgan Shepherd | Shepherd Racing Ventures | Chevrolet | 54.090 | 177.038 | - | - |
| Qualified by owner's points | ||||||||
| 34 | 07 | Ray Black Jr. | SS-Green Light Racing | Chevrolet | 54.139 | 176.878 | - | - |
| 35 | 52 | Joey Gase | Jimmy Means Racing | Chevrolet | 54.164 | 176.796 | - | - |
| 36 | 90 | Martin Roy | King Autosport
|
Chevrolet | 54.318 | 176.295 | - | - |
| 37 | 40 | Timmy Hill | MBM Motorsports | Dodge | 54.359 | 176.162 | - | - |
| 38 | 01 | Harrison Rhodes | JD Motorsports | Chevrolet | 54.378 | 176.101 | - | - |
| 39 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | Jeremy Clements Racing | Chevrolet | 54.394 | 176.049 | - | - |
| Champion's Provisional | ||||||||
| 40 | 8 | Jeff Green | B. J. McLeod Motorsports | Toyota | 54.523 | 175.632 | - | - |
| Failed to qualify | ||||||||
| 41 | 78 | B. J. McLeod | B. J. McLeod Motorsports | Toyota | - | - | - | - |
| Official qualifying results | ||||||||
| Official starting lineup | ||||||||
Race results
Stage 1 Laps: 25
| Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 98 | Aric Almirola (i) | Biagi-DenBeste Racing | Ford | 0 |
| 2 | 22 | Joey Logano (i) | Team Penske | Ford | 0 |
| 3 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 8 |
| 4 | 20 | Erik Jones (i) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 0 |
| 5 | 11 | Blake Koch | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 6 |
| 6 | 5 | Michael Annett | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 5 |
| 7 | 62 | Brendan Gaughan | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 4 |
| 8 | 88 | Kasey Kahne (i) | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 0 |
| 9 | 14 | J. J. Yeley | TriStar Motorsports | Toyota | 2 |
| 10 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | RSS Racing | Chevrolet | 1 |
Stage 2 Laps: 25
| Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 10 |
| 2 | 3 | Ty Dillon (i) | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 0 |
| 3 | 88 | Kasey Kahne (i) | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 0 |
| 4 | 98 | Aric Almirola (i) | Biagi-DenBeste Racing | Ford | 0 |
| 5 | 20 | Erik Jones (i) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 0 |
| 6 | 22 | Joey Logano (i) | Team Penske | Ford | 0 |
| 7 | 42 | Tyler Reddick | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 4 |
| 8 | 5 | Michael Annett | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 3 |
| 9 | 19 | Matt Tifft (R) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 2 |
| 10 | 2 | Ben Kennedy (R)
|
Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 1 |
Stage 3 Laps: 63
Standings after the race
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References
- ^ "Race Recap: Aric Almirola powers to NASCAR XFINITY Series win at Talladega". ESPN.com. May 6, 2017. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
- ^ a b c "2017 NASCAR XFINITY Talladega Race Info". ESPN.com. March 27, 2017. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
- ^ Velat, Frank (May 5, 2017). "Blake Koch, Brandon Jones Fastest In Talladega XFINITY Practices". www.frontstretch.com. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
- ^ McFadin, Daniel (May 5, 2017). "Brandon Jones, Blake Koch top final Xfinity practice at Talladega". NASCAR Talk | NBC Sports. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
- ^ "NASCAR Qualifying Rules". ESPN.com. February 7, 2018. Retrieved November 1, 2021.
- ^ "Blake Koch Swipes First XFINITY Pole At Talladega". www.frontstretch.com. May 6, 2017. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
- ^ "2017 Sparks Energy 300 - The Third Turn". www.thethirdturn.com. Retrieved May 4, 2022.