Twenty races down, 13 to go. As the NASCAR Xfinity Series rapidly approaches the playoffs, here’s where things stand.
Top Storylines
In his first full-time NASCAR season, New Zealander Shane van Gisbergen has made an immediate impact. He leads the Xfinity Series with three victories — all of which came at road courses. The Kaulig Racing driver won back-to-back in June at Portland (Ore.) International Raceway and Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway before snagging the victory at the Chicago Street Course in July.
Understandably, it’s been an adjustment for the former Supercars star on ovals. But at Indianapolis Motor Speedway last weekend, the Kiwi finished fourth — recording his best finish at a traditional oval.
Austin Hill, Chandler Smith and Sam Mayer each have two victories. Hill’s came in the first two races of the season at Daytona (Fla.) Int’l Speedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway. Smith won at Phoenix Raceway and Richmond (Va.) Raceway in the spring, while Mayer won at Texas Motor Speedway and Iowa Speedway.
Ironically, the two latter two drivers have found themselves in a feud entering the Olympic break. Smith and Mayer exchanged words following the July 13 race at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway, when the two spent significant time in close-quarters battles.
After Mayer and A.J. Allmendinger made contact in a lap-one crash that ended Mayer’s day in Indianapolis, Smith continued to voice frustration on X.
Point leader Cole Custer, Justin Allgaier, Riley Herbst and Jesse Love each have one victory. Custer’s came at Pocono, finally breaking through after a series of close calls in the first 18 races of the campaign. He leads overall driver’s points by 56 markers over Allgaier, who scored his win at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.
Herbst won last weekend at IMS, recording his second career victory in a wild battle with Custer and Aric Almirola. His win first came at hometown Las Vegas Motor Speedway last fall. Love won at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway in April.
Four different Cup Series regulars have won races this season, led by John Hunter Nemechek with two. Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott and Christopher Bell have each won a race. Part-timers Ryan Truex and Almirola each have one victory for Joe Gibbs Racing.
One of the biggest surprises is that A.J. Allmendinger remains winless. A victor of 12 Xfinity races since the start of 2021, he has just three top fives in 2024.
Playoff Bubble
With six races remaining until the playoffs, several drivers from prominent organizations are below the cutline.
As it stands, Allmendinger, Sheldon Creed, Parker Kligerman and Ryan Sieg hold the final four spots on points. Allmendinger is comfortable at 102 markers to the good, while Creed has a 69-point cushion. Kligerman is 46 points above the cut. Sieg has a slim three-point margin over Sammy Smith, while Smith’s JR Motorsports teammate Brandon Jones is 69 points below the cut.
Anthony Alfredo is 15th (-114) and Brennan Poole is 16th (-157).
In his first season with Kaulig Racing, Josh Williams is 201 points below the cutline and faces a must-win scenario to make the playoffs for the first time. Jeb Burton, a 2023 playoff participant with a win at Talladega, also faces a must-win situation along with Jeremy Clements, a 2022 playoff qualifier.
What Lies Ahead
The Xfinity Series’ six-race dash to the playoffs includes a wide variety of tracks. Xfinity returns on Aug. 17 at the two-mile Michigan Int’l Speedway, getting three weeks off compared to just two for the Cup Series and the Craftsman Truck Series.
Afterward, it’s a trip to Daytona for the first of two drafting tracks in three races with Atlanta being the other. Darlington is sandwiched in between the two.
Then, the series travels to the Finger Lakes for a September stop at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) Int’l. The regular season finale is at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, where the CW Network will take over for NBC for the final eight races. However, the races will continue to be produced by NBC. The first playoff race is set for Kansas Speedway with elimination races at Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL and Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.
Starting with its return at Michigan, the Xfinity Series schedule mimics the Cup Series schedule all the way through the finale at Phoenix.
Can Custer repeat as the champion, or will a new star arise over the final 14 weeks of the season?