The NASCAR Xfinity Series heads to the Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday afternoon to do battle in the Sparks 300. Saturday afternoon marks the 2nd race in the round of 12 of the playoffs for the 2021 Xfinity Series. Talladega is a 2.66-mile Superspeedway and 113 laps will make up the 300-mile advertised distance. For some of the playoff contenders, Saturday will be the only chance to lock in a spot to round of 8 in the Xfinity Playoffs upcoming.
Here are 5 drivers to consider for the Sparks 300.
Justin Haley +750- Haley will begin Saturday’s Xfinity Race from the 8th position in the Sparks 300. Haley won at Daytona in August, only needing to lead 5 laps to bring home the checkered flag. In the 2020 Xfinity Series, Haley picked up a win a Daytona and swept both races at Talladega for 3 wins on the year total. The Kaulig team is toughest to beat at the superspeedways in the Xfinity Series and with Haley only 17 points above the cutline heading in needs a win.
Austin Cindric +850- Cindric will fire off from the 2nd position on Saturday afternoon in the Sparks 300. In 27 starts on the season to date for Cindirc in the Xfinity Series he has come away 17 top 5 finishes and 5 wins including the victory at the INDY road course recently. Cindric won the first Xfinity race of 2021 at Daytona in February and finished 2nd at Talladega in April. Hard to pass on Cindric on Friday night for the Sparks 300.
Jeb Burton +1100- Burton comes into Saturday’s Xfinity race starting from the 14th position after a disappointing 36th place finish at Las Vegas one week ago. Looking to rebound from the crash at Las Vegas, Jeb finished 4th at Daytona in February in the first Xfinity race of 2021 and followed up with a big win at Talladega in April, securing a spot in the 2021 Xfinity Playoffs. With teammates Justin Haley and A.J. Allmendinger to draft with, the Kaulig team will be strong on Saturday afternoon.
Riley Herbst +2000- Herbst will take the green flag for Saturday’s Sparks 300 from the 13th position. Herbst is 32 points below the cutline into the Round of 8 following the crash at Las Vegas one week ago. Plain and simple, Herbst has got to win at Talladega or at the Charlotte ROVAL next week to continue on in the 2021 championship run. Riley has 3 Xfinity starts at Talladega, the 1 top 5 finish came in April of this season. Desperation time for Herbst and crew, look for the team to swing for the fences here at Talladega on Saturday.
Myatt Snider +3000- Snider will start from the 10th position on Saturday afternoon at the Talladega Superspeedway. Snider comes off a 15th place performance at Las Vegas one week ago and had a solid 9th place finish at Talladega back in April in the Xfinity race. Much like Riley Herbst, Snider is in a must win situation to make the Round of 8 in the 2021 Xfinity Series playoffs. Snider finished 8th in the 2nd race of the season at Daytona back in August, nice longshot price on a driver that has to win Saturday.
AUTHOR: Jeff Jeter
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