The NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs are creeping closer and closer, and the sense of urgency and intensity is ratcheting up. With only six races left in the regular season, here is a look at the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff bubble and those who are safe alongside those in danger.
The Drivers: Shane Van Gisbergen (3 Wins), Austin Hill (2 Wins), Chandler Smith (2 Wins), Sam Mayer (2 Wins), Cole Custer (1 Win), Justin Allgaier (1 Win), Riley Herbst (1 Win), and Jesse Love (1 Win)
With six races left in the regular season, the Xfinity Series has eight full-time drives with at least one win. While it’s possible to get more than 12 winners before the end of the regular season, it’s incredibly unlikely as every Xfinity Series winner this year, and all except one since the start of 2023, has come from either JR Motorsports, Kaulig Racing, Stewart-Haas Racing, and Joe Gibbs Racing. While wild card races like Watkins Glen, Daytona, and Atlanta still remain, these drivers should feel pretty safe, and each driver with multiple wins is already locked in, no matter what.
For these drivers, it’s all about gaining as many Playoff bonus points as possible via race wins, stage wins, and bonus points for finishing in the top 10 in points (15 for 1st, 10 for 2nd, 8 for 3rd, etc., until 1 for 10th). Custer, with a 56-point lead, feels pretty safe as the regular season points leader, but a lot can happen between now and Bristol in September. It’s also worth noting that fifth through eighth (Herbst, Love, A.J. Allmendinger, and Sheldon Creed) in points are all separated by only 43 points, and that’s worth a few extra bonus points.
The Drivers: A.J. Allmendinger (+102) and Sheldon Creed (+69)
Both Allmendinger and Creed should make the Playoffs on points, and it’s not out of the question that they win a race before the regular season ends. Even if they do not win, they have a two-driver cushion beneath them, which allows for a couple of potential upset winners, a nice gap with two drafting tracks, and one road course left in the regular season.
Both drivers find themselves in the heat of the battle between fifth and eighth in points. While race wins and stage wins are the best ways to earn Playoff points, this is the race these drivers are watching for as they try to position themselves for a deep Playoff run.
The Drivers: Parker Kligerman (+46), Ryan Sieg (+3), and Sammy Smith (-3)
This may be the most volatile Playoff bubble in NASCAR right now. With the upcoming wild card races, this bubble could easily move upward, and it’s already tight. Kligerman is hoping for no upset winners, while Sieg and Smith are focused on outperforming each other.
Conventional wisdom would say that Smith will find a way past Sieg, as Smith clearly has the equipment edge. However, if a surprise winner emerges in the next few weeks, that won’t matter. The best path for either driver, who both have shown they can compete for wins, is to win in these final six regular season races.
The Drivers: Every winless driver that is 14th or worse in points; notables include Brandon Jones (-69), Brennan Poole (-157), Josh Williams (-201), Jeb Burton (-224), and Jeremy Clements (-236).
It may not be mathematically impossible for these drivers to make the Playoffs on points, but they’re so far back that they have to go for wins. Brandon Jones has sometimes shown speed with two poles and a second-place finish at Charlotte, but he needs to find more to avoid missing the Playoffs for the second straight year.
Former superspeedway winners Jeremy Clements and Jeb Burton have circled Daytona and Atlanta as their best opportunity. Brennan Poole came within a few thousand feet of winning at Talladega in the spring. Clements also has a road course win on his resume, meaning he could be one to watch at Watkins Glen. Josh Williams is in equipment capable of winning, so you can’t count him out.
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With Round 1 of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series Race to the Chase in the books, the greatest drivers in the world, the stars of the NASCAR Cup Series, head to the Peach State. We’re going back-to-back superspeedway racing as the NASCAR takes on the EchoPark Speedway (formerly the Atlanta Motor Speedway). This is what you need to keep your eyes peeled for in what is guaranteed to be a thriller of a race.
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It was a busy Saturday at EchoPark Speedway (formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway). First, we had the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race. Then, the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series took center stage and they were two vastly different events. Ultimately, it was Sheldon Creed standing tall in victory lane when all was said and done. Here’s what you need to take away from tonight’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at EchoPark Speedway.
Corey Day had a very sloppy, bad race in general, and it started early. First, he caused a wreck that took out Harrison Burton and a couple of others. Then, he took out the JRM duo of Carson Kvapil and Justin Allgaier. You can recap that first incident by reading the article below.
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Kvapil and Allgaier weren’t the only JRM cars to have issues tonight. Firstly, Rajah Caruth was out of control throughout the race, fighting a mean-handling car. He was able to brilliantly save it several times, to his credit. But perhaps the biggest incident involving the four JRM Chevys came at Lap 142 when Sammy Smith had a tire go down and spun in front of the pack. This took out several drivers, including Taylor Gray, among others. Read about that here:
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Results Pending.
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As Ross Chastain took the lead and the pack was closing in on 20 laps to go, things a little deeper in the pack started to get a little hairy. We had yet another huge crash late in the running here tonight, this one sparked by Sammy Smith’s flat rear tire. Here’s what happened:
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