20. Hailie Deegan No. 15 AM Racing Ford
Hailie Deegan is making her rookie debut in the Xfinity Series with AM Racing after three full-time seasons in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Deegan posted multiple top-10 finishes for a second straight year in 2023 after moving from David Gilliland Racing (now TRICON Garage) to ThorSport Racing.
She was unable to find the same success in the Truck Series that she had racing in the ARCA Menard’s and K&N West series, but the move back into a stock car could be the change she needs to see improved results. She’ll have to prove herself in the new car before climbing our rankings. However, she placed 13th in her Xfinity debut in 2022 in the SS-Green Light No. 7 at Las Vegas.
19. Jeremy Clements No. 51 Jeremy Clements Racing Chevy
Jeremy Clements was unable to replicate his playoff success from 2022 last year, and it was the first time since 2011 that he did not finish a race in the top 10. However, he had 19 top-20 finishes, the 16th most of any driver. He also finished running in all but four races. He will look for a rebound season in 2024
18. Anthony Alfredo No. 5 Our Motorsports Chevy
After a tough year with BJ McLeod Motorsports, Anthony Alfredo is back with Our Motorsports, the team he ran full-time with in 2022. Despite not finishing in eight races in 2023, Alfredo managed to earn top 10 finishes in the back half of the season at Daytona and Martinsville. He finished 20th in the driver points standings. He will look to compete back near the playoff bubble this season as Our Motorsports hopes to earn its first playoff berth with Alfredo back for a full season.
17. Ryan Sieg No. 39 RSS Racing Ford
Last year was Ryan Sieg’s toughest in the Xfinity Series since he entered RSS Racing full-time in 2014. He placed 18th in the driver points standings, the lowest of his career. He’s had numerous playoff seasons, and he should be back in the mix in 2024 with more stability at RSS. Last year, the team had seven different drivers between its three cars.
This year, the team has brought in Blaine Perkins to run the No. 29 full-time. Ryan Sieg will be in the No. 39 full-time, and his brother Kyle will run the No. 28 for the full season. With more stability on the ownership front, Ryan will be hoping to get back running in the top 10 on a more consistent basis.
16. Jeb Burton No. 27 Jordan Anderson Racing Chevy
Jeb Burton is coming off of his second playoff season in the last three years after earning his second career Talladega win. It was Jordan Anderson Racing’s first win in any series as a team and helped the 27 team finish 12th in the driver point standings. 18th was the highest Jordan Anderson Racing had finished in any series in previous years.
Burton found five more top 10s through the rest of the season and was not a real threat in the playoffs. Despite this, he is consistent and finished all but one race and had 25 top 20 finishes. He will also always be one to watch out for on superspeedways.
15. Josh Williams No. 11 Kaulig Racing Chevy
Josh Williams got quite the promotion in 2024, moving from DGM Racing to Kaulig Racing to replace Daniel Hemric, who is moving up to the Cup Series. After pulling his park-it stunt at Atlanta, he went on to record multiple top 10 finishes for the first time since 2020. The improved performance and new name recognition made him a good fit for a team looking to fill a seat.
Williams has had up-and-down performances racing for DGM and BJ McLeod Motorsports over the past few seasons and hasn’t reached the playoffs. With Kaulig, he has a team that will give him the equipment to compete if he makes the most of the opportunity.
14. Parker Retzlaff No. 31 Jordan Anderson Racing Chevy
Parker Retzlaff had a strong rookie year with Jordan Anderson Racing. He started the year finishing p-4 at Daytona and ended the season with top-10 finishes in seven races.
He showed he could race competitively at all oval types, finishing in the top 10 at superspeedways, intermediates, and a short track. However, he struggled more on road courses.
Jeb Burton showed Jordan Anderson Racing could build a winning race car last season. With a year of experience under his belt, Retzlaff could be on a shortlist of drivers likely to earn their first career Xfinity victory in 2024.
13. Jesse Love Jr. No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevy
Jesse Love is coming off of a dominant ARCA Menards season in which he won 10 races on his way to the championship, matching 2022 Xfinity Champion Ty Gibbs’ total from his 2021 season.
