2017 Sparks Energy 300
The 2017 Sparks Energy 300 was the ninth stock car race of the 2017 NASCAR Xfinity Series season and the 26th iteration of the event. The race was held on Saturday, May 6, 2017, in Lincoln, Alabama at Talladega Superspeedway, a 2.66 miles permanent triangle-shaped superspeedway. The race took the scheduled 113 laps to complete. At race's end, Aric Almirola, driving for Biagi–DenBeste Racing, would take the lead with four to go and defend fiercely to win his third and to date, his only win of the season. To fill out the podium, Elliott Sadler of JR Motorsports and Joey Logano of Team Penske would finish second and third, respectively.
Entry list
' denotes rookie driver.- '
Practice
First practice
The first practice session was held on Friday, May 5, at 10:30 AM CST, and would last for 55 minutes. Blake Koch of Kaulig Racing would set the fastest time in the session, with a time of 49.722 and an average speed of.Final practice
The final practice session was held on Friday, May 5, at 12:30 PM CST and lasted for 55 minutes. Brandon Jones of Richard Childress Racing set the fastest time in the session, with a time of 52.381 and an average speed of.Qualifying
Qualifying was held on Saturday, May 6, at 9:30 AM CST. Since Talladega Superspeedway at least in length, the qualifying system was a single car, single lap, two round system where in the first round, everyone would set a time to determine positions 13-40. Then, the fastest 12 qualifiers would move on to the second round to determine positions 1-12.Blake Koch of Kaulig Racing would win the pole, setting a time of 52.188 and an average speed of in the second round.
B. J. McLeod was the only driver to fail to qualify.
Race results
Stage 1 Laps: 25Stage 2 Laps: 25
Stage 3 Laps: 63
Standings after the race
;Drivers' Championship standings- Note: Only the first 12 positions are included for the driver standings.