Photo Credit: Noel Lanier
The NASCAR XFINITY Series has been dominated by Sprint Cup Series talent thus far, with Chase Elliott and Kyle Busch scoring victories. It’s a common sight in the second-tier division, as these drivers have more experience, and are driving for top-notch teams. Though there are a bunch of youngsters who easily have a shot at breaking through, as they were able to accomplish last season.
Going into this weekend’s Axalta Faster. Tougher. Brighter. 200 at Phoenix International Raceway, here’s a couple of those drivers to consider.
Daniel Suarez is in the midst of his sophomore campaign in the NASCAR XFINITY Series. The Mexican driver impressed last season with eight top-five finishes, coming close on a couple different occasions to scoring the victory. He also enters this weekend as the current points leader, following three top-10 finishes to start off the season.
Last weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway, he had a strong run en route to finishing second to his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Busch. In the closing stages of the Boyd Gaming 300, it looked as though Suarez was going to be able to close the gap and possibly pass Busch though lost the handle late and fell back instead.
If you needed any more convincing, he finished fourth last fall at Phoenix.
Erik Jones has officially begun his rookie season of competition, but he’s no rookie by any stretch. The Michigan native made 23 starts last season with two wins, 13 top-fives, and 17 top-10s. Oh yeah, and he also won the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Championship in his rookie season.
This year, he’s off to a strong start as despite having problems in both the second and third races, he has managed to rebound for top-five finishes. The early mark of a season-end champion? Quite possibly.
Jones has won at Phoenix in the past in the Camping World Truck Series. He also boasts the strongest average finish of all drivers, Cup and XFINITY regulars, with a 4.7 as he has finished in the top-six in each of his three previous starts.
This week is definitely a race I circled on the calendar,” he sounded off. “Phoenix is one of my favorite tracks we compete on and has proved to be a track I run well on and have seen success at in the Truck Series with getting my first NASCAR win back in 2013 and another win in 2014. On the XFINITY side, we’ve run well and had good finishes at Phoenix, but I’m ready to get that first win at the track and of the season and I think Phoenix could be the place.
“Chris (Gabehart) and the Reser’s team have brought fast cars every week and that makes me excited to get to the track and climb in these Toyota Camry’s. I know we’ll unload with a great Camry at Phoenix and if we can minimize the mistakes made at Atlanta and Las Vegas, there is no reason we can’t be there at the end and in contention for the win.”
Elliott Sadler currently sits second in the XFINITY standings as he enters the fourth week of competition. Sadler is a veteran of the series and has driven for a bunch of big name teams over the past couple of years. Now landing his feet with JR Motorsports, he hopes to have finally found the right fit for success this season in the form of his first series championship.
Sadler knows how to get around the tricky oval, scoring a victory in 2012, and has only finished outside of the top-15 once in his past eight starts.
Brandon Jones is another one of the rookies who has impressed thus far this season as he currently sits third in the series standings with a pair of top-10s, including a sixth-place finish this past weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Jones ran a partial schedule last year in the XFINITY Series, running five events. He showed potential during those races, with a pair of top-10s, highlighted by finishing fifth at Kentucky Speedway. He is also not short of experience, as he ran 17 of the 23 Camping World Truck Series races last year for GMS Racing. The Georgia native was solid with four top-fives and eight top-10s.
Unlike the others, Jones has yet to run an XFINITY race at Phoenix.
Ty Dillon enters his third season of XFINITY Series competition after finishing fifth and third over the past two seasons. While scoring a victory in his rookie campaign at Indianapolis, he did not score a victory last season – something that he’s stated being frustrated about.
So far this year, he’s off to a solid start as he sits fourth in points with two top-10s, including a top-five finish. The momentum also seems to be there for Richard Childress Racing, as they had their drivers finish fifth thru seventh at Las Vegas, with Dillon seventh.
Phoenix has treated Dillon well in the past, as he has two top-fives and four top-10s in his previous four starts. He also has the third-best average finish of all drivers, Cup and XFINITY regulars, with a 6.2.
Justin Allgaier made his return to the XFINITY Series this season after not having a lot of success in moving up to the Sprint Cup Series. He returns with a good team, as JR Motorsports placed two drivers in the top-five in points last season.
Allgaier has started off this year solidly, currently sitting fifth in points with his only finish outside of the top-10 being a 12th at the season opener at Daytona International Speedway.
The Illinois native has a lot of experience at Phoenix with 11 previous XFINITY starts. His last two starts, which came in 2013, marked his best performances as he finished third in the spring, and second in the fall.