If that’s any sign of what is to come from Love, he should be ascending this list quickly, but until he can prove himself in the series, he’ll sit 13th on our list against a stacked Xfinity field. Love was impressive in his three Truck Series starts with TRICON Garage. He finished 9th at Gateway in his debut, he placed 13th at Kansas, and he finished the season 4th at Phoenix. He’s likely to be a Rookie of the Year favorite, along with our next driver.
12. Shane Van Gisbergen No. 97 Kaulig Racing Chevy
As part of his developmental deal with NASCAR Cup Series team Trackhouse Racing, Shane Van Gisbergen will be running full-time this season in the Xfinity Series with Kaulig. Seeing a three-time Australian Supercars Champion come over to America to learn on ovals in NASCAR’s developmental series is going to be a spectacle to watch all year.
He showed he could win with the best on road courses in his Cup Series debut in the Chicago Steet Race. He placed 10th on the Indianapolis Road Course and had a top 20 run in the Truck Series at Indianapolis Raceway Park.
Will the dominance he had in Supercars translate to ovals after more reps? Only time will tell, but SVG is sure to be a threat to dominate at any road course on the schedule, as well as in his return to Chicago.
11. Brandon Jones No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevy
Brandon Jones had a bit of a down year in his first season with JR Motorsports, just one year after he was a restart away from a Championship 4 appearance. He still managed 10 top-10 finishes and finished 3rd at Michigan and 2nd at Kansas.
In his second year with the team, Brandon Jones will likely get back to victory lane if not multiple times. In his five years with Joe Gibbs Racing, Jones had five wins, including a three-win season in 2020.
10. Parker Kligerman No. 48 Big Machine Racing Chevy
In 2023, Parker Kligerman became the first driver to run a full-time season for Big Machine Racing, which made its debut in 2021. He reached the Xfinity driver playoffs for the second time in his career, finishing the season 10th in the driver point standings with the 7th-most top-10 finishes in the series.
He earned podium finishes at Talladega, Road America, Watkins Glen, and Texas. In 2022 Big Machine Racing earned its first win with Tyler Reddick at Texas. Kligerman looks like he has a good chance of getting them back to victory lane this upcoming season. It would be his first career Xfinity victory, but it seems like it may be time as he enters 2024, coming off of the most consistent season of his career.
9. Riley Herbst No. 98 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
Despite some inconsistency in 2023, Riley Herbst put together some of the strongest runs of his career and even won his first career Xfinity race in the fall at his home track, Las Vegas. He finished with a career-high 10 top-5 finishes and closed out the year with five straight, including his win.
Herbst missed the playoffs last season and finished the season 13th in points, the first out. He had a tough stretch of races between Richmond and Darlington in the spring. If the team can avoid a slump like that this season, he’ll likely be back in the playoffs competing for an Xfinity Championship. Especially with his SHR teammate Cole Custer coming off a Championship season.
8. Sammy Smith No. 8 JR Motorsports Chevy
Sammy Smith was the 2023 Xfinity Series rookie of the year with Joe Gibbs Racing as he placed 6th in the driver point standings. He secured his spot in the playoffs early in the season with a win at Phoenix and finished the year with 15 top 10s. He also earned podium placement in both Martinsville races and at Texas.
In 2024, he will fill the shoes of Josh Berry at JRM, who is taking over the Cup No. 4 from Kevin Harvick at Stewart-Haas. At 19 years old, Smith is one of the youngest rising talents in NASCAR and will look to have an even stronger second season with another premier organization.
7. Chandler Smith No. 81 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Chandler Smith is moving to Joe Gibbs Racing after a strong rookie season with Kaulig in which he placed 9th in the driver standings and won his first race at Richmond. JGR bought out his contract, realigning Smith with Toyota, which he raced with Kyle Busch Motorsports in the Truck Series.
In his 2nd full-time Truck season in 2022, Smith reached the Championship 4 and placed 3rd at Phoenix. He earned wins at Las Vegas, Pocono, and Richmond. Now back with Toyota and running as co-premiere driver with Sheldon Creed at JGR, Smith is poised for a big year two in Xfinity.
