Racing in 2025 is here, and the NASCAR Xfinity Series begins its 33-race season at Daytona International Speedway with the United Rentals 300 on Saturday (Feb. 15) at 5 p.m. ET.
The series has produced some of the best racing among NASCAR’s top-three divisions over the past few years. What could make the series more exciting? A huge potential for parity with over a dozen teams expected to compete for wins week-in and week-out.
From 14-year veterans to teenage fresh faces, the 2025 field has plenty of intrigue in what feels like a wide open race for a series champion. Here’s a rundown of the drivers to watch heading into a new season, split into four different categories.
The Champion Chasing History
Justin Allgaier overcame a wreck in practice, a flat tire, a restart penalty and a speeding penalty in the championship race at Phoenix Raceway last November to capture his first series title and further cement himself as an Xfinity legend.
Allgaier outdueled defending series champion Cole Custer to the tune of two wins, 10 top-fives and a whopping 16 stage wins in 2024.
Repeating as champion isn’t unheard of in the Xfinity Series, as six drivers have earned back-to-back championships. What separates Allgaier is his experience, as each previous repeat won their second title in their second or third season. Allgaier is entering his 15th full-time Xfinity season, a span that’s never seen him finish worse than seventh in the standings.
Allgaier will be 39 years, four months and 26 days old on Nov. 1 when the Xfinity Series races for a title again in Phoenix. If he leaves the desert with a second title, he’ll become just the sixth driver in NASCAR history to win a second-consecutive title after his 39th birthday, joining an elite class that includes Sam Ard, Lee Petty, Joe Weatherly, Cale Yarborough and Dale Earnhardt.
The good news for Allgaier’s repeat bid is that half of last year’s Championship 4 — Custer and AJ Allmendinger — are moving up to the Cup Series. Furthermore, six of the 12 playoff drivers last year are now out of the Xfinity Series full time. The bad news?
Those that return already have quite the track record of success.
The Returning Contenders
If the past is any indication of the future, Austin Hill is bound to leave Atlanta Motor Speedway next week with at least one win under his belt. He won Daytona and Atlanta back-to-back to open last season, and he has scored a combined seven wins between Daytona and Atlanta since 2022.
His ability at non-superspeedways was brought into question by fans throughout last season. Then, Hill went and won at Homestead-Miami Speedway to secure a spot in the Championship 4. There might still be doubters for RCR and Hill outside of the superspeedways, but Hill and rookie teammate Jesse Love combined for 32 top-10s on non-drafting tracks last year.
Love and JR Motorsports’ Sammy Smith have both shown they’re worthy of the top-level equipment they operate, but they’ll need to contend for wins on a consistent basis before either gets taken seriously as a championship threat.
Then, there’s Sam Mayer, Sheldon Creed and the new-look Haas Factory Team to replace Stewart-Haas.
Creed has been one of the series’ best over the last two years, but he has seen wins slip out of his hands in sometimes brutal fashion. Mayer’s second season at JR Motorsports felt like feast or famine, winning three races but failing to finish in nine. It’s an interesting lineup for a team that — under the SHR banner — has been a dominating force in Xfinity for the last five years.
The resume of the class of returning playoff drivers is impressive, but they’ve been slightly overshadowed by an incoming class of newcomers with equally impressive accolades.
The Loaded Rookie Class
Connor Zilisch, with just four starts in the series, is a legit Xfinity championship favorite in 2025. He has been ever since he won his Xfinity debut last season at Watkins Glen International with JR Motorsports.
Zilisch is the star of a studded eight-driver rookie class that is bound to be represented in the Championship 4 at Phoenix. Zilisch’s accolades on road courses are well known, but the 19-year-old has oval success in bounds with four ARCA wins and a pair of top fives in Xfinity.
Zilisch is joined at JR Motorsports by fellow rookie Carson Kvapil, who to his credit nearly won his second career Xfinity race last spring at Dover. While Zilisch is bound to find a win at a road course before long, the same goes for CARS Tour champion Kvapil at the short tracks. The question for both of these drivers is less “if can they win,” but rather “when” and “how often” will they win.
Kaulig Racing has a pair of proven rookies as well. Christian Eckes was the dominant driver of the Truck Series last year, and being paired with a team that made the Championship 4 last year means a trip to victory lane is in order. He’ll debut alongside Daniel Dye, who was surprisingly solid in his part-time Xfinity rides with Kaulig last season.
Joe Gibbs Racing has an entirely new driver lineup that features a pair of rookies. William Sawalich has scored 13 ARCA wins while Taylor Gray scored a third-place finish in his Xfinity debut at Richmond last year. With the success JGR saw last season, it’d be surprising to not see one of these rookies collect their first NASCAR win this season.
A pair of single car drivers coming up from the Trucks rounds out the field. Nick Sanchez will take over the Big Machine Racing Chevy after winning twice last season while Dean Thompson will run full-time with Sam Hunt Racing in a Toyota. Neither team can quite hold a candle to the consistency of JRM, JGR or Kaulig. That said, they’re both solid mid-pack teams with drivers that can handle the expectation of competing for top 10s and top 15s on a weekly basis.
Those Forming New Chemistry
On top of eight rookies, there are 10 drivers expected to run full-time in 2025 that will make their first start with new teams at Daytona.
Brandon Jones’ first JGR tenure ended with his teammate wrecking him out of a playoff spot in 2022. He returns to pilot the No. 20 car that won seven races last season. Can he shake off his rough tenure at JR Motorsports and become a staple of the playoff race once again?
Harrison Burton moves back down to Xfinity with AM Racing, a pairing of two sides with something to prove in 2025. Burton put the Wood Brothers in the playoffs with a win at Daytona after the team had already picked his replacement. Meanwhile, AM Racing split with Hailee Deegan midway through the season but continue to struggle with mechanical gremlins.
There’s one move that went under the radar but might have a huge impact. Our Motorsports moved on from Anthony Alfredo to Kris Wright. Alfredo got quite a few top 10s for the mid-pack team last season and the new driver, Wright, is a road course veteran coming into his own on the ovals.
Parker Retzlaff, Ryan Ellis, Blaine Perkins and Garrett Smithley are all starting anew in 2025. The same goes for yours truly. I’ll be following along with the Xfinity Series here and providing commentary throughout what’s sure to be an entertaining season. Hope you’re ready; I know I am.
James Krause joined Frontstretch in March 2024 as a contributor. Krause was born and raised in Illinois and graduated from Northern Illinois University. He currently works in La Crosse, Wisconsin as a local sports reporter, including local short track racing. Outside of racing, Krause loves to keep up with football, music, anime and video games.