The list of rookies for the Xfinity Series in 2025 is stacked. Let’s break it down:

Connor Zilisch

The headliner of this group is far and away, Connor Zilisch. Zilisch has elevated his status as a top prospect within the sport consistently, since bursting onto the scene by winning the pole in his Craftsman Truck Series debut at Circuit of the Americas, in March. He has continued to impress more and more, and has risen to the point of being called a generational talent.

In 2024, the JR Motorsports driver (on loan from Trackhouse Racing) has won in nearly everything he has set foot in. He kicked off the year by winning the Rolex 24 at Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring. On the NASCAR side, Zilisch has won 4 ARCA East races, 1 ARCA West race (a race that ended moments ago, as of writing this), 5 ARCA Menards Series races, and in 3 Xfinity Series starts, he has 1 Win (his debut at Watkins Glen), 2 Top-5s, 2 Top-10s, and an average finish of 5.7.

2025 Team/Number: JR Motorsports #88

2025 Season Prediction: 5 Wins, 22 Top-10s, 14-Top 5s, 3rd Place Points Finish

William Sawalich

Toyota’s latest golden boy was confirmed to be making the move to the NASCAR Xfinity Series, to drive the #18 for Joe Gibbs Racing. Sawalich, like Zilisch, has rocketed up through the ranks. The Minnesota product is 2-for-2 in ARCA East campaigns, winning the Championship in each of the last 2 seasons (albeit with a little help from a lapped car at Bristol).

Sawalich has also won thrice in ARCA West competition, as well collecting 13 Victories in the ARCA Menards Series tour over the last 2 seasons. Despite this success in ARCA, he has been a little underwhelming in his limited starts in the Craftsman Truck Series. In 15 starts in the series, Sawalich has 3 Top-10s, 1 Pole, only 3 Laps Led, and an average finish of 18.1. Though he does routinely qualify quite well, his average start in the Truck Series is 11.9.

2025 Team/Number: Joe Gibbs Racing #18

2025 Season Prediction: 2 Wins, 16 Top-10s, 9 Top-5s, 9th Place Points Finish

Carson Kvapil

The eldest son of 2003 Craftsman Truck Series Champion, Travis Kvapil, Carson has been in the Hendrick Motorsports pipeline for a number of years, and rightfully so. Kvapil is a 2-Time CARS Tour Late Model Stock Champion for JR Motorsports, and has been impressive in his Part-Time gig with JRM’s Xfinity Series program.

In 9 Starts in the Xfinity Series, Kvapil has 3 Top-5s and 4 Top-10s and an average finish of 13.2. Kvapil’s most impressive showing this season was undoubtedly his 2nd start at Dover this past Spring, in which he battled Ryan Truex hard but fair, ultimately coming up short of his first win.

2025 Team/Number: JR Motorsports #1

2025 Season Predictions: 2 Wins, 18 Top-10s, 11 Top-5s, 6th Place Points Finish

Christian Eckes

Unlike the three previous drivers on this list, Eckes never really burst onto the scene. Rather, he just steadily improved into the driver he is today. Eckes made his Craftsman Truck Series debut all the way back in 2018 for Kyle Busch Motorsports. Even though he struggled to find his footing in the Truck Series with KBM and Toyota, he did win the 2019 ARCA Menards Series Championship, winning 4 races that year.

He went Full-Time with KBM in 2020, but struggled and was dropped by Toyota at the end of the season. Eckes split the #98 for ThorSport Racing with Grant Enfinger in 2021, and did a solid job in his 10 Starts in the Truck. Racking up 5 Top-10s including a Win at Las Vegas that Fall, which was enough to get him in the #98 Full-Time in 2022.

Eckes did well in 2022 with 8 Top-5s and 15 Top-10s, but failed to find Victory Lane and was ultimately dropped once again. He signed with McAnally-Hilgemann Racing for 2023 and hit his stride. Eckes won 4 Races, had 10 Top-5s, and 13 Top-10s and had an average finish of 11.1, in 2023. Then he managed to one-up himself in 2024.

This Season, Eckes has won 4 Races, yet again, but has been the definition of dominant over the course of the season. The aforementioned 4 Wins, 14 Top-5s, 21 Top-10s in 22 races (he had a mechanical failure at Atlanta that prevented a “perfect season”), has led over 1000 Laps, and currently has an average finish of 5.5. At the time of writing, Eckes is set to race for a title tonight, so it remains to be seen how this season will end for him.

2025 Team/Number: Kaulig Racing #16

2025 Season Predictions: 1 Win, 15 Top-10s, 9 Top-5s, 10th Place Points Finish

Taylor Gray

19-Year Old Taylor Gray, in my opinion, might be the biggest wild card next season. I could see him being really strong right out of the gate, and I could see him taking more time to get his feet under him at the next level. Gray has put together a very solid sophomore campaign in the Craftsman Truck Series with 8 Top-5s and 13 Top-10s, though he has yet to find Victory Lane. He did come agonizingly close last weekend at Martinsville, a win which would have propelled him through to the Championship 4. But Christian Eckes proved to be the grim reaper to Gray’s run at the title, ruthlessly moving Gray out of the way to win despite being, effectively, locked in.

Gray has been decent in his limited starts for JGR in the Xfinity Series. In 13 Starts, Gray has 2 Top-5s and 3 Top-10s and has an average finish of 19.2. I’d expect Gray to steadily improve over the course of the season next year, as it took him time to get comfortable in the Truck Series.

2025 Team/Number: Joe Gibbs Racing #54

2025 Season Predictions: 0 Wins, 13 Top-10s, 7 Top-5s, 11th Place Points Finish

Nick Sanchez

The Miami native made 8 Starts in the Xfinity Series in 2022 and will return to the Series Full-Time next year. Sanchez had a very solid rookie year in the Craftsman Truck Series Last Year, finishing the season with 2 Top-5s, 12 Top-10s, a whopping 5 Poles, and an average finish of 13.0.

Sanchez began his sophomore campaign with a bang winning at Daytona to start the season and winning again at Charlotte in May. Heading into the Season Finale at Phoenix, Sanchez has 2 Wins, 10 Top-5s, 13 Top-10s, and an average finish of 9.6.

2025 Team/Number: Big Machine Racing #48

2025 Season Predictions: 0 Wins, 12 Top-10s, 7 Top-5s, 14th Place Points Finish

Daniel Dye

Daniel Dye has not been as much of a standout as the rest of the drivers on this list, but that’s not to say he hasn’t been good. He has made a steady stride from 2023 to 2024. Dye’s rookie season was a bit of a struggle, he had only 1 Top-10 all season and had an average finish of 20.2.

But relative to his first season, Dye improved drastically in Year 2. This season he has 2 Top-5s, 9 Top-10s, 1 Pole, and improved his average finish by nearly 5 positions, heading into the season finale with a 15.8 average finish.

2025 Team/Number: Kaulig Racing #10

2025 Season Predictions: 0 Wins, 8 Top-10s, 2 Top-5s, 18th Place Points Finish

Image Credit: Patrick Vallely