6. Sheldon Creed No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Sheldon Creed became the next driver of the JGR No. 18 after Sammy Smith left for the JRM No. 8. Creed is still searching for his first victory in the Xfinity Series, but he had seven runner-up finishes in two seasons with Richard Childress Racing and was a stellar driver in the Truck Series.
Creed won the 2020 Truck Championship and earned eight wins over his final two years in the series with GMS Racing. Creed never seemed to click with RCR, and they seemed to have their issues late in his stint. A fresh start with a new team could prove Creed to be a Championship 4 threat this season.
5. Sam Mayer No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevy
Last year, Sam Mayer was the biggest breakout star in the Xfinity Series. After earning his first career win at Road America, he went on to win two of the final three road courses of the season. He also placed runner-up on the Indianapolis Road Course. And he even won an Oval, as he secured his spot in the Championship 4 at Homestead.
His four wins were the most in a season by a driver in the JRM No. 1, and it was the first time a driver won multiple races in the car since Elliot Sadler’s 2016 season. Mayer finished inside the top five in 10 of the last 17 races of the season, showing tremendous consistency. If he can keep that momentum rolling into 2024, he will be in for a big season. His battles on road courses with rookie SVG will also be peak racing.
4. Justin Allgaier No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevy
Justin Allgaier matched Mayer’s win total last season, tied for 4th in the series, as he won races at Charlotte, Daytona, Bristol, and Martinsville. He finished the year second in poles, laps led, and top 20 finishes. He also had the third most top-five finishes. This year’s Championship 4 appearance was his sixth in his eight years with JRM.
As one of the most consistent drivers in the field, it’s not hard to project him having another strong year. But that elusive championship seems like it could be an even tougher get against this year’s Xfinity field. Though if he can make it, maybe championship appearance seven will be the lucky one for the No. 7.
3. Cole Custer No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
After three full-time seasons in the Cup Series and only one playoff appearance, Cole Custer returned to the SHR Xfinity program and earned the team its first Xfinity Championship, showing he still has all of the talent in the world. Custer ran three full-time Xfinity Seasons with SHR before his Cup stint and had nine wins. He also finished runner-up in the Championship in 2018 and 2019.
While his numbers in 2023 might have been a step behind other top drivers, he still managed to win races and execute when it mattered most. Holding off three other Championship 4 drivers on an overtime restart is no small feat, and that victory should give this team a whole new wave of confidence rolling into this season.
Only time will tell, but 2024 could be Custer’s biggest season yet.
2. AJ Allmendinger No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevy
NASCAR’s road course master AJ Allmendinger is returning to the Xfinity Series after one full-time season at the Cup level with Kaulig. Allmendinger has dominated the Charlotte Roval in Xfinity, as he won the race four years in a row between 2019 and 2022. He also won the Cup race at the track last season, showing he can still get it done with the best.
He’ll need that momentum this year with the likes of SVG and Sam Mayer to compete with. But in his last full-time Xfinity season in 2022, Allmendinger won at four of the six road courses and overall had 28 top-10 finishes, the most of any driver. He made the Championship 4 in 2021 and should be a prime return candidate this season.
1. Austin Hill No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevy
Austin Hill is coming off of a dominant Xfinity season in which he won more races than he wrecked out of. Hill was another driver tied with four wins, and he finished all but four races inside of the top 20. Only John Hunter Nemechek had more wins, and he is now driving for Legacy Motor Club in the Cup Series.
Hill found most of his success in the early season with a win in the season opener at Daytona and wins in the spring at Las Vegas and Atlanta. He didn’t win again until Pocono in July, and he didn’t find victory lane at all in the playoffs. He missed the Championship 4 after he and now former-teammate Sheldon Creed wrecked on an overtime restart in the cutoff race at Martinsville. Hill is by far one of the strongest racers in the Xfinity Series, and his consistency makes him as dangerous as ever.
Aside from his four wins, he finished in the top five 12 additional times. If his team can even turn a couple of those into wins this season, it’s hard not to see Hill being a championship favorite.
