21ST RUNNING OF THE AUTO LOTTO 200 X-FINITY SERIES RACE

21st Running of the Auto Lotto 200 X-FINITY Series Race

Last Year’s Race: On paper, it looked like Denny Hamlin had an easy time of it in winning at New Hampshire – leading 145 of the two hundred laps to post his second X-FINITY Series win of the season.  But on the track, it was quite a different story.  Hamlin and Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch leaned hard on each other twice during the course of the afternoon while racing for position.  In one instance, contact early in the race sent Hamlin – the pole sitter – spinning and forced him to restart at the rear of the field.  But the Number-20 Toyota was strong, Hamlin charged back toward the front and took the lead at Lap-43.  With less than thirty laps to go, Austin Dillon jumped past Hamlin on the day’s final restart and led briefly.  But Hamlin pulled alongside Dillon a short time later and nudged him out of the way to reclaim the lead and drive off to his thirteenth career victory.  Dillon was critical of Hamlin’s bump-and-run tactic after the race as he had to settle for second place.  Brad Keselowski finished third and Busch was fourth, giving Sprint Cup Series drivers the top four finishing positions.  Rookie Daniel Suarez was fifth, the highest-placed X-FINITY Series regular.

Friday’s Practice Schedule: From 1 to 1:55 p.m. and 3 to 4:25 p.m. (ET) … Qualifying: Saturday at 11:15 a.m. (ET).

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