When today’s Xfinity race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway takes the green flag, it will do so with only four full-time Cup drivers entered – a fact that surprises some Xfinity regulars and NASCAR America’s Nate Ryan.
Ty Dillon, Austin Dillon, Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott will join the Xfinity drivers.
“I was a little bit surprised at some of the places we saw (Cup drivers) and – kind of on the flipside of it, kind of surprised at some of the places we didn’t see more Cup drivers,” Justin Allgaier said.
Ryan echoed Allgaier’s surprise – noting on Friday’s edition of NASCAR America that the Xfinity race has much greater implications than just a trophy. With NASCAR most likely preparing to roll out a new rules package in 2018 based on the current Xfinity drafting package, this would be an excellent opportunity to add to the notebook.
“This is the last chance that Cup drivers have in the Xfinity series and even though they’re not running this restrictor plate package in … the Brickyard 400 – not a lot transfers from Saturday to Sunday – a lot still would transfer from Saturday to next year because they’re talking about maybe using this package in maybe 16 races next year in the Cup series and probably at Indianapolis.”
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