The NASCAR Xfinity Series continued their West Coast Swing this past weekend by visiting the 2-mile track of Auto Club Speedway. Rising NASCAR star, Harrison Burton, scored his first career NASCAR win after holding off challengers Chase Briscoe, Austin Cindric, and one last charge from Riley Herbst out of Turn 4 to the checkered flag.
With that in mind, some other drivers had a great race going before getting caught up in some kind of incident.
Here are this week’s Power Rankings following the Production Alliance Group 300 at Auto Club Speedway.
- Harrison Burton – It took 12 races in the Xfinity Series for Burton to finally get that first elusive win. Prior to this win, the 19-year-old was having a great break out season by finishing runner up at Daytona and fifth last week at Las Vegas. This week was a little different for Burton who quite possibly had one of his best races to date. He qualified second, finished third in both stages and led multiple times before taking the win. The first indication that he had a car capable of winning came on Lap 78 when Burton led eight laps. He would lead again from Lap 118-129 for 12 laps before leading the last 20 after a caution on Lap 127. Despite getting caught in lap traffic, Burton managed his way through it and held on for the lead. It might be too early to predict, but the youngster may be a dark horse for the Playoffs down the road.
Previous Week Ranking – Second - Austin Cindric – It was a quiet run for Cindric who followed up with another top-five finish, placing third after starting seventh. He didn’t lead any laps but challenged for the win late before having a battle with Herbst. The Team Penske driver finished eighth in Stage 1 and fifth in Stage. Cindric currently sits third in points, 18 points behind the leader.
Previous Week Ranking – Third - Chase Briscoe – The results won’t show it, but Chase Briscoe had a great finish and a chance at the win late Saturday afternoon at Auto Club. The Indiana native started third, led 16 laps and was able to finish second in Stage 1 and fourth in Stage 2. Briscoe was chasing down Burton for the lead before spinning himself on Lap 127, which ultimately took him out of contention for the win and relegated him to a 19th place finish, two laps down. It was a tough break for Briscoe who was looking to continue his consistency in 2020.
Previous Week Ranking – First - Ryan Sieg – Another week, another great finish for Ryan Sieg’s No. 39 team out of Georgia. Sieg started eighth and contended for a top-five finish and at times, a top-three finish. He finished seventh in Stage 1 and ninth in Stage 2. While Sieg didn’t lead any laps, the RSS Racing driver continues to have great runs early in the 2020 Xfinity Series season by finishing fourth. It wouldn’t be surprising if Sieg can get a win before the Playoffs.
Previous Week Ranking – Fifth - Brandon Jones – Speaking of heartbreakers, Brandon Jones and the No. 19 were class of the field through the first two stages. Jones qualified on the pole to earn his third pole in just 140 starts. He swept both the stages by winning them and leading the first 73 laps. Though after the stages, cautions were breeding cautions, and Jones’ car started to go away and was not quite as dominant on the short runs as he was for the long runs. Then, unfortunately, Jones got caught up in someone’s incident and was set back to a 30th place finish after having a winning car early on.
Previous Week Ranking – Not Ranked
Fell Out
- Noah Gragson – The JR Motorsports driver had a car capable of finishing in the top-10 or five, however, Gragson got a little bit of air on the backstretch on Lap 98 from Ross Chastain. The Las Vegas native finished 26th, four laps down after running consistently in the top-10 and scored a ninth-place finish in Stage 1.
Previous Week Ranking – Fourth
