Xfinity Series inaugurates Chase format at Kentucky Speedway

NASCAR drivers, from left, Martin Truex Jr., Ryan Newman, and Brad Keselowski talk before practice for Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Bad Boy Off Road 300 auto race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway Friday, Sept. 23, 2016, in Loudon, N.H.

TV: Saturday, 1 p.m., Fox Sports 1. You can follow live scoring all weekend at NASCAR’s Race Center. The shifting alliances paid off big time when Truex captured last Sunday’s Ninja Turtles 400 at Chicagoland.

In addition, NASCAR changed its LIS rules.

The focus is now back on racing and The Chase, as Truex is the only driver among the 16 in The Chase guaranteed to advance to the second of three rounds. Our Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Toyota had a great run at New Hampshire in July.

“We feel like what is going on is that the stakes are higher now that we’re at the Chase”, Senior Vice President of Competition Scott Miller said on the NBCSN broadcast.

In anticipation of the second race of the Sprint Cup Chase, Fantasy NASCAR Expert Brian Polking ranks the top drivers racing at New Hampshire Motor Speedway using Yahoo’s scoring system. Sunday will likely be Stewart’s last race in New Hampshire. Also on the card are the weekly DIRTcar Sportsman Coupes and USAC Midgets, along with a 100-lap Enduro race. It’s the support of having three stellar teammates in Kenseth, Hamlin and Kyle Busch (who starts 12th).

Truex won last weekend’s Chase-opener and has secured a berth in the next round of the playoffs. Fast facts: Truex clinched a berth in the round of 12 by winning last week.

Then and now: The IndyCar season wrapped up last Sunday at Sonoma Raceway. Kenseth has won three times in New Hampshire, including twice in a row. 32 at Chicagoland, Almirola holds an average finish of 27 over the last three races and, while 19 at Loudon in July seemed to be running no different under new crew chief Drew Blickensderfer than he was with Trent Owens at the helm. Fellow Chase drivers Kurt Busch, Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick and Tony Stewart failed to get out of the second round. Burton had four. Next race: Citizen Soldier 400, October 2, Dover International Speedway, Dover, Delaware.

Matt Kenseth: Kenseth has been a monster at the one-mile tracks in the last few years. And he had won the Xfinity championship that season, becoming the youngest series champ in history. The difference in 2016 is he now will advance to the second round of the playoffs with his first career Chase win.

The number of points separating ninth place Carl Edwards and 15 place Kyle Larson in the Chase standings. After three races, the field will be cut to eight, then reduced to a final four after the sixth race.

Busch is one of NASCAR’s more colorful characters, and that reflects in both the racing style and the inner drive that brought him to the pinnacle of his profession.

Austin Cindric raced to his first ARCA Racing Series victory Friday night at Kentucky Speedway, holding off Dalton Sargeant in a green-white-checker finish. Race distance: 185.15 miles, 175 laps.

Suarez placed 22 in this race past year, but came in third in the summer race at Kentucky. Saturday’s race will mark the inaugural event of the seven-race Truck Series’ Chase for the Championship format. Tony Stewart, who finished runner-up at New Hampshire in July, now holds the final transfer spot to the Round of 12 as he goes for his fourth NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship. Next race: DC Solar 350, October 1 1, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas. He now leads Lewis Hamilton in the points race, 273-265.

Next event: Petronas Malaysia Grand Prix, Kuala Lumpur.