Two of the national NASCAR series head to Road America on July 2 for a doubleheader weekend at the Wisconsin road course. There will be many special guests in the Xfinity Series race, including Kyle Larson and Miguel Paludo.
NASCAR released the initial entry list for the Henry 180 and confirmed that there will be 41 drivers trying to make the final 38-car field for the Xfinity Series race. This list includes several drivers making guest starts, including Larson, Paludo, Tyler Reddick, Ty Dillon, Cole Custer, John Hunter Nemechek, Will Rodgers, Andy Lally, and Sage Karam.
41 entries for 38 spots in the Xfinity race at Road America. 07-Custer 08-Lally 6-TDillon 13-Rodgers 17-Larson 18-SammySmith 26-Nemechek 34-Weatherman 44-Bilicki 45-Karam 47-Vargas 48-Reddick 88-Paludo 91-Pardus 92-Bean
Paludo, in particular, will make only his second of three scheduled starts in the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro. His first resulted in a ninth-place finish at Circuit of the Americas, and now he will strive to add another top-10 finish in his seventh career Xfinity Series start. Paludo will pursue this goal while working once again with BRANDT Professional Agriculture as his primary partner.
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With so many guest drivers, there will be some regulars moving to different organizations. Dillon will replace Ryan Vargas at JD Motorsports, so the regular driver of the No. 6 will head over to Mike Harmon Racing. Custer and Lally will both drive for SS GreenLight Racing, so Joe Graf Jr. will join BJ McLeod Motorsports for the Road America race.
Larson Will Help Hendrick Motorsports Make a Comeback
GettyKyle Larson (left) will make his first Xfinity Series start since 2018.
Larson, the 2021 Cup Series champion, has not made a start in the Xfinity Series since the 2018 season when he suited up for six races and won four of them. He will make his 109th career start in the series while helping Hendrick Motorsports make a comeback.
The Cup Series organization announced on June 2 that it would take on the Xfinity Series for the first time since the 2009 season. HMS will bring back the No. 17 Chevrolet, starting with the trip to Road America. The schedule will also include races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Watkins Glen International.
For Larson, he will have the opportunity to pursue his 13th win in the Xfinity Series, his first on a road course. He will also gain some crucial experience with his interim crew chief while pulling double duty.
Regular crew chief Cliff Daniels is currently serving a four-race suspension for a lost wheel at Sonoma Raceway. He can still communicate with the team, but interim crew chief Kevin Meendering is the man currently atop the pit box during Cup Series races. He is also the crew chief for the three-race Xfinity Series schedule.
The first race featuring Meendering on the pit box was not a simple event. He worked with Larson during the Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway, a race that featured a lightning delay and then another lightning/rain delay that lasted over two hours. There were several moments when the No. 5 team could have struggled, but Larson still turned in a fourth-place finish while teammate Chase Elliott captured the win.
2 Guest Drivers Have Secured Xfinity Series Wins
GettyTyler Reddick has 1 Xfinity Series win in 2022.
The entry list features multiple drivers that are capable of securing wins in the Xfinity Series. John Hunter Nemechek has two wins while Ty Dillon has one. The list also includes Tyler Reddick and Cole Custer, who have both reached Victory Lane in 2022.
Custer has made two starts in 2022 for SS GreenLight Racing. He took over the No. 07 Ford Mustang at Auto Club Speedway, and he led nearly half of the scheduled laps while winning a stage. He then returned to the entry at Circuit of the Americas and finished third overall. Now he will try to secure his third top-five finish of the Xfinity Series season.
Reddick, for comparison, has made three starts in the No. 48 Big Machine Racing Chevrolet Camaro. He finished outside the top 20 at Darlington Raceway and Nashville Superspeedway, but he delivered a standout performance at Texas Motor Speedway. He started second overall before winning the first race for Big Machine Racing.
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Kyle Larson, Miguel Paludo Headline Xfinity Series Entry List for Road America