2017 Virginia 529 College Savings 250

Race details
Race 25 of 33 in the 2017 NASCAR Xfinity Series
Date	September 8, 2017
Official name	37th Annual Virginia 529 College Savings 250
Location	Richmond, Virginia, Richmond Raceway
Course	Permanent racing facility 0.75 mi (1.21 km)
Distance	250 laps, 187.5 mi (301.752 km)
Scheduled Distance	250 laps, 187.5 mi (301.752 km)
Average speed	97.614 miles per hour (157.095 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing
Time	22.638
Most laps led
Driver	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing
Laps	182
Winner
No. 22	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske
Television in the United States
Network	NBCSN
Announcers	Rick Allen, Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte
Radio in the United States
Radio	Motor Racing Network

The 2017 Virginia 529 College Savings 250 was the 25th stock car race of the 2017 NASCAR Xfinity Series season and the 37th iteration of the event. The race was held on Friday, September 8, 2017, in Richmond, Virginia, at Richmond International Raceway, a 0.75 miles (1.21 km) D-shaped oval. The race took the scheduled 250 laps to complete. In the final stages of the race, Brad Keselowski, driving for Team Penske, would pull away from the field to win his 36th career NASCAR Xfinity Series win and his second and final win of the season.^[1] To fill out the podium, Kyle Busch, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, and Ty Dillon, driving for Richard Childress Racing, would finish second and third, respectively.

Background

The layout of Richmond Raceway, the venue where the race was held.

Richmond Raceway (RR), formerly known as Richmond International Raceway (RIR), is a 3/4-mile (1.2 km), D-shaped, asphalt race track located just outside Richmond, Virginia in Henrico County. It hosts the NASCAR Cup Series, the NASCAR Xfinity Series, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and the IndyCar series. Known as "America's premier short track", it formerly hosted two USAC sprint car races.

Practice

The only one hour and 55-minute practice session was held on Friday, September 8, at 8:00 AM EST.^[2] Blake Koch, driving for Kaulig Racing, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 21.967 and an average speed of 122.912 mph (197.808 km/h).^[3]

Qualifying

Qualifying was held on Friday, September 8, at 4:15 PM EST.^[2] Since Richmond Raceway is under 2 miles (3.2 km) in length, the qualifying system was a multi-car system that included three rounds. The first round was 15 minutes, where every driver would be able to set a lap within the 15 minutes. Then, the second round would consist of the fastest 24 cars in Round 1, and drivers would have 10 minutes to set a lap. Round 3 consisted of the fastest 12 drivers from Round 2, and the drivers would have 5 minutes to set a time. Whoever was fastest in Round 3 would win the pole.^[4]

Kyle Busch, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, would win the pole after setting a time of 22.638 and an average speed of 119.268 mph (191.943 km/h) in the third round.^[5]

Morgan Shepherd was the only driver to fail to qualify.

Race results

Stage 1 Laps: 75

Stage 2 Laps: 75

Stage 3 Laps: 100

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Elliott Sadler 894 2 William Byron 799 (-95) 3 Justin Allgaier 774 (–120) 1 4 Daniel Hemric 702 (–192) 1 5 Brennan Poole 701 (–193) 6 Cole Custer 617 (-277) 7 Matt Tifft 582 (-312) 8 Blake Koch 537 (-357) 1 9 Ryan Reed 512 (-382) 1 10 Michael Annett 512 (-382) 11 Brendan Gaughan 511 (-383) 12 Dakoda Armstrong 486 (-408) Official driver's standings Note: Only the first 12 positions are included for the driver standings.

References